The papers of MS 8869 are divided into two parts: 1. Papers of Bern Brent's parents, Helene and Otto Bernstein, include early family papers; poems by Otto Bernstein; papers relating to childhood; imprisonment in Siberia and escape, World War I; Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, World War II.2. Papers of Bern Brent include family correspondence 1920s-1960s (some of which is in German), particularly during World War II when family members were separated in Australia, United Kingdom, Germany and the United States; papers relating to the voyage on the 'Dunera', 1940; papers relating to the Hay and Tatura Internment Camps, Australia, including poems, diary, sketches, correspondence, publications; teaching materials and research documenting the direct method of teaching English to migrants in Australia, and teaching methods in Europe and Southeast Asia; publications by Brent including articles, book reviews and his book My Berlin suitcase: memories of a childhood (9 boxes, 1 fol. item).