Book about Ripples Internment Camp (Gooselane Editions)
A Toronto historian and author, who went to UNB, has just released a book about Canadian Internment Camp B, more commonly known in New Brunswick as the Ripples Internment Camp. It was in operation between 1940-1945.
Andrew Theobald’s book is called ”Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers” and deals with some of the more notorious people sent there, including Adrien Arcand.
“ He was the most prominent Canadian Fascist, he was not German or Italian this is someone who was from Quebec who held on to a lot of these nefarious ideas, he was one of the more famous people that were in Ripples,” stated Theobald.
Another was the former Mayor of Montreal, Camillien Houde who spoke out against conscription at the time.
Theobald says “The federal government said we can’t have someone who is such a colourful, popular politician especially in Quebec were conscription was very unpopular speaking out against that.”
It was not just those of German or Italian heritage who were sent to these camps, during the first year of the war Theobald says the paranoia of the time saw German and Austrian Jews sent to Ripples believing they would be sympathetic to the Nazi cause, which of course was far from the case.
“ The interesting thing that was really fascinating about the period with the Jewish refugees was that many of them were among the really well-educated people you had medical doctors, you had concert pianists and promising students,” stated Theobald.
Theobald says one of the internees went on to win the Nobel Prize, and a few others were called to the Order of Canada.
Theobald is speaking at the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum on Tuesday, May 14th from 7 to 9 PM.
The book ” Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers” can be found in bookstores and online book sites.
