Lot 198
Three Items - British Detention Camps on the Isle of Man, 1940
Three items from the British detention camps on the Isle of Man, 1940. English.
1. Prayer book, part 1 - Rosh Hashana, part 2 - Yom Kippur, edited by the Liberal Jewish Congregation of the Central Promenade Camp. "Arranged by R.A. Lehman". Douglas, Isle of Man, 1949.
Prayer booklet for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, printed for German and Austrian refugees in the British detention camps on the Isle of Man. Handwritten and duplicated by stencil. On p. 11 is a glossary of abbreviations in Hebrew, English and German. [1], 34 pp, 33 cm. Good condition. Horizontal folding line. Stains. Creases to corners.
Not in OCLC.
2. An illustration of one of the detention camps in Douglas. Stenciled leaf, hand-colored. Dated in print: Douglas, 1940. At the bottom of the leaf is a handwritten dedication by two brothers whose surname is Gartner - former detainees at the Central Camp in Douglas (English). 32.5 cm. Good condition. Horizontal folding line and creases. Stains and slight defects to margins.
3. Postcard, printed and hand-colored, for Hanukkah. Printed at the Mooragh detention camp (in the city of Ramsey on the Isle of Man), in 1940. On the front is an illustration of a Hanukkah lamp surrounded with rays of light, in a light blue frame with Stars of David on the corners and the caption "Light for all / Chanuka 5701 , Mooragh Camp / Ramsey-Isle of Man". Approx. 13.5X8.5 cm. Good condition. Stains.
At the outbreak of World War II, 75,000 German and Austrian citizens were living in Great Britain; most had arrived during the 1930s, fleeing Nazi persecution. The British government, fearing infiltration by Nazi spies and collaborators, resolved on a policy of arrest and detention. First, all the German and Austrian men aged 16 to 60 were arrested; later the women were arrested as well. In July 1940 the detainees were sent to the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea (a Crown Dependency), where a number of detention camps were built. Out of the thousands of detainees on the Isle of Man, most were Jews, and many were in open opposition to the Nazi regime. In the camps they led a buoyant cultural life (many of the detainees were professors, doctors, scientists and artists). The Hutchinson Camp was even called the "Artists' Camp" because of its detainees' rich artistic activities.
Provenance: Collection of Dr. Simon Cohen.
