AboutJedediah Expertise I can answer questions about everyday life in Germany, German culture, traditions and language (no translations of more than 50 words). I can also answer questions about WWII in Germany.
Experience I am German and I currently live in Hamburg.
Expert: Jedediah Date: 6/29/2008 Subject: travel in Nazi Germany
Question QUESTION: Dear Jennifer,
I wonder if I could ask for your advice on the following research problem.
I am working on a mystery novel for preteens, and in this regard, am looking for some information on how travel to and from Germany, and within the country itself, was regulated and controlled by the Nazi regime after it came into power.
Basically, I'm looking for answers to questions such as:
Would it have been difficult for foreigners to enter the country? Could foreign students enter and leave as they pleased? Were German citizens free to travel within the country as they pleased? Were they free to leave the country (both temporarily and permanently)? Were citizens of enemy nations permitted to enter the country?, etc.
Many books have been written about Hitler and Germany during this era, but travel and the extent to which the government controlled it is one aspect of this period that doesn't seem to have attracted much research.
This being the case, I'm not quite sure where to look for this kind of information.
I was wondering if you could suggest some sources--i.e., books, websites, articles, etc.--that might have the information I need.
Any suggestions you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
In advance, thanks very much for your help.
Best regards,
Matt
ANSWER: Dear Matt,
thank you for your question.
I need to do some library research on this, I cann't answer the question right now. I'll get back to you at the end of next week at the latest.
Do you have a specific year in mind? That would make it a bit easier because immigration/emigration policy changed quite a bit from 1933-39 and of course during the WWII years.
I'm sorry that I cannot give a definite answer right away
Jennifer
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi Jennifer,
I can certainly understand why the information I asked for will take some time to find, so no apologies are necessary. I just hope I wasn't imposing on you by asking something that required so much research.
Anyway, in answer to your question, to narrow down the time period a little, I guess I would choose the two-year period of 1943-1945 as the period I'm most interested in. I hope that helps. If not, please let me know.
In addition to the questions I mentioned before, I was also wondering what sort of documentation someone would have needed to travel within Germany during that period or to enter the country temporarily (as for a visit) or to leave the country permanently.
I have some questions about Germany's policy toward foreign students entering the country, but maybe that would be best left for another time, considering how many questions I've already asked.
I hope my questions are specific enough--as I continue to work on the plot of my novel, details are constantly getting changed around, and because of this, it's often hard for me to foresee exactly what kind of information I'll need to give the story historical accuracy.
As a result, all I can do most of the time is just summarize what I think I'll need to know to ensure that the factual background of the story will be as accurate as possible when the plot finally takes shape in its permanent form.
In spite of my best efforts, though, I'm always coming up with more questions that arise as the details of the story change and as things I don't know about find their way into the chain of events.
Would it be okay if I contacted you with whatever questions I might have in the future?
I sincerely appreciate your willingness to research my questions at the library.
Best regards,
Matt LaFera
ANSWER: Thank you for your patience. I'm a librarian and I actually enjoy doing research, so please do ask me if there are any more questions :)
I just thought of another thing: what country exactly would your characters come from? That would definitely have an impact on where they would be allowed to travel, if at all, especially during the time you have in mind.
best regards
Jennifer
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi Jennifer,
The easiest way to answer your question would probably be to summarize for you the situation in my novel that makes the travel information necessary.
Basically, there is a situation in my story that involves the commander of a U.S. hospital ship who has to get a German woman--whom he plans to marry--to the U.S. during the 1943-1945 time frame I mentioned. He'll be transporting her there from Germany on the hospital ship (she'll be disguised to blend in with the other personnel, naturally). The situation involving the commander and his fiance leads to a mystery that unfolds many years later, in the present, which is when my novel takes place.
So, taking all that into consideration, I guess what I need to know is what difficulties a woman like the one in my story would have faced in leaving Germany at this time, and also, how the commander of a U.S. hospital ship would have managed to "pick up" an acquaintance like this somewhere in the vicinity of Germany's borders. I imagine this last feat would have been all but impossible during WWII, but you can understand the kind of research problems I've been struggling with.
I hope this helps a little. I know these questions I've been asking are wide in scope, and therefore a little tricky to find answers for. If you need any more help in getting them into a more "answerable" form, just let me know and I'll do my best to make them easier to deal with.
Many thanks again for your time and effort in helping me.
Best regards, Matt
Answer Hi Matt,
thanks for the information. That does make it easier to research. I think that the best way would probably be from Germany to the Netherlands and then getting someone to take her out to sea - resistance in the Netherlands was very active and as far as I know, it was possible to cross the borders into the Netherlands for Germans. But I'm just thinking aloud here, I'll be in the library on Wedneyday and I'll let you know what I found out.
Best regards
Jennifer
