Trotsky in Amherst

Tonight the TOR put on BARBER, so we had some long breaks.  I was talking to Rosa, who was reading a three-volume biography of Trotsky.  We got to talking about history.

I've always been interested in the brief period in 1917 when Trotsky was taken off a ship in Halifax and sent to an internment camp in Amherst, Nova Scotia for a month or so until Russia's post-Tsarist government decided to force his release.  The place was one of Canada's largest internment camps during World War I, with many captured German sailors and Ukrainian immigrants who had come to Canada from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  In his short time there he became very popular with most of the prisoners and when he left they saw him off with an improvised band playing (what else?) the Internationale.

This interests me because Amherst is just a short distance from my hometown of Sackville, New Brunswick.  After I got home I went online and learned more about the place.  I found an article about his stay written by Nova Scotia journalist Silver Donald Cameron, and some other information.  The camp was a converted foundry at the intersection of Park and Wickham streets.  I was particularly interested in finding its address since I'm familiar with parts of the town, and it isn't often you get to make a connection between an area you have some familiarity with and an important episode in history.

I love the internet!