The Link

{{nazism}}
'''The Link''' (or '''Anglo-German Link''') was a [[United Kingdom|British]] organisation active between 1937 and 1939 which ostensibly existed to promote friendship between the [[United Kingdom|UK]] and [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]. Although it sounds innocent enough, this was the era of [[Hitler]] and the organisation was particularly popular with British [[Nazi]] sympathisers.<ref name=wp>{{wpa|The Link (UK organization)}}</ref> It was founded by Admiral Sir Barry Domvile, a former naval officer of [[antisemitic]] and [[fascist]] sympathies. It published a journal called ''The Anglo-German Review''.

Its origins were in an earlier organisation, the Anglo-German Fellowship (AGF), which was established in 1935 and also had a distinctly antisemitic and far-right tendency but was more mainstream and pro-business. AGF members included several [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] members of parliament and prominent corporate members including Price Waterhouse, Unilever, Dunlop Rubber, Thomas Cook (the travel agency), Midland Bank, and Lazard Brothers. [[Communist]] spies Guy Burgess and Kim Philby were both members of the Anglo-German Fellowship, in a cunning scheme to cover up their true beliefs. The AGF had a German sister-organisation the Deutsch-Englische Gesellschaft whose members included Rudolf Hess, [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]], and several German aristocrats.

The Link's chief figure was Admiral Sir Barry Domvile, who was an antisemite with strong Nazi sympathies and a frequent visitor to Nazi Germany including as a guest of Hitler at the Nuremberg Rally.<ref>[http://spartacus-educational.com/PRdornvilleB.htm Barry Domvile], Spartacus</ref> He wrote for the [[British Union of Fascists]]' newspaper<ref>''Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-1945'', Richard Thurlow</ref> and blamed a [[Jewish]]-[[Masonic]] plot which he nicknamed "Judmas" for promoting war.<ref name=gottlieb/> He was interred by the British government during [[World War Two]] as a suspected Nazi sympathiser; his wife Alexandrina was also held at Holloway Prison; both were friends with the similarly-jailed [[Oswald Mosley]] at the outbreak of war.<ref name=gottlieb>''Feminine Fascism: Women in Britain's Fascist Movement, 1923-45'', Julie V. Gottlieb</ref> Domvile is regarded as a hero by British neo-nazis such as Spearhead.<ref>[http://www.spearhead.co.uk/0411-ib.html Barry Domvile], Spearhead</ref><ref>[http://www.overlordsofchaos.com/html/jewish_conspiracy__admiral_sir.html Admiral Sir Barry Domvile], Jewish Conspiracy, OverlordsOfChaos.com</ref>

The organisation did attract some support from [[pacifist]]s and genuine believers in peace, but it advanced certain positions such as enlargement of the German empire that were not things a true pacifist would be likely to support.<ref name=wp/> It had 4300 members in June 1939, when it merged with the Anglo-German Brotherhood, an organisation that promoted links between Nazi-affiliated German [[Christian]] churches and British Christians.<ref>''[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=cmyO8IrE5jAC&lpg=PT372&ots=C8DfAYNwtR&dq=The%20Link%20domvile&pg=PT372#v=onepage&q=The%20Link%20domvile&f=false Churchill's Secret Enemy]'', Jonathan Pile</ref>

The organisation was shut down soon after the outbreak of war. German members in the UK were arrested almost immediately.<ref>''[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=B9wpCgAAQBAJ&lpg=PT236&ots=gQmqK5sO8A&dq=The%20Link%20domvile&pg=PT236#v=onepage&q=The%20Link%20domvile&f=false Patriotism Perverted: Captain Ramsay, the Right Club, and British Anti-Semitism, 1939-1940]'', Richard Griffiths</ref> Several British members were interred under 1940 legislation allowing the detention of suspected enemies of the state. By then Anglo-German friendship was not a popular idea.

==External links==
* [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C235884 Documents about Domvile at UK National Archives]

==References==
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