Hello and thank you for downloading witness from the BBC World Service with me Linda Mannheim.

I'm taking you back to the Second World War to the summer of 1940 when the British government classified

thousands of German and Austrian nationals living in Britain as enemy aliens.

17 year old Baron Brandt was living in a refugee hostel and working in a factory in South London

when this announcement went out.

No alien living in the provinces may be absent from his residence between half past 10 at night and 6 o'clock in the

morning without a police permit. Aliens with no settled residence must report to the

police next Monday. If an alien stays a night in a private house, the occupy must report in writing to the police at once.

Baron came from Berlin. His Jewish background made him a target for the Nazis, and he'd been given asylum

in Britain through the program for unaccompanied child refugees, the Kinder Transport.

But along with 27,000 German, Austrian, and Italian civilians, he was now classified as an enemy alien.

Soon Byrne and the other boys in his hostel were ordered to report to the local police.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill had given MI 5 orders to

Color the lot. In July 1940, he and 2,000 other enemy aliens were put on board a military transport ship called the De Nera. The De Nera became

notorious later on, an overcrowded ship where prisoners slept on floors and

luggage was looted by members of the British military. After eight weeks at sea, the prisoners

reached their destination, Australia.

When we arrived in Port Melbourne, there were soldiers lining the wharfs in their funny slouch heads. We boarded a train.

There was a soldier to each compartment. We were given sandwiches, which were very delicious.

The international redfoss, distributing soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Baron was then sent to an internment camp in Tertura, a small agricultural settlement, 200 kilometers north of Melbourne.

The camp was surrounded by guard towers and barred wire.

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