WWII Italian-Egyptian Internment Camp Collection
c1940s. Fifty-five (55) vintage silver gelatin photographs, some annotated or dated in pencil or ink or stamped “Internee, Camp Fayed Censor” verso, 8.1 x 10.7cm to 8.2 x 14.1cm. Minor handling creases, silvering or scuffing. Annotations in Italian include “Gruppo sportivo, Agosto 1944” and “Geneifa [POW Camp] – Febbraio 1944.” Photographs cover camp life and include dentistry, a barbershop, men undertaking craft or writing projects, musical groups and theatre, cooking and food preparation, altars or religious figures, and men playing sport in teams. When Italy entered the war on June 10, 1940, the British authorities interned around 5,000 Italian-Egyptians sympathetic to Italian fascism. “Men of working age…were arrested and sent to internment camps in Egypt’s Eastern Desert…Diplomatic ties between Italy and Egypt were severed, Italian schools and institutions were closed, bank accounts were sequestered, and it was forbidden for Italians to sign contracts.” Ref: Viscomi, A Tale of Two States: On Italo-Egyptian political “friendship”, Council for European Studies, Uni. of Michigan. Rare WWII internment camp photographs.
Item #CL194-144
Price (AUD): $6,600.00 other currencies