Ira Peter "German enough? Why we finally have to talk about Russian Germans"

Ira Peter, who moved with her family from Kazakhstan to Germany when she was nine years old, uses her own eventful biography to describe the experiences and conflicts of Russian Germans - from the shame of their Soviet origins to the fatal consequences of short-sighted integration policies and their ‘susceptibility’ to Russian influence, she takes a critical yet sensitive look at Germans who are often perceived as foreign by the majority society.

She explains how the dual experience of dictatorship under Stalin and Hitler still characterises Russian-Germans today and makes some susceptible to nationalist thinking. At the same time, Ira Peter shows how heterogeneous the group is and why ‘being German’ is no longer a criterion for being German today.

A book that not only sheds light on the history of Russian-Germans, but also invites readers to reflect on (German) identity and integration.

(IN GERMAN)