ABSTRACT
In presenting the cases of two people (Romica Brasovean, Stefan Georgescu) who have moved from Romania, as country of departure, to the Federal Republic of Germany, as the country of residence at the time of the interview, the author shows two similar, but at the same time structurally different, patterns of experiencing and constructing biographical discontinuity and continuity in connection with migration. This chapter characterises the conditions for East-West migration during the Cold War and after 1989, focusing in particular on Romania and West Germany. In both of the presented cases, who left Romania in 1970 at the ages, respectively, of 17 and 19 and whom author interviewed in 1993-1994, the migration experience was a relevant point of reference for the presentation of the whole biography. The meaning of that experience, however – the connected biographical contexts, the historical and family backgrounds, as well as the strategies employed to construct biographical continuity – differed between the two cases.
