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Negotiation of post-World War II migration through the example of IRO's "Care & Maintenance" and Resettlement-programs

Research fellow: Lukas Hennies, M. A.

Project Funding: Hans-Boeckler-Stiftung

To negotiate the options of migration was crucial for post-World War II Displaced Persons (DPs). How DPs told their story of displacement and how IRO-Officers interpreted these narratives in the framework of supranational guidelines of approval and eligibility determined migration options. Being or not being recognized as “UN-Displaced Persons” allowed or denied the approval to “Care & Maintenance” and resettlement-programs. Those, who were rejected this status had to continue their way on their own or stay in the Federal Republic of Germany as “Heimatlose Ausländer”.

This PhD-Project aims to examine the factors on different levels which influenced the process of negotiation and the strategies DPs applied to achieve the best results for them. Furthermore the project wants to investigate how political, institutional and personal factors influenced the case-by-case decisions of the IRO-Officers. For this purpose, “Care and Maintenance”-application files as well as IRO-personnel files will be evaluated.