ABSTRACT
Between 1987 and 1999, ethnic Germans leaving Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia for Germany (Aussiedler) totalled 2.6 million; of those, 1.8 million came from the former Soviet Union (FSU). While the circumstancespresence of grievances, high concentration (4 per cent of the population, and 15 to 30 per cent in many areas), leadership from the post-war League of Expellees (Bund der Vertriebenen)—seemed to favour mobilization, no action was taken. No leaders have yet emerged among the Aussiedler themselves. The prevalent explanations for the lack of mobilization among the post-Cold War Aussiedler (Dietz and Hilkes 1994) describe poor language skills, socialization in a communist regime, subsequent distrust of politicians in general and socialist parties in particular and an overall feeling of powerlessness in politics.
