New museum in Berlin gingerly explores German wartime suffering

View of an exhibit on the main floor of the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion and Reconciliation in Berlin. Photo: AFP

A new museum dedicated to the long-silenced trauma of German civilians forced to flee eastern Europe at the end of World War II has opened recently after decades of wrenching debate.

Perhaps reflecting what its founders call their delicate "balancing act", the new institution in Berlin carries the unwieldy name of Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion and Reconciliation.