Description
Object description
German civilian refugee in Manchester, GB, 11/1937-5/1940; internee in Warth Mills Internment Camp, Bury and Prees Heath Internment Camp in GB, 1940 and Hutchinson Internment Camp, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1940-1942; private served with Pioneer Corps in GB, 1942-1945; served as interpreter at No 8 Prisoner of War Camp, Warth Mills, Bury, GB and Allied Control Commission, Germany in Germany, 1945-1947
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Germany, 1921-1937: father's socialist beliefs; loss of family and loss of personal records; foster family and education in orphanage; story of hiding from Gestapo. Aspects of period as refugee in Manchester, GB, 11/1937-5/1940: journey from Germany to GB, 11/1937; living with uncle in Manchester; development of artistic career; initial impressions of GB; treatment recieved from uncle and family; first contact with Midgley family; reaction to slum dwellings and living conditions in GB; awareness of rise of Nazism in Germany and problems of having socialist and Jewish background; volunteering for military service, 9/1939; arrest as 'enemy alien' and attending tribunal.
REEL 2 Continues: description of arrest and being taken into custody in Oldham. Aspects of period as internee at Warth Mills Internment Camp, Bury, GB, 1940: transfer to camp; description of conditions in camp; confiscation of personal possessions; opinion of behaviour of camp commander Major Alfred Braybrook; accommodation and sleeping arrangements; rations; guards. Aspects of period as internee in Prees Heath Internment Camp in GB, 1940; description of camp; tented accommodation; recreational and cultural activities; memories of other internees; artistic activities; religious activities in camp. Aspects of period as internee in Hutchinson Internment Camp, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1940-1942: transfer to camp, autumn 1940; description of camp and facilities; memories of internees including artists Hellmuth Weissenborn, Kurt Schwitters, Fred Uhlman and architect Bruno Ahrends.
REEL 3 Continues: architect Bruno Ahrend's design for Douglas; Fred Uhlman's views on Communism; Kurt Schwitters' classes and work; improvised artists' materials; description of own artistic work in camp; tuition from Erich Kahn; improvised sculpting materials; opinion of food; pre-war art education; problem of lack of money; attitude to period of internment; state of health; story of discover that aunt was married to Ludwig Warschauer.
REEL 4 Continues: learning that Ludwig Warschauer had worked for Gestapo; communication with Midgley family; adoption of name Midgley; question of awareness of other internees' problems; story of release from camp, summer 1942; recreational and cultural activities including attending theatre in Douglas; story of prisoner of war jacket he recieved in camp. Aspects of period as private with Pioneer Corps in GB, 1942-1945: reason for joining army; pattern of training and military service, 1942-1945.
REEL 5 Continues: post-war studies at Beckenham Art School. Aspects of period as interpreter at No 8 Prisoner of War Camp, Warth Mills, Bury, GB and with Allied Control Commission, Germany in Germany, 1945-1947: description of No 8 Prisoner of War Camp, Warth Mills; interrogation of German prisoners of war; story of visiting foster mother in Berlin. Post-war life and employment in GB: award of ex-serviceman's grant to study art; summary of artistic and teaching career; problem of recurring dreams about internment; reflections on own work; attitude of Germans.