ABSTRACT
The early 1930s saw a number of the most distinguished modern architects
and designers emigrating to England, though few remained here. In several
recent studies these architects have been described as in flight from Hitler,
particularly since a number of them, like Goldfinger, were Jewish. This
explains why, by the time war was declared, some of them had moved on to
the relative safety of America. It also explains the artistic and cultural influx
from the rest of Europe from the mid-1930s onwards. Yet in the early 1930s,
very few people outside of Germany accurately foresaw the course of events.
And in many cases the reasons for flight were overdetermined, with economic
factors playing as great a role as political ones.
