From Swabia via Palestine to Australia: “Some thought it was South Africa”

Every year on Memorial Day, former inmates and their descendants of the Tatura internment camp in Victoria gather at the German cemetery to remember the people buried there. Among them are also those who spent a few years there and still have vivid memories of the time.

We were there in Tatura on November 17 and were able to talk to some eyewitnesses and relatives. In this small series, they share their stories and memories. Today: Ilse. She came to Australia from Palestine in 1941 on the passenger ship Queen Elizabeth and shares her memories with us — but not her age.

The internment camp in Tatura no longer exists today. But a German section in the cemetery in Tatura and a museum commemorate life and people in the camp. Credit: Kübler/Resi Schwarzbauer