1/11 – David Nasaw on The Last Million: Europe’s Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War
The suffering of The Last Million Eastern Europeans in Germany did not cease on V.E. Day, but continued as World War morphed into Cold War. While the Soviet Union demanded their repatriation, the US and the UK refused to return them to Soviet-dominated homelands. The Last Million, including nearly 250,000 Jewish survivors, would remain in displaced persons camps in Germany for the next three to five years. Nazi collaborators and war criminals, promoting themselves as anti-Communist activists, would eventually gain entry to the US, the UK, and elsewhere, while the Jewish survivors, accused of being Communist sympathizers or agents, were denied access.
The Wilson Center presents David Nasaw on The Last Million: Europe’s Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War