International law entitled prisoners of war to food, clothing and accommodation, but there was no such guarantee for enemy aliens. At the outbreak of war, British and German governments had given paid support to their own nationals living under the other’s jurisdiction. This meant, of course, that the British taxpayer supported the Bavarian Hausfrau married to an Englishman and living in Munich and the German taxpayer looked after the Peckham-born-and-bred wife of a Saxon resident in London. Relatively higher German immigration to Britain made this a bad financial arrangement for Berlin and almost inevitably Germany reneged on the arrangement. Financial assistance would be given to German-born nationals in Britain and not those naturalised through marriage; in retaliation, the British followed suit. By their actions, both countries abandoned families to the grudging welfare of the enemy state or, more often, private charitable foundations. Then, as the years passed and the German economy faltered, Berlin looked for further ways to cut expenditure.
