German civilians

[cpaige]

 Where would the German civilians be interned when the Allies occupied the German colonies in Africa? To add another question how many were interned (I presume).

[corisande]

As far as I can gather, the only camp for German civilians in Southern Africa was Fort Napier in South Africa that held about 2500 civilians from both German SW Africa and South Africa

 

Google Fort Napier for further details

 

there were other camps like Aus in Namibia, which held German soldiers and police captured when South Africa defeated the Germans in Namibia

[MaureenE]

Some German civilian prisoners were transferred to India.

 

See The National Archives record FO 383/436 "Germany: Prisoners, including:  Transfer of German civilians from East Africa to India" including 

• Payments by the German Government to prisoners interned at Ahmednagar, India. 
• Petition from various German prisoners (names in docket no. 54721) interned in India requesting to be returned to East Africa.
• Request by the German Government for details of interned and uninterned civilians in India and East Africa, with a request for the removal on health grounds of those resident in the districts of Tanga and Dar es Salaam. 
• Request by the German Government for the transfer to Europe of German women and children removed from East Africa to India. 
• Correspondence regarding the modification of a reciprocal agreement for the repatriation of invalid civilians. 
• Enquiries regarding civilians transferred to German South West Africa, with particular reference to Herr Karl Schiller (subsequently identified as Lieutenant Erich Schiller). 
• Lists (in docket nos. 97151 and 109002) of German civilians transferred from East Africa to camps at Ahmednagar and Belgaum, India, with printed correspondence relating to individual cases. 
• Agreement in principle by the British Government for the transfer to South West Africa of German women and children from East Africa.

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2617679

 

Cheers

Maureen

[HenryTheGerman]

Main prisoner camp in Southern Africa was "Camp Andalusia" (today: Jan Kempdorp (Northern Cape, district Frances Baard). From June 1940 onwards there were many Germans from Southwest Africa (today: Namibia), most of them male civilians, being imprisonned; finally 1.600 people, partly also from East Africa. Germans of South Africa were mainly put in the Baviaanspoort Camp which is still today a prison, beinf located close to Pretoria. Another big camp was Camp Koffiefontein.  Besides Germans there were also Boers who had shown sympathy to Germany being imprisonned.

Have a look to

 

[Holger Kotthaus]

Hi Henry,

Thanks for the interesting film link. Was this camp used also in the Great War?

Regards Holger

[Heinrich von Reichenbach]

As far as I know there were no concentration camps for Germans during WWI in SA or SWA. After the small German Schutztruppe had surrendered near Khorab in the North of SWA, most of the soldiers and reserve troops were released. But the Allies started to write a so-called bluebook wherein they listed undesirable inhabitants. A great number of German colonialists had been kicked out of the colony, being brought on ships and repatriated. - Some blokes who escaped the new authorities had been pursued, even in neighbour countries (Angola). - There are some interesting reports and books, written by persons concerned, for example by Wilhelm Mattenklodt ("Verlorene Heimat"), by J. Voswinckel ("Verfehmt, Gehetzt durch Afrika") and by Julius Steinhardt, too.

[thesamsonsed@gmail.com]

Some Germans were kept at Aus in SWA after 1915 and then in SA too. Internees were kept near Durban. There are files in the SA National Archives re internees and prisoners. GEA prisoners were sent to other theatres. At the end of the war, SA expatriated half of the 12,000 Germans resident in SWA.

Mahon Murphy has researched this topic most recently - http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3072/

 

[HenryTheGerman]

Very interesting publication, @thesamsonsed@gmail.com.

Thanks for posting the link.