- Title:
- East Germans, refugees, and new Canadians - a family migration
- Creator:
- Harris, E. Meaghan
- Date Created:
- 2006
- Degree Awarded:
- Master of Arts
- Subjects:
- Refugees Refugees Germany (East)Immigrants Case Studies Immigrants Social Conditions
- Geographical Focus:
- East Germany West Germany Canada
- Supporting Materials:
- n/a
- Description:
- In September 1954, Helma and Reinhard arrived in Canada with their three children in tow, as political refugees. Fourteen months previously, they had fled their home in East Germany due to increasing political pressure, and crossed the border into West Germany where they stayed in refugee camps until they had secured immigration visas. This thesis examines how the migration process impacted this family. Gender, family, and material culture are central themes running throughout this work, as the experiences of the members of this family are considered from the immediate postwar period to their acculturation in Canada in the late 1950s. Paramount to this study is a collection of letters which Helma and Reinhard wrote to their respective families throughout the migration process. This correspondence provides a contemporary account of how migration was cxperienced, as it was portrayed to loved ones. Furthermore, this study also relies upon the oral testimony of Helma and her daughter Beata. Helma’s oral narrative gives this thesis a particularly gendered perspective; moreover, it brings issues of memory and self-identity into discussion. Consistently, the sources emphasize the importance that family played in their lives, as they left their home for a new land, and began again in Canada. This thesis provides an account of postwar East German refugee immigration and it offers insight into the values, anxieties and joys of the postwar immigrant family as they experienced migration first-hand.
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- Harris, E. Meaghan. 2006. "East Germans, refugees, and new Canadians - a family migration", Department of History, Carleton University
- Link to this page:
- https://cuhistory.github.io/grads/items/hist_141.html
Rights
- Rights:
- Copyright the author, all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.