Description
Object description
German Jewish civilian in Berlin and Hamburg, Germany, 1933-1938; inmate in Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Germany, 11/1938-12/1938; refugee in GB, 1939-1940; internee in Kempton Park Racecourse and Huyton Internment Camps, GB, 6/1940-7/1940, aboard HMT Dunera during voyage from GB to Australia, 7/1940-9/1940 and Hay Internment Camp, Australia, 9/1940-11/1941; private served with No 87 Coy, Pioneer Corps in GB, 1942-1944; officer served with Special Operations Executive in GB and Italy, 1944, prisoner of war in Stalag XVII-A, Kaisersteinbruck, Austria and Oflag 79, Waggum, Germany, 1/1945-4/1945; officer served with Allied Control Commission Germany in Germany, 1946-1947
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Berlin and Hamburg, Germany, 1917-1938: upbringing in non-religious Jewish family in Berlin; education; importance of left and right wing youth movements in Germany after First World War; development of Hitler Youth; recruitment to German Jewish youth movement Kameraden, 1927; anti-Nazi gentile and Jewish friends; parents' political attitudes; personal anti-Nazi political activities and first arrest by Gestapo in 1934; imprisonment and period of solitary confinement in Prinz Albrecht Strasse then Kolumbia House; release.
REEL 2 Continues: parents' reaction to his imprisonment; opinion of adopting a perspective wider than a retrospective view of the 1930s; opinion of opposition to emerging Nazi regime; relations with friends and family; effects of Nazi policies on family; decision to become merchant seaman, 1934; story of being interrogated by Gestapo after one voyage; story illustrating relationship with younger brother; arrest in during Kristallnacht in Hamburg, 9/11/1938-10/11/1938. Recollections of period as prisoner in Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Germany, 11/1938-12/1938: reception procedure on arrival in camp; six week imprisonment; crowded conditions in barracks; meeting rabbi.
REEL 3 Continues: organisation of camp inmates; work; daily routine; food; roll calls; cold conditions and inadequate clothing; opinion of rôle Nazis envisaged for early concentration camps; reaction to sight of work horses in camp; grading of inmates; public floggings; loss of individuality; survival instinct; being beaten on ear by Schultzstaffel (SS) officer; question of protesting; feelings of degradation and uncertainty; camp discharge procedure. Aspects of period as refugee in GB, 1939-1940: use of 'Agricultural Permit' enabling him to enter GB; sister Gisela's arrival via Kindertransport in GB.
REEL 4 Continues: story of sister's progress and settlement in GB; arrival in GB, spring 1939; effect of outbreak of Second World War on personal plans, 9/1939; opinion of Pioneer Corps. Recollections of period as internee in Kempton Park Racecourse and Huyton Internment Camps, GB, aboard HMT Dunera and Hay Intnerment Camp, Australia, 6/1940-11/1941: status as 'enemy alien'; arrest and move to Kempton Park Racecourse, then Huyton Intenment Camps, 6/1940-7/1940; conditions at Huyton Internment Camp compared to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp; voyage aboard HMT Dunera from GB to Australia, 7/1940-9/1940; morale of internees; treatment by British troops; reaction to policy of internment; conditions and treatment in Australia.
REEL 5 Continues: facilities and organisation in Hay Internment Camp, Australia; activities for internees; claim situation regarding possessions stolen aboard HMT Dunera; background to release and return to GB, 12/1941; opinion of play 'The Dunera Boys'; attitudes towards British Government's policy of internment. Aspects of period as private with No 87 Coy, Pioneer Corps in GB, 1942-1943: recruitment to company, 2/1/1942; postings in GB including to Pembroke Docks, Aberaeron and Long Marston. Aspects of training as officer with Special Operations Executive in GB, 1944: background to recruitment; training at STS 3 Stodham Park, Liss, STS 21 Arisaig House, Arisaig and STS 62 Anderson Manor, Winterbourne Anderson.
REEL 6 Continues: reaction to training; name change from Heinz Spanglet to Stephen Dale with papers supplied by Special Operations Executive; Aspects of operations as officer with Special Operations in Italy, 1944: journey to Italy via Gibraltar and Algiers, French Algeria; use of base near Monopoli; inaccurate parachute drop into Northern Italy. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Italy and Austria, 1944-1945: arrest by Germans and Cossacks serving with German forces; fears of being shot; initial interrogation at Tolmezzo; speaking German during interrogation; cover story; interrogations; conditions at Tolmezzo; meeting up with British personnel at Coroneo Prison, Trieste.
REEL 7 Continues: conditions and life in Coroneo Prison, Trieste; move to Vienna, Austria by train and his handing over by Gestapo to German Army. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Stalag XVII-A, Kaisersteinbruck, Austria and Oflag 79, Waggum, Germany, 1/1945-4/1945: conditions in Stalag XVII-A, Kaisersteinbruck, Austria; nationalities in camp; reaction to meeting British 'escapees'; move to Oflag 79, Waggum near Brunswick, Germany, 2/1945; problems establishing identity with British prisoners of war in camp; liberation of camp by Ninth Army, United States Army, 12/4/1945; relief after fear of detection as German Jew; story of changing name to 'Stephen Turner' in Italy; Gestapo interrogations.
REEL 8 Continues: opinion of British and German authorities during Second World War; liberation and reluctance to leave camp, 12/4/1945; warning to ex-prisoners of war not to eat too much; attitude towards guards after liberation; relief at captors' failure to discover true identity; concern for family in Germany; story of meeting Austrian women and their accusations of rape against American troops; repatriation to GB, 4/1945. Aspects of period in GB, 4/1945-11/1946: affection for GB; Red Cross confirmation that family in Germany had not survived Holocaust; opinion of slow emergence of scale of Holocaust; reaction to VE Day and public celebrations in London, 8/5/1945; reaction to VJ Day whilst on holiday in Littlehampton, 15/8/1945; personal affects of war.
REEL 9 Continues: Aspects of period as officer with Allied Control Commission Germany in Germany, 1946-1947: story of posting back to Germany, 11/1946; de-Nazification duties in Germany; reaction to returning to Germany; relations with pre-war friends; fate of family during Holocaust; hope for brother's survival. Reflections of period as officer with Special Operations Executive, 1944-1945: imprisonment and treatment by Gestapo and Schutzstaffel (SS); attitude towards Italians; opinion of Special Operations Executive; frustrations with own service with Special Operations Executive. Reflections on period as civilian in GB, 1947-1994: recognition of personal post-war depression; story of marriage to war widow; problems in finding civilian employment.
REEL 10 Continues: story of naturalisation and problems encountered, 1947; reaction to acquiring British nationality; reaction to neo-Nazism; attitude towards to Holocaust Memorial at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel; opinion of help received by Jewish and non-Jewish organisations in GB; opinion of German refugees' contribution to British society; question of requirements for successful integration as refugee; attitude to wartime service with Pioneer Corps; civilian activities with agency connected to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
REEL 11 Continues: attitude to British nationality and issues of race and nationalism.