From a letter in the Daily
Sketch, 10 April 1940:
Why should 70,000 aliens
be allowed to go about freely in this country? I
know from German servants that they idolise Hitler. The Germans
interned Englishwomen of 70 years and more in
Poland. The time has come when all persons of German
origin should be looked upon as potential enemies and
interned.
There is no such
thing as a friendly German.
What does Source A tell us about the reaction of
British people to Germans living in Britain during the
war?
The memories of
Mrs Hilda Wolfgang about how she was interned.
Hilda was an
ordinary housewife and was completely loyal.
I was interned. Just
like that. Two policemen came and fetched me.
People stood lining the streets, throwing stones at
you, spitting at you and shouting ‘Spies!’ That
was horrible. Everyone thought it would be a
concentration camp like it is in Germany.
Several of
them wanted to jump into the water, because they
didn’t know what was in front of them. When we
arrived on the Isle of Man, we had pictures taken
with our number on. We already had the feeling
that we were criminals.
How useful
is Source B to an historian studying internment? Use Source B and your own knowledge to
answer the question.
Evaluation of an
Interpretation
(markscheme)
The memories of
Claus Moser, about internment, collected in 1983 - Claus and his
family were refugees from Hitler’s Germany.
I think the government
of the day panicked. Of course there may have been
a few spies. But I can’t believe it was necessary
to lock up thousands of people, some of them great
scientists and engineers who could have been useful.
Surely a couple of days checking backgrounds would
have revealed that we had more reason to hate Hitler
than the British.
Is the view given in
Source D an accurate interpretation
of the policy of internment?
Use Source D and your own knowledge to
answer the question.