Description
Object description
German Jewish lawyer in Germany, 1933; refugee in London, GB, 1933-1940; internee in Lingfield Racecourse Internment Camp, Lingfield, GB, 7/1940; internee aboard HMT Dunera during voyage from GB to Australia, 7/1940-9/1940; internee in Camps 8 and 7, Hay Internment Camp, Hay, Australia, 9/1940-5/1941
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period as lawyer in Düsseldorf, Germany, 1933: education and career as lawyer before 1933; work for Dr Josef Neuberger during Jewish boycott, 4/1933; termination of law career, 4/1933; decision to emigrate to GB. Aspects of period as refugee in London, GB, 1933-1940: starting business as exporter; six month training period with uncle's firm in Argentina, 1935-1936; brief return visit to Düsseldorf, Germany during return voyage from Argentina, 1936; attitude to life in GB; contact with other refugees; attending tribunal and 'enemy alien' classifications; effect of war on export business.
REEL 2 Continues: nature of internment in GB, 9/1939-6/1939. Aspects of period as internee at Lingfield Racecourse Internment Camp, Lingfield in GB, 7/1940: initially avoiding arrest to clear up business affairs, late 6/1940; story of how father avoided internment; arrest; arrival at camp; sleeping arrangements and rations; question of eventual destination. Aspects of period as internee aboard HMT Dunera during voyage from GB to Australia, 7/1940-9/1940: train journey to Liverpool and embarkation aboard ship; treatment by Pioneer Corps guards; cramped conditions on board; looting of possessions by guards.
REEL 3 Continues: further searches and looting by guards; conditions on board; attack on ship by German submarine U-56; guards looting of internees' luggage; other types of internees aboard ship; chance meeting with acquaintance from Germany who had survived sinking of SS Arandora Star; coping with limited space; entertainments and religious services; duration of voyage; arrival in Sydney, Australia; accounting for stolen possessions and compensation. Recollections of period as internee in Hay Internment Camp, Hay, Australia, 9/1940: journey to camp.
REEL 4 Continues: crowded accommodation in Camp 8; how parents were informed of his whereabouts; transfer to Camp 7; quality of rations; story of internees using Jewish term for theft in letters relating to HMT Dunera to avoid censorship; internees' self-administration of camp; facilities provided to allow students to finish education; his role in running camp canteen; role of camp bank; employment of internees who needed cash; design of camp money; removal of camp money from circulation; voluntary agricultural work; cultural activities.
REEL 5 Continues: reasons for delay in his release; general release arrangements; Major Julian Layton's recruiting for Pioneer Corps; degree of awareness of war's progress; circumstances of release, 5/1941; provision of clothes in transit camp in Liverpool, New South Wales. Aspects of voyage aboard SS Themistocles from Australia to GB, 5/1941-8/1941: embarkation and route taken; story of refugee who jumped overboard and was subsequently rescued and guarded by internees; arrival in GB, 8/1941. Reflections on period as internee in GB and Australia, 1940-1941: difficulties with and takeover of business during internment; how internment experience reinforced his Jewish identity.