Abstract
Presented study focuses on the situation of German refugees in Czechoslovakia between 1933 and 1938 before the "Anschluss" of Austria and the closure of the Munich Agreement. Within a few weeks of strengthening the power of the Nazi Party in Germany in 1933, many people have found themselves in jeopardy.
Opponents of Nazism began to be persecuted for their political views and especially for their ethnic origin. Since they had to allow the possibility of being arrested or losing their careers they were leaving Germany and chosing new asylum countries.
Their first choice was often Czechoslovakia because of its geographical closeness. Czech and German authorities classified this movement of undesirable persons with great suspicion.
They were forced to establish certain rules for accepting refugees or turning them away. Due to internal political fragmentation and partially fear of further disruption of Czechoslovak-German relations the Czechoslovak government was not willing to integrate appropriate laws, which would have defined the life of German refugees in Czechoslovakia, into its legal system.
For this reason, the German refugees were forced to rely on certain provisions of international law and legaly undocked tolerant approach of Czechoslovak authorities, which, however, could change anytime or even turn against them.