Successful integration, post-memories, and cultural belongings. The children of German-speaking Nazi-refugees in contemporary Sweden

After national socialists had seized power in 1933 many Germans, soon also Austrians and Sudeten-Germans, fled into exile – several thousands of them finding refuge in Sweden. The children of these political refugees have since become fully integrated into Swedish society.

The purpose of this project is to illuminate this second-generation’s cultural belongings by analysing their post-memories of persecution, flight, and exile in the light of their successful integration.

The project combines theoretical insights from memory studies and migration studies, two fields with relatively limited interdisciplinary communication, to take into account both the second-generation’s family background and their current successful integration.

Through a historical case study focusing on a successful integration case and the plurality of cultural belongings in a group of second-generation refugees, this project will provide valuable perspectives to integration processes relevant for modern migration societies.

The outcomes will also offer insights into how memories are transmitted across generations, thereby highlighting the emergence of hybrid forms of cultural belongings.

Methodologically, the project involves interviews with members of the second-generation, whereas the recordings will be made available for future research endeavours.

The project will be carried out over a three-year period by a team consisting of two historians from Dalarna University and Södertörn University.