As part of the Second World War and Holocaust Partnership Programme (SWWHPP) led by the Imperial War Museums (IWM), the project ‘Refugees from National Socialism in Wales: Learning from the Past for the Future’ will explore the hidden stories of those who fled from Central Europe due to the National Socialist dictatorship and found sanctuary in Wales in the 1930s and 1940s.

Led by Dr Andrea Hammel, Director of the Centre for the Movement of People (CMOP), the project will include several co-curated outcomes, such as a film and an exhibition, due to be shown at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre in late 2022. It will also contribute to a Digital Installation which is to be permanently located in the Imperial War Museum London.

The issue of forced migration is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century and this project seeks to encourage learning from the past for the future. Andrea Hammel and the filmmaker Amy Daniel will work with different groups, such as present-day refugees and those assisting refugees today, to develop a creative response linking different refugee stories in Wales. The project will address questions about the diversity of Welsh society, religious and linguistic differences, and social, educational and economic challenges.

The project film will be shown at different locations across Wales and online, and there will be workshops accompanying the exhibition. The exhibition will be at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre between November 2022 and January 2023 and the Senedd between February and April 2023. It will be accompanied by a series of events and workshops which will be publicised nearer the time. Honno Press has commissioned a book on Refugees from National Socialism in Wales to be published in November 2022.