Erika Steinbach, 64, who has led Germany's 2- million-strong national federation of postwar refugees for the past 10 years, was overwhelmingly re-elected Saturday for a fresh term. ( dpa )
The Federation of Expellees, which was holding its national conference in Berlin, also urged the German government to appoint Steinbach to the board of a planned federal refugee museum.
Plans for a permanent exhibition depicting the experiences of millions of ethnic Germans driven out of Eastern Europe after the Second World War have dismayed Poland and the Czech Republic, amid concerns the museum will rouse feelings against them.
Steinbach conceded Saturday that the government's museum plans were not precisely what her group has been seeking.
The government has stressed that the museum must be neutral and has not yet named the museum board.
Steinbach, a Christian Democratic legislator who is regarded with hostility in Poland, has led efforts for a conciliatory stance towards Poland.
She clashed Saturday with a hardline expellee leader, Rudi Pawelka, who demands restitution of land in Poland.