Prisoners of the Home Front: German POWs and "Enemy Aliens" in Southern Québec, 1940-46 (review)

The first chapter of this book provides background, including internment operations during the South African War and a review of international conventions on prisoners of war. Though the 1929 Geneva Convention is silent on civilian internment, the Canadian government decided in 1939 that it would be applicable to "enemy aliens."

During the First World War, some Central Powers citizens caught in the country at the opening of hostilities were interned. Civilians were released on parole in 1916–17 because they proved to be no threat. Some civilians had been interned only because they were considered a potential burden on local welfare systems. The measure was not without commiseration: wives and children could accompany the family man.

This was deemed a successful security operation—there was no sabotage during the war—and an internment program integrating POWs and civilian internees was again planned in 1936 (chapter 2). Xenophobia and war hysteria in the spring and summer of 1940 assured that history would repeat itself. Thousands of refugees and some German POWs were shipped to Canada to lessen the "fifth column" threat in the U.K. To accept these thousands, the Canadian government improvised new facilities, among them five camps in Southern Québec.

At the beginning of 1941, the British decided, as in 1916, that most aliens posed no threat. Unfortunately, it took some time to "inform" the Canadian government and "refugees" were released only in October 1941. Camps were emptying.

Then came real German POWs from every battlefield in the Western hemisphere. In accordance with the Geneva Convention, officers were to be segregated. German officers found their first camp "absolutely unfit," lighting being inadequate, small rooms not available for senior officers, etc. The Canadian government soon responded to the complaints, dutifully relayed by the Swiss consul. Luxury resorts were first considered, but were rejected as being too far from main rail lines. Instead, a pleasant masonry building was converted and provided with all the amenities possible, including a large gymnasium. But complaints continued, for example the lack of cupboards through which to protect personal effects from damage by exposure to dust.

Chapters 3 through 5 deal respectively with "Life behind barbed wire," "Labour projects" and "Educational Programs," all giving the impression that Canadian authorities were complacent when dealing with these demanding customers. Not surprisingly, the short concluding chapter is titled "Canada internment experience, a home front victory." In fact, many German POWs found their incarceration so enjoyable that they immigrated to Canada after the war. (Another indication of comfort: For an average POW population of 2500, Auger counts only 42 "successful escapes," 33 of the escapees being captured the same day or the day after.)

The difference of treatment between refugees in the first part of the war and POWs afterward is striking. For Auger, Canada had to be "fair" if Canadian POWs in Germany and Japan were to be treated with humanity. The explanation is not entirely satisfying. Conditions in POW camps in Germany were not as good as in Canada, to say nothing of Southeast Asia prisons. And for all these manifestations of good will, as Auger demonstrates in the most suggestive pages of the book, and despite "education" programs tailored to extirpate Nazi beliefs, hundreds of prisoners kept their Nazi faith until the end.

Extensive use is made of archival material. The narrative lacks balance, the experience of refugees being cursorily recounted, compared to that of the POWs. The conclusions drawn are too naïve in this adaptation of an otherwise impressive M.A. thesis.