“only the rags we had on …”

Abstract

The Italian prisoner-of-war (POW) experience in the Union of South Africa is not well represented in scholarly publications. Research on this topic tends to focus on the general feeling of partnership between captors and captives that came about after 1943, when a new camp commandant was appointed at Zonderwater, the largest POW camp in the Union. There is no doubt that POW s and military authorities shared a mindset cooperation, but it represents one interpretation only. With educational, cultural, and sporting programmes arranged by welfare officers, many POW s gained skills and positive experiences from their captivity. However, POW s arrived early in 1941, when Zonderwater and its staff were ill-prepared for the challenges that awaited them. From 1941 to 1942 the camp commandant, Colonel DW de Wet, attempted but failed to manage the camp according to the regulations set out by the Geneva Convention of 1929 for the treatment of prisoners-of-war, of which the Union was a signatory. This article looks at the causes of De Wet’s apparent failure and the consequences thereof on the prisoners, the camp staff and to a smaller extent, on the Union government.