Did you know, that 1944/45 (and on a smaller scale also afterwards) approx. 12 to 14 millions of people with German nationality or roots were forced out of their homes in Eastern Europe (partly German territory until then) and had to flee to a geographically reduced German territory?
Most of them covered hundreds of kilometres on foot during a freezing cold winter before they arrived in a bombed-out rest of Germany. Their exhausting journey was characterized by hunger, icy coldness, illnesses and even death. About 2 million of them died on the long and tortuous way and had to be left behind just somewhere along the track.
Most of the survivors were leading a sorry existence in refugee camps for several years to come. While their outer life conditions improved over time, many suffered from being referred to as “the refugees” even decades afterwards.
(free translation of the German original: German version)