Britain has always been keen on the use of concentration camps, not only operating them itself, but also allowing a foreign country to run concentration camps in this country
Not quite concentration camps but in the 1930s my father was sent to something he called dole school - set up to keep unemployed males out of trouble and employed on pocket money wages in local farms/industries. He was then called up to the Army in July 1939 and served for the whole of WW2. I have never been able to find anything really on these dole schools - which were based on the camp model. Would be interesting if Simon could find something on these.
These Transfer Instructional Centres, later called simply Instructional Centres, actually were, to all intents and purposes, labour camps, where ’soft’ men would be ’reconditioned’ and ’hardened’, as the government put it. This process would be accomplished by means of rough living for a few months, during which the men would spend their days engaged in the heaviest kind of physical labour; digging ditches, breaking stones, felling trees and sawing timber. The camps were all in remote, out-of-the-way places and the intention was that after they had been reconditioned, it might be possible for the men to obtain work of this sort on the land, far from the areas of high unemployment from which they came.
Accommodation in the camps was basic, similar perhaps to that provided in army barracks. The food was adequate and filling and the men sent there lived a life in many ways like that of soldiers. They were issued with heavy work clothes and cutlery and lived in wooden huts.
The compulsion used to get men to agree to leave their homes and live under fairly harsh conditions of this sort was simple, but devastatingly effective. Those who refused to take up a place at the camp to which they had been allocated would no longer be entitled to any unemployment benefit or dole. For men with families, this was a most potent means of persuasion, involving as it did the threat of hardship and even starvation for their wives and children.
Simon I had a feeling you would know about these places - your description brings back memories of how my father described these places - as I say he called them dole school, which I am guessing was a slang term used by many working class people at least in Teesside. You have a most encyclopedic knowledge. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.
Having worked in a prison for two years in a civilian role - I can say that we still have political prisoners in this country. In the 70s these were of the so called left now they are of the so called right or those suspected of supporting those views.
Something slightly OT, Heinrich Himmler interviewed by Lothrop Stoddard, from his book Into The Darkness: Nazi Germany Today (1940):
“We certainly do our best to combat crime of every sort, and our criminal statistics imply that we are fairly successful. Frankly, we believe that habitual offenders should not be at large to plague society, so we keep them locked up. Why, for instance, should a sex-offender who has been sentenced three or four times be again set free, to bring lasting sorrow to another decent home? We send all such persons to a detention-camp and keep them there. But I assure you that their surroundings aren’t bad. In fact, I know they are better fed, clothed, and lodged than the miners of South Wales. Ever seen one of our concentration-camps?”
Hans Von der Heide, a German veteran who served in the Wehrmacht an near the end of the war in an SS Panzer Division, tells about his experience in POW camps in the UK, from 1945 to 1948. They were both extremely unpleasant and/or acceptable. From 1:03:57 here (uncensored version): https://archive.org/details/interviewofawaffensssoldierbymichaelhoffman
They will return. The next 'pandemic' will see those people who refuse to take the injection placed in 'isolation' wards and medically treated. They will likely be categorised as psychologically unwell as is the custom in communist states. The new regime under Starmer will be a communist utopia.
They are already preparing the ground by hyping things like Tuberculosis as well as the other usual suspects, bird flu, etc.
They will use the influx of people from the third world to claim TB is spreading and is a serious threat. Why else would you place these immigrants in every borough throughout the country? If tuberculosis was a threat would the Government open up the borders the way it has done? No, this is simply the problem, reaction, and solution play in action. They are now claiming drugs are no longer working to combat Tuberculosis, so expect a 'vaccine' to make an appearance in the not-too-distant future.
This is another excellent article, probing, as usual with your articles, into another of the unsavory crevices of received history.
Nice piece, Professor Webb!
Thank you!
Not quite concentration camps but in the 1930s my father was sent to something he called dole school - set up to keep unemployed males out of trouble and employed on pocket money wages in local farms/industries. He was then called up to the Army in July 1939 and served for the whole of WW2. I have never been able to find anything really on these dole schools - which were based on the camp model. Would be interesting if Simon could find something on these.
These Transfer Instructional Centres, later called simply Instructional Centres, actually were, to all intents and purposes, labour camps, where ’soft’ men would be ’reconditioned’ and ’hardened’, as the government put it. This process would be accomplished by means of rough living for a few months, during which the men would spend their days engaged in the heaviest kind of physical labour; digging ditches, breaking stones, felling trees and sawing timber. The camps were all in remote, out-of-the-way places and the intention was that after they had been reconditioned, it might be possible for the men to obtain work of this sort on the land, far from the areas of high unemployment from which they came.
Accommodation in the camps was basic, similar perhaps to that provided in army barracks. The food was adequate and filling and the men sent there lived a life in many ways like that of soldiers. They were issued with heavy work clothes and cutlery and lived in wooden huts.
The compulsion used to get men to agree to leave their homes and live under fairly harsh conditions of this sort was simple, but devastatingly effective. Those who refused to take up a place at the camp to which they had been allocated would no longer be entitled to any unemployment benefit or dole. For men with families, this was a most potent means of persuasion, involving as it did the threat of hardship and even starvation for their wives and children.
Simon I had a feeling you would know about these places - your description brings back memories of how my father described these places - as I say he called them dole school, which I am guessing was a slang term used by many working class people at least in Teesside. You have a most encyclopedic knowledge. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.
You've given me the idea for a post about this subject, which has almost been forgotten! Brought in by the first Labour government in Britain!
I look forward to reading/hearing about this from you in due course. Best regards
Having worked in a prison for two years in a civilian role - I can say that we still have political prisoners in this country. In the 70s these were of the so called left now they are of the so called right or those suspected of supporting those views.
Something slightly OT, Heinrich Himmler interviewed by Lothrop Stoddard, from his book Into The Darkness: Nazi Germany Today (1940):
“We certainly do our best to combat crime of every sort, and our criminal statistics imply that we are fairly successful. Frankly, we believe that habitual offenders should not be at large to plague society, so we keep them locked up. Why, for instance, should a sex-offender who has been sentenced three or four times be again set free, to bring lasting sorrow to another decent home? We send all such persons to a detention-camp and keep them there. But I assure you that their surroundings aren’t bad. In fact, I know they are better fed, clothed, and lodged than the miners of South Wales. Ever seen one of our concentration-camps?”
Various people from Britain visited Dachau in its early years and were favourably impressed.
My father Wiktor Soltys (Polish) was held in a camp near Annan in Dumfriesshire unfortunately I can find no information......
That is very interesting. The history of those camps has almost faded completely now and the modern Polish government denies that they even existed!
If you'll indulge me Simon here's a poem about my father https://www.poeticous.com/john-soltys/soltys-of-solway
A very moving poem. One day, perhaps, the story of those Polish prisoners will be told fully.
Hans Von der Heide, a German veteran who served in the Wehrmacht an near the end of the war in an SS Panzer Division, tells about his experience in POW camps in the UK, from 1945 to 1948. They were both extremely unpleasant and/or acceptable. From 1:03:57 here (uncensored version): https://archive.org/details/interviewofawaffensssoldierbymichaelhoffman
The whole interview is unusual interesting.
They will return. The next 'pandemic' will see those people who refuse to take the injection placed in 'isolation' wards and medically treated. They will likely be categorised as psychologically unwell as is the custom in communist states. The new regime under Starmer will be a communist utopia.
They are already preparing the ground by hyping things like Tuberculosis as well as the other usual suspects, bird flu, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsTmXeTVUC4
They will use the influx of people from the third world to claim TB is spreading and is a serious threat. Why else would you place these immigrants in every borough throughout the country? If tuberculosis was a threat would the Government open up the borders the way it has done? No, this is simply the problem, reaction, and solution play in action. They are now claiming drugs are no longer working to combat Tuberculosis, so expect a 'vaccine' to make an appearance in the not-too-distant future.