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A German prisoner of war camp near Berlin, Zössen was especially designated for non-Europeans, including large numbers of soldiers from British colonies. When he is imprisoned there, Nigel is forced to listen to a German soldier give a (remarkably astute) speech about the injustice of colonized peoples fighting on behalf of their oppressors.
Zössen POW Camp Quotes in Black Diggers
The Black Diggers quotes below are all either spoken by Zössen POW Camp or refer to Zössen POW Camp. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act One Quotes
You must all see now, having been captured, that you have been used and abused. You are victims of your oppressive masters, who brutally seized your lands and took from you your birthrights. You are little more than slaves until you rise up and throw off the shackles of your British masters. The time for being lickspittles has ended, this war and the inevitable defeat of Great Britain has washed it all away. The question is, who will acknowledge they have been made fools, have been kept children, have accepted their own slavery? It is Time to fight, to fight against your oppressors, for a free India, for free Africa…
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After he is sent on a dangerous mission because he is “shortest” (although clearly, in reality, because of his race), Nigel returns to learn that his entire unit has been killed by the Germans. He gets captured and taken to the historically unique Zössen POW Camp, the German camp designed for nonwhite soldiers from colonized territories. At Zössen, he is forced to listen to a German soldier pontificate about the evils of colonialism. The most disturbing part of this German’s lecture is that, although it is by the diggers’ enemies (and really designed to get soldiers to switch sides), it Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libe
Act Two Quotes
Tarzan. At the Empire. Tarzan, man of the apes. The ape man. Tarzan. Ape. Man. Lowland Gorilla. From Zanzibar. Ape. Man.
He stops, has a surreptitious swig from a bottle. Stands still, watching people rush past him.
Sorry Dad.
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In the disturbing scene just after Nigel writes his letter to the editor, he walks down Sydney’s busiest street—George Street—wearing a sign that advertises the show “TARZAN THE APE MAN.” The implication is clear: because whites, following racist science, think Aboriginal people are evolutionary somewhere between apes and full men, Nigel looks like an “ape man” and is a perfect advertisement for a show about such a figure. This recalls all the other examples throughout the text when others treat him only in terms of his appearance, regardless of his desires or efforts—like when the Taxidermist (the “Dad” to whom Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostru
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Zössen POW Camp Term Timeline in Black Diggers
The timeline below shows where the term Zössen POW Camp appears in Black Diggers. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act One
In Germany’s Zössen POW Camp in 1917, Nigel is imprisoned alongside three Indians and forced to listen to a German...
(full context)
Back at the Zössen POW Camp in 1917, a German Professor approaches Nigel and explains he is collecting “anthropological specimens” for...
(full context)
