First Canadian Army and the Liberation of Nazi Concentration Camps in April 1945

In this episode, The RCRM Speakers Series brings forward the aftermath of German surrender on 8 May 1945. In the weeks following this event, the First Canadian Army switched from combat mode to a very different type of operations: the disarmament of thousands of enemy troops, and the care for the civil population, at the time deprived of both, liberty and food. In the process, Canadian soldiers discovered Nazi camps and Holocaust survivors abandoned within.

We have invited a Doctoral candidate in History at the University of Western Ontario to share the discoveries of her research on the topic of Canadians’ work in liberating the Netherlands from the German occupiers. Her name is Sara Poulin, she completed her BA in History at King’s University College in 2014 and her MA in History at the University of Western Ontario in 2016. Her research focuses on Canada’s role in the liberation of Nazi Concentration Camps at the end of the Second World War and how the legacy of that action shaped Canadian understanding of the Second World War and the country’s position in the postwar order.

The title of her talk today is “The First Canadian Army and the Liberation of Nazi Concentration Camps in April 1945”. She will explore the little-known role of Canadian soldiers in the liberation of concentration camps and how the soldiers moved from fighting to providing humanitarian relief assistance. They dealt with challenges that six years of war had not prepared them to face. On one hand, the logistical issues of securing essential supplies necessary to battle mass famine, malnourishment, and disease. On the other hand, they had to handle longer-term issues such as the repatriation of the camp survivors.