Exile
Exile
Term
The term ‘exile’ is derived from the Latin *exilium* (banishment, sojourn in a foreign land), as well as from *exul* (banished person, emigrant). In Old High German it was still ‘īhsilī’ (9th century); since the 16th century, the word ‘Exil’, as used today, has been in use in New High German. The second part of the word (-al) is also found at the beginning of the Greek word *alā́sthai* (to be banished, to wander).
There are a variety of reasons for going into exile, e.g. religious or political persecution, banishment, expulsion, expatriation or forced resettlement. Rulers also go into exile, particularly after losing power.
Foreign-language equivalents, translations, loanwords
The term ‘exile’ is found in a similar form in other Germanic and Romance languages; see English ‘exile’, French ‘exil’, Spanish ‘exilio’ and Italian ‘esilio’. Whilst these examples are based on a Latin origin, some Slavic languages derive from different word roots; see Polish ‘uchodźstwo’, ‘wygnanie’ or ‘banicja’, Russian‘изгнание’ ( izgnanie), but in contrast, Czech exil, Serbian егзил (egzil), Croatian egzil. The root in the Polish and Russian languages (wygnanie andизгнание) points to a different origin, relating to forced expulsion or banishment. For the best-known exile in antiquity, the so-called Babylonian Exile of part of the Israelite people in the 6th century BC, the Torah uses the Hebrew term גּוֹלָה (gôlāh), which also refers to the group of exiles.
Support, Use
The term ‘exile’ is used primarily by those individuals and groups who find themselves in exile, in order to establish a well-considered sense of identity. An exile has left their country of origin, usually involuntarily, driven by external circumstances. By applying this self-designation, they are drawing attention to a grievance. At the same time, the term implies both their desire to return should the external circumstances that led to their exile change, and the assumed or hoped-for temporary nature of their situation.
National laws and numerous international agreements (e.g. the Geneva Conventions) specify precisely who may describe themselves as an exile and what legal protection is associated with this status. State institutions also use the term ‘political asylum’.
The term ‘exile’ can be traced back to antiquity, although it is not possible to date its origin precisely. In the Roman Empire, the term was frequently used, as under Roman law citizens could go into exile voluntarily, for example to avoid a conviction. Roman citizens were also often banished into exile for political reasons. In the Middle Ages and the early modern period, the term took on a strongly religious connotation, as it often referred to religious communities who were forced to leave their homes because of their religious beliefs. The term came into more widespread use from the 19th century onwards during the era of National Romanticism, influenced by the emergence of nation states and the rise of the concept of the ‘ethnic nation’, which excluded certain groups. The term came into wider use from the 19th century onwards, when, as a result of revolutions, political conflicts and national separatist movements, people were repeatedly forced to seek refuge from persecution outside their own country.
Between 1933 and 1945, during the Nazi era in the German Reich, many people who were subjected to political repression or racist persecution emigrated or fled abroad for an indefinite period. Among those in exile during this period were political opponents of the Nazis and, above all, people of Jewish origin – a total of around 500,000 people, including numerous writers, academics, artists and architects.
Since the end of the Second World War, the term has increasingly been associated with the granting of asylum. It is used worldwide, mostly in connection with emigration from autocratic states or in the context of military conflicts.
2. Definition
The term ‘exile’ refers to a person or group living outside their country of origin, where this stay is usually long-term and often the result of reprisals. An exile is a person who is living in exile. Exile may be imposed, for example through state-imposed banishment or expatriation, or it may be a matter of personal choice when exiles consider the conditions in their country of origin to be untenable. Should these conditions change, a return is usually sought.
Religious communities in exile
The religious conflicts in Eastern Europe during the late Middle Ages and early modern period drove many religious communities into exile. One of the best-known examples is the Hussite movement, whose followers were banished from Bohemia following the death of the reformer Jan Hus (c. 1370–1415) and the Hussite Wars (1419–1436). In the early modern period and at the onset of the Reformation in the early 16th century, there were numerous conflicts between Protestant and Catholic factions , which often resulted in wars and exile, for example, the Mennonites and the Hutterites from the first third of the 16th century onwards, or the French Huguenots following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). German-speaking Protestant communities are also worth mentioning, for example the Anabaptists, the Schwenckfelders from Silesia in the 16th century, or the approximately 20,000 ‘Salzburg exiles’ expelled in 1731, who settled mainly in East Prussia (for example, in Königsberg/Kaliningrad or in Gumbinnen/Gusev). In the wake of the French Revolution, after 1789, around 150,000 people who rejected the political developments in their own countries went into exile, scattering across the whole of Europe.
The Partitions of Poland and the Great Emigration
Following the Partitions of Poland ( 1772, 1793, 1795) and, in particular, following the failed November Uprising of 1830, a significant proportion of the Polish upper classes found themselves in exile, primarily in France, where Paris became a centre of Polish exile culture. The partitioning powers – Russia, Prussia and Austria – offered Polish society little scope to develop politically or socially, with the result that many people emigrated during the 19th century, particularly as a result of political persecution (Wielka Emigracja; La Grande Émigration). In France, the Polish exiles formed political, literary and intellectual societies to articulate their national goals and interests.
Exile during the Nazi era
Following the Nazi seizure of power in Germany , around half a million people – the vast majority of whom were Jews who had been discriminated against and persecuted – went into exile after 1933. Alongside France and Palestine, Czechoslovakia – which, until 1939, showed itself to be more open and tolerant towards German emigrants than almost any other European country – was one of the most important countries of refuge and transit. Prague/Praha became a major centre for German exiles. For German communists, the Soviet Union was also an important country of exile. After the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, exiles found refuge particularly in the USA and South America. Owing to the large number of writers in exile, the period between 1933 and 1945 is also referred to as the era of exile literature.
Exile during the Cold War
The repressive political conditions in the communist states of Eastern Europe, dominated by the Soviet Union after the Second World War, left little room for critical views, with the result that numerous politicians, cultural figures and intellectuals left their home countries and went into exile, primarily in Western, democratic countries. The suppression of the Hungarian Uprising in 1956 and the Prague Spring in 1968 provided the backdrop for further waves of emigration. During the Cold War, the decision to go into exile was driven not only by the desire to escape repression but also by two further motives: on the one hand, the flight from Russification; on the other, the search for ways to liberate one’s homeland from the outside and bring about democratic change or a revolution.
4. Discourses/Controversies
Following the Second World War, the concept of exile has taken on a more political connotation in general discourse and is often equated with political asylum. In doing so, the religious, ideological or social aspects of a decision to go into exile are frequently overlooked.
The application of the concept of ‘exile’ to the situation of German displaced persons and refugees after the end of the war – a view occasionally put forward in West German discourse by individual figures such as Eugen Lemberg (1903–1976) – failed to gain widespread acceptance in the long term.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, political science and historical research began to focus primarily on exiles from authoritarian states and dictatorships.
A further, more detailed discussion concerns the question of whether and to what extent those affected by exile regarded themselves as exiles, and how their relationship with other groups – for example, with the indigenous population, but also with other immigrants in their respective host countries – developed.
Since 2011, Nobel Prize-winning author Herta Müller has been campaigning for the establishment of a museum of exile in Berlin, a project which is taking shape with the founding of the Exilmuseum Berlin Foundation in 2018; the open space behind the ruins of Anhalter Bahnhof is being considered as a potential site.
Bibliography
- Joachim Bahlcke (ed.): Religious Refugees. Causes, Forms and Effects of Early Modern Confessional Migration in Europe. Berlin-Münster 2008.
- Krzysztof Dybciak (ed.): Poles in Exile. An Anthology. Darmstadt 1988.
- Matthieu Gillabert; Robert Tiphaine (eds.): Seeking Refuge. Phases of Exile from Eastern Europe during the Cold War / Chercher refuge. Les phases d’exil d'Europe centrale pendant la Guerre froide. Basel 2017 (Itinera. Supplement to the Swiss Journal of History 42).
- Sławomir Kalembka: Wielka emigracja 1831–1863 [The Great Emigration 1831–1863]. Toruń 2003.
- Claus-Dieter Krohn, Patrick von zur Mühlen, Gerhard Paul, Lutz Winckler (eds.): Handbook of German-speaking Emigration 1933–1945. Darmstadt 1998.
- Cilly Kugelmann, Jürgen Reiche (eds.): Homeland and Exile. The Emigration of German Jews after 1933. Frankfurt am Main 2006.
- Eugen Lemberg (ed.): Peoples and Ethnic Groups in Exile. Munich 1953 (Ackermann-Gemeinde Series 5).
- Elizabeth K. Valkenier: ‘Eastern Europe in Exile’. In: The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 317 (1958), pp. 146–152.
- Tobias Weger: The ‘Ethnic Group in Exile’? Sudeten German Politics after 1945, in: Hahn, Hans Henning (ed.): A Hundred Years of Sudeten German History. An Ethnic Movement in Three States, Frankfurt am Main et al. 2007, pp. 277–302.
Web links
- http://www.exilforschung.de/ (Society for Exile Research e.V.)
- https://exilforschung.ac.at/ (Austrian Society for Exile Research)
- Pfeifer, Wolfgang: Exile. In: Digital Dictionary of the German Language, 2021. URL: https://www.dwds.de/wb/Exil
Citation
Patrick Paul Kopec: Exile. In: Online Encyclopaedia on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, 2023. URL: ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/p35431 (accessed 8 June 2023).
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