Blatant Injustice

The Story of a Jewish Refugee from Nazi Germany Imprisoned in Britain and Canada during World War II

Walter Igersheimer, Walter W. Igersheimer, Ian Darragh

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN:
  9780773528413
• eBook ISBN:
  9780228023531
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Holocaust History
• Index: History

Grossly unsanitary living conditions, cruel and abusive treatment by camp officials, the withholding of medical treatment - these were common experiences for refugees imprisoned at internment camps in Britain and Canada. Walter Igersheimer's memoir exposes this bleak period in the British and Canadian war record.

After escaping from Nazi Germany with his family, Igersheimer was completing his medical studies when he was caught in the panic that led to the internment of 30,000 German citizens living in Britain. They were placed behind barbed wire and treated as enemies. Many of the Jewish refugees were then sent to prisons in Canada, but the internees did not let the authorities crush their creativity or desire for an education: they started a free university, mounted plays, and wrote musicals.

Laced with black humour, Blatant Injustice is a story of resilience and determination.

This title is available in ePUB, ePDF, and audiobook (Audible and Rakuten Kobo).

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Author’s Preface
• Chronology
• 1 The Approaching Thunder of War
• 2 False Hope in London
• 3 The Prison Ship
• 4 Hostile Reception in Quebec
• 5 The Hunger Complex
• 6 Music behind Barbed Wire
• 7 Camp University
• 8 First Contact
• 9 Break-up of Camp L
• 10 The “Promised Land”
• 11 Rebellion
• 12 Despair
• 13 The British Home Office Representative
• 14 Land of Ice and Snow
• 15 Paterson Pleads Our Cause
• 16 Paterson’s Failed Mission
• 17 Cuba Fever
• 18 Release from Canada
• 19 Schemes and Spies in Havana
• 20 New Start in the USA
• Epilogue
• Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index