Bid to settle Jewish refugees from Nazi-Germany in Botswana, 1938-1939

Abstract

This article demonstrates that while Adolf Hitler's Nazis were busy persecuting Jews in Germany there was an attempt made by the colonial authorities in Botswana, South Africa and Britain to settle some Jewish refugees in some European areas of Botswana. The idea was to settle a small number of Jewish families with capital and agricultural skills in order to improve the beleaguered economy of the territory. This attempt was done amidst growing anti-semitism and Nazi influence in the right-wing Afrikaner community in South Africa. Anti-semitism in Britain and South Africa was said to be informing government policy towards Jewish refugees. It is believed that this scenario hampered attempts by trie British government and the Anglo- Jewish community to assist refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. The outbreak of World War Two in 1939 seems to have abruptly ended the bid to settle the refugees in Botswana.