Activity 1: Jewish Refugees

A refugee is someone who leaves their home because it becomes too dangerous.  They seek refuge (or protection) in another place.

In 1933 Hitler came to power with his antisemitic and racist policies.  Many Jews tried to leave for Britain and other European countries but Britain did not want them.

The German-Jewish Refugee Committee promised the British Government that German-Jewish immigrants would not become a financial burden on the state. 

The British Government had very strict rules governing the admittance of refugees.  Most refugees who were admitted were allowed in to Britain on the understanding that they would be “transmigrants” – in other words, they would move on to other countries.

In 1938 after Germany’s annexation of Austria and ‘Kristallnacht’ or the ‘Night of the Broken Glass’ (in which Jewish businesses, homes and places of worship were attacked and burnt) the British accepted more Jewish refugees.

Between 1938 and 1939 approximately 70,000 Jewish refugees arrived in Britain.  Most had fled from Nazi occupied Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.