The British Union of Fascists and Anti-Semitism in Birmingham

Abstract

The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was strongly anti-Semitic. The annual reports of the Board of Deputies of British Jews document the BUF's anti-Semitic activity. Surveying the events of 1933 it pointed out that the German example was not without its effects on elements within Britain, ‘although anti-Jewish propaganda here, which is instigated by an insignificant minority, received no encouragement from responsible organs of the press or leaders of public opinion’. The position was such that still the Board, ‘must contemplate a greater interest in the affairs of Jews in other countries’. The next yearly report could not avoid the increasing emphasis on anti-Semitism at home. This made ‘constant vigilance more than ever essential and influenced the work of practically every committee’. Such vigilance was even more essential by 1936 when the Board reported ‘anti-Semitism is now a permanent feature’. By this time, the BUF received support from the more anti-Semitic Nazi movement. In the beginning Sir Oswald Mosley was called a ‘Kosher fascist’ by rivals who were far more extreme. Der Stürmer abused the BUF as ‘a Jewish catch-up movement’. By 1934 the support of its editor, Holz, was gained and Der Sturmer explicitly retracted. ‘The Mosley movement has given our representatives an opportunity of convincing themselves that it is anti-Semitic’. Julius Streicher added, ‘Mosley has now realized the tactical reserve hitherto shown by him on this question is no longer expedient’. This has become the accepted image of the movement.