Seeking Justice and Atonement: British Legal Approaches to Dealing with Mass Murder in the Aftermath of the Holocaust, 1945-1969

In 1964, the Anglo-German Agreement was formalised, which saw the Federal Republic of Germany provide the United Kingdom with a £1 million political settlement to form a compensation scheme for British victims of Nazi persecution. This bilateral agreement was part of West Germany’s wider international policy between 1959 to 1964, to settle claims for compensation with several Western European nations for the crimes of its fascist predecessor. By exploring the legal aftermath of the Nazi atrocities from a British perspective, this research contributes to a transnational history on how European nations dealt with the dark and difficult Nazi past, both on a state and ground level.

This thesis investigates the development of British legal approaches to seeking justice for the mass murder and war of extermination perpetrated by the Nazi regime, with a strong focus on some of the victim responses to this. This doctoral research firstly examines the ways, and extent to which, the British Government negotiated and administered redress for Nazi victims between 1945 to 1969. This is complemented by my analysis on the different ways in which some of the victims of Nazi persecution being addressed within these British policies reacted and responded to them. Specific attention is given to the many poignant and emotional petition letters which were sent to the British Government by Nazi victims who had been unsuccessful in their applications for compensation under the Anglo-German Agreement. The appeals from both individual victims and collective groups who united to campaign against the British Government are explored. These petition letters showcase that many victims did not simply accept having their compensation claims rejected, and they used any medium available to them to have their voices heard. Voices which demanded justice for a time in their lives when they had been so grievously denied of this. This thesis gives space to, and represents, the voices of these Nazi victims.