Jersey party depart for Bad Wurzach – for the last time

It will be an especially emotional occasion for 17 members of the group – survivors of the Bad Wurzach camp who are revisiting the town for one last time.

During the five-day trip, there are several events planned, including a visit to the castle where the Islanders were held captive for two and a half years, and a memorial wreath laying at the cemetery where the 12 internees who lost their lives while inside the camp are buried.

On Tuesday – the date that marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation by French troops – members of the Bad Wurzach community will join the party for a special commemorative dinner.

The survivors will be travelling with their family members, in addition to the Bailiff Sir William Bailhache and Chief Minister Ian Gorst.

Organiser Angela Francey, who is secretary of the Partnerschaft twinning committee linking the German town and St Helier, said that she expected the trip to be very poignant.

‘A lot of the internees are going to have children and grandchildren joining them and it will be very emotional for them when they go into their old rooms in the castle where they hold such cherished memories. It will also be a very sombre moment visiting the graves of those who died while they were there,’ she said.

Mrs Francey, who first organised a trip for internees in 1994 and has organised one every year since, said that with the momentous anniversary, it was a fitting occasion to end on.

‘It was the internees themselves who made the decision that this would be the final trip. They all felt that there had to be a time that it would be their last, and with many of them in their 80s, they thought this was the right time. It will certainly be very difficult moment when we say goodbye to Bad Wurzach on Wednesday.’

Extracts from history teacher Gisela Rothenhäusler’s book, Reaching Across the Barbed Wire, which documented life in the camp:

Gisela Rothenhausler at Liberation Square, with her book, Reaching Across the Barbed Wire

Guy Fawkes Night

The internees tried to maintain an air of normality and celebrating festive days in the usual way helped them to achieve this. The first Guy Fawkes Night, which today is still celebrated on 5 November in England with a huge bonfire to commemorate the attempt to blow up the English Parliament in 1605, went almost unnoticed as there were, quite naturally, no fireworks, nor could a fire be lit. Two years later, however, the internees witnessed an unexpected substitute fire. A barn which could be seen from the Schloss had caught fire and although an internee had raised the fire alarm, it took some time before any fire-fighting measures were started. Some of the ‘Froggies’, ie French prisoners of war, formed a chain with buckets but it still took some time before the fire was brought under control. As far as the internees were concerned, all that was missing was the Guy.’

Walks outside camp

Depending on the accompanying person, these walks sometimes became real excursions when the responsible guard described the surrounding countryside or even went into a pub with them. ‘Many of the Wurzach townsfolk remember these outings as they were like processions through the town. These occasions also offered the possibility to engage in bartering, which was normally ignored by the guards.

The birth certificate of Madeleine Syvret (nee Gould) who was born in the camp

‘The Wurzach children occasionally received the odd piece of chocolate or biscuits from the Red Cross parcels – treats which these war children would never see, so they regarded the internees as rich people. The most boring of the outings which offered very little change in scenery took them along the Biberach road through the reed beds and back again. One pub in a tiny nearby hamlet, the Hasen (The Rabbit), was a particularly popular stop off point and even today the former internees well remember Mrs Lämmle, the landlady. This village inn became a real barter headquarters. One of the guards would ensure that people knew at least a day before that the next internees’ walk would lead to Albers. People who wished to do ‘business’ just ‘happened’ to drop in, buying the guard a beer whilst completing their transactions. In July 1943 Leutnant Riedesser was forced to issue the order that the walks had to remain on the roads – there had been complaints from the inhabitants that the internees were trying to supplement their vegetables or fruit stock, to the detriment of the locals.’

Unexpected diversions

A football commemorating a game between Bad Wurzach players and Guernsey internees

Just occasionally there were unexpected diversions. In August 1943 the internees were permitted to visit a small circus which had set up a town and its twin on the sports area. A special matinee performance was staged for the prisoners with the entry price of just one mark per person it provided a welcome change, even if the quality of the performance left a lot to be desired. At the end of one walk the children were even permitted to have a ride on the carousel at the funfair – for 20 Pfennig per ride. The internees showed much enthusiasm for sports events of all kinds in which both young and old took part. In April 1943 they held an Internees’ Sports Day in which there were competitions for men, women and children of all ages. There was a wide range of competitions such as tug-of-war or potato races and many other events; over 130 prizes were awarded at a prizegiving ceremony in the theatre hall. Frank Salmon described a football tournament for men over 50 years of age, which was played at a walking pace only. He was the team captain and goalkeeper and mentions with pride that it was the first time in 40 years he had played football again. ‘The cup had been made from recycled tins from the Red Cross parcels and had been engraved with the words ‘Wurzach Wonderers 1943’ and a list of the participating teams.

The first death

There are 12 graves in the Bad Wurzach cemetery, bearing witness that not all the internees were able to return home. Of those who passed away, 11 had been deported from Jersey, while the twelfth, Alfred Miranda, was one of the victims of the Nazi persecution of the Jews. The first death occurred just a few days after the internees’ arrival in Wurzach. This was Adelina Bowden, who had just turned 50. There was a rumour amongst the internees following her death that she had been insane and her demise was due to a morphine overdose which had been administered by Dr Oliver. ‘According to Michael Ginns, this case was particularly tragic. Shortly before their deportation from Jersey Mrs Bowden had received the dreaded news that both of her sons were missing in action, believed to be dead. The emotional strain of the deportation together with the anguish and grief over the death of her two sons was just too much. This then deteriorated her already fragile state of health.

And when in one of the first nights in Wurzach a rat ran over her bed, she suffered a nervous breakdown. Despite a sedative injection which was administered by Dr Oliver she died of heart failure. On his return home to Jersey, her husband was informed that both their sons had survived three years of imprisonment under the Japanese and were both still alive and well.

Dormitory politics

‘Living side-by-side within the large dormitories was certainly not easy and often rows were ignited over small daily problems. The endless boredom turned trivial arguments into much bigger problems. In some dormitories for example, during the evenings and nights of the first few weeks there were real battles between those who wanted fresh air and those who were more sensitive to the cold and preferred to sleep in poorly ventilated rooms rather than to freeze. Due to the lack of cupboards, which was brought up at every inspection visit, the internees had to put away their belongings in any available space. This was particularly a problem in larger dormitories and often led to bitter altercations. The first crisis occurred within a few weeks when it was discovered that the already poor food situation was made worse by deceit from fellow internees. The internees who were responsible for the distribution of bread were supposed to distribute a larger quantity of bread over the weekend period; instead they had reduced the amount and kept the rest for themselves. In order to resolve the matter a proper investigation commission was set up in the first few days of 1943. Together with the House Committee it held the first meeting in one of the dormitories, room 65, on the second floor of the Schloss. An itemised list painstakingly indicates that 122 loaves of bread went missing over a period of eight weeks. The commission adopted a resolution with 17 votes and three abstentions and demanded an investigation.’

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