In the mid-1930s, as antisemitic persecution intensified across Europe, particularly in Nazi Germany, British Jewish leaders began crafting plans to relocate persecuted Jews to Kenya, then a British colony. The idea was humanitarian, but also pragmatic: resettle Jews in a safe African territory under British rule.
However, the plan quickly ran into opposition from various factions within colonial Kenyan society, including Indian merchants, white settlers, and colonial administrators, all of whom viewed the Jewish immigration scheme with deep suspicion and hostility.
A Divided Colony: Who Opposed the Jewish Settlement and Why?
1. The Indian Merchant Class: Protecting Their Commercial Dominance
Leading Indian figures like Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee and Aladina Visram, through the East African Indian Congress, sent a memorandum to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, flatly rejecting the proposal.
Their concern?
The arrival of entrepreneurial Jewish immigrants could disrupt Indian dominance in commerce and trade.
“They feared the proliferation of Jews in Kenya could threaten their grip on business,” historians note.
2. British Settlers: Fear of Labour Market Disruption
White settlers opposed the plan for entirely different reasons.
At the time, Kenya had a strict policy: every European settler had to pay £50 or provide proof of employment before settling.
Settlers feared the influx of poor Jewish refugees would flood the labour market, taking up low-wage jobs that had traditionally been reserved for Africans.
“It was cheaper to pay an African to do menial work than a poor European,” and the Jewish refugees threatened that hierarchy.
The Ethiopian Refugee Precedent: A Colonial Burden
Another point of resistance came from the colonial administration itself. Kenya was already hosting over 6,000 Ethiopian soldiers who had fled following the execution of Ras Desta, the son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie, during Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia.
These Ethiopian refugees had become comfortably established in Kenya and showed no signs of returning home, leading officials to argue that Kenya had already borne its fair share of humanitarian burden.
Adding European Jewish refugees, they claimed, would strain limited public resources and taxpayer goodwill even further.
Colonial Racism and the Fear of Solidarity
One of the more telling objections was ideological and racial.
British officials feared that Jews, themselves victims of racial discrimination, might sympathize with Africans and potentially agitate against colonial injustices.
The administration openly questioned whether Jews were the “right kind of European” to introduce to the fragile colonial racial order.
The Secret Investment Plot: A Creative Workaround
Facing official opposition, British Jewish leaders pivoted. They formed an investment company, presenting themselves as agricultural investors, with the real goal of bringing in Jewish refugees disguised as skilled workers or farm laborers.
This clandestine strategy included:
- Registering a company in Kenya
- Buying farmland for “investment”
- Introducing Jewish workers as farm employees
They even engaged colonial officials and settlers in dialogue to gain support.
But despite their efforts, the Kenyan government refused to sell them land, stalling the project.
Some Still Found a Way: Settling Quietly in the Highlands
Though the mass settlement failed, wealthier Jewish refugees still managed to enter Kenya through individual migration.
They quietly settled in Nakuru, Kitale, Eldoret, and Gilgil—regions in the Kenyan highlands, which became informal hubs of the small but resilient Kenyan Jewish community.
Conclusion: A Forgotten Chapter in Refugee and Kenyan History
The 1930s Jewish refugee settlement scheme is a largely forgotten episode in both Kenyan and Jewish diasporic history, revealing the complex interplay of race, class, commerce, and colonial politics.
It wasn’t just about saving lives.
It was also about who got to belong in colonial Kenya—and who got to decide.
