„Nur das ‚Weh‘, es blieb. / Das ‚Heim‘ ist fort“. Heimweh als poetische Antriebskraft in Mascha Kalékos, Hilde Domins und Rose Ausländers Exilgedichten

The fates of exiled writers were far from uniform, even though they often shared similar life experiences. Particularly precarious was the situation of women poets, who not only faced numerous social challenges as women abroad but also struggled with a lack of readership and limited opportunities for publishing their poetry, often confined to exile periodicals. This socioeconomic uncertainty was frequently exacerbated by emotional instability, driven by the separation from their homeland and loved ones left behind. This painful disconnection, which brought an end to the literary careers of many women poets, became a central theme in their work, often addressing the concept of "Heimweh" (homesickness). This paper explores this emotional phenomenon through the poetic production of Jewish German-speaking poets Mascha Kaléko, Hilde Domin, and Rose Ausländer. In the analysed corpus, homesickness is not simply a yearning for a lost home but is experienced as a complex emotional construct that initiates a process of trauma processing and identity reconstruction. For these poets, homesickness serves as a catalyst for poetic creation and personal renewal, transforming the painful existential experience of exile into a profound source of inspiration for their lyrical expression.