Alfred de Zayas Books

The closing phase and the aftermath of World War II saw millions of refugees and displaced persons wandering across Easter Europe in one of the most brutal and chaotic migrations in world history. The genocidal barbarism of the Nazi forces has been well documented. What hitherto has been little known is the fate of fifteen million German civillians who found themselves at the mercy of Soviet armies and on the wrong side of new postwar borders. All over Eastern Europe, the inhabitants of communities that had been established for many centuries were either expelled or killed. Over two million Germans did not survive. Many of these people had supported Hitler, and for the Czechs, Poles, Ukrainians, and surviving Jews, their fate must have seemed just. However, the great majority--East Prussian farmers, Silesian industrial workers, their wives and children--were guiltless. Their fate, sentenced purely by race, remains an appalling legacy of the period. Alfred de Zayas's book describes this horrible retribution. On the basis of extensive research in German and American archives, he outlines the long history of these German communities, scattered from the Baltic to the Danude, and, most movingly, reproduces the testimonies of surviors from the catastrophic exodus that marked the final end to Nazi fantasies of Lebensraum.

First published in 1979, and now in its 10th edition in German with several revised editions in English, Nemesis at Potsdam is the moving and horrifying account of the expulsion after WWII of 15 million German-speaking men, women, and children from their ancestral homelands in Eastern Central Europe. Over 2 million innocent civilians, mostly women and child, died during the expulsion - one of the worst tragedies of the 20th century.A great amnesia has overtaken the children and grandchildren of the Allied participants, especially in the West. But today the German nation of 80 million includes 15 million Expulsion survivors and their children and grandchildren. No understanding of modern Germany will ever be complete without greater knowledge of this ghastly period in Germany's and the Allies' past.This is an important book on a sensitive subject. it reminds genealogists that not all emigrations are voluntary; and not all immigrants to America came hundreds of years ago. A personal favorite; our strongest recommendation.

Disarmament in the Time of Perestroika offers a comprehensive history of the INF Treaty signed by Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, highlighting the complexities and efforts both nations undertook to ensure compliance. It illustrates how two adversarial countries collaborated to eliminate weapons that jeopardized global peace and security. The book showcases the pioneering efforts in on-site inspection, setting a standard for future arms control agreements. Ritter details the establishment of the On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA) and the advanced compliance verification system implemented at a sensitive military facility in Votkinsk, Soviet Union. He shares his personal experiences, as well as those of other inspectors, alongside a wealth of archival material, to narrate the creation of OSIA and its operations during the initial three years at the Votkinsk portal. The narrative unfolds in a dynamic environment where the rules of arms control were being defined in real-time. Ritter also contextualizes these events within the broader socio-political changes in the Soviet Union under Gorbachev’s leadership, emphasizing the impact of perestroika and glasnost on Soviet society and economy. The treaty not only emerged from these reforms but also catalyzed significant changes in a factory town reliant on missile production, illustrating the profound implications of disarmament efforts.

In 2011, the UN Human Rights Council created the mandate of the Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order. This book, based on the reports by Dr. Alfred de Zayas, the first mandate-holder (2012-2018), offers a brilliant and comprehensive critique of the UN system, addressing the changes that must be made in order to further the emergence of a democratic and equitable international order. De Zayas proposes concrete reforms of the UN system, notably the Security Council. He advocates recognition of peace as a human right, slashing military budgets, and establishing the right of self-determination as a conflict-prevention measure. As it concerns the global economy, he calls for reversing the adverse impacts of World Bank and International Monetary Fund policies, rendering free-trade agreements compatible with human rights, abolishing tax havens and ISDS, alleviating the foreign debt crisis, and criminalizing war-profiteers and pandemic vultures. He denounces unilateral coercive measures, economic sanctions and financial blockades, because they demonstrably have led to hundreds of thousands of deaths. Book jacket.