Jones, Randolph Bernard (Oral history)

German Jewish student at University of Berlin, Germany and Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, France, 1931-1935; refugee worked as journalist in France, 1935-1939; refugee in Vichy France, 7/1940-12/1943; internee in Miranda del Ebro Internment Camp in Spain, 1/1943-5/1943; escaped from Spain to GB via Portugal, 9/1943-10/1943

REEL 1 Background in Berlin, Germany, 1913-1931: family; education; family's religious and political outlook; anti-Semitism experienced at school during 1920s. Aspects of period as student at University of Berlin, Germany, 1931-1933: anti-Semitic beatings received at university and whist at school in 1923; degree of interest in politics at university; failure of German Jews to see threat of Nazism; his failure to persuade his parents to leave Germany, 1933. Aspects of period as student at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, France, 1933-1935: escape to Switzerland via Leipzig, Germany, 4/1933; receiving money from uncle to study in Germany; start of law studies, 5/1933; degree of anti-Semitism in Paris, 1933-1934. REEL 2 Continues: political situation in France during 1930s; completion of studies, 1935. Aspects of period as journalist in Paris, France, 1935-1939: writing articles; work as ghost writer at World Jewish Congress, 1937; issue of League of Nations passport. Aspects of period as internee in France, 1939-1940: internment at Colombes Stadium Internment Camp in Paris, 3/9/1939; French authorities' pressure to join French Foreign Legion; how he was sent to join British Pioneer Corps near Rennes, 6/1940. Aspects of period as refugee in Vichy France, 7/1940-12/1942: decision to cross into Vichy France, 7/1940; treatment of Jewish refugees by Vichy French authorities; reunion with wife in Toulouse; treatment of Jewish refugees by local population during enforced residence in Southern France. REEL 3 Continues: how population listened to British Broadcasting Corporation news; degree of anti-Semitism in Vichy France; contrast between older and newer forms of anti-Semitism; question of whether Jews living in France should use certificates of baptism; reasons why Jews were so resistant to religious conversion; arrival of Germans in Vichy France, 11/1942; crossing Pyrenees Mountains into Spain, 12/1942. Aspects of period as internee in Spain, 1942-1943: arrest by Guardia Civil in Spain, 12/1942; incarceration in Lerida Prison; transfer to Miranda de Ebro Internment Camp; internees' claims to British/Canadian nationality; how Polish internees started hunger strike; nature of hunger strike and intervention of British Embassy; morning routine in Miranda de Ebro Internment Camp; his release, 5/1943. REEL 4 Continues: how he convinced Spanish authorities that he was unfit for military service; how staff of British Embassy cultivated Spanish aristocracy in Madrid, 1943. Aspects of escape from Spain to GB via Portugal, 9/1943-10/1943: how he managed to get to Lisbon, Portugal, 9/1943; his flight in Short Sunderland Flying Boat from Lisbon, Portugal to Foynes, Ireland, then to Poole, GB; reception in GB; opinion of how Britain was the centre of resistance to Nazis; broadcasting message to France on British Broadcasting Corporation radio from Bush House in London, late 1943; volunteering for Royal Army Service Corps, 1/1944; attitude towards service with British Army.