Flucht und Vertreibung

VerfuegungThis area contains photos, documents, and texts of the Germans’ Expulsion from “the East”. Some of the images are disturbing and may not be well suited for young children. Should you notice any problems with respect to time, place, information or copyright with these photos, please inform me so that I may rectify things immediately.

The following link describes a bit about why this topic appears on ManyRoads as well as our thoughts on Ethnic Cleansing & Expulsion: On the “Vertreibung”, Expulsions, and Hope

Our Family History with Expulsion(s)

Across the years, many of our ancestors (Rabideau & Henss alike) have been expelled, persecuted and “driven out or away” because of their beliefs or ethnicity. Rabideau & Henss forebears have been:

  1. Imprisoned for 5 1/2 years and driven from Wales for being Quakers (1600s)
  2. “Exported” to the New World from France as “wives for the King’s soldiers and French colonists” because they were Orphans and/or Poor (1600s)
  3. Driven from England for being Puritans (1600s)
  4. Expelled from Switzerland for being Mennonites (1700s)
  5. Forced from the Palatinate for being Mennonites (1700s)
  6. Expelled from L’Acadie 1755 for speaking French
  7. Driven from France for being Mennonites and refusing military conscription (1800s)
  8. Forced to leave Bas Canada because they were poor, spoke French and there was no place for them in an English Canada (1840-1850s)
  9. Expelled from Prussia, imprisoned in Russian Gulags, as well as having been murdered for being German (1945-1950)

The Vertreibung of post-World War 2 Germany is particularly recent and it is the only expulsion for which we have a large photographic and documentary log. We maintain and share this information so that we may remind the world of the pain of expulsion and intolerance.


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Related Topics:

ManyRoads primary source materials:

Online resources:

ManyRoads Opinion:


ManyRoads’ works diligently in honor of all those who have suffered, or currently suffer, expulsion, intolerance, and persecution. We freely offer our resource materials in the hope that peace and tolerance will prevail. To quote Thich Nhat Hanh:

The practice of peace and reconciliation is one of the most vital […] of human actions.


Please contact me if you have any additional Vertreibung images from 1944-1950s to share.  N.B: Anyone who is willing & able to assist me in sorting or identifying the images more is encouraged to contact me directly via email: genealogy@many-roads.com .


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