The Austrian Society for exile research
The Austrian Society for Exile Research (öge) is an independent association of those active in the field of exile research or those interested in it, as well as people living in exile. It was founded in 2002 to send a signal that the confrontation with exile must by no means be over. To this day, exile research leads a rather peripheral existence in the scientific community, and there is largely a lack of awareness of the extent and consequences of the exodus from Austria due to Austrofascism and National Socialism in the broader public.
For about thirty years, however, there has been a growing number of research projects and initiatives from various scientific disciplines that deal with exile, which has also led to various contacts with exiles and their descendants. In recent years there has also been an increasing number of collaborations with people, groups and institutions that are dedicated to researching experiences in exile in the present, and there are efforts to find people who have a current refugee and exile background and their perspective on the work to include the öge. The öge has made it its task to document, network and make publicly visible the many approaches in the field of historical and current exile research. The work of the öge is shaped by its own research and events as well as by intensive cooperation with all relevant initiatives and institutions.