9 - Patriotic scrutiny

Summary

Chapter 4 mentioned briefly the rudimentary ‘Nuremberg of the masses’ which occurred during the repatriation from Germany. Repatriation brought back an explosive mixture of the most wretched victims of the Nazi regime – the concentration camp survivors – and its most detested accomplices – collaborators who had fled with the Germans, volunteers for the Wehrmacht and the SS. Indignation over Nazi crimes, personified in the returning martyrs, was channelled on to the black sheep in the DP herd, creating a generalised atmosphere of suspicion. Screening in the transit centres was alleged to be inadequate, letting through Gestapo agents, miliciens and even ordinary German citizens trying to obtain the repatriation grant, returning to Germany and in some cases repeating the same operation several times. It is interesting in this context to observe that transfer to Germany and repatriation were not always a straightforward round trip, and that some cross-migration occurred. Belgian collaborationists, fearing to return to an environment reminiscent of their wartime behaviour, migrated to France instead and bought farms vacated by their occupants, benefiting from the rural exodus that was itself accelerated by the wartime population displacement. Their concentration in particularly deserted departments – reports in some localities indicate that they took over 50 percent of the farms – caused resentment in the local population and suspicion as to what had made them flee their own country.