Evening star., 1932-07-23
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C.. BOWERMAN.

and essays ever since the World War
began and at the present time there
seems to be an increase rather than a
decrease in books of this type. The
psychology developed by life in the
trenches is, OF course, the most frequent
subject. But the psychology of the
welfare workers in the camps, of the
officialdom running the war at home,
Of the juniors who were such indis-
pensable aides to this officialdom that
they could not go to the front, of those
excused from military service because
of i'll health, of the workers in war
industries, of women doing various
kinds of war work, of prisoners in in
ternment camps-all these are of great
interest to the student of the lasting
effects of war. Perhaps some time
some one will cover the whole subject
in a book called War Psychology" One
of the more unusual Of the recent books
of this kind Is Paul Cohen-Portheim's
because 1t Is about the less discussed
psychology Of interned prisoners and
because the author has a philosophic
mind which enables him to write un-
derstandingly and analytically about
his subject. He does not, however.
write theoretically. He is an Austro-
German, who before the war was some
thing of an artist and a cultured
dilettante. He had spent much time
in England, where he had many friends.
His book published over year ago,
England, the Unknown Isle" brilliant.
fattering, yet acute, shows that Eng
land is not unknown" to him. When
the World War began, Mr.. Cohen
Portheim was in England, staying with
friends at Richmond, after a-few weeks
in Devonshire, where I was busy ex-
pressing red cliffs, seas and sailing
boats in paint" When war was de-
clared between Germany and Austria on
one side and France and Russia on the
other, he went to the German consulate
in London and found that two ships
had been chartered to send home Ger
man reservists. THE two ships were,
by the way, held up by the British au-
thorities and prevented from leaving"
Then England declared war and no
Germans were permitted to leave the
country. For time he was allowed to
live in his London fiat, under police
supervision; then, after the Lusitania
sinking, he was placed in an internment
camp, where he remained until only a
few months before the armistice.
X y y
In describing his years in a British
internment camp, when time stood
still, Mr.. Cohen-Portheim blames nc
one, neither the British government nor
any of the officers in charge of the
camps. He complains of no i'll treat.
u-Io inc HI
under conditions of such confinement
Conditions were as bad In Germany and
wherever such camps existed. What was
wrong was the system" by which citi-
zens OF country at war with another
country found themselves the victims Of
war hySteria. The first internment camI
to which he was assigned was at Knock
aloe, on the Isle Of Man. His first i'm
preston OF the place was one Of de.
lighted surprise" because of the radiant
sunshine, the clear, bracing air and the
panorama of turf-clad hills" This first
impression, in spite Of all that was To
follow, remained with him. for he is an
idealist, able to subordinate the physical
to mental considerations. He explains
this, In part, by saying that he is what
the French call type visuel," which
means that the look of thing, place OF
person matters most to me-" From
knockaloe, which was generally con.
sidered the worst of all the camps, he
was shortly removed to Wakefield, near
Leeds, a "gentlemen's camp" but 10
Gated in the smoky industrial country
Here he often enraged his fellow prison.
erS who had come with him from
Knockaloe by speaking almost tenderly
of that place, for it is part of the psy-
ChOlORV 1nfPrnYnny1t r tn
any one a traitor who finds ANYTHING
but martrydom in any of its aspec-s.H
AT Wakefield, as at Knockaloe, the camp
was barbed wire cage, but the cage
was more comfortable. The huts were
better and the prisoners were allowed
70 purchase furnishings and extra food
from Leeds tradesmen who visited the
camp with carts full of goods. At Wake
field Mr.. Cohen-Portheim discovered
the only simple and STRAIGHTFORWARD
definition of that mysterious creature
the gentleman. To the authorities re-
Sponsible for its creation a gentleman
was man prepared to pay 10 shillings
week to them for the privilege of being
there"
What makes Mr.. Cohen-Portheim's
book unique is not its description OF
physical conditions in the camps. but
its analysis of various forms of camu
psychology. The chapter "Bsrbed wire
Air" tells of the effects of the endless
monotony of the camp life. which sug-
gests Dostoievski's name for his Sibe-
ran prison, the house of the dead. ~
The chapter "Barbed Wire Sickness
discusses the psychology of hate in
the camp, not hatred of the enemy gov
eminent which was imprisoning them
not hatred of the officials and guards
IN charge OF the camp discipline, but
natreo OF fellow prisoners, from whom
II was impossible to get away day OF
night, week after week, month after
month. During the war the term
'barbed-wire sickness became a recog.
nized medical designation under which
were grouped all sorts of mental symp-
toms observed in prisoners Of war: but
1t Is not the barbed wire which Is thei,
cause; 1t Is the monstrous, enforced in
cessant community which inevitably
breeds the malady. There is nothing
like it to be found anywhere else. Monks
retire to their cells, soldiers have their
days or weeks off; here it continues
! forever. and the longer it continues
the more you suffer from it. No pri-
vacy, no possibility Of being alone. nc
possibility of finding quietude. It il
lnhuman, cruel and dreadful to force
people to live in closest community fol
years; 1t becomes almost unbeatable
when that community is abnormally
camp. It is not forgotten by the
prisoners that physical safety is a GER
tain recompense for internment and
that life in the trenches Is both more
uncomfortable and more dangerous
but soldiers led a dangerous and ter
r!ble LIE, prisoners led q helpless and
senSeless one. Soldiers fought, they
were active, they had an aim" Mr.
Cohen-Portheim believes that he, un-
like many others, received no perma-
nent injury from his years of intern
ment. He had what most Of the others
had not-rnental resources. He read
wrote, painted, organized and con-
Quoted dramatic clubs. In fact. when
the order came for his release to Hol-
land, in February before the armistice
he had settled down to peace and "lux-
ury" at Wakefield. He had acquired
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