From The National Archives, UK and the Wiener Library, London
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From The National Archives of the UK, and The Wiener Library, London
General Editor: Professor Dan Stone, Royal Holloway College, University of London
President Truman Signing Displacement Bill. Washington, DC, 16 June 1950. Click to enlarge

President Truman Signing Displacement Bill. Washington, DC, 16 June 1950
© Bettmann/CORBIS

This online archive delivers essential primary sources for the study and understanding of the challenges facing the European peoples in the aftermath of World War II. It covers the politics and administration of the refugee crisis in Europe after World War II as well as the day-to-day survival of the refugees themselves.

Although the War in Europe ended officially in May 1945, the struggle continued for the millions of homeless people who had been displaced as a result of military action, deportation into labour or concentration camps, local racism and discrimination or the relocation of national borders. The burden of the refugee problem taxed the Allied governments and Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) relief groups in their attempts to administer, feed and house a moving people searching for their lost families and a permanent home.

A rapid repatriation programme was organised but many Displaced Persons ("DPs") could not or would not return to their homelands. Emigration programmes struggled against the reluctance of nations outside Europe to assist in the resolution of this humanitarian catastrophe.

Here is evidence for both the macro political issues and the day-to-day survival of the DPs themselves:

  • The role of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Commission
  • The international response to the refugee crisis in Europe
  • Life in the DP camps
  • The rise of Zionism and determination to secure a Jewish homeland in Palestine
  • The Soviet attitude to refugees from Eastern Europe and the breakdown in US/Soviet relations
  • Reports and statistics on refugees by country

Post-War Europe is an essential resource for:

  • World War II Studies
  • Displaced Persons and Refugee Studies
  • Holocaust and Jewish Studies
  • Post-War History of Germany, Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Greece and Italy
 		Refugees Looking for Shelter. Berlin, 18 December 1945. Click to enlarge

Refugees Looking for Shelter. Berlin, 18 December 1945. © Bettmann/CORBIS

Young Jews Read of Palestine. Bergen-Belsen, 1948. Click to enlarge

Young Jews Read of Palestine. Bergen-Belsen, 1948. © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS


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