Ludwig Baruch Internment Archive

Archive reference: BAR

This Archive sheds light on the treatment of "enemy aliens" in Britain during the Second World War through letters between an internee and his family.

Ludwig Alfred Baruch (1917-2002) was born in Germany but in 1928 his family moved to England. On leaving school he went to work for the Donegal Tweed Company in Liverpool, where he worked until 1939. At the beginning of the Second World War, he was interned as an enemy alien and held in internment camps in England.

In July 1940, the authorities tried to send him to Canada on the "Arandora Star", which was torpedoed and sunk with much loss of life. We explored this story via the archive in an article published as part of our 100 Objects exhibition: Surviving the Arandora Star.

Mr Baruch survived, and was later sent to Australia. He returned to England in 1942 and later settled in Bradford where for many years he was an active member of the Bradford Trades Council.

The Archive consists mainly of correspondence between Ludwig Baruch and his fiancée, Hilda Froom, concerning his internment and the efforts made for his release.