Belonging in exile: How to write an almost global history of the German-Jewish diaspora

In this talk Miriam Ruerup will discuss the challenges of writing a history of the experience of statelessness. At the centre of her research are the “victims” of the development of strong nation-states — those who experienced a fundamental loss of rights and security through the loss of their citizenship. The focus will, however, not only lie on the experience of loss, but also on those who translated their displacement into the creation of a diasporic community bound by their shared experiences of exile and trauma, as well as by a common cultural heritage.

In her project, Prof. Dr. Rürup addresses German-Jewish migration history, embedding the story of refugees from Germany within the context of the massive population movements and migratory streams after 1933. How the question of belonging is played out in the experience of losing and regaining citizenship, or in phases of in-betweenness and statelessness, will be the central case study around which she explores the German-Jewish diaspora. The book will show to what extent they maintained their German-Jewish culture, and how this was reflected not only culturally but also in their continued ties to their country of origin — for example, through questions surrounding uncertain citizenship status, the experience of denaturalization, and the issue of regaining (or not) German citizenship after the war.