Hugo Dachinger

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Graphic designer, Hugo Dachinger, was interned in Mooragh Camp on the Isle of Man and following his release in January 1941, staged exhibitions of his work entitled ‘Art Behind Barbed Wire’.  His internment art includes informal domestic views of camp life, portraits of fellow internees and satirical cartoons. Many of the works were painted on sheets of newspaper using children’s palette paints. When supplies were short, Dachinger painted with toothpaste (see portrait below) and even gravy browning which can be seen in the hair of Portrait of a Man. To produce charcoal, twigs from trees were burnt to ashes.

 

(After internment he moved to London and was a successful commercial artist and designer. He continued to produce vast quantities of sketches of scenes around Hampstead. He was a familiar sight in local cafes where he would be seen, often wearing his traditional Austrian jacket, sketching people at the next table!)

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The Women and Children's Camp  in Rushen

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The Port Erin and Port St Mary Womens’ and Children Camp in Rushen (Europe’s only all-female Camp) in the south of the island was set up by the Quaker,  Dame Joanna Cruickshank with the support of local landladies (not the military) and as a result seemed to have a more relaxed atmosphere. 3,500 women and children, deemed to be a threat to Britain, arrived all on the same day in May 29th 1940, with 300 of the women pregnant! By that same evening, all were safely housed. It was the very same day that 17 soldiers from the Isle of Man died at Dunkirk. How the locals, grieving for the loss of their men must have felt about accommodating "Enemy Aliens" in their homes can only be imagined.

 

There were classes in sculpting and painting, weaving, spinning, glove making, dress making, creative writing, philosophy, music and typing.

 

Dworja Dymant (Dora Diamant) Kafka’s lover, organised theatre and poetry readings at the Camp attended by internees and locals. PS. After her release from the Camp she moved to Broadhurst Gardens in West Hampstead with her daughter!

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There were three well-known, established German artists/sculptors at the Camp. Margarete Klopfleisch who created the powerful figure "Despair". Pamina Liebert Mahrenholz who had made sculptures from bread whilst in Holloway prison and Erna Nonnenmacher. 

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Despite the hardships, hunger, loneliness, cold, anxiety and uncertainty, the artists from the Camps were enriched by their contact with each other and the fertile atmosphere of creativity and mental stimulation. Many went on to develop their artistic careers after internment, becoming celebrated artists, lecturers and influencers. One hears of artists having to create and express themselves in order to stay sane. Facing and overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles may have added to the drive that fuelled their creativity.  The inspirational outpouring that we see from their time in the Camps is a testimony to this creative process.

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Significant Internees

• Bruno Ahrends, architect from Berlin

• Ernst Blensdorf, sculptor

• Dora Diamant, campaigner

• Andre Deutsch, publisher

• Carl Ludwig Franck, architect from Berlin

• Hans G. Furth, psychology professor from Vienna

• Paul Hamaan, Sculptor from Hamburg

• John Heartfield, artist specialising in photomontage

• Klaus Hinrichsen, artist from Lübeck

• Eric Hobsbaum, historian

• Erich Kahn, graphic artist and expressionist from Stuttgart

• Arthur Koestler, writer from Budapest

• Karl Konig, founder of the Camphill Movement

• Walter Landauer, pianist from Vienna

• Peter Midgley, artist from Berlin

• Rudolf Olden, journalist from Stettin/Szczecin

• Nicholas Pevsner, historian

• Karl Popper, philosopher

• Marjan Rawicz, pianist from Poland

• Kurt Schwitters, artist (Dadaist) from Hanover

• Fred Uhlman, writer and painter from Stuttgart

• George Weidenfeld, publisher

• Hellmuth Weissenborn, engraver

• Egon Wellesz, composer and musicologist from Austria

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RS 2020