Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 970

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.2 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

H. Ehlers Ahmednagar prisoner of war camp photograph album, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

circa 1914-1918 (inclusive)

Creator:

Ehlers, H.

Form:

Picture postcards, Photograph albums, and Photographs

Abstract:

Ahmednagar, a city and fort in India, was the site of one of Great Britain's prisoner of war camps during World War I. This camp held both prisoners of war and German and Austrian civilians from 1914 and 1918. This photograph album, belonging to H. Ehlers, contains 54 photographs that document life at Ahmednagar. The landscape surrounding the camp; the buildings; the inhabitants (both military and civilian prisoners); and the prisoners' pastimes, espeically sports and cultural activities are particularly well represented.

From the mid-eighteenth century to its independence in 1947, India – including Pakistan and Bangladesh - was part of the Britain's colonial empire. The British established prisoner of war camps in India during and after the Second Boer War (1899-1902) and during the First World War. Ahmednagar, headquarters of Broach District in the Central division of Bombay Presidency, was the site of a camp both for prisoners of war and German and Austrian civilians between 1914 and 1918. A detailed description of the conditions of the camp in 1917 are described in a Red Cross report, Reports on British Prison Camps in India and Burma (see pages 25 to 33).

A bookplate indicates that this photograph album belonged to H. Ehlers, who, according to the reverse side of a postcard, resided at Ahmednager camp. It is unclear what his role was at the camp. The album consists of 54 photographs and postcards, both on photo paper and cardboard. They feature several angles of everyday life in the Ahmednagar camp: the landscape; the buildings; the inhabitants (both military and civilian prisoners); and the prisoners' pastimes, espeically sports and cultural activities. The majority of the images are unlabeled or captioned, and as a result, most people in the photographs are unidentified. One photograph is stamped with P. Karadi Nursoo and Sons, a photographic studio which appears to have taken many photographs of Ahmednager during the war.