Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers, Canadian Internment Camp B, 1940-1945

by Andrew Theobald

From 1940 to 1945, Internment Camp B at Ripples, some 35 kilometres east of Fredericton, played a considerable role in the Second World War. Chosen for its remote rural New Brunswick location, Camp B interned hundreds who were deemed by the Canadian government to be enemy sympathizers.

In the first year of its operation, the camp incarcerated German and Austrian Jewish refugees dispatched from Britain. In May 1940, fearful that the refugees were agents of the Nazis they’d fled, the British government sent thousands of men to Canada to be interned as "dangerous enemy sympathizers." After the refugees were finally released in 1941, Camp B held Canadian citizens who were suspected of opposing the war effort — including the prominent opponent of conscription and Mayor of Montreal Camillien Houde, Canadians of German and Italian descent, and homegrown fascists such as Adrien Arcand — as well as captured German and Italian merchant mariners.

In this comprehensive illustrated account of Camp B, Andrew Theobald examines the daily lives and tribulations of those imprisoned behind the barbed wire. "Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers" also scrutinizes the troubling context that led to the internment of both refugees and Canadian citizens, the debates over the ethics of internment inside and outside the camp, and the role of the camps in shaping government policy towards immigration and the post-war powers of the Canadian state.

"Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers" is volume 26 of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series.

178 pages, Paperback

Published May 7, 2019

About the author

Andrew Theobald grew up in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. He holds History degrees from Mount Allison University, the University of New Brunswick, and Queen’s University. He especially enjoys helping make history accessible to a wide audience. Andrew is the author of "Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers" Canadian Internment Camp B, 1940-1945, which won the 2020 Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing, as well as The Bitter Harvest of War: New Brunswick and the Conscription Crisis of 1917, and numerous scholarly articles. Andrew also has broad experience as a documentary film researcher, including on the award-winning History Canada series War Story, War Story: Afghanistan, and 100 Days to Victory. He lives with his wife and two children in Canada.

Reviews

[Jim Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine volume about a WWII internment camp right here in New Brunswick.

[Sloth8_ca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fascinating read. It not only tells the history of the camp itself, but examines the larger policy issues of interment and Canada's immigration policy during WWII. The book is filled with an extensive amount of research and an amazing collection of personal stories from internees and guards at Camp B. A perfect addition to the New Brunswick Military History Series.

[Kelly Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

An in-depth look at a little known aspect of New Brunswick WWII history. “Camp B” was Canada’s only internment camp in the Maritime provinces but few people outside of historic circles seem even aware that it existed. There is a museum in Minto, NB and trails through the former camp site; both places are of great interest and historic value. Beyond these places and a decades old book this seems to be the only book available for readers wanting the full story. The author has done a tremendous job of researching the two very different incarnations of the camp as well as a number of the prisoners detained behind the wire. This book is a great resource for anyone interested in New Brunswick history or Canada’s homeland defence in the face of WWII.

[Gerald Hallowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Theobald tells the story of Camp B, the Second World War internment camp at Ripples in the interior forest wilderness of New Brunswick. He brings to life the men who unexpectedly found themselves isolated there --Jewish refugees, suspicious Canadian nationals, enemy merchant mariners, hardened Nazis, and the men who guarded them. He sets the story of the camp admirably in the wider context of the war. This is first-rate historical research and writing, very readable and entertaining.