The
welcome given to refugees from fascist Europe is part of Britain's fond
nostalgia for the Second World War. But there was a darker side to this story,
both before and during the conflict. Then, as now, there was great suspicion,
resentment and fear - much of it kindled by Britain's infamous tabloid press.
Then, as now, government dealt with a reluctance to accommodate refugees by
hiding behind bureaucratic hurdles.
Paul
Dowswell is a
prize-winning author and educator. His best-known work is Ausländer (Bloomsbury)
which takes as its central theme the bizarre world of Nazi 'racial science'.
The novel won the Hamelin Associazione Culturale Book Prize and the
Trinity Schools Book Award. Eight of Paul's other historical fiction novels
have won or been shortlisted for Historical Association book awards. He is a
visiting professor at Manchester Metropolitan University.