Claim:
It was the great powers that forced Hungary to displace ethnic Germans after WW2
Rebuttal:
Not true, the displacement measures were initiated from inside Hungary
In detail: In Hungary politicians of the National Peasants’ Party and the Smallholders’ Party already started to spread propaganda against ethnic Germans as early as April 1945.[1] In the text of the Potsdam accords referred to the displacement not as an obligation but a possibility, ’at the request of the governments in question’. The closing document issued in Potsdam calls for an organised transfer of ethnic German populations (Chapter XIII). ’The governments of Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, having looked at all the implications of the question recognise that measures must be taken concerning the repatriation to Germany of the German population left in these countries or parts thereof. They agree that any relocation must be carried out in an organised and humane way.’ The Hungarian government asked the Allies as early as April 1945 to be given permission for the displacement of its half million strong ethnic German population – while in fact there were only 350,000 ethnic Germans within the borders set in 1938. As a reaction to this request, the deputy head of the Allied Commission, V. P. Sviridov on 9 August 1945 ordered the displacement of half a million ethnic Germans. When after this the Hungarian government pointed at this saying that they are organising the transfer at the express wish of the Soviets, Sviridov was quick to protest and said it was the Hungarian government that had made the request. On 20 November 1945 the Allied Commission repeatedly issued its order concerning the displacement of 0.5 million Germans. The Hungarian government voted on the forced displacement based on the concept of ’collective responsibility’ and those concerned admitted themselves that the initiative originally had come from the Hungarian government, not the Allied Commission. Nine of the 16 ministers (Imre Nagy, Ernő Gerő, Erik Molnár, Jenő Tombor, Mátyás Rákosi, István Dobi, József Antall Sr., Antal Bán, Antal Balla) voted for, two (István Ries and Károly Bárányos) voted against and five abstained. The resolution stated that everyone is to be displaced who had declared themselves to be of German ethnicity or mother tongue in the 1941 census, and allowed for a maximum of 10% to be exempted.
Common past: knowledge to dispel historical misconceptions – supporting the work of Slovak and Hungarian history teachers through print and online publications, professional conferences. A project of the Association of History Teachers and the Hungarian-language newspaper of the Denník N news portal.
Funded by the European Union. The information and statements contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the European Union or the Tempus Public Foundation. Neither the European Union nor the funding authority can be held responsible for them.
