'A Comparison of Jewish Migrant Responses to Antisemitism in Paris and London in the Late 1930s’
Monday 21 February 16:30 until 18:00
Centre for German-Jewish Studies, Meeting Room Arts B127, University of Sussex
Speaker: Dr Gerben Zaagsma (Berlin)
Part of the series: Migration and Politics in Jewish History
Tea at 4.00 pm
All welcome, booking not required.
This lecture will discuss responses to antisemitism in the years preceding WWII among Jewish migrants in France and the United Kingdom. In this period several factors, international and local, combined to threaten the interests and existence of Jewish migrants: the rise of Nazi-Germany and international fascism on the one hand coincided with anti-migrant policies and local antisemitic activities on the other hand. These factors forced Jewish political organisations working on the ‘Jewish street’ to formulate strategies against these threats, especially in the (late) 1930s. The emphasis in this paper is on responses of the Jewish Left, in particular those of Jewish communists in Paris and London. Although several case studies exist about political activities among Jewish migrants in Paris and London this paper introduces a comparative dimension that has not received much attention to date. In doing so it will highlight how the activities of Jewish leftists and their defense of Jewish migrant interests were shaped by differing local contexts on the one hand and transnational links on the other.
Dr. Gerben Zaagsma is Honorary Research Associate at the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies of University College London. His main interests are modern Jewish social and political history as well as Yiddish Studies.
By: Diana Franklin
Last updated: Monday, 31 January 2011