to sanitation and visits were regulated. The state government had already recognized in 1948 that there was simply not enough work available in Schleswig-Holstein, and half a million refugees could only find wages in other states. A plan to relocate large numbers of refugees was therefore one of the first measures taken by the new federal government upon the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany. By 1960, 400,000 refugees and displaced persons from Schleswig-Holstein had left the state, mainly for North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg. As a result, the state's population declined substantially, to 2.3 million. Conflict Given the catastrophic situation, in October 1945 provincial president Otto Hoevermann warned of tensions between the refugees and the local inhabitants. He believed an "emergency community" was required to resolve the economic and social crisis in the state. In addition to material hardship, there was friction and in some cases open hatred between groups. Some feared that Low Prussian and East Pomeranian dialects would displace Low German, while others complained about weddings between the residents and refugees. During Denazification, refugees were able to exonerate themselves of affiliation with the Nazis more easily than the locals since they lacked certificates and papers. In his book Kalte Heimat ("Cold Homeland"), historian Andreas Kossert describes examples of prejudice directed against refugees and displaced persons by locals in Schleswig-Holstein. Records of violent sentiment survive, such as „In de Nordsee mit dat Schiet“ ("Into the North Sea with that shit [the refugees]"). In 1947, the Danish minority magazine Slesvigeren published a cartoon titled "Pied Piper", depicting Minister-President Hermann Lüdemann leading a pack of rats, labeled "refugees", to South Schleswig. In southern Schleswig, a large number of the locals turned to the Danish minority. The South Schleswig Association, which represents the Danes, grew from 2,700 members to 62,000 between the end of the war and 1946. Many of the new members had no Danish background, did not speak Danish, and had typical German names; these so-called "New Danes", who were often disparagingly called Speckdänes ("Bacon Danes"), hoped for the separation of southern Schleswig from the rest of Germany and the expulsion of the refugees. The British authorities decided that in order to counter the widespread discontent and to prevent potential conflict, refugees should be involved in the future development of the state, and that political parties dedicated specifically to their interests should be banned. This ban was lifted in