Enemy-alien internment · Australia · 1940–1941
The Dunera voyage exposed the danger of treating nationality as a substitute for individual assessment.
Explore AustraliaPublished by WTJPublication updated
1940–1941
Enemy-alien internment · People fleeing Hitler are classified as enemy aliens
The Dunera voyage exposed the danger of treating nationality as a substitute for individual assessment.
Britain’s wartime classification
After war began, Britain classified many German and Austrian residents as enemy aliens. Large numbers were Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution. A national-origin category could override the fact that the regime being fought had also persecuted the people now detained.
The voyage to Australia
In 1940, the Dunera transported more than 2,500 internees from Britain to Australia, most of them Jewish refugees. They endured harsh conditions before internment in Australian camps. Their search for safety had led to confinement by states fighting the regime they had escaped.
Release changes the future
Most Dunera internees were released in 1941, and many later remained in Australia. Their work shaped scientific, cultural and other public life. The change demonstrates what the original classification had concealed: these were people with individual abilities and histories, rather than a uniform enemy group.