Learn about Camp 30 at presentation next week
Marilyn Morawetz will share stories about Camp 30, the German prisoner of war camp that existed in Bowmanville during the Second World War, at a Peterborough United Services Institute event next week.
Morawetz will speak at the event in the combined officers mess at the Peterborough Armoury on Monday at 6 p.m., with dinner and presentation starting at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $35 available up until Thursday by emailing usi. ptbo@gmail.com or calling 705740-7272.
Camp 30 existed on the seconded property of the Ontario government’s Boys Training School near Bowmanville for the purpose of housing the highest ranking German POWs captured during the Second World War.
With stories of attempted escapes, life as a POW, challenges for the surrounding community and a future in jeopardy, the site has a rich tapestry that has been marred by vandalism.
It was nationally designated as a historic Site in 2013 by the federal government, with the property is seen as valuable for its campus layout, national history and significant architecture.
Having existed from 1924 until 1979 as a training school for boys, then transitioning to use by several educational institutions, and finally being abandoned in 2008, the site has become the focus of intense work by volunteers in cooperation with the Municipality of Clarington to save the property, the buildings and the history with the long-term goal of repurposed uses that will enrich the community while protecting the history through education and preservation.
Morawetz is the chairwoman of the Jury Lands Foundation, which was formed in 2014 to work with the owners of the property and the Municipality of Clarington on the revitalization of the property.
Having grown up in the area and used the site over the years for swimming and other community events, she was drawn to the project.
She has a passion for Second World War history (having had many uncles and her father actively participate in it), according to a release from the institute, and has an interest in architecture, particularly historic design, and a son who shares a passion for the site’s history.
She has been a board member of the Clarington Museums and Archives since 2011. She is one of the founding members of Architectural Conservancy Ontario-Clarington Branch and has been awarded the A.K. Sculthorpe Award for her advocacy work. The ACO branch formed in 2009 as a direct result of public interest in the Camp 30 site. She has also chaired Doors Open Clarington for the past eight years in partnership with ACO -Clarington.
For more than 38 years Marilyn with her husband Tom owned and operated a family farm north of Courtice near Solina, as well as operated an agribusiness, Evergreen Farm and Garden Ltd, a John Deere dealership near Orono, for more than 27 years. Previously she taught family studies and special education at Port Hope High School for seven years. She attended the University of Guelph for a bachelor of applied science, majoring in family studies, and teachers college at the University of Toronto.
Morawetz volunteers with Durham East 4-H for agricultural and safety education and the Eldad United Church on various committees.
The goal of the Peterborough United Services Institute is “to promote a spirit of comradeship between all ranks and units of the national defense forces of Canada and the Empire, to assist in the military education of the officers of the district, and to unite the officers of the past and present military units in a common purpose.”