Overview

This book debunks the so-called 'paradoxical' nature of Franco's supposed benevolence towards the Jews, showing that any generosity on the regime's part was both opportunistic and unreliable. Dr Rohr grounds Franco's relationship to the Jews during World War II in the fascinating and complex history of post-Inquisitorial Spanish attitudes towards Jews, ranging from Philosephardism to various forms of antisemitism according to shifting ideological goals. Rohr's reading of Franco's neo-Philosephardism in the context of his colonial ambitions in Northern Africa is groundbreaking. - Dr. Soledad Fox, Ass't. Prof. of Spanish and Comparative Literature, Williams Coll. *** The author has reconciled several different kinds of history - exploring political myths, colonialism and foreign policy during wartime as well as contributing to both Spanish and Jewish history. This engaging, stimulating and original work firmly gives the issue of race in contemporary Spain the historiographical importance that it merits. Just as the Moorish 'Other' has long been recognised as a significant term of reference of Spanish identity, this books shows how the construction of 'the Jew' plays a similar role. - Dr Michael Richards, U. of the West of England *** A penetrating appraisal of the specific mixture of ideological and strategic (indeed frankly opportunistic) motives driving the contradictory policies adopted by Francoists towards different groups of European Jews in the period between c. 1936 and 1945. The particular strength of Dr Rohr's work is its understanding of the constant interplay between the political mythology of Spanish antisemitism and Spain's geopolitical interests and colonial aspirations. - Prof. Helen Graham, Dept. of History, Royal Holloway, U. of London

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9781845191818

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Reviews

"""Rohr's work deals especially with politics and ideology, and is most original particularly in its analysis of the influence exerted by the new Spanish imperialism in northern Morocco. That the Spanish right was generally anti- Jewish is not, of course, a new finding, and such an orientation was partially contested by the new, early twentieth- century trend of 'philosephardism' on the part of some Spanish nationalists, who held that Sephardic Jews were superior to other Jews in having been 'purified' by Spanish culture. Rohr does an able job in sorting out these only partially contradictory trends, and contributes more than a little primary research in Spanish archives to present a more complete account. ... The most important part of the book deals with the role of Spanish Morocco, which contains the highest proportion of new data. As Rohr emphasizes, there has been a considerable amount of recent literature in Spain on Spanish policy and actions in the Protectorate, focused almost exclusively on relations with and attitudes towards the Moroccan population, while generally ignoring the place of the once significant Jewish population in northern Morocco."" --Stanley G. Payne, European History Quarterly"

Rohr's work deals especially with politics and ideology, and is most original particularly in its analysis of the influence exerted by the new Spanish imperialism in northern Morocco. That the Spanish right was generally anti- Jewish is not, of course, a new finding, and such an orientation was partially contested by the new, early twentieth- century trend of 'philosephardism' on the part of some Spanish nationalists, who held that Sephardic Jews were superior to other Jews in having been 'purified' by Spanish culture. Rohr does an able job in sorting out these only partially contradictory trends, and contributes more than a little primary research in Spanish archives to present a more complete account. ... The most important part of the book deals with the role of Spanish Morocco, which contains the highest proportion of new data. As Rohr emphasizes, there has been a considerable amount of recent literature in Spain on Spanish policy and actions in the Protectorate, focused almost exclusively on relations with and attitudes towards the Moroccan population, while generally ignoring the place of the once significant Jewish population in northern Morocco. --Stanley G. Payne, European History Quarterly

Author Information

Isabelle Rohr is a visiting lecturer at King's College, University of London and at St Mary's College, University of Surrey. She has published several articles on Spanish-Jewish relations in the twentieth century. She received her PhD in International History from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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