Paper short abstract:

This paper is based on an analysis of thirty-two semi-structured in-depth interviews with mothers who fled Ukraine with their children and currently live in Germany (in Berlin and Frankfurt/Oder). Drawing on the interviewees’ accounts, the paper traces a refugee- and motherhood nexus over time.

Paper long abstract:

This paper is based on an analysis of original data collected between August and November 2022, and then again between September and December 2024, consisting of thirty-two semi-structured in-depth interviews with mothers who fled Ukraine with their children and currently live in Germany (in Berlin and Frankfurt/Oder).

Drawing on the interviewees’ accounts, the paper traces a refugee- and motherhood nexus over time, allowing us to understand how the status as a refugee and mother may influence on life-building processes in a new environment.

During the first round of interviews, the interlocutors' motherhood serves as a source of both mobility and immobility. They left Ukraine to protect their children, but in Germany are reduced to being ‘just mothers’, despite in most cases being highly skilled and accomplished career-women. One year later, in the follow-up interviews, they demonstrate stronger resilience patterns through motherhood, not only by being protectors of their children, but also by building new lives.