Object numberM2015/018:011
DescriptionA hand made badge, painted on canvas attached to fabric with press studs, inscribed F. C. JUVENTUS. A round soccer ball is beneath. Circa 1941. Most likely made by Albert Meyer, founder and referee of the Juventus Soccer Club.
Soccer was a popular pastime in the Australian internment camps. The internees established a soccer team, named after the famous Italian soccer team Juventus Turin. These hand-made artefacts reflect the team spirit that helped the boys maintain morale.
It belonged to Werner Hirschfeld, born 20 June 1922 in Küstrin, Germany. He was 18-years-old when he sought refuge from persecution in Germany and went to Leeds, England. When war broke out, England responded to public panic over the so-called ‘enemy within’ by interning thousands of foreign nationals. Australia agreed to assist the ‘mother country’ in this process and in July 1940, the HMT Dunera set sail from Liverpool to Sydney, carrying 2,542 male ‘enemy aliens’, among them Werner Hirschfeld. Arriving in Sydney on 6 September 1940, the ‘Dunera Boys’ (as they came to be known) were first interned in Hay and Orange in NSW. Eventually they were brought to Tatura, Victoria. Werner Hirschfeld volunteered to join the Australian Army in April 1942. He served in the 8th Employment Company. At the time of his internment his occupation was sheet metal worker and locksmith.
In 2006, aged 84, Werner gave his collection of memorabilia related to his internment in Australia to Professor Konrad Kwiet, who at the time was Patron of the Sydney Dunera Association. Professor Kwiet subsequently entrusted the collection to the Sydney Jewish Museum. The collection contains soccer memorabilia, football club awards, drawings and birthday cards. Werner turned 19 while in ‘Camp Tatura’, Victoria.
Soccer was a popular pastime in the Australian internment camps. The internees established a soccer team, named after the famous Italian soccer team Juventus Turin. These hand-made artefacts reflect the team spirit that helped the boys maintain morale.
It belonged to Werner Hirschfeld, born 20 June 1922 in Küstrin, Germany. He was 18-years-old when he sought refuge from persecution in Germany and went to Leeds, England. When war broke out, England responded to public panic over the so-called ‘enemy within’ by interning thousands of foreign nationals. Australia agreed to assist the ‘mother country’ in this process and in July 1940, the HMT Dunera set sail from Liverpool to Sydney, carrying 2,542 male ‘enemy aliens’, among them Werner Hirschfeld. Arriving in Sydney on 6 September 1940, the ‘Dunera Boys’ (as they came to be known) were first interned in Hay and Orange in NSW. Eventually they were brought to Tatura, Victoria. Werner Hirschfeld volunteered to join the Australian Army in April 1942. He served in the 8th Employment Company. At the time of his internment his occupation was sheet metal worker and locksmith.
In 2006, aged 84, Werner gave his collection of memorabilia related to his internment in Australia to Professor Konrad Kwiet, who at the time was Patron of the Sydney Dunera Association. Professor Kwiet subsequently entrusted the collection to the Sydney Jewish Museum. The collection contains soccer memorabilia, football club awards, drawings and birthday cards. Werner turned 19 while in ‘Camp Tatura’, Victoria.
Subjectenemy aliens, Dunera, refugees, internment camps, soccer, sports
Object namebadges
Materialcanvas
Dimensions
- width: 78.00 mm
height: 95.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Professor Konrad Kwiet