Chilean exiles in the Netherlands Activism, memories and traumas

Abstract

This thesis analyses the memories and traumatic experiences of Chileans in the Netherlands. Those exiles have vivid memories about the coup on the 11th of September of 1973. Six of the informants have been in prison and have been tortured. Such events and others can cause deeply rooted traumas. Thousands of Chileans went into exile to the Netherlands via the Dutch embassy in Santiago, Chile or received visa through the UN. During the first period in the Netherlands all the informants were active in the solidarity movement and in Chilean political parties. After the dictatorship ended all informants changed their focus onto their work and families in the Netherlands however they kept longing for Chile. The research findings are being compared with theories on exile, collective memory and cultural trauma. Various coping mechanisms of the Chilean exiles with their possible traumas also come to the fore. The research took place in various Dutch cities and informants were found using snowball sampling. Their life histories were written down based on long and open interviews.