When we became a minority in 1919, after the treaty of Versailles, most of us did not speak Czech. The Czech army responded to our protest marches, demanding self-determination, by killing 54 innocent civilians in 1919. We were treated as second-rate citizens.

In 1938, after the famous treaty of Munich, the Sudetenland was annexed to Germany. 

Between 1945-46, we were expelled by the Czechs from our homeland; more than 3 million of us (approximately the same population as Connecticut or South Carolina) became victims of all the cruelty connected with ethnic cleansing. Our homes were expropriated; about 240,000 civilians (one seventh (1/7) of the population lost their lives, either by murder or enroute, many were tortured; the international community ignored our misery. To date not a single Czech  has been punished for these human-rights violations because the Czech government passed  amnesty laws in 1945, decreeing that Czech nationals committing a crime against the Germans will be exempt from punishment. Incredibly, these laws are still in effect today. The majority of the Czech citizens believe that the atrocities they committed were a just revenge for those committed by Hitler and his army against them. 

The only organization which represents the rights of the Sudeten Germans is the Verband der Sudetendeutschen (Association), headquartered in Munich, with affiliation in the US. It organizes annual meetings of its members, allowing its spokesmen to voice their views on the subject of German Czech relations; of our right for an apology by the Czechs and for return to our homeland or compensation. 

Their web-site is: http://www.sudeten.de

It has been more than fifty years since we were expelled from our homes, an historic event which is practically unknown to the world. Our painful history appears doomed for oblivion; that 3 1/2 millions were "ethnically cleansed" merely because they spoke German; hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were tortured and murdered, ostensibly to revenge German misdeeds which they did not commit. There is, however, one bright spot: in October 1998 the U.S. House of Representatives passed Resolution # 562 Concerning Properties Wrongfully Expropriated by Formerly Totalitarian Governments. It urges the CSR and other East-European countries "to return wrongfully expropriated properties to their rightful owners or ...to pay prompt, just and effective compensation...". The resolution further calls on these nations to remove restrictions which limit restitution. Some homeless Sudeten Germans wound up in Austria, but the majority resettled in war-torn Germany where there was a shortage of housing and food everywhere.

Since the Velvet Revolution in Prague, the Sudeten Germans hoped to get an apology from the Czechs; they also called on the government in Prague that illegally confiscated property be returned; and that permission be granted to the Sudeten Germans to return to their homeland in the CR. To date all these demands were denied. While the previous German government was lukewarm to our political demands, the newly elected Socialist government in Bonn is less complying: German officials state that it does not plan to "burden future relations (with the CR) with events in the past" and that it will refrain from making any demands for compensation. 

Incidentally, the Czech government cannot be sued by individuals for compensation, however, Czech individuals and/ or businnesses residing in the US can be taken to court to obtain compensation. Czech President Vaclev Havel conceded that some actions by the Czechs after WWII were excessive, but he failed to apologize.

A Commission was set up a few years ago between the two governments with the purpose of coming to grips with the misdeeds perpetrated on both sides; it ended with a "Declaration". The Czech side was vehemently opposed to the representation of Sudeten Germans, thus objecting to discussions with the only group which has a legitimate grievance against them. Meanwhile, Germany set up funds for Czech victims. Negotiations have been totally one-sided to date: no apology; no admission of guilt; refusal to permit us the return to our homeland; no compensation. In March 1999, the Czech Republic became a member of NATO; its government has also applied for membership in the European Union.