'A Peaceful End to the War: a POW on the Isle of Man, 1945'
Date(s): 2005
Creator(s): Gohl, Walter
Scope & Content: A typescript account of being a nineteen year old internee in Onchan Camp from January until August 1945. Gohl describes the daily routine, accommodation and food (better than the internees had been used to), as well as activities including sports, education and the camp choir to which 'English [sic] families used to come from the other side of the ditch to listen and applaud'. He writes, 'I'm not at all bored here - in fact, the day is almost too short'. Gohl notes the range of beliefs amonst interned Germans from those who had felt they had been patriots that did their duty, and a 'minority of fanatical Nazis who tried to terrorise other people's minds', though most were simply concerned about the fate of their families. For himself, the 'months I spent on the Isle of Man marked the start of my new political and philosophical world view, which replaced the diffuse influences of family, home, school and official Nazi propoganda'.
Language: English
Item name: Memoirs
Collection: Manuscript Archive
Level: ITEM
ID number: MS 11224
Record class: Private
Access conditions: No regulations or restrictions are implemented on this material. Advance notification of a research visit is advisable by emailing library@mnh.gov.im