43 Group

The 43 Group was an English anti-fascist group set up by Jewish ex-servicemen after World War II. They did this when, upon returning to London, they encountered British fascist organisations such as Jeffrey Hamm's "British League of Ex-Servicemen" and later Oswald Mosley's reformed British Union of Fascists, or BUF. The activities of these fascist groups included anti-semitic speeches in public places, inciting racial hatred, and from the rank-and-file fascists, violent attacks on London Jews and Jewish property.cite journal | author = Hillman, N. | year = 2001 | title = Tell me chum, in case I got it wrong. What was it we were fighting during the war? The Re-emergence of British Fascism, 1945-58 | journal = Contemporary British History | volume = 15
issue = 4 | pages = 1–34 | url = http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/cbh/2001/00000015/00000004/art00002 | accessdate = 2008-04-29] Group members broke up far-right meetings, infiltrated fascist groups, and attacked the fascists in street fighting. [Adam Lent [http://books.google.com/books?id=gSj86UFzvh4C&printsec=frontcover#PPA19,M1 "British Social Movements Since 1945: Sex, Colour, Peace and Power"] Macmillan p19, ISBN 0333720091]

Early history

The title "43 Group" came from the number of people in the room of Maccabi House during the group's founding meeting. The instigators of the foundation meeting were Morris Beckman (who had served on a Flower class corvette), Gerald Flamberg (156 batt. Parachute Regiment, who won the Military Medal during Operation Market Garden), [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/ww2/Arnhem.html Jewish Virtual Library: "Jews at the Battle of Arnhem"] .] Leonard Sherman, martial arts expert (Welsh Guards), and Alec Carson, who flew Hawker Hurricanes and Bristol Beaufighters in the Battle of Britain. A 17-year-old Vidal Sassoon, [Anita Singh [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/14/nsassoon114.xml Vidal Sassoon: Anti-fascist warrior-hairdresser] "Daily Telegraph", 21/04/2008, Accessed 27 April 2008] joined the group in 1947, and went on to fight in the Israeli Defence Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and later founded an international hairdressing empire. [ [http://israelvets.com/pictorialhist_acquiring_arms.html Pictorial History: Acquiring Arms and Personnel] Aliyah Bet & Machal Virtual Museum, Accessed 27 April 2008]

The group grew to include many hundreds of men and women, and not all Jewish. The initial membership was of around 300 people and included holders of bravery decorations, a VC, DSOs, DFCs, DSMs and MMs. The organisation was sometimes portrayed by its enemies as a front for either Jewish terrorists or communists, but this was not the case and it was mostly composed of British ex-servicemen. [Andrew Roberts [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=559709&in_page_id=1770 How King of Crimpers Vidal Sassoon cut Britain's fascist thugs down to size] "Daily Mail", 14th April 2008, Accessed 27 April 2008] However, some funds were provided to 43 Group from Jewish criminals, such as Jack Como and Bud Flanagan.Graham Macklin [http://books.google.com/books?id=unVfsheD430C&printsec=frontcover#PPA53,M1 "Very Deeply Dyed in Black: Sir Oswald Mosley and the Resurrection of British Fascism after 1945"] I.B.Tauris p53 ISBN 1845112849] The British Union of Fascists also hired underworld thugs to defend their meetings, such as Maltese gangster Joseph Marguera.

Relationship with other organisations

43 Group was viewed by established Jewish organisations, such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews, as competitors, and this Jewish establishment also worried that the group's activities could damage the community's reputation, especially in light of the terrorist acts and guerrilla warfare carried out by militant Zionist groups like the Irgun in British-occupied Palestine. [Todd M. Endelman [http://books.google.com/books?id=SMOQkrUtqkwC&printsec=frontcover#PPA233,M1 "The Jews of Britain, 1656 to 2000"] University of CaliforniaPress, 2002, p233 ISBN 0520227190] However 43 Group never sought to replace the more traditional groups who preferred debate and discussion, but who had failed to stop the BUF, partly due to the non-cooperation of the then British Home Secretary. [ [http://www.commonsleader.gov.uk/OutPut/Page691.asp House of Commons] vague] Rather, 43 Group sought to prevent the BUF mobilising and gathering support, remembering that the Nazi party had gained prominence in a similar fashion as the Brownshirts on the streets of post-WWI Germany.

Dissolution

The 43 Group was voluntarily disbanded on 5 April 1950, as its members considered that the immediate threat had passed. Although Mosley's Fascist "Union Movement" remained active throughout the 1950s, it was not until 1962, when the unrelated 62 Group was formed in the 43 Group's image (but named after the year of founding of the latter incarnation, rather than initial membership), did these British fascists again encounter any significant privately-organised street-level resistance. The overall effect of this movement is unclear, with the group founder Morris Beckman arguing that 43 Group was crucial in stopping a resurgence of fascism in post-war Britain, while Nigel Copsey argues in "Anti-Fascism in Britain" that the fascists and anti-fascists might have only radicalised each other.

ee also

* Militant anti-fascism

References

Bibliography

*Morris Beckman "The 43 Group" "Centerprise Publication" (June 2000) ISBN 0-90373-875-9

External links

* [http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/histories/jewish/politics/politics.htm#SWW_Politics London's Jewish community after the war]
* [http://www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk/books/DisplayBookInfo.php?ISBN=0903738759 The 43 Group by Morris Beckman]
* [http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr180/beckman.htm Morris Beckman: My favourite books]
* [http://www.schnews.org.uk/book-reviews/the-43-group.htm Review of Beckman's book]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archivehour/pip/ev26o/ The Archive Hour - A Rage in Dalston] - BBC Radio program on the 43 group
* [http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=the%2043%20group&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv] - 20 minute video on 43 group with interviews