Archives and memory: glimpses of abuse and violence in ex-POW homes

Focusing on family abuse and violence enacted by former prisoners of war (POWs) in Germany who suffered war- or captivity-related psychological disturbance, this article examines how abuse was interpreted and narrated across four distinct archival and personal sources: Department of Veterans’ Affairs case files, divorce records, family reflections and death commemorations. Moving beyond simple perpetrator – victim frameworks, this article argues that there is no single historical truth about abuse in the post-war home. Those who enacted abuse are variously viewed as traumatised veterans, difficult husbands, loving fathers, violent abusers and beloved dead. The article further argues that, for some families, the legacy of violence is intergenerational. Finally, it demonstrates that, for members of the second and third generations, trauma is a significant lens through which they view their own lived experience of abuse, allowing them to hold contradictory understandings of men who are both damaged and damaging.