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The last million : Europe's displaced persons from World War to Cold War / by Nasaw, David,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In May of 1945, German forces surrendered to the Allied powers, effectively putting an end to World War II in Europe. But the aftershocks of this global military conflict did not cease with the signing of truces and peace treaties. Millions of lost and homeless POWs, slave laborers, political prisoners, and concentration camp survivors overwhelmed Germany, a country in complete disarray. British and American soldiers gathered the malnourished and desperate foreigners, and attempted to repatriate them to Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and the USSR. But after exhaustive efforts, there remained over a million displaced persons who either refused to go home or, in the case of many, had no home to which to return. They would spend the next three to five years in displaced persons camps, divided by nationalities, temporary homelands in exile, with their own police forces, churches, schools, newspapers, and medical facilities. The international community couldn't agree on the fate of the Last Million, and after a year of fruitless debate and inaction, an International Refugee Organization was created to resettle them in lands suffering from labor shortages. But no nations were willing to accept the 200,000 to 250,000 Jewish men, women, and children who remained trapped in Germany. In 1948, the United States, among the last countries to accept anyone for resettlement, finally passed a Displaced Persons Bill - but as Cold War fears supplanted memories of WWII atrocities, the bill only granted visas to those who were reliably anti-communist, including thousands of former Nazi collaborators, Waffen-SS members, and war criminals, while barring the Jews who were suspected of being Communist sympathizers or agents because they had been recent residents of Soviet-dominated Poland. Only after the passage of the controversial UN resolution for the partition of Palestine and Israel's declaration of independence were the remaining Jewish survivors finally able to leave their displaced persons camps in Germany."--
Subjects: United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.; International Refugee Organization.; World War, 1939-1945; Refugees; Refugees; Jewish refugees; Political refugees; Jews; Humanitarianism; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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My fourth time, we drowned : seeking refuge on the world's deadliest migration route / by Hayden, Sally,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."Reporter Sally Hayden was at home in London when she received a message on Facebook from an Eritrean refugee: "Hi sister Sally, we need your help ... " The sender had been held in a Libyan detention center for months, locked in with hundreds of others. But now, the surrounding city was crumbling as warring factions battled around them. They were stuck, defenseless, and with only one hope: contacting the journalist they knew would tell their true story. With that begins Hayden's staggering account of the migrant crisis across North Africa. Built on years of reporting and unprecedented contact with dozens of people inside Libyan detention centers, Hayden details their personal stories of despair, perseverance, horrific torture, and blind faith. My Fourth Time, We Drowned details the prolonged and sustained international failure that esulted in this massive humanitarian crisis, shining a light on the failure, corruption, and cynicism of organizations specifically created to prevent such tragedies. But most importantly, this book is a testament to the resilience of its subjects: how refugees and migrants stay whole and human-despite a system that wants them to be silent and disappear"--
Subjects: Boat people.; Refugees.; Emigration and immigration;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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