CYIL vol. 13 (2022)

DALIBOR JÍLEK – JANA BALIŠOVÁ CYIL 13 ȍ2022Ȏ clause excluded a vast group of persons sharing the common attribute of German ethnic origin. 56 The latter group included children who possessed German nationality or belonged to German ethnic minorities within other countries ( Volksdeutsche ). Some of these children returned to the occupation zones as mandated under Article XII of the Potsdam Agreement. 57 Some others were either evacuated from Germany during the war, or fled from there, and returned after the war; they came back on foot or traveled together with their parents or individually. After the end of hostilities, over one million unaccompanied German children lived in the Soviet occupation zone. As they were excluded from international assistance and legal protection of the IRO, domestic religious institutions, both Protestant and Catholic, as well as local Red Cross organizations took care of them. 4. The Interests of Unaccompanied Children: Repatriation or Resettlement The return of unaccompanied children to their country of origin was a restorative process that involved several distinct but interconnected procedures conducted by the local and occupation authorities as well as international organizations. The search for unaccompanied children took place primarily within various, present and former, child welfare facilities. One of the key indicators as to the children’s identity was their knowledge of a language other than German; although, many children had forgotten their native languages. The search also involved interviewing of former employees of those facilities as well as of authorities responsible for placing non-German children into institutional or family-based care. An additional avenue for locating unaccompanied children within the occupied territories presented the newly established centers for displaced persons. 58 4.1 Individual and separate investigation Each child’s case had to be investigated individually and separately. The tracing of unaccompanied children consisted of search, discovery, and perusal of official documents, which recorded the transfers and placement of children in the states bordering Germany or Austria as well as their subsequent relocation to Germany. The investigation, search, and tracing procedures required cooperation with the national ministries of the countries concerned and creation of lists of missing children. The ascertainment of the individual identities of unaccompanied children located within children’s centers administered by the IRO or the occupation authorities required a special procedure. Formal identification of children was a time-consuming and resource-intensive affair. The international operation was entrusted into the hands of the IRO, whose staff compiled individual documentation for each unaccompanied child. They ascertained and, in particular, verified the child’s basic personal data such as the date and place of birth as well as the country of origin and last place of residence therein. Information about the child’s entry 56 See CIRO Annex I, Part II – Persons Who Will not be Concern of the Organization, para 4: “Persons of German ethnic origin, whether German nationals or members of German minorities in other countries, who: (a) have been or may be transferred to Germany from other countries; (b) have been, during the second world war, evacuated from Germany to other countries; (c) have fled from, or into, Germany, or from their places of residence into countries other than Germany in order to avoid falling into the hands of Allied armies.” 57 See Potsdam Agreement art XII – Orderly Transfer of German Populations. 58 Involved in this process were, e.g., national Red Cross organizations of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Poland.

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