On Sunday November 22, a public forum on ‘WW1, the Case of Fr Jerger and Civil Liberties’ was held in Marrickville.

Co-hosted by Gallipoli Centenary Peace Campaign* and St Brigid’s Parish, the forum was addressed by three speakers: Dr Janice Garaty, Assoc Prof Douglas Newton and Dr Peter Manning.

In the context of the divisive WW1 conscription debates in Australia, Janice Garaty discussed how Fr Jerger was accused of allegedly expressing “disloyal sentiments” designed to discourage recruitment to the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during a sermon in Marrickville on September 26, 1916. Despite the lack of evidence for such a claim, Fr Jerger was eventually interned in February 1918 at the Holsworthy Military Camp and later deported in July 1920. Continue reading War as the pasture of bigots, and the solvent of principle →