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Halbmondlager

January 01, 1970

The Halbmondlager (known in English as the "Half Moon Camp")[1] was a prisoner-of-war camp in Wünsdorf (now part of Zossen), Germany, during the First World War.

POWs in the Halbmondlager
Wünsdorf Mosque
Interned Soviet soldiers of Muslim faith, who had fled the Polish-Soviet War into East Prussia, Germany, attending the mosque in Wünsdorf, in the early 1920s

The camp housed between 4,000 and 5,000 Muslim prisoners of war who had fought for the Allied side. The intended purpose of the camp was to convince detainees to wage jihad against the United Kingdom and France. To that end, "detainees lived in relative luxury and were given everything they needed to practise their faith".[2] It was the site of the first mosque to be built in Germany, a large and ornate wooden structure finished in July 1915.[2][3] The mosque, modelled on the Dome of the Rock, was demolished in 1925–1926 owing to disrepair.[4]

About 80 Sikh prisoners and Hindus from British India were also held in the camp, as well as around 50 Irishmen, and two Australian Aboriginal soldiers (Roland Carter and Douglas Grant).[5][2][6] A subcamp, known as Inderlager (Camp of Indians), was established to house prisoners from India who were not openly pro-British; those who were pro-British had been sent to other camps instead.[7]

The leader of the "jihad experiment" was Max von Oppenheim, a German diplomat and aristocrat. He established an office nearby to lead a propaganda campaign with the "show camp", "self-consciously styled as a theatre for the wider world", at its centre. Oppenheim was assisted by Shaykh Sâlih al-Sharîf, a Tunisian who had served in the Ottoman Empire's intelligence agency. He served as a spiritual leader for the detainees.[2] Furthermore, Oppenheim cooperated with the Berlin Committee (later: Indian Independence Committee) in order to publish a propagandist Urdu- and Hindi-language newspaper, which was distributed in the camp.[8]

Anthropologists, musicologists like Robert Lachmann and linguists used the 'favourable conditions' within the camp to conduct research. The Royal Prussian Phonographic Commission, under the auspices of the linguist Wilhelm Doegen, set out to record voice and language samples in the shape of stories, poems and songs of over 250 languages. The remaining recordings are held at the phonographic archive of the Humboldt Universität of Berlin.[9] In 2014/15, an exhibition called Phonographed Sounds - Photographed Moments presented sound and image documents from WWI German prison camps.[10]

Up to 3,000 of the detainees from the camp were recruited into the German Army to fight in North Africa and the Middle East. However, low morale and troop revolt plagued the resulting divisions, and few believed in the jihadist cause. In 1917 the remaining prisoners were forced to agricultural labour in Romania.[2]

Cemetery

The story of the camp was largely omitted from English-language texts, until nearly a century after the war. It was discussed extensively in German history works.[2]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Halbmondlager". Montreal Gazette. 13 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Waters, Florence (10 August 2014). "Germany's Grand WWI Jihad Experiment". The Telegraph.
  3. ^ Sevea, Terenjit; Feener, R. Michael, eds. (2009). Islamic connections: Muslim societies in South and Southeast Asia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 117. ISBN 9789812309235.
  4. ^ "Halbmondlager" (in German). m-haditec GmbH. 2006. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Photographs relating to 3069 David George Horwood 50th Battalion". The Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Zossen Prisoner of War Camp in WW1". Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  7. ^ Liebau, Heike (2010). The world in world wars: experiences, perceptions and perspectives from Africa and Asia. Brill. pp. 147–150. ISBN 9789004185456.
  8. ^ Liebau, Heike (2019). ""Unternehmungen und Aufwiegelungen": Das Berliner Indische Unabhängigkeitskomitee in den Akten des Politischen Archivs des Auswärtigen Amts (1914–1920)". MIDA Archival Reflexicon: 4, 8.
  9. ^ Mahrenholz, Jürgen-K. (2020). "Südasiatische Sprach- und Musikaufnahmen im Lautarchiv der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin". MIDA Archival Reflexicon: 1–19.
  10. ^ Museum Europäischer Kulturen (2014). "Phonographed Sounds - Photographed Moments". euromuse.net. Retrieved 7 December 2020.

Further reading edit

  • Gerhard Höpp: Die Wünsdorfer Moschee. Eine Episode islamischen Lebens in Deutschland, 1915-1930. In: Die Welt des Islams, 1996, pages 204–218. (in German)
  • Gerhard Höpp: Muslime in der Mark. Als Kriegsgefangene und Internierte in Wünsdorf und Zossen, 1914–1924. Verlag Das Arabische Buch, Berlin 1997, ISBN 978-3-87997-590-7 (in German)
  • Martin Gussone: Die Moschee im Wünsdorfer „Halbmondlager“ zwischen Gihad-Propaganda und Orientalismus. In: Markus Ritter, Lorenz Korn (Hrsg.): Beiträge zur Islamischen Kunst und Archäologie, Reichert, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-89500-766-8, pages 204–232. (in German)
  • Hanno Kabel: Gefangen unter der Moschee. In: Berliner Zeitung, 6 April 1996 (in German)
  • Gefangene Bilder. Wissenschaft und Propaganda im Ersten Weltkrieg. Benedikt Burkard (ed.). Petersberg, Imhof Verlag, 2014. ISBN 9783731900696 (Exhibition catalog Historisches Museum Frankfurt in Kooperation mit dem Frobenius-Institut an der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt und dem Institut français d'histoire en Allemagne / On occasion of an exhibition held at Historisches Museum Frankfurt, September 11, 2014 - February 15, 2015)
  • Heike Liebau: "„Unternehmungen und Aufwiegelungen“: Das Berliner Indische Unabhängigkeitskomitee in den Akten des Politischen Archivs des Auswärtigen Amts (1914–1920)." In: MIDA Archival Reflexicon (2019), ISSN 2628-5029, 1–11.
  • Jürgen-K. Mahrenholz: "Südasiatische Sprach- und Musikaufnahmen im Lautarchiv der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin." In: MIDA Archival Reflexicon (2020), ISSN 2628-5029, 1–19.
  • Andrew Tait Jarboe: "Propaganda and Empire in the Heart of Europe: Indian Soldiers in Hospital and Prison, 1914-1918" in: Empires in World War I: Shifting Frontiers and Imperial Dynamics in a Global Conflict (2020) 107-135
  • Richard S. Fogarty "Out of North Africa: Contested Visions of French Muslim Soldiers during World War I" in: Empires in World War I: Shifting Frontiers and Imperial Dynamics in a Global Conflict (2020) 136-158

External links edit

  •   Media related to Halbmondlager Wünsdorf at Wikimedia Commons

52°10′01″N 13°29′09″E / 52.1669°N 13.4858°E / 52.1669; 13.4858

January 01, 1970
halbmondlager, known, english, half, moon, camp, prisoner, camp, wünsdorf, part, zossen, germany, during, first, world, pows, wünsdorf, mosque, interned, soviet, soldiers, muslim, faith, fled, polish, soviet, into, east, prussia, germany, attending, mosque, wü. The Halbmondlager known in English as the Half Moon Camp 1 was a prisoner of war camp in Wunsdorf now part of Zossen Germany during the First World War POWs in the Halbmondlager Wunsdorf Mosque Interned Soviet soldiers of Muslim faith who had fled the Polish Soviet War into East Prussia Germany attending the mosque in Wunsdorf in the early 1920s The camp housed between 4 000 and 5 000 Muslim prisoners of war who had fought for the Allied side The intended purpose of the camp was to convince detainees to wage jihad against the United Kingdom and France To that end detainees lived in relative luxury and were given everything they needed to practise their faith 2 It was the site of the first mosque to be built in Germany a large and ornate wooden structure finished in July 1915 2 3 The mosque modelled on the Dome of the Rock was demolished in 1925 1926 owing to disrepair 4 About 80 Sikh prisoners and Hindus from British India were also held in the camp as well as around 50 Irishmen and two Australian Aboriginal soldiers Roland Carter and Douglas Grant 5 2 6 A subcamp known as Inderlager Camp of Indians was established to house prisoners from India who were not openly pro British those who were pro British had been sent to other camps instead 7 The leader of the jihad experiment was Max von Oppenheim a German diplomat and aristocrat He established an office nearby to lead a propaganda campaign with the show camp self consciously styled as a theatre for the wider world at its centre Oppenheim was assisted by Shaykh Salih al Sharif a Tunisian who had served in the Ottoman Empire s intelligence agency He served as a spiritual leader for the detainees 2 Furthermore Oppenheim cooperated with the Berlin Committee later Indian Independence Committee in order to publish a propagandist Urdu and Hindi language newspaper which was distributed in the camp 8 Anthropologists musicologists like Robert Lachmann and linguists used the favourable conditions within the camp to conduct research The Royal Prussian Phonographic Commission under the auspices of the linguist Wilhelm Doegen set out to record voice and language samples in the shape of stories poems and songs of over 250 languages The remaining recordings are held at the phonographic archive of the Humboldt Universitat of Berlin 9 In 2014 15 an exhibition called Phonographed Sounds Photographed Moments presented sound and image documents from WWI German prison camps 10 Up to 3 000 of the detainees from the camp were recruited into the German Army to fight in North Africa and the Middle East However low morale and troop revolt plagued the resulting divisions and few believed in the jihadist cause In 1917 the remaining prisoners were forced to agricultural labour in Romania 2 Cemetery The story of the camp was largely omitted from English language texts until nearly a century after the war It was discussed extensively in German history works 2 Contents 1 See also 2 References 3 Further reading 4 External linksSee also editMosque of the Bois de VincennesReferences edit Halbmondlager Montreal Gazette 13 August 2014 a b c d e f Waters Florence 10 August 2014 Germany s Grand WWI Jihad Experiment The Telegraph Sevea Terenjit Feener R Michael eds 2009 Islamic connections Muslim societies in South and Southeast Asia Institute of Southeast Asian Studies p 117 ISBN 9789812309235 Halbmondlager in German m haditec GmbH 2006 Retrieved 8 September 2014 Photographs relating to 3069 David George Horwood 50th Battalion The Australian War Memorial Retrieved 2 July 2019 Zossen Prisoner of War Camp in WW1 Retrieved 4 November 2023 Liebau Heike 2010 The world in world wars experiences perceptions and perspectives from Africa and Asia Brill pp 147 150 ISBN 9789004185456 Liebau Heike 2019 Unternehmungen und Aufwiegelungen Das Berliner Indische Unabhangigkeitskomitee in den Akten des Politischen Archivs des Auswartigen Amts 1914 1920 MIDA Archival Reflexicon 4 8 Mahrenholz Jurgen K 2020 Sudasiatische Sprach und Musikaufnahmen im Lautarchiv der Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin MIDA Archival Reflexicon 1 19 Museum Europaischer Kulturen 2014 Phonographed Sounds Photographed Moments euromuse net Retrieved 7 December 2020 Further reading editGerhard Hopp Die Wunsdorfer Moschee Eine Episode islamischen Lebens in Deutschland 1915 1930 In Die Welt des Islams 1996 pages 204 218 in German Gerhard Hopp Muslime in der Mark Als Kriegsgefangene und Internierte in Wunsdorf und Zossen 1914 1924 Verlag Das Arabische Buch Berlin 1997 ISBN 978 3 87997 590 7 in German Martin Gussone Die Moschee im Wunsdorfer Halbmondlager zwischen Gihad Propaganda und Orientalismus In Markus Ritter Lorenz Korn Hrsg Beitrage zur Islamischen Kunst und Archaologie Reichert Wiesbaden 2010 ISBN 978 3 89500 766 8 pages 204 232 in German Hanno Kabel Gefangen unter der Moschee In Berliner Zeitung 6 April 1996 in German Gefangene Bilder Wissenschaft und Propaganda im Ersten Weltkrieg Benedikt Burkard ed Petersberg Imhof Verlag 2014 ISBN 9783731900696 Exhibition catalog Historisches Museum Frankfurt in Kooperation mit dem Frobenius Institut an der Goethe Universitat Frankfurt und dem Institut francais d histoire en Allemagne On occasion of an exhibition held at Historisches Museum Frankfurt September 11 2014 February 15 2015 Heike Liebau Unternehmungen und Aufwiegelungen Das Berliner Indische Unabhangigkeitskomitee in den Akten des Politischen Archivs des Auswartigen Amts 1914 1920 In MIDA Archival Reflexicon 2019 ISSN 2628 5029 1 11 Jurgen K Mahrenholz Sudasiatische Sprach und Musikaufnahmen im Lautarchiv der Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin In MIDA Archival Reflexicon 2020 ISSN 2628 5029 1 19 Andrew Tait Jarboe Propaganda and Empire in the Heart of Europe Indian Soldiers in Hospital and Prison 1914 1918 in Empires in World War I Shifting Frontiers and Imperial Dynamics in a Global Conflict 2020 107 135 Richard S Fogarty Out of North Africa Contested Visions of French Muslim Soldiers during World War I in Empires in World War I Shifting Frontiers and Imperial Dynamics in a Global Conflict 2020 136 158External links edit nbsp Media related to Halbmondlager Wunsdorf at Wikimedia Commons 52 10 01 N 13 29 09 E 52 1669 N 13 4858 E 52 1669 13 4858 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Halbmondlager amp oldid 1184722848, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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