Refugee Nurses in Great Britain, 1933–1945: From Place of Safety to a New Homeland

Abstract

Nurse training and staffing assumed a key role in the refugee crisis in the UK as a result of Nazi racial and political persecution. An estimated 900 refugees entered UK nursing for a shorter period or as a lifelong career. Although foreign qualifications were not accepted, an increased number of training places were made available in 1938–1939. A biographical analysis demonstrates that the majority of nurses were Austrians, and there were also high numbers of Germans. Most were female. The year 1940 saw dismissals of aliens due to the post-Dunkirk invasion scare, but the situation normalized within a few months. Relatively few nurses were interned, and re-employment occurred later in 1940, not least because of the growing labor shortage in nursing.

I wish to thank Ilsemarie Walter for extensive biographical materials on Austrian nurse refugees. I am grateful to the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for a Senior Visiting Fellowship while the paper was prepared. I also acknowledge support from the Humboldt Foundation.