Historical information

Creator Walter Kiessling was interned in September 1939, leaving his pregnant wife, Rosa, alone in Melbourne. After visiting Walter in Dhurringile Interment Camp and then Camp 1, wife Rosa then appealed to Camp 1 Commandant Major Schrader for permission to have Walter visit her and the baby in hospital under guard escort. Soon after, permission was given to take the baby to Camp 1 for a christening with a Lutheran Pastor. While inside Camp 1, Walter and his internee friend Rudolf Schultz crafted the cradle for the baby.

Physical description

Wooden cradle with painted floral decorations and heart shaped holes in the ends.

Inscriptions & markings

INTERNMENT CAMP TATURA AUSTRALIA JANUARY, 1940