Read more
Located on the border of present-day Romania and Ukraine, the historical region of Bukovina was the site of widespread displacement and violence as it passed from Romanian to Soviet hands and back again during World War II. This study focuses on two groups of "Bukovinians"-ethnic Germans and German-speaking Jews-as they navigated dramatically changed political and social circumstances in and after 1945. Through comparisons of the narratives and self-conceptions of these groups, Resettlers and Survivors gives a nuanced account of how they dealt with the difficult legacies of World War II, while exploring Bukovina's significance for them as both a geographical location and a "place of memory."
List of contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction Part I: Backgrounds Chapter 1. Being Bukovinian before 1945: German and Jewish Bukovinians in the Habsburg Empire, Romania and the Second World War
Part II: Establishments Chapter 2. 'Settling in the Motherland': 'Resettlers' from Bukovina in West Germany after the Second World War
Chapter 3. 'A Remarkable Branch of the Jewish People': Survivors from Bukovina between Romania and Israel after the Second World War
Part III: Entanglements Chapter 4. 'Lost Home' and 'Area of Expulsion': Compensating for Loss at the Height of the Cold War
Chapter 5. 'Sunken Cultural Landscape': Reimagining Bukovina through the Lens of Literature
Conclusion Bibliography
Index
About the author
Gaëlle Fisher is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Holocaust Studies at the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History in Munich, Germany. She holds a doctorate in history from University College London and has published articles in a range of journals, including German History, The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book, and East European Politics and Societies.
Summary
Resettlers and Survivors focuses on two groups of Bukovinians-ethnic Germans and German-speaking Jews-who navigated dramatically changed political and social circumstances in 1945. This study gives a nuanced account of how they dealt with the difficult legacies of World War II.
