,/ _. C ~/ From2 RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE 381 Fourth Avenue Relea se: weeken d of New York, 16, N. y. Febru ary 1, 1947 THE NEW FLOW OF EXILES BY Reinh old Niebu hr Hitle r taugh t the modern world how to uproo t total popul ations from their soil and settle them forcib ly somew here in a new territ ory. rt is a lesson which the victor s learne d from the vanqu i shed and are still practi cing. During the past 18 months exiles forcib ly ejecte d from Siles ia, Czech oslova kia, and Trans ylvani a have been forced into Germa ny, where they must find lodgin g in the shatte red cities , alread y overcr owded beyond human endura nce by the destru ction of millio ns of homes . The Britis h and the Ameri can zones of Germa ny, with a total native popul ation of about 36 millio n, are obliga ted to take five millio n of these exiles , adding 13% to their popul ation. When only half of this numbe r had been absorb ed it had alread y led to a situat ion requir ing that Germa ns live at a densi ty of 4½ person s per habita ble room. Yet the exiles are still coming . Natur ally> they also place an additi onal strain upon the limite d food resour ces of the nation , making it increa singly diffic ult to maint ain even the minimum food ration of 1500 calori es per day. The transp ortati on of the exiles during an exces sively severe winte r impose s additi onal hardsh ips.._ Thus, Bishop Dibel ius of Berlin , who has just petiti oned the allied command to stop the expul sions, at least for the winte r, repor ts that in one camp alone, 20 victim s suffer ed so severe ly from frozen feet that amput ations had to be resort ed to. There can be no questi on but that these expul sions ~are not, and canno t, meet the requir ement s of human eness, which the Potsda m agree ~ ment laid down as a condi tion. we have humane relief office rs ln our army in Germany who are horrif ied by what they see and by what they have to do. But they are soldie rs and obey orders . They do raise questi ons again and again why the human ity of the Ameri can people does not expres s itself again st these pract ices. �