Russian-speaking Jews, Russians, Russian Germans

Three Russophone groups live in Germany: Russian-speaking Jews, Russian Germans and Russians. They arrived to the Federal Republic from Russia and other former Soviet states for a number of different reasons, and their legal status also differs. Yet how strong is the contact between Russian-speaking Jews, Russian Germans and Russians – within the respective groups and between the members of the three groups? This explorative study based on qualitative interviews illustrates with reference to this particular case that while a common language may be a binding factor, the social and cultural differences mean that there is little intercommunication, even when the groups are geographically close.