A sketch of a cell door done by Harry Swift during his internment in Ruhleben Concentration Camp in Germany during World War I.

The camp for civilian prisoners of war was built in haste in 1914 at the Ruhleben racecourse near Berlin, and the majority of prisoners taken in stayed there until the end of the war. Life there was easier than in many other concentration camps. The Germans adhered to the Geneva Convention, and the prisoners were able to run internal matters themselves. Within a year the camp featured its own casino, tailor, bookshop, barbershop. Theatrical and sporting events were a popular outlet for the energies of the confined men.

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