German Annexation of the Sudetenland (October 1938)


Figure 1.--Here German soldiers are doing their best to restrain the jubilent Sudeten Germans celebrating the arrival of the Wehrmacht. Notice the little boy who has not yet learned the proper salute. Images like this were published in British newspapers. Click on the image for another view.

The Wehrmacht as agreed to in the Munich Agreement began moving into the Sudetenland (October 1). They were received with jubilation. Hitler followed (October 3). Wenzel Jaksch who was the leader of the Sudeten Social Democrats flew to London hoping to arrange for refugee status for leaders of his party. The German Security Services and Gestapo followed the Wehrmacht and began arresting political opponents. The Times in London published accounts of the junilation of the Sudebten Germans along with photographs showing the cascade of flowers greeting the German soldiers. The Times editor, Geoffrey Dawson, rejected photograhs of those fleeing the NAZIs. The British offered no visas to Jaksch's colleagues. Many were arrested by the Gestpo. Others who manage to hide out in Czechoslovakia were at the demand of the German Government arrested and turned over to the NAZIs by the new Prague regime. [Fest, p. 567-68.] The Sudentland was incoporated into the Reich. One has to be careful how to assess the images of cheering Sudenten Germans welcoming the NAZIs. To us the NAZIs and the swastica represent the Holocaust, unimaginable attrocities, and the murder of millions. This is of course not what these peoples are cheering about. The jubilation is largely one an outburst of nationalism and patriotism. The people in the images saw themselves being liberated and finally united with the German Reich. One of the Sudenten Germans impressed with the NAZIs was a young Oskar Schindler. He came from a Catholic family in the Sudetenland and welcomed the NAZIs. Schindler joined the NAZI Party shortly after the German annexation of the Sudetenland. After Schindler went to Poland he began to see just what the NAZIs program entailed.

Ethnic Czechs

Hitler assured Chamberlain, "We want no Czechs." But by insisting that the international commission use the figures of the Austro-Hungarian census for 1910 instead of those of the Czechoslovakian census for 1930, Germany was able to claim additional territory that was predominantly populated by Czechs. The German population in Czechoslovalia was concentrated in the Sudetenland, about 3 million people. There were also a minority of ethnic Czechs and a few Jews living there. The Czechs and other non Germans were given 10 days to leave. The Czech Army began its withdrawal (September 30). This included the the strategic passes, mountain fortresses.The Germans threatened that any Czech military presence found in Sudetenland after the deadline would considered a violation of Germany's sovereignty and shot. Tere were incidents as the Czechs ecacuated. A German mob in Cesky Krumlov fired on the retreating Czech soldiers. In msany towns, the shops and homes belonging to Czechs and Jews were ransacked. A railroad station clerk who refused to turn the office funds over to local NAZI freebooters was shot dead. Civilians also departed in droves. Secere limitations were placed on the poroperty thst they could take with them.

Wehrmacht Enters the Sudentenland (October 1)

The Wehrmacht as agreed to in the Munich Agreement began moving into the Sudetenland (October 1). Hitler followed (October 3). The Wehrmacht was received with jubilation. The Times in London published accounts of the jubilation of the Sudebten Germans along with photographs showing the cascade of flowers greeting the German soldiers. One has to be careful how to assess the images of cheering Sudenten Germans welcoming the NAZIs. To us the NAZIs and the swastica represent the Holocaust, unimaginable attrocities, and the murder of millions. This is of course not what these peoples are cheering about. The jubilation is largely one an outburst of nationalism and patriotism. The people in the images saw themselves being liberated and finally united with the German Reich. One of the Sudenten Germans impressed with the NAZIs was a young Oskar Schindler. He came from a Catholic family in the Sudetenland and welcomed the NAZIs. Schindler joined the NAZI Party shortly after the German annexation of the Sudetenland. After Schindler went to Poland he began to see just what the NAZIs program entailed.

Anti-NAZI Sudetens

Perhaps even more shameful with how the Allies deserted the Czechs was their desertion of the anti-NAZIs in the Seudetenland. Not only were theur Germn refugees from MAZIism in the Sudetenland, but some Sudeten Germans had opposed the NAZIs. Wenzel Jaksch who was the leader of the Sudeten Social Democrats flew to London hoping to arrange for refugee status for leaders of his party. The Times editor, Geoffrey Dawson, rejected photograhs of those fleeing the NAZIs. The British offered no visas to Jaksch's colleagues. Many were arrested by the Gestpo. Others who manage to hide out in Czechoslovakia were at the demand of the German Government arrested and turned over to the NAZIs by the new Prague regime. [Fest, p. 567-68.] They were arrested by the Gestapo and delivered to Germany well-established system of concentration camps where they were tortured and killed.

NAZI Security Operations

The German Security Services and Gestapo followed the Wehrmacht and began arresting political opponents. As in Ausria. The SS formed Einsatzgruppen which were armed with carefully prepared lists of Jews and anti-NAZI Sudetenlanders.

Annexation

The Sudentland was incoporated into the Reich. The rest of Czechoslovakia would soon follow, but would become partioned into different sections. The Sudetenlanders upon annexation becme German citizens. This would make them among other matters subject to military conscription and thus full participants in World War II which was less than ayear away as Hitler rather than ceasing his demands as he as he pledged to Primeminister Chamberlain, actually expanded his demands and advanced the speed of his aggressions.

Sudeten Children

The images of the Sudeten population as the Wehrmact arrived are fascinating, esecially that of the children. Here we see a group of girls and young women that are cheering estatically for the arriving German soldiers (figure 1). The soldiers are having to hold them back. there are some interesting aspects to this photograph. First notice that allmost all of the crowd are girls or young women. Now in any candid crowd scene you would expect to find a diversity of gender and age groups. For such a homogenious group, this must have been an organized celebration. Clearly it was not when the Wehrmacht first arrived as the soldiers are there to control the crowd. This seems to be a celebration perhaps a day or so later. Perhaps Hitler or other NAZI officials are arriving. Another curious aspect of the photograph is the boy. He is not nearly as excited as the girls and gives a less enthusiastic salute. For some reason the soldiers have allowed him through. Also notice his cap. For the event, many of the children are wearing folk costumes. A second photographed can be viewed by clicking on the image above. There several boys are viewing the event through the jack-booted legs of the soldiers. Some are giving a salute. One boy is resting his swastica flag on the ground. One boy is taking a picture of the event with an expensive twin-reflex camera. We are fascinated by the fact that the children were so politicized abd fervent. This of course must reflect the views of the parents. But also note the Hitler Youth uniforms. This meant that the HJ was fully functining if undrground in the Czech Sudetenand before the arrival of the Whermacht. This also must be a factor in the joyful response of the children.

Sources

Fest, Joachim C. Hitler (Vintagfe Books, New York, 1974), 844p.






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Created: 1:38 AM 7/24/2004
Last updated: 1:27 PM 4/22/2015