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Description
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"Where even is Kenya?" - this was the question posed by the majority of Jewish refugees before being cast into the East African British colony, 1933 onwards. While often the last hope, it was seldom their destination of choice. A few hundred were successful in their flight to Kenya, despite the lack of willingness of colonial authorities to admit them to the country. But how is one to survive in an agrarian-oriented, sparsely populated country whose languages are just as foreign as are the customs, modes of life, climatic conditions, and health risks? What options were available to refugees who were prohibited from practising their professions, regardless of whether as medics, lawyers, or merchants?Answers to these questions were found on a search for former 'Kenyans' that spanned continents, the putting together of fragments of this 'Kenyan' network like mosaics, and numerous conversations with contemporary witnesses who narrated their experiences for the first time. In view of the historical context, these tough, obstacle-fraught battles are made visible: the search for new identities, the reclaiming of self-worth, the conquering of social recognition. Lastly, it is shown how much life in Kenya shaped lives in the short and long-term.
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(Author portrait)
Kasper-Holtkotte, Cillilived in Kenya for many years. Following her doctorate, she published on the Jewish history of Germany and France in the Modern Times, the founding of Jewish communities in Belgium in the 19th Century, the history of the Jews of Frankfurt in the Early Modern Times, alongside other publications.Her recent work includes the biography of the Frankfurt Jewess Mimi Borchardt in Egypt and the meaning of orientalist networks during the Nazi period.
