Bystanders to the Holocaust : a re-evaluation

304 Pages·10.937 MB·English

by  Bernadotte, Folke, Cesarani, David, Levine, Paul Ansel

'BYSTANDERS' TO THE HOLOCAUST
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'BYSTANDERS'
to the
HOLOCAUST:
A Re-evaluation
Editors
DAV ID CESARANI
PAUL A. LEVINE
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published2 002 by
FRANK CASS PUBLISHERS
Published2 013 by Routledge
2 Park Square,M ilton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OXl4 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017,U SA
Rout/edgeis an imprint o{the Taylor & Frands Group, an informa business
Copyright © 2002 Frank Cass& Co. Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part if this publication may be reproduced,s tored in or introducedi nto a retrieval
system,o r transmitted, in any form or by any means,e lectronic, mechanical,p hotocopying,r ecording or
otherwise, without the prior written permissiono f the publisheri f this book.
British Library Cataloguingi n PublicationD ata
'Bystanderst' o the Holocaust:a re-evaluation
1. Holocaust,J ewish( 1939-1945)- Foreign public opinion, American
2. Holocaust,J ewish( 1939-1945)- Foreign public opinion, British
3. Holocaust,J ewish( 1939-1945)- Foreign public opinion, Swiss
4. Holocaust,J ewish( 1939-1945)- Foreign public opinion, Swedish
5. Holocaust,J ewish (1939-1945)- Governmentp olicy - United States
6. Holocaust,J ewish (1939-1945)- GovernmentP olicy - Great Britain
7. Holocaust,J ewish (1939-1945)- Governmentp olicy - Switzerland
8. Holocaust,J ewish (1939-1945)- GovernmentP olicy - Sweden
I.Cesarani,D avid II.Levine, Paul A.
940.5'318
Library of CongressC ataloging-in-PublicationD ata:
Bystanderst o the Holocaust:a re-evaluation/ edited by David Cesarani,
Paul A. Levine.
p.cm.
Includesi ndex.
ISBN 978-0-714-68243-3(p bk)
1. Holocaust,J ewish (1939-1945)-Morala nd ethical aspects.2 .
Holocaust,J ewish( 1939-1945)-Sociaal spects.3 . Holocaust,J ewish
(1939-1945)- Historiography.4 . World War,
1939-1945- Collaborationists.5 . World War, 1939-1945- Jews- Rescue.
I. Cesarani,D avid. n. Levine, Paul A.
0804.3 .B95 2001
940.53'18-dc21
2001006178
This group of studiesf irst appearedin
"'Bystanders"t o the Holocaust:A Re-evaluation'
a speciali ssueo f TheJ ournal ifH olocaust Education,V o1.9, Nos.2 and 3
(AutumnlWinter 2000) publishedb y Frank Cassa nd Co. Ltd.
Contents
Introduction David Cesarani
and Paul A. Levine 1
Mad Dogs and Englishmen:
Towardsa Taxonomyo f Rescuers
in a 'Bystander'C ountry- Britain 1933-45 David Cesarani 28
'Pissingi n the Wind'? The Searchf or Nuance
in the Study of Holocaust' Bystanders' Tony Kushner 57
ConstructingA llied HumanitarianP olicy Meredith Hindley 77
Switzerland,N ational Socialist Policy,
and the Legacy of History JacquesP icard 103
The Lost Honour of the Bystanders?
The Caseo f JewishE missaries inS witzerland Raya Cohen 146
'The War is Over - Now You Can Go Home!'
JewishR efugeesa nd the SwedishL abour Market
in the Shadowo f the Holocaust SvenN ordlund 171
A Study of Antisemitic Attitudes
within Sweden'sW artime Utlanningsbyran Karin K vist 199
Attitudes and Action: Comparingt he Responses
of Mid-level Bureaucratsto the Holocaust Paul A. Levine 212
Folke Bernadottea nd the White Buses SuneP ersson 237
Conclusion David Cesarani
and Paul A. Levine 269
Abstracts 273
Noteso n Contributors 279
Index 281
List of Illustrations
Betweenp ages1 48 and 149
1. Eleanor Rathbone, champion of refugees (The Illustrated
London News PictureL ibrary).
2. GostaE ngzell headedt he Legal Division of the SwedishF oreign
Office throughoutt he war. He was primarily responsiblef or the
dramatic and positive switch in the Swedish government's
responseto the genocideo f Europe'sJ ews( Hans GostaE ngzell).
3. Count Folke Bernadottea rriving at Brommaa irport, Stockholm,
after successfully negotiating an agreement with Heinrich
Himmler for the release of thousands of inmates from
concentrationc ampsi n northernG ermany( PressensB ild).
4. A ferry with several' White Buses'a nd recently rescuedw omen
arrivesi n southernS wedenin May 1945. Thesew omenp robably
come from Ravensbruckc oncentrationc amp (Nordiska museet
and K.W Gullers).
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Acknowledgements
The editors would like to thank Mia L6wengart, Programme
Coordinatora t the Programmefo r Holocausta nd GenocideS tudies
at the University of Uppsala, for her essentialc ontribution to the
colloquium on 'bystandersa' nd this publication, and Dr Jo Reilly,
Parkes Centre for the Study of Jewish/non-JewishR elations,
University of Southamptona, nd co-editoro f theJ ournal ofH olocaust
Education. The Institute for Contemporary History, London,
supportedt he colloquium at an early stage.T he following took part
in the colloquium and the editors wish to acknowledge their
stimulating input: ProfessorK ristian Gerner, ProfessorD alia Ofe r,
Dr Gulie Ne'emanA rad, StephaneB ruchfeld, and Kjell Grede,w ho
presented his extraordinary film Good Evening, Mr Wallenberg.
ProfessorH arald Runblom, Director of the Centref or Multiethnic
Researcha nd the UppsalaP rogrammef or Holocausta nd Genocide
Studies,p articipatedi n the colloquium and his continuing support
for the 'bystandersp' roject and wise counselh ave beeni nvaluable.
GrahamH art, our editor at Frank CassP ublishers,s hepherdedth e
volume into productiona ndo ffered muchh elpful advice. Frank Cass
himself takes a personali nterest in the publicationsw hich bear his
name, many of which would never see the light of day without his
commitmentt o educationa bout the Holocaust.