Page 17 - Pharmacy History 29 July 2006

(Cont. from page 16)
Anti-Germanism in
Queensland
Over the time when Frederick Staubwasser lived and worked in Brisbane he and his family, as did nearly all Australians of German origin, had to cope with two periods of anti-Germanism which were related to the two world wars in the 20th Century.
These periods posed a real challenge to his loyalty, created a risk of internment and to his family life, but it is notable that he was never accused of being a ‘disloyalist’, was not sacked and was not interned.
In the pre-war years from 1900 until 1914, Britain and Germany were
in ‘cold war’ mode, when Kaiser Willhelm was Chancellor. This led to the slow development of anti- Germanism in the British Empire.
The outbreak of World War I provoked immediate and continued escalation of bitterness, hysteria and discrimination. Australians at the time feared that they too might be invaded. The Commonwealth Government introduced the War Precautions Act in October 1914, which authorised the arrest and internment of any persons thought to be behaving in a way detrimental to the national security.
In 1915, the German and Austrian Embassies and Consulates were closed, and Australian citizens of German and Austrian birth were subjected to legal and social discrimination.
Soon after the Commonwealth instructed that “all enemy subjects whose conduct was “unsatisfactory” should be interned. This led to 3986 of 33,000 German-born Australians being interned, many ultimately deported and some never permitted to return.
With horrific stories filtering back home from the battlefields in France, and the sinking of the ‘Lusitania’, anti-Germanism escalated with greater bitterness. These reactions were encouraged by hysterical views expressed by many high-ranking loyalists.
Throughout the country the names of appropriate streets, suburbs and even districts were changed from German to Australian.
The Queensland Government passed a regulation in 1916 that required German or Austrian born Australian public servants to be sacked and replaced by ‘Britishers’ if they were available and willing to be employed.
The devastating effects of anti- Germanism were exemplified in the case of Dr Eugen Hirschfeld, honorary physician and bacteriologist to the Brisbane Hospital at the outbreak of war. He was publicly attacked by the B.M.A. (now A.M.A) and forced to resign.
He ceased being the honorary German consul, and also had to resign from
his seat in the Queensland Legislative Council, as well as the University of Queensland Senate.
He was interned in 1916, deported 1920, then allowed back in 1923.
For Frederick Staubwasser, these were anxious times, but he was
not interned, probably because he had strong support from the home secretary, and there was no evidence of any political association with local German born Australians and he was not a member of the ‘German Club’.
He was a naturalised Australian and attended the Presbyterian Church and not the Lutheran Church as one might have expected.
To his many friends and acquaintances he was a loyal Australian whose life centred on his work and family. He was not on the list of aliens reporting regularly to the CIB and he did not lose his job to a ‘Britisher’.
It is appropriate to conclude this section with the comment ‘All too frequently supposed disloyalty was confused with subversion. Civil liberties were sacrificed to the altar of xenophobia and a confused and flexible sense of national security.”
Frederick Staubwasser died in February 1938, leaving his wife and three young children.
Despite the war clouds gathering over Europe again, he had not sought to change his name, but his widow and family changed their surname to her maiden surname of Harrison, and Christian names were anglicised (e.g., Oscar to Andrew), by deed poll in September 1939.
This story has described a new and successful life as a good Australian citizen, family man and hospital dispenser/administrator by a 20 year old German emigrant to Australia in 1892, whilst living in a most difficult era for Australians of German birth. He succeeded by ability, integrity, study, personality, along with great rapport and support from his work peers and employers, his friends and most importantly his family.
Yet further anti-German angst in his last 6-7 years led his widow and family to seek a less stressful life by name change. The anti-German bitterness 1900-1925, and again beginning in 1932, associated with internment of other Germans is one of the tragedies of war, and it has been said that the first casualty in any conflict is usually TRUTH.
Editor’s Note
Dr Owen Harris is Chairman of the Diamantina Healthcare Museum, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland. The Dispenser’s
House has become the home of the Diamantina Healthcare Museum (2004).
A full list of references is available on request.
Endnotes
1 Tampke J, Doxford C. Australia Wilkommen , A History of the Germans in Australia. NSW University Press 19901990
volume 3 ■ no 29 ■ JULY 2006
Pharmacy History Australia ■ 1