Post-Holocaust Politics: Britain, the United States, and Jewish Refugees, 1945-1948 - Hardcover

Kochavi, Arieh J.

3.8

5 ratings by Goodreads

9780807826201: Post-Holocaust Politics: Britain, the United States, and Jewish Refugees, 1945-1948

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807826200 ISBN 13: 9780807826201

Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr, 2001

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Between 1945 and 1948, more than a quarter of a million Jews fled countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans and began filling hastily erected displaced persons camps in Germany and Austria. As one of the victorious Allies, Britain had to help find a solution for the vast majority of these refugees who refused repatriation. Drawing on extensive research in British, American, and Israeli archives, Arieh Kochavi presents a comprehensive analysis of British policy toward Jewish displaced persons and reveals the crucial role the United States played in undermining that policy.

Kochavi argues that political concerns--not human considerations--determined British policy regarding the refugees. Anxious to secure its interests in the Middle East, Britain feared its relations with Arab nations would suffer if it appeared to be too lax in thwarting Zionist efforts to bring Jewish Holocaust survivors to Palestine. In the United States, however, the American Jewish community was able to influence presidential policy by making its vote hinge on a solution to the displaced persons problem. Setting his analysis against the backdrop of the escalating Cold War, Kochavi reveals how, ironically, the Kremlin as well as the White House came to support the Zionists' goals, albeit for entirely different reasons.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Book Description:

"Skillfully demonstrates--while paying meticulous attention to the voluminous historical evidence he has unearthed--that for the British, humanitarian considerations were eclipsed by political and pragmatic calculations. . . . A major contribution to our understanding of how the DP issue and the Zionist's manipulation of it helped undermine the British policy in the Middle East."-- Holocaust and Genocide Studies

From the Inside Flap:

Kochavi argues that British foreign policy immediately following World War II was designed to prevent Jewish survivors of the Holocaust from immigrating to Palestine. He presents a detailed analysis based on extensive archival research of the development and execution of British policy and the resulting confrontations with the U.S., Soviet Union, Italy, and France to show that Britain's policy toward displaced persons was dictated by its desire to secure its interests in the Middle East.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.