NETWORKS OF ESCAPE: JEWISH FLIGHT FROM THE BOHEMIAN LANDS, 1938-1941 Laura E. Brade A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2017 Approved by: Christopher R. Browning Chad Bryant Konrad Jarausch Donald Raleigh Susan Pennybacker Karen Auerbach © 2017 Laura E. Brade ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Laura E. Brade: Networks of Escape: Jewish Flight from the Bohemian Lands, 1938- 1941 (Under the direction of Christopher R. Browning and Chad Bryant) This dissertation tells the remarkable of a quarter of the Jewish population of Bohemia and Moravia who managed to escape Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia between October 1938 and October 1941. Given all of the obstacles to emigration—an occupation government, a world war, international reluctance to grant visas, and extortionist Nazi emigration policies—this amounted to an extraordinary achievement. Czechoslovak Jews scattered across the globe, from Shanghai and India, to Madagascar and Ecuador. How did they accomplish this daunting task? The current scholarship has approached this question from the perspectives of governments, voluntary organizations, and individual refugees. However, by addressing the various actors in isolation, much of this research has focused either on condemning or heroizing these actors. As a result, the question of how Jewish refugees fled Europe has gone unanswered. Using the Bohemian Lands as a case study, I ask when and how rescue became possible. I make three major claims. First, I argue that a grassroots transnational network of escape facilitated leaving Nazi-occupied Europe. Scholarship on Jewish refugees has typically concentrated on individual acts of heroism or government initiatives, largely ignoring the interconnectedness of relief workers and government programs. This network connected Boston-based Unitarians, London-based socialists, and Prague-based Jewish social iii workers in a complex web of interfaith refugee assistance. These efforts required a remarkable amount of creativity and flexibility. Second, I argue that the interwar connections and the contingent, ad hoc nature of the network was the very key to its success. In the early 1930s, many of the same social workers had quickly assembled to assist refugees from Nazism in Czechoslovakia. Lacking rigid centralization, yet tightly bound by domestic and international connections, refugee aid groups effectively responded to the rapidly changing circumstances of wartime Europe. Finally, voluntary organizations and their representatives had different motivations for assisting refugees that affected who they helped. Still, voluntary workers were connected by their international awareness and interest in social work. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not have been completed without the generosity and support of many people and organizations. Shan Oglesby inspired me to study history, taught me how to be a writer, and provided me with the tools to study the past. At Pacific Lutheran University, Kirsten Christensen, Beth Kraig, and Robert Ericksen continue to be sources of personal and professional encouragement. They have supported my academic journey from the very beginning, and are always willing to offer advice when I need it most. At UNC Chapel Hill, I am fortunate to have had two first-rate scholars as advisors, Christopher Browning and Chad Bryant. I always felt invigorated to return to work after a conversation with them. Without them, this dissertation would never have seen the light of day. Chris Browning patiently guided my development as a researcher and a writer from my first day in graduate school. He reminded me to enjoy the dissertation journey, to be open to surprises in the archives, and encouraged me to find my own voice. Chad Bryant supported me through the most challenging points in the process. He read and re-read every word I wrote for grant proposals, chapter drafts, and job applications, providing insightful suggestions at every step of the way. His positivity and steadfast belief in me helped me to believe in myself. Other members of the UNC Chapel History Department taught me not only about new approaches to history, but also about the true meaning of collegiality. Karen Auerbach, Konrad Jarausch, Susan Pennybacker, and Donald Raleigh all read the dissertation and v offered important advice to improve the final draft. Joy Jones ensured that I cleared all of the administrative hurdles. Brittany Lehman, Adam Domby, Jen Kosmin, and Julie Ault provided much needed companionship and conversation throughout graduate school. This dissertation was only possible through the generous financial support of numerous organizations. UNC Chapel Hill’s Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies allowed me focus on learning the Czech language, both during the academic year and at summer language courses in the Czech Republic. The Holocaust Education Foundation, the UNC Chapel Hill Department of History, Yad Vashem, the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program in the Czech Republic, the Conference of Jewish Material Claims against Germany’s Saul Kagan Fellowship, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies all provided funds that allowed me to travel to archives in the Czech Republic, Israel, and the United States. The UNC Royster Society of Fellows provided a writing fellowship, which allowed me to focus fulltime on writing this past year. These organizations not only provided me with financial support, but with the opportunity to visit archives and create my own scholarly network. Michal Frankl hosted me during my year in Prague, introduced me to the Czech archives, and provided me with friendship while I was abroad. Petr Brod, Kateřina Čapková, Anna Hájková, and Jan Láníček all took an interest in my project, suggested helpful tips, and were always willing to talk to me about the history of the Bohemian Lands. Sarah Cramsey, Larissa Gassmann, John Korba, Emma Parker, and Kamila Šatrová showed me that Prague was my home away from home. The Kagan Fellowship provided me with a network of phenomenal scholars, who also became friends during the annual conferences in Jerusalem and Washington, D.C. Rose vi Holmes was a truly generous co-author who taught me much about research and article writing. Molly Pucci, Melissa Hibbard, and Gillian Glaes supported me in the writing phase of this project by reading drafts, offering advice on writing strategies, and sending much needed encouragement. I am indebted to the archival staffs at the Jewish Museum in Prague, the National Archive of the Czech Republic, the Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the Security Services Archive of the Czech Republic, Yad Vashem Archive, the Archive of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Center for Jewish History, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute Visual History Archive, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I owe a special thanks to those at USHMM, including Michlean Amir, Betsy Anthony, Suzanne Brown- Fleming, Ron Coleman, Jo-Ellyn Decker, Rebecca Erbelding, Krista Hegburg, Megan Lewis, and Vincent Slatt. Margit Meissner ensured that I had everything I needed to conduct my research. These individuals all invested time and energy into discussing my argument and helped me identify important sources that reshaped my project. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their unending support. My grandparents, Conard and Lois Brade, taught me key lessons on storytelling. My parents, Mike and Vivian Brade, as well as my sister and brother-in-law, Lisa and Blane Gosselin, have been my refuge throughout this journey. They travelled to North Carolina and the Czech Republic and invested time, energy, and resources into learning about my research field. Without them, none of this would have been possible. Finally, thank you to my husband, Drew Ash. His love and friendship has made me a better historian and person. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................. xi INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................1 Scope of the Dissertation ....................................................................................................5 Theory and Methodology ...................................................................................................9 Historiography ..................................................................................................................17 Bohemian Lands/Czechoslovakia ....................................................................................18 Organization .....................................................................................................................22 CHAPTER 1: LOCAL ENDEAVORS, INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS: MIGRATION NETWORKS SINCE THE FIRST CZECHOSLOVAK REPUBLIC .............24 Introduction ......................................................................................................................24 German and Austrian Refugees in the First Czechoslovak Republic ..............................26 The Munich Agreement and the Second Czecho-Slovak Republic .................................44