When Friends Were Enemies: The Story of the Dunera Boys

In 1940, all male Germans, Austrians and Italians between 16 and 60, living in Britain, were arrested and interned as “enemy aliens”. Of these, 2542 were shipped off to Australia on the “H.M.T. Dunera”, travelling under extremely harsh conditions, their possessions and papers confiscated. Most were Jewish refugees from Hitler’s Germany and over 900 chose to stay on in Australia following their release from the internment camps in Hay and Tatura. This fascinating program focuses on the reunion of the “Dunera Boys” in Hay in 1990 where the men recall their experiences and the effect their internment had on their lives.

How to watch

This work has not been digitised and is currently unavailable to view online. It may be possible for approved reseachers to view onsite at ACMI.

Learn more about accessing our collection

Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

production company

Australia. Special Broadcasting Service

producer/director

Judy Menczel

Duration

00:58:00:00

Production places

Australia

Production dates

1991

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

302690

Language

English

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Jews - Australia

Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Prisoners of war - Australia

Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → World War, 1939-1945 - Prisoners and prisons

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Jews - Australia

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Refugees - Australia

History → Jews - Australia

History → Refugees - Australia

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/81588--when-friends-were-enemies-the-story-of-the-dunera-boys/ |title=When Friends Were Enemies: The Story of the Dunera Boys |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=8 June 2023 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}

Australia, 1991

Please note