Comments by "" (@victormeidan1062) on "Then & Now"
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You make a mistake in your film. You say that between 1930 - 1939 (inclusive), Jewish immigration into Israel "snowballed" by the rise in Nazism. Actually, out of all the immigrants who entered the land at this time, only 25% came from Germany. The other 75% came from Poland, Hungary & Romania.
Why was this ?
1. Most German Jews were highly established, working in business, science, medicine, law, civil service, journalism & arts. Most could not imagine to find suitable work in Mandate Palestine. In contrast, the Jews in Eastern Europe were involved in the small trades - tailors, blacksmiths, bakers, butchers etc - and imagined they could fit in, in the Mandatory economy.
2. Until November 1938, virtually no Jews were being killed in Germany. They were facing mounting persecution such as expelled from jobs & schools, disallowed into parks, theatres, coffee shops etc. This level of discrimination was already being applied in Eastern Europe, just often via more subtle means.
3. There were 4.5 million Jews in Poland, Hungary & Romania against only 0.5 million in Germany.
Even in the absence of Nazism in the 1930s, the 300,000 Jews that were allowed into the British Mandate was insufficient. There were about 1 to1.5 Million Polish Jews, belonging to Zionist organizations who wanted to immigrate into Israel. The mistake made in this film is commonly repeated in history text books. It is simply wrong.
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