Library
Library
Our library is a scientific reference library with a holding of around 35,000 media. In addition to current research and specialist literature on displacement, expulsion and forced migrations in a European and global perspective, an important focus of our collection is memoir literature and the diverse examination of what was experienced. Our library also includes books for children and young adults as well as graphic novels.
Things to know
There are various options for researching the library's holdings. All our holdings are listed in an online catalogue. Please note that when searching, you will not only find our own media here, but also media from the libraries of the German Historical Museum and the Allied Museum Berlin. However, you can easily recognise our books in the search by the branch DokZ Flucht Vertreibung Versöhnung.
The library system assists you in obtaining an overview of the subject areas and categories according to which the media in the open access area are arranged.
The library's journal collection can also be accessed via the Zeitschriftendatenbank, (ZDB, Journal Database) and the Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek (EZB, Electronic Journals Library). Please note that all electronic resources can only be accessed within the library, and not remotely.
The open access area of our library is open to the public. It is not necessary to register. We hold around 12,000 volumes here; you can order further books and journals to have a look at in the reading room. Collections that are marked with the location ‘magazine’ in the library catalogue can be ordered and we will make every effort to make the books available to you as quickly as possible. Titles without a shelfmark or location are older library holdings that you can also order to have a look at in the reading room.
For information and usage requests, please contact our staff in the reading room directly. You can also send us your order requests in advance by e-mail.
We are a reference library, so unfortunately you cannot borrow our books and take them home.
If the location of a book in our online catalogue says borrowed instead of available, then it is currently being used by a member of our staff. We can make the book available to you in the reading room within one or two working days. Feel free to ask us!
By the way: You can create scans from books and journals at our book scanner in the reading room for free – all you need is a USB stick to connect to the device.
New Releases
In this section we would like to introduce you to some selected new publications from our library.
You can find other new publications here.
Images against the War. Political Cartoons and Illustrations from Ukraine
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the Kiev-based collective Pictoric has been collecting works by young artists and illustrators who are trying to express the war in their homeland visually. Many of them used to illustrate children's books - today war is omnipresent.
The small, yet visually powerful selection of works by ten artists provides an insight into their experiences of the last few months: from the window, from the underground station, from exile, they draw against destruction and fear.
The trilingual nature of the edition symbolises what is really important in this peaceful project: to have an international impact as far as possible and at the same time to strengthen the community of compatriots.
Signature: F.10.2.3 Pict
In the Homes of the Others. Traces of the German Past in Western Poland
Poniemieckie is the name given in Poland to what used to be German: places, buildings, objects left behind by millions of Germans when they fled to the West at the end of the World War II. The new owners were Poles, often displaced or resettled themselves. For some, the loss of their homeland was a new beginning in a foreign land.
Karolina Kuszyk achieves something extraordinary. In a sensitive way, she describes the challenge of Polish post-war society to deal with the German heritage in today's western Poland. Drawing on archival findings, research, literature and a multitude of personal encounters, she tells of how biographies and things are interwoven across time, national borders and generations to this day.
Signature: B.6.6.1 Kusz(2)
Afghanistan
What does the return of the Taliban mean for the Afghan population? What future do the country's women face? 100 days after the takeover, journalist Natalie Amiri travelled to Afghanistan. She writes in detail and empathically about the fears of the people and the background that led to renewed violence and people fleeing. The future of women in Afghanistan is a central theme of the book - because the situation of women and girls has changed fundamentally since the Taliban took power. She tells precisely about the emotional situation of Afghan women and about the failure of Western policy.
With her book, she gives Afghan women and Afghans a voice and has created a contemporary testimony that leaves one speechless.
Signature: I.4.2.11 Amir
Recommended Reading
Do you have any questions about the library?
Contakt
Phone: +49 30 206 29 98-21
Email: bibliothek@f-v-v.de