David Rosenberg’s Battle for the East End
In this readable account Rosenberg takes us through a number of aspects of the rise of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) including it’s initial resistance to adopting an openly anti-semitic position, copying the Italian model. As the movement came under greater pressure and its core activists became more hardened the anti-Jewish sentiment became more and more open.
Similar to the Nazi Party in Germany the BUF concentrated its rhetoric on wealthy Jews while their street activity focused almost entirely on the poorest areas of London. As one anti-fascist activist used to (roughly) say “The fascists talk about Jews on Park lane while beating up the Jews on Brick Lane.”
The irony of attacking often unemployed Jewish workers for running the world economy was not lost on many activists of the time.
There were a number of different responses from the Jewish community to these attacks. One response was to put the argument that the Jewish people were not in charge of the world’s financial institutions. They felt that if it could just be explained rationally then those willing to believe in world Jewish conspiracies would be satisfied. While true enough some felt uncomfortable with this line, asking whether it would have been a justification for racism even if most bankers had been Jewish.
Another response was to insist that Jews did not rock the boat and prove their respectability by turning the other cheek. This may have been easy enough to argue if you were a millionaire in a rich part of the city, but more difficult to stomach if you were the victim of beatings or broken windows.
While some East End Jews found themselves physically confronting the rising fascist movement in the areas where they lived others, in respectable organisations like the Jewish Board of Deputies, were busy condemning any tactic that they felt left the Jewish community exposed to accusations of militancy.
This growing gap between those who were disrupting meetings and tackling the BUF head-on and those who emphasized integration and gentle persuasion was never truly resolved by the start of the war in 1939 (after which BUF leaders were interned) but it was clear that the bravery of those who disrupted the 1934 Olympia rally in particular helped turn the tide in the BUF’s fortunes.
By exposing the violent face of the movement those who stood up to the BUF managed to split off the hard core activists from sympathisers who were willing to indulge in fantasies of a strong leader but less happy to watch the realities of women being beaten with knuckle dusters and sticks right in-front of their eyes.
Overall Rosenberg’s book helps inform us about a lesser known chapter of London’s history and how many of those who were the victims of racist violence were not willing to sit back and take it, no matter what polite society thought of their actions. Rightly he puts the Jewish responses to fascism center stage when they have so often been ignored or added as an after thought.
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2 Comments
Something that I learned about the other week at Socialist Sunday School (as I like to think of it: http://socialistfilm.blogspot.com/) that I hadn’t realized before was that Mosley and the BUF kept going after the war. The film, Under The Cranes, was about the history of Hackney, scripted by Michael Rosen. It features, among much else, archive footage of Mosley, and there was much discussion afterwards of the anti-fascist “43 Group” of Jewish ex-servicemen.
Yes Tim, it’s bizarre. What I find particularly difficult to understand is that these are people who must have thought that the wrong side won – which for a nationalist is a very odd position.
Under the cranes sounds really interesting – I’ll see if I can get hold of it. (Couldn’t find it on amazon)