Colin Shindler: In your book, Never a Native, you recalled that your parents went to see The Merchant of Venice in Essen in 1932 and were so appalled by the antisemitic comments in the audience that they left halfway through. What do you remember about the rise of Nazism in Germany at that time? Alice Shalvi: I very … Read more
Dangerous Hero: Corbyn’s Ruthless Plot for Power By Tom Bower Published by William Collins 2019, pp. 371 price 20 pounds Tom Bower’s reputation as a popular biographer reflects his ability to tear down the edifice of respectability, carefully constructed by the well-to-do and powerful. In this book, he deconstructs the mythical Jeremy Corbyn, the anti-hero … Read more
The figure of Menasseh ben Israel holds a special place in the hearts of many British Jews. He is regarded as the central advocate in pleading the case to the leaders of the English republic in 1656 to readmit the Jews into the country. A leading Sephardi rabbi in Amsterdam, he spent two frustrating years … Read more
As the British Labour party conference opens Sunday in Liverpool, the charge of anti-Semitism is the elephant in the debating chamber. Many in the leadership simply want the problem to go away, so that they can prepare for government as the ruling Conservative party ritually performs hari-kari over Brexit. Whereas Jeremy Corbyn is seen by … Read more
At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the First World War came to an end. Among the vast number of casualties, it had cost the lives of 3,500 British Jews and 12,000 German Jews. It had uprooted millions, demolished great empires and destroyed the ordered worlds of so … Read more
To what degree should U.K. Jews fear a Corbyn-led Labour government? The most recent wave of anti-Semitism accusations against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has once more brought into sharp relief the claim that British Jews will leave for safer countries. This comes after a survey published last year, covered widely by the right-wing British press, … Read more
Last week, the UK’s House of Commons was the scene of a debate about contemporary anti-Semitism. It was an occasion when many Labour MPs, both Jewish and non-Jewish, related intensely personal stories about how they had been targeted by the purveyors of anti-Semitism. Yet despite his formal public declarations against anti-Semitism, Jeremy Corbyn, the leader … Read more
An East End Legacy: Essays in Memory of William J. Fishman Edited by Colin Holmes and Anne J. Kershen Published by Routledge 2018, pp.246 This volume of essays by accredited scholars in honour of the late Bill Fishman is a fitting memorial to a much loved historian of London’s East End. His telling of … Read more
Review of Mark Mazower’s What You Did Not Tell: A Russian Past and the Journey Home (Other Press 2017) pp. 400 Mark Mazower’s latest book, What You Did Not Tell: A Russian Past and the Journey Home, is a descriptive voyage of his family’s journey. Mazower’s discoveries are made all the more interesting because … Read more
Review of Divided We Stand: A Journey with Judge Israel Finestein QC by Colin Lang (Vallentine Mitchell 2017) pp.262 ISRAEL “SHMUL” Finestein (1921-2009) was a successful lawyer and community leader from his student days in post-war Britain. He possessed “a dry wit, combined with a placid nature” but this belied a fierce desire for … Read more