Bleiben oder gehen? Abbild der Auswanderungsgünde Rumäniendeutscher in der Erinnerungsliteratur (1939-1947)
Bleiben oder gehen? The Reasoning behind the Emigration of Ethnic Germans from Romania as Reflected in their 1939-1947 Memoirs

Summary/Abstract: The present study is a selective analysis of the memorialistic non-fiction literature of the ethnic Germans in Romania who have emigrated abroad. Its purpose is to extract information on their destiny during the time between the end of WWII and theaccession to power of the communist regime in Romania, and also to identify the elements that have influenced them in deciding to emigrate. The works that havebeen taken into consideration for this analysis are memoires that reflect theshared/collective past of the Germans in Romania, that have been published in therecent period and have not yet been the subject of any speciality studies.What the authors of these texts - ethnic Germans in Romania who narrate their personal experiences – have in common is that either they, or their family and relatives have been deeply affected by the deportation and forced labor in the Soviet Union, by expropriation and various traumas that marked the years following theend of WWII and the period of the communist regime and they have as a result there of migrated out of Romania. The study is structured on the following threethemes: enrolling in Waffen-SS; August 23rd, 1944; deportation and expropriation.Chronologically, they are set between the beginning of WWII and the accession of the Communists to power in Romania. Historically, they are important landmarks that have triggered individual tragedies and influenced the destiny of the German community in Romania.

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