A result of an international cooperation of authors from eight countries this handbook offers a unique look at the migrations from East and Central Europe during the Cold War. The scholars – familiar with regional and foreign archives, familiar with the state of art in the field both in their home countries and abroad, fluent in the languages of the countries included herein, joined their competences, experience and erudition to put together this unprecedented academic guide. A coherent chapter structure allows the reader to pursue own comparisons and design innovative research projects. Each chapter contains sections on: pre-1939 traditional migration patterns, comments on the post-World War II panorama with a summary of major population transfers, followed by periodization of migrations during the Cold War which varies by each chapter to conclude with remarks related to the liberalization of travel and migration laws of the early 1990s.For general readers interested in the history of East and Central Europe, this volume serves as a survey of major migration streams in the context of political history of the Cold War. For scholars, mainly historians and sociologists, it points to the new areas, requiring a thorough, in-depth research, problems that need to be addressed on a transnational level. Since it contains a review of the current state of art in the field with a special focus on further research potential it is intended as a starting point for anyone interested in pursuing the study of regional migrations after World War II.weiterlesen