Okla-homey
9/27/2006, 06:23 AM
Sept 27, 1938 : President Franklin D. Roosevelt appeals to Hitler for peace
Sixty-eight years ago, on this day in 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt writes to German Chancellor Adolf Hitler regarding the threat of war in Europe.
The German chancellor had been threatening to invade the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia and, in the letter, FDR's second to Hitler in as many days, Roosevelt reiterated the need to find a peaceful resolution to the issue.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1938/zzzzzzzzzzzzsudetenlanddv7.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The Sudetenland, depicted in white on this map, was a region along the Czech-German/Austrian border populated by people of German ancestory. The ethnic Germans had ended-up in Czech territory mostly as a result of shifting borders resulting from various wars and conquests which had repeatedly occurred for centuries in central Europe
The previous day, FDR had written to Hitler with an appeal to negotiate with Czechoslovakia regarding Germany’s desire for the natural and industrial resources of the Sudetenland rather than resort to force.
Hitler responded that Germany was entitled to the area because of the "shameful" way in which the Treaty of Versailles, which had ended World War I, had made Germany a "pariah" in the community of nations. The treaty had given the Sudetenland, a territory that was believed by Hitler and many of his supporters to be inherently German, to the state of Czechoslovakia.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6269/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsudetenmapxs6.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Pre-war Czechoslovakia with the Sudetenland in red.
Therefore, Hitler reasoned, German invasion of the Sudetenland was justified, as annexation by Germany would simply mean returning the area to its cultural and historical roots. Hitler assured Roosevelt that he also desired to avoid another large-scale war in Europe.
In his letter of September 27, Roosevelt expressed relief at Hitler’s assurances but re-emphasized his desire that "negotiations be continued until a peaceful settlement is found."
FDR also suggested that a conference of all nations concerned with the current conflict be convened as soon as possible. He appealed to Hitler’s ego, saying "should you agree to a solution in this peaceful manner I am convinced that hundreds of millions throughout the world would recognize your action as an outstanding historic service to all humanity." [Editors note: well, at least until the world found out about Hitler's plans to exterminate the world's Jews and Judaism.]
FDR then assured Hitler that the U.S. would remain neutral regarding European politics, but that America recognized a responsibility to be involved "as part of a world of neighbors."
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8455/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz10519csrz9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Dr Suess knew the score
In the end, Hitler ignored the international community’s pleas for a peaceful solution and invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939. The invasion was just the first in Hitler’s quest to control Europe and create a "Third Reich" of German geopolitical supremacy.
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2977/zzzzzzzzzzzzsudetenab5.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Hitler's boys eventually invaded the Sudetenland in 1939 and in truth, were initially welcomed by the ethnic German population
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsudeten1938corjy4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Happy ethnic German chicks welcome the Wehrmacht to the Sudetenland
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/4869/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzeger2jd3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hitler visits the Marktplatz in downtown Eger (now called Cheb), the capital of the Egerland district of the Sudetenland. To his left is Konrad Henlein, head of the Nazi Party in Czechoslovakia, and Reichskommissar for the Sudetenland. Henlein became Nazi governor of Czechoslovakia following the German takeover of the country in March 1939
[B]Post-War epilogue
At the end of World War II, the Potsdam Conference in 1945 determined that Sudeten Germans would have to leave Czechoslovakia. This was primarily a consequence of the immense hostility against all Germans that had grown within Czechoslovakia due to Nazi behavior since the occupation in 1939.
The postwar non-German Czech majority simply could no longer abide the presence of these ethnic Germans among them -- particularly since they had not forgotten the welcome those folks gave the Nazi invaders when they originally rolled in in 1939. Thus, the overwhelming majority of Germans in newly liberated Czechoslovakia were expelled.
The number of ethnic Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia totalled 3 million of the 3.2 million Germans who lived there. These people were not among German nationals who invaded the country. They were ethnic Germans who had been born there to families who had lived in the region for centuries.
The expulsions and forced resettlements were associated with excesses and even murders of Germans. During the "Brno death march", (aka the "Brünner Todesmarsch",) the Czech's forced march some 20,000 German inhabitants of the city of Brno toward the Austrian borders at the end of May 1945.
In total, there were around 24,000 confirmed deaths related to the expulsion (incl. murder, suicide, disease, age, etc.).
62,000 people were reported missing by relatives but their deaths could not be verified. The property of practically all Sudeten Germans was confiscated by Czechoslovakia according to the Beneš decrees.
A number of Germans were detained and forced to remain in Czechoslovakia. These ethnic Germans were mainly skilled workers. Many Germans who stayed in Czechoslovakia later emigrated into West Germany when they got the chance.
In the 2001 census, approximately 40,000 people in the Czech Republic claimed German ethnicity. This number was down from the 3.2 million ethnic Germans who lived in Czechoslovakia before World War II.
There are various organisations which represent the aggrieved Sudeten-German people, most notably the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft, the Munich-based Verband der Sudetendeutschen (Sudeten-German Federation) and the Christian Ackermann-Gemeinde.
Famous ethnic Germans born in the Sudetenland
1. Gregor Mendel, born in 1822 in Heinzendorf (Moravia)
As a naturalist and monk who lived most of his life in Bruenn
(Brno), he discovered and established the famous laws of genetics.
2. Ferdinand Porsche, born in 1885 in Maffersdorf near Reichenberg.He built the first Volkswagen and the Porsche sports car. Porsche settled in Stuttgart where he died in 1951.
3. Kurt Godel, born in 1906 in Bruenn (Brno)
Mathematician who "turned the lens of mathematics on itself and hit upon his famous 'incompleteness theorem'.
4. Johann von Tepl, born around 1400 in Saaz, Bohemia. His work "Der Ackermann aus Boehmen" ("The Farmer from Bohemia"), represents the first
major prose introducing humanism in Germany.
5. Rainer Maria Rilke, born 1875 in Prague. Most important lyric author after the turn of the century. He wrote numerous poems and works of prosa.
6. Bertha von Suttner, born in 1843 in Prague. Famous writer and peace activist; she received Nobel Prize in 1905.
7. Adalbert Stifter, born in Oberplan (Boehmerwald) in 1805. One of the most famous German writers of the 20th century. Stifter wrote about a dozen novels, always combining wisdom, humanism, Christian tradition, and love of nature.
Many Jews who were born in the Sudetenland (and whose works were written in German) include:
8. Sigmund Freud, born 1856 in Freiburg (Moravia). He was the famous founder of psychoanalysis.
9. Franz Kafka, born in 1883 in Prague whose literary works depict modern man's predicament of being without recourse ("Kafkaesque").
10. Gustav Mahler, born 1860 in Kalischt, Bohemia. Famous Romantic composer who lived and worked most of his life in Vienna.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7917/insane7zojw3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sixty-eight years ago, on this day in 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt writes to German Chancellor Adolf Hitler regarding the threat of war in Europe.
The German chancellor had been threatening to invade the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia and, in the letter, FDR's second to Hitler in as many days, Roosevelt reiterated the need to find a peaceful resolution to the issue.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1938/zzzzzzzzzzzzsudetenlanddv7.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The Sudetenland, depicted in white on this map, was a region along the Czech-German/Austrian border populated by people of German ancestory. The ethnic Germans had ended-up in Czech territory mostly as a result of shifting borders resulting from various wars and conquests which had repeatedly occurred for centuries in central Europe
The previous day, FDR had written to Hitler with an appeal to negotiate with Czechoslovakia regarding Germany’s desire for the natural and industrial resources of the Sudetenland rather than resort to force.
Hitler responded that Germany was entitled to the area because of the "shameful" way in which the Treaty of Versailles, which had ended World War I, had made Germany a "pariah" in the community of nations. The treaty had given the Sudetenland, a territory that was believed by Hitler and many of his supporters to be inherently German, to the state of Czechoslovakia.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6269/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsudetenmapxs6.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Pre-war Czechoslovakia with the Sudetenland in red.
Therefore, Hitler reasoned, German invasion of the Sudetenland was justified, as annexation by Germany would simply mean returning the area to its cultural and historical roots. Hitler assured Roosevelt that he also desired to avoid another large-scale war in Europe.
In his letter of September 27, Roosevelt expressed relief at Hitler’s assurances but re-emphasized his desire that "negotiations be continued until a peaceful settlement is found."
FDR also suggested that a conference of all nations concerned with the current conflict be convened as soon as possible. He appealed to Hitler’s ego, saying "should you agree to a solution in this peaceful manner I am convinced that hundreds of millions throughout the world would recognize your action as an outstanding historic service to all humanity." [Editors note: well, at least until the world found out about Hitler's plans to exterminate the world's Jews and Judaism.]
FDR then assured Hitler that the U.S. would remain neutral regarding European politics, but that America recognized a responsibility to be involved "as part of a world of neighbors."
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8455/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz10519csrz9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Dr Suess knew the score
In the end, Hitler ignored the international community’s pleas for a peaceful solution and invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939. The invasion was just the first in Hitler’s quest to control Europe and create a "Third Reich" of German geopolitical supremacy.
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2977/zzzzzzzzzzzzsudetenab5.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Hitler's boys eventually invaded the Sudetenland in 1939 and in truth, were initially welcomed by the ethnic German population
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsudeten1938corjy4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Happy ethnic German chicks welcome the Wehrmacht to the Sudetenland
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/4869/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzeger2jd3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hitler visits the Marktplatz in downtown Eger (now called Cheb), the capital of the Egerland district of the Sudetenland. To his left is Konrad Henlein, head of the Nazi Party in Czechoslovakia, and Reichskommissar for the Sudetenland. Henlein became Nazi governor of Czechoslovakia following the German takeover of the country in March 1939
[B]Post-War epilogue
At the end of World War II, the Potsdam Conference in 1945 determined that Sudeten Germans would have to leave Czechoslovakia. This was primarily a consequence of the immense hostility against all Germans that had grown within Czechoslovakia due to Nazi behavior since the occupation in 1939.
The postwar non-German Czech majority simply could no longer abide the presence of these ethnic Germans among them -- particularly since they had not forgotten the welcome those folks gave the Nazi invaders when they originally rolled in in 1939. Thus, the overwhelming majority of Germans in newly liberated Czechoslovakia were expelled.
The number of ethnic Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia totalled 3 million of the 3.2 million Germans who lived there. These people were not among German nationals who invaded the country. They were ethnic Germans who had been born there to families who had lived in the region for centuries.
The expulsions and forced resettlements were associated with excesses and even murders of Germans. During the "Brno death march", (aka the "Brünner Todesmarsch",) the Czech's forced march some 20,000 German inhabitants of the city of Brno toward the Austrian borders at the end of May 1945.
In total, there were around 24,000 confirmed deaths related to the expulsion (incl. murder, suicide, disease, age, etc.).
62,000 people were reported missing by relatives but their deaths could not be verified. The property of practically all Sudeten Germans was confiscated by Czechoslovakia according to the Beneš decrees.
A number of Germans were detained and forced to remain in Czechoslovakia. These ethnic Germans were mainly skilled workers. Many Germans who stayed in Czechoslovakia later emigrated into West Germany when they got the chance.
In the 2001 census, approximately 40,000 people in the Czech Republic claimed German ethnicity. This number was down from the 3.2 million ethnic Germans who lived in Czechoslovakia before World War II.
There are various organisations which represent the aggrieved Sudeten-German people, most notably the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft, the Munich-based Verband der Sudetendeutschen (Sudeten-German Federation) and the Christian Ackermann-Gemeinde.
Famous ethnic Germans born in the Sudetenland
1. Gregor Mendel, born in 1822 in Heinzendorf (Moravia)
As a naturalist and monk who lived most of his life in Bruenn
(Brno), he discovered and established the famous laws of genetics.
2. Ferdinand Porsche, born in 1885 in Maffersdorf near Reichenberg.He built the first Volkswagen and the Porsche sports car. Porsche settled in Stuttgart where he died in 1951.
3. Kurt Godel, born in 1906 in Bruenn (Brno)
Mathematician who "turned the lens of mathematics on itself and hit upon his famous 'incompleteness theorem'.
4. Johann von Tepl, born around 1400 in Saaz, Bohemia. His work "Der Ackermann aus Boehmen" ("The Farmer from Bohemia"), represents the first
major prose introducing humanism in Germany.
5. Rainer Maria Rilke, born 1875 in Prague. Most important lyric author after the turn of the century. He wrote numerous poems and works of prosa.
6. Bertha von Suttner, born in 1843 in Prague. Famous writer and peace activist; she received Nobel Prize in 1905.
7. Adalbert Stifter, born in Oberplan (Boehmerwald) in 1805. One of the most famous German writers of the 20th century. Stifter wrote about a dozen novels, always combining wisdom, humanism, Christian tradition, and love of nature.
Many Jews who were born in the Sudetenland (and whose works were written in German) include:
8. Sigmund Freud, born 1856 in Freiburg (Moravia). He was the famous founder of psychoanalysis.
9. Franz Kafka, born in 1883 in Prague whose literary works depict modern man's predicament of being without recourse ("Kafkaesque").
10. Gustav Mahler, born 1860 in Kalischt, Bohemia. Famous Romantic composer who lived and worked most of his life in Vienna.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7917/insane7zojw3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)