Was the post-WW2 expulsion of Eastern European Germans based on German ethnicity or German culture?

by Vladith

Would somebody whose great-grandparents came from Berlin, but identified as a Pole/Hungarian/Czech be expelled?

embicek

In Czechoslovakia it was based on prewar censuses. Those with recorded German ethnicity and those who obtained German citizenship during the war were expelled. There were many exceptions, like antifascists, inhabitants of several regions, qualified specialists or spouses of non-Germans.

To your question: yes, those who didn't identify themselves as Germans weren't included.

Some Hungarians were also expelled, but on much smaller scale, usualy as a part of exchange for Slovaks from Hungary.