A Strange Half-World
Journal: Constellations
Year: 2020

The Second World War caused unprecedented population dislocation; 8 million people within the borders of Germany alone were categorized as displaced persons (DPs), civilians outside their national borders. While most were rapidly repatriated, nearly half a million Soviet DPs refused repatriation, and spent years of their lives in DP camps. This article seeks to better understand the experience of these DPs, for whom the camps were not merely a waystation, but a refuge. I examine three aspects of