Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

GERMAN HE-111 BOMBER AIRCRAFT

Date Range From

1942

Date Range To

1946

Materials

WOOD, STEEL

No. Pieces

4

Height

10

Length

38

Width

29

Description

HANDCRAFTED, HANDPAINTED HE-111 GERMAN BOMBER AIRCRAFT MODEL AND BOX. TWIN ENGINE BOMBER FEATURES CIGAR-SHAPED FUSELAGE AND BROAD WINGS. LANDING GEAR AND WHEELS ARE IN A DOWN, GROUNDED POSITION. METAL PROPELLERS ARE BALANCED AND SPIN FREELY. HANDPAINTED FINISH AND INSIGNIA THROUGHOUT. FUSELAGE MARKED "1H..IH". 1 PCE. FOR CONDITION, PLEASE REFERENCE CONDITION REPORT ON FILE. HANDCRAFTED BOX, CASE: 33 CM (W), 41 CM (L), 13.5 CM (H). GREEN PAINTED EXTERIOR FINISH WITH REMOVABLE LID. LID HAND MARKED IN PENCIL "696". HOOK AND EYE CLOSURE. BOX EXTERIOR HAND MARKED IN PAINT "FW. KUBLER 18616". 2 PCE CLOTH REMNANTS, 2 PCE. (UNKNOWN USE/FUNCTION). RED FELT STRIP, 6.5 CM (W), 51 CM (L). REMAINS OF BLACK THREAD/STITCHING ALONGSIDE ONE EDGE. 1PCE. DISCOLOURDED WHITE COTTON CLOTH, 30 CM (L), 30.5 CM (W). 1 PCE.

Subjects

ART

TOY

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

BETWEEN 1942 AND 1946, LETHBRIDGE’S POPULATION GREW BY UPWARDS OF 13,000 PERSONS AFTER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DECIDED TO LOCATE ONE OF CANADA’S LARGEST PRISONER-OF-WAR (POW) CAMPS ON THE NORTH EASTERN OUTSKIRTS OF THE CITY. CAMP 133’S INTERNEES WERE CAPTURED GERMAN SOLDIERS, INCLUDING MEMBERS OF THE DEUTSCHES AFRIKA KORPS, DOWNED LUFTWAFFE AIRCREW AND CAPTURED KRIEGSMARINE SAILORS. THE POWS PASSED THE TIME IN CAMP 133 IN A VARIETY OF WAYS, INCLUDING CREATING HANDCRAFTED GOODS. THE ITEMS WERE MADE AVAILABLE FOR SALE TO THE GUARDS AND, AT TIMES, COULD BE ACQUIRED IN TRADE FOR LUXURY ITEMS INCLUDING CIGARETTES. ALTHOUGH OFFICIALLY FORBIDDEN, INTERACTION DID OCCUR BETWEEN THE POWS AND THE CIVILIAN POPULATION, REFLECTED BY THE AREA RESIDENTS’ ACQUISITION OF POW-MADE ITEMS. THIS WOODEN HE-111 BOMBER WAS GIVEN TO 9 YEAR OLD LETHBRIDGE RESIDENT ROY BOLOKOSKI (DONOR’S HUSBAND) BY A CAMP 133 INTERNEE, LIKELY THE MODEL’S MAKER FELDWEBEL (SERGEANT) KUBLER. ROY AND HIS FATHER MATHEW BOLOKOSKI MADE REGULAR DELIVERIES TO THE CAMP ON BEHALF OF LOCAL WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTOR HORNE AND PITFIELD. THE BOMBER WAS TREASURED BY BOLOKOSKI AND DURING HIS CHILDHOOD, HE SAFEGUARDED IT BY STORING IT IN HIS PARENT’S BEDROOM CLOSET. ACCORDING TO THE DONOR, HER HUSBAND NEVER WANTED ANYONE TO TOUCH THE AIRCRAFT MODEL. DURING THE TIME THAT THE DONOR AND ROY WERE MARRIED, HE ALWAYS MAINTAINED THE AIRCRAFT IN ITS BOX. IN 2009, THE BUNDESARCHIVE IN GERMANY INFORMED THE GALT THAT THE MODEL’S MAKER WAS HERMANN KUBLER, BORN 11 DECEMBER 1913 IN HEILBRONN, GERMANY. ACCORDING TO A HERALD NEWSPAPER ARTICLE IN 1945, HANDICRAFTS WERE MADE BY THE CAMP’S INTERNEES FOR SALE TO THE GUARDS. THE SALES WERE NECESSARY TO GENERATE FUNDS ON ACCOUNT THAT FUNDS FROM GERMANY STOPPED ARRIVING AND THE INTERNEES’ CANTEEN CREDITS WERE EXHAUSTED. ITEMS INCLUDING WOODEN MODEL BATTLESHIPS, TANKS AND AIRCRAFT SOLD, AT THE TIME, IN THE RANGE OF $10 TO $30 DOLLARS DEPENDING ON THE ITEM’S QUALITY. THE POWS WERE PAID FOR THEIR WORK IN THE FORM OF CANTEEN CREDITS. ON 17 FEBRUARY 2010, THE HENKEL BOMBER WAS RETURNED TO THE GALT BY THE CANADIAN CONSERVATION INSTITUTE IN OTTAWA AFTER THE INSTITUTE ACCEPTED THE MODEL AS PART OF ITS FREE TREATMENT PROGRAM. FOR INFORMATION ON THE TREATMENT, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE REFER TO THE DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE. *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

P20080025000

Acquisition Date

2008-09

Collection

Museum

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