Kingdom of Night: Witnesses to the Holocaust

Description

In April 1945, when the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was surrendered and handed over to the British Army, Canadian forces arrived on scene to provide support, to bear witness, and to document the crimes. They were overwhelmed, understaffed, and left without adequate supplies, equipment, and medicine. Their encounters at the camp were haunting, transformative experiences that forever changed their lives. In Kingdom of Night, Mark Celinscak reveals the engagement of Canadian troops and other personnel at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The book brings together a series of gripping, often deeply moving accounts that demonstrate the critical relief work carried out by Canadians who have been largely overlooked for more than seventy-five years. It outlines in both stark and moving detail what a cross-section of Canadians both said and did during the liberation efforts at one of the most notorious sites in Hitler’s camp system. In addition, biographical overviews are presented for each Canadian featured in the book, not only highlighting some of their life-saving and humanitarian work, but also revealing what ultimately became of their lives after the war. Kingdom of Night depicts the gruelling efforts by those who assisted the victims of one of the greatest crimes in history. Cover Page i Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Epigraph Contents List of Illustrations Foreword by Joseph Podemski Preface Acknowledgments Bergen-Belsen: A Timeline Part One: Historical Background Introduction: Canada, the Holocaust, and the Liberation of Bergen-Belsen Reading Testimony Part Two: Testimony 1 Canadians Arrive at Bergen-Belsen Ronald Ford Anderson Mervin Mirsky Alan Rose Maurice Victor Leo Heaps 2 Documenting the Horror Camp Ron Laidlaw Fred Hopkinson Al Calder Alex Colville Donald K. Anderson Aba Bayefsky Henry S. Abramson 3 Relief Measures John Proskie Matthew Nesbitt Saul Stein Lyle M. Creelman John W. Thompson Elsie May Deeks John F. McCreary James Ernest Thompson 4 Eyewitness Testimony Larry D. Mann Leo Velleman Allan Ironside King Whyte Carl Reinke Frank Snowsell Gordon Panchuk 5 Displaced Persons Camp Stanley H. Winfield Ted Aplin Bernard Yale Edgar Jamieson 6 Religious Observation Ross Ketchen Cameron Shalome Michael Gelber Samuel Cass Abraham Brenner Notes Bibliography Index