The German Exile Archive 1933–1945 at the German National Library

As part of Germany’s cultural memory, the German National Library collects, documents, and archives all media works, in text, image, and sound, that have been published since 1913 in printed and digital form in and about Germany or in the German language. With approximately 56 million media items, it is Germany’s largest library. It houses valuable and extensive special collections, including the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 and the German Book and Writing Museum. It makes its collections and services available in the reading rooms in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main and, to the extent permitted by law, worldwide in digital form. The German National Library sees itself as a scientific, educational, and cultural institution and offers a diverse program of exhibitions, events, guided tours, and educational opportunities at its locations.

The German Exile Archive 1933–1945 at the German National Library is a place dedicated to exploring the themes of exile and emigration during the Nazi era. The extensive collection includes evidence of this exile: publications, as well as institutional and personal estates. The Exile Archive was co-founded by exiles themselves, who saw it as a tool for political education. This is one reason why cultural outreach plays a particularly important role: through exhibitions, events, and publications, the Archive conveys the complexity of exile, thereby making an important contribution to a vibrant culture of remembrance.

Dr. Irina Scherbakowa is a founding member of the NGO MEMORIAL, which was dissolved by the Russian Supreme Court in 2022 and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize that same year. Since the summer of 2022, Scherbakowa, who holds a doctorate in German studies and is a translator and historian, has been living in exile in Germany, where she continues the organization’s work as chair of the board of the association Zukunft MEMORIAL.

The key visual for the Days of Exile Frankfurt 2026 was designed by Nazanin Hafez, an Iranian artist who currently lives and works in Germany. Having grown up amid diverse cultural and political contexts, she has developed a keen sensitivity to power structures, mechanisms of control, and censorship, as well as to the subtle forms of violence in everyday life. In her artistic practice, she critically engages with social and political injustice and seeks to create spaces for reflection on trauma and resistance. She was named “Foam Talent” in 2026. Other awards include the Wüstenrot Foundation’s Documentary Photography Encouragement Prize, the Schloss Balmoral Residency Prize, and the Prix de la Photographie Clervaux. Her works are part of the Museum Folkwang’s photography collection.

Hafez’s work “Happy Nowruz” symbolizes shattered and fragmented memories that leave traces which simultaneously disappear and reemerge. Where memory runs dry, images become vessels of loss, trauma, and imagination. The fragility of memory reveals how violence, information overload, and digital isolation permeate life in exile and render memories vulnerable.

The radio station hr2-kultur and the news platform Amal News (Frankfurt) are accompanying the Days of Exile Frankfurt as cultural partners.