Evakuierte, Fluchtlinge und Vertriebene auf der Insel Rugen 1943-1961: Zugl. Diss.

According to a census in October 1946, every second inhabitant of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was a refugee or expellee. The island of Rugen, with its geographically exposed location in the southern Baltic Sea, was the destination and stopover for almost all forms of escape by land, sea and air. The book deals with the various groups of evacuees, refugees and displaced persons themselves as well as all German authorities that had to look after and administer them. The study shows that even for the displaced in the Soviet Zone / GDR, parting with hopes of return was a gradual process, without this being able to be publicly discussed as in the Federal Republic. The current experience of division through the sealing off of the inner-German border pushed the problem of the separation of the eastern regions as a national issue into the background. For the GDR population, who was more affected by the turning point of August 13, 1961 than the West Germans, this date also changed the perception of flight and displacement as irreversible facts.