1940 Remarkable First Edition of World War 2 Original Hutchinson Internment Artist’s Camp (P Camp) “The Camp” Newsletter

On offer is a remarkable newsletter, the first ever to be produced and printed by internees at the Hutchinson Internment Camp in Douglas, Isle of Man, during the Second World War. 

This newsletter is the first edition of the Hutchinson newsletter called The Camp. It was produced at Hutchinson, and is dated September 21, 1940. It was edited by journalist and interpreter Michael Corvin (also known as Leo Freund) and published by patent merchant Wilhelm Feuchtwang. 

The newsletter provides tremendous insight into life at Camp Hutchinson. Being the first newsletter, it begins with an introduction by the Camp’s Commander, Captain Daniel, and one by the camp’s Camp Father, the author Dr. Frederich Burschell. Some of the newsletter’s article titles give a sense of its content. They include: The Shower Bath, Science Marches On, Technical School, Art Exhibition, Sport, Camp Commander Announcement, The Cultural Department to the Newcomers, and more. 

Hutchinson Camp (also known as “P” Camp), located in Douglas on the Isle of Man, was an internment camp. Initiated by Winston Churchill during World War Two, it was one of many camps opened to quell the anxiety of British citizens who believed spies were among them. Hutchinson kept “enemy aliens” - or those living in Britain with German, Austrian and Italian passports - jailed behind barbed wire in boarding houses. Tragically, many of those detained in Hutchinson were Jews who had fled the Nazis only to be imprisoned by the country they hoped would liberate them. Hutchinson became known as the artist’s camp as it housed many professors, artists, composers, writers and more. Notable artists interned at Hutchinson included Kurt Schwitters, Hellmuth Weissenborn, Paul Hamann and Eric Kahn. According to AJR Refugee Voices, “Despite the injustice of the situation, the internees quickly organised. The camp became a hub of creative endeavour, with a daily program of lectures, live music performances, poetry readings, and English lessons”. In fact, they even produced a camp newsletter (offered here).  Hutchinson was opened on July 13, 1940, housing up to 1200 men, and was in operation. In early 1942, most of the innocent men had been released from Hutchinson and, while it remained open until 1945, it became a camp for Prisoners of War and its cultural life faded. 

This newsletter provides an inside look at life at Hutchinson in its first year of operation. With writing by some of the camp’s famous internees and references to life at the camp, the Commanders and more, this newsletter is an exceptional piece of the historical puzzle that will enhance any World War Two collection.

This newsletter appears to have belonged to Fritz Stern, the German and Jewish historian, as his name is written in pencil on the first page. This newsletter contains eight printed pages of content, all measuring 8-1/2 x 13-1/2 in. The pages are held together with two staples. The document exhibits age toning, folds and creases. Overall Good. 

References: 

AJR Refugee Voices. (2023). Hutchinson. Retrieved from https://www.ajrrefugeevoices.org.uk/isle-of-man-camps/hutchinson

The Island of Extraordinary Captives. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.hutchinsoncamp.com/