Mario Keßler
Completed Book project

This book examines the traces of German communist refugees in the USA who returned to the GDR after the end of the Nazi regime. It describes both their experiences of exile in the capitalist society of the USA and their living conditions in East Germany after 1945. Of interest are not only registered KPD members, but also communists without party membership such as Bertolt Brecht, Hanns Eisler, Ernst Bloch or Stefan Heym. At the political level, the primary question is which ideas for post-war Germany were developed by German communist emigrants. On an intellectual-historical level, the author is particularly interested in the relationship of the individuals vis-à-vis the Communist Party. On a cultural-historical level, the “cultural luggage” that the returnees brought back from the USA is discussed.