The exodus of men, women and children fleeing from the Nazi regime was one of the largest diasporas the world has ever seen. It sparked an international refugee crisis that changed society and continues to shape our culture and community today. The years between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi era in Germany, and the war years, 1939 to 1945, were a time of destruction, upheaval and misery throughout Europe and beyond. Displacement and death, whether in war or civilian life, became everyday experiences, for young and old alike. Families were torn apart by enforced emigration or deportation. Parents were separated from their children, husbands from wives, brothers from sisters. Interned in camps that spread across the globe from Shanghai to the United States of America to the Isle of Man, they became strangers in a foreign land and often the only link they had to their former lives were letters exchanged with friends and family. These scarce postal communications, therefore, assumed huge significance in the lives of both sender and receiver, one that is hard to imagine today in the age of instant communication. Fleeing from the Führer is an unusual collection of correspondence that shows the incredible nature of this worldwide emigration and the indomitable spirit of these refugees. Each postcard, envelope and item of ephemera tells its own unique story and is reproduced in full colour, making this a fascinating resource for anyone wanting to understand this poignant part of our international history.

William Kaczynski came to England with his family in 1939 as a refugee from Nazi Germany. He was interned, along with his mother and brother, for 10 months in Rushen Camp on the Isle of Man. He retired in 1989 and has since amassed a unique and important collection of Second World War postal history artefacts. He has written widely for philatelic publications and has worked closely with the British Library in compiling the collection featured in this book.