My family emigrated to the US in 1868 to Wisconsin, they stayed in touch with the family still living in Pomerania, which in 1868 was in Prussia since there was no Germany until after they beat the French in the Franco Prussian war. They lost touch in 1939, after 45 my aunt was stationed in Berlin as an interpreter, her Wisconsin German was a challenge talking to Wehrmacht officers. She made inquiries since our family ancestral home was east of the Oder River and now part of Poland. She later found out they were scattered or dead, the Russians and Poles most likely got payback. Mass graves were found later when guys who go around with metal detectors looking for battlefield relics found mass graves of German civilians. The largest ethnic cleansing ever, for centuries German speaking people lived all over eastern Europe and others who moved in after the Wehrmacht took over, after they lost the Soviets said start walking west or the shot them on sight. Since in the late 40's nobody had not much sympathy for Germans taking it in the shorts, so the Soviets went buck wild on German girls. If you were a German POW being held by the Russians, they got taken care of about as well or worse than Americans being held by the Japanese.