‘To reunite the dispersed family’: War, Displacement and Migration in the Tracing Files of the Australian Red Cross

Abstract

The mass immigration of displaced persons (DPs) to Australia after the Second World War generated thousands of enquiries both to and from Australia of people searching for the fate of their family members. The Australian Red Cross tracing service often became the only means of communication for many families divided by the Cold War. This article examines the case files of Red Cross tracing enquiries for what they can reveal of the experiences of war, displacement and migration to Australia, and the reach of Cold War Europe in the everyday lives of migrants. These records also demonstrate the limits of the Red Cross goal of family reunion, for not all of those who were sought wished to be found.This article has been peer reviewed.