Organized in conjunction with the Military Museums of Calgary

It is a little known fact that over 34,000 German prisoners of war were sent to Canada during the Second World War.  Alberta’s contribution to the war effort included housing four POW camps located in Kananaskis, Medicine Hat, Wainwright and Lethbridge.  In Lethbridge alone, Camp 133 was designed to hold 12,500 prisoners, nearly doubling the population of the city.

For you the war is over.  Second World War POW Experiences – a new exhibit at the Galt Museum & Archives opening May 10 – will bring WWII camp experiences to life with stories, photographs and artifacts from across the country.  What was it like to be a prisoner of war in Alberta and in Germany during the Second World War?  What was it like for the Canadian guards, and the Canadian families who worked with the prisoners?  How and why were conditions different in the two countries? 

“This exhibit shows the contrast and the similarities between what happened to German prisoners in Alberta and what happened to Canadians who were imprisoned after being shot down over enemy territory, or were captured at Dieppe,” says Project Manager Wendy Aitkens, Curator at the Galt Museum & Archives. 

For you the war is over is a partnership undertaking for the Galt Museum & Archives, The Military Museums, Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) Museum & Archives, King’s Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC) Museum & Archives, and Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regimental Museum & Archives.  Artifacts from a variety of museums and archives in Canada and those contributed by surviving Canadian and German POWs, Veterans’ Guards, area residents and family members are being brought together for the first time to help tell the story.

For you the war is over. Second World War POW Experiences will be on display at the Galt Museum & Archives from May 10 to September 21, 2008.Following this debut, it will open in the newly expanded Military Museums in June 2009 until December that year.It will then be available to travel across Canada.