Overview

• Authors describe leaving under duress from war, dictatorship or direct threats and now writing from Germany without fear of imprisonment.
• Several define homeland as memory, language, food and cultural practice rather than passports or geography.
• An Afghan contributor with German citizenship recounts persistent othering as a so‑called ‘paper German’ and ongoing identity strain.
• The essays detail continuing trauma, from depression and constant death notices to relatives killed by the Taliban.
• Female journalists cite gender-based repression in Iran, including enforced hijab rules and dismissal from university posts, and embrace a duty to speak for those still silenced.