Unlikely refuge? Refugees and Citizens in Twentieth-Century East Central Europe

The chapter looks at the role played during the interwar period by the border cities of Sušak and Fiume, located in Yugoslavia and Italy, respectively, in the pathways of refugees from the neighboring country. Sušak and Fiume acted as transit spots for many escapees, swiftly removed from the sensitive border area. Yet, the two cities were also conditional havens for a certain number of fugitives, whose presence along the border was deemed strategic for national interests of the host country. The chapter explores at the negotiations that unfolded between refugees, on one hand, and state authorities of both the host country and the country of origin over matters of space and time.