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Wiener Library

Johnson, Peter (1916-): Personal papers


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 1556 WL 1329

Held at: Wiener Library

Title: Johnson, Peter (1916-): Personal papers

Date(s): 1885-1973

Level of description: collection

Extent: 8 files

Name of creator(s): Johnson | Peter | fl 1916-1985 | x Josephs | Wolfgang

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born 1916, Wolfgang Josephs, a German Jew from Berlin, came to Great Britain sometime in the mid 1930s. He was interned as an enemy alien at the outbreak of war and later transported on the 'Dunera' to Hay Internment Camp, Australia. On his return to Great Britain in 1941 he enlisted in the Pioneer Corps, later changing his name to Peter Johnson. He was a military interpreter for the British occupying forces in Germany at Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, May 1945-Oct 1946 where he was involved with the denazification process. Whilst there he also took an interest in the returnees from concentration camps, arranging correspondence between them and their families all over the world. The Wiener Library has a copy of a tape recorded interview with him, the original being produced for the Imperial War Museum, which details his life as an internee in Great Britain and Australia.

'The Hyphen' was founded in 1948 by a group of younger continental Jewish refugees (between the ages of 20 and 35), many of whom were the children of members of the Association of Jewish Refugees, who having settled in Great Britain, found that owing to their similar background and experiences they had interests and problems in common. The group was to have no particular religious or political bias. The intention was to provide cultural, social and welfare activities in a way that would enable them to feel at home in their newly adopted country. The name 'The Hyphen' was chosen because it symbolized the gap between the older generation of refugees who had no intention or desire to integrate into British society, and the ideal of seamless integration which the younger generation aspired to but could not immediately realise.

One of the group's first activities was the setting up of a study and discussion group, which covered topics such as immigration in general, as well as German-Jewish immigration into Britain; German-Jewish history, and British cultural and political topics. Its most popular functions became the social gatherings, dances, and rambles in the Home Counties. 'The Hyphen' never had more than 100 members at one time but there were between 400 and 500 names on its mailing lists. The activities eventually petered out and the group was wound up in 1968. Compared with other German-Jewish institutions it was rather marginal, but for the members it fulfilled a very important function by giving them a sense of belonging during a difficult period of settling in to a new society.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Peter Johnson, 1885-1973, documenting his life until the immediate post-war period. It includes school reports, family correspondence, documents relating to naturalisation, papers relating to his service in military intelligence, and papers relating to the former Jewish population in Hildesheim, where he was stationed at the end of the war.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: German and English

System of arrangement:

Chronological by subject matter.

Conditions governing access:

Open

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

Finding aids:

Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Peter Johnson

ALLIED MATERIALS

Related material:

Johnson, Peter: Records of The Hyphen Social Club and other papers (ref: 1159)

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note: Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997

Date(s) of descriptions: February 2008


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
German history | European history | National history
Jews | Religious groups
Military intelligence | Warfare | Military engineering
Naturalization | Nationality | Public law
Refugees | Migrants
World War Two (1939-1945) | World wars (events) | Wars (events)
Military science

Personal names
Johnson | Peter | fl 1916-1985 | x Josephs | Wolfgang

Corporate names

Places
Germany | Western Europe | Europe