Abstract
When the majority of Baltic Germans left Latvia in the fall of 1939, Margarete von Pusirewsky (1872–1948) stayed behind in her home town Riga. Together with her family – her mother Ludmilla Goegginger (Gēgingers) and her sister Marta Busz, as well as her two daughters and a son, they decided not to follow the mass exodus of Germans. In her life, Margarete von Pusirewsky had already experienced several episodes of self-imposed exile from her hometown and Baltic Heimat, firstly, as the wife of a military doctor post ed to different places around the Russian Empire, and secondly, during the First World War, when she and her family had fled to Helsinki. After these longer periods spent in other parts of the Russian Empire, she always returned to Riga. Even when she left Riga for the last time in 1944 to flee the approaching Red Army, she hoped to be able to return soon. Based on primary sources, in particular the memoirs of Margarete von Pusirewsky, this paper discusses the connectedness with one’s home town, the experience of exile, the longing for “being home” again during and after episodes of exile and in the context of flight, (forced) resettlement, and deportation.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
