Blatant Injustice

The Story of a Jewish Refugee from Nazi Germany Imprisoned in Britain and Canada during World War II

A harrowing account of the pervasiveness of antisemitism during the war years.

By Walter W. Igersheimer
Edited by Ian Darragh
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256 pages, 6 x 8.5 inches, 30 b&w photographs
Paperback : 9780228023951, September 2024
Ebook (PDF) : 9780773572508, June 2005
Ebook (EPUB) : 9780228023531, June 2024

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword vii
Author’s Preface xxv
Chronology xxxi
1 The Approaching Thunder of War 5
2 False Hope in London 16
3 The Prison Ship 31
4 Hostile Reception in Quebec 47
5 The Hunger Complex 53
6 Music behind Barbed Wire 65
7 Camp University 69
8 First Contact 82
9 Break-up of Camp L 97
10 The “Promised Land” 105
11 Rebellion 112
12 Despair 117
13 The British Home Office Representative 128
14 Land of Ice and Snow 151
15 Paterson Pleads Our Cause 167
16 Paterson’s Failed Mission 172
17 Cuba Fever 175
18 Release from Canada 183
19 Schemes and Spies in Havana 191
20 New Start in the USA 205
Epilogue 211
Appendix 215
Notes 219
Bibliography 223
Index 225

Grossly unsanitary living conditions, cruel and abusive treatment by camp officials, the withholding of medical treatment - these were common experiences for refugees imprisoned at internment camps in Britain and Canada. Walter Igersheimer's memoir exposes this bleak period in the British and Canadian war record.
After escaping from Nazi Germany with his family, Igersheimer was completing his medical studies when he was caught in the panic that led to the internment of 30,000 German citizens living in Britain. They were placed behind barbed wire and treated as enemies. Many of the Jewish refugees were then sent to prisons in Canada, but the internees did not let the authorities crush their creativity or desire for an education: they started a free university, mounted plays, and wrote musicals.
Laced with black humour, Blatant Injustice is a story of resilience and determination.
This title is available in ePUB, ePDF, and audiobook (Audible and Rakuten Kobo).

“This memoir has all the fine qualities of the genre: clarity, immediacy, enlightening detail, and passion.” Gerald Tulchinsky, author of Taking Root: The Origins of the Canadian Jewish Community and Branching Out: The Transformation of the Canadian Jewish Community