Rottnest Island Internment Camp

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The so-called "camp chapel" of the Rottnest Iceland internment camp (approx. 1915)
Tompson Bay (2008)

The Rottnest Island Internment Camp ( English Rottnest Island Internment Camp ) was on Rottnest Island , an island off the west coast of Western Australia , which is about 18 kilometers west of Fremantle . The camp was set up on Tompson Bay , where an Aboriginal prison building already existed. In the camp, which was operated from 1914 to 1915, people of German and Hungarian-Austrian descent who had lived in Australia for years were interned during the First World War . Furthermore, sailors from German merchant ships who were in the port of Fremantle at the start of the war were arrested there, as were the captured marines of the small cruiser SMS Emden, which was sunk by HMAS Sydney . The camp was unsuitable for accommodating large numbers of people and was poorly prepared. Both the hygienic conditions and the inadequate catering in the camp meant that this camp soon had to be closed.

During the Second World War , this internment camp was occupied with Italians for several months in 1940. Once again it turned out that it was not suitable as a camp, and the camp was again not prepared and it was abandoned.

First World War

Camp inmates

A large number of the internees were of Austrian origin , coming from the Slavic ethnic groups . They had mostly in the mines of Kalgoorlie worked and were after the occupation of their lands by Austria-Hungary as enemy aliens (German internal enemies interned). Other inmates were Austrians and Italians, the German Consul General for Western Australia and the seafarers of the German merchant ships SS Greifswald , SS Thuringia and SS Neumünster , which at the start of the war lay in the port of Fremantle, where they had been captured by the Australian Navy. In 1914 the survivors of the SMS Emden of the German Imperial Navy were interned as prisoners of war on Rottnest Island.

Camp life

When the first internees arrived on the island, they were housed in the stone prison building called the Quod . Later there were only tents for those arriving, which were only suitable for short-term stays. They had to cook their own food in their tents because there was no kitchen in the camp. The hygienic conditions were intolerable, the food rations were insufficient and hard to enjoy. There have been reports of ill-treatment by military guards. There was also a dispute over the purchase of cigarettes in the camp. Despite these unfortunate circumstances, the camp inmates formed a band and a football team, held readings, opened a coffee and enjoyed themselves on the beach and in the sea. In September 1915 there were 989 people in the camp, including 841 people of Austro-Hungarian and German origin and 148 prisoners of war. After constant complaints and arguments between inmates and the camp administration, the camp was closed towards the end of 1915. After that, the use of Rottnest Island as a holiday island was resumed.

The internees came first to Garden Island and then to Holsworthy internment camp .

Second World War

In the 1930s, Rottnest Island was massively expanded and fortified into a military defense facility because an attack on Fremantle had been feared. The buildings on Tompson Bay were integrated into this military concept.

The internment camp on Rottnest Island was operated again for a short period from January to September 1940. Italians were interned. As in the First World War, the camp had not been prepared. It was unsuitable and given up after a short time.

After the Second World War

After the end of the Second World War, around 200 Italian internees had to repair buildings on the island for civil purposes for four months. Relics of the defenses are still visible today. In 2014, an exhibition was opened and a play was performed to commemorate the founding of the internment camp 100 years ago. The stone prison building, in which internees were also housed, is to be rededicated as a hotel.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Rottnest Insland Internment Camp , on migrationsheritage.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved October 12, 2017
  2. ↑ a b Military History , on rottnestisland.com. Retrieved October 12, 2017
  3. ^ Rottnest Island, Western Australia (1915-1915 and 1940) , on naa.gov.au. Retrieved October 12, 2017
  4. ^ A Tribute to World War One @ Rottnest Island , on weekendnotes.com. Retrieved October 12, 2017
  5. ↑ Celeste Liddle: Rottnest Island: the internment camp turned favorite holiday destination, without debate , on theguardian.com. Retrieved October 12, 2017

Coordinates: 31 ° 59 ′ 52.8 ″  S , 115 ° 32 ′ 13.2 ″  E