Reise-Abenteuer eines braven Deutschen im Lande der Kangaroo. / G. C. C. [German Concentration Camp] Liverpool, Australia.

Liverpool, [N.S.W.] : G.C.C., [1918?]. Oblong octavo (105 x 210 mm), stitch-bound; original pictorial wrappers in sepia, [6] unnumbered leaves printed recto only, each with two cartoon panels printed in sepia and hand-coloured, numbered 13-24; text in German; upper wrapper slightly toned, lower wrapper with chipped corners and top edge, but internally excellent; a very well preserved example.

An extremely scarce surviving copy of the second in a series of five self-published comic booklets illustrated and printed by a German internee in Australia during World War One under the title Reise-Abenteuer eines braven Deutschen im Lande der Kangaroo (‘Travel adventures of a well-behaved German in the land of the kangaroo’). Each of the five issues followed the same format, and contained twelve photo-mechanically reproduced hand-drawn cartoons satirising the harsh life of the internees in Holsworthy camp in Liverpool, New South Wales. The anonymous artist/publisher used the pseudonym ‘C. Friedrich’ – perhaps an allusion to the German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich. It is not known how many copies of each issue were printed, but based on the paucity of surviving examples the print-runs must have been small indeed. Presumably, copies were only circulated amongst a limited number of internees in the camp.

The internment camp for enemy aliens at Holsworthy near Liverpool, west of Sydney, was the largest in Australia during World War One. This military base functioned as an internment camp between February, 1915 and 1920, housing almost 7000 men, most of whom were citizens of Germany or the various states of the Austro-Hungarian empire who were domiciled or working in Australia at the outbreak of the war. Some were employees of the German colonial administration or German commercial enterprises in New Guinea and the Pacific, captured by Australian forces towards the beginning of hostilities. Holsworthy was one of several such camps in New South Wales, others being located in Berrima, Trial Bay, Bourke and Molonglo. The freedoms granted to internees at Berrima, in particular, were generous, the camp resembling more a German-speaking township than a prison, with its own theatre and shops and a constant programme of recreational activities conducted in the local area. However, Holsworthy was in every sense of the word a prison, with the internees’ freedoms strictly curtailed. Holsworthy developed a notorious reputation for its harsh, overcrowded conditions and the brutal treatment of internees by the camp guards; ‘problem’ prisoners from other camps were sent there as punishment for bad conduct. It became known as the ‘German Concentration Camp’ (GCC).

Adelaide University Library holds the only known complete set of all five issues of Friedrich’s Reise-Abenteuer in an Australian archive, while the State Library of New South Wales holds the first four booklets in the series. Trove locates no other examples of any issue in Australian libraries.