Coming-of-age in exile: the refugee diaries of Thea Gersten and Erika Löbl, 1937–47

Abstract

ABSTRACT The diaries of Erika Löbl and Thea Gersten, both accounts of Jewish emigration from Nazi Germany, bear witness to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust and show how young refugees made new lives abroad while separated from family and friends. The diary was a friend, a tool of resistance and agency, a way to reflect on the past and future, and a tangible piece of home. Close reading of these texts helps us understand how young Jewish refugees narrated their experiences of persecution and survival through the double passage of emigration and adolescence.