‘The sea shall have our weapons’ : small arms and forced migration across the Baltic Sea during the Second World War

• During the Second World War, a large number of guns were brought to Sweden by refugees escaping the occupation powers of the eastern Baltic countries. Most people had very limited space for bringing belongings with them, but small arms were apparently highly prioritised when setting out – yet, at the same time, they were usually disposed of in the course of the crossing. Informed by Latours’ thoughts on hybrid actors, this paper explores the relationship between humans and arms during the escape across the Baltic Sea in 1943–45. It is shown that although they were seldom fired, the physical presence of these arms directly affected human action, perception and identities, and that it did so in different ways during different phases of the crossing.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Arkeologi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- Archaeology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Mobility

forced migration

absences

guns

Estonia

Second World War

border crossing

boat refugees

hybridity

object biographies

migration

andra världskriget

flykt

arkeologi

Archaeology

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)