Resettlement of vulnerable groups: disabled DPs and victims of Forced labour
Migration Processes of Jewish DPs with Health-Related Challenges from the U.S. Zone in Germany and Austria 1945-1963: Policies, Relief Organization, and the Quest for Self-Determination
Migration policies for Displaced Persons (DPs) post 1945 favored healthy migrants capable of performing labor. This especially impeded migration efforts of Jewish DPs who were unfit to work due to their health situation. Still suffering from violence-induced physical and mental disabilities as a result of Nazi-persecution, these DPs where amongst those who were forced to stay the longest in DP-camps in Germany, Austria and Italy after 1945. Advocated for by Jewish Welfare and Relief Organizations, special migration schemes were created by various states in the 1950s to resettle Jewish DPs with health problems and were maintained until the last Jewish DP left the camp in 1963. This project scrutinizes how care and rehabilitation for Jewish DPs with violence-induced health issues was organized in order to improve their migration possibilities, and how migration schemes for this specific group were established. Simultaneously, practices of agency among DPs and how they navigated these policies to accomplish their interests will be explored.
Johannes Glack, BA MA