Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

P.O.W. HANDMADE ALBUM

Date

1940

Materials

WOOD, PAPER

No. Pieces

1

Height

2

Length

25.2

Width

18.7

Description

HANDMADE ALBUM CONSISTS OF BACK AND FRONT COVERS MADE OF INTERWOVEN PLANT STALKS OR FIBRES. COVERS DISPLAY A DARK COLOURED GEOMETRIC DESIGN. FRONT COVER EMBOSSED "MB" AND "CANADA 1940-41". INSIDE COVERS FEATURE CARDBOARD SURFACE.

Subjects

DOCUMENTARY ARTIFACT

Historical Association

MILITARY

DECORATIVE ARTS

History

ALBUM BELONGED TO DONOR'S FATHER, JACK EKLUND. DONOR REQUESTS JACK BE NAMED ON ANY FUTURE LABELLING AS DONOR. ALBUM WAS GIVEN TO FATHER BY HIENRICH BIER, AN INMATE OF LETHBRIDGE'S P.O.W. CAMP. DONOR'S FATHER MANAGED THE BENNETT FARM IN COALDALE WHERE P.O.W.'S WORKED. DONOR AND HIS FAMILY TREATED P.O.W.'S WELL AND GAVE THEM GOODS LIKE COFFEE. IN RETURN PRISONERS GAVE ALBUM TO JACK. IN ADDITION TO BIER, LUTHER ZIEMAHAGEL, ANOTHER P.O.W. WAS A CLOSE FAMILY FRIEND. JACK EKLUND'S PARENTS WERE ORIGINALLY FROM UTAH PRIOR TO SETTLEMENT IN RAYMOND/ STIRLING. JACK WAS BORN IN STIRLING. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON DEVELOPED THE FOLLOWING BRIEF HISTORY OF PRISONER OF WAR CAMP 133 WITH INFORMATION FROM THE GALT MUSEUM BROCHURE "LETHBRDGE'S INTERNMENT CAMPS" AND THE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA WEBSITE. DURING WORLD WAR II THERE WERE 40 PRISONER OF WAR (P.O.W.) CAMPS CONSTRUCTED ACROSS CANADA TO HOUSE THE LARGE NUMBER OF INCOMING POWS - ENEMY MILITARY PERSONNEL THAT WERE CAPTURED IN COMBAT. CAMPS WERE BUILT IN ONTARIO, QUEBEC, THE MARITIMES AND ALBERTA. THE CAMPS IN LETHBRIDGE AND MEDICINE HAT WERE THE LARGEST, TOGETHER HOUSING 22,000 MEN. THE LETHBRIDGE CAMP, NO. 133, WAS BUILT IN THE SUMMER OF 1942, AND BY NOVEMBER OF THAT YEAR HOUSED 13,341 PRISONERS. THE CAMP WAS DIVIDED INTO SIX SECTIONS, EACH WITH SIX DORMITORIES, MESS HALLS, KITCHENS, AND ENTERTAINMENT FACILITIES. MEALS WERE IN SHIFTS WITH PRISONERS SERVING AS COOKS. TAILOR, BARBER AND SHOE REPAIR SHOPS WERE ALSO STAFFED BY PRISONERS, AND NON-COMBAT POWS PRACTICED THEIR PRE-WAR PROFESSIONS AS MEDICAL DOCTORS AND DENTISTS. HOUSING AND RATIONS WERE THE SAME STANDARD AS FOR THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES, WHICH SOMETIMES CAUSED RESENTMENT AMONG LETHBRIDGE CIVILIAN RESIDENTS, WHO WERE UNABLE TO OBTAIN MANY OF THE SAME SUPPLIES ON THEIR STRICT WARTIME RATION ALLOWANCES. WITH MANY YOUNG LOCAL MEN AWAY AT WAR, LOCAL FARMERS BEGAN TO REQUEST LABOUR ASSISTANCE FROM THE CAMP, ESPECIALLY FOR THE SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY. BY 1943 AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED AND SOME OF THE PRISONERS WORKED ON FARMS THROUGHOUT SOUTHERN ALBERTA. MOST OF THESE PRISONERS WENT FROM THE CAMP TO THE FARMS DAILY, BUT SOME WERE KEPT AT 'LODGES' AT THE MORE DISTANT FARMS FOR DAYS AT A TIME, WITH MINIMAL GUARDING. FOR THEIR LABOUR, THE PRISONERS WERE PAID 50 CENTS PER DAY. WITH WAR'S END, CAMP 133 CLOSED IN DECEMBER 1946 AND ITS PRISONERS WERE SENT BACK TO GERMANY. THE AREA WHERE THE CAMP STOOD EVENTUALLY BECAME AN INDUSTRIAL PARK AND PART OF THE FEDERAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH CENTRE.

Catalogue Number

P20000044000

Acquisition Date

2000-12

Collection

Museum

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