Ukrainian Canadian Internment ARCHIVAL documents
Wasyl Severyn Family Story
Wasyl Severyn and family made the arduous journey to Canada from the Bukovynian village of Laskivka in 1908. Their travel permits were issued in Austrian German, as an independent Ukrainian state did not yet exist. They filed for a homestead in north-central Alberta, just south of present day Glendon (quarter section NE20-60-8-W4). Five years later, having met the requirements of The Homestead Act, they applied for a patent on their 160 acres for outright title to it. Like so many other tens of thousands of ethnic Ukrainians who immigrated here as former Austrian residents, when Canada entered into WWI they were considered to be "enemy aliens" and endured many unjust state sanctioned indignities, including the carrying of Canada Registration Board identity cards.
Library and Archives Canada, RG 117 Vol 19, File: Prisoners of 1914-1918 War, Reel: Earnings and Cash Balances (223), 1938
Statement of Earnings and Cash Subject to Claims by Ex-Prisoners of War; Proof of Figures Shown on Statement Attached with Balances in Cash Book; Statement of Earnings and Cash Subject to Claim by Ex-Prisoners of War as per Individual Ledger
Library and Archives Canada, RG 117 Vol 19, File: 219 (1920's)
Property of Prisoners
34. Prisoners of war are only allowed to have in their possession such sums of money or other property as the Commandant may from time to time allow.
35. All other money or property belonging to prisoners of war will be in charge of an officer for that purpose who will keep an account.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part One
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part Two
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part Three
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part Four
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part Five
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part Six
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Borden's Breach of Faith, The Daily British Whig, September 8, 1917
Kingston's Daily British Whig admonished: "It is very probable that if this proposal becomes law, the 'alleged' foreigners and hitherto 'naturalized' Canadians will bear their reproach meekly, but they will have sown in their hearts the seeds of a bitterness that can never be extirpated. The man whose honour has been mistrusted, and who has been singled out for national humiliation, will remember it, and sooner or later it will have to be atoned for."
Diary of the Castle Mountain Internment Camp, Glenbow Museum & Archives, July 1915
Henry Lambert, British Under Secretary of State, British Foreign Office 383/1, February 8, 1915
From London instructions were sent out on February 8, 1915 which called for the governments of British overseas dominions and colonies to bring their practices in regard to the treatment of "special classes" of interned enemy subjects into conformity with those pursued in Great Britain. Signing for the under secretary of state, Henry Lambert of the Colonial Office noted that "preferential treatment" should be accorded not only to "inhabitants of French extraction of Alsace and Lorraine," but also to "the following races which are considered to be hostile to Austro-Hungarian rule: Czechs, Croats, Italians (from Trieste and the Trentino), Poles, Roumanians, Ruthenes, Serbs, Slovaks, and Slovenes."
Aliens of Enemy Nationality in Canada regulations respecting the Registration and internment as prisoners of war where advisable. P.C 2721, Library and Archives Canada. October 28, 1914
The Committee of the Privy Council have had before them a report, dated 28th October, 1914, from the Minister of Justice, stating that it is expedient and necessary to take measures to prevent espionage and also to prevent alien enemies in Canada who are likely to render effective military assistance to the enemy from returning to the enemy's service, and to provide for the proper supervision and control of such aliens as may be so prevented from leaving Canada, and the detention under proper conditions and maintenance where required of such of said aliens as it may be found necessary to intern as prisoners of war, and that it is like- wise desirable considering the lack of opportunity for employment that aliens of enemy nationality who are not likely to add to the strength of the enemy's forces and who desire and have the means to leave the country be permitted to do so.
The War Measures Act, Library and Archives Canada, August 22, 1914
Note: The German word "Ruthene" was introduced in 1772 to describe the Ukrainian population of the Austro-Hungarian population, being translated into English as "Ruthenian". In Canada, "Ruthenian" preceded the use use of the word "Ukrainian."
The War Measures Act was a federal law enacted by Canadian Parliament in August 1914 in the beginning of the First World War, which gave the Government of Canada extra powers during times of "war, invasion, and insurrection, real or apprehended [feared]."
The Act transferred power from Parliament to the Cabinet allowing them to pass laws and regulations through an Order-in-Council, which means it did not need to be granted permission by Parliament.
This Act was in place for four years and it suspended habeas corpus (the right to a fair trial before imprisonment), imposed strict censorship laws, heavily restricted newspapers, banned strikes, and interned or jailed thousands of 'enemy aliens' or anyone who opposed the mandatory conscription, among other measures.
The Act was used to suspend the civil liberties of people in Canada who were suspected to be enemy aliens (term used to describe people from other countries or who had roots in other countries that were at war with Canada), yet this excess power ultimately led to major abuses and unwarranted internment of citizens long-after the war for little to no reason.
This Act has been subject to scrutiny and controversy over its use (although infrequent) and has uncovered major debates regarding human rights and civil liberties during war and peacetime.
Since the War Measures Act was used deny citizens of their civil liberties and right to fair trial before detention, it allowed the government to intern who they deemed as 'enemies' of war during both World Wars, which included over 8,500 in the First World War and around 24,000 during Second World War.
The Hague Convention, International Committee of the Red Cross, October 18, 1907
Signed in 1907, the Hague Convention guaranteed the rights of prisoners of war held in camps. The rules of the Convention were not always or completely respected by Canada during the First World War. The Convention made a distinction between prisoners of war and civilians, but the Canadian authorities to a large degree ignored this distinction. The twenty-four camps that accommodated internees were mostly located away from cities, such as remote areas in the Rocky Mountains.
Orders-in-Council, Library and Archives Canada
Official publication of the Government of Canada, notably containing Orders in Council.From the outset, the Canadian government adopted many measures by Order in Council to respond to the new exigencies of war, including the restriction of some civil liberties. Canadian authorities were given the right to arrest, to detain, to censor, to exclude, to deport, to control or to capture all persons and property considered as a potential threat to Canada. Any resident not naturalized who had been a citizen of the now enemy states were considered de facto "enemy illegal residents." Some of these persons were ultimately subject to detention in camps. The War Measures Act was subsequently approved by Parliament. The Act in addition to authorizing future actions, also legitimized the decisions implemented in the early days of the war by the Privy Council (Cabinet).
Thematic Guides - Internment Camps in Canada during the First and Second World Wars, Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada holds an extensive collection of governmental and private records generally consisting of textual documents on paper or on microfilm as well as publications and films about internment camps located in Canada during both World Wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945). Please note that this guide relates mainly to the internment camps in Canada. At the end of this guide, you will find a section related to internment camps abroad.
Library and Archives Canada, Internment Camps: First World War
This guide lists the relevant sources in the Government Archives Division for the study of people who were confined in internment camps in Canada during the Fist World War. The guide contains references to German, Austrian, Hungarian, and Ukrainian prisoners of war. These references were retrieved from RG 2 Privy Council Office, RG 6 Secretary of State, RG 7 Governor General's Office, RG 9 Militia and Defence, RG 14 Parliament, RG 18 RCMP, RG 24 National Defence, RG 76 Immigration, RG 117 Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property, MG 26 Borden Papers, and MG 30 Otter Collection. The references in this guide in addition to providing the appropriate RG and MG numbers also provide the volume number, file number, description of file contents and dates.
Laying Up Trouble For The Country, Calgary Daily Herald, Jan 27, 1899
Only a few years after these Ukrainian pioneer settlers arrived in the North-West Territories, a clergyman, Father Moris, expressed his loathing for them in Calgary’s Daily Herald (January 27, 1899):
“As for the Galicians I have not met a single person in the whole of the North West who is sympathetic to them. They are, from the point of view of civilization, 10 times lower than the Indians. They have not the least idea of sanitation. In their personal habits and acts [they] resemble animals, and even in the streets of Edmonton, when they come to market, men, women, and children, would, if unchecked, turn the place into a common sewer.”