Post-War Europe: Refugees, Exile and Resettlement, 1945–1950

Post-War Europe: Refugees, Exile and Resettlement, 1945-1950 provides a unique perspective on the lives of the survivors — Jewish and non-Jewish — of the Holocaust and World War II.  The collection contains documents from British government files as well as those of the Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad and the Jewish Relief Units — including surveys, leaflets, reports of relief workers, U.S. zone reports, War office memos, Exodus Camp records, Displaced Persons Assembly Centre weekly reports and correspondence of relief organizations.  It covers the international politics leading the administration, care, repatriation and emigration of Displaced Persons (DPs) and the daily plight of the refugees themselves. 

Post-War Europe: Refugees, Exile and Resettlement, 1945-1950 is an essential resource for World War II studies, Displaced Persons and refugee studies, Holocaust and Jewish studies, genocide and peace studies and post-War history of Germany, Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Greece and Italy.

Summary:

Although World War II ended officially in May 1945, the struggle continued for millions of homeless people who had been displaced as a result of military action, deportation into labor or concentration camps, local racism and discrimination or the relocation of national borders. The burden of the refugee problem taxed the Allied governments and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) relief groups in their attempts to administer, feed and house a moving people searching for their lost families and a permanent home.

Although a rapid repatriation program was organized, many Displaced Persons (DPs) could not or would not return to their homelands. Emigration programs struggled against the reluctance of nations outside Europe to assist in the resolution of this humanitarian catastrophe.

Post-War Europe: Refugees, Exile and Resettlement, 1945–1950 documents this historic season by reprinting:

• Surveys, leaflets, conference proceedings and records of relief agencies
• Correspondence of relief organizations
• Jewish Relief Unit directives, forms, orders and records
• Reports of Relief Workers in German camps including Belsen
• U.S. Zone reports
• Exodus Camp records
• Unpublished documents from The National Archives of the UK on immediate post-war refugees and displaced persons following the liberation of the concentration camps
• Administration and operational directives for Allied Forces in Italy and Germany
• Reports of the Inter-Governmental Committee on Refugees
• Reports of the Joint Distribution Committee (Jews)
• Situation reports from Transit, Refugee and Exodus camps
• Displaced Persons and Repatriation Sub-Commission monthly reports
• DP Assembly Centre Weekly Reports
• War Office memos
• Telegrams
• Photos and maps from the National Archives Picture Library
• The Henriques Archive from the Wiener Library, the records of Rose Henriques Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad

 These essential primary sources cover the macro political issues and the day-to-day survival of the DPs themselves, shedding important light on such issues as:

• Refugee camps across Europe including England, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Yugoslavia.
• The role of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Commission
• The international response to the refugee crisis in Europe
• Life in the DP camps
• The rise of Zionism and determination to secure a Jewish homeland in Palestine
• The Soviet attitude to refugees from Eastern Europe and the breakdown in U.S./Soviet relations
• The plight of Eastern Europeans — Poles, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Latvians, Lithuanians — who were not able to return to their homelands until after the fall of the Berlin wall
• Reports and statistics on refugees by country
• The Maclean Mission in Italy
• British Military Government in Germany
• Adoption of Jewish orphans 

 Post-War Europe: Refugees, Exile and Resettlement, 1945–1950 offers users a complete research environment that includes: 

• Seven introductory and thematic essays by leading scholars with links to the original documents
• A Multimedia section with five documentary film clips and tabs to all photographs, maps and illustrations in the archive
• Key Documents linking users to essential sources in the archive
• A Chronology of events in Europe in the aftermath of World War II, set within key world events 1945–1950
• Links to Related Resources for further research

Post-War Europe: Refugees, Exile and Resettlement, 1945-1950 is an essential resource for World War II studies, Displaced Persons and refugee studies, Holocaust and Jewish studies, genocide and peace studies and post-War history of Germany, Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Greece and Italy.

Significance:  The fall of the Berlin Wall, a resurgent European Union and the restructuring of the Soviet empire have provoked increased study of the post-World War II period. To meet this demand, Gale has partnered with the Wiener Library and the National Archives of the UK to create Post-War Europe: Refugees, Exile and Resettlement, 1945-1950. It is the first major resource to cover the post World War II period and the tragedy of the refugee crisis. Its unique coverage:

• Helps users research the impact of the refugee crisis in Europe on the ethnic mix and politics of the global community
• Presents the circumstances, politics and discussions of alternative available in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust and World War II
• Provides the evidence for the history of the European Jews as well as refugees of other countries who were permanently displaced by realignment of national boundaries and political ideologies

Source: From the Wiener Library, Henriques Collection and The National Archives of the UK in partnership with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

For more information, download a Product Fact Sheet [pdf, 332 KB]