Following the Second World War, Europe was in shambles. Major cities were destroyed, economies were degraded, and millions of people were either dead or displaced. Ironically, however, the German population had actually grown by the time the war was over in 1945. According to Tara Zara, “The German population had grown from 67 million to 72 million” (Tara Zara, p 336). Most countries, however, were looking to increase their population due to the fact that so many people had either been killed or displaced during the war. Every nation needed man power to get back on its feet and thrive again. “Every European government sought to replenish its dead soldiers and civilians recover its ‘lost children’, and secure the labor power needed for post-war reconstruction” (Tara Zara, p 335).
To secure a greater population, European nations sought to adopt orphan children who had been displaced during the war. The French in particular believed that the overpopulation of Germany posed a direct threat to the French nation and so immediately began to transform displaced children into French citizens. The French reportedly sought to take in between 1,400,000 and 1,500,000 new immigrants to support its labor needs (Tara Zara, p 337). “By August 1946, French occupation authorities had established infant’s homes in the French Zone of Occupation in Tu¨bingen, Bad Durkheim, and Unterhausen” (Tara Zara, p 33
. However, even more displaced than any group was the Jewish population.
More than 250,000 Jews were displaced as a result of World War II and many did not know where to turn. Many turned to Palestine, a place where approximately 180,000 Jews traveled to and set up a new Jewish state which was recognized by both the United States and Soviet Union. The problem, however, was that there were already people living there which caused immediate tensions between the Jewish population and the surrounding states. These tensions still exist to this day.
Displaced children in a displaced persons camp post-WWII
Works Cited
I think it was really interesting the lengths Europeans were willing to go to secure power during this stressful time. They were fighting over millions of displaced people and then weeding them out and picking only the ones that were useful for rebuilding them a strong population. I think you made a really good point by including Palestine and the Jewish people in your post.
I also found it interesting that Germany’s population grew through out the war. I could not determine from the reading however if the population grew purely because of an increase in birth over deaths or if the population grew due to increased territory. Either way I found it intriguing that the French government felt that the Germans did not deserve these population gains. That was part of their argument for nationalizing french-german children.