“Fitzpatrick deftly reconstructs the great power struggle of the Soviets to regain ‘their’ half million displaced persons after 1945, interweaving the stories of individuals who either reinvented their identities or succumbed to Soviet pressure to return. Exhaustively researched and elegantly written, Lost Souls is a masterpiece that places the postwar refugee crisis and its unique resolution at the very center of early Cold War history.”—Ruth Balint, author of Destination Elsewhere“Beautifully written and deeply researched, Lost Souls sheds new light on the history of the displaced millions in Europe after World War II. This timely book shows that at the heart of this history lies the agency of the displaced themselves, who, however constrained by the doings of states and militaries, played a vital role in forging their own postwar identities and, indeed, in shaping the politics of the international refugee regime.”—Libby Garland, Kingsborough Community College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York“Among this book’s many outstanding features is its emphasis on DPs’ agency and resourcefulness—such as their flouting of regulations and creativeness in inventing stories about themselves and their families—that contributed to their success in getting to where they wanted to go. It also exhibits one of the most precious qualities of a historian—empathy. Lost Souls makes a uniquely valuable contribution to our understanding of postwar European migration.”—Lewis H. Siegelbaum, Michigan State University“Lost Souls draws on painstaking research in many countries to tell a new and compelling story of the displaced persons of Europe after World War II and their global migration. Bringing together diplomatic and social histories in an original way, this book is a tour de force that reminds us of the complexity of mass migration and the importance of studying refugees as historical actors in their own right.”—Benjamin Tromly, University of Puget Sound“A brilliant account of the resettlement of millions of displaced persons after World War II. These people were not only victims. Many were also agents of their own survival. Fitzpatrick’s intimate knowledge of the refugee world breathes life into this story, revealing the ingenious self-fashioning of survivors, men and women trapped in the violence of war and the crosscurrents of the great power politics of the Cold War.”—Jay Winter, Yale University