The Accidental Captives: The Story of Seven Women Alone in Nazi Germany

by Carolyn Gossage

In April 1941, seven Canadian women became prisoners of war while on a voyage from New York City to Cape Town. Their aging Egyptian liner, the Zamzam, was sunk off the coast of South Africa by the German raider Atlantis. The passengers were transferred to a prison ship and eventually put ashore in Nazi-occupied France. As "non-aliens," all 140 Americans were released after five weeks in captivity, and with the help of theLifephotographer in their midst,the news of their narrow escape became an overnight sensation.

The hapless Canadians were taken to Bordeaux and became part of a group of 28 women and children interned in various German detention camps. By a stroke of luck, the Canadians eventually received permission to travel to Berlin where they were left to fend for themselves and adapt to life among "the enemy." As prisoners-at-large, they established contacts with American journalists and diplomats, an elderly Jewish professor, and even with Nazi propagandist P.G. Wodehouse. Finally, in June 1942, an exchange was arranged and the Canadians were able to board a special diplomatic Freedom Train bound for Lisbon, and from there they got back across the Atlantic to New York and new-found freedom.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Holocaust, War, Historical, World War II

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Carolyn Gossage attended the University of Toronto and La Sorbonne. She teaches English and history at National Ballet School.

Reviews

[Bev Walkling · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This book was a happy surprise for me found while browsing my church's lending library. I had never heard of the incident in question and was very curious to read it and find further details. I finished it within 24 hours and found it a meticulously researched book with many annotations and references and lots of portions which came directly from journals or letters belonging to the involved individuals. The book also had many photographs including some taken at the time of the sinking of the Eyptian ship ZamZam off the coast of South Africa by the German Raider Atlantis.

All members of the cast and crew survived the sinking and were taken on board first the Atlantis and then another ship The Dresden.The ship had been en route to South Africa at the time of the sinking, filled with many missionaries, as well as women off to join their spouses and boys signed up as ambulance volunteers.Americans formed the majority on board and they were fairly quickly repatriated as the US was not yet at war with Germany.The non-American men were mostly interned, but the story really focuses on the Canadian women who were transferred from place to place and eventually arrived at a place called Liebenau Internment Camp which had once been a home run by nuns for the mentally deficient. (They had been removed and no doubt were sent to their deaths well before the women arrived).

Seven of these women, after many months and numerous petitions, ended up living in Berlin as they awaited repatriation through a prisoner exchange. Their experiences in Berlin were similar to those of all local residents in that they suffered food and clothing shortages, experienced the odd air raid, but surprisingly they were for the most part left to live independently with little contact with Gestapo. Several of these women kept very good records (one published a book when she got home)so their voices are heard more frequently throughout the book. At times I found it difficult keeping track of exactly who the seven women referred to in the title were but I finished with a greater understanding of what life was like for the average person in Berlin in 1941-1942.

[Jamie Strachan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost all of what I know of my grandmother is from the stories and recollections of others. I was young when she died and she had been suffering from Alzheimer's for years before that so my own memories of who she was are few. I mention this for context and as disclosure. My grandmother was one of the titular Accidental Captives, Kitsi Strachan, and she figures prominently in this book so it's safe to say that my review will be a biased one.

I knew, in broad strokes, what my grandmother had gone through during the war. Aboard a passenger vessel crossing to Africa that was sunk by a German raider, she and her fellow travellers became wards of the Third Reich and remained interned in Germany until a diplomatic exchange could be made to get them home. This book details, with extensive use of first-hand source material, what they endured during the months between their capture and release: a cargo ship to France, train trips between prisons across Germany, a stay in a repurposed convent in Liebenau, and finally a winter and spring in Berlin, at times staying within walking distance of the Führer's home, with the prospects of repatriation uncertain at best.

I'm sure it is in no small part due to my personal connection to the story but this book affected me profoundly. Reading about what these women experienced and descriptions of civilian life in Germany at the height of the conflict forced me to pause and reflect more than any other wartime account I've seen or heard. It's an amazing story and, for me, another glimpse into the life of a woman I wish I had known.

[Holly Taggart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the stories of several women who were captured at sea when their neutral vessel was sunk accidentally by a Nazi ship during WWII.
This was an interesting story and fairly easy to read, though the writing wasn't the most engaging. It almost seemed as if the author was trying to write in the style of 1940's writers but didn't quite it the mark.
Otherwise, I had no idea that ships were sailing during war time and so that was very interesting. I'd recommend this, possibly, to someone really really interested in WWII, otherwise, I might... not. It did hold my attention to finish it, so that is definitely in it's favor!

[Darcie Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. My mom’s cousin is one of the women in the book, Olga Guttormson. I’ve heard about this adventure in her life many times and also own the Life magazine that ran a story about this and Olga’s own book “Ships Will Sail Again.” Accidental Captives filled in all the blanks about this incredible true tale during WWII.

[Shani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Appallingly insufficient book on a very interesting subject. I'm left wondering if the author got distracted halfway through her research and forgot to finish.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an amazing World War II story! I've read many books about the war and the Holocaust but none like this one. The protagonists in this book are, as the title suggests, accidental captives. First, they survived the sinking of the Zamzam, a civilian ship on it's way from New York City to Africa. That would be traumatic enough for me but that was only the beginning of their adventure. The passengers were to spend the next couple years as internees in Nazi Germany. I enjoyed this non fiction account that focuses on seven women from Canada.

[Frau Ott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this interesting but it very newspaper-like in it's reporting. I wish it were more of a story with plot to follow. Perhaps having several captives having their story told with the pictures etc. and then moving to another captive.

[Kathleen McRae · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting subject but the writing and arrangement of material was uninteresting.

[Dan Winkels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interested read depicting the handling of the civilians by Germany during wartime.

[Cj Zawacki · Rating 5 out of 5]

April ,1941, the passenger ship. ZAMZAM, is hunted down by the German Nazi Raider, ATLANTIS. On board were American volunteers ambulance drivers, American and Canadians missionaries families, two Life Magazine photographers ,tobacco businessmen, crew , and some others. All thought they were safe on a neutral ship, under the Egyptian Flag.
Sunk, and taken aboard the surface raider , Atlantis, they quickly find themselves as pawns in a mistaken attack by Germany. Transferred to another ship and landed at Biarritz, France, passengers soon find themselves headed off to different destinations.
The book focuses on the Canadian women and and children, who are separated and sent to the Liebenau disabled hospital camp ran by nuns. There some women are sent onward to Berlin. The story pieces together the struggles these women face in wartime Germany. Many times not knowing of the survival of husbands , or others left behind. Or of the future release they are hoping to seek .
Excellent reading from Carolyn Gossage, as she has taken a look into the city of Berlin during the days right before America entered the war. This fascinating tale of the captives of the ship, ZAMZAM, is a remarkable work of the spirit of hope and courage.

[H Wesselius · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the World War II has become perhaps the most studied period of human history, historians and writers are constantly searching for a new angle or story line. Gossage through fortuitous accident unmines an interesting side story not yet told. An interesting yet unchallenging tale of civilians who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and thus provide an interesting eye witness account of history in the making, ie life in 1942 Berlin. I enjoyed the tale but found it ended without really telling the reader how it ended. Besides the seven ladies who made it home what happened to the men interned as POWs, the other internees, and the Germans who associated with the seven ladies in Berlin. The reader is left with a sense of incompletion.

[Paul Lunger · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "The Accidental Captives: The Story of Seven Women Alone in Nazi Germany", Carolyn Gossage tells the story of 7 Canadian women who end up stranded in Berlin after the accidental sinking of the Zamzam an Egyptian passenger ship that was sunk off the coast of Africa in April 1941. The book through accounts of the passengers details their experiences on their multiple travails from the coast of Africa into Nazi Germany & their trials & relocations along with the struggle to get home. Gossage does a decent job retelling this somewhat lost incident to history. The personal retellings of these 7 women also helps add to the story itself & remind you of how very real the emotions were across this 15 month odyssey home.

[Linda Hutsell-Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was left with the inexorable feeling of sadness surrounding the petty horrors inherent in any war - the stress and tedium alternating with sudden violence and subsequent shock and suffering. I felt, again, the the resurfacing gratitude of being born in a time and place outside these horrors. I laud the ability of the human spirit to carry on in spite of unthinkable circumstances and to create small shrines of normality where it would seem impossible to do so.

[Jane Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those interesting sidelights on a dreadful period of history. But I found it lacking in some respects. Gossage quotes extensively from the writings of one of the women involved - so extensively that one feels at times that it would be simpler to read the original book. And she ends without telling us anything about what happened to so many of the people who are part of the story at the start.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very well researched. I love how the author uses excerpts from the 7 women from their own books or journals. The transition from her writing to the excerpts are seamless.

This book had me very interested the whole time. It was a fascinating look at what these women experienced from 41-42 as 'prisoners' of Germany.

A very interesting read.