The Betrayal of the Children

By Steve Rodan

When it came to Jews, Jan Smuts could swing both ways.

Smuts can be called the father of South Africa. He was instrumental in the revolt against the British during the Boer War. He became a general during World War I and helped form Britain's Royal Air Force as well as the British conquest of Palestine. He was one of the drafters of the League of Nations. When he failed at politics, he became a scientist and philosopher, promoting holism.

In 1937, as German and other Jews were seeking a refuge from Hitler. Smuts showed an uglier side. He served as a top Cabinet minister under the Prime Minister James Hertzog, a firm supporter of Berlin and its plans for conquest. Acceding to the pro-Nazi elite and unemployed whites Smuts helped draft legislation to halt Jewish immigration to South Africa. By this time, there were close to 100,000 Jews in the country, less than two percent of the overall population. At the start of World War II, his government considered proposals to prevent Jewish soldiers from mixing with gentiles in the military. [1]

Five years later, Smuts, now prime minister, was asked by Britain to host refugees. Thousands of Poles connected to the Allied government-in-exile in London had already been smuggled out of Europe via the Soviet Union to the Middle East. Many of them landed in the British mandate of Palestine, including the Gaza Strip. The plan was now to bring thousands of children from occupied Poland to South Africa. For the first time, the Allies would include Jews.

A precedent

The proposal was not far-fetched. In 1921, Smuts, regarded as a supporter of a Jewish homeland, agreed to a plan to finance the transfer of 250 Jewish children made orphans from the Polish-Soviet war. Many of the youngsters stayed in South Africa while others eventually returned to Europe.

More than 20 years later, with Hitler in control of virtually the entire continental Europe, Smuts wanted Jewish children to be part of the transport to South Africa. The British plan was for the Poles to be taken from Siberia south to Iran. From there, they would be shipped to Port Elizabeth, where they arrived in April 1943.

The rescue plan was opposed by the Zionist leadership. At a meeting of the Jewish Agency Executive in January 1943, chairman David Ben-Gurion refused to intervene. First, Ben-Gurion said Smuts should not be pressured into accepting Jewish children.

"Because we can't put General Smuts in a difficult situation," Ben-Gurion said. "The maximum that we can do is ask our comrades [in South Africa] what could be done." [2]

Fear of losing money

Ben-Gurion's argument was hollow. For decades, Smuts had maintained a direct line to the Zionist leadership. He was said to have been close to World Zionist Organization chairman Chaim Weizmann, a relationship that began in 1917 and included raising funds for the movement.

Later, Ben-Gurion, supported by his allies on the Executive, came up with other reasons. Despite his frequent statements that children marked the priority in rescue, he now asserted that bringing in several hundred refugees would increase anti-Semitism and even endanger the Jewish community in South Africa. Finally, Ben-Gurion came to the point: Supporting the Smuts offer would reduce donations to the Jewish Agency.

Ben-Gurion wanted to quash any consideration of the Smuts offer. He blocked a visit to South Africa by Yitzhak Greenbaum, a member of the Executive and head of the Jewish Agency's rescue committee, criticized within the Zionist rank-and-file for failing to help the Jews trapped in Europe. South Africa's Zionist community contained a large element opposed to Ben-Gurion and Weizmann, and accusations flew that the former's ruling Mapai Party in Palestine was corrupt and stealing donations from abroad.  The Zionists in South Africa were also the most vociferous in condemning the Transfer Agreement of 1933, which established the alliance between the Zionist leadership and Nazi Germany. [3]

Smuts changes his mind

In the end, Greenbaum was ordered not to mention the proposal to the South African Jewish community. Close to a year passed until he was allowed to travel to South Africa. By the time he arrived in September 1943, Smuts had changed his mind. Polish children would still be welcomed to his country. But Jews would not. Later, Smuts was said to have prevented Jews from boarding a Polish refugee ship bound for South Africa. South Africa allowed the entry of thousands of Poles during the war, almost all of them gentiles. [4]

A Pathe newsreel on the arrival of 500 Polish children to a home in Oudtshoorn in early 1943 showed no trace that any Jews had been included. The newsreel shows Catholic church services and priests but no mention that Jews were excluded from the transport. [5]

The opposition of the Zionist leadership and eventually Smuts to Jewish rescue stemmed from Britain. The leadership, whether Weizmann in London or Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv, were completely beholden to the empire -- whether for money, positions or travel abroad. Indeed, Weizmann and Ben-Gurion made sure never to press Prime Minister Winston Churchill or his aides for Jewish rescue. And the British fought against virtually every plan to rescue Jews, regardless of their refuge.

As for Smuts, although he was the prime minister of South Africa, his real service was for the British. Appointed a British field marshal, he served in the Imperial War Cabinet for most of the war. At one point, he was recommended as the successor to the aging Churchill. [6]

In the end, Churchill long outlived Smuts, who died in 1950. Smuts lost power in May 1948 and did not manage to formally recognize the new State of Israel. Neither he nor Ben-Gurion mentioned the betrayal of the Jewish children just five years earlier.

Notes

1. "Anti-Semitism in the 1930s: Germany and South Africa." Edna Bradlow. Historia. No. 49. November 2004. Pages 45-58. mmaja,+4222-Article+Text-8356-1-2-20190816+(1) (1).pdf

2. Jewish Agency Executive meeting, Jan. 10, 1943. Central Zionist Archives, Jerusalem.

3. For a general overview of Zionist opposition, "Zionism in South Africa; An Historical Perspective." Gideon Shimoni. Forum 37. Spring 1980. FORUM SPRING 1980 71-92.pdf (bjpa.org)

4. Arrows in the Dark: David Ben-Gurion, the Yishuv Leadership, and Rescue Attempts during the Holocaust. Tuvia Friling. Pages 299-300, 316 and 321. Ben-Gurion University, 1998.

5. African Mirror No. 216. (20+) Video | Facebook. An article in a South African Jewish publication said one-third of the refugee children were Jewish, but provided no support or details. "Oudtshoorn museum honours rescue of Polish WWII orphans." Tali Feinberg. South African Jewish Report, March 9, 2023. Oudtshoorn museum honours rescue of Polish WWII orphans (sajr.co.za)

6. Jan Smuts: The Warrior Statesman. National Army Museum. Jan Smuts: The warrior-statesman | National Army Museum (nam.ac.uk)

Below: Polish children in a home in South Africa in 1943. No Jews here.