Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Hanged in Medicine Hat:
Life is so much more civilized without Nazis.
Quick synopsis:
The story of executions at a German POW camp in Canada.
Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like:
Yes, there is a town in Canada called Medicine Hat.
Fun Fact for History Nerds:
Yes, there were German POW camps in the middle of freakin’ Canada in World War II.
My Take on Hanged in Medicine Hat:
Nazis couldn’t even stop killing when they were POWs. Go figure.
Nathan Greenfield’s “Hanged in Medicine Hat” is a look at two executions of German soldiers in a POW camp in Canada. The German soldiers had created their own subculture within the camp and continued to fall under German military authority for the most part. Accusations are made, men are hung, and the perpetrators face a non-military Canadian court.
Greenfield tells a very straightforward story. The details are there as far as can be expected when talking about an episode at the end of World War II in central Canada. Greenfield’s prose is easy to read and he keeps his narrative to the the point.
The problem becomes the lack of flair around the writing. As a meditation on a trial that probably should not have happened the way it did, Greenfield makes excellent legal points. However, I never felt like I was in the camp, or in the courtroom, or at the gallows. This felt too much like a recitation of facts instead of a full story.
(This book was provided as an advance read copy by Netgalley and Sutherland House.)
Verdict:
It’s an interesting insight into a part of the world ignored by World War II literature. Buy it here!
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