The Accidental Captives:
The Story of Seven Women Alone in Nazi Germany
by Carolyn Gossage
"In April 1941 seven Canadian women were taken as prisoners of war during an Atlantic crossing aboard the Egyptian liner Zamzam, which was attacked and sunk by a German raider. Before their ill-fated voyage, headed to South Africa, these seven women were all total strangers to one another. However, their common fate soon bound them together.
"After landing in Biarritz in Nazi-occupied France, they began an extraordinary odyssey through a series of German prisons and internment camps. Finally they found themselves on board a train bound for Berlin. On arrival, they discovered that no one had been informed that they were coming. Here they stood -- the Enemy -- in the heart of Nazi Germany, left completely to their own devices. Before long, however, they managed to organize their lives remarkably well and established contact with a wide circle of acquaintances -- American journalists and diplomats, Red Cross officials, and even the Nazi propagandist P. G. Wodehouse.
"As the Allied air-raids over Berlin intensified, their lives took on an even more surreal quality. It was only in June, 1942, that arrangements were finally made for these seven intrepid women to become part of a prisoner of war exchange and they were able to return safely to their homeland."
"The Berlin Seven", Winter 1941-1942
Carolyn Gossage has used a wealth of first-hand accounts drawn from diaries, letters, and written descriptions of various Zamzam passengers to re-create this bizarre 'stranger than fiction' story.
Caption: (left to right): Kathleen "Kitsi" Strachan, Vida Steele, Clara Guilding, Isabel Guernsey, Olga Guttormson, Doreen Turner, and Allison "Jamie" Henderson.