German Prisoners of War

Abstract

In Canada, 37,000 enemy soldiers were interned across 40 Prisoner of War (PoW) Camps during the Second World War. About 440 of those prisoners stayed at the Whitewater PoW Camp, located 300 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, Manitoba. There, prisoners worked in the forest six days a week, harvesting wood for fuel. The camp had no fence, and no guard towers. Prisoners often snuck out at night to visit local towns, but returned in time for morning roll call. Today, the site of the former PoW camp is part of Riding Mountain National Park.