The physical and economic destruction heaped upon many European countries during WWII
created a ripe environment for emigration to the U.S. by those seeking a better life overseas.
created a ripe environment for emigration to the U.S. by those seeking a better life overseas.
![Picture](/uploads/2/0/7/0/20702754/2623657.jpg)
During the immediate post-war era, nearly the entire continent of Europe was in despair because living conditions were deplorable. The economy collapsed in all the central countries and the unemployment rate skyrocketed. The war damages were so apparent that the only significant fund to aid them through reconstruction was the “Marshall Plan”. The United States provided economic support to Europe in order to prevent the spread of Communism, due to their policy of containment suggested in the “Truman Doctrine”. Other than that, Europe was on their own to suffer through reconstruction.
The financial infrastructure was not the only part of Europe destroyed during the war. The sights on European streets were difficult to watch because more than 40 million people were dead, many cities were completely demolished, and the survivors were left with a little from which to build confidence in the future. Due to the fact that a majority of the war was fought on European grounds, they got hit the hardest with territorial damages. Spontaneous attacks and bombings on large and small cities left residents with nothing. People were hopelessly destined to starve to death on account of food shortages, or die of thirst due to a limited amount of potable water. Even during the war, according to interview subject Anna Zielinski, "Hitler only gave us [European residents] butter, sweet potatoes in a can, and well, nothing else." European hospitals were either devastated or overcrowded and short on necessary supplies. Shortages with the bare necessities of life caused many deaths and led to a high infant mortality rate. The immense damages that Europe suffered during the war subsequently, but not surprisingly, burdened them with a lengthy, slow recovery.
The financial infrastructure was not the only part of Europe destroyed during the war. The sights on European streets were difficult to watch because more than 40 million people were dead, many cities were completely demolished, and the survivors were left with a little from which to build confidence in the future. Due to the fact that a majority of the war was fought on European grounds, they got hit the hardest with territorial damages. Spontaneous attacks and bombings on large and small cities left residents with nothing. People were hopelessly destined to starve to death on account of food shortages, or die of thirst due to a limited amount of potable water. Even during the war, according to interview subject Anna Zielinski, "Hitler only gave us [European residents] butter, sweet potatoes in a can, and well, nothing else." European hospitals were either devastated or overcrowded and short on necessary supplies. Shortages with the bare necessities of life caused many deaths and led to a high infant mortality rate. The immense damages that Europe suffered during the war subsequently, but not surprisingly, burdened them with a lengthy, slow recovery.
![Picture](/uploads/2/0/7/0/20702754/5024710.jpg?374)
Because Germany was primarily blamed worldwide for being the initiators of WWII, they seemed to take the hardest hit afterward. Germany was forced to surrender, and the Allies could do with them what they pleased. Germany, along with their capital Berlin, was split into four different zones (American, British, French, and Soviet) because of decisions made by the "Big Three" of Truman, Churchill and Stalin at the Potsdam Conference in 1945. The Soviet's relationship with the other countries disintegrated, causing another split, but this time between the Soviet's communist East Germany and the U.K., U.S., and France's democratic West Germany. Life in the two halves of the country were very different. West Germany recovered much faster than East Germany, especially economically, causing many East Germans to emigrate in the 1950's, such as Zielinski. For these oppressed East Germans, life anywhere else seemed more promising. For some immigrants, the destination was West Germany, but for others it was overseas to the Land of Liberty.