Displaced Persons – Between Liberation and a New Beginning
Those who did not return immediately lived mainly in DP camps in the western occupation zones of Germany and Austria. How did they experience this time of uncertainty?
Disappointed in our dreams and hopes and condemned to continue wandering outside the borders of our homeland, we are forced to live among strangers and people who are unfriendly towards us (...).1
Toruń is a Polish metropolitan and university city with almost 200,000 inhabitants and, together with Bydgoszcz (German: Bromberg), one of the two capitals of the Polish voivodeship of Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Polish: województwo kujawsko-pomorskie).
Toruń is situated in the historical landscape of the Kulmerland. Founded in the High Middle Ages under the Teutonic Order, the city joined the Hanseatic League in the 14th century. In the 15th century the city, like the rest of Kulmerland, Pomerelia or Warmia, fell to the Kingdom of Poland. In the course of the first partition of Poland-Lithuania in 1772, Toruń became part of Brandenburg-Prussia and was part of the Prussian province of West Prussia until the 20th century.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was born here.
![Antoni Żok, undatiert. Privatbesitz Dominika N. [Name auf Wunsch anonymisiert], Polen](/sites/default/files/styles/content_d2/public/externals/aab9435607d72e4e5ffe0ea0a6028833.jpg?itok=ms-UsmTC)
What are displaced persons?
The Soviet Union (SU or USSR) was a state in Eastern Europe, Central and Northern Asia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It emerged from the so-called Soviet Russia, the successor state of the Russian Empire. The Russian Soviet Republic formed the core of the union and at the same time its largest part, with further constituent republics added. Their number varied over time and was related to the occupation of other countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Soviet republics that existed only for a short time (Karelo-Finlandia) or the division or merger of Soviet republics. In addition, there were numerous autonomous republics or other territorial units with an autonomy status that was essentially limited to linguistic autonomy for minorities.
Before its formal dissolution, the USSR consisted of 15 Soviet republics with a population of approximately 290 million people. At around 22.4 million km², it was the largest territorial state in the world at the time. The Soviet Union was a socialist soviet republic with a one-party system and an absence of separation of powers.
With the newly created category of “displaced person”, the Allies attempted to group together what was in reality a profoundly heterogeneous group of people. Even groups of displaced persons with nominally the same citizenship, such as Poles or Lithuanians, were made up of very diverse and often politically divided subgroups. These groups contained people who had also experienced the war in very different ways: they included liberated forced laborers, concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war, refugees, anti-communists and accomplices to Nazi crimes.
It is a truly sad and deplorable fact that, twelve months after the end of military operations in Europe, we are still being moved from camp to camp, where we must once again look with disgust at the barbed wire surrounding us, and stay in dilapidated, foul-smelling barracks of former camps, which we left with such joy and never wanted to see again (…).3
Austria is a country in Central Europe populated by about 8.9 million people. The capital of the country is Vienna.
Why did displaced persons not return home?
What was originally intended by the Allies as a brief transitional stay in DP camps thus gradually turned into a prolonged reality. Within these camps, both elected and self-proclaimed elites took on roles in self-governance. Many of them promoted their own national identity, identified as anti-communists, and stylized themselves and their compatriots in the camps as the true representatives of their homeland. They viewed their own countries – such as
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (short USSR, also UkrSSR, Ukrainian: Українська Радянська Соціалістична Республіка) was a union republic of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1922 to 1991. The USSR was founded in 1919, its capital was Kharkiv (Kharkov in Russian) until 1934, and then Kiev until the end of the USSR in 1991. Around 51.7 million people lived in the USSR towards the end (1989).
The cultural, moral and financial “backbone” of Polish displaced persons was the Polish exile army, which had not only fought on the side of the Western Allies against the terror of the National Socialists, but also against that of the Soviets. Their efforts were dedicated to establishing an independent
The Second Polish Republic (Polish: II. Rzeczpospolita) is the common name for the Polish state (Republic of Poland) after it regained independence on 11.11.1918 in connection with the end of the First World War, following 123 years of partition. The territorial extent of the Second Polish Republic, especially to the east, was considerably smaller than that of the so-called 1st Republic (Republic of Nobles), which ceased to exist in 1795 with the third partition of Poland between the Habsburg Monarchy, Prussia and Russia.
The borders of the Second Polish Republic with the neighboring states were not established until 1921 and as a result of armed conflicts, although they remained controversial even afterwards (and in some cases for the entire existence of the Second Polish Republic). The German aggression on Poland on September 1, 1939 and the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939 were followed by the capitulation in Warsaw on September 28, 1939, which was the functional end of the Second Republic. The withdrawal of recognition of the Polish government-in-exile by the British and US governments on 5 July 1945 is often regarded as its formal end, although the organs of the later People's Republic of Poland were already recognized by the Soviet Union as the official representation of Poland on 24 June 1944. The President of the Polish government-in-exile in London, Ryszard Kaczorowski, handed over the insignia of the Second Republic to the then President in Warsaw, Lech Wałęsa, on 22.12.1990 as the last symbolic act of the Second Polish Republic.
One of these exiled soldiers was Alfons Borowski. Before the war, he had lived in eastern Poland, which was occupied by the Soviet Union
Siberia covers an area of 12.8 million square kilometers between the Ural Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, the North Polar Sea, China and Mongolia. The Russian conquest of Siberia began in 1581/82. At the time of the Enlightenment, Siberia was primarily a source of raw materials and an area for trade with Asia. From the 19th century onwards, Siberia gained importance as a place for penal colonies and exiles. With the development of the Trans-Siberian Railway and steam navigation at the end of the 19th century, industrialization and thus new settlers came to Siberia. Further industrialization under Stalin was implemented primarily with the labour of Gulag prisoners and prisoners of war.
The map shows North Asia, centrally located Siberia. CIA World Factbook, edited by Veliath (2006) and Ulamm (2008). CC0 1.0.
![Alfons Borowski (rechts) mit anderen Soldaten des 2. Polnischen Corps in Rom, Sommer 1944. Privatbesitz, Stacey K. [Name auf Wunsch anonymisiert], USA](/sites/default/files/styles/content_d2/public/externals/1b6a6b3a8ecd8cec0932d6b99ca26040.jpg?itok=CbkIe7Tg)
Camp life – between hope and monotony
This is the difficult fate we must bear, the fate of the Poles; we were among the first to lose our freedom and independence, and we will be the last to regain it. I often think about home, about my mother (...) and find myself wondering whether there was anything left of our farms and houses after the German and Russian armies passed through the whole of Poland (...).11
![Tagebücher von Antoni Żok. Privatbesitz Dominika N. [Name auf Wunsch anonymisiert], Polen](/sites/default/files/styles/content_d2/public/externals/bf12f25b56182fed31553649cfb433fc.jpg?itok=c6dqNQxN)
At the end of June 1945, the first transport from Żok’s camp departed for Poland. Due to his injury, he was unable to travel with them. “After yesterday’s transport departed, our camp became deserted, life disappeared (…), loneliness and some unspeakable longing has overwhelmed me as never before since leaving home. Before, there was movement and bustle and activity everywhere – cooking all day until late in the evening in the barracks and outside, singing and music. Now – only this emptiness.”15 Żok’s writings from the following months are filled with a deep sense of homesickness. Adding to his sorrow was the uncertainty about what had happened to his family16 – it appears he had no contact with home at all. At first, he spent his days doing nothing, going for walks, and swimming.17 Eventually, he took up work in the DP camp. Keeping displaced persons occupied and preventing boredom was a clear priority for the U.S. military administration and the international aid organization UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration). The UNRRA was primarily responsible for providing for the displaced persons and organizing their return home. A UNRRA newspaper article described work as an essential part of rebuilding civilian life for the displaced: “They are becoming individuals again – these people who were herded like cattle for six years. Gradually, they are adjusting to an orderly life within a community, where honest work brings satisfaction and reward and where food and shelter can be shared without fear.”18
Beyond simply doing repairs, camp residents busied themselves establishing a new kind of temporary daily life: newspapers were founded, recreational programs were introduced, and exile communities formed. Many sought to enjoy their newfound freedom. Excessive drinking, smoking, and sex became significant aspects of daily life and frequent topics of conversation.19 Before long, there was a marriage and baby boom among the communities of displaced persons.
Despite these attempts at normalcy, camp life remained unpredictable. DP camps were rarely permanent, and Żok’s was no exception. Less than a year later, in April 1946, his camp was relocated – this time to Flossenbürg, where displaced persons were housed in the barracks of a former concentration camp. Żok described this as a period of constant "wandering" from camp to camp. What frustrated him most, however, was the uncertainty of the future. Moving from one "waiting room"20 to the next was an experience shared by many people.
New beginnings
Among German speakers, displaced persons were often regarded as criminal foreigners. Meanwhile, the Western Allies increased pressure on non-Jewish displaced persons to return to their countries of origin as quickly as possible.
Given these circumstances, many altered their personal information – sometimes due to misunderstandings, but often deliberately to gain some advantage or avoid forced repatriation to the Soviet Union.21 One such case was that of Micha(e)l Tichon. Born in what is now
Belarus (population in 2024: 9,109,280) is a country in Eastern Europe that was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. Its capital and most populous city is Minsk. Belarus borders Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Russia.
The Mandate of Palestine was created as a result of the First World War and the territorial reorganization of the eastern Mediterranean territories (Levant) in the post-war years, which had previously belonged to the defeated Ottoman Empire. In the course of the war, the areas to the west and east of the Jordan River, which were historically also referred to as Cis- or Transjordan and correspond to the present-day states of Israel, Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, came under British rule. From 1916, Great Britain had decisively supported the regional Arab independence movement in the Arab Revolt (1916-1918), but subsequently divided the militarily conquered territories between itself and France. Even before the end of the war, Great Britain had assured not only the Arab but also the Jewish population of the region of support in achieving political independence and creating their own states (Balfour Declaration, 1917). The San Remo Conference, which decided on the division of the Ottoman Empire in April 1920, confirmed the British territorial claims. In 1922, the League of Nations also officially granted Great Britain a mandate over the territory.
As early as 1923, Great Britain divided this first Mandatory Palestine into two territories: “Transjordan”, which became independent in 1946 and has officially been known as Jordan since 1950; and the area still known as the Mandatory Palestine, which now comprised the historical Cisjordan or the part of the historical region of Palestine located west of the Jordan River and the Negev Desert to the south and which still had access to the Gulf of Aqaba and thus to the Red Sea.
The period of the Mandate was characterized by ongoing unrest between the Arab and Jewish populations of the Mandate territory. After the end of the Second World War, Great Britain gave up the Mandate and returned it to the United Nations (as the successor to the League of Nations), which then developed a partition plan for the region. However, this plan was never implemented, as tensions in the mandate territory escalated into the Palestine War (1947-1949), during which Israel was able to declare and successfully assert its independence.
The image shows a map of the British Mandate in Palestine between 1945 and 1947 (Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
By that time, Antoni Żok was living in the
The People's Republic of Poland was a socialist state in the Soviet sphere of influence that existed from 1944 to 1989 (until 1952 as the Republic of Poland). Its borders correspond to those of present-day Poland. The formal legitimization of the political system was based on the referendum of 1946 and the election of 1947, while the results of both were falsified. The parties of the so-called Democratic Bloc were forcibly united in 1948 in the Socialist Unity Party of the One-Party State, the communist Polish United Workers' Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, PZPR), which ruled until the end of the People's Republic.
Many descendants of displaced persons have reported similar silences. For many who experienced the camps and displacement, this period of their lives seemed to be a mere “afterwards” — after the war, after survival. Their desire for a fresh start was so strong that they rarely spoke about the past. In Eastern Europe, the topic of displaced persons remained politically taboo. Many former DPs were particularly fearful of being asked the uncomfortable question: why had they not returned immediately? As a result, years – often decades – of silence followed.
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