The black book : Britons on the Nazi hit list / Sybil Oldfield.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Oldfield, Sybil, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945--Great Britain.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Germany.

Great Britain--Biography--History--George VI, 1936-1952.

Great Britain.

History.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 437 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Profile Books Ltd., 2020.

Summary:

In 1939, the Gestapo created a list of names: the Britons whose removal would be the Nazis' first priority in the event of a successful invasion. Who were they? What had they done to provoke Germany? For the first time, the historian Sybil Oldfield uncovers their stories and reveals why the Nazis feared their influence. Those on the hitlist - more than half of them naturalised refugees - were many of Britain's most gifted and humane inhabitants. Among their numbers we find the writers E. M. Forster and Virginial Woolf, humanitarians and religious leaders, scientists and artists, the social reformers Margery Fry and Eleanor Rathbone MP, the artists Jacob Epstein and Oscar Kokoschka. By examining these targets of Nazi hatred, Oldfield not only sheds light on the Gestapo worldview; she also movingly reveals a network of truly exemplary Britons: mavericks, moral visionaries and unsung heroes.

Contents:

Part 1 Why Care About What Did Not Happen? p. 1

Introduction: Why Resurrect These Dead? p. 3

1 The Black Book in Context: Nazi Plans for the Invasion 1939-40 p. 14

2 What was Wrong with Britain in Nazi Eyes? - The Informationsheft GB p. 27

Part 2 Gunning for the Kindest p. 45

3 Medical Men and Women p. 47

4 Pacifists p. 59

5 Refugee Rescuers p. 76

6 Social Reformers p. 89

Part 3 Gunning for the Cultured p. 97

7 Some 'Degenerate Artists' p. 99

8 Punishing the Publishers p. 106

9 Targeting Creative Writers p. 113

10 Shooting the Messenger - Blacklisted Journalists p. 132

Part 4 Targeting the British Establishment p. 157

11 The Secret Service p. 159

12 The Army p. 178

13 Business and Industry - Friend or Foe to Nazi Germany? p. 185

14 The Church p. 200

Part 5 Eliminating Brilliant Minds in the Humanities p. 213

15 Art Historians and Musicologists p. 215

16 Attacking Ancient Classicists p. 225

17 Economists of all Kinds - but not all Economists p. 232

18 Down with Humane Educationists p. 241

19 Erasing Historians p. 247

20 Masters of the Word - Some Linguists and Literary Critics p. 255

21 Philosophers and Socio-Political Theorists p. 263

Part 6 Eliminating Brilliant Minds in the Sciences p. 271

22 Some Mathematicians p. 273

23 Jewish Inventors in the Material Sciences p. 279

24 Biochemists and Other Medical Researchers p. 281

25 Biologists - including Physiologists, Geneticists and Zoologists p. 293

26 Chemists p. 300

27 Physicists, Astro-physicists, Crystallographers, Geo-physicists and Nuclear Physicists p. 306

Part 7 Political Targets p. 323

28 The Most Dangerous British anti-Nazis in Gestapo Eyes p. 325.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

178816508X

9781788165082

OCLC:

1151536947