The Germans dispersed

Michel im Sumpf, 1918

click on an image for a larger image

In March 1917, 3,000 German deserters in Holland were officially registered. But this number should be multipled, as many Germans stayed in Holland illegally. The deserters themselves estimated their number at 80,000 in 1918.
Many of them started their residence in Holland in one of the four quarantine stations set up to disinfect refugees that were established near the border. The deserters were imprisoned while police researched their legal status (should they or should they not be treated as military men?).
In Bergen in North-Holland a special detention camp was built for this purpose. The Germans who were freed settled in Rotterdam and the province of Limburg. Der Kampf and Michel im Sumpf newsletters, which were edited by the deserters themselves, were both printed on the press of the Dutch communist daily, De Tribune. They complained bitterly about their miserable treatment by the Dutch government.

Refugee camp Bergen, 1918

German and Dutch frontier guards

Titles:

- Der Kampf. Revolutionär-sozialistisches Wochenblatt.
Amsterdam, 1917-1918.
Call number: ZF 1104
- Michel im Sumpf. Politisch-satirisches Wochenschrift.
Amsterdam, 1917-1918.
Call number: ZF 51075 and PM 1194