UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES

Département de science politique

Le siècle de la Shoa et les génocides

ELZE MARIJA UZDAVINYTE

Erasmus program student

Flight from the Reich

Refugee Jews, 1933-1946

Review of the Book

Brussels, March 17th, 2011

 Rules regarding plagiarism

Jury of the Department of Political Science

Passed on December 1, 2009

Considering that plagiarism is an unacceptable mistake from a legal, ethical and intellectual point of
view;

Conscious that tolerating plagiarism would undermine the reputation of the university and of its academic
and scientific staff and students and endanger the upholding of some pedagogical principles;

Noting that from their first year on the students have been sensitized to intellectual integrity and that the
library website provides clear information on how to avoid plagiarism;

Reminding that plagiarism does not only limit to borrowing an integral text without using quotation marks
or without mentioning its full bibliographical reference but also includes borrowing raw data, a freely
translated text or paraphrased ideas with no clear mention of the full reference;

Admitting that no justification, such as medical considerations, the absence of disciplinary record or the
level of education, can constitute a mitigating factor;

Taking note of the article 1 of the Loi relative au droit d’auteur et aux droits voisins of June 30, 1994, the
article 66 of the Règlement des études of July 3, 2006, of the Règlement de discipline relative aux
étudiants of October 5, 1970, and of the article 54 of the Règlement facultaire relatif à l’organisation des
examens of December 9, 2004;

The Jury of the Department of Political Science formally recommends that the students who commit a
proven plagiarism be marked 0 for the entire lecture concerned, with no possibility of repossession in
second session.

I , confirm being aware of this ruling and solemnly swear not to

have committed plagiarism.
 Content

1. Introduction................................................................................................................
2. Summary....................................................................................................................
3. Review.......................................................................................................................
4. Conclusion.................................................................................................................
 Review of “Fight from the Reich, Refugee Jews, 1933-1946”

Introduction

The history of the Jews in Europe after Hitler came to power and during WWII left a
huge scare on humanism. The stories of Jewish families gathered in a book “Flight from the
Reich, refugee Jews 1933-1946” unravel the real colors of life for Jews during that period. The
book concentrates on refugees and their struggles to flee from Germany and later from France,
Netherlands, Poland, attempts to go to England, United States, and Palestine. The book
illustrates the work of Jewish organizations, the position of the foreign countries on a “question
of Jews” and their ignorance. It shows the dramatic situation of the Jewish community not only
before and during WWII but also as it came to an end.

Holocaust by definition is a mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime from
1941- 1945. However, those who survived can not be excluded from the history. As the authors
say fleeing is taking the story elsewhere but does not write refugees out of it. And, indeed,
fleeing took Jews to many places, first to neighboring countries, then England, United States,
back to homeland in Palestine as the despair grew and the borders of the foreign countries were
closing Jews went to the Soviet Union, where conditions were bad, where they were sent to work
camps, but at least they had some chances to survive, even to Shanghai where they had no future,
but at least they saved themselves from the Nazis.

The most difficult thing of all above humiliation, starvation, despair, shame, was being
separated from their family. And many Jewish families underwent the reality of being far away
from their children or spouses. As the situation was getting worse and it was hard to obtain
permits to travel, parents were anxious to send their children out of Germany. It was a terrifying
experience to send a child to a country you have never been, to live with the people you have
never met and even did not spoke their language and to condemn yourself to a longing without
knowing if you will ever see them again. As difficult as it was it seemed better than letting them
stay in Germany and suffer from starvation, an uncertain future and fear.
 Summary

Hitler came to power in 1933 when Europe suffered from the Great depression for 4
years already. The Fuhrer implemented his anti-Jewish politics without hesitation and the first
major sign of a pessimistic future for Jews in Germany was the Reichstag fire on February 27,
1933. It was set on fire on purpose by Nazis themselves but they blamed it on Communists. This
artificially created enemy gave an excuse for Nazis to implement emergency restrictions on
liberties such as freedom of the press. It also justified the arrest of all people, who where
“dangerous to the state”.

The second step of Nazis actions came not long after, on the 10’th of May in the heart of
German Reich- in the center of Berlin the great burning of books just strengthened bad feelings
about the future of German- Jews. Books of Jewish philosophers, writers and scholars known
worldwide and translated in several languages were burned without mercy just because those
books were written by Jews, they were of no worth for Nazis. Sadly a very accurate prediction
maid by Heinrich Heine stating that “Where one burns books, one soon will burn people” was
not long from now to come true.

After these events German- Jews did not foster ideas that the situation will change and
came to realizing that Germany is no more a safe country for them. People started looking for the
ways out, selling their properties, doing the paper work, writing to relatives abroad they were
packing their lives into considerable size luggages or sometimes even without them and leaving
Germany. But there were not so many destinations to go. At first France removed visa
restrictions and let 30 thousand refuges seeking asylum in a country. Quite different was the
position of England, they did not remove any restrictions of entering the country, and added a
rule of registering at a police office as soon as a refugee enters the country. On the other hand,
Britain did not hesitate to provide asylum for Jewish cultural heritage, the Library of Warburg in
Hamburg was in danger after the great book burning in Berlin, the moving of the library was
arranged, it’s destination became London but only with the agreement that part of moving
expenses will be covered by Jewish community. “The welcome accorded the Warburg Library
reflected British asylum policy: we’ll take the best and let the French, Dutch, and Czechs cope
1
with the rest”. The ignorance of the states was hard to describe and as a year passed it was
getting harder and harder to flee from Germany and in the beginning it was not hard because of
1
Deborah Dwork, Robert Jan van Pelt “Flight from the Reich, Refugee Jews, 1933-1946”, New York, London, 27.
Nazis policy, they were happy to get rid of Jews but because of the policy of foreign countries
which grew stricter as a year passed.

Palestine. Palestine became a likely solution for refugees, as a territory of their historical
home in 1933 it admitted 19% of Jews refugees and next year it rose up to 37%. However,
refugees had no historical or cultural background or language skills, nor interest in that, adapting
here was difficult.

At one point in history Zionists’ had an opportunity to establish a Jewish state, but they
declined such an idea because Jerusalem was under British control and a Jewish state without
Jerusalem from their point of view was a “decapitated body”. “The Zionists’ failure to grasp this
slim but quite real opportunity to found a state in 1937 flowed from inability to compromise,
determination to hold on to every inch of Palestine as something historically sacred <...> We
would then have had two more years time before war broke out and a country to which hundreds
of thousands, possibly millions, of European Jews might have escaped.” 2 One more opportunity
of refuge disappeared in the disagreements of politicians. It seemed that there was no place in the
world for Jewish people, western countries were reasonably mocked by Hitler’s speeches stating
the fact that they also did not want the Jews.

Kindertransport was the rescue of many Jewish children, the November pogrom caused
rapid plans on deportation of Jews children to safer countries. Parents were faced with
dramatically decision, to be separated from their children, to send them to foreign countries, to
the people they did not know or stay together and face starvation, fear and maybe even death.
Parents were making the difficult decision of sending their children abroad, because they wished
to save them, to send them where it was safe even though it could have meant they will be
separated for unlimited time or maybe never will see each other again. As the day of goodbye
arrived parents were not allowed on a platform to say last goodbye because it may have
displeased the Aryans. For some a departure of their children was too heavy to bare, one mother
died of a heart attack watching her daughter leave, other women were fainting. Despite the pain
these families underwent their offsprings were sent to safety.

Tante Elisabeth. The story of Tante Elisabeth tells about unique person who was 49 years old,
single woman and living in neutral Switzerland. She did not have any big income but that did not
stopped her from helping refugees to connect with their relatives in Germany. Jewish children
would write her letter from England or Vichy referring to her as “Tante Elisabeth” as if she was
2
Idem 51
really their aunt, those letters were meant for their family members, and then Elisabeth would
rewrite the whole letter and send it to original address. This way the censors of a post were
fooled. Not only that she received about 3 thousand letters during the war period she also was
sending writing paper, envelopes and Reply Coupons to children’s homes in Vichy. The postal
service she provided was not all she have done, moreover, she became a confidant for the
refugee kids, who were longing their parents and even parents themselves as both sides had fears
about the destiny of each other they could not share their fears with relatives, then they shared
their worries with Tante Elisabeth.

Letters were the only way of communicating among the family members which were
separated. It was the way to keep in contact with the ones you love and to know about their
destiny. Letters from the children were keeping parents spirit up even though their own future
did not seem happy at all. As the war evolved letters took longer and longer to reach its
destinations, it sometimes took a year to get the news from the family members. Soon the only
way to communicate was Red Cross letters of only 25 worlds. At the end of the war Elisabeth
also helped the separated ones to renew the contact, in many cases it meant to find out that
family members were murdered or have died.

Some people found refuge for their bodies but did not found refuge for the soul. The
difficulties of adaptation in a different country pushed some even very well known figures as
Austrian-Jewish writer Stefan Zweig to a suicide. Suicide was spreading also among those who
stayed in Germany especially elderly who could not see their future in exile.

The war ended and as one can think it should have offered a relief to refugees.
Unfortunately the reality was much more depressing. First of all, refugees were facing the
feeling that there is no where they could go. Returning to Germany, Austria or Poland did not
seemed like a solution, because most of the people did not have to whom to return to, no friends
no relatives. As someone put it’ “The government’s hold is weak. Conditions are lawless. Life is
dangerous.<...> We have no future in Poland. We see only more pogroms ahead.” 3The most
shocking knowledge about the after war period was the position of German people who did not
flee from the Reich. They thought that they are more honorable than those who left. That is why
Jews need to admit that Germans are the ones who suffered the most. The situation was
disappointing, even in the fifties you in windows shields you could still see the signs “Juden
Raus”. However, some people came back, especially those who were involved in communist
movement, they seeked to recreate the pre-war conditions.

3
Idem 322
 Rarely but some managed to reunite with their families, like the Neuwalders. Their
daughter Susi lived in England and liked her English family and her life. She did not want to
leave England, but the whole family survived the war and went to United States to build a new
life. Unfortunately, the future showed that it was very hard for them to be a family again,
separated by the time and experiences each went through and effected by traumas of war they
did not manage to find a true happiness even thought they were together what for other refugees
who lost their loves ones sounded as a dream.

Review

The book was written by Deborah Dwok- director of Strassler family Center for
Holocaust and Genocide Studies and professor of Holocaust history at Clark University 4 and
Robert Jan van Pelt- professor at University of Waterloo, Canada who has received honors such
as the Guggenheim Fellowship5. The title of the book “Flight from the Reich, Refugee Jews,
1933-1946” already gives the information that this book is going to be about all the refugees that
flead, not only German- Jews and it draws a line in which the story is told 1933-1946. The book
is divided in four chapters based on timelines 1933, 1938-1939, 1942 and 1946. It covers various
aspects of refugees reality: policy of a Western countries on a question of refugees, passports and
visas, destinations of refugees, the way people crossed borders after they were closed (passeurs),
the conditions Jews faced in countries they escaped to, the correspondence with the ones stuck in
Reich, the situation after the war and all of it followed by real stories of Jewish refugees. It is a
historical book.

From my point of view, the authors go too much into detail in the first part of the book,
where the negotiations between the Western states are described, many names of politicians and
social actors confuses and make lose track of the main points of the conferences. On the other
hand, the book is written in rather neutral way, emotions are not dominating a manner of writing.
Peoples experiences and emotions are described in balance together with facts. Authors are
building the landscape of the reality through little pieces of different stories of refugees, this
makes the reader understand the variety of realities these people faced.

The most valuable thought reviewed in a book is the position of Western counties and the
fact that they treated the Jews not greatly better than Nazis themselves, their policy of refugees

4
Clark University http://www.clarku.edu/departments/history/facultybio.cfm?id=394&progid=17
5
The Jewish foundation for the righteoushttp://www.jfr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=edu_pelt
was anti-Semitic just without the massacre. Some debates between Western countries like
Switzerland, Britain, United States, show the real position on the question of refugees. 6

Second, very important matter is the situation after the WWII, which is contrary from one
could think, the end of WWII did not necessarily meant the end of anti-Semitism. Writers
manage to give knowledge about the fact that end of war was not end of anti-Semitism and end
of Jewish problem. Jews faced difficulties of being reunited with the loved ones as the countries
were holding on the restrictions of entering the country or if there were no problems with
restrictions the lack of transport appeared as a problem.

Rough data of the victims is also given in a book, stating that in 1939 there were 9.9
7
million Jews who lived in Europe but after 7 years only 4.3 million were left. Between the
years 1942 and 1944 about 3 million Jews were gassed.8 These numbers helps the reader imagine
the massiveness of the killings.

The book reaches to cover various topics and keeps introspecting both the macro
historical level- the position of states and micro level- personal experiences of people. 9Step by
step it creates better shaped understanding of the events. Avoiding the sentimental descriptive
analyses the book is based on solid historical grounds which lets the reader better understand the
pitiful situation of Jews. Authors remain objective and avoid description they choose to quote the
memories of refugees instead of describing their experiences themselves. One can agrue that the
way of writing is dry but I would call it a professional academic prose which purpose is to
remain objective and base arguments on the facts, that is why many footnotes are used.

The book contains several photographs, this provides a reader with clear evidence and
gives him opportunity to build a right image about some of the characters in a book. It also gives
an additional piece of information that words are not always to do.

It also needs to be said that a big work of research has been carried out before the book
was written, authors use several examples to illustrate a situation. Sometimes very unique lives
were unraveled, like a story of Tante Elisabeth or a family of Jewish refugees who were just
pushed over the border of Switzerland.

6
Dwork, van Pelt 303
7
Idem 308
8
Idem 288
9
Kirkus reviews http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/non-fiction/deborah-dwork/flight-from-the-reich/
 It must be mentioned that this is not the book for people seeking a nice leisure read, as the
events described are no less that depressing, however it is a valuable source for those who see to
widen their knowledge on the history of Jewish community.

Conclusion

3 million Jews survived the Holocaust, 6 million were killed or died. WWII was the
enormous trauma for the Jewish community. Thousands of views were spread around the world
without no ideas what to do with their lives and were to go. Each Jewish refugee suffered greatly
not only during the years of war but also for the rest of their lives as the adaptation to life was
difficult, psychological state of refugees was bad, most of them suffered from the memories of
war, the lost of everything that was important, first and foremost, family members and friends,
then social status, homes, they even lost possibilities they could have had if Holocaust have not
happened. They did not loose their counties but as it was said they grew to understand that it
never belong to them. Confusion, sadness and depression marked their lives. For many it was
difficult to make a living and those who were successful financially and even managed to reunite
the whole family like already mentioned Neuwalders’ the happiness became something
unreachable. They never felt truly as a family again, the gap of the years they spend separated,
the experiences they each underwent drove them apart, reunited under the same roof sadly did
not meant the happiness that they were longing for.

The consequences of Holocaust were various starting from the murders and deaths,
separated families, to psychological trauma. To sum up, the Holocaust changed Jewish
community irreversibly. Sadly the Western countries were not very eager to get involved in
providing asylum and their actions were hesitant and not sufficient.

This book gives a wider knowledge of the consequences of the Holocaust and provides a
fully shaped image of the realities of that time. It is professionally written academic piece, based
on facts, written in neutral way. It widens the description of a Holocaust and gives the reader the
possibility to be familiar not only with the experiences of people or politics of that time but also
the difficulties after the war.