0:00

Hey Mike here, I just wanted

0:02

to let you know that you

0:04

can listen to Dark Poutine early

0:06

and ad-free on Amazon Music, included

0:08

with Prime. Season 1 of

0:11

Andor, and critics calling

0:13

it the best Star

0:15

War series yet. Now,

0:17

season 2 of the

0:19

Emmy-nominated series, returns April

0:21

22nd. Follow Cassian Andor,

0:23

as he embarks on

0:25

a path from a

0:27

rebel to a hero.

0:29

Starring Diego Luna, and

0:32

from creator Tony Gilroy.

0:34

Writer of Michael Clayton

0:36

and the Born Identity,

0:38

season 2

0:40

of Andor, is

0:43

streaming April

0:46

22nd, only

0:48

on Disney Plus. And I am

0:51

Matthew Stockton. Welcome Matthew. You were

0:53

just singing the A-team song? Well,

0:55

humming it, yeah. And I was

0:58

thinking, the only thing I really

1:00

remember about the A-team is the

1:02

people who were in it and

1:04

the fact that with all the

1:07

machine gun fire, they never seemed

1:09

to hit any individual. Nobody ever

1:11

died. All these bullets flying around

1:14

everywhere and they were the worst

1:16

shots ever. I can't remember, nobody

1:18

ever getting a shot. I think it was

1:21

because it was prime time and the

1:23

new kids would be watching. They didn't

1:25

want to show people dying. What an

1:27

accurate description of violence. More like the

1:30

B team. Anyway, let's get this

1:32

show on the road. The

1:34

views, information, and opinions expressed

1:36

during the Dark Poutine podcast

1:39

are solely those of the

1:41

producer and do not necessarily

1:43

represent those of curious cast.

1:45

Its affiliate, Global News, nor

1:48

their parent company, Corus Entertainment.

1:50

Dark Poutine is not for the

1:53

faint of heart or squeamish.

1:55

Listener discretion is strongly advised.

1:57

We're not experts on the

1:59

top we present, nor are we

2:01

journalists. We're two ordinary Canadian schmucks chatting

2:03

about crime and the dark side of

2:06

history. Let's get to it. Put on

2:08

your took, grab yourself a double-double end

2:10

in a nimo bar, it's time to

2:12

scarf a scarf, a double-double end in

2:15

a nimo bar, it's time to scarf

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to scarf some dark down some dark

2:19

poutine. You are responsible for obtaining, pondering

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Positive side effects may include some perspectives

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and fees extra. See full terms at

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mintmobile.com. This

4:31

episode explores chilling events that

4:33

unfolded at POW Camp 132

4:35

in Medicine Hat Alberta during

4:37

World War II. This prisoner

4:39

of war camp, one of

4:41

many scattered across Canada, became

4:43

the site of two brutal

4:45

murders that shocked even hardened

4:47

veterans and led to Canada's

4:49

last mass execution. In the

4:51

summer of 1943, August Plazek,

4:53

a former French foreign legion

4:55

soldier forcibly integrated into the

4:57

German army, met a gruesome

4:59

end at the hands of

5:01

Nazi hardliners within the camp.

5:03

Just over a year later

5:05

in September 1945, Carl Lehman,

5:07

a university professor turned Luftwaffe

5:09

interpreter, suffered a similar fate

5:11

for daring to share the

5:13

news of Germany's failing war

5:15

effort with his fellow prisoners.

5:17

These murders, born from the

5:19

complex dynamics of a little

5:21

piece of Germany, transplanted to

5:23

the Canadian prairies, would set

5:25

in motion a series of

5:27

dramatic trials that tested the

5:29

limits of Canadian justice and

5:32

international law. This is Dark

5:34

Poutine episode 362, POUS in

5:36

Canada, and the murders at

5:38

Camp 132. The concept of

5:40

prisoners of war, POUS, has

5:42

existed for as long as

5:44

warfare itself. In ancient times,

5:46

captured warriors were often treated

5:48

as personal property of their

5:50

captors enforced into slavery. During

5:52

the Middle Ages, the practice

5:54

of ransom developed, making it

5:56

beneficial to capture wealthy soldiers.

5:58

The modern treatment of POWs

6:00

began to take shape in

6:02

the 17th and 18th centuries

6:04

as war came to be

6:06

viewed as a relationship between

6:08

states rather than individuals. This

6:10

shift in perspective led to

6:12

more humane treatment for those

6:14

officially classified as prisoners of

6:16

war. The devastating battle of

6:18

Sulfurino in 1859 served as

6:20

a catalyst for change. Shocked

6:22

by the lack of care

6:24

for wounded soldiers, Swiss businessman,

6:26

Henry Dunant, published his experiences.

6:28

He proposed the creation of

6:30

a permanent relief agency and

6:32

a government treaty to protect

6:34

workers in war zones. His

6:36

efforts led to the establishment

6:38

of the Red Cross and

6:40

the first Geneva Convention in

6:42

1864. Yes, that was a

6:44

while ago. A little bit,

6:46

yeah. Battle of Sulfurino. like

6:48

this so my husband's a

6:50

little bit of a history

6:52

nerd European history nerd so

6:54

of course about this so

6:56

this is back when Italy

6:58

was a bunch of different

7:00

kingdoms right mm-hmm the kingdom

7:02

of Sardinia worked with France

7:04

with Napoleon to fight Austria

7:06

to try to unify right

7:08

yep and the thing is

7:11

this involved 300 thousand troops

7:13

it was a big war

7:15

this specific battle was 300,000

7:17

troops 40,000 were wounded who

7:19

and dead or dying in

7:21

the battlefield. So this guy

7:23

Henry Dunant, he was a

7:25

businessman, he witnessed it, he

7:27

saw the battle happen, and

7:29

he wrote a book called

7:31

A Memory of Sulfrino, that

7:33

really hit a nerve across

7:35

Europe, and it was seen

7:37

as sort of a call

7:39

to consciousness, right? And he,

7:41

in the book, he suggested

7:43

creation of voluntary relief societies

7:45

and drafting formal international agreement,

7:47

right? So I think why

7:49

this sort of... picked up

7:51

now instead of before was

7:53

the fact that there was

7:55

rising nationalism and you movement

7:57

across Europe, right, so Italy

7:59

and Germany and armies were

8:01

mechanized and there are much

8:03

higher casualties and much shorter

8:05

time frames than any other

8:07

war. And at the same

8:09

time there was a liberal

8:11

enlightenment ideas that were including

8:13

humanitarianism and internationalism and moral

8:15

responsibility that was gaining traction

8:17

in Europe. So all of

8:19

these things sort of fit

8:21

that moment, right? This idea

8:23

of moral idealism and pragmatic

8:25

cooperation. So that's why it

8:27

hit when it did. and

8:29

thus the famous Geneva Convention

8:31

is born and the Red

8:33

Cross who they've done what

8:35

they could in battle zones

8:37

but you know some people

8:39

argue that their effectiveness has

8:41

waned over the years you

8:43

know yeah it is what

8:45

it is but that's where

8:47

that all started over the

8:50

following decades the Geneva Conventions

8:52

expanded to address the treatment

8:54

of POWs more comprehensively The

8:56

1929 Geneva Convention marked a

8:58

significant milestone in international humanitarian

9:00

law. Signed on July 27th

9:02

1929 and entered into law

9:04

on June 19th 1931, this

9:06

treaty expanded on previous agreements

9:08

to provide more comprehensive protections

9:10

for prisoners of war. The

9:12

Convention included 97 articles detailing

9:14

the rights and treatment of

9:16

captured combatants, a substantial increase

9:18

from the 16 articles in

9:20

the 1907 Convention. Key provisions

9:22

of the 1929 Geneva Convention

9:24

included the prohibition of reprisals

9:26

and collective penalties, regulations on

9:28

prisoner labor, and the right

9:30

for prisoners to designate representatives.

9:32

It also clarified the famous

9:34

name rank and serial number

9:36

rule, stating that prisoners were

9:38

only required to provide this

9:40

basic information and could not

9:42

be coerced into revealing more.

9:44

While the 1929 Convention aimed

9:46

to improve conditions for POWs,

9:48

its effectiveness during World War

9:50

II was mixed. generally respected

9:52

the treaty with some exceptions

9:54

while Axis powers more frequently

9:56

violated its provisions, notably Japan

9:58

signed but did not ratify

10:00

the convention leading to widespread

10:02

mistreatment of prisoners. Since World

10:04

War II, many of what

10:06

were the allied nations have

10:08

continually ignored the Geneva Convention,

10:10

as have many other countries,

10:12

right? And sort of the

10:14

legal arm, if you will,

10:16

of the Geneva Convention is

10:18

the ICC International Criminal Court.

10:20

Most major military powers in

10:22

the world, like Russia, the

10:24

United States, China, Saudi Arabia,

10:26

North Korea, Iran, either have

10:29

never joined or withdrew from

10:31

the ICC. And these groups

10:33

of nations often do things

10:35

that are against a convention.

10:37

Canada on the other hand

10:39

I find really interesting is

10:41

we were actually one of

10:43

the founding member states of

10:45

the ICC and one of

10:47

the strongest supporters of it

10:49

yeah something I'm pretty proud

10:51

of and in fact back

10:53

in 2000 we actually passed

10:55

our own legislation the crimes

10:57

against humanity and war crimes

10:59

act to ensure that we

11:01

can prosecute international crimes at

11:03

home which is cool go

11:05

Canada yeah it's great I

11:07

mean it's been used a

11:09

few times it's hard you

11:11

know doing international criminal it's

11:13

labor and it takes a

11:15

lot of effort and a

11:17

lot of money and there's

11:19

only been a few of

11:21

them in Canada, but I

11:23

think having it is better

11:25

than not. Some people say

11:27

the ICC has no teeth

11:29

and is useless on the

11:31

other hand, but that's a

11:33

whole other episode. During World

11:35

War II, prisoners of war

11:37

were held in various locations

11:39

across the globe with significant

11:41

powers establishing extensive networks of

11:43

camps to house captured enemy

11:45

combatants enemy combatants. Germany operated

11:47

around 1,000 prisoner of war

11:49

camps throughout the conflict. These

11:51

camps were primarily characterized as

11:53

off-legs for officers and stalags

11:55

for enlisted personnel. The conditions

11:57

in these camps varied, with

11:59

Germany generally adhering to the

12:01

Geneva Convention for Western Allied

12:03

Prisoners, but disregarding it for

12:05

so POWs, resulting in millions

12:08

of deaths among the latter

12:10

group. Canadian prisoners of war

12:12

faced harrowing experiences during World

12:14

War II, with some enduring

12:16

unimaginable cruelty at the hands

12:18

of their captors. In the

12:20

days following the D-Day landings

12:22

and Normandy, a series of

12:24

shocking incidents unfolded that would

12:26

come to be known as

12:28

the Normandy massacres. As many

12:30

as 156 Canadian soldiers captured

12:32

by the 12th SS Panzer

12:34

Division were executed in various

12:36

locations across the Norman countryside.

12:38

These killings ranged from spontaneous

12:40

murders of individuals to premeditated

12:42

mass executions. At the Abbe

12:44

Dardin, 20 Canadian POWs were

12:46

systematically killed in the Abbe's

12:48

garden over several days. We

12:50

discussed the events at Arden

12:52

Abbe in episode 99 of

12:54

Dark Poutine Remembrance Day 2019.

12:56

The Chateau Daudreu became another

12:58

site of tragedy where 19

13:00

Canadians were murdered after interrogation.

13:02

The brutality extended beyond Normandy.

13:04

In the Pacific Theater Canadian

13:06

POWs captured by Japanese forces

13:08

faced severe mistreatment. Of the

13:10

1975 Canadians deployed to Hong

13:12

Kong, 1685 were captured and

13:14

264 died over the next

13:16

three and a half years

13:18

in prisoner of war camps.

13:20

Prisoners suffered from malnutrition, disease,

13:22

and abuses including torture by

13:24

their captors. Phil Doddridge, who

13:26

was captured at the age

13:28

of 19 during the Battle

13:30

of Hong Kong, spent nearly

13:32

four years in Japanese prison

13:34

camps. He recalled the constant

13:36

danger saying, quote, you avoid

13:38

as much as possible attracting

13:40

attention, end quote. The conditions

13:42

in these camps were often

13:44

brutal. Ormetas Fridet, also captured

13:47

in Hong Kong at 24,

13:49

shared a poignant moment of

13:51

vulnerability. Quote, one time I

13:53

cried, I wanted to come

13:55

home, end quote. For those

13:57

held in European camps, the

13:59

experience was no less challenging.

14:01

One Canadian veteran described the

14:03

shock of arriving at the

14:05

Buchanwald concentration camp where some

14:07

POWs were housed alongside other

14:09

political prisoners. The unnamed soldier

14:11

recalled, quote, as we got

14:13

to the camp and saw

14:15

what was inside but terrible,

14:17

terrible fear and horror entered

14:19

our hearts. We thought, what

14:21

is this? Where are we

14:23

going? Why are we here?

14:25

As you got closer to

14:27

the camp and started to

14:29

enter the camp and saw

14:31

these human skeletons walking around,

14:33

old men, young men, boys,

14:35

just skin and bone, we

14:37

thought, what are we getting

14:39

into? The struggle for survival

14:41

was constant. In Japanese camp,

14:43

starvation was an ever-present threat.

14:45

George Duran, a Canadian POW,

14:47

recounted the dire circumstances. When

14:49

I was 18, I joined

14:51

up and I weighed 185

14:53

pounds. When I got to

14:55

Tokyo, I weighed 78 pounds."

14:57

As the war neared at

14:59

the end, some Canadian POWs

15:01

in Europe were forced on

15:03

grueling marches as their German

15:05

captors retreated. These death marches

15:07

claimed more lives with prisoners

15:09

succumbing to cold starvation and

15:11

illness. The full extent of

15:13

these wartime atrocities would only

15:15

come to light in the

15:17

years following the conflict, leaving

15:19

a painful legacy for survivors

15:21

and their families. On the

15:23

Allied side, the United States

15:25

also set up numerous POW

15:28

camps on its soil, housing

15:30

primarily German, Italian, and Japanese

15:32

prisoners. At its peak in

15:34

May 1945,871 POWs, with the

15:36

majority being Germans, 371,653, followed

15:38

by Italians, 50,273, and a

15:40

smaller number of Japanese, 3915.

15:42

These camps were spread across

15:44

the country from Arizona to

15:46

New York and ranged from

15:48

repurposed existing facilities to purpose-built

15:50

compounds. In Canada, the prisoner

15:52

of war camp system played

15:54

a significant role in the...

15:56

nation's wartime efforts. The country

15:58

operated 28 internment camps between

16:00

1939 and 1947, stretching from

16:02

Alberta to New Brunswick. These

16:04

facilities housed a diverse group

16:06

of internees, including German combatant

16:08

prisoners, German and Italian enemy

16:10

merchant seamen, and civilian internees

16:12

of German Italian and Japanese

16:14

descent. Canada's involvement in housing

16:16

enemy POWs expanded dramatically in

16:18

1940 when the British government

16:20

requested assistance in managing its

16:22

growing prisoner population. What began

16:24

as a plan to intern

16:26

Canadian enemy aliens quickly evolved

16:28

into a large-scale operation to

16:30

accommodate thousands of German prisoners

16:32

of war. The Canadian government

16:34

established camps nationwide recognizing the

16:36

potential economic benefits and the

16:38

opportunity to contribute to the

16:40

Allied war effort. The Canadian

16:42

camps were spread across several

16:44

provinces, as we mentioned, from

16:46

Alberta in the West to

16:48

New Brunswick in the East.

16:50

Ontario housed the largest number

16:52

of camps with 10 facilities

16:54

while Quebec also had a

16:56

significant presence. Alberta was home

16:58

to four major camps including

17:00

two of the largest in

17:02

North America Medicine Hat and

17:04

Lethbridge. Did you bump into

17:07

any reason why British Columbia

17:09

didn't have any of them

17:11

in your reason? I didn't

17:13

have to bump into it

17:15

because I know what the

17:17

reason is. The reason is

17:19

Japanese internment camps here. We

17:21

were already stretched to the

17:23

limit by doing that awful

17:25

thing. and locking up our

17:27

own Japanese Canadian citizens. That's

17:29

right. Yeah, and we've talked

17:31

about that in the previous

17:33

episode. So that's why I

17:35

knew the answer to that.

17:37

Yeah, it's like we already

17:39

have like big camps that

17:41

are full, right? Yep, exactly.

17:43

Okay. The POW camps in

17:45

Canada very greatly in sizing

17:47

capacity. Some could hold just

17:49

a few hundred prisoners, while

17:51

others could house over 12,000

17:53

POWs. Many of these facilities

17:55

were repurposed from existing structures,

17:57

such as pulp and paper

17:59

mills, sanatoriums, and government forests

18:01

research stations. Others were purpose-built

18:03

to accommodate the influx of

18:05

prisoners. In Ontario, camps could

18:07

be found from the southwestern

18:09

part of the province near

18:11

London to as far north

18:13

as 1100 kilometers northwest of

18:15

Toronto. Quebec's camps were situated

18:17

around Montreal and to the

18:19

east. The camp in New

18:21

Brunswick was located near Fredericton,

18:23

while Alberta's camps were spread

18:25

across the southern part of

18:27

the province. The camps at

18:29

Medicine Hat and Lethbridge were

18:31

each capable of holding up

18:33

to 12,500 prisoners. The prisoners

18:35

protected under the Geneva Convention

18:37

were adequately housed and provisioned

18:39

sometimes to the envy of

18:41

local Canadians living under wartime

18:43

rationing. The focus of today's

18:46

story is Camp 132 in

18:48

Medicine Hat. Medicine Hat is

18:50

a city in southeastern Alberta

18:52

and has a history deeply

18:54

rooted in indigenous culture. The

18:56

area was initially inhabited by

18:58

the Blackfoot Cree and Asiniboine

19:00

nations, who used the region

19:02

for hunting bison and gathering

19:04

along the South Saskatchewan River.

19:06

The city's unique name, Medicine

19:08

Hat, is derived from the

19:10

Blackfoot word Samis, meaning medicine

19:12

man's hat. Several legends surround

19:14

the origin of this name.

19:16

One popular story tells of

19:18

a Blackfoot warrior who lost

19:20

his war bonnet in the

19:22

South Saskatchewan River during a

19:24

battle. As it floated away

19:26

he exclaimed that it would

19:28

become a powerful medicine hat.

19:30

Another version recounts a winter

19:32

of great famine during which

19:34

a medicine man had a

19:36

vision. He told his people

19:38

that good fortune would follow

19:40

if they sacrificed a maiden

19:42

to the river. After the

19:44

sacrifice the medicine man's hat

19:46

was seen floating down the

19:48

river signaling the return of

19:50

prosperity. The modern city's development

19:52

began in 1883 when the

19:54

Canadian Pacific Railway CPR arrived

19:56

to build a bridge across

19:58

the South Saskatchewan. Kachwin River.

20:00

A tent town quickly emerged

20:02

attracting early settlers including Mayte

20:04

and Ontario-born immigrants. Medicine Hat

20:06

was incorporated as a village

20:08

in 1894, became a town

20:10

in 1898, and officially gained

20:12

city status on May 9,

20:14

1906. Throughout its growth, Medicine

20:16

Hat has maintained connections to

20:18

its indigenous roots. The Sams

20:20

archaeological site, one of the

20:22

largest pre-contact sites in Alberta,

20:25

serves as a testament to

20:27

the area's rich indigenous history.

20:29

Today the city continues evolving

20:31

while preserving its cultural heritage,

20:33

blending its indigenous past with

20:35

its recent industrial and agricultural

20:37

developments. Medicine Hat's geography and

20:39

existing infrastructure also influenced its

20:41

selection as the site for

20:43

Camp 132. The city's location,

20:45

surrounded by vast prairies, provided

20:47

ample space for a large-scale

20:49

facility. The camp, spanning 50

20:51

hectares, as we mentioned, would

20:53

hold over 12,000 prisoners, roughly

20:55

the equivalent to Medicine Hat's

20:57

population at the time. The

20:59

presence of the Canadian Pacific

21:01

Railway in Medicine Hat was

21:03

another crucial factor. The railway

21:05

provided a means to transport

21:07

prisoners efficiently from eastern ports

21:09

to the inland camp. Additionally,

21:11

the area's established agricultural industry

21:13

offered opportunities for prisoner labor,

21:15

which became an essential aspect

21:17

of camp operations. Construction of

21:19

Camp 132 began in the

21:21

summer of 1942. It received

21:23

its first prisoners in January

21:25

1943. The camp was designated

21:27

as a self-contained city, complete

21:29

with barracks, mess halls, a

21:31

hospital workshops, and recreational facilities.

21:33

This comprehensive setup effectively managed

21:35

a large prisoner population while

21:37

minimizing interaction with the local

21:39

community. Life inside Camp 132

21:41

in Medicine Hat was a

21:43

complex experience for many German

21:45

POWs. The conditions at Camp

21:47

132 were surprisingly comfortable. Prisoners

21:49

resided in one of 36

21:51

two-story barracks, ate in mess

21:53

halls, and had access to

21:55

a 125-bed hospital staffed by

21:57

German POW doctors and orderlies,

21:59

a stark contrast to the

22:01

hardships many had faced on

22:04

the front lines. The abundance

22:06

of food was particularly noteworthy

22:08

for the prisoners. One account

22:10

reveals, quote, while they did

22:12

not have enough food in

22:14

the German forces, they had

22:16

so much food in the

22:18

POW camp that they asked

22:20

for less, but still got

22:22

so much that they ended

22:24

up in food fights, end

22:26

quote. This surplus was so

22:28

significant that prisoners were instructed

22:30

to downplay their conditions in

22:32

letters home, writing only that

22:34

they were, quote, well, according

22:36

to the circumstances, end quote.

22:38

Education and recreation played a

22:40

significant role in camp life.

22:42

By mid-1943, about 3,000 of

22:44

the 5,000 POWs were taking

22:46

courses in subjects ranging from

22:48

languages to gardening and trades.

22:50

Some even enrolled in correspondence

22:52

courses offered by the University

22:54

of Saskatchewan paying their own

22:56

fees. The camp also featured

22:58

recreation halls for theatrical and

23:00

musical performances, gatherings, and funerals.

23:02

Many prisoners found opportunities to

23:04

work outside the camp. which

23:06

provided a welcome break from

23:08

the monotony of camp life.

23:10

POWs were employed in local

23:12

businesses such as medicine hat

23:14

greenhouses, medicine hat brick and

23:16

tile, and medolta potteries limited.

23:18

Farm labor was another common

23:20

occupation with some prisoners developing

23:22

close bonds with local families.

23:24

One account notes, quote, many

23:26

of the POWs who worked

23:28

the fields developed a close

23:30

bond with the families who

23:32

were desperate for strong farmhands

23:34

during these years, end quote.

23:36

The treatment by Canadian guards

23:38

was generally fair, with one

23:40

prisoner recalling that, quote, treatment

23:43

through Canadians or any other

23:45

allied soldiers was extremely well,

23:47

end quote. This positive treatment

23:49

left a lasting impression on

23:51

some POWs. Quote, some of

23:53

the inmates even returned to

23:55

medicine hat after the war

23:57

because they found the conditions

23:59

and opportunity favorable. End quote.

24:01

Yeah, and I think that's

24:03

the quiet power of treating

24:05

people with dignity even in

24:07

war. Right. Canada's humane treatment

24:09

of POWs wasn't just about

24:11

following rules. It was about

24:13

choosing a moral high ground,

24:15

right? fairness fostered with respect

24:17

not resentment and some prisoners

24:19

like you said even returned

24:21

after the war not as

24:23

enemies but as neighbors right

24:25

and had they been brutalized

24:27

by us? What would they

24:29

have taken home? Bitterness, more

24:31

extremism, right? Instead, they carried

24:33

this sort of strange gratitude

24:35

and I think that planted

24:37

seeds of goodwill in a

24:39

world that was trying to

24:41

heal, right? And you know,

24:43

Germany became Germany after this,

24:45

right? And if we had

24:47

treated them horribly, like, um...

24:49

would it just have continued?

24:51

Yeah, I mean, there were

24:53

examples. We won't get into

24:55

them in this episode. There's

24:57

always examples in war, but

24:59

I think overall how we

25:01

treat people in war shapes

25:03

the piece that follows the

25:05

war. Despite the relative comfort,

25:07

camp life was not without

25:09

its challenges. Barb wire fences

25:11

and guard towers surrounded the

25:13

camp. A constant reminder of

25:15

their captivity. As one description

25:17

notes, quote, surrounding the enclosure

25:19

was a single strand of

25:22

warning wire approximately one foot

25:24

off the ground. Prisoners were

25:26

not across this wire without

25:28

permission as anyone who did

25:30

so and ignored the guard's

25:32

warnings would be fired upon,

25:34

end quote. For many German

25:36

POWs, their time in Camp

25:38

132 in Medicine Hat was

25:40

a period of unexpected comfort

25:42

and opportunity, far removed from

25:44

the horrors of war that

25:46

they had left behind. However,

25:48

it was also a time

25:50

of confinement and complex social

25:52

dynamics within the prisoner population.

25:54

There was, however, a darker

25:56

undercurrent of fear within the

25:58

camp led by Gestapo officers

26:00

and other die-hard Nazis. The

26:02

first murder occurred on July

26:04

22, 1943. August Plasek, a

26:06

40-year-old veteran of the French

26:08

Foreign Legion who had been

26:10

forcibly integrated into the German

26:12

army after the fall of

26:14

France became the target of

26:16

the camp's Nazi hardliners. Around

26:18

5 p.m. that day, private

26:20

reginal black of the veterans

26:22

guard witnessed a chilling scene

26:24

from his post in tower

26:26

number 7. He saw a

26:28

man waving a white cloth,

26:30

desperately running toward the camp's

26:32

warning wire, pursued by hundreds

26:34

of angry shouting inmates. Before

26:36

the man later identified as

26:38

August Plassick crossed the warning

26:40

wire, his pursuers caught him

26:42

and dragged him away into

26:44

a nearby building. From his

26:46

vantage point, Sergeant Frederick C.

26:48

Byers struggled to identify which

26:50

prisoner was being dragged away

26:52

and who was doing the

26:54

dragging. Byers in black called

26:56

for scouts to enter the

26:58

recreation hall to free the

27:01

man, but their requests went

27:03

unfulfilled. After about 10 minutes,

27:05

private black feared the worst,

27:07

leaving the man would most

27:09

likely be dead due to

27:11

the delay. A senior POW,

27:13

Dr. Nolty, was among the

27:15

first to discover Placic's fate.

27:17

He found, quote, a body,

27:19

hanging by the west wall

27:21

of the recreation hall. The

27:23

rope had been wrapped twice

27:25

around the victim's neck cutting

27:27

deeply into his flesh. Nolti

27:29

felt for a pulse but

27:31

quote found no sign of

27:33

life and ordered the body

27:35

to be cut down. The

27:37

brutality of the attack was

27:39

evident. Royal Army Medical Corps

27:41

captain W.F. Hall described the

27:43

gruesome scene. Quote, the face

27:45

of the deceased was very

27:47

swollen. The tongue was sticking

27:49

out slightly. and there was

27:51

blood from the nostrils and

27:53

mouth and also from the

27:55

back of the head. It

27:57

was a disturbing end for

27:59

the diminutive former farmer now

28:01

thousands of miles from his

28:03

wife and child in Europe.

28:05

The killing sent shock waves

28:07

through the camp and... that

28:09

emotional lengthy investigation by Canadian

28:11

authorities. Even as they work

28:13

to unravel the circumstances of

28:15

Plastics murder, Camp 132 remained

28:17

a powder keg of Nazi

28:19

fanaticism and factional tensions. Just

28:21

over a year later on

28:23

September 10th, 1944, Camp 132

28:25

witnessed another murder. Carl Lehman,

28:27

a 38-year-old former university professor

28:29

in Luftwaffe interpreter, fluent in

28:31

English French and Italian, became

28:33

the target of the camp's

28:35

Nazi leadership. Lehman had angered

28:37

the camp's hardcore Nazi elements

28:40

by reading articles from Canadian

28:42

newspapers to his fellow POWs

28:44

reporting on Germany's failing war

28:46

effort. His assailants then hanged

28:48

layman from a gas pipe

28:50

on the wall, and when

28:52

the cord around his neck

28:54

broke, they had strung him

28:56

up again before leaving. The

28:58

murders of Placic and layman,

29:00

separated by 14 months, represented

29:02

grave breaches of discipline within

29:04

the POW camp. They also

29:06

posed a significant challenge for

29:08

Canadian military and law enforcement

29:10

authorities tasked with maintaining order

29:12

and investigating serious crimes among

29:14

the prisoner population. To understand

29:16

how Camp 132 became the

29:18

site of such shocking violence,

29:20

it's necessary to examine the

29:22

unique world that existed behind

29:24

its fences, a little piece

29:26

of Germany transplanted to the

29:28

Canadian prairies where Nazi ideology

29:30

held powerful sway even as

29:32

the tide of war turned

29:34

against the Third Reich. Camp

29:36

132's population included many veterans

29:38

of Rommel's vaunted Africa corps,

29:40

young men steeped in Nazi

29:42

indoctrination and fiercely loyal to

29:44

Hitler. While Canadian authorities maintained

29:46

overall control of the camp,

29:48

the Geneva Convention allowed the

29:50

prisoners to largely govern their

29:52

own internal affairs, this created

29:54

an environment where hardcore Nazi

29:56

elements could exert significant influence

29:58

over camp life. A clandestine

30:00

Gestapo organization emerged among the

30:02

prisoners enforcing I- ideological conformity

30:04

through intimidation and violence. Anti-Nazi

30:06

prisoners, especially former members of

30:08

the French Foreign Legion, like

30:10

Placic, found themselves under constant

30:12

suspicion and threat. The camp

30:14

was also rife with intrigue

30:16

and factional rivalries. Some prisoners

30:19

maintained hope in ultimate German

30:21

victory, while others recognized the

30:23

war was lost. clandestine radios

30:25

picked up news from the

30:27

front, fueling debate debate and

30:29

tension. The arrival of new

30:31

prisoners brought fresh information about

30:33

the course of the conflict.

30:35

It was against this volatile

30:37

backdrop that the murders of

30:39

plastic and lemon took place.

30:41

While separated by time, the

30:43

two killings followed a similar

30:45

pattern. Prisoners suspected of disloyalty

30:47

to Nazi Germany were subjected

30:49

to interrogation by camp leaders

30:51

before meeting violent deaths at

30:53

the hands of fanatical elements.

30:55

The brutality of the killings

30:57

shocked even hardened Canadian veterans

30:59

assigned to guard the camp.

31:01

R.C.M.P. Corporal Reginald Bull, who

31:03

led the initial investigation into

31:05

Plastics murder, encountered a wall

31:07

of silence from prisoners adhering

31:09

to an omerta-like code. Those

31:11

who did speak, often provided

31:13

only second or third-hand accounts.

31:15

Authorities worked to unravel circumstances

31:17

of the murders and identify

31:19

those responsible. They faced the

31:21

challenge of penetrating the closed

31:23

world of the POW camp.

31:25

Investigators had to navigate complex

31:27

prisoner social dynamics and overcome

31:29

a pervasive culture of Nazi

31:31

intimidation. The investigations would stretch

31:33

on for months, relying on

31:35

painstaking interviews with prisoners, moved

31:37

to other camps or work

31:39

sites away from medicine hat.

31:41

Slowly a picture began to

31:43

emerge of the events surrounding

31:45

the two killings and the

31:47

key players involved. But even

31:49

as officials built their case,

31:51

they knew that prosecuting the

31:53

murders would be far from

31:55

straightforward. The unique status of

31:58

POWs and the difficulty of

32:00

gathering admissible evidence posed significant

32:02

hurdles. The stage was set

32:04

for a series of dramatic

32:06

trials that would test the

32:08

limits of Canadian justice and

32:10

ultimately lead to the gallows.

32:12

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has that friend who seems kind

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of perfect. For Patty, that

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friend was Desiré. Until one day...

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I texted her and she was

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not getting the text. So

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I went to an Instagram.

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She has no Instagram anymore.

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And Facebook. No Facebook anymore. Desiré

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was gone. And there was one

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person who knew the answer. I

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am a spiritual person. The

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magical person. A gorgeous Brazilian

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influencer called Cat Taurus,

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but who was hiding a secret.

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From wondering, based on my smash

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I'm calling to check on the

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The family are freaking up. They

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listen to Don't Crosscat on the

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Wandery app or wherever you get

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your podcasts. Yeah.

56:25

You There's

56:36

no limit to how far

56:38

criminals will go to cover their

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tracks, but investigators will go

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even further to uncover the truth.

56:45

I'm Nancy Hicks, crime crime reporter

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for Global News. This This season

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on Beat, I'll I'll take you from

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the crime scene to the

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courtroom and inside some of Canada's

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most high -profile cases cases some you've

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likely never heard of before. before.

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Search for and listen to Crime

57:01

on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon and

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and wherever you find your favorite

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podcasts.