Table Of ContentPOST-
HOLOC UST
A
POL TICS
I
POST-
HOLOC UST
A
POL TICS
I
BRITAIN, THE UNITED STATES,
& JEWISH REFUGEES, 1945–1948
ARIEH J. KOCHAVI
THEUNIVERSITYOFNORTHCAROLINAPRESS
CHAPELHILLANDLONDON
©
TheUniversityofNorthCarolinaPress
Allrightsreserved
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Kochavi,AriehJ.
Post-Holocaustpolitics:Britain,theUnitedStates,
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p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p.)andindex.
---(cloth:alk.paper)
.Refugees,Jewish—Governmentpolicy—Great
Britain. .Refugees,Jewish—Governmentpolicy—
UnitedStates. .Holocaustsurvivors—Europe.
.GreatBritain—Emigrationandimmigration—
Governmentpolicy. .UnitedStates—Emigration
andimmigration—Governmentpolicy. .Jews—
Europe—Migrations. .Palestine—Emigrationand
immigration. I.Title.
..
.''—dc
CONTENTS
Preface ix
AbbreviationsandAcronyms xv
Introduction
.
. NonrepatriableDisplacedPersonsinGermany
ATemporaryProblem?
PolishDisplacedPersonsPressuretheWesternPowers
ResettlementOptions
.JewishDisplacedPersonsinBritishOccupationZones
‘‘LikeAllOthers’’
‘‘Infiltrators’’fromtheEast
WithholdingFoodRations
SeparatingGermanJewsfromJewishDisplacedPersons
.CounteringIllegalImmigration
DebatingaPolicy
DeportationstoCyprus
DeportationsBacktoPortsofEmbarkation?
EndingtheMandate
.
.JewishDisplacedPersonsandAmericanPolicy-making
TheHarrisonReport
EisenhowerReacts
.ConflictingAttitudes
TrumanIntervenes
Anglo-AmericanNegotiations
FurtherDiscords
RespiteforWhitehall
SwayedbyElectoralConsiderations
.AmericanOccupationZonesOfferAsylum
AnOpenGatePolicy
FailingtoSealtheBorders
ChangeofPolicy?
Washingtonand‘‘IllegalSailings’’
.
. TheFlightfromPoland
PolishJewsintheAftermathoftheWar
PhaseOne:SummerandWinterof–
BehindtheScenes:Moscow’sRole
TheAnglo-AmericanCommitteeVisitsPoland
PhaseTwo:Summerof
.CzechoslovakiaandHungary:CountriesofTransit
Czechoslovakia:BetweenPolandandGermany
Hungary:BetweenRumaniaandAustria
.TheBalkans:PortstoPalestine
Rumania:TheMainThrust
Yugoslavia:InterimSailingBase
TheHungerFlight
Bulgaria:FinalSailingBase
WithMoscow’sBlessings
. :
.Italy:ContraryManeuvers
TheLaSpeziaEpisode
andthe
ConfoundingBritishStrategies
. France:Manipulations
AsylumforJewishRefugees
Quaid’Orsayvs.theInteriorMinistry
TheExodusAffair
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
PrisonersinDachau,Germany,raiseAmericanflag
onliberation,April
RabbiLeslieH.Hardman,chaplainintheBritishArmy,reciting
KaddishatamassgraveinBergen-Belsen
SurvivorsoftheHolocaustinBergen-Belsenafterliberation
InsideoneofthebarracksinBergen-Belsencamp
TakingabathinaDPcamp
Brichah:Fatherandhischild
Brichah:Restingplace
Ma’apilimatHaifaportfollowingcapturebytheBritish,June
Ma’apilimdetentioncampinCyprus
AdemonstrationofAmericanJewsagainstBritishpolicyinPalestine
JewishrefugeesonthewayfromaDPcampinAustriato
oneinGermany
PartofParschDPcampnearSalzburg,Austria
FatheronMedinatHayehudimshowingthedeadbodyofhisbaby
toguardingBritishsoldiers
TheMedinatHayehudimfollowingcapturebytheBritishatHaifaport
Brichah:onthemove
Exodusaftersurrender
Germany—ZonesofOccupation
PartitionResolution,November
TheBrichahMovement
PREFACE
BetweenandmorethanaquarterofamillionJewsfledfromcoun-
tries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans to theWest, where they were given
temporaryshelterintheDisplacedPersons(DP)campshastilyerectedbythe
AlliesinGermanyandAustria.SailingclandestinelyfrombothsidesoftheIron
Curtain, the Zionists tried to bring as many Jewish refugees as theycould to
the shores of Palestine.These efforts helped establish the State of Israel, not
so much because of the numbers involved as because of the dramaticway in
whichtheypublicizedtheplightoftheJewishrefugeesandenabledtheJewish
communityintheUnitedStatestoinfluenceWhiteHousepolicybylinkingits
votetoasolutiontotheDPproblem.
Britain was not only one of the four powers that occupied Germany and
Austriaafterthewar,italsoheldtheMandateinPalestine.Hencethequestion
of what to dowith thevast majorityof Jewish DPs who refused repatriation
became paramount for London.The Middle East was pivotal to Britain both
economically—becauseof itshugeoilresources—andstrategically—because
ithelpedtosecurethelandroutetoIndiaandalsoformedabufferagainstthe
expansionist ambitions of the Soviet Union. As the cooperation of the Arab
countrieswasessentialtosafeguardingtheseinterests,Britainquicklymovedto
frustrateZionistattemptstotransferJewsfromEuropetoPalestine.Insistence
on strictly separating the Palestine question from the DP problem became a
mainstayofBritishpolicy.
WiththeendofWorldWarII,relationsbetweenArabsandJewsinManda-
toryPalestinedeterioratedrapidly.AsWhitehallsawit,Jewishimmigrationwas
acrucialproblemfortheArabcountriesandtheindigenousArabsinPalestine.
Because Britain’s interests in the Arabworld carried moreweight than help-
ing the Zionists build their homeland, the government decided not to allow
Jewishinfluxintothecountrytoincrease.Thusafterhavingsignificantlycon-
tributedtodefeatingtheAxispowersandtherebyhelpingsavethelivesofmany
Jews,BritainbecamethemainbarrierforJewishrefugeeswantingtoreachthe
haventheZionistsweresettingupinPalestine.Thispolicyalsoresultedinin-
creasedresistanceagainstBritainonthepartoftheZionists,boththemoderate
majorityoftheYishuv(Hebrew:settlement;theprestateJewishcommunityin
Palestine)andthemoremilitantfactions.AmemosubmittedtoForeignMin-
Description: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
