Ukrainian Internment During the First World War
Representations of History
Freedom Had a Price is a 1994 award winning documentary about the Canadian
internment of ?enemy aliens? (as considered by the Canadian government) during
the
First World War. Produced and directed by Yurj Luhovy, it is a moving visual
account
of the atrocities perpetrated on prisoners who had committed no crimes. While a
small
percentage were German captives, the majority were Canadians of Ukrainian
descent.
Hated and feared because of their ?alien heritage? and because they posed
economic
threat to a country in recession, these people were imprisoned and forced to
perform
back-breaking work for a few cents per day.
Freedom Had a Price contains all the elements of a modern thriller: innocent
people rounded up and thrown in crowded work camps; half starved forgotten
captives
freezing in isolated wilderness areas: torture, desperate escape attempts,
sickness and
death. The climax of the movie comes when the prisoners finally revolt and
achieve
small victory in better food and living conditions. But unlike modern stories,
there is no
feeling of satisfaction when the film runs out there is no resolution to the
story, not then,
and not now.
In the film, frozen images stare through time, gaunt, bewildered and
reproachful:
men huddling around fires trying to keep from freezing in northern Ontario,
groups
hacking down trees along railway lines in western Canada so train tourists could
get a
better view, a bullet riddled body shot after an escape from the Spirit Lake
camp in
Quebec. Interspersed with the pictures, two survivors of the camps recall their
bitter
memories, still afraid of reprisals from a government that imprisoned them once
before
for no reason. Modern historians also add explanation and interpretation to a
chapter of
Canadian history many would prefer to forget.
As powerful as the documentary is, its failing is in its narrow focus.
Produced in
1994 by La Maison de Montage Luhovy Inc., and the National Film Board, Freedom
Had a Price accomplishes its aim of exposing the stark horror of the camps and
the
unjust treatment of the prisoners. But because no context or balancing
viewpoints are
given, the film teeters on sensationalism. For example, the man in charge of
the
internment camps, Sir William Otter, is mentioned only once in passing. But in
the book
A Canadian General: Sir William Otter, author Desmond Morton devotes a whole
chapter to Otter?s struggle to set up and regulate the camps on government
orders. From
the account, it appears Otter was not inhumane, and tried to do the best he
could for the
prisoners. Unfortunately, most of the day-to-day operations were often left to
inept camp
commanders and government bureaucrats. As Morton explains,
Though he had a plan, Otter was very much at the mercy of decisions made
by the registrars and they were susceptible to public opinion. He was not, as
he repeatedly had to explain, Head of the Enemy Alien catchers, he was simply
responsible for those they sent him.
And Otter himself wrote:
The various complaints made to you by prisoners as to the rough conduct
of the guards, I fear is not altogether without a reason, a fact much to be
regretted, and I am sorry to say by no means an uncommon occurrence at other
stations.
Although Freedom Has a Price was made to shock and outrage-it is still
fairly
accurate. The fact and figures it presents are confirmed by a number of other
available
sources, such as a chapter on the internment camps in Ontario in a book put out
by the
Multicultural History Society of Ontario. According to the book and the film,
about five
thousand people of Ukrainian heritage, mostly unemployed men were incarcerated
in
internment camps under the War Measures Act of 1914. These workers had
previously
worked in semi-skilled areas such as mining, lumbering, and manufacturing
industries,
and had been the first to face unemployment during the recession. Government
logic
held that the camps would provide them with food, shelter and work while keeping
a
feared political and economic menace away from society. Altogether, there were
twenty-
six camps across Canada. Ontario held six, including Petawawa and the damp and
dreary
Fort Henry in Kingston. Living and working conditions were undoubtedly brutal,
and the
psychological deprivation was as hard as the physical discomfort. During the
years the
camps were in operation, from 1914-1920, one hundred and six people were
declared
?insane? and one hundred and seven died, some shot while trying to escape;
others from
tuberculosis and pneumonia. One of the interviewees in Freedom Had a Price was
a
woman who was interred with her father and family when she was just a child.
Her two-
year old sister died in the camp because there were no proper medical
facilities. The
cause of death was never determined and she was buried in a makeshift coffin in
a nearby
cemetery. All that remains is a faded snapshot of a smiling little girl and an
old woman’?
anguished memories and questions. One insistent fighter for restitution for the
internment injustices, Lubomyr Luciuk edited a 1994 book that addresses the
legacy of
the camps, Right an Injustice, which is described on the cover as ?The Debate
over
Redress for Canada?s First National Internment Operations.? The book is a
comprehensive collection of articles from various sources, including the late
twentieth
century newspaper articles, editorials and letters to a number of major Canadian
newspapers, as well as debates and proceedings from the House of Commons and the
Senate of Canada. Many articles discuss the circumstances surrounding and
preceding
camp development, thereby providing a larger overview than does the film.
In Righting an Injustice, it is revealed that the Canadian government
has finally
acknowledged some culpability in the brutality of the internment camps. For a
long time
it took the attitude of wait and hope they go away. But in a 1991 House of
Commons
debate, it was decided that??internment was unjust, repressive, and against the
Charter
of Rights and Freedoms. The government is also looking into ways to provide
compensation to the Ukrainian people. One suggestion was to get Parks Canada to
erect
historical monuments to acknowledge the injustices against the Ukrainian
Canadians and
educate the public about this chapter of our past. But, as shown in the
documentary,
theory and practice are not the same. A city councilor in Kapuskasing, Northern
Ontario who has been trying to get a monument there restored has found that
there are not
any funds available. It is also debatable how sincere the government is in
really education
the public.
A website (wwwukes/history/internment) entitled Ukrainian
Internment in Canada was created by some of the people involved in the ongoing
struggle for recognition. The authors begin by explaining the reason for the
project.
These series of pages were motivated by the reluctance of the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (CBFC) to show Yurij Luhovy?s excellent documentary,
Freedom Had a Price?The CBC found excuse after excuse of why they could not air
this excellent film. When they finally did show it, it was aired Sunday, April
23, 1995 at 4PM EST with very little prior notice. The listing ?Sense of
History? was inconspicuous with no further information as to what it was. In
other words, the CBC successfully camouflaged the show to minimize its exposure
to the Canadian viewing public.
There is little doubt that the advent of the Internet, and the World
Wide Web have
transformed the way the world disseminates information. The organizational style
of the
website makes this site to be comprehensive and easy to navigate. The web site
at
www.ufoukes is a valuable companion to the film. Its pages include
information
on whom the internees were; where the internment camps were located in Canada;
and
the origins and history of the camps. A considerable amount of information is
taken from
primary sources. In addition, this web site provides a number of links
containing an
extensive amount of information pertaining to the internment of the Ukrainians.
While it may have been a slow process, many Canadians of Ukrainian descent are
finally starting to gain some atonement for the wrongs shown their ancestors in
the
internment camps of the First World War. The documentary Freedom Had a Price is
a
strong visual reminder of a regrettable part of Canada?s past. While it may not
be as
broad in scope or as unbiased as other accounts, it is an excellent source if
used in
conjunction with other resources. However, it is probably one effective way of
getting
the message to the general public. There are many who are determined the
message will
eventually reach everyone because for them it is a matter of honour. While
addressing a
standing committee on multiculturalism in 1987, Lubomyr Luciuk used the
following
quote from an unknown author in the Daily British Whig, September 8, 1917,
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.
In conclusion, history is an important part of our everyday lives.
Documentaries,
films, books, and internet sites when used in conjunction with one another can
offer its
readers and viewers, a history that is rich, in depth, and diversified. The use
of archival
footage, vintage photographs, compelling testimonies of survivors, and
commentaries of
such prominent Canadian historians as Desmond Morton and Donald Avery, in
Freedom
Had a Price, the web site, and the books Fighting an Injustice and A Canadian
General: Sir William Otter have provided invaluable scholarship to the study of
Ukrainians and their internment. Together they have painted a moving human story
of
Canadian history that has all but disappeared from public consciousness.
Unfortunately,
this incident can not be erased from the history books or from the memory of the
people
who were involved, or their families. As historians we share in our
responsibilities to
ensure that history whether it is represented in historical films,
documentaries, web sites
or books, is faithful to historical evidence. Questions about how history works,
and how
scholars can objectively evaluate their sources are just some of the criteria
that must be
realized and satisfied. Sources must reach a public that has a simplistic
notion of
history. It is absolutely imperative that we gain tentative understandings of
the
construction of historical cultures. As historians, we all share in the
responsibility to learn
from the lessons of the past.
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