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Family Secrecy : Experiences of Danish German Children Born of War, 1940-2019

Koegeler-Abdi, Martina LU (2021) In Journal of Family History 46(1). p.62-76
Abstract
Families with children born to Danish mothers and German soldiers during WWII often resorted to secrecy to ward off discrimination and harm. Not knowing their origins, though, could have long-term consequences for the identity formation of these children born of war (CBOW). Based on a qualitative analysis of personal testimonies and interviews, this paper shows that the secret burdened,protected, and implicated the CBOW in the case studies in different ways at different points in their lives. This article approaches secrecy not only as a root cause of CBOW identity crisis, but also as a potential resource for resilience through memory work.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Children born of war, Family history, Memory studies, German occupation of Denmark, identity, oral history, family history research
in
Journal of Family History
volume
46
issue
1
pages
15 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85093513481
ISSN
0363-1990
DOI
10.1177/0363199020967234
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
9dd7c8bc-6088-4a24-ad52-b80917c43831
date added to LUP
2022-02-21 14:27:42
date last changed
2022-04-25 01:17:30
@article{9dd7c8bc-6088-4a24-ad52-b80917c43831,
  abstract     = {{Families with children born to Danish mothers and German soldiers during WWII often resorted to secrecy to ward off discrimination and harm. Not knowing their origins, though, could have long-term consequences for the identity formation of these children born of war (CBOW). Based on a qualitative analysis of personal testimonies and interviews, this paper shows that the secret burdened,protected, and implicated the CBOW in the case studies in different ways at different points in their lives. This article approaches secrecy not only as a root cause of CBOW identity crisis, but also as a potential resource for resilience through memory work.}},
  author       = {{Koegeler-Abdi, Martina}},
  issn         = {{0363-1990}},
  keywords     = {{Children born of war; Family history; Memory studies; German occupation of Denmark; identity; oral history; family history research}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{62--76}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Journal of Family History}},
  title        = {{Family Secrecy : Experiences of Danish German Children Born of War, 1940-2019}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0363199020967234}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/0363199020967234}},
  volume       = {{46}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}