Language:
English
Year of publication:
1989
Titel der Quelle:
Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal
Angaben zur Quelle:
10,6 (1989) 500-523
Keywords:
Jews History 1939-1945
;
Jewish refugees
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Abstract:
A critique of recent studies propagating the view that Australia's discriminatory immigration regulations condemned large numbers of Jewish refugees to death in the Holocaust and prevented survivors from reaching a haven after 1945. Although the existence of some official antisemitism is well documented, Australia's response must be seen in historical context. Antisemitism in the 1930s was less of a factor than the "White Australia" policy which precluded admission of masses of non-Anglo-Saxon immigrants, and neither politicians nor the Jews themselves could foresee the fatal effects of refusal. At first, no official Jewish body existed to press for help for German Jews; thus the 2,250 sponsored by the recently-formed Australian Jewish Welfare Society in 1939 were a significant breakthrough. Similarly, after 1945 Jews were excluded from the mass immigration scheme for DPs, but some 17,600 Jewish DPs entered on much more favorable terms, sponsored by relatives. The Zionists and other Jewish bodies felt that the mass of DPs should be helped to go to Israel, while the Australian government had to consider popular antisemitism. Concludes that no act by Australia could have significantly affected the Jews' fate in the Holocaust.
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