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Jewish detainees' creative expression and self-documentation in British internment camps in Africa, 1944-1948
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DOI：10.1080/13531042.2025.2582381.png)
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Abstract
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This article examines the cultural activities and material creativity of Jewish underground detainees (Irgun and Lehi members) in British internment camps in Africa between 1944-1948. Drawing on a rich collection of artifacts, artworks, self-documentation, and personal testimonies preserved in the Jabotinsky Institute Archive, the study analyzes how detainees maintained identity, agency, and resistance through diverse forms of creative expression. The research explores functional and artistic objects-from Leopold Penhasovitz's documentary paintings and handcrafted Monopoly game to David Drukman's forged passports and tunnel-digging tools-demonstrating how material culture served both practical needs and psychological resilience. A unique feature of this case is the extensive self-documentation initiative led by Yehuda Borochov, including daily newsletters, a 360-page book, and systematic photography. The study contributes to material culture theory by showing how constraint stimulates creativity, and offers rare archival documentation combining preserved artifacts with written sources. This politically marginalized chapter of British Mandate history reveals universal themes of human ingenuity and the power of creativity to transcend captivity.
Keywords:
Material culture
Mandatory Palestine
British detention camps
Irgun and Lehi
Africa
Jewish exiles
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