Human rights court rules against German refugees

German government welcomes a conclusion to the postwar land claims that ignited a dispute with Poland. Berlin -- The European Court of Human Rights rejected a land claim made by ethnic Germans who had lost homes in Poland during World War II, to the delight of the German government. The private claim by an organization representing 23 Germans caused friction between the two countries since it was first filed in 2004. German government officials had maintained all along that the claim had no validity but also insisted that it could not forbid the lawsuit. In the ruling on Thursday, the Strasbourg court said that Poland bore no responsibility for the expulsion of ethnic Germans by Soviet forces... [read full story]