Doing biographical research in a (post-)conflict setting: A case study of ethnic Germans in southern Ukraine

My paper takes a biographical and collective-history approach to analyse conflicting versions of the German-Romanian occupation which are present in the grouping of ethnic Germans in southern Ukraine. It shall be shown how unequal balances of power can evolve in a post-conflict setting and to what extent they supress the voices of the outsiders. Furthermore, I would like to discuss, how the field researcher might deal with the various challenges of doing research in such a conflictive context.

My analysis is based on research carried out in southern Ukraine, where ethnic Germans started to settle from the 18^th century. I will take a closer look at the years of the German-Romanian occupation (1941–44) with a focus on the question how my interviewees, born in 1920s/30s, talk about the events of this period today. On the one hand, there are those ethnic Germans who aim to absolve the locals from guilt concerning the crimes during the German-Romanian occupation (grouping A). On the other hand, there are other ethnic Germans who address the events of the years 1941-44 in a critical manner and talk relatively openly about the participation of local inhabitants in the genocide of Jews and Roma (grouping B). The figuration between grouping A and B is marked by unequal balances of power. While the representatives of grouping A are established, the representatives of grouping B and their versions of the occupation are largely excluded from public discourses. In order to understand the emergence of this “established-outsider figuration” (N. Elias), a closer analysis of several developments is required, including the asymmetrical balances of power and public discourses among the diverse groupings of the present and former inhabitants of Ukraine. Finally, I will highlight the various challenges that this (post-)conflict setting produces and how the researcher might deal with them.