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'File 1/A/50 I Publicity' [229r] (457/810)
The record is made up of 1 file (403 folios). It was created in 31 Jul 1939-25 Nov 1939. It was written in English and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
No. 7.
Consul-General Bell to Sir G. Ogilvie-Forbes (Berlin).
British Consulate-General,
Sir, Cologne, November 14, 1988.
With reference to my telegram of the 11 th instant, reporting
anti-Jewish manifestations in Cologne, I have the honour to state
that additional reports indicate these to have been very thorough and
systematic throughout my consular district. In Cologne itself, there
have been suicides of German Jews actually known to me, though
this unfortunately is nothing new in my experience. Four hundred
Jews have been taken into “preventive arrest” ostensibly for their
own protection. I hear, however, that they are unlikely to be set
free until they have been financially bled. The Jewish synagogue in
Cologne has been damaged by fire, and it is said that the local fire
brigade took no action save to prevent the spread of the flames lo
neighbouring houses. The Jews are in a desperate plight. The offices
of the consulate-general have been overrun with them, and though
I do the best I can with a small staff it is frequently necessary to
close the doors to the public to enable us to attend to those already
in the office. One German Jewess pestered a member of the staff to
^take her husband into his small flat over the night of the 11 th. The
man actually arrived at the door with his pyjamas. There is nervous
ness amongst middle-class Germans, who in general disapprove.
They dare not, however, voice their disapproval. One German
woman who voiced her disapproval in a tram car which runs past my
house was arrested at the first stop by Nazi guards. The industrialists
say that they have no influence with the party, who have made such
a point of racial purity that the Fiihrer must carry his theories to
their logical conclusion. Everyone agrees, however, that last week’s
events have considerably complicated international relations.
Personally, I have been more shocked by the coldblooded and
calculated manner in which action was taken than by anything else
about the recent events. Yet I am inclined to think that the Fiihrer
knows his Germans. Amongst the masses of Germans who have
nothing at stake there is observable a certain amount of
Schadenfreude (“Joy in Mischief”). Our German cook, for
instance, observed to me n few days ago that it was high time a
certain neighbouring Jew was “ washed up.” In short, an abnormal
situation exists in Cologne, as it does in the rest of my consula.
district. In Diisseldorf and elsewhere reports indicate "that anti-
Jewish measures have been even more drastic than in Cologne.
2 . No attacks have, as far as I know, been made on British
subjects of Jewish race. There are one or two ex-service men of the
Jewish persuasion who are normally resident in my district. I have
the impression that they have either left Cologne or are keeping off
streets.
8 . A complaint and demand for protection of property was
received on the 10 th instant from a Herr Schwarz, who holds a'power
About this item
- Content
The file deals with the dissemination in Bahrain of publicity and propaganda material in support of the British and allied cause at the start of the Second World War (1939-45). Most of the information originated with the Ministry of Information in London. The file also contains information on the response of British officials to broadcasts in the region by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and the support given to the allied side by the Ruler and people of Bahrain.
The principal correspondents are the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (principally, Major Charles Geoffrey Prior); the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Bahrain (Hugh Weightman); the Ministry of Information (which is often referred to in the correspondence as MINIF or MINIFORM); the Information Office, Aden; the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ; and the Government of India.
The papers cover: the selection of Bahrain as the publicity distributing centre for the Arab side of the Gulf, and the appointment of a publicity interpreter at Bahrain, who would also undertake intelligence duties (folios 2-6); India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. telegram explaining the principles adopted as the basis of British publicity abroad (folios 8-9); Arabic broadcasts by the BBC, including comments on the service, many of them critical, by the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Prior), and the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Bahrain; discussion of the format and publication of the Arabic language Al Bahrain newspaper (e.g. folios 29-30); numerous reports from the Ministry of Information on political, military and economic developments in the war (including contradictions of German propaganda), which were then recast in Bahrain and translated for publication in the newspaper Al Bahrain ; the suggested use of loudspeakers to broadcast a daily Arabic news bulletin (e.g. folios 36-37); official reports forwarded to Bahrain by the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. (e.g. Papers concerning the Treatment of German Nationals in Germany, 1938-1939 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1939) (folios 221-238); covering letters for pamphlets of war interest sent by the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Bahrain to the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) for the use of employees of the company (e.g. folio 266); the support of the Ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh Hamad [Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah], for the allied cause (e.g. folios 251, 253); the assessment of public opinion on the war in Bahrain and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. (e.g. folios 279, 281, and 348); and newspaper cuttings used for publicity purposes (folios 313-319).
The Arabic language content of the papers consists of approximately fifteen folios of publicity material and correspondence.
The date range gives the covering dates of the correspondence; the last dated additions to the file are notes on a couple of the documents dated 29 November 1939.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (403 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file, except where enclosures of an earlier date are filed after their relevant covering letter, and terminate in a set of notes (folios 396-404). Circled serial numbers in red crayon on certain items of correspondence refer to entries in the notes.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 405; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-395; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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'File 1/A/50 I Publicity' [229r] (457/810), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/174, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100028297537.0x00003a> [accessed 18 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/174
- Title
- 'File 1/A/50 I Publicity'
- Pages
- 221r:238v
- Author
- Privy Council Office
- Usage terms
- Public Domain