SONDHEIM, Guenter
| Service Number: | V377389 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 April 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Works / Labour / Employment / 'Alien' Company/ies |
| Born: | Düsseldorf, Germany, 3 November 1916 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | State School Dusseldorf, Germant and Melbourne University, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Student, Mechanical Electrical Engineer |
| Died: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 26 July 2014, aged 97 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 8 Apr 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, V377389, Works / Labour / Employment / 'Alien' Company/ies | |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Feb 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, V377389, Works / Labour / Employment / 'Alien' Company/ies |
Notes on Guenter Sondheim
Gunter's parents were living in Dorking, Surrey, England as Jewish Refugees who managed to leave Germany in 1939. Gunter joined them from Switzerland where he was attending college. With the outbreak of war, Gunter and his father were interned as enemy aliens and Gunter volunteered to be part of the deportation of detainees, and was deported to Australia. [Australian Military Forces report on Internee].
In the interests of the public safety, the defence of the Commonwealth, or the efficient prosecution of the war that Gunter Sondheim, being an enemy alien on board His Majesty’s Transport "Duneera," who has been sent from the United Kingdom to Australia, for internment should be detained. Gunter arrived in Sydney on 26/8/1940 and was interned as an enemy alien. Gunter was moved from the Hay Internment camp to a camp in Orange and then to Tatura fruit picking.
Army records state he was residing in Forrest when he was offered enlistment in the Australian Army in 1942. Oral history interview with Gunter Sondheim can be found at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn505792
Source: Colac Family History Project/WW2 Honour Roll
Submitted 1 August 2025 by Ian Fox
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