Captured in North Africa, Kurt Siebein was sent to Canada in September 1942. Likely disembarking in New York, after a long train journey, he and his fellow PoWs arrived at Camp 133 at Ozada, Alberta. A temporary tented camp at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Ozada held thousands of German PoWs while the newContinue reading “PoW Art – Kurt Siebein”
Tag Archives: Prisoner of War
Volkstrauertag 2016 (German Remembrance Day)
The annual German Remembrance Day service will be held Sunday, November 13, 2016. This service takes place at Woodland Cemetery in Kitchener, Ontario (119 Arlington Boulevard) at 2:30 p.m.
PoW Artist Richard Schlicker – Part II
Last year, I wrote a post featuring some artwork by PoW Richard Schlicker. My hopes were that others would come forward with more examples of Schlicker’s artwork and, a year later, the result was just that. Laura stumbled across my blog and emailed me three pictures of paintings from Richard Schlicker that her father purchasedContinue reading “PoW Artist Richard Schlicker – Part II”
A D-Day Prisoner
Today, I received a selection of records and photographs belonging to a former PoW, Leutnant Bernhard Brockmeier. With today being the 72nd anniversary of the D-Day landings and knowing little about the contents of the records or Brockmeier’s wartime career, I was quite surprised at what I found. Seventy-two years ago today, on June 6,Continue reading “A D-Day Prisoner”
Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and all the others out there! Sometime during his internment in Canada, PoW Albert Ammer wrote one of Bruno Schönlank’s poem in the empty pages of his copy of Ein Kleines Buch, a PoW-produced book describing life at Camp 132 in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Mutterhände Meiner Mutter Hände sindContinue reading “Happy Mother’s Day!”
From Port Colborne to Detroit
You would be hard-pressed to find a PoW camp or labour project in Canada that did not have an attempted escape attempt or, in a few isolated cases, a successful escape. The labour project run by the Erie Peat Co. employing Enemy Merchant Seamen (EMS) near Port Colborne, Ontario was no exception. Having opened inContinue reading “From Port Colborne to Detroit”
Volkstrauertag 2015 (German Remembrance Day)
The annual German Remembrance Day service will be held this coming Sunday, November 15, 2015. This service takes place at Woodland Cemetery in Kitchener, Ontario (119 Arlington Boulevard) at 2:30 p.m. For more information, please visit the German Embassy’s website.
November 11, 1945
“And so another Armistice Day rolls around as the years go by, and today members of the VGC have cause to remember this day of days, realizing little that it is 27 years ago today since the cessation of hostilities in 1918. The meaning of this day has, of course, a special significance for VGCContinue reading “November 11, 1945”
A Needle in a Beetstack
Some time ago I acquired a series of forty-five photos documenting a PoW’s time in Canada. As is so often the case, the photos are unnamed and the provenance was unknown. Three group photos of PoWs at Camp 133 at Lethbridge lead me to believe that the original owner of the group was the manContinue reading “A Needle in a Beetstack”
Gone Fishing
Undoubtedly the most unusual find this summer was a PoW-made fishing rod. While I have come across the odd mention of PoWs fishing in labour projects in Manitoba and Ontario, this is the first time I’ve encountered material evidence of this. Made from a broom handle and what appears to be can lids, the fishingContinue reading “Gone Fishing”
POWs in Canada 