Journeys East and West: Travelers Between German-Speaking Central Europe and India, 1919–1939

Focusing on the interwar period (1919–1939) this chapter builds on prior studies of German-Indian entanglements throughout the nineteenth century and the pre-First World War period to provide a sweeping exploration of travelers, East and West, during Weimar and the Nazi period leading up to the Second World War. The chapter provides a broad documentation of numerous German and Indian travelers with varied purposes from espionage, trade, technical assistance, academic inquiry, Nazi fascination with India, and Jews fleeing to India to escape Nazi Germany, and includes a review of their reception and integration in India. McGetchin’s chapter casts a wide diachronic net and encompasses a broad range of interactions between many Indian and German thinkers through multiple lenses of interaction.