Only weeks after Herman’s mother arrived in England, Germany invaded Poland. Within days, Britain and France declared war on Germany in response. “Mother and son now found themselves not only refugees but also classified as enemy aliens in a foreign land.”
The internment of such civilian nationals of enemy countries was standard practice at the time. The United States has its own history of the internment of Japanese-Americans, which ranks especially shameful because women, children, naturalized citizens, and American-born Nisei were all included simply on the basis of their heritage and ethnicity.
In 1939, at the outbreak of the war, there were 80,000 enemy aliens in Britain. The government felt that citizens of Germany and other Axis countries could endanger the security of Britain. It was feared that some might become spies and others would, at the least, help the military of their native country in the event of an invasion. Soon after the declaration of war, all Germans and Austrians over the age of 16 were called before special tribunals, which segregated them into groups based on their degree of risk to the nation.
Approximately 600 persons deemed to be a high security risk were immediately interned. Doubtful cases were supervised, subject to restrictions, and often, later, interned. More than 55,000, mostly Jewish refugees from Nazi oppression, were left at liberty, though they had to be careful least their status be changed. Herman and his mother fell into this last category.
However, in the spring of 1940, with the failure of the Norwegians to hold back the Nazis, British citizens became more and more nervous. A spate of spy fever ensued. More and more German and Austrian nationals, including many Jewish men, were rounded up and interred. Luckily, by then, Herman was safely in California. In June, when Britain finally declared war against Italy, 19,000 Italian nationals living in England at the time were also subject to internment.
The internees were almost exclusively men. Internment camps were set up at race courses and at partially constructed housing tracts. Many internees were actually deported and sent to Canada and Australia. The largest camp was established on the Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sea, half-way between northern England and Ireland. The facilities were basic, but boredom, loss of freedom, and separation from loved ones was the worst part of the experience, not starvation or cruelty. However, many of the enemy aliens interred (up to 80% at the Isle of Man) were in fact Jewish refugees who would have gladly fought against the Nazis, not for them. Most internees were not detained for the full six years Britain was at war—and many of those released were happy to contribute to the war effort within Britain or to serve in the armed forces.
Herman was class
ified as an enemy alien, under special scrutiny, but allowed to remain at his uncle’s home until his US visa arrived in November, a period of slightly less than three months. His last months in England were the beginning a period of seven months of military inactivity on both sides of the English Channel. This period from September 1939 to April 1940 came to be called “The Phoney War.” (Note that the English spelling of phoney is preferred). Churchill sometimes referred to this time as “the Twilight War,” the French termed it drôle de guerre or “joke of a war,” and the Germans called it Sitzkrieg, the “armchair war” or “sit down war.”
Though Britain and France had declared war on Germany because of their all-out Blitzkrieg attack on Poland, neither nation actually went to the aid of that embattled country. Geographically, with the expanse of Germany between themselves and Poland, a counterattack would have been next to impossible. Once Poland was subdued, even Hitler took a rest and did not attack elsewhere. He did not bomb London or Paris and some deluded politicians even hoped to restart peace negotiations with the Third Reich. The French did attempt a half-hearted and mainly unsuccessful invasion of the Saar and Rhine Valley region. After advancing only ab
out five miles into Germany, French forces stopped and pulled back to the supposedly impregnable Maginot Line on the German/ French border.
During these quiet months of no fighting, the efforts of the British government were concentrated on preparedness. New restrictions were enforced and authorities were given emergency powers. Within weeks of the declaration of war, 38 million gas masks were issued door-to-door to families. Children were required to take their masks to school each day, and gas mask drills were frequent. There were even special “onsies” gas masks for babies. (See other-worldly photo on the right.) Soon civilians, especially children, were sent away from the major cities where 400 million sandbags were stacked up around shops and public buildings. Throughout the country, blackout was strictly enforced. Before the Blitz, the blackout resulted in more injuries than any other single cause —pedestrians were hit by cars in the dark, cars drove off the road, and people fell in ditches or tripped over unseen hazards.
In addition to all the preparation and safety efforts, the British government sent RAF bombers on missions over Germany. But these planes did not carry explosives. Their bomb bays were full of millions of propaganda leaflets. On September 3, 6 million copies of a “Note to the German People” were dropped into the cities of Germany. These sorties were called “truth raids,” and it was hoped the residents of the German towns inundated would read about the evils of their homeland and withdraw support from the Third Reich. The degree to which the German people were already paralyzed by fear of the regime was not taken into account. It was also thought that if Hitler saw how vulnerable his country was to air attack, he would reconsider his plans to take over Europe.
Of course, these unrealistic goals were not realized. The Phoney War ended with the Blitzkrieg invasion of the Low Countries by the Nazi war machine on May 10, 1940.
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