Layers of Concealment: Post-War Cultures of Surveillance and Secrecy in the Lives of Jewish Refugees, as Exemplified by the Case of Steffi Dinger

The perspectives of 'ordinary' people, especially if they are women, are frequently missing from historical sources. This chapter relates the life of Steffi Dinger, an ordinary Viennese woman, whose life was rendered extra-ordinary by the Nazi rise to power, becoming a refugee in London, and the impact of Cold War politics. The article recounts her applications for naturalisation in the 1950s, why they were turned down, and the covert surveillance that she endured. It also recounts the difficulty, some 60 or 70 years later, of extracting information which is still deemed a risk to national security.