Film depicting Germans as WW2 victims fires debate

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN (Reuters) - A television drama portraying Germans as victims of atrocities as they fled Eastern Europe at the end of World War Two marks a new step in ending a German taboo on lamenting one of the biggest refugee movements ever.

"Die Flucht" (English title: "March of Millions"), a two-part film by public broadcaster ARD that concludes on Monday, had the highest ratings of the year on Sunday as more than 11 million viewers watched the first instalment.

While the German government hailed the film that sparked a belated national discussion about the mass expulsions 60 years ago as an important milestone, the issue is one that worries the country's eastern neighbours.

"Any attempt to revise the history of World War Two needs to be watched carefully. I hope the process in Germany will be stopped," Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski told a news conference in Warsaw on Monday, in reply to a question.

Until recently there was little discussion about up to 14 million Germans who fled the Soviet army or were expelled after the Allies agreed their eviction from Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Some 2 million civilians were killed or died.

The exodus began in 1944, when many fled westwards ahead of Nazi Germany's looming World War Two defeat. Millions more were forced to leave after the war when Poland's borders were shifted west by the victorious Soviet Union and Western Allies.

Culture Minister Bernd Neumann led a chorus of cheers in Germany about the film, which also shows Soviet troops shooting children and raping women. He called it a cinematic achievement.

"No one wants to offset one side's suffering against the other," said Margot Kaessmann, a German Protestant church leader as a debate erupted over why Germans have long been silent.