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German Jewish Migrations to Great Britain 1933—1939: Remarks on Cultural Otherness
The Defence Regulation and existed as part of the Emergency Power Acts. It was
divided into two sections, A and B, where A was supposed to be implemented as
soon as the war started, and B at a later date to gain greater control over the civil
residents if the Isles. The regulations empowered the Secretary of State for Home
Affairs, stating the following: “If the Secretary of the State has reasonable cause to
believe any person to be of hostile origin or associations, or to have been recently
concerned in acts prejudicial to the public safety or the defence of the realm, or in
the preparation or instigation of such acts, and that by reason thereof it is necessary
to exercise control over him, he may have an order against that person directing
that he be detained” (Farbey, Sharpe & Atrill 2011: 97). The Defence Regulation
18B empowered authorities to detain people, also allowing the police to arrest and
intern those who could be charged with the offence. It applied to both the British
and the immigrants. There was no time limit for the investigations, and therefore
internment had no time limit as well. One could be imprisoned and interned with¬
out any actual allegations being made.
The regulation was in line with the fact that traditionally, during times of war,
British authorities could apply the status of enemy alien’? to any person from the
countries with which the state found itself at war. Because of this, as soon as Great
Britain declared war on Germany, all German citizens became enemy aliens (the
same applied to Austrians and Italians). The status was official, although people not
involved with the authorities did not have access to information about to whom it
applied. Nonetheless immigrants who were willing to acculturate and assimilate,
but who had this status applied to them, quickly understood that for the state they
were not as welcomed as they thought they would be. This increased the feeling
of rejection and alienation on a personal level and increased the problem of lost
identity, described more widely below.
Shortly after the declaration of war Great Britain also introduced a curfew—
aliens were not allowed outdoors after 10 pm. They also had to carry documents
with them at all times, and present them whenever asked by the officers. Many of
the scholars recall being stopped and checked at least once.
Those who underwent the naturalisation process were in a better situation,
which, however, did not mean they could not be detained. To become naturalised,
one had to be a resident for at least five years." This meant that immigrants who
came to Great Britain before 1934 either already underwent the process or could
do so. Ihose who migrated at any later point of time had no legal grounds to apply
for the naturalisation documents.
2° Immigrants from countries with which Great Britain found itself at war were given enemy alien status.
Those who proved loyalty towards Great Britain after specific investigation, could gain friendly alien sta¬
tus. This meant one could avoid internment, apply for state positions and even join the army.
13 Britain and the Refugee Crisis 1933-1947 in Parkes Archive, University of Southampton, Sir Hans
Krebs, Accession No 004498/05, p. 31.
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