Quakers, the Holocaust, and the Cold War

This paper presents a survey of some of the narratives that have been told about Quaker efforts to offer assistance to refugees from Nazi Europe. It argues that many of those narratives are startlingly unsophisticated. The paper will focuses in large part on particular on a novel--Christopher Isherwood's The World In Evening--that presents a more nuanced--and therefore more compelling--portrait of Quakers who tried to assist people who were fleeing Nazi Europe.

During the early years of the Cold War Quakers became increasingly engaged in diplomacy both formally and informally. In this paper presentation I will explore the relationship between Quakerism and diplomacy. I will show how individuals, motivated by religious belief, worked tirelessly to produce a “Quaker concept of international cooperation.” Indeed, over the course of the twentieth century, the tenor of Quaker organizing shifted from providing ostensibly apolitical humanitarian aid to participating in a complex web of advocacy and activism. I will argue that as Quakers worked to change the world, the world of international politics in turn changed them and their international political agendas. 

Fritz Eichenberg (1901-1990) and William Hubben (1895-1974) were two Quakers who maintained a deep engagement with the writings of Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. 

Dostoevsky was highly influential on Eichenberg's work as a book illustrator. He provided illustrations for six major Dostoevsky novels over the course of his career. 

Hubben wrote extensively about Dostoevsky including in his book, Four Prophets of Our Destiny, later published as Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Kafka. 

Eichenberg and Hubben maintained correspondence in the 1950s and 1960s. The fruits of their engagements with Dostoevsky are complementary as Hubben articulates in writing perspectives on Dostoevsky while Eichenberg's illustrations provide a sustained graphic meditation.

In this paper, I will elaborate on points of commonality between these two Quakers who were prominent readers and interpreters of Dostoevsky's work, particularly on his theme of suffering and resistance under an oppressive government.