This post was automatically translated from the German original at
NGHM-Tracker (11/25).
The monthly newsletter of the Research Group for Contemporary History and Historical Migration Research at the University of Osnabrück
By Benjamin Look & Jessica Wehner
October marked the start of the winter semester 2025/2026 and was therefore entirely focused on the preparation and implementation of the first courses. The individual status groups of the professorship also took the opportunity to look ahead to the coming semester together.
Our October edition of the newsletter reports on the diverse activities of the team.
Insights
The start of the winter semester 25/26 began with the first-year student week at the University of Osnabrück. On 8 October, the format “Faces from History” organised by the History Student Council of the Historical Seminar Osnabrück took place. Within the framework of these events, the departments of the Historical Seminar introduced themselves to first-year students. Prof. Dr. Christoph Rass presented the Professorship for Contemporary History and Historical Migration Research. In conversation with the student council, he provided insights into which historical personality he would have liked to meet (namely the historian Michel-Rolph Trouillot and the historian Barbara Tuchman) and what he finds particularly fascinating about historical studies.
From 13 October onwards, courses at the university also began. The Professorship for Contemporary History and Historical Migration Research focuses on the Holocaust and its consequences this semester. Overall, our students have a selection from one lecture, three advanced seminars, one introductory seminar and three exercises.
In the first weeks, most courses focused on familiarising students with the historical context.
On the occasion of its 40th anniversary, the Filmfest Osnabrück invited guests to a special panel discussion at the Felix-Nussbaum-Haus on 11 October. Together with the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS) and the ThinkTank Migrationspolitik e.V., the question was explored of how cinematic narratives about migration, belonging and identity have changed over the past four decades.
Berlin filmmaker Serpil Turhan discussed with Prof. Dr. Christoph Rass from IMIS about ruptures and continuities in the cinematic representation of Germany as a country of immigration. Turhan, who herself comes from a Kurdish family and addresses questions of identity and migration in her documentaries such as “Köy” (2021), brought her perspective as a filmmaker who navigates between different belongings. The cultural studies scholar Aurora Rodonò, who works as a diversity manager at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne and researches Italian guest worker migration, had to cancel due to illness.
From the “guest worker films” of the 1980s through the representation of racist violence in the 1990s to current narratives about flight and integration: The discussion showed how the medium of film shapes societal debates. “Films contribute significantly to the interpretation and construction of reality and thus also to the perception of migrants,” emphasised Christoph Rass. “They have the power to influence, direct our gaze and attention, create visibility and invisibility, and are strongly involved in societal negotiation processes around migration in a visually dominated culture.”
While Christoph Rass discussed the significance of migration history/histories on site in Osnabrück, Sebastian Musch dedicated himself to this topic in Cologne: The event entitled “Never again on German stages…! Theatre practitioners from the Rhineland between homeland and exile 1945–1965” took place on 28 October at the Horion-Haus (Cologne) and commemorated the famous Israeli actress Orna Porat (née Irene Klein from Cologne-Porz). The Cologne native emigrated to Palestine in 1947 with her husband, where her career began and she became a defining figure of Israeli theatre.
During the evening, Dr. Sebastian Musch gave a lecture on “Migration history/histories between the Rhineland and Palestine/Israel”, followed by Prof. Dr. Peter W. Marx, theatre studies scholar at the University of Cologne, who spoke about “Return, but where to? Jewish theatre artists in the Bonn Republic”. The evening concluded with a moderated discussion involving Lital Porat, daughter of Orna Porat, Dr. Sebastian Musch, Prof. Dr. Peter W. Marx and PD Dr. Henning Türk (LVR-Institute for Regional Studies and Regional History). The event was organised by the LVR-Institute for Regional Studies and Regional History (LVR-ILR) in cooperation with MiQua (LVR-Jewish Museum in the Archaeological Quarter Cologne), the Twin Cities Association Cologne – Tel Aviv – Yafo and the Protestant Church Community Cologne-Porz.
On 28 October, Annika Heyen’s article “‘A Façade for Inaction’? Governmental Actors, the Bermuda Conference and the Non-Rescue of Jewish Refugees” appeared online first in the Journal of Contemporary History as the first contribution to the special issue on Refugee Agency planned jointly with our Viennese colleagues. In her contribution, Annika Heyen examines how the Allies produced non-action regarding the rescue of persecuted Jews in Europe in the context of the Bermuda Conference in 1943.
On 23 October, Sarah Grandke (University of Regensburg) was a guest at the working group colloquium of the Professorship for Contemporary History and Historical Migration Research. There she presented the results of her dissertation project “Displaced Persons and Memory Activism. The Examples of Flossenbürg and Ebensee after the Second World War and at the Beginning of the Cold War”. In particular, the experiences of Ukrainian and Polish “Memory Activists” were discussed.
History@SFB1604
Lale Yildirim and Christoph Rass, who jointly lead subproject A3 of the Collaborative Research Centre 1604 (“You are guest worker children”), met with Gerhard Kromschröder to interview him for the SFB podcast and to understand his intervention in German society’s handling of its migration-induced growing diversity. For this purpose, the two were guests at the HelloRobin studio in Hamburg, a partner of the Bielefeld Podcastfabrik, which produces the SFB 1604 podcast series with us.
On 21 October 1985, “Ganz unten” [The Lowest of the Low] by Günther Wallraff was published. Almost exactly three years earlier, on 14 October 1982, another role-playing reportage in “Stern” had already drawn attention to the everyday racism experienced by migrants from Turkey in Germany. The following year, journalist Gerhard Kromschröder published his observations and experiences in the book “Als ich ein Türke war” [When I Was a Turk] (several editions 1983 to 1985) published by Eichborn Verlag.
In 1982, Kromschröder had worked for several weeks in the role of an immigrant from Turkey at the municipal cleaning service in Frankfurt am Main and explored the everyday life of people read as migrants in Germany in the early 1980s.
Notes
On 6 October, the student assistants and doctoral candidates of the working group met for their regular discussion session at the beginning of the semester. Together, they reflected on the current situation during the transition between semesters and looked ahead to the tasks and challenges of the coming semester. Speakers were also elected again to facilitate internal communication within the working group. Imke Selle takes on another term for the WS 25/26 and receives new support from Hannah Foth. The team thanks both for their commitment!
Already at the beginning of May, the Professorship for Contemporary History and Historical Migration Research, together with the entire University of Osnabrück, switched its online presence to a new website, which we continue to expand and develop.
In October, Team NGHM supplemented the Study & Teaching section with additional guidelines and offerings:
- Communication guidelines page
- NGHM-UOS-Campus Navigator
- NGHM-Migration Research Navigator
- NGHM-Contemporary History Navigator.
In October, the team of Contemporary History and Historical Migration Research said farewell to Steven Richardt. Steven supported the core team of the professorship since 1 August 2024, primarily in the areas of literature research and text editing. We wish Steven all the best for completing his Master’s degree!
On 1 October, we were able to welcome Ilka Schwerdtfeger to the NGHM team. She is studying German Studies and History in the two-subject Bachelor’s programme in her third semester and now supports both the core team of the professorship and the project “The ‘Emslandlager’ as a Conflict Landscape in Transformation” as a student assistant. Ilka finds the Second World War, its causes and consequences particularly interesting in history. We are pleased to have her support!
Blog Posts in October
- Jessica Wehner: International Workshop on Agency and Forced Migration at the University of Southern Denmark, 01 October 2025.
- Jessica Wehner and Benjamin Look: NGHM-Tracker (9-10/25), 02 October 2025.
- Jessica Wehner: Team NGHM@”Zukünftig digital?” Posterslam am 30. September in der UB Osnabrück, 07 October 2025.
- Team NGHM: Lehrangebot NGHM@UOS im Wintersemester 2025/26, 09 October 2025.
- Team NGHM: Research Revisited: Digitale Ausstellungen zur Konfliktlandschaft Hürtgenwald, 14 October 2025.
- Christoph Rass: History @ SFB 1604 | Interview mit Gerhard Kromschröder für den “Production of Migration”-Podcast, 21 October 2025.
- Team NGHM: Research Revisited: Maly Trascjanec digital erinnern – Trinationale Kooperation erschließt einen vergessenen Vernichtungsort, 24 October 2025.
Outlook & Current Dates
On 28 November, the Professorship for Contemporary History and Historical Migration Research, under the leadership of Imke Selle, offers a day excursion to the Esterwegen Memorial. Together with the student assistants in the project “The ‘Emslandlager’ as a Conflict Landscape in Transformation”, Lea Horstmann and Ilka Schwerdtfeger, students will receive an introduction to the history of the “Emslandlager”, walk through the outdoor grounds and have time to explore the permanent and special exhibitions.