Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Hay Internment camp, Australia
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Hay internment camp was located outside of the town of Hay in the Riverina district of southern New South Wales. It was constructed in 1940. The first arrivals were 2036 Jewish internees from Nazi Germany and Austria - mostly professionals who had simply fled for their lives - along with 451 German and Italian POWs. They were transported from England on-board the HMT Dunera, and they became known as 'the Dunera Boys,' which was applied, in particular to the Jewish refugees.
The refugees (and POWs) were transported to Hay via train and then placed in the camps behind barbed wire. They remained active, holding physical education courses and concerts, teaching the children and printing their own money.