A new study by Ellen Pilsworth examines how memoirs by refugees from Nazi persecution were published and presented to British readers before and during the Second World War.
Reading Hitler’s Victims: Refugee Memoirs of Nazi Persecution for British Readers during Appeasement and War is published in Berghahn Books’ War and Genocide series. It challenges the assumption that memoirs by survivors of Nazi persecution only appeared after 1945, tracing instead how personal accounts shaped British understandings of Nazism between 1933 and 1945.
Pilsworth asks whose memoirs were published, and how translators and editors influenced the way these accounts were read. Her study shows that Jewish victims were often under-represented, while German and Austrian Christians were more frequently presented as symbols of “what Britain stands for”.
The book explores the relationship between publishing, public opinion and political culture during appeasement and wartime. It also considers how selective representations of persecution could create blind spots in public understanding — a question that remains relevant today.
Ellen Pilsworth is Associate Professor in German and Translation Studies at the University of Reading. Her research focuses on German literary culture, translation and the history of Britain as a place of refuge.
Friends of LBI London can save 50% on the hardback edition with the code PILS6730. The offer is valid until 31 October 2026.
Find out more and order Reading Hitler’s Victims on the Berghahn Books website.
