Life stories and family memories: Interviews with grandsons of World War II refugees in Brazil

Authors

  • Marcos Nestor Stein Universidade Estadual do Oeste Do Paraná-UNIOESTE
  • Méri Frotscher Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná - PPGH

Abstract

This article is based on oral interviews made with descendants of World War II refugees who live in Guarapuava, Paraná State. They are descendants of members of a group of about 2,500 people who identify themselves as Danube Swabians, who immigrated at the beginning of the 1950s to Brazil as war refugees and settled in Guarapuava, where they founded the colony of Entre Rios. The analysis focuses on the narratives of three grandsons, born in the 1970s, in order to discuss how they construct their life and family stories in relation with narratives that construct a historical sense to the Danube Swabians in Europe and in Entre Rios. We also discuss how they connect their life stories with the experiences of their grandparents.

Keywords: Danube Swabians, Oral History, life story, generation, Colony of Entre Rios.

Author Biographies

Marcos Nestor Stein, Universidade Estadual do Oeste Do Paraná-UNIOESTE

Graduação em História pela UNIOESTE.

Mestre e Doutor em História pela UFSC.

Professor do Colegiado do Curso de História e od PPGH em História (nível de mestrado) da UNIOESTE.

Méri Frotscher, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná - PPGH

Doutora em História pela UFSC. Professora dos cursos de graduação e pós-graduação em História da UNIOESTE.

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Published

2016-10-28

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 3 (2016): September/December

Section

Dossier

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