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Jay’Len Boone
Dr. Laborde
AIS 1203
10 October 2016
Literature Review
April 2011, marked the beginning of a crucial time in our world’s society. A young
Syrian boy washed up on the Turkish shore after being placed on a boat by his mother to escape
war (Yazgan, Utku, Ibrahim 182). This child, including millions of others, became refugees
involved in the growing issue known as the Syrian refugee crisis. This matter, started as a protest
by the Syrian people to resist a Bashar al-Assad government, or in other words a dictatorship.
After countless protests, war broke out causing families and children to escape the place they
once called home (Yazgan et al 183).
With this being an ongoing crisis, I used the research from three peer–reviewed articles to
try and understand the causes, effects, and possible solutions to this worldly matter. The research
that I found ties two academic cultures together. One being humanities, in which the research
tells the history of the crises and the other being social sciences, in which the research points to
geographical changes along with social aspects of life back then (1945) versus now. Using the
research on the 1945 refugee crisis following WWII, I hoped to discover parallels between the
two crises that could possibly formulate a solution to the Syrian refugee crisis. Thus, my research
question is; can we predict the outcome of the Syrian refugee crisis using other countries who
once shared the same circumstances? The articles that I chose for my research all approach the
matter in a different way. Though, as you will notice, they all come together to shed light on an
issue that has impacted the world as a whole.

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All three researchers: Yazgan, Reinisch, and Seipp all contend that refugee crises as big
as the Syrian and post-World War two examples, can be helped if not already solved. The Seipp
article zeroes in on a small rural community called Wildflecken located in Lower Franconia.
This community was seen as a center of refuge for German citizens who were escaping war in
1945 (Seipp 675). These German refugees were not only fleeing from the war but they found
themselves escaping other issues that Syrian refugees face today.
Although borders and the shifting of territory is not as prevalent as it was in 1945, the
ISIS terrorist group from Syria, took control of Lebanon where refugees had found safety (Seipp
677). This action caused them to continue to migrate, as seen with the Germans when they tried
to settle in the Soviet Union but were forced to leave in 1946. In addition to continuous
migration, both the Syrian and 1945 refugee crisis included the raping of multiple women as a
weapon of war (Yazgan et al 186). All three articles mentioned this touchy subject leading me to
the realization that anything can be used to fight a war. Whether that means using guns,
acquiring prisoners of war, or raping innocent women. The extremes are far too great.
The parallels between these two events, did not stop there. In Jessica Reinisch’s article,
she focuses on the reconstruction and relief of countries following war (371). To my likings, I
found that she performed extensive research over the 1945 refugee crisis as well as the Syrian
refugee crisis today. She references the “global giant” which we know today as the United
Nations (UN). Their efforts to provide economic aid to Syria have grown exponentially. With an
appeal of 1 billion US dollars in 2011 to 6.5 billion in just 2012 (Reinisch 402). This proves that
the UN has at least attempted to help the people, similar to the former organization known as
UNRRA with Germany in 1945. The UNRRA was an international health agency that sought the
provision of relief for refugees (Reinisch 378). Their efforts were seen to be the most effective in

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returning German citizens back to their home country. The acts of agencies like the UN and
UNRRA exemplify true humanitarianism, though, I still wondered why the UN’s efforts weren’t
as successful as the UNRRA in 1945. To my surprise, I found that in 2014, the UN’s plan to
provide aid was suspended because donors failed to meet their commitments (Reinisch 377). In
addition, 73 aid groups ceased their cooperation with the UN due to the Syrian President having
too much influence over the relief plan (Yazgan et al. 183-184). Evidently, the UN has struggled
greatly not because of failed attempts to provide aid but because of the Syrian government’s
desire to have complete control.
My research question of whether it is possible to predict the outcome of the Syrian
refugee crisis using other countries with similar circumstances, has shown to be very possible
considering the research provided. The direct parallels made between Syria and 1945 Germany,
are startling. It is almost as if history has in-fact, repeated itself. To expand on this thought,
Seipp’s article stresses how history teaches us for the sole purpose of not falling into the same
traps. For example, in 1945, the German refugees that settled in Wildflecken, did not like the
location or culture at all, but as time progressed it became a place that they shaped and made
their home (Seipp 695). I believe from the research collected, the same can be done for today’s
Syrian refugees. They have a long history of running but eventually, as noted by both Yazgan &
Seipp, this method will come to an end (Yazgan et al 189, Seipp 695). With the help of powerful
countries, these Refugees might be able to regain what they lost by starting over.

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Works Cited
Reinisch, Jessica. "Introduction: Relief in the Aftermath of War." Journal of Contemporary
History 43.3 (2008): 371-404. Web.
Seipp, Adam R. "Refugee Town: Germans, Americans, and the Uprooted in Rural West
Germany, 1945-5 Yazgan, Pinar, Deniz Eroglu Utku, and Ibrahim Sirkeci.
Yazgan, Pinar, Deniz Eroglu Utku, and Ibrahim Sirkeci. "Syrian Crisis and Migration."
Migration Letters 12.3 (2015): 181-92. ProQuest. Web. 13 Oct. 2016.