Our attempts to get in touch with the families of the former prisoners of the camp of Long Island only succeeded in very rare cases. And one of the reasons for which we consider Christian Barth as a “particular prisoner" is exactly the fact that his daughter, Mrs Margret Ullherr de Lauf in Bavaria, was kind enough to answer to our inquiry. Thanks to Mrs Ullherr, we were able to answer this question, so ordinary but crucial: By what destiny a citizen of a small town in Bavaria ends up in a prison camp on Ile Longue (Long Island)?

Once again, we would like to express our utmost gratitude to Mrs Ullherr for her generosity and her kindness towards us.

If the documents kept in departmental archives, particularly the individual index card of information (quotation 9 R 94), supply certain elements of Christian Barth’s biography, others were communicated to us by his daughter.

Here is a summary of his exceptional life.
• Born January 21st, 1894, in Lauf.
• Educated in Lauf and Nuremberg.
. Commercial training and first employment in Lauf.
• Since 1913, commercial employee in the Spanish branch (Siemens-Schuckert - Industria Electrica) of the Siemens Company in Madrid.
• When war breaks out, (August 3rd, 1914 ), Christian Barth decides “to join the homeland to defend it” (Letter of Mrs. Ullherr, of January 22nd, 2010).
To do so, he has no other choice than to embark for a port in Italy.
• January 1st, 1915, he is taken prisoner off Sardinia (Aranci gulf) aboard the Italian ship “Principessa Isabella”. Christian Barth confirms this event in a letter from Bizerte to his parents, January 3rd, 1915, when he writes:
“During the trip on an Italian ship, from Sardinia towards land, I was taken prisoner on the 31-12-1914 at midnight. Do not worry, because we are well fed, have good sleeping conditions, and are well treated.”
• January 2nd, 1915, he is sent to the depot of Gafsa ( Tunisia), transferred on September 29th, 1915 to Porto Floured (Tunisia) and on May 28th, 1916 to the camp of Uzès.
• August 22nd, 1916 he finally arrives in the camp of Ile Longue.
• October 20th, 1919, repatriation.
What life does he lead within the camp of Ile Longue, during more than three years? We know very little about it, in spite of several handwritten letters, which, we are lucky to have. Even if in these letters sent to his parents, he hardly speaks about his activities and tells us few things about the life of the camp. This is the original and authentic documents which, therefore are worth being translated entirely (see below).

For further information see the article: “Christian Barth, German civil war prisoner of the camp of Long Island, from 1916 till 1919”, which appeared in “Avel Gornog” N 18, of July, 2010, by Christophe Kunze.