What is Ruhleben P.O.W. Camp?
[[File:The Ruhleben camp magazine (1916) (14596634577).jpg|thumb|Camp life]] '''Ruhleben P.O.W. Camp''' was a camp near [[Berlin]], [[Germany]], where [[Britain|British]] [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] were detained (kept) during [[World War I]]. Ruhleben itself was then a [[village]] 10 kilometres to the west of [[Berlin]], but now it is part of the city of Berlin, in a district called Ruhleben in the borough of [[Boroughs of Berlin|Spandau]]. The camp was originally a [[horse]] racecourse. ==Detainees== The detainees (people who were kept there) came from countries that were fighting against Germany in the war. Most of them were British. They were in Germany when the war broke out, which is why they were taken prisoner (detained). Some of them were in Germany because they lived there, others were on holiday at the time. Some of them were crew members of civilian ships that happened to be in German [[harbour]]s at the time or who were captured at sea. There were about 5,500 prisoners in the camp. Most of them spent all four years of World War I there. Books have been written about what it was like living in the camp. These include ''To Ruhleben - And Back'' by Geoffrey Pyke, who successfully escaped from the camp in 1915. The detainees were mostly treated quite well. The guards had to obey the [[Geneva Conventions]]. Although there were some people who found it very difficult being kept there, many others found lots of things to do to keep themselves occupied. Letters, books, sports equipment and a [[printing press]] were all allowed into the camp and the detainees organised their own [[police]] force, [[magazine]], [[library]] and [[postal service]]. Some of the detainees were young people who later became famous. They included the [[Canada|Canadian]] [[musician]] [[Ernest MacMillan]] who later became the [[conducting|conductor]] of the [[Toronto Symphony Orchestra]]. MacMillan had been on holiday in Germany to visit the [[Bayreuth Festival]] when war broke out. [[Charles Ellis]] and [[James Chadwick]]