!['File 1/A/50 I Publicity' [‎237v] (474/810)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x00038d/IOR_R_15_2_174_0474.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'File 1/A/50 I Publicity' [‎237v] (474/810)")
'File 1/A/50 I Publicity' [237v] (474/810)
The record is made up of 1 file (403 folios). It was created in 31 Jul 1939-25 Nov 1939. It was written in English and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
84
companions. After a short while those who had filed past him
would hear a shot. The prisoner had been driven out of the line
by the guard and over to the S.S. post, who had shot another victim
“ while attempting to escape.” One particularly tragic story deserves
to be told. Among the Jewish prisoners was a youngster, 22 years
of age, called Erich Lowenberg. He had been cantor in a synagogue,
had married young, and his wife was expecting a child two months
later. Erich LSwenberg—it happened about the 15th July, 1988—
was driven by an S.S. guard on to the highway near the quarry
and forced in front of a heavy lorry driven by another S.S. man.
An hour and a half later the young man was dead.
The physical maltreatment normally experienced by prisoners
sometimes led to apoplexy and death. Cause of death would then
be stated by the doctor as ‘‘weak heart.” Coffins were made by
the prisoners themselves in the carpenter’s shop. The bodies were
usually taken to Weimar crematorium and burnt. Relatives would
receive official notification of the prisoner’s death by open unfranked
postcard from the office of the Camp Commandant.
Many also died because of the lack of medical service in the
camp. In the early weeks the ambulance helpers were strictly
forbidden to give medicine to the Jews, a ruling which was also
responsible for its quota of deaths. Later it also quite often happened
that the doctor in charge of the hospital refused to accept Jewish^
patients. One case is known to me of the doctor throwing out a
sick man, declaring that he was faking his symptoms: the man
was dead within two hours.
In the sheds at night we had no means of helping a dying
companion. We could not even lay our hands on a glass of water,
much less obtain any medicine. We were also unable to leave the
shed and go for medical asistance, for the S.S. guards were instructed
to open machine gun fire on anyone seen leaving the building at
night.
Four weeks after our arrival a hospital shed was opened for the
Jews. This had to be paid for by the Jews themselves. It lacked
even the most rudimentary equipment. There were no thermo
meters. Not even a chamber pot.
And yet in this hell one came across human beings. There were
S.S. men, a very small minority, who did not maltreat us. Some
of the S.S. explained to us that they could do nothing about
conditions in the camp. They received their orders from ‘‘higher
up.” This higher authority was Herr Standartenfiihrer Kock,
infamous as the perpetrator of nameless brutalities at the Kolumbia-
haus in Berlin, and at the camps of Esterwege and Sachsenhausen,
now in charge of the Buchenwald camp. How many deaths of
defenceless prisoners has this man on his conscience?
There were also some among the foremen who, at the risk of
their own lives, attempted to help us. Some of them were denouiMfcl
as ‘‘Jew-lovers ” by other prisoners, and publicly flogged. 5ar
worst time followed the arrival of a detachment of young Austrian
About this item
- Content
The file deals with the dissemination in Bahrain of publicity and propaganda material in support of the British and allied cause at the start of the Second World War (1939-45). Most of the information originated with the Ministry of Information in London. The file also contains information on the response of British officials to broadcasts in the region by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and the support given to the allied side by the Ruler and people of Bahrain.
The principal correspondents are the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (principally, Major Charles Geoffrey Prior); the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Bahrain (Hugh Weightman); the Ministry of Information (which is often referred to in the correspondence as MINIF or MINIFORM); the Information Office, Aden; the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ; and the Government of India.
The papers cover: the selection of Bahrain as the publicity distributing centre for the Arab side of the Gulf, and the appointment of a publicity interpreter at Bahrain, who would also undertake intelligence duties (folios 2-6); India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. telegram explaining the principles adopted as the basis of British publicity abroad (folios 8-9); Arabic broadcasts by the BBC, including comments on the service, many of them critical, by the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Prior), and the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Bahrain; discussion of the format and publication of the Arabic language Al Bahrain newspaper (e.g. folios 29-30); numerous reports from the Ministry of Information on political, military and economic developments in the war (including contradictions of German propaganda), which were then recast in Bahrain and translated for publication in the newspaper Al Bahrain ; the suggested use of loudspeakers to broadcast a daily Arabic news bulletin (e.g. folios 36-37); official reports forwarded to Bahrain by the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. (e.g. Papers concerning the Treatment of German Nationals in Germany, 1938-1939 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1939) (folios 221-238); covering letters for pamphlets of war interest sent by the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Bahrain to the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) for the use of employees of the company (e.g. folio 266); the support of the Ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh Hamad [Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah], for the allied cause (e.g. folios 251, 253); the assessment of public opinion on the war in Bahrain and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. (e.g. folios 279, 281, and 348); and newspaper cuttings used for publicity purposes (folios 313-319).
The Arabic language content of the papers consists of approximately fifteen folios of publicity material and correspondence.
The date range gives the covering dates of the correspondence; the last dated additions to the file are notes on a couple of the documents dated 29 November 1939.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (403 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file, except where enclosures of an earlier date are filed after their relevant covering letter, and terminate in a set of notes (folios 396-404). Circled serial numbers in red crayon on certain items of correspondence refer to entries in the notes.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 405; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-395; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'File 1/A/50 I Publicity' [237v] (474/810), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/174, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100028297537.0x00004b> [accessed 24 April 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100028297537.0x00004b
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100028297537.0x00004b">'File 1/A/50 I Publicity' [‎237v] (474/810)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100028297537.0x00004b"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x00038d/IOR_R_15_2_174_0474.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x00038d/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/174
- Title
- 'File 1/A/50 I Publicity'
- Pages
- 234r:238v
- Author
- Unknown
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact copyright@bl.uk with any information you have regarding this item.
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/174
- Title
- 'File 1/A/50 I Publicity'
- Pages
- 221r:238v
- Author
- Privy Council Office
- Usage terms
- Public Domain