Many people are familiar with the history of the internment camp at Ripples (located near Minto) that held Jewish prisoners during the Second World War. But most are not aware of the incredible art and craftsmanship those prisoners created during those years between 1940-1945.
I enjoyed visiting a new prisoner art exhibit at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery entitled “ESCAPE: Art from the New Brunswick Internment Camp” with Fredericton-Grand Lake MLA, Minister Kris Austin.
This exhibit showcases original prisoner art in dialogue from paintings, sketching, woodworking, and sculptures. It is available until Dec. 31 if you want to stop in.
The Internment Camp B-70 located in Ripples was built during the Second World War by the Canadian Government as one of 18 prisons across the Country that held Jews sent from England who fled Nazi oppression, Canadian citizens who had spoken out against the war, Fascit or Nazi sympathizers and captured Italian and German merchant marines.
The NB Internment Camp Museum in Minto holds the nation’s richest, most important collection of Canada’s internment camp heritage. The Beaverbrook is showcasing just a sampling of those treasures. I look forward to accepting Minister Austin’s invitation to visit the Minto museum next summer to see the full collection.
Comments