1 Dollar Lethbridge; PoW Camp

Camp 133 at Lethbridge held the largest concentration of German prisoners of war in Canada during the Second World War — at its peak, over 12,000 men were interned there. The camp operated its own internal scrip currency, printed by Bulman Brothers of Winnipeg, specifically to prevent PoWs from accumulating Canadian legal tender that might facilitate escape attempts. Geneva Convention obligations required that prisoners be compensated for labor, and scrip satisfied that requirement while keeping real money out of the compound.

The Lethbridge issues are among the better-documented Canadian PoW scrip series, partly because the camp's scale meant higher print runs than most comparable operations. Bulman Brothers also printed scrip for other Canadian internment facilities during the same period.