How did Britain feel about Jews?

Answer 1

Without the British stand in WWII it is debatable that any Jews would be alive today.

If the British had lost the Battle of Britain then most Jews,maybe all, would have been destroyed, along with many other groups of people.

Jewish people should be very aware of this and thankful to the British,and Polish, fighters who defeated Hitler at the Battle of Britain.

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"Jewish people should be very aware of this". Britain was not fighting to save Jews, and the liberation of the camps was a by-product of the Allied victory over Germany.

Having said that, I would add that late in 1942 there was some public discussion in the media in Britain about what might be done to help the Jews - and in November 1942 the News Chronicleactually described what was happening to the Jews as a holocaust ... (It was the first time this word was used in this context). However, attention shifted to other matters.

Answer 2

Answer 1

There have been people of Jewish decent and religion in England for many, many centuries. These people are as English as any other English person. England has always had a very multicultural society.

Answer 2

It depends entirely on the era in question.

Prior to the mid-1600s, the English attitude towards Jews was rather Anti-Semitic. In 1190, for example, was the Massacre at Clifford's Tower where 150 Jews died while seeking protection from the Crown against violent mobs. In 1290, Jews were expelled from England and did not return until they were permitted in the 1650s by Cromwell. (It is worth noting that the Jewish population in Scotland was too small to even be worth mentioning prior to the 1700s.)

Once Jews became part of English society again, Anti-Semitism receded, at least in terms of violent reactions toward Jews. There was more latent and entrenched Anti-Semitism, such as objections to Jews becoming Parliamentarians in the House of Commons. When Benjamin Disraeli, an Anglican of Jewish parentage became a Minister in the House of Commons in 1837 and Prime Minister in the later 1800s, he was subject to some Anti-Semitism. Lionel de Rothschild was barred from entering the House of Commons as a Jew (even though he won the election twice). However, England was less Anti-Semitic (generally) than the European mainland, allowing Jews to become naturalized English citizens and to take up most professions by the mid-1800s.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, Jews have become an accepted part of English multiculturalism and are seen as part of the Older Establishment (in contrast to people of Indian or Eastern European origin who are seen as Newer Immigrants). Anti-Semitism is rising in some immigrant communities in the United Kingdom, especially Pakistani and Bengali communities, but by and large English people have accepted Jews as their peers and equals.