ABSTRACT: This article explores how history teachers and students can communicate with historical sources in the classroom. The article deals with historical evidence from Japanese–run civilian internment camps in the Far East, during the Second World War. The focus here is on imprisonment within a war situation. The emphasis in this exploration is on the civilian internees during the Japanese invasion of the former Western colonies from December 1941 onwards. Together with this dialogue between the students and the sources, the paper highlights the internees’ need to communicate their experiences and how they chose to narrate them. A selection of the sources can be made to speak in the classroom, through a series of lesson activities. A recurring theme of many of the lessons is the use of the students’ school context to encourage meaningful engagement with civilian internment. The article examines various secondary and primary sources to facilitate their use in lessons, presenting key content and key approaches by historians. There is also a brief literature review in the footnotes and suggestions for further reading.

KEYWORDS: prisoners of war, internment, Second World War, historical sources.