The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior

Accessible history of the controversial POW camp run during World War II in northern Ontario.

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. The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior will captivate military and political historians as well as non-specialists interested in the history of POWs and internment in Canada.

PrefaceErnest Robert Zimmermann vii
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction: Situating the Red Rock pow Experience
Michel S. Beaulieu, David K. Ratz and
Ernest Robert Zimmermann xix
i From Welcomed Refugees to
"Dangerous Enemy Aliens” 1
ii From Mass Internment in Britain
to Deportation to Canada 23
iii Onward to the New World and Its Old Problems:
Helping Britain in Canadian Circumstances 45
iv Getting Ready: Acquisition and Administration
of Camp R 65
v Settling In and Sorting Out 97
vi Camp Life at R under Standing Orders 121
vii Issues in Camp Life: Stresses and Opportunities 155
viii A Canadian Conundrum: Deception, Anti-Semitism,
Paterson Mission and Partial Solutions 177
ix Other Aspects of Camp Life: Inspections,
First Escapes, Religion, Mail 205
x "The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior” 233
xi Lighter and Darker Aspects of Camp Life 257
xii "The End Is Nigh”: The Closure of Camp R 271
xiii Epilogue 283
Notes 289
Bibliography 315
Index 325