One area I have always wanted to cover for you is the attitudes of western countries in the 1930s toward Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Separately, one of our readers suggested I write about the British Mandate (ergo the blog title) and its background leading up to and including World War II. So, I decided to combine both topics since they overlapped one another.
The history of the British Mandate, or “Mandate for Palestine” from its inception to modern-day is very interesting but very complex (and its legacy evokes passionate emotions). I’m quite certain that I have likely failed to meet the expectations of our reader who probably desired a greater in-depth examination of the Mandate and for that, I apologize.
This is my attempt to frame an abbreviated history (albeit a “bird’s eye view”) of the role Palestine played within the context of Jewish refugees seeking a place to escape the Nazis. It is also about the unfortunate stance many countries took (including the United States) in turning away Jewish refugees due to political reasons as well as widespread anti-Semitism sentiments of politicians and citizens.
Did You Know?
Did you know that Queen Elizabeth II’s profile faces right on every coin she’s featured on? The tradition is to reverse the profile with each succeeding reigning monarch. So, going back to Queen Victoria, her profile faces left while her son, Edward VII (r. 1901-1910), faces right. His son, George V (r. 1910-1936), looks to the left, but his second son, George VI (r. 1936-1952) also faces to the left. Did George VI (Queen Elizabeth II’s father) break tradition? Not really. It was George V’s eldest son, Edward VIII who chose to break tradition and during his short reign of eleven months (he abdicated in December 1936), the coins were minted with his profile facing left. After the abdication, George VI took the view that his brother’s profile should have been to the right and as such, opted to continue the tradition by facing left. His daughter carried on the tradition and her profile is to the right. Read More British Mandate
