The experience of exile continued after the end of the war, regardless of whether one returned or not. The period of exile was a rupture in their lives, the importance of which many exiles only gradually came to realise.

Only after the war did many learn what had become of their loved ones. It sometimes took decades for them to obtain any degree of certainty. Many exiles also experienced the bureaucratic hurdles, such as the procedures for claiming compensation and indemnification, as arduous.

The political and cultural aftermath of exile also depended on the extent to which the subject was hushed up – or was explored and reappraised. The 1968 movement was instrumental in ensuring that former exiles were made visible.