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ISBN: 9781989555804

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Hanged in Medicine Hat

Murders in a Nazi Prisoner-of-War Camp, and the Disturbing True Story of Canada's Last Mass Execution

For three years during the Second World War, 12,000 Nazis were held in a prisoner-of-war camp at the edge of Medicine Hat, an isolated city of 12,000 people on the bald Canadian prairie. The camp and the townsfolk lived cheerfully side-by-side until two men were beaten and hanged by their fellow prisoners and no one on the scene would admit to knowing anything about the crimes. RCMP investigators infiltrated the camp and discovered the existence of a shadow Nazi government, complete with its own Gestapo responsible for enforcing discipline and loyalty to the Fuhrer. Suspects were identified. Charges were laid. A series of gripping trials resulted in the last mass hanging in Canadian history. Now, eighty years after the fact, acclaimed historian Nathan Greenfield presents stunning new evidence that raises grave questions about whether justice was served on either side of the wire in Medicine Hat.

Contributors

Nathan Greenfield

Nathan Greenfield was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York; he came to Canada to study at McGill in 1980. He is the author of six military histories. His expertise in Canadian POW escapers and evaders in the World War II resulted in the writing of a history of escape and evasion for the professional development centre of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM). Nathan is the North American correspondent for the University World News.

Chapter Contributors Pages Year Price
In this chapter, Greenfield recounts the 1946 mass hanging of four German soldiers in Medicine Hat, Alberta, following murders at Camp 132.
3 $0.30
In this chapter, Greenfield discusses how in 1946, sixteen-year-old Joyce Reesor attended the first of six murder trials in Canadian history in Medicine Hat, Alberta, where German prisoners of …
13 $1.30
In this chapter, Greenfield traces how Canada accepted captured German Afrika Corpsmen between 1941 and 1942, following the North African campaigns. He describes Private August Plaszek’s …
9 $0.90
In this chapter, Greenfield examines the daily existence of German prisoners of war held in Canadian camps from 1942 to 1945, drawing on personal accounts and official records.
22 $2.20
In this chapter, Greenfield describes how on the afternoon of July 22, 1943, German POW August Plaszek was hanged by fellow inmates at Camp 132 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, after a prisoner …
11 $1.10
In this chapter, Greenfield examines the RCMP investigation into the murder of August Plaszek at Camp 132 in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
22 $2.20
In this chapter, Greenfield examinesthe investigation into the murder of Dr. Karl Lehmann, a prisoner of war killed at Camp 132 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, in September 1944.
25 $2.50
In this chapter, Greenfield discusses the aftermath of Germany’s surrender in May 1945 for the roughly 12,000 prisoners of war held at Camp 132 in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
36 $3.60
In this chapter, Greenfield recounts the 1946 trial of Werner Schwalb, a German prisoner of war prosecuted in Medicine Hat, Alberta, for the hanging of fellow prisoner August Plaszek in 1943.
28 $2.80
In this chapter, Greenfield examines the 1946 trial of Adolf Kratz, a German prisoner of war, unfolded in Medicine Hat, Alberta, where he faced a murder charge for the killing of August Plaszek, …
15 $1.50
In this chapter, Greenfield examines the legal proceedings surrounding the murder of Canadian soldier August Plaszek at Camp 132 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, from April to June 1946.
13 $1.30
In this chapter, Greenfield explains how in the summer of 1946, four German prisoners of war stood trial in Medicine Hat, Alberta, for the hanging murder of Corporal Dr. Karl Lehmann in 1944. …
43 $4.30
In this chapter, Greenfield examines the appeals and clemency petitions filed in 1946 on behalf of four German prisoners of war convicted of murdering Karl Lehmann near Medicine Hat, Alberta.
15 $1.50
In this chapter, Greenfield recounts the December 1946 executions of four German prisoners of war at the Medicine Hat jail, convicted of murdering Dr. Karl Lehmann at POW Camp 132 in 1944.
4 $0.40
In this epilogue, Greenfield examines the 1945 to 1946 civilian trials of German prisoners of war accused of murdering fellow POWs at Camp 132 in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
16 $1.60
The endnotes and bibliography for Hanged in Medicine Hat (2022) document the Canadian prisoner-of-war system during the Second World War, 1939 to 1946, with particular focus on Camps 132 and 133 …
5 $0.50