When the Germans fought Russia along the Eastern Front during World War II, they saw the Russians as a subhuman species and had little regard for the lives of Russian men, women, and children or of the conventional rules of war. As a result, tens of millions of Russians died in the defense of the Soviet Union. Those Russians were eventually able to gain the momentum in the war ended up driving the Germans all the way back to Berlin. Given the atrocities that the Germans had committed against the Russian people, it is unsurprising that the Soviet troops saw this as their opportunity to exact revenge on the Germans they encountered.
Knowing what awaited them if the Red Army successfully invaded, many Germans, both national Germans and ethnic Germans, fled from all Germany and Eastern Europe to escape reprisal. Many of them moved to West Germany, Western Europe itself, or America. Those who stayed were were at the mercy of the Red Army who showed almost as little disregard for the conventions of war as the Nazis had done in Russia. Rapes were common place and many civilians were killed or robbed. Eventually, most Germans living in places eventually liberated by the Soviets were forcibly expelled from their homes under much worse conditions than those who had fled voluntarily.
Even before the war was over, the Allies had agreed to how Germany should be divided after the war. They decided in the Potsdam Agreement that the Eastern Germany would be given to Poland as compensation for the land that the Soviets has annexed in Eastern Poland. It was also agreed that the Germans living in that easter portion of Germany would be forcibly expelled to make room for the Pole who had been driven from their homes in Eastern Poland. Between those who were forcibly expelled and those who fled the persecution they foresaw, as many as 14 million Germans became refuges after the war.
Because these expulsions were not very well organized, many died. Of the 14 million Germans who left their homes, only 12 million to 13 million survived. About one to two million died on the journey. There is still some debate about exactly how many died and there are estimates between 500,000 and over 3 million, but one to two million seems to be the most agreed upon figure.
Germany paid a dear price for the mistake of starting the war. Millions of people died and its cities and economy were literally destroyed by the war. Thus, they shared equally the fate of many throughout Europe who were wrongfully deprived of life and/or property. While there are a few stories of Polish families who have kept the belongings of German families in the attic in anticipation of their return, those who were expelled still do not have any legal right to that property. Many would say that Germany deserved this because it brought it upon itself. Whatever the morality of the expulsions, they were one of the many ways that World War II continued to harm long the lives of individuals long after the last shots were fired.
