Whitehall and the Jews, 1933–1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust - Hardcover

London, Louise

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521631874 ISBN 13: 9780521631877

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Whitehall and the Jews is the most comprehensive study to date of the British response to the plight of European Jewry under Nazism. It contains the definitive account of immigration controls on the admission of refugee Jews, and reveals the doubts and dissent that lay behind British policy. British self-interest consistently limited humanitarian aid to Jews. Refuge was severely restricted during the Holocaust, and little attempt made to save lives, although individual intervention did prompt some admissions on a purely humanitarian basis. After the war, the British government delayed announcing whether refugees would obtain permanent residence, reflecting the government's aim of avoiding long-term responsibility for large numbers of homeless Jews. The balance of state self-interest against humanitarian concern in refugee policy is an abiding theme of Whitehall and the Jews, one of the most important contributions to the understanding of the Holocaust and Britain yet published.

About this title

Review:

' ... impeccably balanced ... Louise London's book should be compulsory reading in Whitehall today.' David Cesarani, The Times Literary Supplement

'Louise London's admirable book makes for disturbing reading.' Julia Pascal, The Independent

' An important new book by Louise London ... based on the cold, indisputable evidence of documents from the Public Records Office, punctures some of the myths about Britain's supposedly blameless past for tolerance and hospitality towards refugees.' Donald Macintyre, The Independent

' ... a scholarly tour de force ... Louise London brilliantly shows how government contrives to manage its policies with the least interference from others, especially international organisations and the public.' Jewish Chronicle

' ... remarkably balanced and authoritative ... this work ... present[s] the Jewish issue in its rich historical context - a goal of every historian, but one that is seldom realized with the skill, insight and sensitivity displayed here.' Michael R. Marrus, University of Toronto

'With encyclopedic knowledge and utter precision LouisE London has given us the most detailed account of British policy toward Jewish refugees and escapees from Nazi domination.' Raul Hilberg, Professor, University of Vermont

'This is ... the most comprehensive study to date of the british response to the plight of Europe's Jews from the rise of Hitler to the immediate postwar years.' The Hamstead and Highgate Express

'... this book certainly adds to the topic and should be used as an example by others seeking to write the history of groups that migrated to Britain.' Sean Kelly, Reviews in History

'Whitehall and the Jews makes a number of important contributions to the literature on this subject ... Understanding how and why certain policy decisions are made necessitates doing what Louise London has so successfully done here - stepping into the shoes of policy-makers.' Liza Schuster, Ethnic and Racial Studies

'... after reading Dr London's irrefutable conclusions, one is left wondering how many more might have been saved had there existed, in Whitehall, the genuine political will to save them.' Immigrants and Minorities

Book Description:

This is the fullest study yet of the British response to European Jewry under Nazism, and the first detailed account of British immigration policy towards refugee Jews. Louise London offers a compassionate and authoritative treatment of a subject central to the understanding of the Holocaust and Britain.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0521631874
• ISBN 13: 9780521631877
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 332