1915

Torrens Island

D 7738

b2173225

Digitised

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use. https://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/no-known-copyright-restrictions

A weekly, handwritten and illustrated newspaper issued by Germans interned on Torrens Island during World War I. It was edited by Walter Emde. Torrens Island is located at the mouth of Adelaide’s Port River, in South Australia. Over 350 ‘enemy aliens’ were interned at the Torrens Island Concentration Camp which opened on 9 October 1914 and closed on 17 August 1915. Internees were mainly of German or Austro-Hungarian background, including some who were naturalised British citizens. In South Australia, a relatively high percentage of migrants were of German background, and so the ‘enemy alien’ concept had a significant effect. Not all were held as internees in camps; some were required to report to local police on a regular basis. Consists of three items: No.1 (12 June 1915), No.2 (19 June 1915) and No.3 (26 June 1915).
Der Kamerad: Wochenschrift der Kriegsgefangenen [translates as The comrade: weekly of the prisoners of war] was a handwritten and illustrated periodical issued by Germans interned on Torrens Island during World War I. It consists of three items: No.1 (12 June 1915), No.2 (19 June 1915) and No.3 (26 June 1915). Pictured here is No.2 (19 June 1915). Over 350 ‘enemy aliens’ were interned at the Torrens Island Concentration Camp which opened on 9 October 1914. Internment in Australia was regulated by the War Precautions Act 1914. Internees were mainly of German or Austro-Hungarian background, including some who were naturalised British citizens. Some internees were crew members of enemy nationality who were taken from ships in Australian ports. In South Australia, a relatively high percentage of migrants were of German background, and so the ‘enemy alien’ concept had a significant effect. Not all were held as internees in camps; some were required to report to local police on a regular basis. Torrens Island Internment Camp ‘… had by far the worst reputation of all internment camps in the Commonwealth’ (Fischer, p. 194) with primitive living conditions and harsh ill-treatment of prisoners. The third issue of Der Kamerad reported that captured escapees had been flogged. After the findings of a court of enquiry into this treatment of internees was submitted, the Defence Department closed the camp on 16 August 1915. The federal government had also decided to close regional camps that had been set up in the early years of the war. Many prisoners, including South Australian internees, were transferred to Holdsworthy camp near Liverpool in New South Wales.

2022-10-25

Weekly