After World War Two, many people found themselves with no home, no family, and in some cases no country. They had only what they could carry and what they could find. This was the great migration that was forced on so many Europeans after the war, as many displaced peoples were slowly moving back to their homes or moving away to start a new life. Some would find this new life while others would find nothing but grief as they learn the fates of their families and find out that the new government did not need them.
The group that would be tested the most in this turbulent time would be the political refuge. Most countries allowed children to come back to their homelands, but some countries would not allow adults, even going as far as purging certain groups out the county. People who did not agree with the new government or supported the Nazis were known as an outcast or had a death warrant on their heads. Once this happened, it would be hard to find new homes for these people. For the ones who did not want to return home to begin with, it was still hard. Whatever country they ended up in had to fend for itself and not all countries could allow immigrants of every nation, especially nations that were once enemies. Luckily, there was the United Nations that could step in to offer aid. Without the United Nations to create homes, then much more would have been killed.
The governments of Europe at the time also had to figure out ways in which for Europe could rebuild itself in a peaceful way. Some, like the French, saw these displaced people as easy immigrants who could assimilate into the country with little propagation. Their targets were young children who would not truly know the difference in their actual nationality and would be brought up in French homes. The reason for this was to create a future workforce for the country that would pick up the slack for the war dead. But, who were these children? They were Germans who were left out due to a multitude of reasons, be it from unfit mothers or families, like some propaganda would like you to believe, or just because they were of mixed nationality and could pass off as French. This plan worked for the French, but the question was: Is this any better than what the Nazis were doing during the war? The Nazis were practicing Germanification were they would take small children who passed as enough German for their qualifications from homes of less desirables so that they could add to their own population and biodiversity. This was improbable and many others agreed. After the war, children that were found out to be adopted by Germans for this process were immediately shipped home so that they could be retaught to be their original nationality. This was wrong, also, because by ripping them away from the only people they knew as a family made many feel worse instead of improving their situation. Not to mention that most of the reason for even doing this was to build other nations that these children did not even identify as their own. It was not all bad. Some of the accounts of these children allowed showed that Germany still had the racial tendencies of the Nazis, even if they were to be treated as German. So for some, this was a blessing. They were moving to a country that, even though most forgot how to even speak or identify themselves there, they would be excepted.
It was not all bad. Some of the accounts of these children showed that Germany still had the racial tendencies of the Nazis, even if they were to be treated as German. So for some, this was a blessing. They were moving to a country that, even though most forgot how to even speak or identify themselves there, they would be excepted. There they relearned how to be their nationality and began new lives. Through this process, these kids begin to bring back an old thought: Nationalism. They began to believe in their country and think more about their role as citizens. As this branched out, they also began to see themselves as members of a much bigger part of the world. With the UN supervising most of the relocations of people in Europe, displaced people began to think of the idea of internationalism, that not only were they part of their nation, but also the world. This thought would, many believed, would help unite the world so that no other huge wars would happen in the future.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/refugees_01.shtml
I’m glad that you pointed out some of the positive aspects of how refugee resettlement played out during the war. I think that it is important to remember that there were people both inside and outside government in postwar Europe with good intentions that sincerely wanted to help people who were suffering, even though there were those who sought to exploit the suffering. Going of your last few sentences, do you think that the UNRA and/or the IRO developed more of a sense of internationalism more than the supremacy of the nation state with their programs?