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theses

ETD doctoral

This dissertation studies the questions of home-making and community-building by Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe and North Africa in transitional immigration camps in Italy after the Second World War. It recovers the stories of these long-silenced Jewish displaced persons (DPs) and reorients the field of postwar refugee studies to reconsider the importance of Italy. Between 1945 and 1951, at least 50,000 Jewish, non-Italian refugees made their way to Italy, most in hopes of permanently resettling in Palestine/Israel. Blockades and quotas for emigration entailed that the majority lived in at least one of the 35 Displaced Persons camps or 97 hachsharot, or agricultural training centers, for several years. These camps and centers were set up by the Allied Military forces, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, and the Jewish Agency for Palestine; these groups were later joined by the Italian national government and the International Relief Organization. This dissertation argues that through their interactions with fellow DPs and aid workers, many Jewish DPs established homes in these temporary spaces that attempted to both re-create their former lives and to project what they hoped their future lives might look like.

This dissertation explores themes of rehabilitation and agency in everyday life during displacement and migration. Through its connections of family and humanitarian history, it specifically examines the history of childhood questioning the implementation of rehabilitation methods and recognition of youth agency. It examines the ways in which interactions between organization and individuals of all ages in the camps created new understandings of home, family, and identity, in light of wartime and postwar ruptures. It further connects these histories of displacement with the role of states and humanitarian groups in aiding or hindering refugees’ creation of new homes and futures. This is particularly important in relation to their involvement with North African Jewish migrants who were denied refugee status. This study examines the ways this lack of status further complicated the already present problems in the DP camps resulting from a lack of adequate food or shelter. Finally, this study explores the memories of the DP camps to show how these remembrances have shifted over time from spaces of despair to places of rebirth.

ETD_11243

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-zw11-s182

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