Cultural Exchange in a Time of Global Conflict

Halfmoon Camp in Wünsdorf-Zossen. Three-legged race

The postcard shows a group of prisoners of war and their guards in the propaganda camp in Wünsdorf. They are shown supposedly in their leisure time; some of them doing a three-legged race, others are…

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Themes: Race; Propaganda; Postcard; Photograph; Captivity
Tags: colonial intellectual, Colonial soldiers, Colonial Troops, German Revolutionary Program, Halfmoon Camp, imperial strategy, Jihad, Muslims, Personal Encounters, Photograph, postcard, POW, pow-camp

Shipment for prisoners of war

French parcel label addressed to Mohamed ait Menca from the 5th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment who was imprisoned at Zossen.

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Theme: Captivity
Tags: Colonial soldiers, Colonial Troops, Halfmoon Camp, imperial strategy, Mobility, POW, pow-camp, western front

Love song performed by the Moroccan prisoner of war Kadr Ben Hamed at the Halfmoon camp in Wünsdorf

This song was recorded in the Halfmoon camp in Wünsdorf in 1918. Biographical details of the singer are in the PK-files. A translation was produced by Samir El-Moussati in 2014.

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Themes: Recording; Race; Propaganda; Captivity
Tags: Arabic, Halfmoon Camp, imperial strategy, Language, POW, pow-camp, Sound Recording

Five Arabic war songs by the famous war volunteer Fritz Klopfer

The document contains five songs in Arabic including a translation into German. The songs were performed by Hans Stumme (alias Fritz Klopfer) on 20 January 1915 on behalf of the Red Halfmoon…

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Themes: Religion; Poem; Language; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: anti-colonialism, Arabic, German Revolutionary Program, Halfmoon Camp, imperial strategy, Music, orientalism, orientalists, POW, pow-camp, Propaganda

Personal Information Form 325, Sound recording, Armenian-Georgian song

The voice of the Russian soldier Levon Altunov was recorded in a prisoner-of-war camp in Chemnitz on 16 June 1916. The recording, inventoried as PK 325, is of a song in Armenian that speaks of…

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Themes: Recording; Language; Captivity
Tags: Armenian, Colonial Troops, Folksong, imperial strategy, Mobility, POW, pow-camp, Propaganda, Race, Sound Recording

English letter by Nellie Zerhusen

Letter written probably to Otto Stiehl, captain of the Halfmoon Camp in Wünsdorf. This forms part of Stiehl's photographic album and within it are complaints about English soldiers who claim to be…

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Themes: Letter; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: anti-British, German Revolutionary Program, Halfmoon Camp, imperial strategy, Ireland, Irish, Letter, Non-Combatant, POW, pow-camp

'Camp Weinberg near Zossen' and 'Zossen 1914-17'

The first picture shows the inauguration of the Tatar memorial stone in the Tatar section of the cemetery in Zehrensdorf. Prisoners from both propaganda camps attended the ceremony, as well as Ottoman…

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Themes: Religion; Propaganda; Photograph; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: Colonial soldiers, Colonial Troops, Halfmoon Camp, imperial strategy, Jihad, mobilisation, orientalism, pan-Islamism, Photograph, postcard, POW, pow-camp, Propaganda, religion

Maurice Valette’s photo album from his time as prisoner of war during the First World War

These photographs were taken by a professional photographer who worked inside the camp Münster II. Maurice Valette bought the photographs and composed an album with scenes of daily life and portraits…

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Themes: Photograph; Language; Captivity
Tags: Halfmoon Camp, imperial strategy, Personal Encounters, Photograph, POW, pow-camp, western front

Photo album, Halfmoon Camp, Wünsdorf

The album contains around 40 vintage print photographs taken by Hans Schmidt in the Halfmoon Camp in 1917. They depict daily life in the propaganda camp, such as class hours, craftmen in the workshop,…

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Themes: Photograph; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: Colonial soldiers, Colonial Troops, Craft, German Revolutionary Program, Halfmoon Camp, imperial strategy, Labour, Music, Muslims, Personal Encounters, POW, pow-camp

Halfmoon Camp in Wünsdorf

The sketch depicts the mosque which was erected in the Halfmoon Camp in 1915. In the foreground, human silhouettes are identifiable. They appear as if wearing traditional turbans and cloaks. Other…

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Themes: Religion; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: anti-British, anti-colonialism, anti-French, Colonial Troops, German Revolutionary Program, Halfmoon Camp, imperial strategy, Jihad, painting, POW, pow-camp, Propaganda

Maurice Valette's identification documents

The pictures show Maurice Valette's documents as a soldier in the French army and as a prisoner of war in the German camp Rennbahn, near Münster.

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Themes: Photograph; Captivity
Tags: newspapers, poet, POW, pow-camp, western front

Wangert, Stefan, Die Zeitungen der orientalischen und kaukasischen Kriegsgefangenen in Deutschland cover.jpg

Der Neue Orient (The New Orient). Monthly newspaper on the political, economic, and spiritual life in the whole East

Der Neue Orient was one of the periodicals published by the Information Service for the East. As the table of contents shows, it reported on economic, political, cultural, and social developments in…

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Themes: Propaganda; Newspapers & Magazines; Imperial Strategy
Tags: German Revolutionary Program, imperial strategy, Jihad, Language, mobilisation, newspapers, orientalism, orientalists, pan-Islamism, pow-camp, Propaganda

Weinberg Camp near Zossen

The first picture shows the visit of an Ottoman-German delegation to the Halbmondlager. The gangways are decorated with conifer wood and the buildings with various Ottoman and German flags. The mosque…

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Themes: Religion; Propaganda; Photograph; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: Colonial soldiers, Colonial Troops, German Revolutionary Program, imperial strategy, Jihad, Muslims, pan-Islamism, POW, pow-camp, Propaganda

Personal Information Form 812-813: The swallowed fish bone

This story narrated by the Indian soldier Faijaz Ali, born in Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan), was recorded on 30 March 1917 in the Wünsdorf camp. It tells of a sick king, who has a fish bone stuck in…

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Themes: Recording; Language; Captivity
Tags: Colonial Troops, Fairy Tale, Halfmoon Camp, Hindustani, imperial strategy, Mobility, POW, pow-camp, Punjabi, Race, Sound Recording

Envelope addressed to Naik Haider Khan in Zossen

The envelope is addressed to an Indian prisoner of war who served in the 129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluchis infantry regiment. It is stamped with censorship marks for both Britain and Germany. It…

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Themes: Letter; Language; Captivity
Tags: Colonial soldiers, Colonial Troops, English, Halfmoon Camp, Letter, POW, pow-camp

L’Echo du Camp de Rennbahn: Rennbahn-Münster’s prisoner camp newspaper

Collection of the newspaper L’Echo du camp de Rennbahn from issue 1 (10 June 1916) to the issue 85 (15 June 1918). Each issue contains 3 sheets (6 pages) with both texts and cartoons. The articles…

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Themes: Newspapers & Magazines; Captivity
Tags: English, French, newspapers, POW, pow-camp, western front

Hindostan and El Dschihad

Hindostan and El Dschihad were propaganda newspapers for South Asian, Caucasian, and North African prisoners of war in the Halbmondlager in Wünsdorf and the Weinberglager in Zossen. These periodicals…

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Themes: Religion; Propaganda; Newspapers & Magazines; Language; Intellectual Exchange; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: anti-British, anti-colonialism, Arabic, Colonial soldiers, Colonial Troops, German Revolutionary Program, Halfmoon Camp, Hindi, Jihad, Language, newspapers, official documents, orientalism, orientalists, Ottoman Empire, pan-Islamism, POW, pow-camp, Propaganda, religion, revolution, Russian, Tatar, Urdu

Shipment from England for prisoners of war

Parcel label for a delivery of bread, addressed to Indian prisoners of war at Halbmondlager, Zossen.

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Themes: Neutrality; Captivity
Tags: Colonial soldiers, Colonial Troops, Halfmoon Camp, imperial strategy, India, POW, pow-camp

’Culture brothers’ in the prison camp

The postcard is suggestive of the wide range of people fighting for the Allied armies. The mix of people - their uniforms, their skin tone, their facial expressions, and their postures - in front of a…

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Themes: Race; Postcard; Mobility; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: imperial strategy, orientalism, painting, postcard, POW, pow-camp, Propaganda, Racism, The Other

Letter by Tahar Chaaouche Kasi ben Mohamed to the Maskar committee

This phonetically written letter by an Algerian prisoner of war is kept in the albums of Otto Stiehl. On the left it reads 'prizonier de gér 1 Bata 1 con nr 1093 Zosén Aleman'. On the right it…

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Themes: Postcard; Letter; Language; Captivity
Tags: Colonial soldiers, Colonial Troops, French, Halfmoon Camp, Letter, POW, pow-camp, western front

Portrait Photography: Ganga Ram

Ganga Ram was one of approximately 1,000 South Asians in German prisoner-of-war camps during the First World War. Fighting at the Western Front, he was taken prisoner and brought to Germany. South…

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Themes: Propaganda; Photograph; Captivity
Tags: anti-British, anti-colonialism, Colonial soldiers, Colonial Troops, Germany Revolutionary Program, Halfmoon Camp, POW, pow-camp, religion

Camp Weinberg near Zossen

The first picture shows a group of prisoners sliding a rack wagon full of parcels in the camp.
The second picture shows a group of prisoners, probably Tatar, practising gymnastics.
The third…

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Themes: Propaganda; Photograph; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: Colonial soldiers, Colonial Troops, Craft, German Revolutionary Program, Labour, POW, pow-camp

Personal information form related to sound recording no. 271

The so-called Personalbogen (personal information form) was created by the members of the Royal Prussian Phonographic Commission to assist in the process of recording the voices of POWs held in…

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Themes: Recording; Language; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: Colonial Troops, Halfmoon Camp, imperial strategy, Language, Mobility, POW, pow-camp