Remembering Together. 80 years after the expulsion
In 1946, the expulsion of Germans from the territories east of the Oder and Neisse rivers and from German settlement areas in Eastern Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe reached its peak. Millions of people lost their homes as a result of the Second World War, National Socialist crimes and the political and territorial reorganisation of Europe – in regions that today lie primarily in Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and other countries.
The extent to which these events are still remembered and interpreted differently today is also evident in German-Czech relations. Even the terms ‘expulsion’ and ‘Odsun’ reflect differing historical and memory-political perspectives and have shaped controversial debates for decades. At the same time, an intensive dialogue has developed through painstaking effort. The Sudeten German Day 2026, held for the first time in the Czech Republic, marked a historic milestone in this regard.
How far does shared remembrance extend today? Where do differing experiences and assessments persist? And what does this process of understanding mean for a European culture of remembrance?
PROGRAM
Welcome
Dr Roland Borchers, Director of the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation (Berlin)
Jiří Čistecký, Ambassador of the Czech Republic (Berlin) (to be confirmed)
Keynote
Dr Petr Koura, Research Associate, Charles University (Prague)
Conversation
Dr Bernd Fabritius, Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Relating to Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities (Berlin)
David Macek, co-founder of the Meeting Brno festival
PD Dr Stephanie Zloch, research associate, Dresden University of Technology
Moderator: Bára Procházková, journalist
Closing remarks
Stephan Mayer, Member of the German Bundestag, President of the Federation of Expellees (Berlin)
A reception will follow the event.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Guided tours: Guided tours of the special and permanent exhibition will take place at 5 p.m. Please register by email, specifying the tour you would like to join (special exhibition or permanent exhibition), at gruppen@f-v-v.de.
Doors open: 6.00 p.m.
Language: German
ADMISSION FREE
The event will be recorded and published on our YouTube channel Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung.
