Refugee Stories

Displacement, expulsion and forced migration are not only historical phenomena. In the 20th century and in the present, millions of people share this fate. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR, the number of people who fled war, armed conflict and persecution worldwide in 2022 was already at 100 million by mid-year, higher than ever before.

The causes that lead to displacement and expulsion and what these grave experiences mean for those affected is the subject of the exhibition "The Century of Displacement" at the Documentation Centre.

The object of the shoe symbolises the mostly difficult and long journeys of refugees and displaced persons. Our exhibition also features various shoes, which we use to tell the stories of their owners.

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Schuhe, 2017 Kilometer Fluchtweg
Olha (40) hat mit ihrem 16 Jahre alten Sohn Lew und der acht Jahre alten Tochter Margarita in Charkiw gelebt. Sie arbeitete in einer großen Firma als Personalmanagerin. Als der Krieg ausbrach, erinnerte sie sich an schreckliche Geschichten ihres Großvaters aus dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Ohne ein Ziel vor Augen floh sie am 3. März mit ihren beiden Kindern Richtung Westen. Eine lange beängstigende Reise führte sie über Poltawa, Krementschuk, Ternopil und Mukatschewo an die Grenze zu Ungarn und weiter nach Budapest. Dort stieg die Familie in den Zug und erreichte am 13. März Berlin.© SFVV, Foto: Dorothea Letkemann

Flight from Ukraine

On 24 February 2022, the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine began. Bombs fell all over the country. The invasion of Russian troops continues with increasing severity and devastation. As a result of the war, millions of people were forced to leave their homes. According to UNHCR, over 7.6 million Ukrainians have been registered as refugees in Europe so far. In addition, more than 6.2 million people are displaced within the country. It is the largest refugee movement in Europe since World War II.

Blaue Badeschuhe, 7002 Kilometer Fluchtroute
Moussa (Name geändert) ist 22 Jahre alt und stammt aus Pakistan. Über den Persischen Golf gelangte er nach Dubai in die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate und von dort weiter über den Landweg nach Alexandria (Ägypten) und Libyen. Zwei Monate verbrachte er in Libyen, bevor er das Boot eines Schleppers besteigen konnte, das ihn nach Europa bringen soll. Moussa ist von der zivilen Seenotrettung aus dem Mittelmeer gerettet worden.© SFVV, Foto: Max Cavallari/ SOS Humanity

Routes Across the Mediterranean Sea

The shoes pictured here are from refugees rescued from a wooden boat en route from Libya to Italy from the Mediterranean Sea on 22 October 2022 by the HUMANITY 1, a sea rescue ship operated by the German civil society organisation SOS HUMANITY.

The route across the Mediterranean is one of the most dangerous routes from the world's crisis regions to Europe. Every year, thousands of people drown or go missing on this route; an exact number cannot be determined. This year, the official number of people who have drowned while fleeing across the Mediterranean has already reached 2000.
After many thousands of kilometres and experiences of hunger and violence, the route across the sea is often the only way out for many refugees and migrants. It is precisely from Libya that most are fleeing to escape the violence and arbitrary internment in Libyan camps. The people put themselves in the hands of smugglers who transport them from Turkey to Greece or from North Africa to Italy and Spain on inflatable boats that are usually unseaworthy.

Most people have to leave their shoes behind before they get on the rigid-inflatable boats. The danger is great that the boat will be damaged by footwear and sink. The people are directly exposed to wind, water and freezing cold on their journey, which often takes several days.
Even after the rescue, the situation of the people remains difficult: the ships of the sea rescue are often denied landing in European ports. The refugees are then often housed in overcrowded camps and shelters for a long time and receive insufficient food.

Schwarze Schnürschuhe
Berta lebte mit Mann, Kindern und weiteren Angehörigen auf einem Bauernhof im niederschlesischen Looswitz (heute: Łaziska). Am 10. Februar 1945 begab sich die Familie mit einem Treck über Bautzen in Richtung Westen und erreichte ihr vorläufiges Ziel, Geilsdorf in Thüringen, etwa einen Monat später, am 3. März 1945. Die Familie bewarb sich bei der örtlichen Bodenkommission für Ackerflächen. Die schlechten Ausgangsbedingungen (fehlendes Saatgut und Geräte, keine Wohnung) bewegte die Familie aber zur Weiterfahrt. Am 6. November 1945 brachen sie zu Verwandten nach Rudersberg in Württemberg auf. Die Familie überquerte dazu nachts die Grenze durch die Saale. Am 11. November 1945 erreichten sie Rudersberg.© SFVV, Foto: Stephan Falk

Displacement and Expulsion of the Germans at the time of World War II

Millions of Germans have also experienced displacement or expulsion. This was caused by the World War II, which started in Germany, with the extermination and exploitation of millions of people in large parts of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.
Against this background, the post-war order of the Allies provided for border changes and population shifts. In the last months of the war, millions of Germans fled to the West to escape the Red Army. Most of the people who lived in the eastern territories of the German Reich and in Central and South-Eastern Europe were displaced after the end of the war.