Deutsche Stacheldraht-Post

This is one of New Zealand’s most unusual newspapers. In fact, more a newsletter, it appeared 129 times, mostly every fortnight and was produced by German internees on Matiu/Somes Island in Wellington harbour, and for a period in 1943-44 at Pahiatua, during World War Two.

In 1941 there were reportedly 86 men, ranging in age from 22 to 63 years interned on Somes Island. The great majority – 58 – were German or Austrian and there were 25 Italians. The classification of enemy aliens was particularly crude at the time and among the Germans on Matiu/Somes Island were Nazi sympathisers, anti-fascist Germans, Germans born in New Zealand and German Jews who had escaped persecution in Germany.

The first issue on 20 December 1941 explained its purpose: '… soll sie inzwischen zur Erheiterung, Ablenkung, Erbauung und Anregung dienen und ein kleiner Beitrag zur Kameradschaft sein.' ('…to further amusement, distraction, edification and stimulus and to contribute a little to the spirit of comradeship in Camp'). Typical contents of Deutsche Stacheldraht-Post included war news gleaned from various sources and anecdotes about camp life.

It appears the paper mainly circulated among Nazi-sympathisers; certainly there was little 'comradeship' with other interned Germans. Three who escaped by rowboat in 1941 and were free for a week – Hans Finke, a German Jewish refugee, sailor Carl Schroeder who had deserted his German training ship and Odo Strewe, a socialist who had fled Germany – were attempting to publicise their plight as anti-Nazis interned with Nazi Germans.

At the start of 1943, the internees were moved from Matiu/Somes Island to a camp built for them at Pahiatua, in northern Wairarapa, because the anti-aircraft guns on the island were in operation. The first issue of Deutsche Stacheldraht-Post to come out with Pahiatua in the masthead was 6 February 1943. Apart from that change, the move to Pahiatua does not appear to have affected the publication.

There was no obvious concern in official quarters about the publication and it seems the Minister in Charge of Aliens, William Perry, was unaware of its existence until August 1944. He immediately ordered that copies of the 128 issues to that point be seized and translated to see if any subversive material was being published. When the censorship office said it lacked the resources to translate so many papers, six random issues were translated. The subsequent report noted that the publication was 'thoroughly imbued with the Nazi spirit' but there was little in the way of attempted Nazi indoctrination. More prevalent was positive comment about the way internees were treated.

While the authorities found the publication largely innocuous, they erred on the side of caution and the last issue appeared on 1 October 1944. The editor at the time, Kurt Wilhelm Schmidt (1906-1978), took a diplomatic approach, writing that shrinking numbers of internees and limited resources were responsible for the paper’s cessation. As he put it: '….die Lagerzeitung muss jetzt auch eingestellt werden, höchst einfach weil es in dem zusammenschrumpfenden Lager auf die Dauer über die Kraft geht; denn auch Redakteure möchten mal etwas frische Luft schnappen' ('it exceeds our capacity in the shrinking camp; even editors would like to get some fresh air occasionally'). (1 October 1944:3)