Together alone Communication and interaction between russian-speaking Jews, Russian Germans and Russians in Berlin

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.