'Although he is Jewish, he is M&S': Jewish Refugees from Nazism and Marks & Spencer from the 1930s to the 1960s
Author: Ulrike Walton-Jordan
Source: The Yearbook of the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies, Refugees from the Third Reich in Britain. Edited by Anthony Grenville , pp. 117-133(17)
Publisher: Rodopi
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Abstract:
This article examines the role of refugees from Nazism at Marks & Spencer from their arrival in the 1930s to the heyday of expansion in the 1960s. This period saw the rapid modernisation of quality control in textiles from raw material supply to garment design. Individual refugees like Eric Kann, director of the Textile Laboratory, brought advanced Continental ideas and practices to a traditional British field which had experienced a long-term crisis following the First World War. If these contributions were actively sought, they were also underpinned by the directorate'sJewish and Zionist convictions. The article argues, however, that there existed a differentiated attitude to refugees in the company at large, reflecting the general trends in the Anglo-Jewish reception of refugees from Germany.Document Type: Research article
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