University of Dundee DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Jewish Identity and Attitudes toward Militarism in Scotland c.1898 to the 1920s Hansen, Kirk Award date: 2015 Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 01. Oct. 2021 Jewish Identity and Attitudes toward Militarism in Scotland c.1898 to the 1920s Kirk Hansen PhD, History University of Dundee October, 2015 ii Content Page List of Illustrations iv Acknowledgments v Author Declaration vii Abstract viii Abbreviations ix Terms x Introduction 11 Chapter One: Scottish Jewry and the Military, c.1898-1914 31 1.1 The Russian Connection: Jews and the Military 31 1.2 The Glasgow Jewish Volunteer Association and the Boer War 44 1.3 The Scottish Jewish Lads’ Brigade 56 1.4 Conclusion 68 Chapter Two: Scottish Jews and Military Service in the Great War 70 2.1 Great War Service Records and Scottish Jews 73 2.2 Numbers and Analysis of Scottish Jewish Soldiers 76 2.3 Regiments and Participation 91 2.4 Aspects of Jewish Military Service 100 2.5 Conclusion 107 Chapter Three: Resistance to Military Service 110 3.1 The Tribunal Process and Scottish Jewish Appeals 112 3.2 Scottish Jews and Conscientious Objection 121 3.3 Conscientious Objection and British Jewry 127 3.4 Ireland and America: Refuge from Military Service? 134 3.5 Conclusion 139 Chapter Four: Home Front Relations 141 4.1 Jewish Patriotism and Participation on the Home Front 141 4.2 Anti-Alien Sentiment in Pre-war Scotland 151 4.3 Scottish Wartime Minorities 156 4.4 Anti-German Sentiment in Scottish Society and the Jewish Situation 161 4.5 1916 and the Rise of Anti-alien Sentiment 173 4.6 Russian Jews 185 4.7 Conclusion 193 iii Chapter Five: Dundee Jewry and the War: A Micro-History 197 5.1 Jute, Germans, and Jews 197 5.2 Dundee’s Jewish Soldiers 209 5.3 Conscription and Military Service Tribunals 213 5.4 Conclusion 218 Chapter Six: Conclusion 222 6.1 Post-war Politics and Religion 222 6.2 Commemoration 229 6.3 Post-war Position 240 6.4 Conclusion 243 Appendix I 250 Appendix II 255 Appendix III 258 Bibliography 259 iv List of Illustrations Figure 1.1 (page 60): Aaron Woolfson in JLB uniform. Image courtesy of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre. Figure 1.2 (page 63): Glasgow JLB group picture. Image courtesy of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre. Figure 2.1 (page 83): Declaration of Nationality for Michael Kaplan. Image courtesy of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre. Figure 2.2 (page 88): Table showing enlistment of Scottish Jews by year from the collection of 101 military service records. Figure 2.3 (page 94): Table showing Jewish men in Scottish regiments according to the British Jewry Book of Honour. Figure 2.4 (page 96): Table showing Jewish men enlisted in various regiments according to the collection of 101 military service records. Figure 2.5 (page 108): Gathering of Jewish soldiers outside the South Portland Street Synagogue. Image courtesy of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre. Figure 3.1 (page 121): Table showing types of appeals within the collection of 50 Scottish Jewish Appeal Tribunal cases. Figure 4.1 (page 188): Certificate of Registration for Jane Hershfield. Image courtesy of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre. Figure 6.1 (page 233): Garnethill First World War Memorial. Image courtesy of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre. Figure 6.2 (page 235): South Portland Street First World War Memorial. Image courtesy of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre. Figure 6.3 (page 239): Piper Laurence Collins of the Glasgow JLB. Image courtesy of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre. v Acknowledgements During the past four years a number of people and organizations influenced the progress of this thesis, and for their help I will attempt to provide appropriate recognition. First and foremost, I thank my supervisor, Dr. Billy Kenefick, for seeing the potential in the research and taking me on as his student. His guidance and honesty have been steadying influences throughout, while allowing me the freedom to take the research in directions that surprised us both at times. His equal attention both to his students and to historical research is inspiring, and for his constant availability despite a continuously full schedule I cannot thank him enough. I also thank Professor Callum Brown for his tough critiques during the opening stages of the research which were justifiable and motivational. During the final stages of writing and organising, I must thank Professor Graeme Morton for his guidance and insight. His thorough commentary, experience, and humour were exactly what I needed toward the end of a long journey. Dr. Chris Storrs was also kind enough to provided helpful feedback on a late draft. I must also thank Dr. Murray Frame and Dr. John Regan who as module coordinators were gracious enough to give me the opportunity to put my research and knowledge to use in the classroom. Many others in the history department at the University of Dundee showed interest in this research and provided support for which I am truly grateful. A number of archivists deserve mention, particularly those at the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre. Fiona Brodie and Deborah Haase were most helpful in locating the appropriate materials during my many visits to Glasgow. Harvey Kaplan deserves special thanks for organising each visit, for making the time to meet and discuss the research, and for allowing me to inundate his email inbox with constant questions. Dr. Irene O’Brien and her colleagues at the Glasgow City Archives in the Mitchell Library deserve many thanks for their tireless work and efforts on my behalf. The staff of the Local History Room at the Dundee Central Library also deserves special mention for helping with various searches and answering numerous questions. To all other archivists and librarians across Scotland and England who have provided invaluable service throughout the research process, I give my sincere thanks. I would also like to thank a number of professionals and fellow researchers who kindly shared their knowledge. Dr. Mark Gilfillan, kindly introduced to me by Harvey Kaplan, deserves first mention for answering a number of my questions and sharing his own research on the Edinburgh Jewish community. His insights were particularly invaluable during the early research stages, and he kindly responded to various questions throughout. Similarly, I thank Dr. Anne Lloyd for sharing her insights into British Jewry during the Great War and for providing me with helpful materials and contacts. I also thank Dr. Sharman Kadish for taking the time to meet me and discuss my work during a research trip to Manchester. vi Financially, the University of Dundee deserves thanks for providing important funding at various stages. Two departmental grants allowed me to travel to conferences at Bangor University and Queen’s University Belfast where I was able to present papers and meet fellow researchers and professionals in my field. The Arts & Humanities Research Institute at the university also provided a tuition fee reduction for my first year of research and in addition provided three small grants which funded a conference paper presentation at the University of Chester and enabled me to conduct multiple research trips to London, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. I am also grateful to the Scottish Funding Council for its aid from the Scottish Overseas Research Student Award Scheme which significantly reduced my tuition fees during my second and third years and thereby allowed me to continue the work that had been started. Finally, I thank my entire family for investing their love and support in me throughout my education. Most importantly, I thank my wife Caroline for leaving her hometown and family to share an adventure with me. She has supported me in every way possible and has added joy to our family by bringing our two little boys, Brodrick and Lewis, into the world. I hope that I can repay her dedication and their love in the years to come. vii Author Declaration I hereby declare that I, Kirk Gregory Hansen, am the sole author of this thesis; that unless otherwise stated, all references cited have been consulted by me; that the work of which the thesis is a record has been done by me; and that this thesis has not, in whole or part, been previously accepted for a higher degree. Signed: .................................................... Date: ....................................................... viii Abstract This thesis concerns Scottish Jewish participation and non-participation with the military, primarily during the Great War, and the connection to Jewish integration and interaction with Scottish society. Within British Jewish historiography, Scottish Jews receive little attention in relation to military activity, and what has been written about Scottish Jewry predominantly focuses on participation and patriotism. This thesis re-examines Scottish Jewish participation in the military, and it explores both legal and illegal non-participation in order to provide a balanced evaluation of Scottish Jewry. This investigation of both participation and non-participation furthermore reveals a divide within Scottish Jewry between the establishment and immigrant sectors that presented a challenge for Jewish integration.