Reported by: Adolf Lux Report of September 30, 1946

On July 2 of last year partisans searched all the houses in Alt-Bürgersdorf. My house was searched as well, and they helped themselves to two violins and other things they liked, especially linen, clothing and shoes. They took off their own clothes and changed into mine. I was not personally attacked during all this. Then they went to my neighbor's, where they allegedly found a revolver. Thereupon they returned to my house, turned everything upside down and demanded a revolver from me too. I had none. This prompted them to maltreat me badly. I was punched in the face to the point where I lost 4 teeth, and another 3 were knocked loose. They threatened to shoot me, and did indeed fire shots in my home, hitting me in the foot. Then they ordered me to carry one of my blankets to the collection point in the local school. I hobbled painfully to the school. On the way back I went to a local creek, took off my shoe and washed out the bullet wound. When I returned to my home another partisan was waiting for me, and led me off to the Commissar, where he maltreated me again and then kicked me out of the house.

 

Althart
(near Slabings)

 

Reported by: Reinhold Meiniger Report of October 15, 1946

I was an orderly in a field hospital and was discharged from my duties there by the Russians on June 24 of last year. In Althart, near Slabings, the Czech gendarmes detained me, beat me up and robbed me blind (they even took the boots off my feet), and then I was put to agricultural labor on the Hejnitz farm near Slabings. For 4 weeks we got no bread at all there. We literally lived on dry potatoes. We got no salt for half a year. There were 32 of us there - discharged soldiers, all of us sick or injured since the Russians had not discharged any healthy ones. We had to work from 4 o'clock in the morning until 10 at night, with a one-hour break at noon. Anyone who was not up to the work load due to his poor health, or who did not know how to do the farm work (some of us were students), was beaten mercilessly. I was put to work on the chaffcutter, which I had never operated before, and in the foreman's opinion I was not productive enough the first day, and so, that evening, he boxed me about the head and beat me with a stick. I complained to the administrator, but all that got me was another beating the same night from the gendarmes who were called in. The foreman's name was Josef Brychta. Beatings like that took place every day. I had to work on the farm under these circumstances until August 8th of this year. My wife had already been expelled from our home the previous summer, with our two children and only a bare minimum of hand luggage. In this way we lost all of our possessions. Our resettlement [expulsion] luggage consists only of old things that were given to us by others, and on our expulsion the Národní výbor of Christofsgrund near Reichenberg looted even this meager luggage and took everything that was remotely usable, for example all our dishes, all the children's clothes, etc. After we complained about this in the resettlement [expulsion] camp in Alt-Habendorf, the Národní výbor of Christofsgrund was ordered to return the stolen things to me. Instead, I was given a few other items that were much worse than what we had had, for example a mismatched pair of shoes, and no dishes.

 

Altrohlau

 

Reported by: Anna Drösler Report of August 19, 1946

I am 62 years old and suffer from heart disease. For 4 years I have been widowed. On September 1, 1945 five Czech civilians, among them the postman Brechal, came to my home and conducted a wild house search, confiscating everything of value in the process. On September 2 some gendarmes came and did the same, even more destructively. On September 25 a gendarme arrived with several civilians, among them the new owner [of my house], kicked me out of bed - the doctor had given me an injection just shortly before - and gave me only 20 minutes to vacate my home. They threatened to beat me with a bludgeon. Being a sick woman, I was hardly able to pack anything to take with me in such a short time. I was driven from my home and found a place to stay in one of the cellar rooms, where I have lived without any furnishings until now. My request, to at least let me have a sofa from my home, was refused. I had to lie on boards and straw. The new owner Jakob declared that Germans must not be allowed to keep anything. All my linen and clothes remained in my home. The only luggage I had at the time of my expulsion belonged to my sister-in-law, and I even had to surrender three sets of underwear and a dress from this hand luggage.

 

Altrothwasser

 

Reported by: Emilie Reinhold Report of August 23, 1946

On September 8, 1945 a Czech administrator was posted to our farm. He treated us very badly. My family of five were the only laborers on the 96-acre estate. The administrator himself didn't do any work at all, but constantly accused us of sabotage even though we worked like mules 15 hours a day just to manage everything that needed to be done. For 7 months we were each paid only 1,000 Kcs. in wages, and only 1,500 Kcs. for 2 months. We had to buy our own food on so-called German ration cards. In the morning of January 13 two horses were suddenly missing, and the administrator accused us of having secretly sold them. We were led away, and my son and I were dreadfully maltreated. We were released to go home again the very same day, since probably nobody seriously believed that we had stolen the horses. But from that day on the administrator's harassment became unbearable. When my daughter fell ill on June 3 of this year, he was so enraged and threatened us with maltreatment that I suffered a nervous breakdown and was unconscious for hours and couldn't walk for three weeks afterwards.

 

Altsattel

 

Reported by: Anton Stockner Report of August 22, 1946

I was arrested on July 4th, 1945, at Altsattel and taken to the camp at Elbogen. Although - immediately on my arrival at Elbogen - I had reported that I have a pneumothorax, I was not separated from the other persons, but was forced to participate, together with the others, both morning and evening in compulsory sport. We had, for example, to run a hundred times around the chalet, which I was quite unable to do. When I reported this, I was struck several times and was forced to continue the exercise. On another occasion when I could not run any longer I was forced to lie on the ground and do push-ups until the others had finished their hundred rounds. Whenever my arms collapsed, I was kicked. The other strenuous gymnastic exercises were often too much for me and in consequence I was always receiving blows. I was not to see permitted a doctor until July 10th. He then sent me to the hospital where they diagnosed an exudate as a consequence of overexertion. Subsequent to my discharge from the hospital, at the end of August, the pneumothorax was filled once more on September 24th, but when I returned in October, in order to get another filling, it was refused to me.

In November I was transported to Třemošna where, while going to fetch a parcel for a comrade, I was struck three times with a whip. At the beginning of December I came back to Elbogen as an invalid. There, when I failed to appear for the roll call, from which sick persons were usually exempted, I was slapped so violently that my spectacles broke.

 

Arlsdorf

 

Reported by: Albert Geppert Report of October 9, 1946

On September 22, 1945 I was stopped on the street and asked for my identification. I showed my ID card. It was taken from me; no reason was given. I was committed to the concentration camp Arlsdorf, where I was detained until May 24 of this year despite my advanced age (I am 72 years old). The rations we received were totally inadequate. Once, when I brought a bit of bread back into the camp from work - bread that an acquaintance had given me on the way - the guard boxed me about the head to the point that I have lost my hearing in my right ear. Parcels were regularly looted. When I was released, the watch that had been taken from me on my committal was not returned to me. Two other watches which I had sent out for repair were confiscated from the watchmaker by the gendarmerie.

 

Arnau
(in the Sudeten Mountains)

 

Reported by: Marie Rumler Report of January 14, 1948

I lived in the Gebirgs-Strasse at Arnau in the Sudeten Mountains. At the same address there also resided my son, Josef Rumler and his wife Marie, née Petrik. My son was a master locksmith and my daughter-in-law a teacher of English at the High School in Arnau.

On June 18, 1945, my son and his wife were due for transfer. When the people were assembled in the market-place of Arnau, my son must have stood in the wrong place. He was terribly beaten and when his wife tried to protect him, she was also struck and dragged around by her hair. Then they were both driven into the court of the town-hall, beaten once more and finally shot.

I can swear to the correctness of this information; moreover almost the entire population of Arnau witnessed the incident.

 

Arnsdorf
(near Hennersdorf)

 

Reported by: Karl Ehrlich Report of June 19, 1946

On December 19, 1945 my wife and I were taken to the community office of Arnsdorf near Hennersdorf. I was asked whether I could speak Czech and whether I owned weapons. I replied no to both questions. Consequently I was severely maltreated. The Czechs repeatedly threw me against the wall, and punched me in the face at least ten times, knocking out two of my teeth. They interspersed it all with persistent questions about where I had hidden my weapons and ammunition. Then I was forced to sign a Czech police statement, the contents of which I did not know. This abuse lasted all night.

In the meantime my wife was maltreated as well. She had to raise her arms and was then punched in the side. Then she was locked into the cellar, where she was boxed about the head until she fainted. The partisans came to me several times during the night and said that my wife had just confessed where my weapons were hidden. They had also gone to my wife and said that I had confessed. The next day I was sent to Jägerndorf and then, from there, to Witkowitz for forced labor. As a result of the abuse my wife was so ill the next day that she could not be moved, and therefore she was not sent to the labor camp until February 1.

In Witkowitz the people were beaten up and harassed as well. If anyone went missing, the entire group was locked into the cellar overnight without food, to be sent back to work without rations the next day. That happened to me too, repeatedly.

 

Asch

 

Reported by: Anna Koch Report of June 7, 1946

At the beginning of May a transport left the transfer-camp at Asch for the province Hesse. At the time the transport of expellees left the camp, I was standing in my sister-in-law's garden together with several women, among them a woman well known as an anti-fascist; the garden was right opposite the camp, separated from it only by a road. Suddenly a man of the SNB and one of the NB appeared in the garden and ordered us to go into the house. When we got into the house, each woman had to stand with her face to the wall. The anti-fascist woman was told to slap the faces of the others. Since she did not carry out the order to the satisfaction of the NB- or the SNB-man, she received a blow on her legs with a stick. Then the man demonstrated to her how she should strike us. I received from him two blows on each cheek and so did the others. Then the anti-fascist woman had to repeat the blows. Laughing, the two Czechs left.

Such events happened quite often in those days, sometimes the people were beaten till they bled. I am prepared to repeat these statements under oath.

 

Auherzen-Lihn

 

Reported by: Anton Woeschka Report of June 3, 1946

On May 8 last year I was arrested, along with 24 other inhabitants of my town Auherzen. There were three women among us. With our hands raised, we had to line up beside the village pond, and had to stand there until all 25 of us had been rounded up. If anyone lowered his hands due to exhaustion, he was immediately clubbed about the head. This went on for about 4 hours. Then we were loaded onto a truck. While boarding, everyone was beaten with sticks. We were carted off to Lihn. During the ride a man in the truck beat us terribly, so that everyone bled from wounds on their head and face. When we disembarked in Lihn we were also beaten until we reached the Town Hall. In the Town Hall we were beaten even more, until none of us could still stand upright. Then we were looted of our possessions. We all had to undress completely for this procedure, and then we were robbed not only of any and all watches and rings but even of our clothes. Then former Russian prisoners of war were ordered to beat us, which they did. Then the Czechs took over and beat us all over again. By this time everyone was bleeding from many wounds. Then we were ordered to beat each other with a heavy strap. A bucket of cold water was dumped on each of us, and then we were herded into a room where we were locked up. The next day we were interrogated. I was dismissed as being innocent. The Czech commission was made up of young people aged 18 to 20.

I can take this statement on my oath, and Josef Heckenthaler, Josef Lappat, Josef Peller, Wenzel Cibulka, Josef Holley and Josef Jaklin can corroborate it.

 

Auschine-Raudnai
(District Aussig)

 

Reported by: Marie Schlechte Report of November 6, 1946

On June 11, 1946 my husband and I were admitted to the hospital. Ever since 1938 my husband has suffered from a severe psychosis and arteriosclerosis, and on that day he had attempted to take his and my life. The Národní výbor in Auschine-Raudnai, Aussig District, the community where I lived, assured me repeatedly that my home had been sealed and would be left as was until I returned from the hospital. In late September the hospital gave me leave to fetch clothing, linen, shoes and bedding from my home, to take with me for my impending resettlement [expulsion]. But my home had been occupied by the Czech Vyskocil. I was forbidden to enter it, and only got a very small portion of my things, which he selected. I was given someone else's linen, of poor quality, and no underwear at all. So I had to ask acquaintances for these necessities to supplement my expulsion luggage. My wedding ring was withheld from me, on the grounds that as a German I allegedly have no right to own gold. Being blind, I was resettled [expelled] via the blind people's transport. My husband had already passed away in the hospital in Aussig on June 16, 1946.

 

Barzdorf

 

Reported by: Rudolf Koppe Report of October 9, 1946

On October 18th, 1945, I was called up by the gendarmerie for five weeks' service in the sugar-refinery of Olmütz, together with 9 other juveniles from Barzdorf. On the next day our employment was changed into 3 months' service in the mines of Ostrau, as voluntary workers with full Czech rations. In fact we ended up working there for 11 months, down in the pit; the food was very bad, we received almost no salary and we were exposed to constant terror and maltreatment. The daily working-time was 8 hours below ground and 4 hours above ground. The food there consisted of nothing but water-gruel for the first months, later on we got 30 grams meat daily and 400 grams bread. Anyone who cooked potatoes in addition was punished. On arrival at Ostrau our pockets were completely emptied and the contents were not returned to us when we were released. After our discharge we had to pay the fare home ourselves. The treatment was bad. Every day we were called names and boxed on the ears; this occurred in the camp as well as in the pit. In addition to the 12 hours working time we also had to do some work for Czechs from outside the camp.

 

Bautsch
(Northern Moravia)

 

Reported by: Erich Granzer Report of September 13, 1946

On June 26th, 1945, I was taken prisoner by the Russians and sent to Saratow. On October 1st I became seriously ill, was released, and arrived in Brünn on November 4th, 1945, together with a transport of about 2,000 released prisoners of war. We were completely ignorant of what had happened in the meantime in the German areas of Czechoslovakia. From Brünn we were moved to the camp at Gurein. There the Czechs took away our Russian discharge papers, telling us that we should get Czech discharge papers the following day in order to be released to our homes, since these were situated in Czech territory. But in fact there was no question of any discharge. Although seriously ill, everyone was forced to work. The treatment was inhuman. We were crowded into barracks, packed together and we had to sleep on a bare earth floor; we received no blankets and suffered severely from the cold. There was no fuel. The food consisted of soup and 200 g bread once a day, black coffee twice a day. 12 to 16 men died daily from exposure, maltreatment and weakness caused by malnutrition. The dead were stripped and then thrown into a common grave. At every opportunity we were severely beaten. There were 300 men in a barrack 15 by 6 meters (50 x 20 ft) in size. One night during the winter, when 6 men failed to take off their shoes because of the terrible cold and were caught by the nightly inspection, all of the prisoners in the barrack were forced to parade barefoot in the snow; the 6 men themselves had to kneel on chairs and were beaten with rods on the soles of their feet until these were covered with blood. One month later I arrived at the prison-camp in Brünn where conditions were a little better, although we were also beaten. Since my health was not the best, I was ordered to the soap-works Krassel in January 1946, where I was given lighter work and was able to recover. There I remained in internment until July 1946. When I ascertained, accidentally, that my family had been transferred to Hesse, I used the opportunity to escape and I succeeded in crossing the Austrian border on foot. In the vicinity of Brünn are vast camps in which there are still thousands of Germans, civilians, women and children and also prisoners of war. All these people are forced to do the hardest and most dirty work. As a result of the cruel mistreatment and the bad food the death-rate is extremely high. The people are reduced to skeletons and die en masse, the bodies are stripped, taken out of the camp on rack-wagons and hand-carts and buried outside the cemeteries, in the fields or at the edge of the woods, in mass graves. From the Czechs one hears only the slogan: the Germans must die. And they do everything to carry it into effect.

I am willing to testify to my statements upon oath at any time.

Documents on the Expulsion of the Sudeten Germans
Survivors speak out