301 - A Canadian in Stalin's Army

This episode of The WW2 Podcast tells the extraordinary true story of Maurice Burry, a Canadian-born man of Ukrainian descent who became caught in the chaos of Eastern Europe during World War II. Born in Montreal, Maurice was living on a family farm in Western Ukraine—then part of Poland—when the war broke out. Drafted into the Red Army in 1941 despite being a Canadian citizen, he fought through the brutal retreat from Kiev, survived a severe leg injury, and was captured during a German encirclement. After escaping from a POW camp with the help of a former university friend who was a German officer, Maurice joined Ukrainian nationalist partisans, using his intelligence skills to relay coded messages. He evaded capture for over a year and a half before being forcibly re-enlisted by the Soviet army during their 1944 counteroffensive. After the war, he deserted in Berlin, walked to Munich, and used his multilingual skills and charm to survive in displaced persons camps. With help from his aunt in Montreal and Ukrainian community networks in Vienna, he finally secured Canadian immigration papers in 1947 and returned to Canada. There, he built a successful life, worked for Northern Telecom (later Nortel), married, and raised a family. The episode highlights the complex identities, shifting loyalties, and sheer survival instinct that defined life on the Eastern Front. Scott Berry, the guest and author of three books on Maurice’s journey—Army of Worn Souls, Under the Nazi Heel, and Walking Out of War—provides deep historical context and personal insight. The story underscores the often-overlooked diversity of the Eastern Front, where national, ethnic, and ideological lines were blurred. Maurice’s experience reveals the paradoxes of war: a Canadian fighting for the USSR, a POW who helped the enemy, and a man who survived by blending in, adapting, and making connections. The episode is both a gripping wartime narrative and a meditation on identity, resilience, and the human cost of global conflict.