Liberalism, Race and Humanitarianism: British Colonial Policy and Jewish Refugees 1938-1943 Jennifer Susan Reeve Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. University of East Anglia School of History January 2016 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. Abstract This thesis studies the British colonial response to Jewish refugees between 1938 and 1943. By assessing Britain’s ‘bystander’ response through the lens of the empire, this study expands on existing historiography and seeks not just to detail Britain’s limited action but also explain it. In this thesis, the concepts of liberalism, race and humanitarianism are used as analytical frameworks through which to examine British colonial policy. Specifically, in the interwar years, the scope of British (in)action was defined by liberal views on assimilation and the rights of individuals versus groups. Rather than antisemitism, a strict racial hierarchical and paternal system was used to justify British power and to protect British interests in the making of refugee policy. Finally, international humanitarianism was at a particular moment of development in the interwar years, both in terms of the intergovernmental system through which humanitarian action was channelled and in the socio-political expectation on governments to act. This was expressed in a conflict of short-term emergency aid and long-term developmental aid. The result was a colonial policy of compromise that saw officials try to connect the skills and financial assets of refugees with their overriding priority of colonial development and welfare. Through the use of official documents and refugee testimony, this study provides an account of the making and impact of colonial refugee policy and raises questions that remain relevant for us today. ii Contents Abstract .........................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... iv Introduction: Responding to the Holocaust: Bystanders, Colonialism and Conflicting Priorities ..... 1 Chapter One: International Relations, Empire and Refugees .......................................................... 29 Chapter Two: The Limits of Liberalism: Britain’s Domestic and Colonial Immigration Policies ....... 72 Chapter Three: A Question of Race?: Colonial Policy, Race and Jewish Refugees ........................... 118 Chapter Four: Empire and Refugees: A Clash of Humanitarianisms ............................................... 165 Chapter Five: A Policy of Compromise: Colonial Development and Jewish Refugees ................... 213 Conclusion: Race, Liberalism and Humanitarianism.................................................................... 256 Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 263 iii Acknowledgements Several institutions have contributed in many ways to this thesis. The University of East Anglia has provided not only a home and community for the last eight years of my life but has generously funded my post-graduate studies. I have grown as a scholar and as a person over the last decade, and UEA has been integral to that. The USHMM invited me to attend an international workshop in summer 2012 exploring the plight and path of refugees. During the workshop I was able to share ideas with international scholars as well as accessing material at archives in the USHMM and CHJ in New York. This valuable material, including the opportunity to interview two refugees who fled to Kenya, have provided inspiration and humanity to this project. Specifically, I would like to thank Jill Pauly and Inge Katzenstein, refugees who found safety in Kenya and whom I had the privilege of meeting and interviewing in the summer of 2012. Professor Cathie Carmichael is both my supervisor and friend and I owe her much for her long term encouragement of me as an historian. She once told me I should write about people. I think she was right. I started the project under the supervision of the late Dr Larry Butler whose unlimited kindness and wicked sense of humour were sources of great support to me. My views on the importance of the Colonial Office were influenced greatly by him and as such his mark is still visible in the project, a legacy of which I hope he would be proud. Dr Camilla Schofield took over the supervision of the imperial side of the project and has offered excellent advice on all matters colonial. For her suggestions on the study of race and her encouragement of me to pursue this area, I am very thankful. More recently, Dr Rebecca Jinks has become intimately involved in the project. From the initial kindness she showed to a nervous third year student at her first conference, to her encouragement, advice and ready reading of the thesis, I am thankful and feel privileged to have worked alongside an exemplary colleague. Other historians at the University of East Anglia have also played important roles. Richard Deswarte, long time teacher, friend and colleague has been a constant source of support and good counsel. He also initially suggested the idea of looking at the Empire and refugees when I was a third year undergraduate student iv looking for a dissertation topic. Ian Farr supervised my undergraduate dissertation, and has remained an interested and supportive party to this day. Dr Geoffrey Hicks supervised my MA thesis and, along with years of teaching, put me on the path to better punctuation (among other things). Two other History departments have provided kind support. An all too brief sojourn in Hong Kong turned into an intellectually productive time. I would like the thank the department of Lingnan University, particularly Dr Mark Hampton, who welcomed me as a scholar and a student, and was generous in many ways. A postgraduate conference held at HKU provided helpful feedback and an after party to remember. I would also like to thank Tim Smith and Jeff Webb of Huntington University. Not only did they help train my favourite historian, but by virtue of tangential connections, they have continued to provide both Chris and I with intellectual and friendly support. Finally, perhaps entirely unaware, an inspirational keynote and the kind words of Donald Bloxham in September 2014 were a much needed source of motivation and confidence that helped me complete the thesis. I would also like to thank my examiners, Professor Tony Kushner and Professor Thomas Otte. Professor Otte has especially provided sound advice and kindly support, for which I am very grateful. In unnumbered and unknown ways, my worldwide circle of friends and family have also made this project possible. In good times and bad, near or far, Chris and I have been upheld by acts of kindness, love and encouragement from all around the world. Particularly I would like to thank: Christopher Bonfield, Matthew Mesley, Geoff Hicks, Jennie Davey, Jacqui Upston, Sam Holmes, Joel Reich, Scott Stannard, Holli Hodges, Kevin and Jaime Byrd and David Fitch; Cathy and Ken Austin, Anji and Chris Dawkins, Jane and David Parker as well as others who make up my church family at St. Peter’s, Henley. Love and thanks are to be given to my extended family on both sides of the Atlantic. My grandparents have provided financial support and encouragement for my studies and have always been determined I would have more opportunities than they ever did. They have succeeded and I hope this, and my achievements, have made them proud. My big sister Kathryn and nephew Harvey love me without question and uphold me in all my choices. In the US, Sandy and Mike, my parents-in-law have helped in numerous ways including providing a v safe and comfortable place to live while I finished writing up. To our ‘niblings’ – Millie, Georgia, Harvey, Oliver, Harry, Isabelle, Katie, Ari, Colin, Sophia and Oliver – thanks for the warm hugs, sloppy kisses, joy and blessings you are! Lastly, my thanks and deeply felt gratitude go to my parents and husband. Together, Mum and Dad, have been a constant source of humour and comfort, reminding me not to take life, and myself, too seriously. Mum is pushy in the best way and always insists I am braver than I believe. Dad taught me how to eat an elephant. And a PhD is a pretty big elephant so thanks Daddy. Last but by no means least, to Christopher. I could not have finished this thesis without his help. I mean it Chris, it simply would not have happened without you. The only way I know how to thank you for this – for your belief in me, for your patient editing and your calm and steadfast companionship – is the thesis itself. See, I didn’t give up. vi Introduction: Responding to the Holocaust: Bystanders, Colonialism and Conflicting Priorities In 1939, Norman Angell and Dorothy Frances Buxton published a book entitled You and the Refugee: The Morals and Economics of the Problem. Having explained that Jewish refugees ‘now knock at the doors of the greatest Empire in the world’, they asked, ‘Shall those doors be closed against them?’1 Angell and Buxton, Nobel Peace Prize winner and co-founder of ‘Save the Children’ respectively, raised a fundamental