The Czech Refugee Trust Fund in Britain 1938-1975

This book documents the role of the British-based Czech Refugee Trust Fund (CRTF) and its predecessor, the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia (BCRC). It provides insight into the political debates, controversies, and difficulties that impacted on the British and Czechoslovak governments as well as on the refugees from the Nazi invasions of 1938 and 1939. In addition to Czechs, those seeking to leave included political and/or racial antifascist German and Austrian refugees who had been sheltering there prior to the 1938 Munich Agreement. Spanning Fascist and Communist eras, the book draws upon archive materials and personal experiences of refugees, examines issues of internment and resettlement after WW2, and the BCRC/CRTF's dwindling resources with which to support the refugees. The CRTF was able to assist the next group of Czech refugees after the Communist coup in 1948, but not a third group who arrived in 1968 after the invasion by Warsaw Pact armies. The book critically evaluates the successes and failures of the BCRC/CRTF and concludes that, despite the many problems, the CRTF offered a unique service to refugees in its care in times of need.