Jewish Youth and Identity in Postwar France

As Europe experiences its largest refugee crisis since the Second World War, various organizations, politicians and individuals openly discuss what to do with the thousands of child refugees and orphans from the Middle East and Africa left stranded and alone as a result of war. Even as I write, the British parliament is today debating whether to allow entry to the United Kingdom of 3000 refugee children—including 157 children living in the Calais ‘jungle’ camp with recognized family members living in Britain. Amidst this contemporary debate, the subject of persecuted Jewish children during the Second World War is often invoked as an historical example to urge the government to offer refugee children asylum. Indeed, the person who organized today’s debate in parliament, Lord Alf Dubs, was himself brought to the United Kingdom on the kindertransport . Even if they agree on precious little else, people of all political persuasions argue that the final outcome must serve ‘the best interest of the child’, a term that as we see in Daniella Doron’s excellent book has a long historical legacy. ‘In the Best Interest of the Child’, originally the title of Doron’s doctoral thesis, is a theme that runs through this remarkable study on Jewish youth in post-Holocaust France, as various actors: Jewish and non-Jewish community workers, psychologists and specialists in post-traumatic therapy, discussed and disagreed on how best to restore support, stability—and in some cases, faith—to the most vulnerable members of society.

Criminology · Faith · Judaism · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Sociology · The Holocaust · African history and culture studies · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Gender Studies · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law

• The Politics of Removing Children

  Open Access•Dan Stone•Contemporary European History•2020

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