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E-book
Author Pistol, Rachel, author

Title Internment during the Second World War : a comparative study of Great Britain and the USA / Rachel Pistol
Published London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2017

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Description 1 online resource
Contents The origins of internment -- Life in the camps -- Endings and aftermath -- Memory -- Conclusion
Summary The internment of 'enemy aliens' during the Second World War was arguably the greatest stain on the Allied record of human rights on the home front. Internment during the Second World Warcompares and contrasts the experiences of foreign nationals unfortunate enough to be born in the 'wrong' nation when Great Britain, and later the USA, went to war. While the actions and policy of the governments of the time have been critically examined, Rachel Pistol examines the individual stories behind this traumatic experience. The vast majority of those interned in Britain were refugees who had fled religious or political persecution; in America, the majority of those detained were children. Forcibly removed from family, friends, and property, internees lived behind barbed wire for months and years. Internment initially denied these people the right to fight in the war and caused unnecessary hardships to individuals and families already suffering displacement because of Nazism or inherent societal racism. In the first comparative history of internment in Britain and the USA, memoirs, letters, and oral testimony help to put a human face on the suffering incurred during the turbulent early years of the war and serve as a reminder of what can happen to vulnerable groups during times of conflict. Internment during the Second World War also considers how these 'tragedies of democracy' have been remembered over time, and how the need for the memorialisation of former sites of internment is essential if society is not to repeat the same injustices.-- Provided by Publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references
Notes Print version record
Subject Germans -- Great Britain -- Forced removal and internment, 1940-1945
Italians -- Great Britain -- Forced removal and internment, 1940-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, British
World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration camps -- Great Britain
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, American
World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration camps -- United States
History of the Americas.
Second World War.
British & Irish history.
HISTORY -- Europe -- Western.
Concentration camps.
Japanese Americans
European history.
History of the Americas.
United Kingdom, Great Britain.
United States of America, USA.
Second World War.
General & world history.
Military history.
Battles & campaigns.
20th century, c 1900 to c 1999.
History.
Great Britain
United States
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781350001435
1350001430
9781350001442
1350001449
1350001414
9781350001411