The monograph provides the first comprehensive, detailed account of German-speaking refugees in Ireland 1933-1945 - where they came from, immigration policy towards them and how their lives turned out in Ireland and afterwards. Thanks to unprecedented access to thousands of files of the Irish Department of Justice (all still officially closed) as well as extensive archive research in Ireland, Germany, England, Austria as well as the US and numerous interviews it is possible for the first time to give an almost complete overview of how many people came, how they contributed to Ireland, how this fits in with the history of migration to Ireland and what can be learned from it. While Exile studies are a well-developed research area and have benefited from the work of research centres and archives in Germany, Austria, Great Britain and the USA (Frankfurt/M, Leipzig, Hamburg, Berlin, Innsbruck, Graz, Vienna, London and SUNY Albany and the Leo Baeck Institutes), Ireland was long neglected in this regard. Instead of the usual narrative of "no one was let in" or "only a handful came to Ireland" the authors identified more than 300 refugees through interviews and intensive research in Irish, German and Austrian archives. German-speaking exiles were the first main group of immigrants that came to the young Irish Free State from 1933 onwards and they had a considerable impact on academic, industrial and religious developments in Ireland.

German-speaking Exiles in Ireland 1933-1945 is a pioneering study of the impact the German-speaking exiles of the Hitler years had on Ireland as the first large group of immigrants in the country in the twentieth century. It therefore adds an important yet hitherto virtually unknown Irish dimension to international exile studies. After providing an overview of the topic and an analysis of current developments in exile studies the volume devotes two chapters to Jewish refugees and another to the considerable number of Austrian exiles, investigates the relationship between Irish government policy and public opinion, and explores the problems of identity faced by so many in exile. It then focuses on some eminent refugees - Erwin Schrödinger, Ludwig Bieler, Robert Weil, Ernst Scheyer, and Hans Sachs - before concluding with personal accounts by Ruth Braunizer (the daughter of Erwin Schrödinger, excerpts from whose diaries are published here for the first time), Monica Schefold (the daughter of John Hennig), and Eva Gross. The fourteen contributors to the volume are Wolfgang Benz, Ruth Braunizer, John Cooke, Horst Dickel, Eva Gross, Gisela Holfter, Dermot Keogh, Wolfgang Muchitsch, Siobhán O'Connor, Hermann Rasche, Monica Schefold, Birte Schulz, Raphael V. Siev, and Colin Walker.

This monograph provides the first comprehensive detailed account of German-speaking refugees in Ireland 1933–1945 – where they came from, immigration policy towards them and how their lives turned out in Ireland and afterwards. Extensive archive research in Ireland, Germany, England, Austria as well as the US and numerous interviews make it possible to give an almost complete overview.

This book investigates the first time Ireland, with an autonomous legislative parliament, met with large inward migration in the modern era. In 1933, Ireland was a young state in its turbulent teens attempting to establish itself on the international stage. The people were scarred by recent memories of revolution, a War of Independence and a civil war, but they had lived through 10 years of relative peace. Two influential statesmen came to power in their respective countries: de Valera in Ireland and Hitler in Germany. Due to the latter, a large scale movement of people began. Ireland, under the leadership of de Valera, with the civil service established before him and a diverse population living there, had an unprecedented inward migratory issue to address. This book looks at the role of the civil service at home and abroad, its development and implementation of government policy and its involvement with international efforts to address the movement of German-speaking exiles fleeing the expanding National Socialist territory. It also explores the experiences of people around Ireland as they learn about the people fleeing and their responses to them. This study lays bare the foundation stone in the history of Irelands policy and public opinion toward inward migration, and allows us to understand the treatment of and reaction towards migration today. The impact of that fledgling refugee policy as examined here continues to echo in the current experiences of those fleeing persecution and war and those set to receive them.

Offering a unique account of identity formation in Ireland and Central Europe, this book explores and contextualises transfers and comparisons between Ireland and the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It reveals how Irish perceptions of borders and identities changed after the (re)birth of the small states of Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia and the creation of the Irish Free State. Adopting a transnational approach, the book documents the outward-looking attitude of Irish nationalists and provides original insights into the significance of personal encounters that transcended the borders of nation-states. Drawing on a wide range of official records, private papers, contemporary press accounts and journal articles, Imagining Ireland Abroad, 1904-1945 bridges the gap between historiographies of the East and West by opening up a new perspective on Irish national identity.

This book investigates the first time Ireland, with an autonomous legislative parliament, met with large inward migration in the modern era. In 1933, Ireland was a young state in its turbulent teens attempting to establish itself on the international stage. The people were scarred by recent memories of revolution, a War of Independence and a civil war, but they had lived through 10 years of relative peace. Two influential statesmen came to power in their respective countries: de Valera in Ireland and Hitler in Germany. Due to the latter, a large scale movement of people began. Ireland, under the leadership of de Valera, with the civil service established before him and a diverse population living there, had an unprecedented inward migratory issue to address. This book looks at the role of the civil service at home and abroad, its development and implementation of government policy and its involvement with international efforts to address the movement of German-speaking exiles fleeing the expanding National Socialist territory. It also explores the experiences of people around Ireland as they learn about the people fleeing and their responses to them. This study lays bare the foundation stone in the history of Ireland’s policy and public opinion toward inward migration, and allows us to understand the treatment of and reaction towards migration today. The impact of that fledgling refugee policy as examined here continues to echo in the current experiences of those fleeing persecution and war and those set to receive them.