Between 1945 and 1948, more than a quarter of a million Jews fled
countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans and began filling
hastily erected displaced persons camps in Germany and Austria. As
one of the victorious Allies, Britain had to help find a solution
for the vast majority of these refugees who refused repatriation.
Drawing on extensive research in British, American, and Israeli
archives, Arieh Kochavi presents a comprehensive analysis of
British policy toward Jewish displaced persons and reveals the
crucial role the United States played in undermining that
policy.
Kochavi argues that political concerns--not human
considerations--determined British policy regarding the refugees.
Anxious to secure its interests in the Middle East, Britain feared
its relations with Arab nations would suffer if it appeared to be
too lax in thwarting Zionist efforts to bring Jewish Holocaust
survivors to Palestine. In the United States, however, the American
Jewish community was able to influence presidential policy by
making its vote hinge on a solution to the displaced persons
problem. Setting his analysis against the backdrop of the
escalating Cold War, Kochavi reveals how, ironically, the Kremlin
as well as the White House came to support the Zionists' goals,
albeit for entirely different reasons.