to what extent were the world war ii internment camps on the isle of man ‘total institutions’?...

7/29/2019 To what extent were the World War II internment camps on the Isle of Man ‘total institutions’? A case study of On…

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/to-what-extent-were-the-world-war-ii-internment-camps-on-the-isle-of-man-total 1/46

7292270 1

To what extent were the World War II internment camps on the Isle

of Man ‘total institutions’? A case study of Onchan Camp 1940-41

7292270

This thesis is 11,593 words long, excluding the bibliography.

This thesis is submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts

in the Honours School of History at the University of Manchester.



7292270 2

Contents

Section Page Number

List of illustrations 3

Acknowledgements 3

Introduction 4

Chapter I 8

Chapter II 16

Chapter III 26

Chapter IV 34

Chapter V (conclusion) 38

Bibliography 43



7292270 3

List of illustrations

Figure Description Page number

1.0

[Frontpage]

‘Front cover of final issue of The Onchan Pioneer,

published on 20 July 1941’

MS 22086 - The Onchan Pioneer , internment camp

magazines, part set’, 1940-1941

1

1.1

‘ Pyramid model of Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy

of Needs”’

Available online at: [Maslow]

http://www.maslowshierarchyofneeds.net/maslows-

hierarchy-of-needs-theory/

10

1.2

‘The Front page of issues of The Onchan Pioneer

and Onchan Camp Youth.’

MS 22086 - The Onchan Pioneer , internment camp

magazines, part set’, 1940-1941

15

1.3

‘Photograph of Onchan taken in April 1940. Note

the barbed wire and armed guards.’

MS 10885 Corkill, Mike. ‘“Unexpected Guests” –

Onchan’

18

1.4

‘Weekly menu for Onchan’

MS 23044 John Barwick, ‘Alien Internment Camps

in the United Kingdom’, 14 April 1941.

21

1.5

‘Envelope containing letter sent by Rudolf

Breitbarth to his daughter Marianne. Note the

censor’s approval label and that Breitbarth

specified that it is “written in English”’.

MS 11656 ‘Correspondence from Onchan internee

Rudolf Breitbarth to his wife Edna and daughter

Marianne’ (31 August 1940).

24

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Wendy Thirkettle, Yvonne Cresswell and Alan Franklin at

the Manx National Heritage Library who, patiently, directed me towards

interesting and relevant materials; the Foulger family, who kindly provided me

with accommodation and transport for the duration of my visit to the Isle of Man;

friends and family, who commented on this thesis before it was submitted;

Professor Peter Gatrell, who first introduced me to Erving Goffman’s Asylums;

and Professor Penny Summerfield for her time, advice and reassurance.



7292270 4

Introduction

At the outbreak of the Second World War there were 75,000 Germans and Austrians

living in Britain.1 Though some had been residents for many years, most arrived

during the 1930s as refugees from Nazi persecution. Following the passing of

Defence Regulation 18B in September 1939, which gave the Home Secretary

authority to intern people indefinitely without trial,2

120 national tribunals were set

up to classify refugees and aliens into three categories: ‘A’ for ‘those to be interned’,

‘B’ for those ‘not to be interned but subject to restriction’, and ‘C’ for those to remain

‘at liberty’.3 Very few were assigned category ‘A’ status, however, and by March

1940 only 600, less than one per cent, faced internment.4

In spite of this, following the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, fears

emerged that Hitler’s government had planted ‘fifth columnists’ amongst refugees to

gather information and support German forces in an invasion of Britain.5 This resulted

in the British government’s undiluted usage of Defence Regulation 18B, which

culminated in June when the Home Secretary, John Anderson, ordered the internment

of all class ‘B’ and ‘C’ males below the age of seventy.6

Precise figures are difficult

to obtain but it is estimated that, by July 1940, 22,000 Germans and Austrians were

interned in camps in Britain and on the Isle of Man.7

1

Colin Holmes, ‘Enemy Aliens?’ History Today 40 (1990), pp. 25-31 (p. 25.)2

Aaron Goldman, ‘Defence Regulation 18B: emergency internment of aliens and political dissenters in

Great Britain during World War II’ Journal of British Studies 12 (1973) pp. 120-136 (pp. 120-21).3

Peter & Leni Gilman, “Collar the Lot”: how Britain interned and expelled its many wartime refugees

(London, 1980) p. 42.4

Gilman, “Collar the Lot”, p. 42.5

Yvonne Cresswell, Living with the Wire: civilian internment in the Isle of Man during two World

Wars (Douglas, 2010) p. 596Angus Calder, The Peoples War: Britain, 1939-1945 (London, 1969) p.352.

7Holmes, ‘Enemy Aliens?’, p. 27.



7292270 5

Most historical accounts of internment focus upon government policy and neglect

analysis of the camps.8 The primary objective of this thesis, therefore, is to refocus

attention on the Isle of Man by examining the experiences of 1300 German men

interned in Onchan camp between June 1940 and July 1941. This thesis will relate

sociological theory to it, identifying the characteristics of internment camps in an

effort to understand how internment affected individuals. For this reason, rather than

analyse policy, the following chapters examine memoirs, letters, interview transcripts,

and newspaper articles, within the context of Erving Goffman’s theory of the “ total

institution” advanced in his famous sociological work, Asylums. 9

In broad terms, a total institution is defined as a place of both residence and work

where a large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from wider society for an

appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of

life.10 More pertinent to this examination, Goffman categorises internment camps

along with penitentiaries, POW camps, and concentration camps, as ‘total

institution[s] … organised to protect the outside community against what are felt to be

intentional dangers to it’, where the ‘welfare of the persons sequestered are not the

immediate issue’.11 Though scholars have identified as many as twelve different

characteristics of total institutions in Asylums,12 for the purposes of this analysis only

the three most relevant will be examined. These are, “role dispossession”,

“contaminative exposure”, and “looping ”.

8

Tony Kushner & David Cesarani, The internment of aliens in twentieth century Britain (London,

1993) pp. 5-6; Peter & Leni Gilman, “Collar the Lot ; Colin Holmes, Immigrants and minorities in

British society (London, 1982).9

Erving Goffman, Asylums: essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates

(London, 1991) pp. 10-11.10

Goffman, Asylums, p. 11.11

Goffman, Asylums, pp. 11-12.12Madeline Karmel, ‘Total institution and self-mortification’ Journal of Health and Social Behaviour

10 (1969) pp. 134-141 (pp. 134-38).



7292270 6

Goffman states that, in civil life, people perform a succession of roles throughout the

day. To utilise a contemporary example, a working woman may begin her day in

motherly role helping prepare her children for school. While at work she adapts her

behaviour to suit the role demanded by her employment. At lunch she adopts a more

relaxed role amongst friends. If she were to end the day with a training course, she

would fulfil the role of a student. For Goffman, “role dispossession” constitutes the

loss of an individual’s right to plan their life and occurs in total institutions for three

reasons. First, the institution takes responsibility for scheduling the life of the

individual who, consequently, loses a sense of self-determination.13 Second, human

beings associate different roles with different physical spaces. Within the restricted

perimeter of the institution, the boundaries that separate these spaces become blurred

and this leads to the collapse of role differentiation.14 Third, the effects of “role

dispossession” are most severe when an internee is subject to open-ended

incarceration or when they believe that they are closest to release.15

“Contaminative exposure” constitutes the violation of ‘the individual’ and takes

several forms.16

While there is no evidence that assault or rape occurred in Onchan,

violation of personal information and effects was common, since staff had access to

internees’ personal history, social status and possessions.17 Likewise, as internees

were forced to share food, accommodation and even their beds, precious little private

space was available. Most interesting, however, is Goffman’s notion of “ status

13




Goffman, Asylums, pp. 30-35.17Manx National Heritage Library (Hereafter MNHL): MS 1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess,

internee on Isle of Man, 1940-1941’ part I p. 8.



7292270 8

creative culture, first by examining the Popular University and Onchan Technical

Institute, and second by examining poetry, art, and theatre within the camp. This

chapter stresses that a high standard of education in Onchan enabled internees to

overcome many of the characteristics that Goffman defines. However, before either of

these approaches can be taken, it is important to demonstrate why Goffman was

chosen over other theorists and to outline the complexity of internment

historiography.

I

The existing scholarship that underpins this thesis can be divided into three

categories: sociological theory, World War II internment specific to Britain and the

Isle of Man, and case studies of internment in different parts of the world and at

different times. It is necessary to acknowledge that Asylums does not constitute a

definitive theory of internment. It is a general work that describes a diverse collection

of total institutions, ranging from orphanages to psychiatric hospitals, army barracks

and even convents.22

Whilst it is clear to those familiar with Asylums that Goffman’s

analyses are more pertinent to studies of internment than they are to, say, monasteries,

it is important to recognise the limitations that accompany such a broad scope. Entire

passages of his work are not relevant to this study. For instance, his account of

Chinese political prison camps where “branding” and “loss of limbs” were

commonplace is completely irreconcilable with conditions in Onchan.23 Likewise his

focus upon psychiatric hospitals tends to detract from other kinds of institution

outlined in his introduction. Lastly, it is more than fifty years since Asylums was first

22Goffman, Asylums, p. 16.




7292270 9

published and since then academics from various backgrounds have revised

Goffman’s ideas in line with their own.24

Despite these issues, the importance of Asylums should not be understated. It is

credited as one of several texts published in the 1960s that contributed to major

psychiatric reform in North America and Europe.25

Goffman’s practical methods of

observation ushered in a new era in sociology whereby theory became increasingly

dependent upon practice.26 He was the sixth most cited ‘author in humanities’ in

books published in 2007; surpassing Weber, Freud and Chomsky, thus demonstrating

his work’s enduring relevance to modern sociological theory.27 However, the most

convincing way to justify this approach is by demonstrating why alternate theories

were rejected.

Abraham Maslow’s theory, which states that human beings interact with five different

need states: “physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualisation”, could make

for a compelling comparison with internment.28

However, his assertion that ‘when an

organism is dominated by physiological needs all other needs become nonexistent’

has already been disproved by ex-internees and historians.29 The British POW Frank

Bell, for instance, who succeeded in establishing a covert university in Java and

Borneo, fulfilled Maslow’s higher needs of ‘esteem’ and ‘self-actualisation’ despite

24

Carol Gardner, ‘Analyzing gender in public places: rethinking Goffman’s vision of everyday life’

The American Sociologist 20 (1999) pp. 42-56 - Brooks argues that recent work on women’s

experience in public spaces changes the notion of communal space defined by Goffman.25

Michele Tansella ‘Community psychiatry without mental hospitals: a review’ Journal of the Royal

Society of Medicine 79 (1986) pp. 664-669 (pp. 665).26

Tansella ‘Community psychiatry without mental hospitals’, p. 667.27

Mark Nolan, ‘The most cited authors of books in the humanities’ Times Higher Education available

online at: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=405956&sectioncode=26

[accessed 27.03.2012]28Abraham H. Maslow, Motivation and personality: Third ed. (London, 1987) p. XII-XV

29Maslow, Motivation and personality, pp. 16-17.



7292270 10

facing near starvation.30 Similarly, the historian Mark Wyman has drawn attention to

the remarkable success of the Free Ukrainian University, set up despite problems of

poverty and homelessness, by exiles in Vienna during the Bolshevik Revolution.31

The inflexible sequential element of Maslow’s theory is problematic. Even despite

Martin Bloom’s effort to reconcile this, arguing that subsistence and not full

satisfaction of one stage is required to progress to the next, there is a still larger

problem: Maslow does not establish a clear association with internment, whereas

Goffman’s does.32

Figure - 1.1 Pyramid model of Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”.

Michel Foucault’s concept of “governmentality” is especially useful for considering

how order was maintained in camps. Foucault encouraged us to think beyond

conceptualising power as a top down process of governing bodies. He suggested we

think of it as including social forms of control, too.33 In particular, he argued that

30

Frank Bell, Undercover University (Cambridge: Elizabeth Bell, 1990).31

Mark Wyman, DPs: Europe’s Displaced Persons, 1945-51 (London, 1998) p. 122.32

Martin Bloom, ‘Survival in extreme conditions’ Suicide and life-threatening behaviour 13 (1983) pp.195-206 (p. 203).33

Gary Gutting, Foucault: a very short introduction (Oxford, 2005) pp. 50, 74.



7292270 11

unspoken contracts of behaviour and mutual surveillance between individuals

constitute a central feature of sustaining civil order.34 This is especially relevant to

Onchan because historians have shown that, despite the presence of a camp

administration and guards, internees governed and policed themselves by electing one

another to leadership roles that would usually be occupied by staff.35

In this instance

Foucault’s concept is more robust than Goffman’s, for it is asserted in Asylums that

staff and internee roles are ‘formally prescribed’ and ‘distinct from one another’.36

Unfortunately, Foucault’s “governmentality”, like Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs”,

does not relate closely or consistently enough to internment to make for an extensive

synthesis.

Turning to the historiography in Britain, aside from François Lafitte’s critical account

of wholesale internment published in 1940, few broached the subject during the war

or in the three decades that followed.37 Historians have debated the reasons for this.

Tony Kushner and David Cesarani suggest it was because internees did not want to

‘dwell upon their experiences’, or ‘appear ungrateful’ to the British government that

had granted them asylum.38

Panikos Payani has argued that internment conflicted with

‘the image of Britain … fighting for democracy and freedom against totalitarianism’

and was consciously written out of the history books.39 Colin Holmes sees internment

34

Colin Gordon, ‘Governmental rationality: an introduction’, in Graham Burchell, Colin Gordon and

Peter Miller (eds.) The Foucault effect: studies in governmentality (London, 1991) pp. 1-48 (p. 32). 35

Connery Chappell, Island of Barbed Wire: internment on the Isle of Man in World War Two

(London, 1984), pp. 110-112; Gillman, “Collar the lot!”, p. 227.36


François Lafitte, The Internment of aliens (London, 1940).38

Kushner & Cesarani, The Internment of aliens, pp. 5-6.39

Panikos Panayi, ‘A marginalised subject? The historiography of enemy alien internment in Britain’,in Richard Dove (ed.) “Totally Un-English”: Britain’s internment of “enemy aliens” in two world

wars (London, 2005) pp. 17-26 (p. 20).



7292270 12

as part of the ‘sparse history of immigration’ that did not fully emerge until the 1980s

and 1990s.40

Holmes’s assessment is astute: though Jewish internees’ experiences have been well

documented as a result of the increasing attention that the Holocaust has received

since the 1970s, it was not until the 1980s that dedicated histories of British

internment began to emerge.41

“Collar the Lot”, written by journalists Peter and Leni

Gillman in 1980, constitutes an insightful but incomplete examination of wholesale

internment that is inhibited by the Home Office’s refusal to release many ‘sensitive

files on grounds of security’ until the early 1990s.42 The same year saw the

publication of Ronald Stent’s A Bespattered Page? Written by a former Onchan

internee, it is a detailed narrative that begins with the migration of German Jews to

Britain in the 1930s and continues until the end of the war. 43 Published in 1984,

Connery Chappell’s Island of barbed wire is still the most comprehensive account of

internment on the Isle of Man. It is especially valuable because, unlike most studies,

Chappell’s also describes the experiences of people who engaged with the camps but

were not internees themselves. His interviews with retired government officials,

police officers, religious leaders, and members of camp staff, therefore offer a useful

counterbalance to internee memoirs.44

By the second half of the 1980s the study of British internment from the perspective

of German Jews had lost momentum, but during the early 1990s, essays by Terri

40

Colin Holmes, Immigrants and minorities in British Society (London, 1982) p. 72.41

See Dan Stone, Constructing the Holocaust: a study in historiography (London, 2003) for

historiographical review; or Lucy Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews (London, 1975).42

Gillman, “Collar the lot!”, p. xiii.43

Ronald Stent, A Bespattered Page? The internment of his Majesty’s “most loyal enemies aliens”(London, 1980).44

Chappell, Island of Barbed Wire, pp. 44-48.



7292270 13

Colpi and Lucio Sponza, outlining the experiences of Italian internees, had opened a

new vein of research.45 By that time, too, Colin Holmes’s initial foray into the history

of migration had generated sufficient interest amongst scholars to produce a small

field of work that related to internment.46 However, it was the turn of the millennium

when internment history underwent its most recent and important revival. The British

comedian David Baddiel wrote his bestselling novel The Secret Purposes following

his appearance on the BBC documentary Who do you think you are? The novel,

which comprises an insightful and dramatic account of internment experience,

awakened the subject to popular imagination.47 A diverse collection of essays

published by the University of London in 2005 were among the first to progress

beyond the chronological approach of 1980s and 1990s reference works by pursuing

challenging themes, such as racial conflict between interned Jews and Nazis and the

political content of camp journals.48

This thematic turn is part of a broader transformation in internment historiography

that has produced important scholarship in the past ten years in many different

countries. For instance, in her examination of the ‘family unit’ amongst American

internees in Camp Holmes in the Philippines during World War II, Lynn Bloom has

45

Terri Colpi, ‘The impact of the Second World War on the British Italian community’ in Cesarani andKushner (eds.) The internment of aliens in twentieth century Britain (London, 1993) pp. 167-187;

Lucio Sponza, ‘The British government and the internment of Italians’ in Cesarani and Kushner (eds.)

The internment of aliens in twentieth century Britain (London, 1993) pp. 25-52.46

Colin Holmes, ‘Jewish economic and refugee migrations, 1880-1950’ in Robin Cohen (ed.) The

Cambridge survey of world migration (Cambridge, 1995) pp. 142-158 (pp.149-50.); Diana Kay, ‘The

resettlement of displaced persons in Europe, 1946-1951 in Cohen (ed.) The Cambridge survey of world

migration (Cambridge, 1995) pp. 154-161; Geoffrey Alderman, ‘Jews, aliens and other outsiders in

British history The Historical Journal 37 (1994) pp. 959-969 (pp. 961-964).47

David Baddiel, The Secret Purposes (London, 2004).48

Charmian Brinson, ‘“Loyal to the Reich”: National Socialists and others in the Rushen Women’s

internment camp’ in Richard Dove (ed.) “Totally Un-English”? : Britain’s internment of “enemy

aliens” in two world wars (2005) pp. 101-119; Jennifer Taylor, ‘“Something to make people laugh’?:

political content in Isle of Man internment camp journals, July-October 1940 camp’ in Richard Dove(ed.), “Totally Un-English”? : Britain’s internment of “enemy aliens” in two world wars (2005) pp.

139-152.



7292270 14

argued that conditions led to the consolidation of women’s inferior role. ‘They were

physically restricted, not by the Japanese, but by American men’, she asserted ‘for

fear that [they] might be attacked by foreign soldiers’.49 In an insightful piece on

memory, Pamela Sugiman has described how Japanese-Canadian women’s

relationships with internment were transformed following activism in the late 1980s

from ‘unspoken bonding based upon shared experience’ to the ‘active telling of

untold stories’ as a union of individual and collective memory.50

Developing Benedict

Anderson’s ideas, Mathew Stibbe has established that despite ‘problems of gambling,

alcoholism and violence’ at Ruhleben in Germany during World War I, an “imagined

community” emerged amongst British internees based upon shared traditions,

participation in camp athletics, cultural societies and the circulation of a camp

newspaper.51 And Alon Rachamimov and David Boxwell in their examinations of

internment theatre in Russia and Germany, respectively, have argued that

‘transgender performances’ helped POWs overcome boredom while creating a

socially sanctioned safe place to express anxieties and dislocations brought on by

war.52

The objective of the following chapters is to emulate the thematic approach employed

in recent scholarship by analysing primary sources from Onchan with support from

the major reference works of the 1980s and 1990s. The four sources that form the

foundation of this thesis are: the memoirs of Willy Leopold Hess, an internee of

49

Lynn Bloom, ‘Till death do us part: men’s and women’s interpretations of wartime internment’

Women’s studies international 10 (2007) pp. 75-83 (pp. 76-77).50

Pamela Sugiman, ‘Memories of internment: narrating Japanese Canadians life stories’ The Canadian

Journal of Sociology 29 (2004) pp. 359-388. (pp. 363).51

Matthew Stibbe, British civilian internees in Germany: the Ruhleban camp, 1914-18 (Manchester,

2008) pp. 94-100.52

Alon Rachamimov, ‘The disruptive comforts of drag: (trans)gender performances among prisoners

of war in Russia, 1914-1920’ The American Historical Review 111 (2006) pp. 362-382 (pp. 368-369);David Boxwell, ‘The follies of war: cross-dressing and popular theatre on the British front lines, 1914-

18 Modernism & Modernity 9 (2002) pp. 1-20 (p. 4).



7292270 15

Onchan between July 1940 and June 1941;53 correspondence between four internees,

Rudi Schapira, Rudolf Breitbarth, Josef Schmitz, Heinz Paneth, and their respective

families;54 two extensive Imperial War Museum interviews with Ludwig Spiro - who

was elected internee executive leader - and Dr. Leo Kahn - who assisted in Onchan’s

medical centre;55

and six editions of The Onchan Pioneer and Onchan Camp Youth,

weekly camp journals published over eight months that reflected upon internee

activities and campaigned for release.56

Figure 1.2 - The Front page of issues of The Onchan Pioneer and Onchan Camp Youth.

53

MNHL: MS 1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man, 1940-1941’.54

MNHL: MS 11192 ‘Letter from Rudolf Schapira (internee) Onchan Camp to this brother Heinz

Schapira interned in Mortimer Camp, Berkshire’ (29 September 1940); MS 11656 ‘Correspondence

from Onchan internee Rudolf Breitbarth to his wife Edna and daughter Marianne’ (31 August 1940);

MS 12082 ‘Letter from internee Josef Schmitz no. 53841, Onchan Camp to his wife Frieda in

Ballaqueeney Hotel, Port St. Mary’ (19 March 1941); MS 12636 ‘Letter from interned student Heinz

Paneth to his father Dr Paneth, Shincliffe, North Durham, postmarked 25 November 1940.55

MNHL: MS12144 ‘Primary and secondary internment source material collated by AmandaSebestven [Imperial War Museum]; interview with Ludwig Spiro & Dr. Leo Kahn’.56

MNHL: MS 22086 ‘Onchan Pioneer, internment camp magazines, part set’, 1940-1941.



7292270 16

II

In contrast to chapters III and IV, which examine abstract and immaterial features of

internee experience in Onchan, such as emotion and intellectual life, this chapter tests

Goffman’s total institution against material features. These, it is argued, are best

understood when outlined as two approaches. The first, physical characteristics, is

concerned with the size, location and layout of the camp, and here special attention is

directed towards examining the way that the use of space variously conforms to and

contests Goffman’s model. The second approach considers how far internee access to

medical, catering, and postal services undermines the case that Onchan was a total

institution. This approach also establishes a connection between internee activities in

Onchan and their desire to restore their pre-internment cultural life.

Onchan camp consisted of fifty-six boarding houses constructed on and around Royal

Avenue West, two and a half miles northeast of central Douglas. Thirty-two houses

were located on the main street and were referred to as “the front”. House thirty-six,

inhabited by Willy Hess, was located at the entrance to the camp cul-de-sac, which

contained a further seventeen houses. The remaining houses, fifty-one to fifty-six,

were situated on the continuation of the main street and were inhabited by the camp

youth. 57 In terms of security and surveillance, two barbed wire fences surrounded the

camp, separated by a broad passageway patrolled day and night by armed guards.58

There is no doubt that this level of security reflects the ‘locked door, high walls …

and barbed wire’ constraints that Goffman attributes to total institutions in Asylums.59

Yet, Goffman’s assertion that these barriers restricted individual autonomy to the

57

MNHL: MS1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man, 1940-1941’, part I, p. 12.58Cresswell, Living with the wire, p. 59.




7292270 17

point of role dispossession, a state where the individual loses control over all

decision-making, does not compare so favourably.60 Rather, it seems that the

unorthodox layout of the camp, in which existing holiday homes were utilised to hold

between six and twelve internees, permitted a degree of privacy and autonomy that

exceeds the threshold of Goffman’s interpretation. Internees, for instance, were not

consigned accommodation by camp staff, but were encouraged to exercise their own

judgement in selecting a house and housemates.61

As a result of this, Willy Hess was

able to secure accommodation for himself and five friends from Kempton Park transit

camp, who lived together in an internally administered space, communal insofar as

six men shared, but private in the sense that it was between friends, not strangers.

Moreover, the presence of walls and shuttered windows meant that internees were not

subject to perpetual surveillance or interference by members of staff.62 For this

reason, Onchan effectively counters Goffman’s assertion that ‘violation of privacy’

through regular inspections of personal possessions and living spaces is a consistent

feature of total institutions.63

There is, however, evidence to suggest that beyond the private space of the house and

especially in the communal areas closest to the barbed wire, internees were subject to

total forces to a much greater degree. Dr Leo Kahn, for instance, speaking with an

Imperial War Museum researcher about the presence of “real life” beyond the camp

perimeter stated:

60


Gilman, “Collar the Lot”, pp. 176-177.62MNHL: MS1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man, 1940-1941’, part I, p. 8.




7292270 18

[A]t times one could see a daddy in the street, a mother, children and a small dog out

walking. These were real people [who] we watched enviously until they were out of

sight.64

Kahn’s frustration at being able to see but not experience “real life” draws a

striking parallel with an infamous total institution, Alcatraz Prison in San

Francisco Bay.65 Brian Conway, an ex-Alcatraz inmate and memoirist,

exhibited a sentiment similar to that of Kahn when he asserted, “Men … locked

in their cells … go slowly insane under the exquisite torture of the view of the

bay.”66 Though San Francisco is no doubt a more desirable location than Royal

Avenue West, and inmates of Alcatraz were subject to greater restriction than

Onchan internees, the fundamental psychology of confinement is the same.

Figure 1.3 – Photograph of Onchan taken in April 1940. Note the barbed wire and armed guards.

64

MNHL: MS 12144 ‘Primary and secondary internment source material collated by Amanda

Sebestven [Imperial War Museum] including interview with Dr. Leo Kahn’, p. 18. 65

MNHL: MS 12144 ‘Primary and secondary internment source material collated by AmandaSebestven [Imperial War Museum] including interview with Dr. Leo Kahn’, p. 37.66

Jani Scandura, Down in the dumps: place and modernity (2008, Minnesota), p. 237.



7292270 20

Unlike other camps, such as Auschwitz, whose purpose was to destroy its population,

official regulations and medical practices at Onchan were designed to protect

internees for the duration of the war. 73 In fact, Louise Burletson has noted that the

purpose of the camp was as much to protect internees from British society, as it was

to protect British society from the ‘fifth columnist’ threat.74

Dr Leo Kahn, for

instance, noted that interned medical professions, including himself, “did everything

[they] could to support the doctors who visited each week … but there were too few

resources to go around.”75 Moreover, evidence suggests that internee and staff

malpractice was quickly dealt with and that this was due to Foucauldian-style mutual

surveillance and communication between elected internee leaders and members of

staff. The Isle of Man Examiner , for instance, reported that one internee, Matthias

Wolfe, previously a restaurateur in South Wales, was arrested and fined £200 for

breach of The Distillation of Spirits Act (1867), after his illegal “home brew” made

several internees ill.76 In this case, medical staff communicated their findings to the

Camp Supervisor who then informed the police.

In exploring perspectives on catering in Onchan, it is useful to compare reports

commissioned by governing bodies with letters from internees to friends and

relatives. For instance, John Barwick’s report, presented on behalf of the Young

Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), an extract of which is published on the

following page, indicates that internees consumed four meals per day that varied

73

Wieslaw Kielar, Anus Mundi: five years in Auschwitz-Birkenau (1980, London) pp. 76-77.74

Louise Burletson, ‘The state, internment and public criticism in the Second World War’, Immigrants

and Minorities special edition: The internment of aliens in twentieth century Britain 11 (1992) pp. 102-

124 (p. 108).75

MNHL: MS 12144 ‘Primary and secondary internment source material collated by AmandaSebestven [Imperial War Museum], including interview with Dr Leo Kahn’, p. 47.76

Jonathon Marcus, ‘German internee to forfeit £200’, Isle of Man Examiner , 28 November 1940, p. 6.



7292270 21

across the week.77 While informative, the report’s objective account of catering

informs the reader little of internees’ personal responses to the quality of the food.

Private correspondence, on the other hand, provides an invaluable insight into an

individual’s perspective on a certain issue at a specific time, that is neither subject to

the inaccuracies of memory, nor the political gloss of public documents.78

In a letter

to his daughter, for instance, Rudolf Breibarth asserted “the food here is not too good”

and “for one day I would like to not have to eat bread”, before requesting a parcel of

“fruits, chocolates and cakes”.79 Similarly, Heinz Paneth, writing to his father, stated

that he “obediently” ate the midday stew but avoided “potatoes, bread and rice”.80

Figure 1.4 - Weekly menu for Onchan internees.

77

MNHL: 23044 John Barwick, ‘Alien internment camps in the United Kingdom’, 14 April 1941.78

Margaretta Jolly, The encyclopaedia of life writing: autobiographical and biographical forms,

volume II (2001, London), pp. 551-552.79

MNHL: MS 11656 ‘Correspondence from internee Rudolf Breitbarth to daughter Marianne’,

postmarked 13 November 1940.80MNHL: MS 12636 ‘Letter from interned student Heinz R. Paneth to his father Dr Paneth, Shincliffe,

North Durham’, postmarked 25 November 1940.



7292270 22

To this thesis, however, the social benefit of possessing and sharing food is of greater

interest than the food itself. Ludwig Spiro, for instance, who worked for Onchan’s

postal service, noted that on numerous occasions, after helping customers with

complex requests, “[he] was invited … to share provisions that they received by

parcel from loved ones”.81

In the absence of an established camp currency, food

replaced money as a means for currying favour and as a foundation for exchange

between internees. The act of sharing food, often in a formal, even ritualised setting,

served to resurrect the cultural experiences of their pre-internment lives. Alon

Rachamimov has shown that a similar process occurred amongst German Officers in

Soviet POW camps during World War I, who engaged in fine dining, theatre, concerts

and art exhibitions, in order to ‘reconnect with a long tradition of German culture and

European sophistication’.82 The following extract from Willy Hess’s memoirs

indicates that a similar process occurred in Onchan:

It was fascinating to see how so many people enjoyed being a good host … they

provided generous and attractive services … putting heart into it with a cloth on

the table and a few flowers in a glass of water.83

Goffman’s perspective on the way internees engaged with pre-internment activities

within the context of the camp is complex and only partly reconcilable with Onchan.

He argues two points. First, individuals enter an institution with a conception of

themselves defined by the social arrangements of their ‘home world’.84 However, on

entrance they are stripped of the support provided by these arrangements and begin a

series of ‘abasements, degradations, humiliations, and profanations of the self.’85

81

MNHL: MS12144 ‘Primary and secondary internment source material collated by Amanda

Sebestven [Imperial War Museum] including interview with Ludwig Spiro’.82

Rachamimov, ‘The disruptive comforts of drag’, p. 381.83

MNHL: MS 1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man, 1940-1941’, part 3, p. 4.84Goffman, Asylums, p. 23.

85Goffman, Asylums, pp. 23-24.



7292270 23

Second, total institutions ‘do not substitute their own unique culture for something

already formed’. If cultural change does occur it is due to the removal rather than the

imposition of certain behaviours.86

With regard to the former, in the absence of home world arrangements, internees did

experience a strong sense of dislocation. Yet, Goffman’s use of the terms ‘abasement,

degradation, humiliation and profanation’ of the self, while relevant to studies of

severe total institutions, such as concentration camps, are misrepresentative of

Onchan. The relative ease with which internees established home world arrangements

- such as dining, discussed above; the Popular University, concerts, exhibitions, and

theatre, discussed later – suggests that some semblance of pre-internment cultural life

must have endured. Moreover, it is important to recognise that for most internees,

Onchan constituted the fourth of a series of dislocations. They were refugees in

Germany, aliens in Britain and internees in transit camps before they were interned in

Onchan. Goffman’s second argument is more useful, however. Whereas Douglas and

Knockaloe camp, on the Isle of Man, operated during the First World War and

benefited from existing regulations, procedures, and staff, Onchan was constructed

hastily in 1940 and could not generate its own identity.87 Ad hoc arrangements in the

camp meant that internees often participated in decision-making processes and for this

reason were subject to less totalising forces than those interned in other camps on the

island. 88

Total institutions, Goffman argues, are ‘symbolised by their barrier to social

86

Goffman, Asylums, pp. 22-22.87

Cresswell, Living with the wire, pp. 66-67.88Panikos Panyani, ‘The Destruction of the German Communities in Britain during the First World

War’ in Panyani (ed.) Germans in Britain since 1500 (London, 1996) pp. 113-130 (pp. 119-120).



7292270 24

intercourse with the outside world’.89 It has already been established that Onchan’s

physical barriers prevented internees from communicating with their families in

person. However, a review of correspondence raises important questions about how

far camp administrators prevented internees from communicating by written word.

Censorship, or at least the restriction of the length and content of correspondence, was

a dominant feature of the transit camps. The memoirist Willy Hess, for instance,

noted that he had to wait an entire week before he could write to his wife. When he

could, it consisted of one pre-inked post card with the line “I am interned in Kempton

Park Internment Camp. I am well”.90 Though more detailed letters were permitted in

the following weeks, many were left undelivered because censors were unable to read

German. It was due to this experience, Jennifer Taylor has asserted, that by the time

they arrived on the Isle of Man most internees wrote letters in English because they

would more likely reach their recipients.91

Figure 1.4 - Envelope containing letter sent by Rudolf Breitbarth to his daughter Marianne. Note the

censor’s approval label and that Breitbarth specified that it is “written in English”.

89

Goffman, Asylums, p. 59.90MNHL: MS1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man, 1940-1941’, part I, p. 5.

91Jennifer Taylor, ‘“Something to make people laugh”?’, p. 144.



7292270 25

On the whole, however, letters indicate that Onchan’s postal service was effective.

Rudi Schapira, for instance, was convinced that the lack of correspondence from his

brother Heinz was due to Heinz’s idleness and not the failure of the service. Although

he stressed he did not know whether to feel “worried about the post” or “angry” with

his brother, the clear sarcasm in his concluding remark, “supposing even that it takes

a letter ten days to reach me … there is no excuse why you shouldn’t write twice a

week”, strongly implies the latter.92

Moreover, the notably everyday tenor of

correspondence between Josef Schmitz and his wife Frieda, interned in Onchan and

Port St. Mary respectively, demonstrates their confidence in the dependability of the

service. Josef stated, for instance, “I wrote you last week that the pullover is very nice

and perfect in fitting. If you buy more material I should like one or two shirts.” 93

Were the post less regular, one would expect correspondence to reflect a greater sense

of urgency between partners.

This chapter has underlined some of the difficulties associated with applying a

general theory to a specific study. Though aspects of internment, such as confinement

behind barbed wire and unsatisfactory medical services, support the “total institution”

model, the independence provided by semi-private accommodation, and the regularity

of the postal service, challenges Goffman’s interpretation. Moreover, the medical

issue, which has proved especially divisive, raises an important point: the institution

described by Goffman belonged to an affluent 1960s America; the resources it

required to function would have been available to its coordinators. The same could

not be said for an isolated and under-resourced internment camp on the Isle of Man.

92


Schapira interned in Mortimer Camp, Berkshire’, (29 September 1940).93MNHL: MS 12082 ‘Letter from internee Josef Schmitz no. 53841, Onchan Camp to his wife Frieda

in Ballaqueeney Hotel, Port St. Mary’, (19 March 1941).



7292270 26

Therefore, those issues that define Onchan as a “total institution” in a pejorative sense

are linked to the instability of the wartime economy more than to any conscious

design.

III

This is the first of two chapters that explore abstract features of internment. Chapter

IV examines intellectual and creative culture in Onchan: focusing upon education; the

Popular University and Onchan Technical Institute, and creative forms; poetry, art,

music and theatre. This chapter, however, is concerned with the emotional and

psychological impact that internment had upon internees, the solidarity that formed

between them and the sense of community that developed in the camp. Two factors

justify an approach that combines psychological and emotional issues with studies of

solidarity and community. First, articulation and sharing of the former, it is argued,

led to the consolidation of the latter. And second, a combined approach allows for a

closer synthesis with Goffman.

In the context of internment, emotion could be articulated in one of two ways. The

first was by written word: in correspondence with friends and family; in public

documents, like newspaper articles, open letters or poems; or in a personal format,

such as a diary entry. The second was in conversation with other internees or

members of staff. Both forms are important for a balanced examination. With regard

to the former, a review of a collection of letters reveals that most internees

experienced a profound sense of dislocation and uprootedness while interned. Rudi

Schapira, for instance, writing to his brother Heinz, asserted “it is a saddening fact

that you and I are so far from our friends in London … [w]ith me trapped here and



7292270 27

you isolated on your farm … we are just men alone.”94 In the same vein, Rudolf

Breitbarth emphasised the distance between himself and his family in a letter to his

young daughter. “I am quite all right as you suppose”, he wrote, “as far as it is

possible to be, without you and mummy … but we will pray that this bad time will be

over soon and we three united again”.95

Likewise, Josef Schmitz stated in a letter to

his wife Frieda that he “longed for release” so that he could give her “a loving kiss”.96

The sense of dislocation voiced in each of these letters is consistent with Goffman’s

concept of role dispossession. ‘Temporary or permanent internment in a total

institution’, he argued, causes interruption to the individual’s life cycle. Time spent

‘removed from education or job advancement … courting … or in rearing one’s

children’, constitutes a form of ‘civil death’.97 To test the extent to which this were

true of Onchan internees is beyond the scope of this thesis, for it would require an

investigation into their later lives. Nevertheless, Goffman’s theory is correct in at least

one sense. It is clear from Schapira’s desire to return to his social life in London,

Breitbarth’s grief over missing out on his daughter’s development and Schmitz’s

longing to be with his wife, that these men were fearful for the consequences that

internment would have upon their return to society.

Partly in response to these fears, friendship groups quickly emerged amongst

internees. Signs of this were visible in the early stages of internment. For example,

Willy Hess described how, while travelling from Kempton Park to Onchan, he was

94


Schapira interned in Mortimer Camp, Berkshire’ (29 September 1940).95

MNHL: MS 11656 ‘Correspondence from Onchan internee Rudolf Breitbarth to his wife Edna and

daughter Marianne’ (31 August 1940).96

MNHL: MS 12082 ‘Letter from internee J. E. Schmitz no. 53841, Onchan Camp to his wife Friedain Ballaqueeney Hotel, Port St. Mary’ (19 March 1941).97

Goffman, Asylums pp. 24-25.



7292270 28

“anxious not to be separated from the people [he] knew and hoped to be friends

with”.98 However, it was only after several months that internee leaders formally

acknowledged that a sense of community had united the camp as a whole. “Fate has

made comrades of people who were strangers”, Ludwig Spiro remarked in the New

Year’s issue of The Onchan Pioneer , “and months of internment have fostered plenty

of good will among all of us … no matter what our race, religion, age or standing”.99

The latter part of Spiro’s quote is especially interesting to this study as it contradicts

the principle of “contaminative exposure” that Goffman views as fundamental to all

total institutions.100 “The practice of mixing age, ethnic and racial groups”, Goffman

argues, “lead[s] an inmate to feel he is being contaminated by contact with

undesirable fellows”.101 The destabilisation of boundaries separating groups in

society, he adds, is made worse by the collapse of conventional social hierarchy and

by the claustrophobic conditions of camp life.102 On the contrary, Spiro’s view that

internment ‘fostered … good will” amongst internees, implies that internment

improved relations between different groups and was conducive to cultural

tolerance.103

Nevertheless, an attitude of caution would be appropriate, because Spiro, as internee

leader, would have wanted to promote solidarity between different groups, rather than

98

MNHL: MS 1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man, 1940-1941’, part I, p. 7.99

MNHL: MS 28326 Ludwig Spiro, ‘On the verge of the New year’, The Onchan Pioneer , Issue 18, 29

December 1940, p. 1.100

Goffman, Asylums p. 36.101


Goffman, Asylums pp. 34-35.103MNHL: MS 28326 – Unknown Author ‘New Year’s Eve’, The Onchan Pioneer , Issue 18, 29

December 1940’ p. 4.



7292270 29

exacerbate existing tensions by drawing attention to them.104 Likewise, the newspaper

in which he wrote, The Onchan Pioneer , rarely discussed controversial issues. In fact,

internees and historians have suggested it had two functions: to cultivate positive

sentiment amongst internees and demonstrate internee support for the British war

effort, with the view to securing a quicker release.105

In addition, one need not look far to find evidence of contaminative exposure in other

camps on the Isle of Man. Onchan’s community of relatively likeminded German

internees contrasted sharply with Rushen Women’s camp, for instance, where

tensions were less a matter of cultural difference and more a case of racial hatred.106

Whereas all German men residing in Britain were interned regardless of their ‘alien’

status following the occupation of the Netherlands in June 1940, only category ‘A’ or

‘B’ women faced internment. In theory then, Rushen was a hotbed of political

extremism, for each of its 900 internees were considered too dangerous to remain

fully at liberty. Yet, as Charmian Brinson notes, most internees were Jewish refugees

from National Socialism, who, owing to ‘the confusion of the times’, were wrongly

interned alongside supporters of Nazi Germany.107

A striking example that strengthens Goffman’s case for “contaminative exposure” is

that of a sixteen-year old Jewish girl who was forced to share a bed with a Nazi

woman for three weeks before her appeal was finally resolved by the Camp

104

Biography of Spiro available in Maxine Seller’s, We built up our lives: education and

community among Jewish refugees interned by Britain in World War II (Westport, 2001) p. 116.105

Internee perspective: Willy Hess described the newspaper as ‘relentlessly optimistic’: MNHL:

MS1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man, 1940-1941’, part III, p. 8.;

Historian’s perspective: ‘journals were purely for the purpose of brightening camp life and not

permitted as vehicles for complaints and political propaganda’: Jennifer Taylor, ‘“Something to make

people laugh’”, pp. 143.106Bernard Wasserstein, Britain and the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945 (Leicester, 1999) p. 18.

107Brinson, “Loyal to the Reich”, p. 101.



7292270 30

supervisor Dame Joanna Cruickshank.108 The extent to which this ‘physical

contamination’ of the individual proved unacceptable to the public is reflected in the

fact that Lord Farringdon even raised the issue in the House of Lords.109 “[T]hese

unfortunate anti-Nazis”, he asserted:

… have escaped from their own country [only] to have had inflicted upon them

in our country, their refuge, the treatment they would have received had they

been interned in Nazi concentration camps…”110

In the grand scheme of internment, however, such instances proved rare and should be

viewed as a reflection of the difficulties associated with accommodating large

numbers of internees, rather than a conscious design to cause unnecessary upset.111

Furthermore, examples that showcase solidarity amongst internees vastly outnumber

those that demonstrate cultural tension. In fact, given the evidence, it is reasonable to

argue that internees were able to cope with the emotional trauma they were forced to

endure precisely because of the support networks formed by this sense of solidarity.

Rudolf Breitbarth, for example, asserted that it was due to the fact that he was able to

discuss his “worries” and “anxieties” with fellow internees that he could stay resilient

for the sake of his family.112 Likewise, Willy Hess noted that bombing raids on

London in September inflicted devastating damage to houses and businesses, and

“many of our fortunes were lost”. Yet, because “this underlined our sense of

powerlessness …it brought us all together”.113

108

Brinson, “Loyal to the Reich”, p. 101.109


Parliamentary Debates, House of Lords, 6 August 1940 Vol. 117, cc 116; available online at

Hansard: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1940/aug/06/internment-of-aliens. [02.04.12]111

See Gillman, “Collar the Lot”, p. 27 for difficulty accommodating internees on the Isle of Man.112

MNHL: MS 11656 ‘Correspondence from Onchan internee Rudolf Breitbarth to his wife Edna anddaughter Marianne’ (31 August 1940).113

MNHL: MS1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, 1940-1941’, part II, p. H.



7292270 31

Whether internee solidarity formed in opposition to, or in union with, British society

has prompted extensive debate amongst historians. Kushner and Cesarani, for

instance, have asserted that refugees tolerated internment because they wished to

display their gratitude towards the British government that granted them asylum.114

Panayi, however, has argued that most internees were united in their opposition to the

alien status compelled upon them under Defence Regulation 18B.115

This debate is

interesting because it demonstrates that Goffman’s theory is ill equipped to account

for the complexity of internee allegiances. Panayi’s argument aligns with Goffman’s

in the sense that he describes internees as opposed to camp staff and cut off from the

outside world. And there is some evidence to support this. For instance, Dr. Leo

Kahn, describing the crowds that flanked internees as they boarded a ferry to the Isle

of Man, asserted, “some people stared at us … others looked deliberately the other

way … and we ‘aliens’, we kept close together.”116

However, most of the evidence at Onchan indicates that internees preferred to

integrate themselves with the war effort. The 6 July issue of the Onchan Camp Youth,

for instance, stressed that residents were united behind the British people in “their

valiant cause against Nazi oppression.”117 One article sought to “strengthen the close

friendship which binds us to our English friends.”118 Another drew attention to the

government’s concurrent evacuation policy to highlight similarities between

114

Tony Kushner and David Cesarani, ‘Alien internment in Britain during the Twentieth Century: An

introduction’, in Cesarani and Kushner, op. cit ., pp. 5-6.115

Panikos Payani, Immigration, ethinicity and racism in Britain, 1815-1945 (Manchester, 1994) p. 88.116

MNHL: MS12144 ‘Primary and secondary internment source material collated by Amanda

Sebestven [Imperial War Museum]; interview with Ludwig Spiro.117

MNHL: MS 22086 Author Unknown, ‘The young spectator’, Onchan Camp Youth, Issue 11, 6 July

1941, p. 5.118MNHL: MS 22086 Author Unknown, ‘From behind this barbed wire’, Onchan Camp Youth, Issue

14, 2 February 1941 p. 4.



7292270 32

Onchan’s interned youth and their British counterparts. “We have been driven out of

our homes”, the author asserted, “just as you have been bombed out of yours”.119

This paints a complex picture. Whereas Goffman explains that staff-internee conflict

is the primary focus of each group within the institution,120

in Onchan, internees were

more interested in developments outside of the camp. Many were preoccupied with

trying to reconcile the emotional frustration of prolonged confinement with

recognition of the fact that internment was, to some extent, a necessary precaution of

the government. One Onchan internee expressed this sentiment succinctly. “To be

interned by the friend for whose victory we pray and yearn”, he wrote, “causes a

confusion of feelings, and breaks our hearts that lack the armour of aversion.”121

In another sense, too, Goffman’s model is unsuitable. Whereas he describes total

institutions as places where ‘individuals … cut off from society … lead an enclosed

life’, the boundaries and regulations that isolated Onchan’s residents were less

fixed.122

There are numerous examples to demonstrate that ideas and activities that

developed inside the camp progressed outside, and vice versa. The Onchan Pioneer ,

for instance, reprinted articles written by journalists in Britain that opposed

internment. One piece, by the left-wing journalist Harry Brailsford, broached the

subject with a poignant question: “why must we imprison, for years, thousands of

innocent men, separate them from wife and child, and condemn them to idleness?”123

119

MNHL: MS 22086 Author Unknown, ‘Our friends in our adopted home’, Onchan Camp Youth,

Issue 14, 2 February 1941 p. 8.120


MNHL: MS 22086 Author Unknown, ‘Points of view: keep smiling’, The Onchan Pioneer , 1 June

1941 p. 7.122

Goffman, Asylums, p. 11.123MNHL: MS 22086 H. N. Brailsford, ‘A plan for aliens’, The Onchan Pioneer (08.12.1940) Issue

15, p. 2.



7292270 33

In an open letter to the Home Secretary, Brailsford argued that avowed supporters of

Nazism must be interned, but active opponents should be released immediately;

young men should volunteer for the Pioneer Corps and women, children and older

men should be “released to some suitable district where work could be found for

them”.124

This clearly demonstrates that allegiance was not defined by personal

circumstance. Brailsford, like many in Britain, campaigned against internment, but

was not an internee himself.125

The post service was instrumental, too, in manipulating the boundary that

distinguished the camp from the outside world. One boy’s Christmas thank-you letter

was published in the Onchan Camp Youth. “Yesterday, I had a surprise”, he wrote. “I

got a small parcel containing books from my fellow students [including] a letter,

signed with all their names”. The books were sent with the following message: “we

hope that you will be able to rejoin us soon. Then we shall have a complete reunion of

friends”.126

On one level this indicates that, despite recurrent anti-alien sentiment in

the press, not all internees were treated with hostility.127

On another level, it is an

important reminder of the dangers associated with thinking about internees as a

uniform bloc. Those who had lived in Britain for many years before they were

interned would have felt a greater sense of solidarity in British society than internees

who arrived as refugees during the late 1930s. Finally, it demonstrates that moving

one’s life to an internment camp did not necessarily mean ending one’s life

elsewhere. A degree of continuity could be sustained through correspondence.

124

MNHL: MS 22086 H. N. Brailsford, ‘A plan for aliens’, The Onchan Pioneer (08.12.1940) Issue

15, pp. 2-3. 125

Kushner & Cesarani, The internment of aliens, p. 91.126

MNHL: MS 22086 Author Unknown, ‘A young internee’s Christmas and New Year’s message to

the English youth’, Onchan Camp Youth (29.12.1940) Issue 6, pp. 1-2. 127See David Cesarani, ‘Anti-alienism in England after the First World War’ Immigrants and

minorities 6 (1987) pp. 5-29 (pp. 8-10) for press response



7292270 34

IV

This chapter assesses Goffman’s theory within the context of intellectual and creative

culture in Onchan. In total institutions, looping occurs when an individual who is

denied the option to step back and reassess a scenario collapses into the situation and

loses all perspective.128 An example that illustrates this is a soldier who, subject to

constant regulation of minute details of activity and conduct, which under normal

circumstances would be deemed excessive, develops a dependency upon army

practices to the detriment of his free will.129 This makes for an interesting comparison

with Onchan for two reasons. First, given the degree of autonomy enjoyed by

internees, it raises questions about the accuracy of Goffman’s assumptions. Second,

primary sources indicate that a high standard of education amongst internees helped

them to keep perspective.

For example, an article written by Onchan Pioneer co-editor and professor of

psychology, Walter Sachs, entitled ‘The duty to be an optimist’, stated, “desperation,

neurosis and nervous breakdowns … are the result of a prolonged and unsatisfied

hunger for happiness”. And, because “modern psychology … has taught us that

happiness and depression are largely of our own making”, internees must create

happiness by exercising regularly, engaging with the Popular University, and

communicating their anxieties to others.130

An equally perceptive article was written

by professor of sociology and secretary to the Popular University H. P. Galliner, who

noted: “the hot-house atmosphere of camp stirs up all human feelings, evaporates all

128

Goffman, Asylums, p. 149.129Goffman, Asylums, pp. 39-40.

130MS 22086 - Walter Sachs, ‘The duty to be an optimist’ The Onchan Pioneer 18 [29.12.1940] p. 2.



7292270 35

superficial culture and uncovers true nature more so than under normal conditions”.131

Moreover, his reflexive conclusion, “I learned more of human nature in these months

of internment … than in the past ten years”, indicates that rather than collapse into the

situation, Galliner saw internment as an opportunity to reappraise his ideas.132

One could argue that intellectually gifted internees would exercise this degree of

reflection irrespective of camp conditions. In which case, the fact that other internees

acted in a similar manner might come as a surprise. Heinz Paneth, for instance,

satirised British societies’ stereotype of internees in a letter to his father, in which he

asserted, “every German is thought pro-Fatherland or an agent of the Gestapo”.

Moreover, reflecting upon how internment disrupted his studies at home, he wittily

concluded, “I’ll keep on waiting for general release because that’s how you’ll save all

my tuition fees!”133 Paneth’s ability to find humour in the situation and arrange his

thoughts in a cogent manner does not indicate a loss of perspective. Likewise, to

borrow the German phrase bildung , meaning self-cultivation, it is clear that those who

had not benefited from an education, viewed internment as an opportunity to develop

new skills and improve their career prospects.134

Josef Schmitz, for instance, who

worked as a labourer before he was interned, wrote to his wife that he was studying

“technologies of construction” and “building materials” at the University with a view

to “training in architecture” on release.135 This idea that time interned need not be

time wasted was also reflected by Hess who asserted “the Popular University opened

131

MS 22086 – H. P. Gallinger, ‘Sociological studies’ The Onchan Pioneer 21 [19.01.1941] p. 6.132

MS 22086 – Gallinger, ‘Sociological studies’, p. 6.133

MS 12636 ‘Letter from internee Heinz R. Paneth to his father Dr Paneth’ [25 November 1940].134See Rachamimov, ‘The disruptive comforts of drag’, p. 369. for definition in internment context.

135MS 12082 ‘Letter from internee J. E. Schmitz to his wife Frieda’ [19 March 1941].



7292270 36

up new worlds for hundreds of interned people and gave intellectual food in greater

amounts than bodily food provided”.136

That any university could exist, let alone flourish, in an under resourced internment

camp on the Isle of Man is impressive, but the scope of the Popular University’s

achievements is nothing short of remarkable. Ludwig Spiro, who on occasion lectured

at the university, estimated that every single internee must have attended at least one

of the 70,000 hours of lectures delivered between June 1940 and July 1941. 137 The

selection of courses on offer was equally impressive. Fourteen English lessons ran

each day; and French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Hebrew classes were also

available.138 The Universities’ Technical Institute offered vocational courses in

construction, plumbing, arts and crafts, fashion, and advertising. Prompted by specific

issues in the camp, seminars in first aid, hygiene and nutrition were also organised. 139

More than any other aspect of Onchan, the University is most difficult to reconcile

with Goffman’s theory. An institution in its own right, it was a network of active

individuals operating within an otherwise idle community. In order to function, it

depended upon lecturers willingly imparting their knowledge, meticulous scheduling

on the part of volunteer administrators, dedicated attendance by passionate students

and, most importantly, the compliance of camp staff. Moreover, due to the fact that

internees from different social and educational backgrounds, who would not

ordinarily mix in society, showed little difficulty cooperating, reveals major flaws in

Goffman’s notions of “contaminative exposure” and “ status contamination”. In

136

MNHL: MS1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man’, part III, p. 8.137

MNHL: MS 12144 ‘interview with Ludwig Spiro’ [Imperial War Museum].138

MNHL: MS1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man’, part III, pp. 6-7.139Maxine Seller, We built up our lives: education and community among Jewish refugees interned by

Britain in World War II (Westport CT, 2001) pp. 163-166.



7292270 37

addition, the University provided continuity for those internees who were academics

or students before they were interned. For those no were longer affiliated with a

university, or who never attended one, it gave them a sense of purpose, helping to

combat the effects of “role dispossession”. Finally, the practices within the

University, such as discussing ideas and circulating knowledge, contradict the loss of

perspective and of independent judgement that Goffman associates with “looping ”.

Jack Bilbo, whose name appears regularly in Onchan literature, played a central role

in marrying intellectual and creative culture in the camp.140 A colourful character,

Bilbo, who helped found the Popular University, as well as organise exhibitions and

performances,141 integrated amateurs in his events and encouraged youths to try their

hand at art, music, and drama.142 Most notably, he championed the twenty-five year

old poet Kuba, who some dismissed as nothing but “the fair-haired son of a

farmer”.143 Hess, for one, thought him “clumsy … in whose eyes one searches in vain

for spirituality”, and rejected numerous opportunities to attend his readings.144

After

finally being persuaded, however, he described it as “one of those rare occasion when

one sees a flash of greatness of spirit and heart in someone who might easily have

been classed as unintelligent.”145 Ludwig Spiro, too, recounted this realisation,

implying that it was something of a watershed moment in Onchan. “Each of us felt a

little ashamed on that afternoon”, he stated, and “we learned how an uneducated

person can use language better than we do … creating with it, like an artist”.146

140

Shulamith Behr & Marian Malet, Art in exile in Britain, 1933-1945 (London, 2004) p. 303.141

Kushner & Cesarani, p. 199.142

Klaus Hinrichsen, ‘Visual art behind the wire’, Immigrants and Minorities 11 (1992) pp. 188-209

(p. 194).143MNHL: MS1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man’, part III, p. 9.144MNHL: MS1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man’, part III, p. 11.145MNHL: MS1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man’, part III, pp. 13-14.146MNHL: MS 12144 ‘interview with Ludwig Spiro’ [Imperial War Museum].



7292270 38

While one must be careful not to read too much into this, Kuba’s case is nevertheless

compelling. In terms of the concept of bildung , his success demonstrates the benefit

that internment could have upon an individual’s life. Moreover, were it not for the

reconstruction of social hierarchy within the camp, it is highly likely that Kuba’s

work would have gone unnoticed. Instead, following his release, Kuba went on to

become the Editor in Chief of the East Berlin publishing house Dietz , before serving

as Art Director to the Popular Theatre in Rostock.147

In addition to this, he was

awarded the East German National Poetry Prize on three occasions, in 1949, 1958 and

1959.148 Although for the majority, internment constituted an unwelcome interruption

to their lives, it is important to draw attention to individuals, such as Kuba, who made

the most of the opportunities that it provided.

V

The main objective of this thesis has been to refocus attention on human experience in

internment camps by sidestepping government policy and embracing internee

testimony. Despite the issues of compatibility raised throughout, Goffman’s theory

has provided an invaluable model against which to test the Onchan case study.

Precious few theorists have broached the subject of internment from a sociological

perspective before and Goffman’s is unquestionably the most insightful. Two factors,

however, inhibit a more amenable comparison. First, Asylums is impaired by its wide

scope and ambitious aims. Even though Goffman acknowledges that total institutions

vary in terms of their severity, his attempt to classify prisons, concentration camps,

hospitals and convents within the same category, is unrealistic. This meant that a large

147Hinrichsen, ‘Visual art behind the wire’, p. 198. 148Hinrichsen, ‘Visual art behind the wire’, p. 201.



7292270 39

section of Asylums had to be discounted from the outset. Second, in the course of my

research it became clear that Onchan was fairly unique amongst the camps on the Isle

of Man. It had the longest running, most widely read newspaper; its university

superseded others in terms of its size and resources; and its internees seemed to enjoy

a more amicable relationship with staff than in other camps.

While these factors are fascinating to study, they are not conducive to a positive

comparison with Goffman’s ideas. Were the same examination carried out in relation

to Rushen Women’s Camp, on the other hand (see p. 29), where tensions between

internees, and between internees and staff, were much more pronounced,

“contaminative exposure” and “ status contamination”, “looping ” and “role

dispossession” would have been more readily identifiable. This should not be seen as

a failure, however, because the absence of a positive comparison is compelling in

itself. It proposes important avenues for future study. For instance, a comparison of

different camps on the Isle of Man to discover which most closely resembled a total

institution may prove useful. Other questions might include: “What reasons account

for Onchan’s unique position?” Or, ‘if Goffman’s theory is unsuited to internment

camps, how does it compare with psychiatric facilities, military barracks and

convents?’

In spite of these criticisms, it is important to stress two things. First, without the

existing structure of Asylums, it would not have been possible to penetrate to the heart

of the sociology of internment in such a short thesis; and second, while many of my

findings disagree with Goffman, they remain strongly influenced by him. One

conclusion that can be drawn with confidence is: it is possible to observe the initial



7292270 40

stages of “role dispossession”, “contaminative exposure” and “looping ” in Onchan.

Nevertheless, factors such as a high degree of internee autonomy; the presence of a

versatile intellectual and creative camp culture; and regular correspondence between

internees and their families, prevented “total-institution” characteristics from

dominating internee lives. Furthermore, it would be reasonable to speculate that

internee’s previous experiences of dislocation, rather than hamper wellbeing,

constituted psychological preparation which helped to combat these characteristics.

An especially interesting discovery has been that different spaces within the camp

were subject to different degrees of ‘total’ force. It is easy to conceive of Onchan as a

consistent and uniform bloc, but like any large structure it was formed from several

different parts, some of which were more private than others. Willy Hess, for

instance, felt happiest when in the company of friends in house thirty-six because

their relationships were based upon the practicalities of living together, a feature of

ordinary life, rather than their status as interned peoples. Conversely, that Dr. Leo

Kahn felt most depressed when watching families carry out activities outside the

camp indicates that communal areas closest to the barbed wire were subject to the

most intense total forces.

The examination of internee access to medical, catering and postal services was

equally fruitful. With regard to the latter, a regular and dependable postal service was

crucial in counteracting feelings of isolation and purposelessness within the camp.

Whilst an analysis of the content of letters reveals that correspondence could be

painful, with internees missing out on their children’s development, their social lives,

and their wives, the act of confronting, rather than denying, these emotions was



7292270 41

crucial in combating the deeper psychological issues associated with “looping ”.

Furthermore, maintaining a point of reference with the outside world prevented

internees from collapsing into their situation.

In conclusion, the overriding indication of this study is that Goffman’s characteristics

are more useful when viewed as fluid, rather than static concepts. For instance, an

internee such as Willy Hess could at one moment be with his friends in the relatively

cosy confines of a boarding house and feel little sense of dislocation. A few minutes

later, he could be outside, staring through the barbed wire and feel a profound sense

of dislocation. Rather than dislocation being akin to the barbed wire fence that an

individual is either inside or outside, the internee may slip in and out of this

characteristic at different times and in different circumstances. It may also prove

useful to view Goffman’s characteristics as a sliding scale with a ‘tipping point’ at

which the institution becomes deeply negative and damaging to the individual. As the

front cover of this thesis indicates, Onchan closed after little over a year. Had

internment lasted longer, it is highly likely that the defence mechanisms used by

internees to protect themselves from the characteristics that Goffman defines would

have failed. Concepts such as these could have practical applications in the avoidance

of creating conditions which send ‘inmates’ to that tipping point. Evolving Goffman’s

work in this fashion would increase its value and relevance for the modern world and

studies such as this one, which provide an objective analysis of past practise, are an

ideal forum for its exploration. Whilst Onchan undoubtedly shares some of the

characteristics of Goffman’s total institutions, these characteristics do not exist in the

straightforward sense that Goffman led us to believe they might. This fact alone

creates opportunity for new concepts and insights in the study of such institutions.



7292270 42

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Manx National Heritage Library

MS 1038 ‘Memoir of Willy Leopold Hess, internee on Isle of Man, 1940-1941’.

MS 11192 ‘Letter from Rudolf Schapira (internee) Onchan Camp to this brother Heinz Schapira interned in Mortimer Camp, Berkshire’ (29 September 1940).

MS 11656 ‘Correspondence from Onchan internee Rudolf Breitbarth to his wife Edna

and daughter Marianne’ (31 August 1940).

MS 12144 ‘Primary and secondary internment source material collated by Amanda

Sebestven [Imperial War Museum]; interview with Ludwig Spiro & Dr. Leo Kahn’.

MS 12082 ‘Letter from internee Josef Schmitz no. 53841, Onchan Camp to his wife

Frieda in Ballaqueeney Hotel, Port St. Mary’ (19 March 1941).

MS 12636 ‘Letter from interned student Heinz Paneth to his father Dr Paneth,

Shincliffe, North Durham, postmarked 25 November 1940.

MS 22086 Author Unknown, ‘A young internee’s Christmas and New Year’s

message to the English youth’, Onchan Camp Youth, Issue 6, 29 December 1940.

MS 22086 Author Unknown, ‘New Year’s Eve’, Onchan Pioneer , Issue 18, 29December 1940.

MS 22086 Author Unknown, ‘The Young Spectator’ Onchan Camp Youth, Issue 11,

6 July 1941.

MS 22086 Author Unknown, ‘From behind this barbed wire’, Onchan Camp Youth,

Issue 14, 2 February 1941.

MS 22086 Author Unknown, ‘Our friends in our adopted home’, Onchan Camp

Youth, Issue 14, 2 February 1941.

MS 22086 Author Unknown, ‘Points of view: keep smiling’, The Onchan Pioneer ,

issue 39, 1 June 1941.

MS 22086 Brailsford, H. N. ‘A plan for aliens’, The Onchan Pioneer , Issue 15, 18

December 1940.

MS 22086 Galliner, H. P. ‘Sociological studies’ The Onchan Pioneer 21[19.01.1941] p. 6

MS 22086 ‘Onchan Pioneer, internment camp magazines, part set’, 1940-1941.



7292270 43

MS 22086 - Sachs, Walter. ‘The duty to be an optimist’ The Onchan Pioneer 18

[29.12.1940] p. 2.

MS 23044 Barwick, John. ‘Alien Internment Camps in the United Kingdom’, 14

April 1941.

MS 28326 - Spiro, Ludwig. ‘On the verge of the New year’, The Onchan Pioneer ,

Issue 18, 29 December 1940, p. 1.

Other

Hansard: Parliamentary Debates, House of Lords, 6 August 1940 Vol. 117, cc 116;

available online at http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1940/aug/06/internment-of-aliens. [02.04.12]

Lafitte, François. The Internment of aliens (London, 1941).

Marcus, Jonathon. ‘German internee to forfeit £200’, Isle of Man Examiner , 28

November 1940, p. 6.

Secondary Sources

Books

Baddiel, David. The Secret Purposes (London, 2004).

Bell, Frank. Undercover University (Cambridge: Elizabeth Bell, 1990).

Behr, Shulamith & Malet Marian, (eds.) Art in exile in Britain, 1933-1945 (London,

2004).

Calder, Angus. The Peoples War: Britain, 1939-1945 (London, 1969).

Chappell, Connery. Island of Barbed Wire: internment on the Isle of Man in World

War Two (London, 1984).

Cresswell, Yvonne. Living with the Wire: civilian internment in the Isle of Manduring two World Wars (Douglas, 2010).

Dawidowicz, Lucy. The War Against the Jews (London, 1975).

Gilman, Peter & Leni “Collar the Lot”: how Britain interned and expelled its many

wartime refugees (London, 1980).

Goffman, Erving. Asylums: essays on the social situation of mental patients and other

inmates (London, 1991).

Gutting, Gary. Foucault: a very short introduction (Oxford, 2005).



7292270 44

Holmes, Colin. Immigrants and minorities in British society (London, 1982).

Jolly, Margaretta. The Encyclopaedia of life writing: autobiographical and

biographical forms, volume II (2001, London).

Kielar, Wieslaw. Anus Mundi: five years in Auschwitz-Birkenau (1980, London).

Kushner, Tony & Cesarani, David (eds.), The internment of aliens in twentieth

century Britain (London, 1993).

Maslow, Abraham H. Motivation and Personality: Third ed. (London, 1987).

Panayi, Panikos. Immigration, ethinicity and racism in Britain, 1815-1945(Manchester, 1994).

Scandura, Jani. Down in the dumps: place and modernity (2008, Minnesota).

Seller, Maxine. We built up our lives: education and community among Jewish

refugees interned by Britain in World War II (Westport CT, 2001).

Stent, Ronald . A Bespattered Page? The internment of his Majesty’s “most loyal

enemies aliens” (London, 1980).

Stibbe, Matthew. British civilian internees in Germany: the Ruhleban camp, 1914-18

(Manchester, 2008).

Stone, Dan. Constructing the Holocaust: a study in historiography (London, 2003).

Wyman, Mark. DPs: Europe’s Displaced Persons, 1945-51 (London, 1998).

Wasserstein, Bernard. Britain and the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945 (Leicester, 1999).

Journals

Alderman, Geoffrey. ‘Jews, aliens and other outsiders in British history The

Historical Journal 37 (1994) pp. 959-969.

Bloom, Lynn. ‘Till death do us part: men’s and women’s interpretations of wartime

internment’ Women’s studies international 10 (2007) pp. 75-83.

Bloom, Martin.‘Survival in extreme conditions’ Suicide and life-threatening

behaviour 13 (1983) pp. 195-206.

Boxwell, David. ‘The follies of war: cross-dressing and popular theatre on the British

front lines, 1914-18 Modernism & Modernity 9 (2002) pp. 1-20.

Burletson, Louise. ‘The state, internment and public criticism in the second world

war’, Immigrants and Minorities special edition: The internment of Aliens inTwentieth Century Britain 11 (1992) pp. 102-124.



7292270 45

Cesarani, David. ‘Anti-alienism in England after the First World War’ Immigrants

and minorities 6 (1987) pp. 5-29

Gardner, Carol. ‘Analyzing gender in public places: rethinking Goffman’s vision of

everyday life’ The American Sociologist 20 (1999) pp. 42-56.

Goldman, Aaron. ‘Defence Regulation 18B: emergency internment of aliens and

political dissenters in Great Britain during World War II’ Journal of British Studies 12 (1973) pp. 120-136.

Hinrichsen, Klaus. ‘Visual art behind the wire’, Immigrants and Minorities 11 (1992)

pp. 188-209.

Holmes, Colin. ‘Enemy Aliens?’ History Today 40 (1990), pp. 25-31.

Nolan, Mark. ‘The most cited authors of books in the humanities’ Times Higher Education available online at:

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=405956&sectioncode=2

6 [accessed - 27.03.2012].

Karmel, Madeline. ‘Total institution and self-mortification’ Journal of Health and

Social Behaviour 10 (1969) pp. 134-141.

Rachamimov, Alon. ‘The disruptive comforts of drag: (trans)gender performances

among prisoners of war in Russia, 1914-1920’ The American Historical Review 111

(2006) pp. 362-382 (pp. 368-369).

Sponza, Lucio. ‘The British government and the internment of Italians’ in Cesaraniand Kushner (eds.) The internment of aliens in twentieth century Britain (London,

1993) pp. 25-52.

Sugiman, Pamela. ‘Memories of internment: narrating Japanese Canadians lifestories’ The Canadian Journal of Sociology 29 (2004) pp. 359-388.

Tansella, Michele. ‘Community psychiatry without mental hospitals: a review’

Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 79 (1986) pp. 664-669.

Essays in Books

Brinson, Charmian. ‘“Loyal to the Reich”: National Socialists and others in the

Rushen Women’s internment camp’ in Richard Dove (ed.) “Totally Un-English”? :

Britain’s internment of “enemy aliens” in two world wars (2005) pp. 101-119.

Colpi, Terri. ‘The impact of the Second World War on the British Italian community’

in Cesarani and Kushner (eds.) The internment of aliens in twentieth century Britain(London, 1993) pp. 167-187.



7292270 46

Gordon, Colin. ‘Governmental rationality: an introduction’, in Graham Burchell,

Colin Gordon and Peter Miller (eds.) The Foucault effect: studies in governmentality

(London, 1991) pp. 1-48.

Holmes, Colin. ‘Jewish economic and refugee migrations, 1880-1950’ in Robin

Cohen (ed.) The Cambridge survey of world migration (Cambridge, 1995) pp. 142-158.

Kay, Diana. ‘The resettlement of displaced persons in Europe, 1946-1951 in Cohen

(ed.) The Cambridge survey of world migration (Cambridge, 1995) pp. 154-161.

Panayi, Panikos. ‘A marginalised subject? The historiography of enemy alien

internment in Britain’, in Richard Dove (ed.) “Totally Un-English”: Britain’s

internment of ‘enemy aliens’ in two world wars (London, 2005) pp. 17-26.

Panyani, Panikos ‘The Destruction of the German Communities in Britain during the

First World War’ in Panyani (ed.) Germans in Britain since 1500 (London, 1996) pp.113-130.

Taylor, Jennifer. ‘“Something to make people laugh’?: political content in Isle of Maninternment camp journals, July-October 1940 camp’ in Richard Dove (ed.), “Totally

Un-English”? : Britain’s internment of “enemy aliens” in two world wars (2005) pp.

139-152.

to what extent were the world war ii internment camps on the isle of man ‘total institutions’?...

Documents