Violence and Leisure in Camps: Sport in 20th Century Camps

Open Access Publication in the Series of the Leibniz Institute of European History

Gregor Feindt, Anke Hilbrenner and Dittmar Dahlmann (eds.), Sport under Unexpected Circumstances. Violence, Discipline, and Leisure in Penal and Internment Camps (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht) 2018.

Sport was an integral part of life in camps during the twentieth century, even in Nazi concentrations camps or in the Soviet Gulag. Traditionally perceived as a symbol of equality, play, and peacefulness, sport under such unexpected circumstances irritates most observers, back then and today.

Thomas Geve, Sport (Auschwitz I), 1945. Thomas Geve was deported to Auschwitz in 1943 as a 13-year-old. He survived. See his memoirs “Geraubte Kindheit: Ein Junge überlebt den Holocaust” (Bremen 2013; first pb. as “Youth in chains”. Jerusalem 1958).

This volume studies the irritating fact of sport in penal and internment camps as an important insight into the history of camps. The authors enquire into case studies of sport being played in different forms of camps around the globe and throughout the twentieth century. They challenge our understanding of camps, question the dichotomy of insiders and outsiders, inner-camp hierarchies, and the everyday experience of violence. This fresh perspective complements the existing camp studies and gives way for the subjectivity of camp inmates and their action. Read or download the introduction “Why the History of Sport in Penal and Internment Camps Matters” here.

TOC Sports in Camps

with contributions by Alan Kramer (Dublin), Floris van der Merwe (Stellenbosch), Panikos Panayi (Leicester), Christoph Jahr (Berlin), Doriane Gomet (Rennes), Felicitas Fischer von Weikersthal (Heidelberg), Kim Wünschmann (München), Veronika Springmann (Berlin), Mathias Beer (Tübingen), Marcus Velke (Bonn), Dieter Reinisch (Florenz), and Manfred Zeller (Bremen).

 

Political Mobilisation in the Early-Twentieth Century

Special issue of Immigrants & Minorities on “Homelands and Hostlands: The Spatial Dynamics of Political Mobilisation”

This special issue edited by Eveline G. Bouwers (Leibniz Institute of European History, Mainz) and Niall Whelehan (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow) considers the categories of ‘homeland’ and ‘hostland’ as a means to approach questions of identity, loyalty and estrangement that both inspired and shaped political mobilisation in the early twentieth century world. During these years the advance of the global went hand in hand with a renaissance of the particular. Within this context of both high mobility and increasing localism, the articles in this special issue consider the importance of spatial perspectives in understanding how people and communities are moved to action by grievances, frustrations and loyalties.

Drawing on rich archival detail, each article considers different case studies that highlight diverse forms of politicisation and provide new insights into how communities negotiated questions of boundaries and space, and how the juxtaposition of homeland and hostland shaped their thinking. They show that, in an era of high mobility and increasing localism, political mobilisation was intimately connected with questions of space, making both use of it yet also depending on it.

Table of contents:

Eveline G. Bouwers & Niall Whelehan, Introduction: The Importance of Space for Understanding Political Mobilisation.

Eveline G. Bouwers, Challenging de Republic from the Provinces: An Analysis of Crowd Action after the Separation Law (1905).

Pietro Di Paola, ‘Capturing Anarchists Across Borders’: The Transnational Dimensions of Italian Antimilitarist Campaigns, 1911-14.

Elisabeth Marie Piller, To Aid the Fatherland. German-Americans, Transatlantic Relief Work and American Neutrality, 1914-17.

John Cunningham, Tom Glynn and ‘Pickhandle Mary’ Fitzgerald: Two Irish Syndicalists in Pre-World War One South Africa.

Rebecca Ayako Bennette, Remapping the German Homeland: Germania and Catholic Efforts to Mobilise Continued Support during the First World War.