The Burden of the Past: Flight and Expulsion as a Socio-Psychological Phenomenon

Inge Weber-Newth

Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 2012, vol. 20, issue 1, 21-35

Abstract: This article focuses on those Germans who experienced flight and expulsion from the former German territories as children. Now entering the last phase of their lifecycle, many of these individuals feel overwhelmed by painful war memories – many professionals in the medical and psychological field see their patients’ symptoms linked to these early childhood experiences. Through the lens of memory, this article aims to show how the socio-political development of the German society, together with a generally changed awareness of the impact of forced migration on children within the social and psychological professions, has influenced the public perception of this generation. In this context, this article draws on recent studies with the former refugee children and discusses psychological concepts such as post-traumatic stress and intergenerational transmission, which are applied to explain attitudes and symptoms. It is suggested that an integration of this suffering into the larger historical context may not be a contradiction for the nation of perpetrators and may have a stabilizing effect on German identity.

Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1080/0965156X.2012.718573

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