Sherbrooke’s Camp Newington

During the Second World War, five internment camps were set up to the south of the St-lawrence River for male prisoners of war. However, the fear of the enemy resulted in thousand of refugees and civilians, more specifically those of Jewish decent, who were escaping the wraths of war in fear of their life being sent to these camps. One of these internment camps was located along the Saint-francis River in Sherbrooke and it was known as Camp Newington.

As the Second World War hit Europe, people were fleeing Nazi Germany to seek refuge in the British Isles but there was much fear that the German enemy and Nazi sympathizers were mingling amongst them. These individuals, including those of Jewish descendent (even some who escaped the concentration camps), communists, priests, and intellectuals, were incarcerated by Britain and brought to the Isle of Man.

These refugees were divided into three categories: Category A were those who were considered dangerous Nazis. Categories B and C were individuals who were considered possibly dangerous or not dangerous at all; these were the individuals who were eventually sent to Camp Newington in Sherbrooke.

As the war was making its way closer to England, there were not enough resources to hold those that they considered prisoners of war. That is when Canada and Australia decided to take the Category A individuals off of their hands. However, many individuals from Category B and C would also head to Canada, because Britain wanted to fill their ships and there weren’t enough Category A prisoners to do so.

In July of 1940, around 2290 prisoners of war were sent to Canada.

On Oct. 5, 1940, prisoners arrived to Camp Newington, which was reserved for those of Jewish descendant.

The internment camp consisted of two abandoned railway repair sheds and that is what housed the prisoners for around three years. The living conditions that these prisoners were forced to live in were unpleasant. The windows of the two repair sheds were broken, the roof leaked, and the walls were completely covered in grease. There were only two toilettes to serve 736 men. The prisoners even took part in hunger strikes.

Major S.N. Griffin was the commander of Camp Newington and he was described as a good man who wanted to cooperate with the prisoners. He paid the prisoner’s twenty cents a day for any type of work that they did at the camp, which was the maximum salary, allowed for prisoners of war. While the prisoner’s appreciated this, they denied being prisoners of war and protested to wearing their POW uniforms, which

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