Trudy Gold
The World’s Response to the Jewish Refugee Crisis: 1933-1941, Part 2
Trudy Gold - The World’s Response to the Jewish Refugee Crisis: 1933-1941, Part 2
- Good evening, everyone. And can I just mention that not only are we dealing with a very, very dark subject at the moment, of course. And it’s Yom Haatzmaut, and soon, it’s the Yom Hazikaron. And in London, we have this really ridiculous case with Diane Abbott who… In order to deal with this properly, I’ve spoken to Dave Rich, who is probably the expert on the Labour Party Jews in The Left. And he’s going to be in conversation with Ali Allaspeld on the 6th of June, because it’s very important that we cover this. Anyway, I can’t talk about it tonight because obviously, I’ve got some very, very important information to deal with with you. So could we please see the first slide, Judy? Extraordinary. Kristallnacht, the first state-organized pogrom in Germany. Just to refresh your memory, the Nazis were pursuing a policy of the legal, social, and political exclusion of the Jews from German society. What they wanted was a Judenrein Reich. And that policy doesn’t really change until 1941. In addition, they were going to rob the Jews blind. Along with that, still went their extraordinary belief in Jewish power. And one of the problems that we have when we’re trying to deal with these situations, I know many of you have logical minds, you have to suspend logic when you’re dealing with race theory, be it to the extreme right or be it to the extreme left. But anyway, following the Evian Conference where if you remember the words of Golda Meir who was an observer, she said the day will come when the world were piteous anymore. And of course, following Evian, the Nazis were true to their words. Remember what Goebbels said?
“We, savages, are better than the so-called civilised world. We say what we are going to do.” And they began to expel Polish-born Jews to Zbaszyn on the Polish-German border. And one of the families was Grynszpan. And young Herschel was studying in Paris, and he wanted to bring the world’s attention to the plight of these people. So he went into the embassy, German embassy, and he shot Vom Rath. What that led to was this appalling pogrom. It was, in fact, there were people in the German government who were against it, shocked, but many of the local offices of the Nazi party, the SA, they were broke. Goebbels was very much at the helm. And during the attack, I mean the figures are extraordinary. 267 synagogues were destroyed, both in, of course, Germany and in Austria. 7,000 businesses were destroyed. Jewish hospitals attacked across Germany, Austria, Sudetenland. And then, 30,000 men were arrested and taken to concentration camps. And you will remember when Anita Lasker-Wallfisch came online a few months ago, she talked about how her father was saved by a German who rode, drove him around all night. There were some incredible people, but 91 were murdered. And further, 638 died as a result of malnutrition, or torture, or committed suicide. The following day, all Jewish children were banned from schools and all communal organisations were disbanded. Then, the communities find a billion marks, which is about $5.5 billion today. And 20% of all remaining Jewish property, remember, it’s about venality, was confiscated, and all the insurance claims were paid to the states. It costs 40 million alone to repair the windows.
It was organised by the Paris, the SA, and the civilians. And to make things even more ghastly, Jews could no longer go to concerts, theatres, cinemas, swimming pools, public parks, even from owning a dog. And to hasten that immigration, a bureau was set up both in Berlin and in Vienna, and it was very widely reported in the press. This is from Hugh Greene in the telegraph. “Mob law ruled in Britain throughout the afternoon and evening. Hoards of hooligans indulged in an orgy of destruction. I have seen several anti-Jewish outbreaks in Germany during the past five years, but never, if anything, as nauseating as this. Racial hatred and hysteria seems to have taken hold of otherwise decent people. I saw fashionably dressed women clapping their hands with glee while mothers held up their babies to see the fun. I mean, this is so disgusting.” And not all, Berlin has went along with this. It’s impotent. And the son of an of an American official heard the janitor of a block say, “They must have entered the asylums and penitentiaries to find people to do this.” In fact, in the following 10 months, 115,000 Jews did manage to get out. And 14,000 of them went to Shanghai, which we’ve already talked about, because it was a free city. Now, Martin Sasse, Nazi Party member and bishop of the Evangelical Church, he was a Lutheran, he was a leading member of the Nazi German Christians under Reich minister Muller. They had over 500,000 German evangelicals wearing the swastika.
He published a compendium of Luther’s writings to justify Kristallnacht. Remember, Kristallnacht was the date of Luther’s birth, 10th November ‘38. The churches are burning and synagogues… And that’s what Luther had said. “The churches should be burnt.” And now, he said the synagogues are burning in Germany. In the main, the churches kept very silent. And of course, back in '33, the Catholic church had signed a deal with the Nazis, the Concordat. And the man who’d signed that degree was in fact the man who became Pius the XII in 1939. However, there were exceptions. There was a parson who paid the medical deals of a Jewish cancer patient. And what happened to him, he was sentenced to a fine. And this is a report in the New York Times. “There was scarcely a Jewish shop, cafe, or office, or synagogue that was not wrecked or seriously destroyed. Before synagogues, demonstrators stood with prayer books from which they tore out the leaves.” The US withdrew the ambassador, but did not break off diplomatic relations. Ironically, though, the discredited Nazi movement did lead to a decline in membership in America and in Europe. And that again, there was another bright spot. In Australia, William Cooper led a delegation of the Australian Aboriginal League in a march through Melbourne to deliver a petition to the cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi government. It was not accepted by the Germans. The British composer, Michael Tippet, he wrote “A Child of Our Time”, an oratorio to mourn what was happening. It did lead to an outcry in various countries of the world. Archbishop Temple, Wedgwood. And in fact, it does lead, of course, to the kinder. Now, can we go on please, Judy? What happens is this. Kristallnacht led to a lot of people putting pressure on the British government, and on the American governments, and on the governments of other European countries.
On the 15th of November, five days after the attack, a delegation of British Quaker Jewish representatives appealed in person to Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister. After deliberation, the government allowed 10,000 children, from infants to 17 years old. Now, they refused to open the gates to Palestine, and I’m going to talk about that later because there’s a lot of threads we have to pull here. Remember, the British were in control of the Mandate. So what we’re doing now, and it’s potentially quite dangerous, what I’m doing, because I don’t want for you to think that it’s the Allies who were actually responsible for the show. It is the Nazis, and later on they’re Allies. But the point is you can make the case that the Allies… The fact that the Allies refused to help did lead to the Nazis changing direction, which led to the final solution. And the agencies, all these agencies had to provide homes for the children. They had to fund the operation to make sure that no child would become a burden to the State. Each child would have a 50 pound guarantee to finance their eventual re-immigration. In the nine months before the war, almost 10,000 children travelled to UK. There was also a rescue from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden. And as a grandmother… And I know that many of you, your families were of course personally traumatised by this. But can you… I find it almost impossible to imagine the heartbreak of those families when they had to say goodbye to their children. Can you just imagine what that takes to do to actually say goodbye to your children? To understand that the situation was so bad that that’s what you have to do.
And it is totally beyond imagination. For me, it’s beyond imagination. It gives you a notion of just how bad the situation was giving. This is from Thomas Dewey. “The civilised world stands revolted by bloody pogrom.” This is even Herbert Hoover. “These individuals are taking Germany back 450 years in a civilization to Torquemada’s expulsion of the Jews from Spain.” This is The Manchester Guardian. “Jews are begging for visas. I understand that neither Great Britain nor the United States are making any concession. And for the great majority of those applying, there is little hope of getting for them, which will be the only possible way of returning to a normal life.” And the New York Times reported that after Kristallnacht when 30,000 Jews had been arrested, most were released after they’d signed away their assets and promised to emigrate. And because of the terrible cold, there were so many people who, you know, they committed suicide, all their lifeblood was taken. So, what was set up in Britain is the movement for the care of children from Germany. And these are the people who promised to find homes and sponsor every child. Representatives were sent to Austria and Germany, The Central British Fund appealed for foster homes on the BBC, home service volunteers visited foster homes. And they didn’t have to be Jewish. In Germany, a network of organisations established with list of children, mainly the ones who what they thought were most in danger. They are student, poor families, or with parents already in concentration camps. The children could only take one small suitcase. The first group of 200 arrived in Harridge. And basically, what I’m going to show you now is a group of people who saved.
Now, what I’ve decided to do, because this is such an important subject, that it should never be hurried, I’m showing you the faces of some of the heroes. But over the next few weeks, I’m going to be concentrating on heroes, because as we’ve talked about in the past, it is so important that you understand that the world was not completely dark. And of course, Wilfrid Israel, I will be talking about, he’s an extraordinary man. There will be a session on Varian Fry from one of my colleagues. Can we go on, please? Barnett Janner, who was a Jewish MP and who later became president of the Board of Deputies, and a great hero who did so much to rescue. More about him later on. Can we go on, Judy? Sidney Silverman. He was the man who… He was involved in abolishing the death penalty in Britain. He was a great humanitarian. And it was he, as so much news came through of the Murders, that on December the 17th, 1942, there was a minute silence in the House of Commons. He was the one who asked for that minute silence. A great champion. Can we go on? Both Janner and Silverman were Jewish. But here’s a man who was not a Jew. The great Josiah Wedgwood, the great grandson of the founder of the pottery. A great humanitarian who fought so hard to save as many Jews as possible. Much more about him later on. Can we go on, please?
Eleanor Rathbone, phenomenal woman who fought for justice all her life. There were those who were against what the British government did. As they were against what the French were doing, not all the governments were doing holding back. Can we go on, please? Nicholas Winton. Somebody already asked me, “Are we going to do something on Nicholas Winton?” And we’re going to do a special event on Nicholas Winton, a great hero who saved 669 Czech Jews. The tragedy was his last transport with 250 on it was due to leave on the 1st of September, and of course that’s when it was too late. And of those 250 children, only two survived the war. But 669 was saved. Can we go on, please? And there you see pictures of the Kindertransport. The children arriving for who knows what. And one of the greatest ironies of history is the contribution that so many of these people, that those who came as adults, those who came as children, the contribution these people made to the societies of Britain, America is absolutely incalculable. Can we go on, please? Adolf Eichmann, the venal monster who were setting up immigration bureaus in both Berlin and in Vienna just to facilitate them out. This is when the Nazis want them out. They’re putting together various plans. And it is not yet mass murder. Yes, of course, Jews were tortured. Yes, of course, after '38, they were put in concentration camps. But the final notion for genocide does not happen until the invasion of Russia. And the great Yehuda Bauer, he actually, he pinpoints it in March, 1941.
Can we go on please, Judy? Now, the ship, the St. Louis. What a terrible, terrible tragedy, which in many ways I suppose encapsulates the plight of German Jewry. The St. Louis set sail from Hamburg to Cuba on May the 13th, 1939 under the command of Gustav Schroder. He was the captain, he was a German captain. He carried 937 people. On the high seas, the Cubans actually, they rescinded the visas. The reason they were going there is because they had visas. They dropped the anchor in Cuba on May the 27th. They were denied entry. The Joint, or the Jewish Relief organisations in Havana were trying to do everything they could to make it happen. After five days, only 28 passengers was allowed to disembark. The boats then sails to the States. Cordell Hull, the Secretary of State, advised Roosevelt not to accept Jews. And the coast guard was alerted to prevent escapes. Academics and clergy in Canada tried to persuade the prime minister to accept refugees. The director of Canada’s immigration bureau, Frederick Blair, was hostile and persuades the government not to intervene. Between '33 and '39, only 5,000 had been allowed into Canada. As against… In the end, over 200,000 did make it into America and 20,000 made it to Mexico. It was actually in the year 2000 that Blair’s nephew made a public apology to the Jewish people. There was a worldwide outcry, because this actually did touch people. It was getting huge publicity.
There was film of it that was being shown on the cinemas. Don’t forget that the British News, Pathe News, or the American news, it was being shown. Captain Schroder was so angry that he decided to try to wreck the ship off the Cornish coast to force government intervention. In the end, there was so much of an outcry that the British decided they would take 288. 224 went to France, 214 to Belgium, and 181 to Holland. Whilst their fate was being decided, the ship returns to Antwerp. It was in 1993 that Captain Schroder was honoured by Yad Vashem for being such a brave man. And yet, this is the Daily Express of Monday, June the 19th, 1939. The headline was “Human Cargo”. “The German liner, St. Louis arrived at Antwerp with the cargo of Jewish refugees. Some will be sheltered in England, France, Belgium, and Holland. The plight of these refugees wandering helplessly over the sea in search of a home won the sympathy of the world. This example must not set a precedent. There is no room for any more refugees in this country.” So this is the background to what is going on that basically what were the policies that made the countries of the world so loathe to take in Jewish refugees? Well, to start with, economic, social, and political unrest post-1929, good old-fashioned Jewish and good old-fashioned antisemitism. And also, a model as to what it means to be a Jew, which is still with us today and this terrible case that’s going on in Britain now. It’s all about that. What is it to be a Jew? If ever, that was an example of pure racism. Now, let’s talk about racism.
Because the whole notion of racism is completely erroneous because there is no such thing as a pure race. When people talk about race, it’s a misnomer. But the problem is the term antisemitism, as opposed to theological Jew hatred, was first coined in 1879 by the German journalist, Wilhelm Marr. And it means Jews. And it’s the term that is used today. antisemitism is hatred of the Jewish race. Never forget, a Jew according to the Nuremberg Laws of the Nazis, half Jews, and then they talked about quarter Jews. It didn’t matter if you were of converts to Christianity. You know there’s a really strange case with the Polish nun, Edith Stein, who was to be beatified and canonised by the Catholic church. She went to Auschwitz because her parents were Jewish. She died because she was of Jewish blood, not because she was a Catholic martyr. Do you see how there is so much misunderstanding? And of course, the people who are most in a position to feel the pain are the Zionists in Palestine. What was Zionism about? And now, we’ve got to be very careful about our terms, because today, it is one of the most misused, misunderstood words in the world. And in a couple of weeks, I’m going to be dealing with the whole issue of Zionism and the Middle East post-war. But, having read so many different books on Zionism, the majority of the great scholars believe that the movement is a blend of three different strands. One is an authentic Jewish nationalism. If you remember, Zionism was born in the middle of the 19th century. The word was actually coined in 1891 by Nathan Birnbaum.
But the sentiments are predate the word. It’s a response to the, really the ideas of the enlightenment which led to Jewish emancipation. If you go back to the French, the French emancipating the Jews, and then Napoleon Bonaparte ratifying it, remember the words of his envoy to the 40,000 Jews of France. “To the Jews as individuals, everything, Israel as a group, nothing.” The Jews to become emancipated into Western society were to be French citizens of the Jewish religion, Italian citizens of the Jewish religion, British citizens of the Jewish religion. Give up your notion of nationhood. And then you have this incredible success story in that turbulent 19th century, the turbulent early 20th century, when out of all proportion to their numbers, the Jews took modernity by the horns and they pushed it forward. It’s no accident that 24% of all Nobel Prize winners are Jews, but they are people of Jewish birth. Zionism saw though the reaction to this incredible success story. People dislocated by the rise of modernity, and it leads to antisemitism. antisemitism, not modern racial term, which is not about Judaism, it’s about Jews. So it doesn’t matter if you are a Karl Marx or whether you are a Hasidic Rebbe, you are a Jew by blood. Now, so you have these twin strands. A response to modern antisemitism and the belief also that we are a nation. We have a common religion, we have a common history, we have a common culture. What we lack now is geography. And it also came out of Russia when it was finally realised after the pogroms of 1881 that there would never be any acculturation into Russia. So these are the threads, plus of course, and this is very important, and it really depends where you stand in terms of your own ideas.
And it’s this. There is a connection with the Jews with the land of Israel. What do we say every Pesach next year in Jerusalem? There is that common thread that haunts our prayers. There’s that common thread that haunts Jewish culture. And Zionism is somewhere of a blend within the three. So, if you can imagine what’s going on. The Zionist in Palestine and Zionist supporters throughout the Diaspora, can you imagine what it was like for them as events in Germany unfolded? And of course, they put all their hopes on Palestine. But, what was British policy in Palestine? And this is where it all, all the tragedy unravels. On Thursday, I’m going to talk about the career of Hajj Amin al-Husayni, the Mufti of Jerusalem who was totally opposed to any Jewish settlement. What happened was this. And as you all know, in 1917, the British issued a Balfour Declaration, promising the Jews a homeland in Palestine. And this was taken as a great success by Zionism. The first High Commissioner was Jewish. And in the early days, there were letters between Weizmann and the leader of the Arab world, the Emir Hussein and his son, the Emir Faisal. Faisal actually wrote, “We wish the Jews a hearty welcome home.” But, by the 20th, things had gone terribly wrong. And gradually, the British were beginning to think that perhaps they had made a mistake. And the question you always have to ask yourselves when you deal with the British in Palestine, “Why were there British in Palestine?” “Were they there to facilitate Jewish immigration?” “Were they there to fulfil the dream of the Balfour Declaration?” “And what does a Jewish homeland mean anyway? Or were they there for their own interests?” It also has to be said that in the foreign office, there was a lot of prejudice against the Jews.
This is J.S. Bennett of the Colonial Office. “Jews were seeking to embroil the European countries in a conflict with the Nazis.” This is Donald P. Kent. “Again, in this foreign office, one refugee is a novelty, 10 refugees are boring, and a hundred are a menace.” Again, this is a comment from a British newspaper in 1934, “Christians do not take kind to the Jewish race.” So, this is Downey, head of the Middle East Department of the foreign office. He actually believed that illegal immigration into Palestine was a conspiracy facilitated by the Gestapo and the Jewish agency. He wrote in his diary, “I regret the Jews were not on the other side in this war.” This is Foreign Secretary Eden in a private note, “If we must have preferences, let me murmur in your ear that I prefer Arabs to Jews.” This is Charles Bateman, the British minister in Egypt. “Please don’t think I am pro-Arab or anti-Jew. I think either are as loathsome as each other.” So, basically you did… Apart from the fact that you had some extraordinary individuals in parliament and also extraordinary individuals who say… In the Foreign and Colonial Office, you did have characters who were pro-Arab as you did in the military administration in Palestine. Many of those soldiers who came to Palestine were in fact those who had fought alongside the whites in Russia and were violently anti-communist.
And many of them had bought with them the protocols of the elders of Zion in their knapsacks. But what about the… So what about the Zionists in Palestine? Can we please see the first slide? Now, what I’ve done, I’m going to deal with four of the greats. Weizmann, Jabotinsky, Ben-Gurion, and Begin. Now, of course, they were all, they became diametrically opposed to each other. But what I’m suggesting to all of you, whatever side of the fence you are on politically, because don’t forget that Ben-Gurion and Begin are going to be the two threads that are going to dominate Israeli politics. And don’t forget that Netanyahu himself, his father was Jabotinsky’s secretary. And I’m also going to bring Avraham Stern into it. How on earth are these great leaders who were all in their own way? I’m going to suggest to you, certainly Weizmann, Jabotinsky, Begin, and Ben-Gurion, they were lions. They were difficult men, all of them. And yet, I believe passionately that they all wanted to save the Jewish people. Now, I’m going back now in time, to 1936 when Hajj Amin al-Husayni, because of Jewish immigration into Palestine, you will remember we thought that Haavara agreement. A lot of German Jews made it to Palestine on the capitalist visa. But amongst those German Jews, what it led to was the Mufti proclaiming a strike and there were riots. The British had to deal with the situation. And some of them dealt with it in a very interesting way, like Orde Wingate, another hero of Zionism, the British officer who actually trained the pk. But I’ll talk about that later on. But what happens is the British realised the situation is out of control, so they send Lord Peel to Palestine.
And Lord Peel has to look at the situation to see if there can be any kind of accommodation between Jew and Arab. And what happens is Chaim Weizmann, who was really the man behind the Balfour Declaration, he believed passionately in the good of England. He was the one who believed that the English would come through. He had many friends in the British government. He had been close to Arthur Balfour, he was close to Winston Churchill. He also was close to people like C.P. Scott. And he addressed the Peel commission, because the Peel Commission took soundings from the Arab leadership and from the Jewish leadership. And what I’m going to read to you now is Weizmann’s speech to the Peel Commission, which he reported on to the 20th Zionist Congress on August the 4th, 1937. So I’m going to be reading to you, I’ve obviously abridged his report, but I want you to get a sense of the tragedy for all of these Zionists, whatever side of the fence they were on. “The Royal Commission itself suggests that it might have been easier to proclaim the Jewish state than to carry on the twilight of these 20 years. At that time, it was Faisal who was able to speak for the Arabs, but now it is the Mufti. With Faisal who fully understood our aims, we were able to reach agreement, but now it is the Mufti. No Jew can enter the gates of Palestine. For him, there is only one Jewish gate and it’s smarts exit. You shall not outrage the Jewish people. You shall not play fast and loose with the Jewish people.
This is a trifling, bleeding from a thousand wounds, this mighty empire must not commit this sin against the people of the book.” The British Empire, by the way, in 1926, was the largest empire the world has ever known. Amongst many things, we failed to understand in this latest degree of Her Majesty’s government to restrict our immigration to 8,000 a year for the next eight months. Because the Peel Commission in the end, they did offer the partition, which would’ve given the Jews a state, an area about the size of Wales but the Arabs turned it down. And therefore, the British decide that from then on, they’re going to deal with policy back in Britain. And that meant no Jewish homeland, no Jewish state. So he says, “Amongst many things, we fail to understand the latest degree of His Majesty’s government to restrict our immigration to 8,000 a year for the next eight months.” Because one of the things that the Zionist were doing at this period was to run illegals into Palestine. From 1934 onwards, they’re running of the ships. Sometimes the Haganah, sometimes the Irgun. More about that later. “There is another England, and let us thank God for it. The voice of this England was held in the two houses of Parliament. I told the commission, "God has promised Eretz Yisrael to the Jews. That is our charter. I told the Royal Commission that hopes of 6 million Jews are centred on immigration.
Then I was asked, 'But can you bring 6 million to Palestine?’ ‘No,’ I replied, I’m equated with the laws of physics and chemistry. In our generation, I divide the figure by three. And you can see in that the depth of the Jewish tragedy. 2 million of youth with their lives before them. The old ones will pass and they will bear their fate, or they will not. They are dust, economic and moral dust in a cruel world. Thousands of years ago, we heard the words of Jeremiah and Isaiah, ‘Only a remnant shall survive.’ We have to accept it.” And that was part of his speech to the Zionist Congress in 1937. Later on, these words are going to be evilly twisted by anti-Zionists and antisemites. And I’m actually going to run a session, and I’ve called it “The great Libel against Israel”, inverted commas, ‘The Nazifation of Israel’, because these words are later going to be twisted that the Zionist were prepared to sacrifice the bolt to save a few, which is such a ghastly calumny. So that was Weizmann. Can we now see the next face, please? Vladimir Jabotinsky, the most loved or the most hated man in the history of Zionism. An extraordinary individual. From Odessa, I’ve run sessions on him in the past, and when the website is up, you’ll be able to listen to them. And there are so many books on Jabotinsky, some by his critics and some by those who adored him. Jabotinsky had come from Odessa, Chaim Weizmann had come from Motol. He was much more a man of the people.
Jabotinsky, the Jew from Odessa, a very interesting character. Home in many languages, home in many different disciplines. He was a lawyer by training. He became a journalist. He was a great writer of Russian literature. He wrote , and he joined the Zionist organisation. And in fact, he believed that the Jews would have to always fight. And it was he who in the first World War had created a Jewish Legion to fight for the British and Palestine, for the British. He became a lieutenant in the British army. After the riots of 1920, ‘21, he realised the Jews would have to fight, and he created the Haganah in Jerusalem. He later breaks away. Although he and Weizmann were close in the early years, he breaks away from Zionism, from the Zionist establishment rather, and creates the World Revisionist Zionist Organisation. He wanted land both sides of the Jordan because he believed one day, the Diaspora would empty. And this is his… He was not… After 1929, the Arab riots of 1929, 1930, he was not allowed back into Palestine. And he spent much of his time as an exile in Paris, in London, where he had many friends, including Josiah Wedgwood by the way, or in America, or in South Africa. And in the past, I know students have sent me pictures of him with family members, et cetera. So, Jabotinsky, now this is what he said.
This is his evidence which he submitted to the Palestine Royal Commission on the 11th of February, 1937. “The bedrock fact is that we are everywhere a minority. It is not the antisemitism of men, it is the inherent xenophobia of body social and body politic under which we suffer. We are not free agents. We cannot concede anything. Whenever I hear the Zionist, more often of my own party, accused of asking too much, I cannot understand it. Yes, we do want a state. Every nation on Earth, every normal nation, beginning with the smallest and humblest who do not claim any merit, any role in human development, they all have states of their own. That is the normal condition of a people, yet when we ask for the same condition, it is called too much. Oliver Twist came and asked for more. What he really meant to say was, 'Will you give me the normal portion of what is necessary for me to be able to live?’” It’s fascinating. He chose an example from British literature, from Dickens. “I assure that today, you face here today the Jewish people and Oliver Twist who has unfortunately no concessions to make. We have to save millions, many millions. I do not know if it’s a question of housing 1/3 of the Jewish race, half of the Jewish race.” Remember the term he uses, the Jewish race. “Or a quarter of the Jewish race. I do not know, but it is a question of millions. I’m going to make a terrible confession. Our demands for a Jewish majority in Palestine is not our maximum. It is our minimum. There are certainly 3 or 4 million in the East asking for salvation. It is quite understandable. The Arabs of Palestine would also prefer Palestine to be the Arab state number four, five, or six. But it is the claim of an appetite versus salvation.
I believe in England, just as I believed in England 20 years ago when I went against nearly all Jewish opinion and said, ‘Give soldiers to Great Britain,’ because I believed in her. I still believe. But if Great Britain cannot live up to the Mandate and pretend that it is fulfilled while my people are still suffering in the Diaspora and still only a minority in Palestine, that is not cricket.” So all of this is turned down, remember. And the British decides to issue a White Paper on Palestine which is going to limit Jewish immigration for five years, to 15,000 a year for five years. Then whoever has the majority has the State. But this is Jabotinsky’s speech in Warsaw on the 9th of Av, Tisha B'Av, 1938. This is an extract from it. “It is for three years that I’ve been calling on you, Jews of Poland, the glory of world Jewry, with an appeal. I have been ceaselessly warning you that the catastrophe is coming closer. My hair has turned white and I have aged in these years, because my heart is bleeding for you, dear brothers and sisters, for not seeing the volcano that will soon begin to spurt out the fire of destruction. I see a terrifying sight. The time is short, in which one can still be saved. I know, you do not see because you are bothered and rushing about with everyday worries. Listen to my remarks at the 12th hour. For God’s sake, may each one save his life while there’s still time. And time is short.” Jabotinsky actually went into negotiation with the antisemitic Polish government to try and get Jews out of Poland. And the antisemitic Polish government was quite prepared to train them, because they wanted their Jews out. Now, I’m going to read you another appeal.
Now this is fascinating, because it’s from a man who probably caused more antisemitism than hardly anyone else I can think about. And that is, of course, Lev Davidovich Bronstein, better known as Trotsky, because Trotsky was Commissar for Foreign Affairs, because Trotsky led the Red Army. And yet, he saw himself as a citizen of the world. It pushed so many people who were so anti-communist, they saw communism as a Jewish disease, and Trotsky was seen as the symbol. This is an appeal to American Jews menaced by fascism. He wrote this on December the 22nd, 1938. What is it about Jabotinsky and Trotsky? Two of the most alienated outside characters, both genius, both brilliant, and yet they could see it, just as Weizmann saw it. “The number of countries with expel the Jews grows without cease. The number of countries able to except them develops. At the same time, the exacerbation of the struggle intensifies, it is possible to imagine without difficulty what awaits the Jews at the outbreak of a future war. But even without war, the next development of world reaction signifies with certainty the physical extermination of the Jews.” Now, what now happens is the British decide to issue the White Paper on Palestine. This is Chamberlain on the 20th, because the Arabs are making no accommodation whatsoever. Under the Mufti of Jerusalem who had turned from anti-Zionism to antisemitism. And he’s later going to spend the war with Hitler. And I’m going to spend time on him on Thursday. This is Chamberlain. He says, “I’d stress the importance of having… He said, "If we must offend one side, let us offend the Jews.”
And finally, in May, 1939, Malcolm MacDonald, the White Paper on Palestine. It states, and I’m summing it up for you, “Over 450,000 Jews have now settled in the Mandate. The Balfour Declaration, the national home for the Jewish people has now been met and he calls for an independent Palestine. The White Paper calls for an independent Palestine to be established within 10 years and to be governed jointly by Arabs and Jews.” And this is the White Paper. “Her Majesty’s or His Majesty’s government believes that the framers of the Balfour Declaration, as it was embodied, could not have intended that Palestine should be converted into a Jewish state against the will of the Arab population. Her Majesty’s government now declares unequivocally that it’s not part of their policy that Palestine should become a Jewish State. They would indeed regard it as contrary to their obligations to the Arabs under the Mandate, as well as to the assurances which have been given to the Arab people in the past, that the Arab population of Palestine should be made the subjects of a Jewish State against their will. It cannot be denied that the fear of indefinite Jewish immigration is widespread amongst the Arab population, and this fear has made possible disturbances, which has given a serious setback to economic progress, depleted the Palestinian exchequer, rendered life and property insecure, and produced a bitterness between the Arab Jewish populations which is deplorable between citizens of the same country. If immigration is continued, a fatal enmity between the two peoples will be perpetuated and the situation in Palestine may become a permanent source of friction amongst all the peoples of the Near and Middle East.
Jewish immigration during the next five years, that’s 15,000 a year for five years, will bring the population up to 1/3 of the total population of the country. Taking into account the number of Jewish illegals in the country, allow from the beginning of April this year of some 75 immigrants over the next four years, subject to the criterion of economic absorptive capacity. The High Commission will decide the limits of economic absorptive capacity after the period of five years.” So that means by 1945, remember, this is May 39. “No further Jewish immigration will be permitted unless the Arabs of Palestine are prepared to acquiesce. The High Commission will be given general powers to prohibit and regulate transfer of land.” In fact, the League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commission unanimously held that the White Paper was in conflict with the interpretation that the Mandate government with the concurrence of the League of Nations, had put on the Mandate in the past. Now, what happens is the Palestinian Arabs agreed to the White Paper and signed it in the presence of the prime minister of Iraq. So basically, Hajj Amin rejected it with other members of the Higher Arab Committee. Why? Because he didn’t want any Jewish immigration. And also, he was fighting for power. So, on July the 13th, 1939, the authorities announced the suspension of Jewish and or Jewish immigration into Palestine until March, 1940. The reason given, the increase in the number of illegals. Now this is an extract from Churchill’s speech. Churchill spoke up in the House. “I regret that the Balfour declaration has been violated. This is the breach of a solemn obligation. The Balfour Declaration was not made to the Jews of Palestine. It was made to world Jewry in particular, and in particular, to the Zionist associations. This pledge of a home of refuge, of an asylum, was not made to the Jews of Palestine but to the Jews outside Palestine, to that vast, unhappy mass of scattered, persecuted, wandering Jews whose intense, unchanging unconquerable desire had been for a national home. This is the pledge that was given, which is now asked to break.
The triumphant Arabs have rejected it. The despairing Jews will resist it. What will the world think about to it? What will our friends say? What will our enemies say? They’re on the run again. This is another Munich.” So that is the White Paper on Palestine. And Ben-Gurion, of course, said, “We will fight the White Paper as though there is no Hitler, and we fight Hitler as though there is no White Paper.” Now, you can just imagine what happened at the Zionist Congress of August the 16th to the 25th, 1939. This is in the shadow of the White Paper and the shadow of war. August the 22nd, during the actual Zionist Congress, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and the quote, the Jewish calamity has merged with the world calamity. The conference rejected the White Paper, declared it illegal. And you can imagine the Polish delegation. You know what was going on there. And of course, most of the delegates actually perished in the war. Weizmann met up with Churchill and said, “After the war, we want to build up a State of 3 or 4 million.” And according to Weizmann, Churchill evidently said, “Yes, I agree.” So, that was the situation of the outbreak of war, where the only way Jews could get into Palestine was through the White Paper. And it’s at this stage, of course, that all hell breaks loose in the Mandates. The Irgun have already of the Irgun, which was founded by a group of Jabotinsky supporters, continues to fight against the British. When war breaks out, they decide to fight with the British. But a small group of Irgun under Avraham Stern say the British are as bad as the Nazis. And they continue the fight against the British.
Avraham Stern was later killed in British custody. The Irgun continue the fight, and I’ll be talking about this next week, continue the fight with the British until it becomes obvious to Begin who takes over the command of the Irgun that there will be no accommodation, and they continue the fight. So we will go back to that. But I just want to read you two very poignant speeches of two Jews who later on are going to be so important actually in Palestine. And that of course is both Begin and Ben-Gurion. Ben-Gurion. Ben-Gurion was the leader of the Yishuv. What happens is when war breaks out, Weizmann, although he’s so brilliant as a politician, he really, he loses credibility because he backs the British, of course. His son dies in the war, but even post-war, he backs the British. And Ben-Gurion becomes the real leader of the Yishuv. And we’re going to talk a lot about his policy during the war. And also, can we see the other slide, please? Here you see Begin. Begin who later became Prime Minister of Israel for a long period. It was of course the, you had the… For long period, you had the Labour Party, but then, of course, Begin and then his followers. So this division in how you deal with the British is absolutely going to mark is what later becomes Israeli politics. So I want to be very, very careful here because I don’t want you to go away blaming the British for the Holocaust. What you do have to think about though, this is what impels Zionism once and for all to call for a Jewish state, and that’s going to happen in May, 1942, at the Biltmore Hotel in New York. So I’m going to talk about that next week after Thursday I talk about the Mufti. I see there’s an awful lot of questions, so I think I’m going to start looking.
Q&A and Comments:
Okay, Myrna is asking, “Please explain UK issues for us in North America.” A member of the Shadow Cabinet has come out and said that Jews don’t experience racist, may experience prejudice, so do travellers. She is very much a fighter for Black rights. And she’s very much a supporter of the Black Civil Rights Movement. Now, what has happened is that she has been suspended by the Labour Party, but it’s brought this whole issue of what is a Jew and what is antisemitism to the public notice. And the problem is I’ve been scanning all the press, and basically nobody is answering the question of what it is to be a Jew. So basically, Myrna, we’re going to be having a talk on it on June the 6th.
Judy, “My grandson, was called a . What should be done to educate the community in schools? Look, Judy, I’m going to say this too. I’m blue in the face. The only way… Education is the only tool we’ve got, that’s why we don’t give up. But what I really believe that it’s teaching Jewish history. Nobody’s got a clue about Jewish history. I was listening to the pundits talking about, "Oh, antisemitism is terrible,” said all the benign people, but they don’t really understand what causes it. They don’t understand what it is. And one of the problems with antisemitism is that other victim groups, as is shown by this latest outbreak in Britain, other victim groups do not see Jews as victims. They see us as White, they see us successful. Look, the reality of Jews is that there are Jews of every colour and hue. I mean, when I was in China, I met Chinese Jews. There are Ethiopian Jews, there are Jews from the Arab world, citizens of Israel. So let’s get real about this. But the point is, because in the main, Jews tend to be successful in whatever field they go into. And that is a product of Jewish history. Believe me, as I’m sure you all know. So consequently, because Jews tend to be successful, they tends to, as a group. I mean they are actually in a survey in Britain, the Jewish community is the richest community in this country. That doesn’t mean there aren’t poor Jews by the way, and the notion of Jews and power that never goes away. And you would’ve thought what does that show, which is the greatest example of powerlessness in history. But nevertheless, they… And I think that tragically, it comes from that horrific Christian belief in the killing of Jesus. To kill a God, you have to be powerful, you know. I mean, I’m sorry, I’m being very blunt today. But with this thing with Diana, but it’s really got to my soul I think because the stupidity of the woman is she sees herself as an anti-racist, but she doesn’t believe Jews experience racism because she believes they are white. And because they’re successful, they have to be perpetrators. So this is the madness, and that is the Left. But I’m promising you, I’m going to be running sessions on antisemitism in the Left.
This is from Marilyn, “The Jewellery Collection of Heidi Horten of 700 pieces coming up for auction in May. A fortune is rumoured to be raised on the organisation of Jewish property.” It’s not rumour. Her husband’s family, that’s where the money did come from.
Rose is saying, “If you stand by and do little, are you not culpable?”
Joan is saying, “Stop shuffling papers.” Sorry, if you knew how many papers I’ve got in front of me.
Rose, it’s interesting. You are not a perpetrator, or are you?
Q: Question. “How many were saved?”
A: That’s a very good question, Lorraine. I’m going to have to apply to Yad Vashem.
This is from Marilyn. “One of the ironies is one of my favourite children’s toys, Paddington Bear, was inspired by the children of the Kindertransport.” Yeah. And don’t forget also that Bambi was written by a Jewish refugee.
Q: This is from Peter. “Are you familiar with the book "50 Children”, which describes the remedy of 50 children from Vienna by Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus of Philadelphia. Two of the children, Robert and Joanna Brown, my second cousins, lived with us during the war, after which they were able to bring their parents to the USA. Their father, Max Brown, was hidden during the war by his Gentile wife.“
A: Yes, you see there are good people. The question is, how do you motivate the good? Susan,
"My dear friend of blessed memory, Max Reis, saved on the Kindertransport with his brother, went on to become the president of the Technion in Israel.” Extraordinary.
Michael, “On Kristallnacht, the main noise synagogue in Berlin was not badly damaged. Two to the intervention of the local police who prevented the Nazi mob from entering the synagogue. It was ironic that the RAF did more damage during the bombing of Berlin during the war.” Yes, but I believe, Michael, it was because the police believed the fire would spread to neighbouring buildings.
This is Susan. “When I was at secondary school in the 1960s, my French teacher, Ms. Prague, was on the Kindertransport. I only learned this much later in life when I reconnected with her. Sadly, her only brother was on the last train you mentioned who did not make it out. So many people affected by these dreadful events.” Thank you, Susan.
Susan, “My mother was one of the…” Susan Hertbie, “My mother was one of the children from Germany saved by the Kindertransport. We don’t know who paid for it as our family had no money in Austria. Jewish parents were only allowed to send one child from their family on the Kindertransport. It was a lecture about that here in Ottawa.” Yeah, yeah. Can you imagine having those choices?
Q: “What is the case in Britain today in relation to what is a Jew?”
A: Ah! It’s a nice question. You know that great quote of Elias Canetti, “There are no people more difficult to understand than the Jews.” I think if I asked you to define Christian, you would say it was someone who believed in Jesus. But, I’ll give you various definitions that some believe. Some believe it’s a religious definition. That’s the halachic definition, the child of the Jewish mother, That land at the end of the Eastern Mediterranean certainly believes it’s a national definition. And many of their leadership still believe that the Diaspora, the Jews of the Diaspora are erroneous because they should go home, as Netanyahu said to French Jewry after that terrible attack. Some believe it’s culture, a culture affiliation. Other beliefs in that nebulous term, peoplehood. And I’ve told you what my mother said. My mother said it’s cardiac. You feel it.
Q: “What are the three elements?”
A: I suggested three. A response to antisemitism, an authentic Jewish nationalism, and the connection with our history, our heritage, our land.
Peter, “My parents and I were able to escape from Austria, home of our family since the 1600s, thanks to relatives.” Oh, yes. “My father learned of Hitler’s bullying method with the Austrian transfer in ‘38. We were able to leave shortly after the Anschluss, boarding a U.S. liner at Hamburg. Yes, of course. And those who were saved, and their lines of descent who were saved because of good people.
This is Helena. "Isaac Ochberg was the person who rescued children and brought them to South Africa. Our grandmother, Liama Spetman, was one such child. Now, I know that Paul Golding has made a film about the children cause I know about this film and we went to show it. And I will be discussing it with Wendy as soon as we meet up again.
It’s important. Hindi, "My husband’s aunt and uncle were in Israel some time in the 1930s. And his cousin told the story of how when they knew a ship bringing illegals was coming in. They would host a party for the Brits and serving up liquor to get them thoroughly drunk so the ship could land and disembark.” It’s one of the tales we love to hear about. Yes, from 1934 onwards, the Haganah, and later on the Irgun, were running the ships to Palestine. It’s a terrible story.
Vivian and David, “Just to mention some other young people who found refuge in England before the war. My uncle was the same age as some of the Kinder. He was a pupil at the ORT school in Berlin. Half of the group of boys were taken to England at the end of August 39. The second group was due to leave for England a few days later. But after the war broke up, the borders were closed and the rest of the boys were unable to leave Germany.” So sad.
“My father, also a teenager, was one of the 4,000 who can refuge at the Kitchener Camp. Yes, there are so many different stories. Look, what I’ve tried to do is give you a taste because how much can we dwell on this? And there are many books and there are many wonderful people. That’s why I’ve decided to highlight some of the rescuers, because we can’t just dwell on the horror. This is Monty, who I’ve already mentioned.
"Wingate trained Jews in Palestine to defend themselves. The British did not like what he was doing. They transferred him to Burma. He died in the Chindit campaign.” Yes, I don’t think they wanted him to die necessarily, Monty. But he was a great hero. And of course, the Wingate Institute outside Netanya is named for him.
“Eri Jabotinsky was my teacher in the Technion, oldest son of Jabotinsky. He said, 'Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.’” Oh, boy. George Bernard Shaw’s quote.
“Yes, Jabotinsky described the condition of European Jewry as a frozen stampede.” Yeah. You know, I don’t want to get into the debates as who was right, Jabotinsky or Weizmann, Ben-Gurion or Begin. What I would say to you, ‘cause we’ve all got our personal opinions, and I really want our group to say together. But what I would say to you, as far as I’m concerned, they are all heroes of the Jewish people in their own way. In their own way. Who was right? Who was wrong? But what I do find fascinating is how these people who were so connected, they.. Look, nobody could have predicted Auschwitz. But they knew something important was going to happen.
Q: And who was it said hat you would need the soul of a Dante?
A: It was Nahum Goldmann. He said it in 1945. He said… And of course, he became president of the World Jewish Congress. He actually said you would need the soul of a Dante to imagine that Inferno.
“Please recommend the best biography of Jabotinsky.” The problem with that, Jerry, is that comes down on what side of the fence you are. Look, I will get a book list together, I will. I’ve just read Benzion Netanyahu’s biography of Jabotinsky, but you know where he came from. But he is a good writer. He’s an interesting writer. I read him for two reasons. Number one, because I want to understand that line of thought. Because Benzion Netanyahu died aged 101, and he had a huge influence on his children. And as I said, not only was he Jabotinsky’s secretary, he was a professor of history. And one of his sons, of course, died in Entebbe.
Q: Myrna, “How can one be so thorough, so warm, and completely comprehensive in a situation that remains incomprehensive?”
A: Yes, but we still have to try and understand, Myrna. I mean, in the end, you are left with the abyss. And I admit it, when I go to… I don’t go to Yad Vashem very often now. It’s the children’s gallery that finishes me off. Understanding the incomprehensible. How do we get to the stage that we dehumanise? And who does it dehumanise? The people who are actually doing the dehumanising. And we remember what Anita said the other day when she was talking about Belson. She said, “It didn’t take long for them to dehumanise us, but they were dehumanised in the process.”
Yes, this is Dr. Stel Phillips. Diane Abbott compared the abuse given to people with red hair with a bias against Jews, and said we had no idea of the suffering experience of people. You see, this is the problem with Diane Abbott. She believes she’s an anti-racist, by the way. So does Corbyn. That’s the problem. But they do not believe that Jews could possibly be victims, because Jews, they believe all Jews are white and all Jews are successful, and they also believe in Jewish power. That’s the problem. That to me is antisemitism. But I am going to spend a whole session on it because it’s important. And we’re also bringing in Dave Rich, who’s the expert in Britain. And of course, if you really want to go deep, Robert Wistrich’s “From Ambivalence to Betrayal: the Left, the Jews, and Israel”. I mean, he wrote I think 1500 pages on it. He was such a genius. His death was so… He died in 2014. And we couldn’t afford to lose someone like him, but we did.
“Whoopi Goldberg, an American Black actress in talk show, suspended temporarily, saying the Holocaust was all about race.” Exactly the same thing, Brenda. You have to be a victim. You know, what is a victim? Look, it will be a wonderful world if all the victims of persecution stand together. I think I’m going to say, I’m going to be blunt. One of the problems the Jews have at the moment is that many of the other victim groups are now seeing us as perpetrators. Evelyn, I’m going to check that figure. As I was looking at it, I remembered I’ve got to check it a lot. Did I know that?
Yes, and Harriet is quoting Tom Lehrer, that wonderful American Jewish satirist.
“I met a number of Kinder at Quaker Hall in London. I asked them individually their first experience. They each said drinking tea with the addition of milk.” Oh, that’s lovely, Melvin. And don’t forget the Quakers and how they helped.
“In Salisbury,” says Lorraine, “the Jewish Sports Club was called Wingate.” “Is it accurate to say that while Germany provided exit to the Jews, no country would take them in before this exit policy?” Pretty much so, at least, I’m afraid.
“Continue in teaching history as well as geography to the present generation. I have spent more than 20 years doing so since I was a hidden child saved by righteous Gentiles.” Very good for you, Claire, because as you… Look, my friend Felix Shaff used to say, “You go on teaching because you might get through to somebody.” And I think on a level you do, but I really think it’s Jewish history that needs to be taught. Fascinating. Robert Wistrich actually offered to put up classes for the House of Commons, but it was not accepted actually by Jews. Interesting. Old world.
“In the Work of Talk last week, it was mentioned that Asian and Americans have the same problem as Jews. They’re too successful to be victim.” Yes, very good point. And the Ugandan Asian in London. Hindu population is another very… You see in England today, we have some very successful immigrant populations. We have the, in the main, the Hindu community, also the Chinese community. What it seems to be is people who have a great tradition of learning. But it’s problematic.
“David Baddiel’s book,” says Susan Alexander. Yes. Anyway, I think that’s all the questions. I know it’s been a heavy one today, and it’s going to go on being heavy. Let’s try and tell these stories to our children and our grandchildren at least, because, you know, my bugbear. Why on earth don’t we teach Jewish history to Jewish kids? At least let’s give them pride.
And on that note, I wish you all well, and lots of love.