Exhibition "The Bird-Cage"

The main problems of life behind barbed wire were depression, boredom, and anxiety about the war and families back home. Finding a way to pass the time was important for prisoners’ mental health. Fortunately for us, the 1944 camp publication The Birdcage gives us an insight into what the men did all day.

Initially, food was the number one issue, as rations were meager. Only with additional food deliveries from the International Red Cross did the situation improve.

The YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) and the Red Cross also provided teaching and art materials, board games, musical instruments, books, and sports equipment. This opened up numerous opportunities for leisure activities: the internees established a camp library and organized continuing education courses. Camp musicians gave lessons and formed music groups. Theatre groups performed comedies and lighthearted farces.

The floodplain between Salzach river and Fischer-Huber stream – known in the camp as "the Island" – was used for soccer, rugby, hockey, and baseball, while today's Brioude Square was used for volleyball and basketball. For one winter, even an ice skating rink was created there. The square was nicknamed "the Birdcage" by the prisoners because it was surrounded by barbed wire, giving the prisoners the impression of being in a birdcage when passersby walked past the fence and looked at the internees.

Red Cross cans were recycled in a variety of ways: prisoners used them to make everyday items as well as sports trophies for tournaments in which American and British teams competed.

There was no forced labour in Ilag VII. The internees' work was limited to that necessary for everyday life. Around 100 men worked outside the camp: some of them in businesses like the Schneider bakery, others on farms. According to Ambrose Sherwill, these works outside the camp led to heated debate, as many internees considered this to be collaboration with the enemy.