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- Title
Australian POW Labour in Germany in World War II.
- Authors
Monteath, Peter
- Abstract
Accounts of Australian prisoners of war in Japanese captivity typically focus on the centrality of the labour experience. In contrast, the literature of the POW experience in Europe largely avoids the topic of labour. Popular culture, too, offers an image of German captivity dominated by boredom and inactivity, with the exception of accounts of escape. This article focuses on the work experiences of Australian POWs in Germany. It draws on official sources as well as first-hand accounts to establish the extent and conditions of Australian POW labour. It argues that it was an essentially ambivalent experience, on the one hand offering those required to work relief from prolonged inactivity and increased opportunities to escape, but on the other labour was perceived as a contribution to the enemy's war effort, and conditions were in many cases so harsh as to cause injury and have longer term physical consequences.
- Publication
Labour History, 2012, Issue 103, p83
- ISSN
0023-6942
- Publication type
Academic Journal
- DOI
10.5263/labourhistory.103.0083