Britain’s response to the recent refugee crisis is marked by its absence. Kushner’s article explores how constructions of the past have been instrumentalized by defenders of government restrictionism and those demanding that more should be let in. His particular focus is on child refugees and the comparisons drawn (and rejected) to the Kindertransport. Through discussion in parliament, the media, cultural productions and among ordinary people, he shows the importance of ‘history’ and how references to the Second World War and the Holocaust have tended to help justify rather than query the exclusion of today’s refugees, thereby providing a very different example to Germany. He also explores the role of sentimentalism in positive responses to refugees and how this encourages empathy but can also limit effective entry policies and treatment of the forcibly displaced. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Second World War Holocaust Mass-observation Britain Media Germany Refugees Nostalgia Kindertransport Syria Sentimentalism Parliament History

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