DISCUSSION WITH HISTORICAL FILM FOOTAGE
Formed in 1946, North Rhine-Westphalia was regarded as »West Germany’s refugee state« in the 1950s, receiving the majority of displaced persons who were resettled within West Germany during the post-war reconstruction period. By 1953, 1.8 million immigrants lived in the state, making up almost 13 % of the population. This was followed by an influx of refugees from the German Democratic Republic. Directly after the war, the majority of refugees and displaced persons from eastern territories that once belonged to Germany had been sent to other parts of the country because cities and transport routes in NRW were so severely destroyed. These people had experienced a gruelling journey characterised by fear, hunger and violence. Neither they nor the local people were prepared for what awaited them.
In the context of current refugee movements, the discussion examines the conflicts and demonstrations of solidarity experienced by refugees on their arrival in the unfamiliar West. How did they find accommodation? How did they settle in their new home?
Historical film footage from the region and witnesses’ reports provide the background for a discussion with historian Dr. Dagmar Kift.
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Dagmar Kift
Dr. Dagmar Kift is deputy director of the Westphalian State Museum of Industrial Heritage. She studied History and German Literature at the Freie Universität Berlin and St Anne’s College and St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. Her research and publications focus on the social and cultural history of the Ruhr region, the history of mining, women and leisure, and the subjects of migration and cultural diversity.
