Ernst Papanek was an Austrian pedagogue who worked with Jewish refugee children in France in 1939/40, before he was forced to leave to the United States. There, he nevertheless continued his work to point out the impact of war, genocide and displacement on children, who were often forgotten in major discussions about the war and the losses it had created. This volume provides a short biographical outline of Papanek and a theoretical discussion about the impact of war and genocide on children who are forced out of their lives and who were not only physically displaced as a consequence. The second part of the book assembles some of Papanek's important texts about the children he had worked with and for, to make his thoughts and important considerations accessible for a broader academic and non-academic public alike.

Ernst Papanek was an Austrian pedagogue who worked with Jewish refugee children in France in 1939/40, before he was forced to leave to the United States. There, he nevertheless continued his work to point out the impact of war, genocide and displacement on children, who were often forgotten in major discussions about the war and the losses it had created. This volume provides a short biographical outline of Papanek and a theoretical discussion about the impact of war and genocide on children who are forced out of their lives and who were not only physically displaced as a consequence. The second part of the book assembles some of Papanek's important texts about the children he had worked with and for, to make his thoughts and important considerations accessible for a broader academic and non-academic public alike.

Children and youth belong to one of the most vulnerable groups in societies. This was the case even before the current humanitarian crises around the world which led millions of people and families to flee from wars, terror, poverty and exploitation. Minors have been denied human rights such as access to education, food and health services. They have been kidnapped, sold, manipulated, mutilated, killed, and injured. This has been and continues to be the case in both developed and developing countries, and it does not look as if the situation will improve in the near future. Rather, current geopolitical developments, political and economic uncertainties and instabilities seem to be increasing the vulnerability of minors, especially in the wars and armed conflicts currently being waged not only in Europe, but on almost every continent. How can risks children and youth are exposed to in times of transition be reduced? Which role do state agencies, non-governmental organisations, as well as children's coping strategies play in mitigating the vulnerabilities of minors? This volume addresses risks to which children and young people are exposed, especially in times of transition. The focus is on different groups of children in the European wartime and post-war societies of the Second World War, 'occupation children' in Germany, teenage National Socialist collaborators in Norway, and more recent cases such as child soldiers, refugee children, and children of European "Islamic State" fighters. The contributions come from international scholars and different academic disciplines (educational and social sciences, humanities, law, and international peace and conflict studies) and are based on historical, quantitative, and/or qualitative analyses.

“This impressive . . . study charts the history of [post WWII] humanitarian relief . . . demonstrating how the institutions of the family became politicized.” (Library Journal) During the Second World War, an unprecedented number of families were torn apart. As the Nazi empire crumbled, millions roamed the continent in search of their loved ones. The Lost Children tells the story of these families. We see how the reconstruction of families quickly became synonymous with the survival of European civilization itself. Based on original research in German, French, Czech, Polish, and American archives, The Lost Children is a heartbreaking and mesmerizing story. It brings together the histories of eastern and western Europe, and traces the efforts of everyone―from Jewish Holocaust survivors to German refugees, from Communist officials to American social workers―to rebuild the lives of displaced children. It reveals that many seemingly timeless ideals of the family were actually conceived in the concentration camps, orphanages, and refugee camps of the Second World War, and shows how the process of reconstruction shaped Cold War ideologies and ideas about childhood and national identity. This riveting tale of families destroyed by war reverberates in the lost children of today’s wars and in the compelling issues of international adoption, human rights and humanitarianism, and refugee policies. “Fascinating.” ―New Republic “[A] superb book . . . [A] wide-ranging, exceptionally well-researched study.” ―Tablet Magazine “Zahra’s work is insightful in considering what treatment of lost children can tell us about broader developments in the post-war period, both in terms of how nations interacted with each other and how psychologists understood the impact of war on children.” —Times Higher Education

Nationalism was declared to be dead too early. A postnational age was announced, and liberalism claimed to have been victorious by the end of the Cold War. At the same time postnational order was proclaimed in which transnational alliances like the European Union were supposed to become more important in international relations. But we witnessed the rise a strong nationalism during the early 21st century instead, and right wing parties are able to gain more and more votes in elections that are often characterized by nationalist agendas. This volume shows how nationalist dreams and fears alike determine politics in an age that was supposed to witness a rather peaceful coexistence by those who consider transnational ideas more valuable than national demands. It will deal with different case studies to show why and how nationalism made its way back to the common consciousness and which elements stimulated the re-establishment of the aggressive nation state. The volume will therefore look at the continuities of empire, actual and imagined, the role of "foreign-" and "otherness" for nationalist narratives, and try to explain how globalization stimulated the rise of 21st century nationalisms as well.

The human experience of war is not only remembered by societies through memorials, but also through the depiction of wars and important battles of respective national histories on screen. Very often, the image presented is related to existent semiotics, and the respective sign systems determine the image of heroic actions and violence on the screen. The present volume provides a deeper insight into the forces at play when war films are presented on the big screen and intends to show why and how violent conflicts often have an afterlife as visual media as well.