Ernest R. Zimmermann, "The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior: A History of Canadian Internment Camp R" (U Alberta Press, 2015)

Summary

For eighteen months during the Second World War, the Canadian military interned 1,145 prisoners of war in Red Rock, Ontario (about 100 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay). Camp R interned friend and foe alike: Nazis, anti-Nazis, Jews, soldiers, merchant seamen, and refugees whom Britain feared might comprise Hitler's rumoured "fifth column" of alien enemies residing within the Commonwealth. For the first time and in riveting detail, the author illuminates the conditions in one of Canada's forgotten POW camps. Backed by interviews and meticulous archival research, Zimmermann fleshes out this rich history in an accessible, lively manner. Ernest R. Zimmermann's The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior: A History of Canadian Internment Camp R (U Alberta Press, 2015) will captivate military and political historians as well as non-specialists interested in the history of POWs and internment in Canada.

This is an interview with the book's editors, David Ratz and Michel Beaulieu.

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Ari Barbalat

Ari Barbalat holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of California in Los Angeles. He lives in Toronto with his family.

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