Stories of Migration Between Guatemala and Germany Through Letters

The virtual symposium examines issues related to identity and belonging based on letters written during the Nazi era by people who emigrated or fled to Guatemala. In historical research on migration, letters serve as an important source for examining the individual and unique aspects of migrants. In this sense, the authors of letters, as well as diaries, memoirs, and other documents, allow us to perceive them as actors within the broader context of migratory movements. On the one hand, these documents reveal personal aspects of individuals within a specific historical context. On the other hand, they serve as sources for the history of culture, mentality, and daily life.

Historical research focusing on biographical aspects of migration processes between Germany and Latin America has rarely covered Central American countries until now. This is partly due to the relatively small number of people who emigrated from German-speaking territories to these regions. This symposium addresses this gap and aims to contribute to historical research on correspondence.

The symposium is being held as part of the project „Letters between Guatemala and Germany: A family correspondence from the time of National Socialism (1935-1939)”, which has been funded by Der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien.

Programa / Program:

• 17:00 – 17:15 Bienvenida e introducción / Welcome and Introduction
  Ricarda Musser / Daniel Cuesta Ágredo
• 17:15 – 17:35 Cooperación, conflictos y crisis: actividades económicas de inmigrantes alemanes en Guatemala, 1850–1950
  Christiane Berth (Universität Graz)
• 17:35 – 17:55 Letters in Transit: Introductory Presentation on the Usage of Family Letters to Detail Migration and Displacement Transnationally 
   Lucia Alvarez (University of California, Los Angeles)
• 17:55 – 18: 15 Discusión / Discussion
• 18:15 – 18:30 Pausa / Break
• 18:30 – 18:50 Exile as ethnographic narration. Letters by a Jewish refugee from the Pacific Highlands of Guatemala 1937–1940
  Susanne Bennewitz (Hochschule Trier)
• 18: 50 – 19:10 Migración, identidad y pertenencia en la correspondencia de la familia Becker (Guatemala–Alemania, 1935–1939)
  Daniela Cuesta Ágredo (investigador independiente / independent researcher)
• 19:10 – 19:30 La Alemania imaginada: medios e (des)información sobre el Tercer Reich en la comunidad alemana de Guatemala a partir de las cartas de la familia Becker Meyer
  Ricarda Musser (Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut)
• 19:30 – 19:50 Discusión / Discussion
• 19:50 – 20:00 Resumen / Summary
  Ricarda Musser / Daniel Cuesta Ágredo