At the start of WWII, the British Government decided to arrest all Germans in the UK no matter how long they had been here. Among those arrested were many Jewish refugees and many who were fully assimilated, but who the British feared might be German spies.
This miniseries records the true story of a group who were sent to a POW camp in Australia aboard the HMT Dunera – one of the greatest influxes of academic and artistic talent to have entered Australia on a single vessel.
Cafe owner and concert hall violinist Alex Engelhart (Joseph Spano) had escaped from Nazi-occupied Austria and made it to England, where he thought his troubles were over. Unfortunately, he is rounded up with other Jewish refugees and shipped off to Australia.
During their three years in a POW camp in far western NSW, the Dunera boys prove to be model prisoners. Over time the rules of the prison are relaxed and the refugees are able to integrate into the local community.
Bob Hoskins and Warren Mitchell are exceptional.
Many of the real Dunera internees returned to Britain to fight in the war, but others remained in Australia and later became notable contributors to that nation’s scientific, business, academic and cultural communities. A number of them were awarded the Order of Australia later on in their lives.
Also among those on the Dunera were Franz Stampfl, who helped coach the athlete Roger Bannister to the world’s first sub-four-minute mile and Anton Walter Freud, grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.
Alexander Engelhardt
Joseph Spano Morrie Mendellsohn
Bob Hoskins The Baron
Joseph Fürst Naomi Mendellsohn
Mary-Anne Fahey Colonel Berry
Simon Chilvers Tropp
Steven Vidler Rabbi Aronfeld
Moshe Kedem Brigadier Templeton
John Meillon Mr. Baum
Warren Mitchell Friedkin
Paul Mason Captain Webber
Kirk Alexander Mum
Julia Blake Artaker
Max Bruch Kath
Sally Cooper Aviam
Marcel Cugola Corporal Carter
Maurie Fields Private Bruce
Kim Gyngell Captain Minter
Stephen Kearney Wally Dunstan
Mark Little Lippe
Alan Levy Max
Henry Maas Roth
Alex Menglet Slattery
Wyn Roberts Axelrod
Dalibor Satalic Private Kerwin
Ed Turley Abe Joelstein
Bruno Lucia
