THE POSTBERGER MASSACRE
     The largest even to Czechoslovakian standards, planed murder on German children, women and men happened in May and June 1945 in the small village of Postberg (Postoloprty) in province of Saaz (Zatec) in Bohemia. The facts were kept out of public knowledge until recently by politicians and Government.
     Everybody have heard of the massacre on the "Bridge of Aussiger" and the "Death march from Brünn". There have been made movies and written books about those atrocities. Nobody have till now ever heard about Postberg.
     On September 24. 1997 the author Ota Filip wrote about this atrocity in "Frankfurter Algemaine Zeitung". In this article he tells about the shouting of 763 German civilians. This number is based on official Czech inquiries from September 1947. It is a stroke of good luck that two until now strict secret documents have come into light. From them we can learn details about the shoutings at Postberg.
      The Prague publication "PERZEKUCE 1945" (Persecution 1945) written by Tomàs Stanêk gave in dept details of the executions and the funeral of the murdered people. I will quote some details:

- literally the happenings at Saaz had disturbing consequences on soldiers and the security guards
- aggression against the German population (ethnic cleansing and persecution) started on May 28 and 29 1945.
. in Saaz the ethnic cleansing were carried out in Saaz on June 3. Nearly 5000 men in the age between 13 and 65 were drifted together and sent on a foot march to Postberg:
- the destiny of the Germans interned in Postberg was gruesome. They received beatings and maltreatments of various kind. Multiple executions took place after the end of May, but a lot were shoot during the first part, 14 days, of June.
- the tragedy of Postberg was first brought ti attention in spring 1947, people started speaking about the slaughtering
- of request by the commission of State security in Parliament in the summer of 1947 military personnel and participants were interrogated regarding the atrocities. All denied ever having giving orders to executions in Postberg. Only Vojtéch Cerny admitted he had participated in execution by shooting of four Germans.
- the remains of dead victims were exhumed in September 1947. This happened on September 17 1947 under strict measures. The exhumed were carried out by soldiers from the unit No 2142 from Theresienstadt
- the progress were described in a secrete report by the SNB (National Security Agency) for the Ministry of Home Affairs and describe the following exhumations:
-- 17.09.45: mass grave in Postberg with 34 corpses
-- 17.09.47: grave in Weinberg with 4 corpses
-- 18.09.47: old sand pit (Schuhalden) with 26 corpses
-- 19.09.47: Lewanitzer at Postberg with 349 corpses
-- 22.09.47: Lewanitzer at Postberg with 103 corpses in two graves
-- 22.09.47: sand pit by Kreuz with 10 corpses
-- 24.09.47: House no. 74 (Krotsch) 7 corpses
-- 26.09.47: grave at the school with 225 corpses
-- 27.09.47: at the military barracks 5 corpses
Totally 763 corpses.

Until now all proofs of the massacres at Saazerland to which Postberg is a part, have been hold under strict security both by German and Czech authorities. They keep quiet for political reasons. In inquiry report of the Northen Bohemia public affairs office dated October 9, 1997 the reason for concealment given as decree from at that time Minister of the Interior, Nasek, from July 9, 1947 based on a secret demands from the House of Representatives. >From this demands we quote: "We can read the from the secret investigation that who was responsible for the cruelty and the execution, and this person is to be found by the army. .... The soldiers doings were the solemn expression of the people of Czechoslovakia and their wish and will .... and nobody took any distance from what happened, neither did they take distance from other such happenings in Happenings towards Germans after the war. .... Information regarding the incidents in Postoloprty must never be given to anyone, neither Czechs nor any foreign state must ever hear about it. It might damage Czechoslovakia."
     The officer in command for Northen Bohemia and responsible for the massacre, General Klapàlek, said that the killing of defenceless children, women and old men at Postelberg and Saaz were quite naturally.
     The Parliamentarian Commission in Prague recommended the happenings of May and June 1945 to treat as an act of state security. A law was passed, No. 115/1946. The name which has been given to the law is The Benesch-Law. This was an amnesty for all Czechen crimes against Germans, all crimes towards Germans where not legible to penalty.
     Evidently nothing have changed in the way the Czechoslovakian authorities looks on the above cases. Every invitation to lift The Benesch-Law and to prosecute the war criminals have been answered with denial from Prague.

It must be hard and incomprehensible for the Germans to see that none of the crimes against get prosecuted while every little mistake made by a German soldier is flowing high in all media, regardless of what crime the German soldiers allegedly should have been doing.
     It seams like the mean task is to brand all former¨German soldiers in the mind of the new generation, while one on the other hand say it is okey to kill Germans. Is this a warning to coming generation of Germans never to want to become a nation of pride and honour?
     What can we do ti rectify this? We can talk openly about the atrocities against the Germans after the war. We can write to our news papers about it. We can talk to our politicians about it. But foremost we can demand from our Government that they do something about it. How many politicians cab refuse yo act upon one hundred letters regarding a question, they will have to do something. Therefor write a letter to all the German politicians you know the name of. Ask him to stand up for the honour of the former soldiers of his country and for the memory of all the soldiers that died for their country.

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Norway have just ratified the European Convention for protection of minority Groups. I have to read the text of this document before I write any new histories like HNL no 1 or 5. But I will be keeping on sending you more stories regarding badgering of Germans after the war.

I am working on publishing, to you, some of the documents the various governments that lived in UK during WWII had to sign. You will be amazed if you knew all they had to sign and which they signed without knowing what went on in their homeland.

Have a nice week, take care of yourselves and your families.

I give you a Norse greeting: Heil og Sæl.

The rest you can think of til next time.

RjH

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