In the latest issue of the Nationalities Papers you can find an article written by Karina Hoření titled “A Brave New World Out of the Same Old Pieces: Property Confiscation and Distribution in Postwar Czechoslovakia”.
The article discusses the confiscation of property from German-speaking inhabitants of Czechoslovakia after World War II and its redistribution to new settlers in the Czech borderlands. It highlights how the national revolution, which resulted in the expulsion of German-speaking inhabitants from Central Europe, enabled a social revolution. The author uses the example of Liberec in northern Bohemia to illustrate how the Czech administration applied the Czech–German conflict to the ethnically diverse postwar society, resulting in discrimination against non-Czech minorities regarding property redistribution. The article also examines the shaping of postwar Czechoslovak society, emphasizing the material demands of workers and collectives, while individuals sought to attain a middle-class lifestyle through participation in property distribution. Overall, the article sheds light on the complexities of postwar society in Czechoslovakia and the impact of property redistribution on different ethnic groups.
Link to the article you can find here.