Aliens : The Chequered History of Britain's Wartime Refugees

Thewelcome given to refugees from fascist Europe is part of Britain’s fondnostalgia for the Second World War. But there was a darker side to this story,both before and during the conflict. Then, as now, there was great suspicion,resentment and fear – much of it kindled by Britain’s infamous tabloid press.Then, as now, government dealt with a reluctance to accommodate refugees byhiding behind bureaucratic hurdles.

In the 1930s,Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts were a significant presence in British politics andsupport for Hitler went right to the top. In 1940, shortly before the Blitz,the recently abdicated Edward VIII even told a Spanish journalist that Britainought to be bombed to bring it to its senses and stop it opposing the Nazis.

Many of the10,000 Kindertransport children have warm memories of the kindnessthey were shown, but around half a million anti-fascist and Jewish refugeeswere refused entry and most of them died as a result. Once here, German Jews,especially, found their troubles far from over – 30,000 were rounded up andplaced in internment camps. One passenger ship, the Dunera, waspacked with an unhappy combination of German Jews and pro-Nazi sympathisers anddespatched to Australia.

Making use ofin-depth research and first-hand interviews, Paul Dowswell casts a fresh eye onthe wartime era to paint a picture of what life was really like in Britain forrefugees from fascism.