(click on any word in yellow to find out what it means)

What was life like in the 1930s in the East End?

In the 1930s the East End was home to about 109,800 Jews, with half of them living in Stepney. About a quarter of the Jews in Stepney had been born abroad, and were immigrants to this country. This led to an increase in anti-Semitism. There was a large Chinese community in Limehouse (the original China Town – of restaurants and opium-smoking dens), as well as a smaller group of Lascars (people from Bengal) and Black people. These two groups were usually men, and worked as sailors on all the ships bringing goods into the docks.

The majority of people in the East End were poor, living in overcrowded housing. The main are of employment for men (and some women) was the docks, which were still working. However, many people were unemployed in the 1930s. There had been big strikes in the early 1930s, as people demanded that the government help provide jobs, as well as better wages. Many dockers worked very long hours, in often dangerous conditions, for very low wages.

Women would work as domestic servants, in the factories that existed in the area at this time, and also do a range of work from stuffing mattresses with straw to working in laundries (all washing was done by hand in those days, so it was hard work). They would also run the home, doing all the housework, cooking and sewing.

Sir Oswald Mosley and the Blackshirts
In 1932, Oswald Mosley (a politician) started the British Union of Fascists. They were a group of people who were anti-Semitic, and who made all sorts of wild claims about the Jews trying to take over the world. His followers dressed in black uniforms, like the fascists in Italy led by Mussolini (and like those later led by Hitler in Germany). They would hold demonstrations in which they encourage what we would now call racial hatred – blaming the Jews for the rise in unemployment, accusing them of being dirty and spreading disease, and claiming that they should go back to the countries they came from.

On 4th October 1936 Mosley and his Blackshirts planned to march through the Jewish areas of the East End.

Should they be allowed to march?
At first, many people felt that it would be better to let the march go ahead, as they didn’t want it to lead to violence. Some Jewish leaders felt that people should stay in their homes with their doors locked as the march went by, to avoid any confrontation.

Other people, many of them supporters of the Communist Party, also thought this at first. On the same day, the communists were to hold a big political demonstration in Trafalgar Square. This was to show their support of the people in Spain who were fighting a civil war against fascism in their country. Some of the leaders of the communists and supports of the Labour Party felt that it was immoral to demonstrate against fascism in Spain, but to allow it in London. So the communist demonstration was cancelled as everyone tried to stop Mosley’s march.

No one knew what the exact route would be – the four areas the fascists were to meet in were Leman Street, Gardiners corner (Aldgate), Cable Street, and St George’s Street (now The Highway).

‘ They shall not pass.’
At Gardners Corner, a tram was overturned by its driver to stop the fascists getting passed. Leman Street was also blocked by protesters – despite the attempts of the police to clear it. The Blackshirts didn’t want to march along St George’s Street, as Wapping was a Catholic area – so that left Cable Street.

Here a lorry was overturned, and a barricade built using all sorts of items including furniture. People – everyone from shop keepers, householders, and Dockers who joined the barricades -threw objects at the police including eggs, rotten fruit and the contents of chamber pots. Despite repeated attempts to clear the road, eventually the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Philip Game, ordered Mosley to abandon the march, and 3000 Blackshirts had to turn round and march back into the deserted City of London.

The mural (planned in 1976, and finally finished after several repairs following vandalism in 1993) celebrates this victory against fascism – it features some of the people who actually took part, as well as other figures who ‘represent’ people present. The shops you can see existed, and all the activities taking place happened – although not necessarily in the same instant of time.

GLOSSARY

Anti-Semitic - being against Jewish people, just because they are Jews. It has a long history in England, going back to medieval times.

Anti-Semitism – hatred of Jews.

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Blackshirt – the name given to the members of the British Union of Fascists, because of the uniforms they wore. They were modelled on the fascists of Italy, led by Mussolini.

Catholic - a type of Christian, believing that Jesus was the Son of God. The leader of the Catholic Church is the Pope.

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Civil War - a war within a country, in which the people of that country fight each other.

Communist - a political term for someone who believed that the workers should run the state (or government), no one should be allowed to own private property and everyone should be equal.

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Fascism - a political movement which was in favour of having only one party, who had complete power. It tended to be anti-Semitic and immigrants were not encouraged. Violence at demonstrations against any one opposing fascism was common.

Fascist - a supporter of fascism.

Racial hatred - when one ethnic or racial group stirs up hatred against another group. A recent example was the riots in Leeds and Burnley between White and Asian youths.