Blatant Injustice: The Story of a Jewish Refugee from Nazi Germany Imprisoned in Britain and Canada during World War II 9780773572508

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Blatant Injustice

FOOTPRINTS S E R I E S Edited by Suzanne Morton

This series introduces to a wide audience extraordinary Canadians,

Blatant Injustice The Story of a Jewish Refugee from Nazi

past and present, who have led fascinating and important lives at

Germany Imprisoned in Britain and

home and throughout the world. It

Canada during World War 11 Walter W. Igersheimer

is premised on the belief that the

Edited and with a Foreword by Ian

stories of individual women and men who fell into interesting times or were participants in interesting events help nuance larger historical narratives, at times reinforcing those narratives, at others contradicting them.

Darragh

The series seeks original manuscripts but may consider the English language translation of works that have already appeared in another language. The editor of the series welcomes inquiries from authors. If you are in the process of completing a manuscript that you think might fit into the series, please contact her, care of McGill-Queen's University Press, 3430 McTavish Street, Montreal, QC H$A 1x9.

Walter W. Igersheimer

Blatant Injustice The story of a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany

imprisoned in Britain and Canada during World War II EDfTE&;&i4o wi^ll^FOREWORD;BYMN DAUBACH

McGill-Queen's University f^esftfe'/V'.'^ Montreal & Kingston • Lond J4^ Australia, internees in, 92—3 Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps. See Pioneer Corps barbed wire, 24,45, 47, 50, 117 Barrass, Captain Godfrey, 52, 88 Batista, Fulgencio (Cuban dictator), 199 Battle of the Atlantic, 146, 173-4, 206 Bermuda, 185-6

Betancourt, Joaquin, 194-5 Blair, EC. (Director of Immigration, Government of Canada), xiv-xv, xx British government: hostility towards refugees, 184; mixes refugees, Nazis and POWs, xii-xiii; unwilling to admit mistake, 132 British Home Office. See Home Office in Britain Bronfman, Samuel (chair, Jewish Refugee Committee), xx Buchenwald, Arthur's story of, 159-63 bureaucracy, fight against, 92 call girls, in Jamaica, 186-7 "Cambridge clique," xxii, 88, no Camp A, Farnham, Quebec, 99 camp (euphemism), xxiii Camp L, Quebec: beauty of landscape, 46, 57, 58, 86-7; breakup of, 99-100; daily schedule, 5 5-8; female companionship desired, 66-7; food, 53-4, 56-7; free university, 69-74, 89, 211; games, 56, 58, 87; hut meeting, 59-63; illustrations, 45, 46; internees improve huts and surroundings, 74-5, 90; medical study group in, 69-70, 71-2; music, 67-8, 72-3; POW uniforms, 64, 65, 99-100; protest, 62-3. See also Wiggs, Major L.C.W.

Camp N, Sherbrooke, viii, viii-ix, xv, /oj, 22o-2in; daily schedules, 124-6; depression, 121-3; food, 113, 119, 124; free university, 132-3; friends reunited, 118-19; hockey, 163-4,166; inadequate space, no, 119; insults, 108-9, I22 ' I4^' living conditions, 109, no, 117-18; O'Donahoe, Major DJ. ("Major Ball"), viii, 120, 171; protest and petition, 112-16; sergeant major, xv, 108-9, °4> 121, 122, 126, 148, 212; solitary confinement, 123; uniforms, 102; winter, 123-4, 126; work parties, 117, 119, 121, 171-3 Camp Q, Monteith, Ontario, 118, 22in Camp R, Red Rock, Ontario, 156-7 Camp S, St Helen's Island, Montreal, Quebec, 154-5 Canadian Government: hostility towards Jewish refugees, xiv, xv, xx, xxi; letter to Walter in Cuba, 189; "no release in Canada" policy, 91, 168 certificate of identity, from Canadian government, 184,188 certificate of registration for foreigners in UK, 2 Churchill, Winston (British prime minister), xi, xii, xxi cigarettes, value in camp, 54-5 Citadel of Quebec, xxii, 45, 50

226

INDEX

civil rights, denial of, vii, xxiii-xxiv class structure within camps, xxi-xxii. See also Cambridge clique clothing. See uniforms Coldwell, M.J., xxi communists, 38-9, 156 Cuba: refuge for internees, 175-84; Walter arrested as a spy, 197-8; experiences in Havana, xvii, 191-204, 212-13; released from Camp N for Cuba, 184. See also Goitein, Olga Deemed Suspect (Eric Koch), xxi, xxii, 2i9n6 degrading treatment, viii, ix, 21-3, 33-4,41,48 depression, vii-viii, 59, 75-6, 84, 121-3, 157, 158, 219111 Draper, J. Patricia, xv Dunera (prison ship), 92 Dunkirk, evacuation (May-June 1940), xi, xxix, 12—14, 22on Edmison, J.A., 115, 171, 22in education groups. See Camp L, "free university," Camp N Ellwood, Maj. W.J.H. (officer and commandant at Camp N), xvi-xvii, 171 Erich (internee), 26, 28, 31, 43 escape, thoughts of, xx, 84 Ettrick (prison ship), xix-xx, 31-44, 212; crowding and stench, 34, 38; diarrhea INDEX

227

epidemic, 40; disembarkation of internees at Quebec City, 43-4; foul latrines, 38, 40; refugees mixed with POWs, 36-7, 39 fatigue duty (compulsory chores), 56, 123 female companionship, desire for, 66-7, *}o, 151-2 Fernandez, Julio Fernandez, 191, 192-3, 197, 199, 203-4 food: at Camp N, 113, 119-24; hoarding, 53; hunger, 23-4, 43; on prison ship, 35, 37; stealing, 54; typical meals at Camp L, 56-7 Fordham, Lt-Col R.S.W. (Commissioner of Refugee Camps, Ottawa), 189 Frederick (Frederich) of Prussia, Prince. See Lingen, Count Fritz games, in camp, 56, 58, 87, 90, 164 Geneva Convention, ignored, viii, 119 German nationals, feared in Britain, xi-xii, 18 German POWs and Nazis, mixed with Jewish refugees, xii-xiii, 36-7?395 5 J ~ 2 Globe and Mail, xxi Goitein, Olga, xvii, 790, 199-204, 209-10, 213 Goldner, Stanley, 167, 169, 175-6, 178, 179. See also Jewish Refugee Committee

Grant, Freddy (internee), xxiii Griffin, Major S.H. (commandant, Camp N), viii, 120, 171 Hanfstaengl, Dr Ernst (internee), 156 Hayes, Saul, xx, 84-5. See also Jewish Refugee Committee Heinz (internees). See Arlsberg, Heinz; Aufrecht, Heinz Herne Bay College, xxvi, 2 Hillingdon County Council Hospital, xxviii, 5-15 Hitler, Adolf, x, xxv hockey, 163-4, J66 Home Office in Britain, xi, xiii, xiv, xv, 61, 84, 91-2, 98, 132, 168, 170. See also Paterson, Alexander House of Commons (England): debates on internees, 93 human and legal rights, in wartime, xxiii—xxiv hut-father in Camp L. See Taebrich, Dr hut meetings in Camp L, 59-63, 65 Hut 16, comradeship in, 78-9, J

33-4 Huyton camp (England), 26-30 identity papers. See internees Igersheimer, Hilde (Walter's sister), 17-21,24,75, 83, 86,207 Igersheimer, Josef (Walter's father), xxvi, 75-6, 177, 178, 179, 205, 206, 207 Igersheimer, Walter W: arrest and imprisonment, 20-1; barred from

hospital work, x, 14-15; certificate of identity, 184,188; certificate of registration, 2; classified as refugee from Nazi oppression, x-xi, xxix, 4; family leaves Germany, xxv-xxvi; with friends (1936 photo), 3; glaucoma (Walter's eye disease), ix, xxvi, 18, 157-8, 208; hatred of Nazism, xxvii, 39, 88; internment in Canada, see Camp L, Camp N; internment in England, 22-30; life shaped by experiences, 211-13; medical student in England, xxvii-xxix, 5-15; memoir's new perspective on camps, xxi; offered scholarship in US, 80, 83-4; prison ship, 31-44; struggles to immigrate to US, 91, 159, 167, 169-70, 174 (via Cuba, 175-84); successful immigration to US and reunion with family, 205-7; writing and publishing of memoirs, xvii-xix. See also Cuba,, Igersheimer (Hilde, Josef), Jewish Refugee Committee, Paterson, Alexander; immigration policies, towards Jewish refugees, x immigration to the US. See United States internees: artists among, 46, 73, 89, 103, 104, 148, 149, 150; craft sales for war effort, xvi, 104; identity papers lost, 91, 92, 93, 129; isolation of, xx, xxi, 75, 76, 134; status of, 51, 61; supporters of, xiii—xiv, 228

INDEX

xx, xxi, 93. See also Cuba, Je.wish internees, Jewish Refugee Committee, Paterson, Alexander, trade Jamaica, 186-7 Jewish internees, their contribution to professions and to Canada, xviii-xix, xxiv Jewish Refugee Committee: helps Walter travel to Cuba, xvii, 175—80, 184, 187; internees' limited awareness of their efforts, xx, 85, 127; visits to camps, 84-5, 167 Jewish refugees, imprisonment of (June 1940), vii, xii-xiii Johnny (friend of Walter's), xxviii, 6-7, 8, 16-17 Kaffenburg, Albert (tobacco industrialist), 193,197 Kaffenburg, Sylvia (Red Cross representative in Cuba), 192, 197-8 Kahle, Hans (spokesman, Camp N, and veteran of Spanish civil war), H7 Kallmann, Helmut (internee), xix, xxii Kempton Park racecourse internment camp (England), 22-6 King, Mackenzie (prime minister of Canada), xiv, xxi Kiningham, Jeanne (Walter's second wife), 210

INDEX

229

Koch, Eric (internee and author), xxi, xxii Kristallnacht, 143, 160 Lehmann, Herbert (internee), 5 8-9 Lingen, Count Fritz (internee), xxii, 44, 51,212 Luning, Karl, 197, 199 Lynton, Mark (internee and author), xxi Macintosh, Sergeant Major: antiSemitism, xv, 108-9, I225 bullies internees, 121, 125, 126; caricature of, 148; resistance from internees, 114, 212 mail, 61-3, 82-3, 87, 92; censored, xx, 52, 61; exchange with family, 82, 177, 179, 182 Mann, Dr Ida, 18, 21, 83 McFadyan, Sir Andrew, xiii-xiv meals. See food medical and dental care, lacking, ix, 81, 135-6 Meyeroff, Heinz (internee), ix, 2i9n4 National Archives of Canada, xix Nazi persecution of Jews, xxv-xxvi. See also Buchenwald, Arthur's story of, Stern, Leo Nazi victories in Europe (May 1940), xi, 9-10 Nazism, refugees' hatred of, xxii, 39,88 Newcomb, Dr, xxviii

Newfoundland scheme, 168 O'Donahoe, Major D.J. ("Major Ball"), viii, 120, 171, 22ini panic caused by British defeats, xii Paterson, Alexander: advice to Walter, 129-31, 145, 183-4; failure to persuade US to grant immigration visas to internees, 146, 155, 167-8, 172; hopes of internees revived, 131, 132; release of some internees, 133, 146; reports mention Camp N anti-Semitism, xv; requests to Canadian Government refused, 168 Penfield, Dr Wilder, 215-17 "Piggy-Wiggy." See Wiggs, Maj. L.C.W. (Camp L commandant) Pioneer Corps, 94, 149, 182, 184, 22On

press campaign against German nationals (UK, 1940), xi, 18 Priester, Hans (internee), 195-7, 198-9, 204 prison ships, to Canada, xiii, xix-xx, xxi; Arandora Star, 39-40, 91, 92, 93, 129; Dunera, 92; Ettrick, and stowaways on, xix-xx. See also Ettrick (prison ship) protests: Camp L, 62—3, 65; Camp N, 112-16 Quebec City and inhabitants, 47, 66-7, 79

Quebec City camp. See Camp L, Quebec recreation. See games, in camp, sports, in camp Red Cross, ix, 192 Refugee Children's Movement (Kindertransport), 222*12 Refugee Committee at Camp L, 90-2 refugees, from Nazi oppression, x-xi, xxix, 4, 61, 67; in Britain, xi, xii, 18 relations between soldiers and internees: Camp L, 48-9, 54, 5 5-6, 72-3, 74, 76, 88; Camp N, 108-16, 120, 121, 122-3, I 3 I ) 156 release authorized for some internees, 93-4, 133, 146-7 Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (us president), 173-4, 222n Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, ix, 81 Sherbrooke camp. See Camp N Simpson, Dr J.C. (Dean, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University), 215-17 Sinclair, Sonja, xviii Skelton, O.D. (Under-Secretary, Department of External Affairs), xiv Smith, Captain, 186-7 solitary confinement, xv-xvi, 123 sports, in camp, 73-4, 89-90, 163-4,166. 230

I N DEX

St Mary's Hospital Medical School, xxvii Stern, Leo (internee), 123, 135-44, 151; hernia operation refused, 136; story of persecution in 19305 Germany, 137-43 Stethem, Colonel H. (Director, Internment Operations, Ottawa), xv, 155 strip-search, viii, 48, 109 Taebrich, Dr (internee and hutfather), 59, 121, 133-4, 164, 212 theft, by guards, 48-9, 93 Ticho (internee), 54, 55 Tory, Dr H.M., xxi trade, between soldiers and internees, 54 transfer to new camps announced, 98 Tufts College Medical School, xx, 76, 80, 83-4, 208 U-boats, 39-40, 146, 204 uniforms (POW), 64, 65, 100, 102 United States, hoped-for immigration to, 51,91, 159, 167, 169-70, 174; via Cuba, 175-84

INDEX

231

university ("free university"), xxiv; in Camp L, 69-74, 89; in Camp N, 132-3 Vera, 185-6 war: air raids on London, 19-20, 86, 94-6; British attitudes, xxix, 6-7, 8-11, 86, 94-6; invasion of Russia (June 1941), 180-1; Nazi victories, 9-12; Pearl Harbor (December 1941), 194; wounded from Dunkirk, 12-14 War Office in Britain, 18, 61 Wiggs, Major L.C.W. (Camp L commandant, known as "Piggy-Wiggy"), 72-4, 87, 88-9,97-9,212 Wilson, Cairine R. (senator), xxi work in camps: Camp L, 74-5, 90; CampN, 133, 155-6, 158, 172-3 "You'll Get Used to It" (song), xxiii