{"product_id":"aliens-the-chequered-history-of-britainas-wartime-refugees-paul-dowswell","title":"Aliens: The Chequered History of Britain's Wartime Refugees","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe welcome given to refugees from fascist Europe is part of Britain’s fond nostalgia for the Second World War. But there was a darker side to this story, both before and during the conflict. Then, as now, there was great suspicion, resentment and fear – much of it kindled by Britain’s infamous tabloid press. Then, as now, government dealt with a reluctance to accommodate refugees by hiding behind bureaucratic hurdles.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the 1930s, Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts were a significant presence in British politics and support for Hitler went right to the top. In 1940, shortly before the Blitz, the recently abdicated Edward VIII even told a Spanish journalist that Britain ought to be bombed to bring it to its senses and stop it opposing the Nazis.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMany of the 10,000 \u003ci\u003eKindertransport\u003c\/i\u003e children have warm memories of the kindness they were shown, but around half a million anti-fascist and Jewish refugees were refused entry and most of them died as a result. Once here, German Jews, especially, found their troubles far from over – 30,000 were rounded up and placed in internment camps. One passenger ship, the \u003ci\u003eDunera\u003c\/i\u003e, was packed with an unhappy combination of German Jews and pro-Nazi sympathisers and despatched to Australia.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMaking use of in-depth research and first-hand interviews, Paul Dowswell casts a fresh eye on the wartime era to paint a picture of what life was really like in Britain for refugees from fascism.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Open Page","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59139127017797,"sku":null,"price":3.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1093\/3344\/6981\/files\/IMG_0750.jpg?v=1788609002","url":"https:\/\/theopenpage.store\/products\/aliens-the-chequered-history-of-britainas-wartime-refugees-paul-dowswell","provider":"The Open Page","version":"1.0","type":"link"}