Displaced Persons: Calwell's New Australians by Egon F Kunz

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Minor mark on right foredge. Interior and binding are still excellent.

During the Second World War, it became clear that without a substantial increase in population, Australia could not be held against a determined enemy. Thus, a new immigration policy was born. To achieve the required population growth, the principle of a predominantly British immigrant intake was abandoned, and for the first time, a growth target was set.

Central and Eastern European refugees of the Russian wartime expansion who were filling the refugee camps of Europe became the obvious choice. Large numbers of these displaced persons, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Croats, Serbes and Bulgarians were received in Australia with curiosity and distrust, where they served as guinea pigs for the country's new immigration policy.

Dr Kunz's book covers the political, economic, and military considerations behind the initiation of the DP Scheme and analyses the scheme's effects on its participants.