The German Holocaust: Treatment of the Germans After WWII

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Recommended: The consequences of World War 2

By looking at The Dog in the Wood, we can see that the treatment of Germans after World War II was unfair. The people of Germany after the war were beaten, stolen from, raped, put in refugee camps, and were forced to deal with many other hardships. They had to learn to deal with the consequences presented before them, so they could retain their culture. This is important because an entire way of life was being torn apart and was being replaced against the peoples’ will.

After World War II, the people of Germany endured torment from their conquerors in many forms, from being stolen from, to be tortured or killed. Over ten million Germans were forced to move out of their homes. Around half a million of those that were moved died on their journeys elsewhere, while others suffered greatly from famine, cold, and dehydration (Douglas). At a number this large, surely some of the people that lived in Germany were against the war. This begs the question: Why should all of the people of Germany suffer because of Hitler’s wrongdoings? Every day, German citizens were pushed off land that had belonged to them, regardless of their position on the war.

When the eastern and western fronts closed in on the heart of Germany, German homes and farms were ransacked. Many houses were raided by allied troops in hopes of finding food. The prosperous German farmers who owned a large chunk of land had their land taken from them and redistributed among other farmers, so Communism could take control of the region. If land was not taken from the farmers, then their livestock were (Schröder 46-47). Many a valuable were broken or stolen in these raids. Some families had priceless heirlooms and fancy furniture that could not be replaced. Still others had to...

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...w Germany was treated after the first one. The Allies should have learned from the end of the first war, but they did not. It is the deep resentment from Germany that spurred the war to near world destruction, but with a little bit of a helping hand to losers of a war, can come an even greater peace.

Works Cited

Douglas, R. The Chronicle Review. 11 June 2012. 21 Mar 2014.

HistoryLearningSite. German Prisoners of War. 2000. 3 4 2014.

Keys, David. German WWII soldiers get proper burial after 60 years. 7 January 2008. 20 March 2014.

Leick, Romain, Matthias Schreiber and Hans-Ulrich Stoldt. "Out of the Ashes: A New Look at Germany's Postwar Reconstruction.". 2010. 20 March 2014.

Linder, Doug. The Nuremberg Trials. 2000. 20 March 2014.

PBS. WWII: "Behind Closed Doors". n.d. 21 March 2014.

Schröder, Monika. The Dog in the Wood. Honesdale: Front Street, 2009.

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