Hay Camp Currency With Faith - WordPress

Hay Camp currency with FaithInternment camp currency souvenirs by chaplains of two religionsby Tony JamesHay Internment Camp, 1941. Detail from a watercolour by Theodor Engel.CURRENCY notes of the internmentcamps at Hay have been researchedwith great enthusiasm. The notes areeagerly sought after by both Australianbanknote collectors who collect banknotes of their own country, and those whoconcentrate on military, prisoner of war(POW) and internment camp currency.Numismatists have been fortunateenough to have had access to the recordsof two collections that are outstandingfor their provenance and rarity. Theephemera and information about theoriginal owners of the notes has beendocumented by family and researchers,for which we may be really grateful. Thenotes mentioned in this article belongedto two visiting chaplains of different faithsand other currency is included to showthe progression of camp currency, as lifein Hay Internment camp number 7 wasplayed out particularly during the earlydays of the internees’ incarceration.Mementos and ephemerarecords savedFor those who have never visited theHay plains and the town that is on thebanks of the Murrumbidgee River, halfway between Sydney and Adelaide, adistance of 1400 kilometres. The terrainis a flat, almost treeless, saltbush plain,with a magnificent 180 degree skyline.My abiding memory of the town is thewidth of the main street. Required, I wastold, so that during the halcyon days ofthe wool industry, a team of oxen couldturn their cart around without difficulty(this could be up to eight pairs in harness).When the chaplaincy visitors paid theirpastoral visits to the camps, they receivedmementoes. While being concerned withspiritual as well as personal needs of theirflocks they appreciated the little gifts thatwere pressed upon them. Examinationof the items and research provide someinteresting insights into the men whovisited the camp and their humanity.The camp situationCommenced in early 1940 the campwas still being completed as new inmatesmarched in on 7th September 1940. Therewere three compounds, numbered 6, 7 and8 in the camp. Together they held approximately 3,000 prisoners and internees.Camp 6 held Australian-Italian internees.Camp 7 was supposedly entirely Jewish,holding internees off the Dunera fromthe United Kingdom, (although we shallsee that there were Christian interneesin this camp). Camp 8 had a mixed population of Germans and Austrians whowere Catholics, Protestants, Communistsand a few Jews.The camp was visited by several official visitors as well as members of different religious faiths. The governmentinspectors organised by the Minister ofthe Army, Percy C. Spender, includedColonel W. B. Simpson, Major J. McCahonand later Dr H. O. Lethbridge as anAssistant to the Official Visitors. Theirreports of visits to this and other campscan be located in the National Archives.There were other organisations thatconducted inspections and visits to thecamps at Hay. Rabbi Leib Falk reportedto the Jewish Welfare Society after a visitfrom 9th to 12th December 1940. Hismain concern was pastoral, as he wasaware of the terrible conditions sufferedby the internees on the Dunera, and during his association with the inmates ofthe camp he encouraged frequent andregular visitation by the Welfare Societyand application for release by inmatesas they sought review of their cases.Representatives of the Society ofFriends (Quakers) made a visit on 22-23January 1941. The visitors were Mr AlfredC. Clarke and Miss Margaret Pierce ofMelbourne, who attended not only tothe needs of the internees but also tomembers of the Garrison. The visitorshad been referred to internees who hadbeen helped by Friends in England. Theymade a written report to their MelbourneMeeting of The Friends. The report islodged with the La Trobe Collection, Library of Victoria.Another to visit was the priest, FatherJ. Carroll from the local Catholic church.He supported internee Father WalterKonig, a German Jesuit priest who hadbeen caught up in the British alien roundup in May 1940 while teaching at a college in Sheffield, England. Father Koniglooked after the Catholic internees. Heestimated that there were three percentCatholic, seven percent Protestant andthe remainder Jews.A Miss Margaret Holmes, secretaryof the Students Christian Union, attendedto educational needs of the internees, asshe organised books, writing equipment,matriculation enrolment and later university entrance for those in the camp.Rabbi Leib Aisack Falk -Commissioned asChaplain to the Australian Military Forcesduring WWII and to State prisons as well asto the Jewish internees of Camp 7 Hay.

Rabbi Leib Aisack FalkDuring the First World War, RabbiFalk had served as Jewish chaplain inthe British forces and when the JewishLegion was formed in 1917, he becamechaplain of the 38th battalion of the RoyalFusiliers. After World War I, he and hisfamily came to Australia and during histenure at the Great Synagogue in Sydney,Falk was appointed Chaplain to the Australian Military Forces (AMF) in 1935. In1942 he became senior chaplain to theAMF Eastern Command, a position heheld until 1952. Rabbi Falk combined hispastoral duties with his office as an executive member of the Australian JewishWelfare Society. The rabbi was active inhis duties as chaplain at Hay and workedhard for the release of internees. Wellknown for his addresses given on AnzacDay, he was also chaplain to the NSWAssociation of Jewish Ex-Servicemenand Women.Colour sketch by George A. Teltscher of Church of Christ with mention of AlcornHis Record of Service notes that on26th March 1942 he was posted to the114 Australian General Hospital (AGH)at Goulburn. The Army established thisfacility when it requisitioned the Kenmore Mental Hospital near Goulburn.The 114 AGH specialised in treatingmembers of the AMF who had sufferedpsychological problems such as shellshock. This order of events seem to confirm Alcorn’s semi official position whileacting as chaplain at the Hay camp, andrecognises the skills of a man willing towork with those who had major problemsin their lives.The sketches in the ephemera thatAlcorn retained illustrate his work withthe internees. Several scenes show himReverend Alcorn as sketched by P.GlassRev Franklin E. AlcornReverend Franklin Edwin Alcorn, aminister of the Church of Christ was, fora time, a chaplain at the Hay camp. Itseems that he was semi-official from theGovernment point of view as although hewas on the AMF records from 1923 asChaplain 4th class, he was transferred tothe Unattached List for the 2nd MilitaryDistrict on 27 October 1928, and thenplaced on the Retired List on 27 October1933, with permission to retain rank andwear uniform.His records note that he was again tobe Chaplain 4th class with effect from 4thJanuary 1940, however it was not untilthe 24th of March 1942 that he completedand signed his Mobilization Attestationform. This was some time after his association with the Hay camp had ended. Hepreached his last sermon there on 9thMay 1941 and many of his congregation ofinternees were transferred to the Taturainternment camp in September 1941.Hay note 6d serial number C39696 given to Padre Alcorn

in conversation with groups of prisonersand one shows him conducting a churchservice in a hut. Others are wood cuts ofcamp views and sketches and paintings,one of which is particularly interesting.It was completed in April 1941 by aninternee George A. Teltscher and depicts,in an allegorical way, a building named“Church of Christ and outside the churchis a sign displaying service times and thename of Rev. F. E. Alcorn as minister.I say allegorical as there are treesshown, as well as a male and femalefigure approaching the church, bothaspects of the environment that weredecidedly lacking at the time. Names inthe list of “Christian Internees belongingto denominations other than the Churchof England or Roman Catholic Church,”that are of interest to numismatists are:Hermann Robinow - Bank Clerk, a signatory on the notes issued 1st March1941 from Hut 32 and none other thanGeorge Teltscher - ‘Free Lance Artist’,from Hut 26.Other items belonging to Alcorn include two Player Navy Cut cigarette tins.The first is engraved with scenes of abible and a European city square, andthe second shows Australian flora andthe inscription ‘Sincere thanks Hay 1941All Good wishes’ engraved on the tin.The family records note that while hewas a ‘man of god,’ his humanity wasdisplayed by his only vice – tobacco. Hispastoral work before and after the waryears also show that he and his familylived frugally and more than once thepastor came home without his coat, hisreason being, that there were more deserving folk!Fortunately the farewell gift to Alcornfrom his congregation when he left thecamp, a pair of carved wooden Biblecovers, has survived to this day. This ismentioned in a book plate expressing thesentiments shared by people of all faithsat the time. “As a humble expression ofHay Internment Camp, 1940-41.Detail from a woodcut by Alfred Landauer,Hay Camp note 1/- greenAn internee’s pen and ink sketch illustrates stylistically his progress from persecution by theNazis in Europe to an uncertain future in an Australian internment camp.our deep gratitude for his help at the time of our need in a world in distress, and withheartfelt wishes for his happiness in the future and true peace for the world, we offerthis pair of hand-carved book covers to ‘Padre F.E. Alcorn’ on the day of his departure.The Protestant Congregation - Internment Camp 7. Hay, NSW, the ninth of MayNineteen hundred forty one.”Teltscher note designerTeltscher, who has been credited with designing the Austrian schilling of 1934,designed the Camp 7 notes dated 1st March 1941. The same design is used foreach of the three denominations. The text “THE CAMP SEVEN BANK, INTERNMENT CAMP, HAY, WILL UPON DEMAND PAY AGAINST THIS NOTE(SIXPENCE ONE OR TWO SHILLINGS) LEGAL TENDER AUSTRALIANCURRENCY”. The barbed wire border of the notes has the words “We are here because we are here because we are here” interwoven in darker text. At the bottom ofthe wire fence in the body of the notes are the words H.M.T Dunera Liverpool to Hay.The sheep in the shield at lower centre has the name Eppenstein hidden in the fleece;this was the name of the camp leader. The notes have two signatures, one the campbank manager Richard Stahl signed on the right; the other is that of W. Epstein, E.Mendel or H. M. Robinow on the left.The back of the notes features 25 sheep in five rows of five and the words “THISNOTE IS VALID ONLY WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF CAMP SEVEN INTERNMENT CAMP HAY. / The Bank is under no obligation to honour this note if presentedby Holders outside this Camp.”The name George A. Teltscher appears on the front of each note at the lower right.The sheep all have the number 7 on their fleece and hidden in the wool are namesthat are still the subject of debate by researchers. Some say they are the hut leaders,others that they were prominent members of the camp.