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translation by Gerda Johannsen.   zum deutschen Originalbericht
Appendix 19
Agreement
signed on the Fourth day of August in the year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifty between General LEV PRCHALA, representing the Czech National Committee in London for the one part, and the Joint Committee for the Protection of Sudeten German Interests in Munich, represented by Dr. Rudolph LODGMAN, Mr. R. Reitzner and Mr. H. Schuetz for the other part.


Whereby it is mutually agreed as follows,

1. THAT both parties confirm their belief and support of the ideology of Democracy and reject any and all totalitarian regimes. Both parties consider that the achievement of democratic order in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia is part of the struggle for a unified Europe. In their opinion, this democratic order can be achieved only if their respective peoples come freely together and employ their right to self-determination.

2. THAT both parties acknowledge the principle that no body of exiles is empowered to enter into agreements deemed to be binding upon their nations and that they are cognizant of the fact that the nation only is competent to decide its own fate and must itself decide freely in which way it wishes to proceed, the final decision being made by the vote of the people.

3. THAT both parties consider that the return to their homes of the expelled Sudeten Germans is right and proper. Being cognizant of the fact that such return can take place only when the Czech people are liberated, both parties are willing to do all within their power to bring about this liberation.

4. THAT both parties reject the theory of collective guilt and ensuing vengeance but hereby establish a claim for the compensation of all damages inflicted upon the Czech and Sudeten German peoples and furthermore demand the punishment of the authors and perpetrators of the crimes which have been committed against the Czech and Sudeten German peoples. Both parties consider these measures to be necessary because the events of the last decades would render it impossible for these two nations to live in harmony together while the present generation still lives unless their worthy sections dissociate themselves from those which are criminal, for the present generation is and was directly affected by the committing of crimes against lives and property, in some cases as authors and perpetrators of crimes and in others as the victims of crime, so that the memory of past events cannot be obliterated even if the will to forget were present until the criminal element is segregated. It is further the opinion of both parties that the execution of the measures outlined above should be in the hands of the respective nationals, for crimes have been committed not only by members of one nation against members of the other nation but also by members of one nation against fellow nationals, to the extent that the good repute and respect in which these nations have been held have been diminished in the eyes of all decent people.

5. THAT in accordance with Clause 2 above the peoples of the two nations shall decide upon their state and political organization as soon as the Czech people are liberated and the Sudeten German people have returned to their homes, and as the pre-requisite for a neighbourly settlement cannot be anticipated today, both parties hereby decide to establish a Federative Committee, which will work to create the required conditions, for the two nations are going to live together in the future, having so lived in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia during the last thousand years. The two nations shall be equally represented upon their Federative Committee.

6. THAT the draft of this Agreement is subject to ratification by both the Czech National Committee in London and the Joint Committee for the Protection of Sudeten German Interests in Munich, and that after the act of ratification, this Agreement - up to that time treated as confidential - shall be published.

7. THAT this Agreement be recorded in the Czech and German languages, both texts to be treated as authentic, and that both texts be signed by the Presidium of the Joint Committee for the Protection of Sudeten German Interests in Munich and by General Lev Prchala on behalf of the Czech National Committee in London.

AS WITNESS TO THE HANDS OF THE PARTIES HERETO

For the Czech National Committee in London:       For the Joint Committee for the Protection of Sudeten German Interests in Munich:
PRCHALA
PEKELSKY
The Presidium:
LODGMAN
REITZNER
SCHUETZ
Munich, 4th August 1950.
RATIFIED by the Joint Committee for the Protection of Sudeten German Interests in Munich, 4th August 1950.
RATIFIED by the Czech National Committee in London, 5th August 1950.

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Documents on the Expulsion of the Sudeten Germans
Survivors speak out