A woman whose family were captured by the Soviet Army just 24 hours after VE Day has written a book about their escape.
Ute Smeed, 83, from Bridgwater, grew up in Silesia. It was historically part of Germany but the land was handed to the Polish after the Potsdam Conference in 1945.
Aged three, she and her mother Maria Gebauer were made to march towards Russia. Her father, a non-commissioned Luftwaffe officer, was taken to a Soviet labour camp.
"Few people in England know what happened in mainland Europe after the war ended: the brutality, the disease, and the starvation," she said.
The family were among 12 million ethnic Germans who were forcibly evicted or fled from their homes after World War Two ended.
The Potsdam Conference was a meeting between Winston Churchill, Clement Atlee, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin to decide the future of postwar Germany.
At the meeting, it was decided that Germany's territory was to be reduced by 25% of what it was in 1937, displacing many like Mrs Smeed's family.
Forced march
Speaking to Radio Somerset, Mrs Smeed said that on VE Day itself, "neither side knew the war was over".
The next day, Russian soldiers arrived and "took whatever jewellery and luggage they fancied", before forcing her family to march, she said.
"The men and women were separated, and we began walking through Austria.
"The people in the towns and villages we came through couldn't believe what the Russians were doing after the war had ended.
"They were incensed, they were shouting at the Russians and throwing food to the women.
"My mother and I were suddenly grabbed by a couple of Austrians and taken into the crowd.
"They took us home, and many days later they helped us to get back to my grandmother in Silesia," she said.