POW Kit Bag, ca. 1945

Owned by prisoner of war and Camp 133 internee Alfred Weiss. Bag is one of two issued to Weiss prior to scheduled disembarkation from Camp 133 in Feb/Mar 1946. Weiss and other POWs stole Canadian Post mailbags, cutting strips from them and sewing inserts into their own bags to increase the amount of personal belongings they could carry back to Germany. Alfred also constructed a custom-made handle on this bag's body from shoe leather. When not in use, the bags doubled as a seat for rest in England and Germany. Canadian markings still faintly visible on bag indicate his place of capture (ME = Middle East). The bag was reused to transport his belongings, including his uniforms, when he immigrated.

Alfred was taken prisoner on November 18, 1941. He feigned death to try to escape, but the British investigated the bodies and he was taken. This began nearly 6 years of captivity for Alfred. He was in the first group of prisoners to reach Ozada, a temporary prisoner of war camp in the Kananaskis. He was then sent to Camp 133 in Lethbridge. While imprisoned Alfred worked on 44 different farms, and made friends with some of the farmers he worked for. He was among the last prisoners that were sent to England in November 1946 and released in 1947. Alfred immigrated back to Canada in 1951 with the help of one of the farmers he had befriended here and he became a farmer near Picture Butte.

Donated by Alfred Weiss