Hanged in Medicine Hat : murders in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp, and the disturbing true story of Canada's last mass execution / Nathan M. Greenfield.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Greenfield, Nathan M., 1958- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Serial murders--Alberta--Medicine Hat.

Serial murders.

Trials (Murder)--Alberta--Medicine Hat.

Trials (Murder).

Hanging--Alberta--Medicine Hat.

Hanging.

Nazis--Alberta--Medicine Hat.

Nazis.

World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Canadian.

World War, 1939-1945.

Alberta--Medicine Hat.

Genre:

True crime stories.

Physical Description:

xxii, 247 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Toronto : Sutherland House, 2022.

Summary:

"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."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: ch. One The Establishment of POW Camps in Canada and the Transfer of the Captured Afrika Corpsmen to Canada 1941-1942

ch. Two Life in Canadian POW Camps 1942

1945

ch. Three The Murder of August Plaszek July 22, 1943

ch. Four The Investigation into the Murder of August Plaszek July 24, 1943 to September 16, 1944

ch. Five The Investigation into the Murder of Dr. Karl Lehmann September 11, 1944 to April 8, 1945

ch. Six From the German Surrender to the Plaszek Murder Trials May 8, 1945 to March 6, 1946

ch. Seven Rex v. Werner Schwalb February 25 to March 5, 1946

ch. Eight Rex v. Adolf Kratz March 7 to March 16, 1946

ch. Nine The Appeals in the Plaszek Murder Trials, Rex v. Johannas Wittinger, and the Execution of Adolf Kratz April to June 1946

ch. Ten The Lehmann Murder Trials June 24 to July 2, 1946

ch. Eleven Lehmann Appeals and Pleas for Clemency September 6 to December 17, 1946

ch. Twelve The Executions of Bruno Perzenowski, Heinrich Busch, Walter Wolf, and Willy Mueller December 18, 1946.

Notes:

Includes bibliographic references.

ISBN:

9781989555804

1989555802

OCLC:

1317705969