The flight and expulsion of more than 14 million Germans from their 700-year old homelands in Central and Eastern Europe during the years 1944-48 into a truncated and occupied Germany brought about a humanitarian catastrophe that resulted in the deaths of some two million human beings. This forced displacement of entire populations regardless of personal guilt or innocence, the loss of Germany‘s Eastern provinces and the destruction of the centuries-old German presence in Bohemia, Moravia and the Danube Basin are historical events of far reaching political, economic, cultural and psychological consequences. And yet, the subject matter has remained largely unknown, almost taboo for more than 65 years. These expulsions surpassed the “ethnic cleansing” in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s or the Rwanda genocide of 1994, but unlike these other tragedies, no international tribunal ever investigated or attempted to punish those responsible. International public opinion remains indifferent to German suffering. This book fills a gap and facilitate learning about the subject, laying down the facts and elucidating the main historical and international law implications. It places the events in a broad context and examines the application of relevant human rights norms and international law principles. The original German version of the Theses (2008) was well received by scholars, journalists, politicians, and teachers; this revised and updated English version is particularly well suited for didactic use. Alfred de Zayas is an American lawyer and historian. He holds a J.D. from Harvard and a Dr. phil. in modern history from Göttingen. He is working as Independet Expert of the United Nations. He has taught both international law and world history at universities in the US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. For 22 years he was working as senior lawyer with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, where he was Chief of Petitions and Secretary of the Human Rights Committee.weiterlesen