An anti-Jewish/pro-Nazi doctor from New Cross: 1943

On Holocaust Memorial Day 2015, the presence of elderly survivors at events at the Imperial War Museum and elsewhere is a reminder that the terrible time of the Shoah is still within living memory for some. Seventy years after the liberation of Auschwitz, others would like us to forget it, or to relativise away the systematic mass murder of millions by reducing it to the status of just another atrocity amongst many.

Holocaust Memorial Day at Imperial War Museum SE1 today
(photo by Barbara Miller on twitter )

Meanwhile anti-semitism certainly hasn't gone away. Only two weeks ago, four people were killed in an attack on a Jewish supermarket in Paris, and this week the neo-nazi Golden Dawn won more seats in the Greek general election. At the 'softer' end, old anti-Jewish conspiracy theories get recycled all over the place and tolerated on the left as well as the right. Last summer in Lewisham, a supposed radical community activist took to twitter to denounce the 'Jewish Lobby' that 'controls [the] media' and 'UK government'. Was he disowned by his political party? Nope.

The role of Britain, along with Russia, USA and other allies, in helping to defeat the Nazi regime in the Second World War shouldn't obscure the fact that there has been a strong current of anti-semitism in Britain for the best part of a thousand years (witness the infamous pogrom in York in the 12th century).

I recently came across a story from the Second World War of a doctor from New Cross being court martialled for pro-Nazi outbursts:

"MOSLEY THE MAN FOR THE JOB" R.A.M.C. OFFICER'S ANTI-JEW TALK IN "PUBS"

 Yorkshire Evening Post - Friday 02 April 1943

'Captain William John Mitchell, R.A.M.C. (29), formerly in practice as a doctor in the New Cross area, London, appeared at a court martial at Broadstairs, Kent, to-day, on three charges alleging conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline. It was alleged that in a public house the man said. "I give you a toast. We will drink to the health of Sir Oswald Mosley." When the licensee's wife declined, it was alleged he said, "Why not? He's a wonderful man. If you have cancer, a doctor would cut it out. That is what the Germans are doing to the Jews in Germany. Germany is a most cultured nation." 

The second charge alleged that in another public house, accused said, "Hitler is doing the right thing having the Jews put out of the way. Churchill is hand in glove with the Jews, and not fit to be Prime Minister. Mosley is the man for that job." 

In court, Mitchell said, "I am convinced I am the victim of Jewish persecution. No punishment in the world can erase those views from my mind".

Mitchell also claimed that the Beveridge health proposals - that became the National Health Service - were a Jewish plot: "I know in this country the Jews are trying to get control of the medical profession. The system outlined in the Beveridge Report is merely a system to make the medical profession this country safe for Jewry."

The court martial dismissed Mitchell from the service (Hartlepool Mail - Friday 07 May 1943) and I am not sure what became of him,  other than a press report I found from 1949 of Dr. William John Mitchell of Queens Road, New Cross being charged with a motoring offence (Kent & Sussex Courier - Friday 09 September 1949).

Intriguingly another New Cross doctor of a similar name stood for election for the National Front in 1979, as discussed at Transpontine previously: 'Dr Robert Mitchell, who has a surgery in Queens Road, said yesterday he would advise his patients against mixed marriages only if asked for advice. He also believed in repatriating black people. Dr Mitchell polled 1,490 votes when he stood as National Front's Parliamentary candidate in Deptford last year'. Lewisham Labour Councillor David Townsend said 'We must take an urgent look at how a doctor with such appalling views can be allowed to practice in such a racially sensitive area as New Cross' (South London Press 22 April 1980).  Captain Mitchell referred to above would have been 65 years old by 1979, so could have still been around. He has a different first name, but could these two Mitchell nazi doctors from Queens Road be related?

The Jews of Hatcham 1272 - and some later Jewish folklore

A significant community of Jews established itself in England in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest, and faced considerable prejudice. In 1190, over a hundred Jewish people were massacred in York. In 1219 a law was passed requiring Jews to wear identifying badges. And in 1290, King Edward I issued an edict expelling Jews from the country. Prior to this, they faced punitive taxes - as Christians were formally banned from lending money with interest, Jews tended to fill the role of moneylenders, so were seen as a source of income by the King. From the 1190s and 1290 there was a special office of Exchequer of the Jews which regulated the taxes and financial transactions of Jewish communities.   One effect of the latter was that detailed records were kept of Jews in England which are a goldmine for later historians. Many of these were republished in 1902 in a volume  edited by J.M. Rigg and published by the Selden Society and the Jewish Historical Society of England as 'Select pleas, starrs, and other records from the Rolls of the Exchequer of the Jews, A. D. 1220-1284'.  

This includes a record from 1272 which attests to the presence of a group of Jews in New Cross Gate, or as it was then known Hatcham:   'In the same way and on the same account the Sheriff of Surrey  and Sussex was commanded, that he cause to be levied upon the Jews of Guildford 3s., upon the Jews of Chichester 3s., upon the Jews of Arundel 3s., upon the Jews of Lewes 2s., upon the Jews of Seaford  2s., and upon the Jews of Hatcham 2s. ; so that he have those moneys before etc. on the said day, to be delivered to the said Henry. And the Sheriff sent word, that the community of the Jews paid Robert Tayllard, late Constable of Guildford, 3s., to the use of the said Henry, and the said Robert is removed from his bailiwick, and has nought in goods, and is not found in the country; and that the Jews of Chichester belong to the Liberty of Edmund, son of the King of Germany, whose bailiffs had the return, and did nought in execution thereof. And the Jews of Arundel and Lewes have nought except some empty houses, and are not found in his bailiwick. And the Jews of Seaford and Hatcham belong to the Liberty of our Lady the Queen of England, whose bailiffs had the return, and did nought in execution thereof'.

Not entirely sure of the meaning of the passage, but it suggests that taxes were levied on the 'Jews of Hatcham' and others in Surrey and Sussex, that they paid Robert Tayllard (Constable of Guildford) and the latter did a runner. Seemingly the Jews of Hatcham were under the protection of the Queen ('belong to the Liberty of our Lady the Queen of England'.

Jewish Folklore of the East End

Jews were re-admitted to England by Oliver Cromwell, one of a number of reasons why the English revolution that overthrew the monarchy was a good thing for all its failings. Another wave of Jewish migrants arrived in the country in the 19th century, fleeing anti-semitic pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe.  They settled in East London in particular, though there was a synagogue in New Cross. On Thursday November 8th, folklorist and storyteller, Del Reid, will be giving a talk on the Jewish folklore of the East End at South East London Folklore Society. The talk starts at 8 pm at the Old Kings Head in Borough High Street (£2.50/£1.50 concessions) - facebook event details here.