EMPIRE, FAITH & WAR

Balvinder Kaur

Niece of a prisoner of war

Balvinder Kaur from Mumbai, India, visited our exhibition ‘Empire, Faith & War’ while on a visit to the UK.

In a wonderful twist of fate she discovered that her uncle, Shamir Singh Aujla (born c 1895) from village Dehriwala in District Amritsar, was a prisoner of war interned in the Wünsdorf prisoner camp near Berlin.

His name and other details (including his age, 21) were recorded for posterity by German scholar, Egon von Eickstedt, in 1916-17. Eickstedt had selected 76 Sikh prisoners for a bizarre study to explore their racial characteristics.

Balvinder Kaur was overwhelmed with the connection she had made and wanted to share her experience with us.

To read an English translation of Balvinder Kaur's interview, click here.

Total length (approx.): 3 mins
Interviewers: Taran Singh & Parmjit Singh
Date: 21 September 2014
Location: Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London
Translation: Sukhdeep Singh Jodha
Image credits: Taran Singh / UKPHA Archive