Gräf, Rudolf – Grigoraş, Mihai: The emigration of the Ethnic Germans of Romania under communist rule. In: Lévai, Csaba – Vese, Vasile (edit.): Tolerance and intolerance in historical perspective. Editura Plus, Pisa, 2003. pp. 53 – 69.

An additional provision was also made regarding a “ransom” that was to be paid by the German state for each emigrant who was allowed to leave Romanian territory. Both sides agreed on keeping that additional provision secret: the Romanian state wanted to avoid acquiring an image as a ‘Republic of Refugees’ or loosing prestige in the socialist camp as a trader in living bodies, while the FRG wanted to avoid awakening the greed of other socialist states that had German minorities. Wishing to take advantage of the financial power of Western Germany, the Romanian state charged, starting in 1978, approximately 5000 German marks for each German that emigrated from Romania.