“Agents” of “Westernization”?: The Impact of German Refugees of the Nazi Regime

Abstract

Political exile is certainly a universal historical phenomenon. The history of the Hitler émigrés, however, opens up a very special and complex field, as the intellectuals among them were not only numerous, but also prominent. The literature about these politicians, writers, and scientists—to identify only the three most prominent groups expelled from Germany—focus increasingly more on the host countries, especially on the long-term effects or longue durée of emigration. In this discussion, the author examines the long-term effects of emigration and analyzes them according to two different aspects: the emigrants’ retroactive effect upon their return to Germany, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the direction or panorama on which they based their work. The author argues that, following the collapse of National Socialism, the emigrants played a decisive role in the reconstruction of political culture in Germany and actually helped to determine the direction of its long-term development.

First Published in German as Söllner A. (2011). ‘“Agenten” der “Verwestlichung”? Zur Wirkungsgeschichte Deutscher Hitler-Flüchtlinge’ in P. Burschel, A. Gallus, and M. Völkel (Eds.), Intellektuelle Im Exil, Göttingen: Wallstein, pp. 199–218.