There is just tons of information on immigration (displaced persons and otherwise) from 1947 though the early 1950s and beyond. But what I’m looking for is the late 1944 (when parts of Europe were getting liberated) through the end of 1946. I know transport was, of course, very limited (war going on, then demobilization). But for those that could manage to get somewhere else - where would they be accepted? Not talking about your rocket scientists, but poor farmers up though (prior to the war) middle-class-ish high school graduates. Particular interest in those leaving Greece or Poland (though leaving there could be an issue in an of itself, I know).
According to this article, most refugees (voluntary or otherwise) emigrated to a Displaced Persons residency system until UN and national agencies (UK is mentioned prominently, as this is by the UK Imperial War Museum) could arrange a permanent immigration destination, apparently on a case-by-case basis.
And even so, a lot of refugees didn’t find a permanent home in the 15 years after the war ended, according to the scope of the discussion.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-happened-to-people-displaced-by-the-second-world-war
I already know about the DP camps and the like and the years-later immigration. If nowhere was taking regular immigrants in the time frame I’m talking about, let me know that. But this link doesn’t address immigration in the time frame I’m talking about at all (only repatriation, which isn’t what I’m interested in), at least as far as I noticed.
I’m explicitly not interested in 1947 forward at this point (or repatriation at any point). I can already find information on that. I’m interested in voluntary immigration in the 1944-1946 time period and specifically what countries were accepting what groups in what numbers (not including war brides). It’s movement in the gap between the end of hostilities and the wide scale immigration I’m interested in.
If you have access to a historic news database, then do a text search on “displaced people” in 1944. With the one i use, while 1940-49 gets the most hits, its very low until 1945, when the mentions rocket upwards, unsurprisingly. Try some of these results to see if they align with what you want to know. Reportage in this period will be factual and related to official government efforts.
Random selection - keep playing with search terms until you find what you want:
I’ve been using newspapers.com. Seen a few landings of very small groups of people in various parts of the anglosphere. But haven’t found an overall list of who’s allowed entry in any of the places. Understandable - large masses of people who can’t move make great heart-tugging stories and small groups landing in a safe place make heart-warming stories (especially if joining family).
It doesn’t help that I’m not only - or even primarily - interested in displaced people. Just in people who want to leave one place for another. Yes, some will be displaced, but some are just Greeks in Greece, in their own home towns who think another war is coming and want to get out of Dodge (though American newspapers were optimistic in January 1945 that peace would reign). Same others in other countries who just don’t see a bright future there ant want to leave. Later on there would be labor shortages and lots of immigration and Australia was trying to doing their “populate or perish” (starting with British immigrants, of course). But I want to know about the people who had the means to move and where they could go.
Originally, the allies had agreed to send people back to their country of origin and there was very little migration. There were some very high profile acts of resistance to this policy and it was adjusted, but during the period you asked about, the official policy was to send people to their country of origin.
I certainly was aware of the repatriation. Thanks for confirmation on the small amounts allowed of immigration. I knew the US was still under the 1924 act and I knew the UK didn’t have mass immigration until after the 1947 Polish Resettlement Act. Couldn’t figure out if Australia was allowing any other than British at the time or how many or what type were accepted by Sweden, Norway, or Switzerland (I understand Switzerland had a lot of immigration from Italy by the 1960s, but do not know when it started). I only speak English, so searching for info outside the Anglosphere isn’t easy.
Annoyingly the Australian standard data set on immigration numbers begins in 1945, and I can’t be bothered looking for an earlier series, which might involve effort.
In the period Oct 1945-June 1947, Australia accepted 34,000 immigrants, and 46,000 in 1947-8 before it jumps into the 100K+ zone as standard. Around half of the 34,000 were British, and I expect some of the remainder were wartime marriages.
I’m not sure how large or consequential Australia’s pre-end of War intake would have been - 34,000 is refugees from one middling bombed-out town.