Archives and Sources

In order to be able to illustrate one’s own research with concrete sources and collections from practice and also to offer suggestions and assistance to other scholars, this section is dedicated to presenting selected archives, their collections and particularly exciting historical sources at regular intervals.

Research and Holdings in the National Archives Kew, London – An archival trip to the U.K.
by Lena Christoph
March 11, 2024
Research and Holdings in the National Archives Kew, London – An archival trip to the U.K. – by Raphaela Bollwein and Lena Christoph The National Archives (TNA) of the United Kingdom are located in Kew, London and their collection is one of the largest in the world, with over 11 million historical and governmental records. The Archives were founded as a result of a cooperation between the Public Record Office and the Historical Manuscript Commission.[1] For the GLORE project, the TNA contain relevant documents on the issue of resettlement and repatriation of different groups of displaced persons (DPs) after World …
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Vatican’s Refugee Assistance, Ethnic Germans, and Navigating Identities in the Aftermath of World War II
by Konstantin Schischka
November 2, 2023
Four years after the end of World War II, a letter from a refugee named Massimiliano reached Vatican City. Massimiliano wrote a dramatic appeal to the Pope, seeking assistance for himself and his wife, Anna, as they hoped to emigrate to Australia in search of a better life. This refugee from Venezia Giulia, classified as Volksdeutsche and therefore excluded from the main refugee assistance programmes, saw the Holy See as a last resort.[1] The correspondence related to his case has been preserved in the Vatican Apostolic Archive, alongside thousands of other files concerning refugees who sought the Vatican’s assistance during the tumultuous years of the war’s aftermath.