Angelika Eder

Displaced Persons/"Homeless Foreigners" as Workers in West Germany

This article describes the history of those Displaced Persons in West Germany who were not repatriated after 1945. Special attention is paid to their chances and duties of finding employment from 1945 up till the recruitment of workers from southern Europe - the so-called "guest workers." Up till 1947 repatriation was the western Allies' top priority in their policy toward Displaced Persons. After 1947 Displaced Persons were largely able only to find work with the occupation powers, for a limited time in the administration of the Displaced Persons camps. Alongside this, parallel, some young Displaced Persons were, however, recruited for work in Great Britain and in other countries – here, too, for a limited time. In 1947, when the relief organisation UNRRA became the IRO, this transition was accompanied by a change in strategy from repatriation to "resettlement." Public assistance for DPs was reduced and at the same time many Displaced Persons began to immigrate abroad, especially single young men, which led to a long-term change in the Displaced Persons population. In the British zone, beginning in 1947, Displaced Persons were required to work. After the responsibility for Displaced Persons was transferred to the government of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1950/51 these received the status of "homeless foreigners." Both before and after 1951 there were three ways Displaced Persons could find employment: working for the occupation powers (for example, in the security and transport companies, which, till these companies became smaller in the 1950s, was the possibility that was most often acted upon), or finding regular work in the German economy (which, for a long time, was accompanied with grave difficulties on both sides) or working as self-employed – an option which, however, most could not take up as they lacked both the capital and the contacts. Up till 1950 Displaced Persons were regarded by Germans as the Allies' problem; after this the remaining "hard core" – most of whom were still living in camp – were regarded as an annoying problem. These Displaced Persons did not participate in the economic growth of the 1950s; they were not taken into consideration when firms were looking for new workers. The Displaced Persons are thus a "bridge of perception" (Karen Schönwälder) between the forced "foreign labourers" and the recruitment of "guest workers."