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| Irish Born - Merchant Seamen - Prisoners of the Gestapo - WW2 | ||
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| Sandbostel Concentration Camp - Stalag XB / Marlag und Milag Nord / 1941 - 1943 | ||
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| Arbeitserziehungslager Bremen - Farge / Nazi Slave Labourers / 1943 - 1945 | ||
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| [ extracted from an article entitled "Victims of Fear" by Peter Mulvany, published, edition, July August 2001 'An Cosantoir' the Irish Defence Forces Magazine ] | ||
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[ See also Irish Echo New York - Edition 8th to 14th August 2001] |
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With information from and with the permission and considerable support inter alia of the Military Archives Dublin, Commandants Pat Brennan, Victor Laing and Staff; Gabe Thomas Milag POW Association Alexander Van Gurp Netherlands Slave Labour Assoc Simon Wiesenthal Centre U.S.A; The Irish Times and Irish Independent. a research project was initiated in May of 2001 in order to identify Irish nationals who had been incarcerated by the Germans in various forced labour, concentration and prisoner of war camps during the second world war. A very special word of thanks to a camp survivor of Farge now living in Dublin who despite his age and ill health was able to remember with dignity on behalf of all those who never made it home. This research now reveals that between 1940-1945 Irish seamen who had been serving aboard different British merchant vessels who were captured by German Commerce Raiders, were later transported to Bordeaux in France, then to Drancy Concentration Camp outside Paris, then via Bremervorde to Sandbostel Concentration Camp in Germany and ended up circa late1942 in Milag Nord [The Marine Internierten Lager] merchant navy internment camp at Westertimke in Northern Germany. In January1943 thirty two Irish merchant seamen were selected by the Germans and transported from Milag Nord to the Bremen labour office. Later in February 1943 and without warning they were moved to the notorious SS work camp designated as an Arbeitserziehungslager [AEL] at Farge just outside Bremen. Farge was an external kommando, an external camp of the principal concentration camp at Neuengamme. Here the Irish were beaten with hoses by their SS guards as they got off the wagons, ordered to line up and advised by the Germans that they were civilians, that no one was aware of their location and that as far as the SS were concerned they could do what they wanted with them. They were then forced to work on Bunker Valentin See also U-BootBunkerwerft Valentin, which was the codeword for the building of a large fuel depot and bunker for the construction of U-Boats. Working for twelve to eighteen hours a day six days a week and continously threatened and beaten by their SS Guards the Irish merchant seamen were forced to work at Farge and survived with only a bowl of soup and three slices of black bread per man. On Sundays they were forced to work on a local Farm. A report in 1945 indicates that the camp commandant - named Schauwacker shot sixteen other prisoners. A naked Belgian prisoner was beaten to death with a rubber hose for attempting to escape, a Polish man was shot in the thigh while attempting escape, the SS guards later rubbed salt into his wound and beat him with an electric cable. He walked from the end of the camp to the hospital, but a Russian doctor, also a prisoner was refused permission to attend him and gangrene set in. The doctor said it would be more merciful to shoot the man, the guard did so. The next morning a French prisoner who refused information was shot. A Russian prisoner was thrown into the camp refuse heap and Schauwacker forced some of the muck down his throat with a wire before throwing him back on the heap. He was later struck on the head with a rifle butt and killed. His body was left exposed for three days.
About 35000 forced labourers, POWs and prisoners from the principal concentration camp at Neuengamme worked on the bunker building and fuel depot sites at Farge. Amongst the thousands who died were Five Irish Seamen who died from maltreatment. They are: W.H. Knox, [AB, British Commander] Dun Laoghaire; Owen Corr, [AB, Silverfir] of Rush, Co. Dublin; Gerald O’Hara, [1st Radio Officer, Devon] Ballina, Co. Mayo; Patrick Breen, [AB, Athelfoam] Blackwater, Co. Wexford, and Thomas Murphy, [AB, Earlston] of Dublin. In late 1944 early 1945 following representations to the Germans by the Irish Legation in Berlin the Irish survivors from the Arbeitserziehungslager at Farge were eventually returned to the Merchant Navy internment camp at Milag Nord. The conditions at Bremen- Farge were later the subject of an investigation by the Ministry of Pensions and the War Crimes Unit. In 1947 twelve German guards and one Swiss guard were later charged in Hamburg with offences against humanity and international law. Ironically three of the witnesses were Irish born merchant seamen who had been held in the Bremen-Farge camp. The Irish were repatriated by the British in May 1945. To see the 27 Irish merchant seamen who survived Farge click: Farge Irish Survivors
The Role of the Irish Legation in Berlin
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† New research in 2005 reveals that when captured in 1941 all our Irish born internees had each filled out a Kriegsgefangenen Postkarte (prisoner of war capture postcard) which was then routed through the Red Cross to communicate with their families in Ireland. Dated and stamped by the British censor in June, July and September of 1942, these surviving documents are cogent evidence that prior to October 1943 the authorities; German, British, Irish, Red Cross et al had extensive knowledge of the existence of Irish nationals interned since June 1941 until late 1942 in Marlag und Milag Nord located in Sandbostel also known as Stalag XB and Marlag und Milag Nord merchant navy internment camp in Westertimke until late January 1943 |
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In the light of the existence inter alia of these prisoner of war capture postcards, the view that the Irish Legation in Berlin had only become aware from October 1943 that Irish born merchant seamen were being held prisoner, is now unsustainable. We have no doubt that these authorities also knew that our Irish shipmates had been forcibly removed by the Gestapo from Marlag und Milag Nord in Westertimke in late January 1943 and from the 6th February 1943 incarcerated in the nazi slave labour camp Arbeitserziehungslager Bremen Farge as punishment for refusing to work for Germany. This was in direct breach of the Geneva Convention as our Irish shipmates were forced to perform work directly related to German miliary operations. |
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[Note: The 1929 Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War allows for the neutral inspection of prison/internment camps, for the exchange of prisoners/internees names, and for correspondence with prisoners/internees. POWs/internees had the right to advise next of kin and the International Red Cross that they had been captured. Additionally the convention allowed that prisoners/internees might correspond regularly with their relatives. Article 79 of the Convention entitled the International Committee of the Red Cross to enforce the opposing powers to set up an Central Information Agency for the reception, recording and forwarding of information and replies to enquiries about prisoners of war and internees. This agency, set up in 1939 developed a system whereby newly captured prisoners could notify the Central Prisoners of War Agency of the International Red Cross by using a standard card called a 'Capture Card' or 'Carte de Capture' or 'Kriegsgefangenen Postkarte', thereby establishing a postal communication between the prisoner/internee and his immediate family. These cards were filled out in duplicate. One was kept on file by the International Red Cross and the other was sent to the next of kin. In World War Two, Switzerland and Sweden acted as protecting powers. The International Red Cross in Geneva acted as a clearinghouse for the exchange of all information regarding prisoners of war/internees and had charge of transmitting correspondence and parcels. With minor and inevitable exceptions on the lower levels, the United States and Great Britain generally honored the Geneva Convention throughout the war. Germany did not treat all its prisoners alike] |
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Irish born merchant seamen captured while serving on British ships were neutrals/civilians and should have been repatriated without delay back to Ireland. A question arises as to why the Irish Legation in Berlin did not intervene sooner in 1941.....or at the very latest 1942 and vindicate the rights of our interned Irish shipmates......if they had.....five Irish lives would have been saved. Did the Irish Government know ? Surviving contemporary documentary evidence stamped by the British censor in June, July and September of 1942 confirms, that through established German, Swiss, British and Irish official channels of communication, the International Red Cross had passed on information about our Irish born prisoners/internees to their families in Ireland. If the Germans, International Red Cross and British were aware of the existence of Irish born merchant seamen as prisoners in Sandbostel concentration camp..Stalag XB, Milag Nord merchant navy internment camp and Bremen-Farge forced labour camp...we have no doubt... the Irish Government had the same intelligence... History will be the judge of Irish procrastination ... |
Note - Members of the British merchant navy were civilians and had no military status. They were non-combatants and were not members or part of the British armed services.
For the Attention of the German Government
The issue of compensation in relation to the sinking of Irish neutral vessels during the second world war has also never been satisfactorily resolved. The German Governments rebuttle to Irish Governments claims is an insult.The only payment made to satisfy an Irish claim for compensation for the loss of an Irish Vessel was 550 pounds for an attack on the SS Kerry Head in August 1940. 149 Seamen were lost on Sixteen Neutral Irish registered vessels sunk by German Forces during WW2. The derisory amount of 550 Pounds divided between 16 Irish vessels and the relatives of the 149 seamen is some compensation.The establishment of the German Forced Labour Compensation Programe a federal fund entitled Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future initiated by the German Parliament dated 16th February 1999 and the extension to the deadline to the 31st of December 2001 for the filing of claims was welcome.
Irish Claimants
Since the publication of this research in the Irish news media only one claimant has come forward now living in Dublin who was serving aboard the Afric Star when he was captured on the 29/1/1940 by the German Raider Kormoran ( Ex-Steirmark ). He was taken to a Camp at Bordeaux where he spent 4 months, then to Bremen and on to Sandbostel Concentration Camp / Stalag XB. In 1942 he was transported to Marlag Milag Nord . In January 1943, 32 seamen of Irish nationality were selected and transported to the Bremen labour office and later moved to the SS camp classified as an Arbeitserziehungslager AEL at Farge in Bremen. They were kicked and beaten getting off the wagons-were ordered to line up by the SS Guards, some of them were beaten with hoses. They were told they were civilians and that no one knew where they were. They were threatened and forced to work 12 hours per day. They laid rails, submarine pens and were given a bowl of soup per day + 3 slices of bread. In April of 1945 they were sent back to Milag Nord. When the seaman came home to Ireland (1945) he suffered from malnutrition and his eyesight failed for 6 months and did not work for another 12 Months. Following a two year wait HC's claim for compensation was finally granted in March 2004. Another Irish MN slave labourer has come forward and we are now in the process of appealing his compensation claim. Postscript: His appeal for compensation from the German fund was successful in August 2006.
Prisoners of War
Deposition Number 15, Doctor Alfred Paul Schweder at the War Crimes Trial in Hamburg dated 19th of December 1947 to 24th of February 1948; relating to the ill treatment of allied nationals at Bremen Farge: Doctor Schweder was, near the end of the War the Chief of the Gestapo in the Bremen area with personal responsibility for many labour camps including Farge. On page 4 of his submission to the War Crimes court he states; that the camp at Westertimke is an internment camp and that those incarcerated in Westertimke were internees. Westertimke is the location of Milag Nord, the merchant navy internment camp. British merchant seamen mistakenly call themselves Prisoners of War. Pursuant to International Law they held civilian status, except those seamen designated DEMS (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship Personnel) Gunners.
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War Crimes / Charges / Offences / Irish Nationals / Allied Nationals
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Prison Like and Harsh Conditions
From Bordeaux to Drancy Concentration Camp then [where French Jews were selected for transporting to the death camps] to Sandbostel concentration camp and thence to its external commando Milag Nord. British Merchant Seamen were transported in cattle wagons from one concentration camp to another under armed guard and were subjected to horrendous treatment and deprivation by the Gestapo. As civilians, they should have been repatriated. The merchant navy camp at Marlag Milag Nord was an external camp linked to the main concentration camp at Sandbostel. The Bremen Farge forced labour camp was an external camp linked to the Neuengamme concentration camp.
Forced to Work
In Milag Nord Internienten Lager (Marine Internment Camp) merchant navy officers and petty officers were not required to work. This did not apply to the ordinary Seaman. Working parties were selected of ratings and merchant seamen each day at the 6.30am muster. The work consisted of ditching, peat digging and stacking, farming and forestry work, felling and dragging trees and harvesting potatoes and swedes in season. Brigadier R C Halse, The Deputy Judge Advocate General, Military Court ( War Crimes ) Trial, Bremen Farge Tribunal, dated 15th March 1948 in his summing up, ref W0 235/442 at page 397 at Section 70, stated the following: It seems to me not really necessary to decide whether the foreign labourers at Bremen-Farge were originally volunteers or not . It is certaintly not decided by the fact that the Germans paid them. After all, conscripts can be paid. Although merchant seamen in some cases were later on paid through a system of camp money, this does not alter the fact that they were subject to a system of forced labour while incarcerated in Milag Nord.
Nationalities: American, Arabian, Australian, Belgian, Brazilian, British, Canadian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Egyptian, Irish, British, Burmese, Indian,etc.
Other Compensation arangements : The Canadian Government in Feb 2, 2000 announced a compensation package.
British Merchant Seamen
The London administrators of the fund seem to be misinterpreting the guidelines for claimants in that they say that British merchant seamen captured during the war were prisoners of war or had subsequently attracted the status of POW and do not or would not as a group qualify as claimants. British merchant seamen were emphatically never POWs. The Germans gave them individual POW numbers and regarded the Irish, British and other captured Merchant Seamen, as Marine Internienten = Marine Civilian Internees. They like the Irish were kept in harsh and prison like conditions and surrounded by guards. These conditions did exist in forced labour camps and concentration camps. There is also evidence that British Seamen were incarcerated in concentration camps along with other nationalities. The fact that someone was British or Irish is irrelevant according to the Dutch slave labour association, Nationality is not the issue.The only difference between the British and Irish captured by the Germans while serving on British merchant vessels and forced to work during the war was, the Irish were subsequently transferred into an Arbeitserziehungslager, Forced Labour Camp and forced to work there.
Conclusion
The compensation fund established by the German Government is presumed to reflect the principal enuniciated in the German Parliaments determination on the 16th February 1999 which was: to remember, to accept responsibility and as a consequence to draw a line on the past looking forward to the Future. However the following can be argued:
1. Except in certain circumstances merchant seamen as a group were non combatants and were civilians
2. Merchant seamen were subjected to prison like and harsh conditions
3. Merchant seamen were forced to work and were not volunteers
The guidelines for compensation under the forced labour heading are not limited to those that were in forced labour camps. It also includes those civilians subjected to forced labour in agriculture and who experienced harsh and prison like conditions. British merchant seamen experienced these conditions. Many surviving British merchant seamen may have been forced to work as forced labourers by the Nazis elsewhere. Who they were is another question. I believe it can now be argued with plenty of support from various agencies in the UK that British merchant navy personnel captured by the Nazis should be entitled to claim from this fund. The criteria for eligibility was designed by the German Government to minimise their outstanding liability, while maximising in the public domain their so called regret for past wrongs. Merchant seamen as civilians paid with their lives for the cause of international freedom and justice. Are the experiences and sacrifices of merchant seamen who died or ended up as prisoners of the Kriegsmarine in Milag Nord and other camps during World War Two, to be consigned yet again to the historical graveyard of Nazi atrocities against mankind never to be vindicated ???.
For further information see Lloyds List published London January 2002.
German Firms That Used Slave Or Forced Labour During the Nazi Era
Friday 26th March 2004: As a result of this research project one surviving Irish / MN WW2 Slave Labourer received his compensation from the German Government. On Monday 7th June 2004 the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) submitted an appeal to the administrators of the German fund the International Organisation for Migration based in Switzerland on behalf of another ex Irish / MN WW2 Slave Labourer now living in Northern Ireland. A special word of thanks to the staff of the Military Archives Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin for their support and cooperation.
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Irish Journey of Remembrance April 2005 |
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Supported by the British National Lottery, the Royal British Legion Republic of Ireland Branch, the Milag ex POW Association, Dublin Bus and the Irish trade union SIPTU, a Heroes Return / Irish Journey of Remembrance was organised by the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) commencing on 27th to 30th April 2005 to enable surviving Irish born ex merchant navy prisoners and relatives to return to the site of their former concentration camp at Sandbostel, Milag Nord internment camp at Westertimke, the site of the forced labour camp at Bremen Farge and to visit Rheinberg War Cemetery near Moers to remember lost Irish shipmates.
| For records on British or Allied Prisoners of War etc see National Archives also Archives of the International Red Cross in Geneva |
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We would request the newsmedia to be particularly sensitive when dealing with our elderly Irish Born Merchant Navy Internees/Concentration Camp Survivors/Slave Labourers. They suffered badly at the hands of the Gestapo and the passage of time has neither dimmed their memories nor eased the pain of their experience. Please be understanding and extra cautious with your enquiries. |
