The attention to detail is remarkable – even the embroidery and drop-front flap are evident on the lederhosen worn by the Bavarian boy doll. The female costumes are variations on the “dirndl” style – common throughout southern Germany and Austria.
The dolls provide rare proof of a little-known commercial enterprise established by the prisoners. Files discovered in the military archives of the Defence Forces at Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin have revealed they were produced in an illicit “toy workshop” established by German internees in the Curragh Camp…
Despite the difficulties, the enterprising Germans apparently succeeded. Col McNally, officer commanding, Curragh Command, told the minister for defence that “the German internees had earned £400 in the manufacture of toys which they sold at Christmas” and, intriguingly, “that a refund of £700 approximately had been made to them by the Revenue Commissioners in respect of duty on cigarettes”.
Later, difficulties arose because of their “inclination to utilise the camp furniture and fittings for toymaking”.
Soon, our children will be forced to make dolls for the Germans. And so the cosmic ballet continues.
Dolls Crafted By German War Internees To Be Auctioned (Irish Times)