Filling the Space: Education, Community, and Identity in British Internment Camps during World War II

Abstract

The British government interned 24,000 men and4000 women of “enemy” nationality living in Britain in the spring of 1940. Some were Nazis but most anti‐Nazi Jewish refugees. Using oral histories, supplemented by documentary sources, this paper explores the experiences of these refugees, especially their educational experiences. It describes how, with little outside assistance, the refugees developed a rich cultural and educational life in the empty space of the internment camps, creating “universities”, technical schools, children's schools, newspapers, lectures, concerts, and art exhibits. Emphasis is placed on the refugees ‘ educational and cultural agency, or activism; on the educational impact of age, gender, and other forms of diversity; and on the refugees’ use of education to help them cope with wartime changes in their social and political status and in their personal identities.