Agency of the clandestine refugees in Spain during WW2 – case study of Polish Jews

• In Event: Holocaust Refugees in Global Perspective

Abstract

After France was defeated in June 1940, Spain became one of the main transit countries for international refugees trying to escape Nazi-occupied Europe. Thousands of them were detained for an illegal stay on Spanish territory, while others, although at liberty, remained stranded in the country until they could emigrate. Among these refugees were at least several hundred Polish Jews, for whom flight to Spain meant not only saving their lives but also facing new challenges of the administrative and carceral maze created by the dictatorial regime of Gen. Francisco Franco.
The present paper addresses the agency displayed by Polish Jewish refugees in Spain during World War II. The individuals who sought refuge from antisemitic persecution in the Iberian Peninsula did not explicitly frame their experience within the concept of agency, understood as an ability to shape one’s own life and life conditions. However, it is clear that they constantly took decisions and made tangible efforts to save themselves and their relatives and improve their prospects. Based on autobiographical sources, e.g., oral history interviews and memoirs of the survivors, as well as archival records of various Spanish, Polish, and international institutions, the paper examines the strategies employed by the Polish Jewish refugees to better the circumstances of their stay in Spain. It also explores the decision-making process bringing them to choose certain scenarios over others, and the meaning that they attributed to agency and responsibility for their fate. Particular attention is paid to the gender dimension, stressing the differences and commonalities between the responses of refugee men and women to the challenges faced in Spain. The paper also considers the specificity of the Jewish experience in Spain and the resources available to Polish Jews.
The exile of Polish Jews in Spain during World War II constitutes a part of the world history of forced displacement. Throughout centuries, refugees have been (and sometimes still are) presented as inert, traumatized, and helpless victims. The present paper aims to nuance this outlook by highlighting various aspects of the agency exercised by Polish Jews fleeing mortal danger to Spain during the last World War.

Author

• Dorota Choinska, The University of Wroclaw, Open University of Catalonia