The Stories Were Not Told: Canada’s First World War Internment Camps

Description

From 1914 to 1920, thousands of men who had immigrated to Canada from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire were unjustly imprisoned as "enemy aliens," some with their families. Many communities in Canada where internees originated do not know these stories of Ukrainians, Germans, Bulgarians, Croatians, Czechs, Hungarians, Italians, Jews, Alevi Kurds, Armenians, Ottoman Turks, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Serbians, Slovaks, and Slovenes, amongst others. While most internees were Ukrainians, almost all were civilians. The Stories Were Not Told presents this largely unrecognized event through photography, cultural theory, and personal testimony, including stories told at last by internees and their descendants. Semchuk describes how lives and society have been shaped by acts of legislated discrimination and how to move toward greater reconciliation, remembrance, and healing. This is necessary reading for anyone seeking to understand the cross-cultural and intergenerational consequences of Canada's first national internment operations. Front cover Title page Copyright page Dedication Epigraph Contents Foreword | Jen Budney Preface Acknowledgements Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund Introduction Storytelling, Dialogue, and Photography The Land Remembers Memory Work Receiving Counsel from Manuel Piña The Wider Landscapes of Containment and Control Learning from Japanese Canadians Identifying with Those Who Oppress Looking Back to Where They Came From The Fight for Recognition 1 Learning from the Past The War Measures Act Enemy Aliens Families in Danger 2 Standing Where the Internees Stood 3 Stories from Internees and Descendants Mary Bayrak Jerry Bayrak Philip Yasnowskyj Nikola Sakaliuk Ferdinand Zieroth Wasyl Bobyk Emile Litowski Vasyl Doskoch Stefa (Mielniczuk) Pawliw Petro Witrowicz Anonymous Uncle’s Story Yurko Forchuk Yuri Babjek and his brothers, John, Bill, and Theodore Mikhail Danyluk Frederick, Hilda, and Fred Jr. Kohse Metro Olynyk Maksym Boyko William Sharun Harry Levitsky 4 Spirit Lake Photographs 5 Engaging Memory Work A Loss of Identity They Were Kids Authorities Can’t Control Memory Telling the Story as Resistance Humiliation These Are the Last Flowers I Will See in My Life Healing Resilience The Doors Open Notes Bibliography Index About the Author Other Titles from University of Alberta Press