Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: Difference between revisions

Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust
Author	Louise London
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	History
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Publication date	2000
ISBN	0-521-63187-4

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Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust, is a book by Louise London, first published by Cambridge University Press in 2000, that investigates Jewish immigration into Britain.^[1]

Layout

Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948, is a book by Louise London, first published by Cambridge University Press in 2000, and has 313 pages.^[2]^[3] It contains several images, including two at Croydon Airport in 1939; one of police escorting a group of Jews away from the airport, also used for the front cover, and another of a Jew slumped back in the booking hall, in disbelief that he is granted permission to stay.^[4] There is a preface, nine chapters followed by a conclusion, two appendices detailing biographical notes and home secretaries and Home Office permanent under secretaries (1906-1950) respectively, and an index preceded by a bibliography.^[4]

Background

London, who writes on the rights of aliens, is a former immigration lawyer, and daughter of a refugee from Eastern Europe.^[3]^[5]

Synopsis

The book details how the British government responded to refugees fleeing Nazi Europe between the years 1933 and 1948.^[3] London challenges the belief that prewar Britain was the safe house it was made out to be.^[6] She writes that Immigration policy “was designed to keep out large numbers of European Jews - perhaps 10 times as many as it let in”.^[6]

The myth was born that Britain did all it could for the Jews between 1933 and 1945. This comfortable view has proved remarkably durable, and is still adduced to support claims that Britain has always admitted genuine refugees, and that the latest harsh measures against asylum seekers are merely designed to exclude bogus applicants. . .We remember the touching photographs and newsreel footage of unaccompanied Jewish children arriving on the Kindertransports [ by July 1939, 7,700 had arrived, compared with 1,850 admitted into Holland, 800 into France, 700 into Belgium, and 250 into Sweden]. There are no such photographs of the Jewish parents left behind in Nazi Europe. . .The Jews excluded from entry to the United Kingdom are not part of the British experience, because Britain never saw them. . .Memories of the unsuccessful public campaign to persuade the government to rescue Jews from mass murder faded quickly.^[4]^[6]

Response

Initial response in the Independent called the book a "disturbing read".^[7]

Reviews

Todd Endelman, notes in his book The Jews of Britain, 1656-2000 (2002), that London's book on the topic is the best account of British refugee policy.^[8] Rory Miller, in the The International History Review, described it as a scholarly addition to the historical interest in Jewish immigration.^[9] In the The Economic History Review, Richard Thurlow calls it "a highly valuable addition to the literature of a highly controversial topic".^[10] Jeffrey M. Togman wrote the review in International Migration Review.^[11] In the The Jewish Quarterly Review, Susan Cohen notes that it would be easy to make parallels with later immigrants, "and to replace Jews with Bosnians or another ethnic group".^[3]

Sequelae

In 2008, London published an article titled "Whitehall and the Refugees: The 1930s and the 1990s", in which her comparisons claim that "the same worry about the long-term effects of immigration—that is, that refugees would settle in the country and not return home or move on—that very much influenced the tendency to inhibit aid to Jewish refugees in the 1930s and 1940s, is still very much alive today."^[12] In 2021 she published "The Agenda of British Refugee Policy, 1933–48", in which she writes that refugee policy "is policy on refugees, not for them".^[13]

References

^ Sherman, A. J. (1 September 2002). "Louise London, Whitehall and the Jews, 1933–1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees, and the Holocaust". The Journal of Modern History. 74 (3): 643–645. doi:10.1086/345124. ISSN 0022-2801.
^ "Whitehall and the Jews, 1933–1948 | Twentieth century British history". Cambridge University Press. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Cohen, Susan (2003). "Review of Whitehall and the Jews 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy and the Holocaust". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 93 (3/4): 597–601. ISSN 0021-6682.
^ ^a ^b ^c London, Louise (2000). Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust (PDF). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-63187-4.
^ "Dr Louise London | Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism". Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism |. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c Karpf, Anne (8 June 2002). "We've been here before". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
^ Pascal, Julia (4 April 2000). "No wonder Einstein chose the US over Britain". The Independent. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
^ Endelman, Todd M. (2002). The Jews of Britain, 1656 to 2000. Berkley: University of California Press. p. 305. ISBN 978-0-520-22720-0.
^ Miller, Rory (2001). "Review of Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees, and the Holocaust". The International History Review. 23 (4): 958–960. ISSN 0707-5332.
^ Thurlow, Richard C. (2001). "Review of Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy and the Holocaust". The Economic History Review. 54 (1): 191–192. ISSN 0013-0117.
^ Togman, Jeffrey M. (September 2002). "Book Review: Whitehall and the Jews 1933–1948: British Immigration Policy and the Holocaust". International Migration Review. 36 (3): 952–953. doi:10.1111/j.1747-7379.2002.tb00111.xo. ISSN 0197-9183.
^ London, Louise (1 July 2000). "Whitehall and the Refugees: The 1930s and the 1990s". Patterns of Prejudice. 34 (3): 17–26. doi:10.1080/00313220008559144. ISSN 0031-322X.
^ London, Louise (2021). "The Agenda of British Refugee Policy, 1933–48". The Palgrave Handbook of Britain and the Holocaust: 57–72. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-55932-8_3.

External links

Philpot, Robert. "Does Britain's focus on the Kindertransport hide a guilty conscience?". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 29 March 2022.

[Sherman2002-1] Sherman, A. J. (1 September 2002). "Louise London, Whitehall and the Jews, 1933–1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees, and the Holocaust". The Journal of Modern History. 74 (3): 643–645. doi:10.1086/345124. ISSN 0022-2801.

[Cambridge-2] "Whitehall and the Jews, 1933–1948 | Twentieth century British history". Cambridge University Press. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.

[Cohen2003-3] Cohen, Susan (2003). "Review of Whitehall and the Jews 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy and the Holocaust". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 93 (3/4): 597–601. ISSN 0021-6682.

[London2000-4] London, Louise (2000). Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust (PDF). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-63187-4.

[5] "Dr Louise London | Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism". Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism |. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2022.

[Karpf2002-6] Karpf, Anne (8 June 2002). "We've been here before". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 March 2022.

[7] Pascal, Julia (4 April 2000). "No wonder Einstein chose the US over Britain". The Independent. Retrieved 29 March 2022.

[Endelman2002-8] Endelman, Todd M. (2002). The Jews of Britain, 1656 to 2000. Berkley: University of California Press. p. 305. ISBN 978-0-520-22720-0.

[Miller2001-9] Miller, Rory (2001). "Review of Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees, and the Holocaust". The International History Review. 23 (4): 958–960. ISSN 0707-5332.

[Thurlow2001-10] Thurlow, Richard C. (2001). "Review of Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy and the Holocaust". The Economic History Review. 54 (1): 191–192. ISSN 0013-0117.

[Togman2002-11] Togman, Jeffrey M. (September 2002). "Book Review: Whitehall and the Jews 1933–1948: British Immigration Policy and the Holocaust". International Migration Review. 36 (3): 952–953. doi:10.1111/j.1747-7379.2002.tb00111.xo. ISSN 0197-9183.

[London2008-12] London, Louise (1 July 2000). "Whitehall and the Refugees: The 1930s and the 1990s". Patterns of Prejudice. 34 (3): 17–26. doi:10.1080/00313220008559144. ISSN 0031-322X.

[London2021-13] London, Louise (2021). "The Agenda of British Refugee Policy, 1933–48". The Palgrave Handbook of Britain and the Holocaust: 57–72. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-55932-8_3.

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@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 ==Layout==
 [[File:Jewish refugees at Croydon airport 1939.jpg|thumb|Jewish refugees escorted out of Croydon airport, 1939]]
-''Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948'', is a book by [[Louise London]], first published by [[Cambridge University Press]] in 2000, and has 313 pages.<ref name=Cambridge>{{cite web |title=Whitehall and the Jews, 1933–1948 {{!}} Twentieth century British history |url=https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/history/twentieth-century-british-history/whitehall-and-jews-19331948-british-immigration-policy-jewish-refugees-and-holocaust?format=HB&isbn=9780521631877 |website=Cambridge University Press |access-date=27 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329152629/https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/history/twentieth-century-british-history/whitehall-and-jews-19331948-british-immigration-policy-jewish-refugees-and-holocaust?format=HB&isbn=9780521631877|archive-date=29 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Cohen2003">{{cite journal |last1=Cohen |first1=Susan |title=Review of Whitehall and the Jews 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy and the Holocaust |journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review |date=2003 |volume=93 |issue=3/4 |pages=597–601 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1455676 |issn=0021-6682|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It contains several images, including two at [[Croydon Airport]] in 1939; one of police escorting a group of Jews away from the airport, also used for the front cover, and another of a Jew slumped back in the booking hall, in disbelief that he is granted permission to stay.<ref name=London200>{{cite book |last1=London |first1=Louise |title=Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust |date=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-63187-4 |url=http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/99024282.pdf|language=en}}</ref> There is a preface, nine chapters followed by a conclusion, two appendices detailing biographical notes and home secretaries and Home Office permanent under secretaries (1906-1950) respectively, and an index preceded by a bibliography.<ref name=London200/>
+''Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948'', is a book by [[Louise London]], first published by [[Cambridge University Press]] in 2000, and has 313 pages.<ref name=Cambridge>{{cite web |title=Whitehall and the Jews, 1933–1948 {{!}} Twentieth century British history |url=https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/history/twentieth-century-british-history/whitehall-and-jews-19331948-british-immigration-policy-jewish-refugees-and-holocaust?format=HB&isbn=9780521631877 |website=Cambridge University Press |access-date=27 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329152629/https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/history/twentieth-century-british-history/whitehall-and-jews-19331948-british-immigration-policy-jewish-refugees-and-holocaust?format=HB&isbn=9780521631877|archive-date=29 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Cohen2003">{{cite journal |last1=Cohen |first1=Susan |title=Review of Whitehall and the Jews 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy and the Holocaust |journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review |date=2003 |volume=93 |issue=3/4 |pages=597–601 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1455676 |issn=0021-6682|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It contains several images, including two at [[Croydon Airport]] in 1939; one of police escorting a group of Jews away from the airport, also used for the front cover, and another of a Jew slumped back in the booking hall, in disbelief that he is granted permission to stay.<ref name=London2000>{{cite book |last1=London |first1=Louise |title=Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust |date=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-63187-4 |url=http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/99024282.pdf|language=en}}</ref> There is a preface, nine chapters followed by a conclusion, two appendices detailing biographical notes and home secretaries and Home Office permanent under secretaries (1906-1950) respectively, and an index preceded by a bibliography.<ref name=London2000/>
 ==Background==
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 ==Synopsis==
-The book details how the British government responded to refugees fleeing Nazi Europe between the years 1933 and 1948.<ref name="Cohen2003"/>
+The book details how the British government responded to refugees fleeing Nazi Europe between the years 1933 and 1948.<ref name="Cohen2003"/> London challenges the belief that prewar Britain was the safe house it was made out to be.<ref name="Karpf2002">{{cite news |last1=Karpf |first1=Anne |title=We've been here before |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jun/08/immigration.immigrationandpublicservices |access-date=29 March 2022 |work=the Guardian |date=8 June 2002 |language=en}}</ref> She writes that Immigration policy “was designed to keep out large numbers of European Jews - perhaps 10 times as many as it let in”.<ref name="Karpf2002"/>
+<blockquote>The myth was born that Britain did all it could for the Jews between 1933 and 1945. This comfortable view has proved remarkably durable, and is still adduced to support claims that Britain has always admitted genuine refugees, and that the latest harsh measures against asylum seekers are merely designed to exclude bogus applicants. . .We remember the touching photographs and newsreel footage of unaccompanied Jewish children arriving on the Kindertransports [ by July 1939, 7,700 had arrived, compared with 1,850 admitted into Holland, 800 into France, 700 into Belgium, and 250 into Sweden]. There are no such photographs of the Jewish parents left behind in Nazi Europe. . .The Jews excluded from entry to the United Kingdom are not part of the British experience, because Britain never saw them. . .Memories of the unsuccessful public campaign to persuade the government to rescue Jews from mass murder faded quickly.<ref name=London2000/><ref name="Karpf2002"/></blockquote>
+==Response==
+Initial response in the ''Independent'' called the book a "disturbing read".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pascal |first1=Julia |title=No wonder Einstein chose the US over Britain |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/no-wonder-einstein-chose-the-us-over-britain-155084.html |access-date=29 March 2022 |work=The Independent |date=4 April 2000 |language=en|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
 ==Reviews==
 [[Todd Endelman]], notes in his book ''The Jews of Britain, 1656-2000'' (2002), that London's book on the topic is the best account of British refugee policy.<ref name="Endelman2002">{{cite book |last1=Endelman |first1=Todd M. |title=The Jews of Britain, 1656 to 2000 |date=2002 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkley |isbn=978-0-520-22720-0 |page=305 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Jews_of_Britain_1656_to_2000/SMOQkrUtqkwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Whitehall+and+the+Jews,+1933-1948%22&pg=PA305&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref> [[Rory Miller]], in the ''[[The International History Review]]'', described it as a scholarly addition to the historical interest in Jewish immigration.<ref name=Miller2001>{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Rory |title=Review of Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees, and the Holocaust |journal=The International History Review |date=2001 |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=958–960 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40108886?refreqid=excelsior%3Aa6f64748f46c41171d3aa331eaf60dce |issn=0707-5332|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In the ''[[The Economic History Review]]'', [[Richard Thurlow]] calls it "a highly valuable addition to the literature  of a highly controversial topic".<ref name=Thurlow2001>{{cite journal |last1=Thurlow |first1=Richard C. |title=Review of Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy and the Holocaust |journal=The Economic History Review |date=2001 |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=191–192 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3091734?refreqid=excelsior%3A5819828dda4e3595ac21cb7baff67eae |issn=0013-0117|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[Jeffrey M. Togman]] wrote the review in ''[[International Migration Review]]''.<ref name=Togman2002>{{cite journal |last1=Togman |first1=Jeffrey M. |title=Book Review: Whitehall and the Jews 1933–1948: British Immigration Policy and the Holocaust |journal=International Migration Review |date=September 2002 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=952–953 |doi=10.1111/j.1747-7379.2002.tb00111.xo |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2002.tb00111.xo |issn=0197-9183|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In the ''[[The Jewish Quarterly Review]]'', Susan Cohen notes that it would be easy to make parallels with later immigrants, "and to replace Jews with Bosnians or another ethnic group".<ref name="Cohen2003"/>
+==Sequelae==
+In 2008, London published an article titled "Whitehall and the Refugees: The 1930s and the 1990s", in which her comparisons claim that "the same worry about the long-term effects of immigration—that is, that refugees would settle in the country and not return home or move on—that very much influenced the tendency to inhibit aid to Jewish refugees in the 1930s and 1940s, is still very much alive today."<ref name="London2008">{{cite journal |last1=London |first1=Louise |title=Whitehall and the Refugees: The 1930s and the 1990s |journal=Patterns of Prejudice |date=1 July 2000 |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=17–26 |doi=10.1080/00313220008559144 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00313220008559144?journalCode=rpop20 |issn=0031-322X|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In 2021 she published "The Agenda of British Refugee Policy, 1933–48", in which she writes that refugee policy "is policy on refugees, not for them".<ref name="London2021">{{cite journal |last1=London |first1=Louise |title=The Agenda of British Refugee Policy, 1933–48 |journal=The Palgrave Handbook of Britain and the Holocaust |date=2021 |pages=57–72 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-55932-8_3}}</ref>
 ==References==
@@ Line 42: / Line 50: @@
 ==External links==
+*{{cite news |last1=Philpot |first1=Robert |title=Does Britain’s focus on the Kindertransport hide a guilty conscience? |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/does-britains-focus-on-the-kindertransport-hide-a-guilty-conscience/ |access-date=29 March 2022 |work=www.timesofisrael.com}}
 [[Category:Cambridge University Press books]]
 [[Category:History books about the Holocaust]]
 [[Category:2000 non-fiction books]]
-{{Jewish-hist-book-stub}}
-{{Holocaust-book-stub}}