Giuseppe Motta Reexamines Jewish Refugees and International Law Between the World Wars

A Refugee Crisis beyond National Borders

The period between the end of World War I and the rise of Nazi Germany witnessed a profound humanitarian crisis: the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Jews from newly redrawn borders in East-Central Europe. What happened when existing international law and national sovereignty mechanisms proved inadequate to address mass displacement, refugee populations without documents, and the collapse of old empires?

In a new Routledge monograph released on 6 August 2026, Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Motta of Sapienza University of Rome examines Jewish Refugees and the International Community between the Two World Wars: Beyond the State. The 230-page study traces the emergence of international institutions, humanitarian law, and the complex relationships between refugees, national governments, the League of Nations, and organizations like the Joint Distribution Committee.

League of Nations and Joint Distribution Committee Archives

Motta's research is grounded in archival documentation from two key sources:

• League of Nations records, which document international attempts to address refugee displacement and statelessness;
• Joint Distribution Committee archives, which preserve the records of one of the primary organizations mobilizing aid and coordinating international humanitarian response.

These archives together provide a rich documentary foundation for understanding how the international community grappled with a refugee crisis that did not fit comfortably within existing legal frameworks designed for wars between states or internal political upheaval.

Sovereignty and Humanitarian Protection

One of the book's central themes concerns the tension between national sovereignty and humanitarian protection. When borders changed as a result of war, treaty, or partition, thousands of Jews found themselves in ambiguous legal positions: citizens of states that no longer existed, residents of newly formed states, or populations in transit seeking refuge in countries reluctant to admit them.

Motta examines relationships among refugees, national sovereignty, international institutions, humanitarian law, statelessness, and newly drawn borders. The study asks what kinds of international legal and humanitarian responses emerged when existing state-centered frameworks proved inadequate to protect vulnerable populations.

From the New Book to the EHJ 2026 Debate

The intellectual questions at the heart of Motta's book will be directly explored at EHJ 2026. On 7 November 2026 at 19:00 CET, Prof. Motta will participate in "Jewish Refugees and the International Community Between the Two World Wars — Debate: Beyond the State," an event format that emphasizes scholarly discussion and multiple perspectives on the historical questions raised by the new book.

The EHJ debate will allow scholars and participants to engage with Motta's research in a dialogical format, exploring the implications of interwar refugee history for understanding international law, humanitarian institutions, and the relationships between state sovereignty and human rights that remain contested today.