The forgotten escape: humanity in home in the school bag

The forgotten escape: humanity in home in the school bag

Bielitz, Polen - The escape history of millions of Germans who fled from Eastern areas after the Second World War is often overlooked. The case of Heinz H. Bathelt, who had to flee in 1945 with his family from Bielitz, Silesia, is an example of the tragic fates. Together with his mother, sister and two grandmothers, Bathelt left his home in January 1945 to start a new life in Austria. After the end of the war, the family found that their home country belonged to the People's Republic of Poland. From then on they lived on donations and dreamed of a better life, while the second escape led them via Bratislava and Gänserndorf to Vienna. The family had no valid papers and was exposed to strong hunger and privation. Christoph Bathelt reports that his father suffered extreme hardships during this time, for example when he had to get soup with a large milk jug, swam in the maggot. These difficult memories were never taken as an opportunity to complain about Poland or Russians.

In the graphic novel "The home in the school bag", which Christoph Bathelt, the son of Heinz H. Bathelt, published, is comprehensibly documented. It not only conveys the experiences while fleeing, but also wants to promote humanity and understanding instead of raising reproachful charges. The publisher Birol Kiliç said positively and noticed that this chapter in German history was unknown to him. Many people in Germany and Austria are affected by such escape stories, which is often not aware of it. In 2022, according to UNHCR, over 100 million people were fleeing worldwide, which underlines the relevance of the topics of flight and displacement.

a deep understanding of the past

The graphic novel itself is an important work that gives young people low -threshold access to the history of displaced persons. Christoph Bathelt wanted to prepare his father's life stories in an understandable form. In this context, it should be mentioned that Heinz H. Bathelt wrote down his memories of life in 2010. These records included four folders with handwritten pages, which Christoph Bathelt found to be very personal and detailed. After researching his father's stories and looking for suitable photos, a work was created that conveyed precise observations and details of the events at that time.

The expulsion of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe became a reality for 12 to 14 million people between 1945 and 1950. The causes were diverse and ranged from National Socialist tyranny to the loss of territorial losses of the German Reich, as defined in the protocols of the Potsdam conference from 1945. The displacement was also understood in response to the crimes of the National Socialists in order to create ethnically homogeneous states. This shows how controversial the memories of flight and displacement are and how much they influence German historiography and politics. The integration of the displaced ethnic groups in Germany represented a lengthy process, shaped by social tensions and a poor understanding of their fates in the post -war period.

The graphic novel by Christoph Bathelt serves the goal of expanding the knowledge of these often ignored stories and creating a better understanding of the challenges of flight and homelessness. It is not only a personal story, but also a document that is supposed to stimulate reflection on the fortunes of millions of people.