Tequila wrote:
0_equals_true wrote:
People fled to all sorts of places. Of course we handle such humanitarian crisis differently nowadays, but to paint the British as the one obstacle isn't really accurate.
Agreed. The British were probably better than most of the European countries when it came to dealing with Jews fleeing persecution in the 1930s, but as you say they weren't particularly receptive to the world's Jews. It was an antisemitic time.
I only hope that, were the ethnic nationalist far-right gains power (say, in Hungary or Greece) that we could enable people suffering persecution to flee those countries. I wouldn't want to turn my back on those people. (The illegal immigration issue is big in Greece, but doesn't mean fascism is right.)
Far-left also were very anti-Semitic, it is just lesser known.
My dad was in FCO, posted to Hungry behind the iron curtain, recently returned for a holiday, was kind of disturbed of the rise of the far right, especially the historical amnesia they seem to have.
When he was there back in the 60s, he was actually living a property, owned by Jewish family, who had long since fled to the US, he was in touch with the wider family there, but I'm not sure when he came back he was able to find them.
One thing that the thought was interesting is the foreign minster was an active Calvinist minister (priest). Not only was that unusual in Hungary, it was very unusual for a soviet official, especially at the time. On the other hand it was going to to any ministry it is more likely yo be the foreign ministry.
But it was an example of how the Hungarians at least tried to do thing a bit different. I think also the fact they already had an uprising by this this time, the soviets realized, they needed to be in the shadows.
On thing that he told me that surprised me, is he said it was very 'safe' post compared to others. He was overtly every followed the whole time (and even if you took a photo they would step in frame), he even had someone pose as a defector (we joke it was a male honey trap, as he was single at the time). His argument was nothing at all happened without planing, and the states say so. So he had been to one Vietnam protest in Washington DC, there was a similar protest in Hungary, except it was totally organized, they were all coached it. Such a protest was not possible without the authorities ok'ing it.
He said and I agree, Putin's Russia is a far more risky place to be than even the USSR, just prior to the collapse. Everything goes, there is absolutely no certainty. That is not an enforcement of the soviet system, it was pretty devastating for a lot of people, but as far as knowing what to expect it is an easier post. Of course there was periods like putin's great purge. But just like Mao, no one quite want o admit these people aren't the heros they are held up to be though in reality, they totally wash their hands of them, and prefer to forget.