Enemy Aliens, Prisoners of War

Enemy Aliens, Prisoners of War
Author: Bohdan S. Kordan
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2002-11-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 0773570128

Focusing on these and other thematic issues, Bohdan Kordan assesses the policy and practice of civilian internment in Canada during the Great War and provides a clear yet critical statement about the complex and troubling nature of this experience. Period photographs and first person accounts augment the text, helping to communicate not only the layered and textured character of the experience but the human drama of the story as well. A comprehensive roster identifying those interned in the frontier camps of the Rocky Mountains is also included.

Enemy Aliens, Prisoners of War

Enemy Aliens, Prisoners of War
Author: Bohdan S. Kordan
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2002
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780773523500

"In Enemy Aliens, Prisoners of War Bohdan Kordan assesses the policy and practice of civilian internment in Canada during the Great War and provides a clear but critical analysis of the complex nature of this experience. Period photographs and first person accounts augment the text, helping to communicate the human drama of the story. A comprehensive roster identifying those interned in the frontier camps of the Rocky Mountains is included."--Jacket

No Free Man

No Free Man
Author: Bohdan S. Kordan
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages:
Release: 2016-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0773599649

Approximately 8,000 Canadian civilians were imprisoned during the First World War because of their ethnic ties to Germany, Austria-Hungary, and other enemy nations. Although not as well-known as the later internments of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, these incarcerations played a crucial role in shaping debates about Canadian citizenship, diversity, and loyalty. Tracing the evolution and consequences of Canadian government policy towards immigrants of enemy nationality, No Free Man is a nuanced work that acknowledges both the challenges faced by the Government of Canada as well as the experiences of internees and their families. Bohdan Kordan gives particular attention to the ways in which the political and legal status of enemy subjects configured the policy and practice of internment and how this process – magnified by the challenges of the war – affected the broader concerns of public order and national security. Placing the issue of internment within the wider context of community and belonging, Kordan further delves into the ways that wartime turbulence and anxieties shaped public attitudes towards the treatment of enemy aliens. He concludes that Canada’s leadership failed to protect immigrants of enemy origin during a period of intense suspicion, conflict, and crisis. Framed by questions about government rights, responsibilities, and obligations, and based on extensive archival research, No Free Man provides a systematic and thoughtful account of Canadian government policy towards enemy aliens during the First World War.

The Island of Extraordinary Captives

The Island of Extraordinary Captives
Author: Simon Parkin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2022-11-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 198217854X

The “riveting…truly shocking” (The New York Times Book Review) story of a Jewish orphan who fled Nazi Germany for London, only to be arrested and sent to a British internment camp for suspected foreign agents on the Isle of Man, alongside a renowned group of refugee musicians, intellectuals, artists, and—possibly—genuine spies. Following the events of Kristallnacht in 1938, Peter Fleischmann evaded the Gestapo’s roundups in Berlin by way of a perilous journey to England on a Kindertransport rescue, an effort sanctioned by the UK government to evacuate minors from Nazi-controlled areas.train. But he could not escape the British police, who came for him in the early hours and shipped him off to Hutchinson Camp on the Isle of Man, under suspicion of being a spy for the very regime he had fled. During Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s, tens of thousands of German and Austrian Jews like Peter escaped and found refuge in Britain. After war broke out and paranoia gripped the nation, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered that these innocent asylum seekers—so-called “enemy aliens”—be interned. When Peter arrived at Hutchinson Camp, he found one of history’s most astounding prison populations: renowned professors, composers, journalists, and artists. Together, they created a thriving cultural community, complete with art exhibitions, lectures, musical performances, and poetry readings. The artists welcomed Peter as their pupil and forever changed the course of his life. Meanwhile, suspicions grew that a real spy was hiding among them—one connected to a vivacious heiress from Peter’s past. Drawing from unpublished first-person accounts and newly declassified government documents, award-winning journalist Simon Parkin reveals an “extraordinary yet previously untold true story” (Daily Express) that serves as a “testimony to human fortitude despite callous, hypocritical injustice” (The New Yorker) and “an example of how individuals can find joy and meaning in the absurd and mundane” (The Spectator).

"Totally Un-English"?

Author: Richard Dove
Publisher: Rodopi
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN: 9042016582

The internment of 'enemy aliens' by the British government in two world wars remains largely hidden from history. British historians have treated the subject - if at all - as a mere footnote to the main narrative of Britain at war. In the 'Great War', Britain interned some 30,000 German nationals, most of whom had been long-term residents. In fact, internment brought little discernible benefit, but cruelly damaged lives and livelihoods, breaking up families and disrupting social networks. In May 1940, under the threat of imminent invasion, the British government interned some 28,000 Germans and Austrians, mainly Jewish refugees from the Third Reich. It was a measure which provoked lively criticism, not least in Parliament, where one MP called the internment of refugees 'totally un-English'. The present volume seeks to shed more light on this still submerged historical episode, adopting an inter-disciplinary approach to explore hitherto under-researched aspects, including the historiography of internment, the internment of women, deportation to Canada, and culture in internment camps, including such notable events as the internment revue What is Life!

"Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers"

Author: Andrew Theobald
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781773101248

"Provides a comprehensive and scholarly account of the Second World War internment camp at Ripples (35 km East of Fredericton), New Brunswick. The camp had two distinct phases. In the first (1940-41), the camp housed German and Austrian Jewish refugees who had come to Britain but had then been imprisoned by the British government because they were enemy citizens. In the second phase (1941-45), the camp housed German and Italian PoWs as well as individuals (especially Italian-Canadians) who spoke out against the war effort and were thought to be supporting Germany and Italy."--

Undue Process

Undue Process
Author: Arnold Krammer
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 240
Release: 1997
Genre: History
ISBN:

The shocking truth about America's wartime treatment of German aliens.

The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior

The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior
Author: Ernest Robert Zimmermann
Publisher: University of Alberta
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2015-12-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1772120316

An in-depth history of one of Canada’s World War II internment camps that held both Nazis and anti-Nazis alike. For eighteen months during the Second World War, the Canadian military interned 1,145 prisoners of war in Red Rock, Ontario (about 100 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay). Camp R interned friend and foe alike: Nazis, anti-Nazis, Jews, soldiers, merchant seamen, and refugees whom Britain feared might comprise Hitler’s rumoured “fifth column” of alien enemies residing within the Commonwealth. For the first time and in riveting detail, the author illuminates the conditions in one of Canada’s forgotten POW camps. Backed by interviews and meticulous archival research, Zimmermann fleshes out this rich history in an accessible, lively manner. The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior will captivate military and political historians as well as non-specialists interested in the history of POWs and internment in Canada. “Most of us have an image of what prisoner of war camps looked like, either from documentary footage about Nazi POW camps, or feature films about World War II, or television situation comedies. The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior shatters all of those stereotypes and, through diligent assembly of public records, multiple library archives and personal interviews, gives us an in-depth picture of a Canadian internment camp. All of this is skillfully organized in a reader-friendly, chronological way.” —Michael Sabota, Chronicle Journal “The study shines light on the lesser-known Canadian prisoner of war (POW) camps in World War II. In this well-researched study, Zimmermann describes not only Camp R, but the inmates, guards, military command structure, politicians, and general political environment in Canada and Britain. . . . The work is easy to read and deftly supported by a broad array of sources. Zimmermann’s analysis encompasses Canadian and British history. . . . The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior sets a high standard for future research into civilian internment camps.” —Anna Marie Anderson, The Journal of Military History

Schools Behind Barbed Wire

Schools Behind Barbed Wire
Author: Karen Lea Riley
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2002
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780742501713

Often overlooked in the infamous history of U.S. internment during World War II is the plight of internee children. Drawn from personal interviews and multiple primary source materials, Schools behind Barbed Wire is the story of the boys and girls who grew up in the Crystal City, TX internment camp and spent the war years attending one of its three internment camp schools. Visit our website for sample chapters!