Transgenerational Trauma and Family Memory? The Legacy of Sudeten German Expulsion after World War II
Transgenerational Trauma and Family Memory? The Legacy of Sudeten German Expulsion after World War II

Summary/Abstract: The forced displacement of the Sudeten Germans represents a crucial moment in the history of the Czechoslovakia after World War II, it was the largest migration wave in the history of the Czech lands. The experience of losing one’s home through forced migration gave rise to what is known as the “fate-bound community” of Sudeten Germans. In the aftermath of the war, particularly from the perspective of Western countries, this community forged a shared collective identity and culture of remembrance. While considerable attention has been devoted to the communicative and cultural memory of the so-called “generation of experience”, less focus has been placed on subsequent generations and the transgenerational transmission of traumatic experiences. In this study, we delve into the concept of “postmemory” (Hirsch, 2012) and explore how families and generations of grandchildren perceive and process what can be termed “chosen trauma” (Volkan, 2001). The study is based on biographic and semi-structured interviews conducted with 11 participants, all of whom are descendants of displaced Sudeten Germans. The findings suggest that the repercussions of ancestral trauma are transmitted to the grandchildren’s generation primarily via a succession of dominant emotional responses and affects, rather than through comprehensive understanding of the ancestral history.

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