British Fascism After The Holocaust

This book explores the policies and ideologies of a number of individuals and groups who attempted to relaunch fascist, antisemitic and racist politics in the wake of World War II and the Holocaust. Despite the leading architects of fascism being dead and the newsreel footage of Jewish bodies being pushed into mass graves seared into societal consciousness, fascism survived World War II and, though changed, survives to this day. Britain was the country that ‘stood alone’ against fascism, but it was no exception. This book treads new historical ground and shines a light onto the most understudied period of British fascism, whilst simultaneously adding to our understanding of the evolving ideology of fascism, the persistent nature of antisemitism and the blossoming of Britain’s anti-immigration movement. This book will primarily appeal to scholars and students with an interest in the history of fascism, antisemitism and the Holocaust, racism, immigration and postwar Britain.

When Oswald Mosley was interned in 1940, how could his followers keep the 'sacred flame' of British fascism alight? Did his arrest kill the movement stone-dead? This meticulous examination of sources including party records, the press, the National Archive and survivors' accounts shows that the Mosley magic - a near-religious experience to his followers - survived, and he was near-canonised by them. In 1948 Mosley formed a new party - the Union Movement (UM) - and the old British-first fascism of the British Union of Fascists gave way to a European fascist super-state, 'Europe-a-Nation', a global fascist force connecting the East and West of Soviet Russia and the US. This nation was based on spititual and racial values drawn from Mosley's reading of European history, and nurtured by a vast white-ruled colonial empire. But the sacred flame of the new fascism, defined and explained in Mosley's magnum opus, The Alternative, survived only as the ante-chamber to the later British National Party, which fed on a reversion to British-first opposition to Commonwealth immigration and the rewriting of history, including holocaust denial. In this study of Mosley as leader and individual, Macklin shows how Mosley was superficially serene, teaching the ideals of The Alternative and accepted by leading elements of society, yet inwardly, and in unguarded moments, he remained the violent anti-semite of early days.

This handbook is the most comprehensive and up-to-date single volume on the history and memory of the Holocaust in Britain. It traces the complex relationship between Britain and the destruction of Europe’s Jews, from societal and political responses to persecution in the 1930s, through formal reactions to war and genocide, to works of representation and remembrance in post-war Britain. Through this process the handbook not only updates existing historiography of Britain and the Holocaust; it also adds new dimensions to our understanding by exploring the constant interface and interplay of history and memory. The chapters bring together internationally renowned academics and talented younger scholars. Collectively, they examine a raft of themes and issues concerning the actions of contemporaries to the Holocaust, and the responses of those who came ‘after’. At a time when the Holocaust-related activity in Britain proceeds apace, the contributors to this handbook highlight the importance of rooting what we know and understand about Britain and the Holocaust in historical actuality. This, the volume suggests, is the only way to respond meaningfully to the challenges posed by the Holocaust and ensure that the memory of it has purpose.

This book traces the varied development of the far right in Britain from the formation of the National Front in 1967 to the present day. Experts draw on a range of disciplinary and methodological perspectives to provide a rich and detailed account of the evolution of the various strands of the contemporary far right over the course of the last fifty years. The book examines a broad range of subjects, including Holocaust denial, neo-Nazi groupuscularity, transnational activities, ideology, cultural engagement, homosexuality, gender and activist mobilisation. It also includes a detailed literature review. This book is essential reading for students of fascism, racism and contemporary British cultural and political history.

This book examines the large and previously-neglected body of literature on Nazism that was produced in the years 1933-1939. Shifting attention away from high politics or appeasement, it reveals that a remarkably wide range of responses was available to the reading public. From sophisticated philosophical analyzes of Nazism to pro-Nazi apologies, the book shows how Nazism informed debates over culture and politics in Britain, and how before the war and the Holocaust made Nazism anathema it was often discussed in ways that seem surprising today.

British Antifascism and the Holocaust, 1945–79 explores the extent to which the Holocaust has shaped British antifascism. The author tests assertions of an uncomplicated relationship between Holocaust memory and the imperative to resist postwar fascist revivals. For those with a scholarly interest in how antifascists confront their opponents, it is essential to understand whether the Holocaust has always been seen as an insurmountable barrier against fascism: is the idea of the genocide’s constant antifascist ‘use’ actually a dangerous assumption and, if so, what are the implications of this for ‘Antifa’ as its battle with the contemporary far right unfolds? This book provides a political and structural history of the Holocaust’s relationship to antifascist organisations and questions whether networks of solidarity formed around Holocaust memory, including analysing the impact of the genocide in Jewish antifascists’ motivations and rhetoric. It also assesses the Holocaust’s political capital in wider antifascism and connected anti-racism, including in defence of the Black and Asian communities increasingly victimised by fascists over the postwar period. This book will appeal to scholars and students with interests in antifascism, fascism, racism, and Jewish and left-wing history in Britain, and how these intersect with Holocaust consciousness.

Despite the Second World War and the Holocaust, postwar Britain was not immune to fascism. By 1948, a large and confident fascist movement had been established, with a strong network of local organisers and public speakers, and an audience of thousands. However, within two years the fascists had collapsed under the pressure of a successful anti-fascist campaign. This book explains how it was that fascism could grow so fast, and how it then went into decline.

In Post-War Britain cultural interventions were a feature of fascist parties and movements, just as they were in Europe. This book makes a new major contribution to existing scholarship which begins to discuss British fascism as a cultural phenomenon. A collection of essays from leading academics, this book uncovers how a cultural struggle lay at the heart of the hegemonic projects of all varieties of British fascism. Such a cultural struggle is enacted and reflected in the text and talk, music and literature of British fascism. Where other published works have examined the cultural visions of British fascism during the inter-war period, this book is the first to dedicate itself to detailed critical analysis of the post-war cultural landscapes of British fascism. Through discussions of cultural phenomena such as folk music, fashion and neo-nazi fiction, among others, Cultures of Post-War British Fascism builds a picture of Post-War Britain which emphasises the importance of understanding these politics with reference to their corresponding cultural output. This book is essential reading for undergraduates and postgraduates studying far right politics and British history.