British newsreels and the plight of European Jews, 1933-1945

Abstract

This dissertation is an investigation into what the British newsreels told the public about the plight of German and European Jews, between January 1933) and the end of 1945. Nazi persecution of the Jews is a subject that has been well researched for the last 40 years. Historians have examined questions of attitudes to Jewish immigration into Britain and into Palestine, together with the British response to the news of the 'Final Solution' of the 'Jewish Question' in Europe. They have asked why countries such as Britain and her Allies did not do more. The role of the media is central to this question. Work has already been done on what the public was told by the British press as early as 1964, and, more recently on elements of the response of the BBC. Until the time of writing, no historian has considered the most popular medium of all in its response to the persecution of Jews. No-one has explained why the British newsreels did not inform the public, or has asked why there was almost total silence from this medium on the implementation of the 'Final Solution'. This dissertation will argue that more could have been done by British newsreels to highlight the plight of the European Jews between 1933 and 1945.