The Island of Extraordinary Captives

A Painter, a Poet, an Heiress, and a Spy in a World War II British Internment Camp

By: Simon Parkin

Narrated by: Elliot Fitzpatrick

The “riveting…truly shocking” (The New York Times Book Review) story of a Jewish orphan who fled Nazi Germany for London, only to be arrested and sent to a British internment camp for suspected foreign agents on the Isle of Man, alongside a renowned group of refugee musicians, intellectuals, artists, and—possibly—genuine spies.

Following the events of Kristallnacht in 1938, Peter Fleischmann evaded the Gestapo’s roundups in Berlin by way of a perilous journey to England on a Kindertransport rescue, an effort sanctioned by the UK government to evacuate minors from Nazi-controlled areas. But he could not escape the British police, who came for him in the early hours and shipped him off to Hutchinson Camp on the Isle of Man, under suspicion of being a spy for the very regime he had fled.

During Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s, tens of thousands of German and Austrian Jews like Peter escaped and found refuge in Britain. After war broke out and paranoia gripped the nation, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered that these innocent asylum seekers—so-called “enemy aliens”—be interned.

When Peter arrived at Hutchinson Camp, he found one of history’s most astounding prison populations: renowned professors, composers, journalists, and artists. Together, they created a thriving cultural community, complete with art exhibitions, lectures, musical performances, and poetry readings. The artists welcomed Peter as their pupil and forever changed the course of his life. Meanwhile, suspicions grew that a real spy was hiding among them—one connected to a vivacious heiress from Peter’s past.

Drawing from unpublished first-person accounts and newly declassified government documents, award-winning journalist Simon Parkin reveals an “extraordinary yet previously untold true story” (Daily Express) that serves as a “testimony to human fortitude despite callous, hypocritical injustice” (The New Yorker) and “an example of how individuals can find joy and meaning in the absurd and mundane” (The Spectator).

©2022 Simon Parkin (P)2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Can’t get into it

It feels like so many facts just being relayed, and it’s not easy to get sucked into the story. Narration has a strong accent so maybe that’s why.

A unique and previously untold WWII story - of Britain's domestic internment camps!

As much nonfiction as I read, British political POW/internment camps was an entirely new revelation to me. A shocking reality hidden from the public, un-English incivility, and yet? So much hope, beauty, and goodness was created out of the ashes! (Quite literally!) The first chapters build the background and walls of the story. The internees fill the camp with art, music, science, literature! (Yes, even making their own supplies out of ashes and eyelashes!) The well-researched uniqueness of this story bumped this from a four - to a five-star rating for me!

Preaching

Too much preaching about the unfairness of interning enemy aliens. Of course it’s awful but I wanted more about the artists.

Fascinating, well written history

I was totally ignorant of this part of history as I imagine are most people. This work is alarming yet beautiful, sobering yet intriguing. I loved it !

I learned something compelling

A little-covered story about internment of German refugees in British internment camps during WWII. The story paints a picture of life in the camps, following a German boy taken to Britain as part of an orphan rescue and soon arrested as a possible threat to national security. The other internees bring life to the story and boost his future as an artist.

The narrator was effective and not distracting. The story is compelling and makes me want to research more about this slice of history regarding WWII.

Riveting narrative

A riveting history of a dark and “hidden” chapter in Britain’s WW2 policies and practices regarding immigrants and refugees. Remarkable for the impeccably detailed accounts. Brilliantly written. The narration is superb.

The injustices wrought by wartime fear

The book, based on primary sources, brings into life many innocent victims, some British residents from abroad, others recent refugees, of Britain’s deportations and internments during WWII. There are some terribly sad stories, especially of the innocents aboard The Arandora Star who were to be deported to Canada but who drowned following a hit of the ship by a German U boat. The focus of the book falls on the Hutchinson Internment Camp on the Isle of Man. The author deals not with the identity of most of the internees as Jewish, but rather with their professional identities as musicians, writers, lawyers, and especially artists. The book shows how many of the inmates despite their justified anger at their imprisonment made the best of the circumstance by creating a lively creative society. Although the author identifies one interned refugee as a plant intended by Germany as a spy, there is no case of any of the interred ever acting on British soil on behalf of the Axis.

Fascinating story

Such an unknown story is finally brought to life. I particularly loved the anecdotes about the Dada artist Kurt Schwitters: a great man whose absurdist poetry was greatly appreciated by his fellow imates.

Amazing unknown story

Here to fore unknown stories of WW2, just when I thought we not retell the story another way. Absolutely fascinating.

A new favorite for me

In internment, some people prosper. Others despair. Not all heroic wins are won by people always acting heroically. This is a good commentary on the bad actions of good people. The casualties of epic struggles aren’t always on the battlefield. The forgotten don’t always disappear.