Anna Seghers’ novel Transit is one of the most important literary works focusing on exile as its theme, in which the author worked through the impact of her own escape. It was written from 1941 to 1942 and was published initially in 1944 in English and Spanish. It first appeared in German in a Berlin Newspaper in 1947.

The story is told from the viewpoint of a male narrator talking in first person, who tells a stranger in a Marseille coffee house about his life and escape. Interwoven in the narrative are stories of refugees who crossed his path. The narrative in this novel becomes a device for remembering and conserving both the individual identity of the narrator as well as the collective experience.

Seghers weaves a haunting tale of those stranded in Marseille, their continuous fight with various authorities for entry, exit and transit visas as well as residence papers and passports. The reader experiences the desperate, almost hopeless situation of refugees struggling their way through the bureaucratic jungle of acquiring the papers and stamps demanded from varying authorities in the time required. Conversations and rumours continuously circulate around this dominating theme, along with the swapping of boat tickets and the search for forged papers. The title Transit refers within the context of exile to the transit visa as well as to the state of being in a transitional situation, something that all refugees were familiar with – without a place to call home, no citizenship, not knowing when and where one would end up.