As Spiegel Online reported today, an annual meeting of post-World War II expellees was tainted this weekend by a war of words with Prague, with Czech president Vaclav Klaus outraged after a Sudeten German leader demanded an apology for their expulsion.
During the 62nd annual meeting in the southern German city of Augsburg, Franz Pany, the leader of the Sudeten German organization, effectively demanded that Prague apologize for expelling the ethnic German populace. His comments were not well-received.
During a speech on Saturday Pany referenced Queen Elizabeth II’s historic visit to Ireland last month, where she expressed remorse over the violent past shared between Britain and its close neighbor. “What prevents a republican head of state such as the President of the Czech Republic from expressing something similar to the expelled and disenfranchised Sudeten Germans?” he asked.
But in a statement Czech President Vaclav Klaus refused to make such a concession, instead accusing Pany of “extraordinary insensitivity” and thoughtlessness, particularly because his remarks fell on the anniversary of the Nazi massacre in the Czech village of Lidice, where some 340 people were brutally murdered in 1942.
With the row threatening the fragile and lengthy process of reconciliation between the two sides, the Czech president is coming under increased pressure to offer an apology to the descendants of the three million Sudeten Germans who were pushed out by the then Czechoslovakia in punishment for what was believed to be their part in the brutal occupation. But, is a formal apology the right way forward for a notoriously proud man? Perhaps the two sides only chance of moving forward is to focus on the future instead of the past.
November 22nd, 2012
7 Comments at "Should Prague Apologize to Sudeten Germans?"
The ethnic cleansing of Germans from the Sudetenland was a war crime that the Czechs have never paid for. An apology is long overdue.
After all the atrocities and random acts of terror the Germans directed at the other peoples of Europe during World War II (most prominently at the Slavs and Jews who were both earmarked for slavery and/or extermination), I honestly do not believe the Germans deserve any apology. The expulsion of the Germans from parts of eastern and central Europe were an unfortunate reaction to the rage that victims of German aggression felt. The Sudeten Germans were, as a whole, not idle spectators in the war either. The majority of them openly sided with the Nazis and were willing participants in the Nazi war machine.
Oh…so Mr Hanson, you are saying crimes committed by Germans were wrong, but the same crimes committed against Germans were ok ? I always thought genocide, ethnic cleansing, murder etc were wrong regardless of who the victims are.
Yes! Prague should apologize!
Here I’ll apologize again for Germany. Sorry. All of Germany is sorry for the war. There! Now you go ahead and apologize Prague! You will feel better and we can move on.
I was born here in the United States. My mothers side of the family fought for the USA. My fathers side fought for Germany. My father was one who was expelled from Eger/Cheb. How is it someone can be soooooo proud as not to say sorry? What kind of love is that. I’ve been married to my wife for 25 years. How many times do you think we have both said “sorry”? Germany and the Czech Republic are married by a common border. We need to both say sorry so we can move on with our relationship!
“Prague” apologized several times already, most notably president Havel in the early 90s. The expulsion was something we are definitely not proud of, but one should not forget that this “ethnic cleansing” was ordered by the Allies in Potsdam. The majority of Czechs see the expulsion as an inevitable result of the war and occupation of their country in which the Sudeten Germans played a crucial role. The atrocities that occurred during it including muss murders of civilians are, of course, despicable whoever the perpetrator and no sane person can defend it.
The expulsion and ethnic cleansing of the Sudetenland is a horrible crime committed by a half-crazed czech population. That the government condoned such atrocities is reprehensible. That the civilian population was so cruel to innocent civilians is unforgivable. An apology by the Czechs is long overdue.
The Germans and their collaborators killed approximately 263,000 Jews who had resided on the territory of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1938. When they return those lives, the Germans can get their land back.
The Germans invaded and occupied, and their intention was the eventual demise of all slavs, there should be no apology needed for any retaliation. ever. It is sad that some Germans lost land, or even a few lost their lives, but if they want to blame anyone, they need only look in the mirror, and blame the fatherland who started the war in the first place.
Comment Now!