Oral-History

Since 2018, the Bukowina-Institut has been conducting life history interviews with people born in Bukovina and their descendants. As part of several sub-projects funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Bavarian State Ministry for Family, Labour and Social Affairs, and the Haus des deutschen Ostens (under the project leadership of Alexander Weidle and Franziska Pohlmann), a total of 224 interviews had been carried out by December 2024. Of these interviews, 169 were conducted with Christian interviewees and 55 with Jewish interviewees.

The collection offers a comprehensive insight into the diverse life stories from Bukovina, some of which have been made available as part of the project ‘Stories and History of Migration from Bukovina: A Digital Exhibition’. Interviewees recount not only their own experiences of resettlement, flight and expulsion, but also the living conditions and everyday life of their ancestors in Bukovina. The interview project is ongoing.