Dunera Stories

In July 1940, after the declaration of war between Britain and Germany, the HMT Dunera and HMS Queen Mary set out from the United Kingdom and Singapore to Australia. The ships contained nearly 3,000 internees designated as ‘enemy aliens’ by Great Britain, many of whom were Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria. On arrival these young men and their families were interned in rural NSW and Victoria before eventually being released into the Australian Army or sent back to the United Kingdom.

This documentary tells a selection of their stories. Thousands remain untold.

Today the Dunera and Queen Mary internees are held up as examples of ‘perfect’ migrants for their ease of integration and contributions to Australian society and culture. Such sweeping statements do a disservice to the internees, failing to reflect the complexity and diversity of their experiences. Far from being perfect, their position was ambiguous and vulnerable, shifting – often beyond their control - between refugee, enemy alien, citizen, migrant, foreigner.

There are no ‘perfect’ forced migrants, only people who are caught up in the turbulent and frequently tragic fate of those who seek refuge from persecution, war, economic hardship and environmental destruction.
To claim otherwise invites comparisons to other refugees and forced migrants that prove impossible to live up to.

What happened to them can happen to any of us.