The enemy at home: German internees in World War I Australia

Authors:  Nadine Helmi and Gerald Fischer

Citation: Helmi, Nadine & Fischer, Gerald. The enemy at home: German internees in World War I Australia, Kensington, N.S.W. : UNSW Press, 2011.

Summary:  Media dealing with both World Wars typically concentrates on specific people such as the soldiers that participated in the battles, their families who were left behind as well as the civilian populations and governments of the nations that were involved. But what about the other segments of society? What of, for example, the people who were incarcerated by their own government during wartime? In conjunction with the Migration Heritage Centre New South Wales' online exhibition of the same name, this addresses that in its own way. At the time of the First World War close to seven thousand people of German and Austrian ancestry and varying occupations were held captive. Through a combination of extracts taken from diaries kept by the inmates and still images courtesy of the German photographer, Paul Dubotzki, the book sheds light on this situation. Through previously unreleased materials it reveals how they coped with confinement within the internment camps.

Time Period(s): World War I

External Links:

Exhibit page
http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/enemyathome/the-enemy-at-home/index.html

Goodreads page
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11534912-the-enemy-at-home

Nazis in our midst : German-Australians, internment and the Second World War

Author:  David Henderson

Citation: Henderson, David. Nazis in our midst : German Australians, internment and the Second World War, North Melbourne, Vic. : Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2016.

Summary:  This book can serve as a companion text to "The enemy at home: German internees in World War I Australia," since it deals with extremely similar subject matter. The key differences are that it covers another time period, another major conflict and explores the Australian social climate (expanding on from the matter of internment). This interpretation of the topic comes courtesy of the historian David Henderson who is with La Trobe University. Gathering his research from government documentation and interviews with the remaining German-Australians who lived through that time, Henderson paints an enlightening picture of this portion of Australian history. More than eight thousand German-Australians were interned in camps, regardless of whether or not they had pro-Nazi sympathies.  Most ironic of all, even Jews and those opposed to the Third Reich found themselves detained. Unsurprisingly, this led to friction between them and individuals within the camps that had supporters of the Third Reich, which frequently escalated into violent confrontations. Nazis in our Midst is "a fine example of historical scholarship coupled with a no-nonsense, easily accessible writing style" - Ross Fitzgerald, The Australian

Time Period(s): World War II

External Links:

Publisher's page
http://www.scholarly.info/book/473/

Sydney Morning Herald article
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/nazis-in-our-midst-review-david-henderson-looks-at-germans-in-australia-in-wwii-20161014-gs2rlm.html