REMEMBERING THE INTERNMENT A GENERATION ‘CHALLENGED, OSTRACIZED, SHAMED’
Police raid the Casa D’Italia in Montreal
on Jean Talon St. on June 10, 1940, hours after Italy declared war on Great Britain and France. Police were searching for documents, but the RCMP had a list of men to arrest. Those who were on the list and inside the building were detained and subsequently interred in camps. Tonight, members of the Italian community, including children and grandchildren of some of the interred men, will gather at Casa D’Italia to commemmorate a dark chapter in Canadian history that still haunts many families today.
What happens when being a member of an ethnic group makes you suspect and your allegiances are questioned?
How far does a democratic government need to go to show its citizens it is protecting them?
Can fear justify extreme measures?
These questions continue to challenge us, and are why the internment of ItalianCanadians during the Second World War is still relevant today. Within minutes of Italy’s declaration of war on Britain and France on June 10, 1940, Prime Minister Mackenzie King gave orders to the RCMP to arrest Italian-Canadians who could be considered capable of undermining the war effort. All these years later, the families of the 215 Montreal internees are still asking: Why?
At Montreal’s Casa D’Italia on Wednesday night, a special sculpture by Egidio Vincelli will be unveiled to commemorate the internment, and copies of a new commemorative book will distributed. Both works were funded by the Canadian Italian Business and Professional Association, with help from grant money provided by citizenship department’s Community Historical Recognition Program.
As the granddaughter of an Italian-Canadian here in Montreal who was interned, I was honoured to be asked to do the oral history book, titled Remembering the Inter nment. And the Casa D’Italia has special historical relevance, too, because it is where the memories of prewar and postwar Italian immigrants intersect.
Under ordinary peacetime circumstances, a citizen has to actually commit an unlawful act in order to be arrested. But in 1940, special Defence of Canada regulations gave the minister of justice the right to take measures to prevent an act from happening. This means that a person could be arrested because of “What if ?” rather than “What is.” Conclusions were based on speculation, discretion and information received from dubious paid and unpaid informants. Italian and fascist organizations were all legal entities up until June 10, 1940, and no one in those organizations was ever found guilty of committing an act against Canada.
As a result of the internment, families were challenged, ostracized and shamed. They had to live with the stigma left behind by the spectacle of the arrests. The consequences were felt throughout the community. Doctors, artists, teachers, businessmen, writers, musicians, labourers and men of law and science were removed from their homes. Fear replaced co-operation. Headlines in the newspapers described “Italians” as enemies.
This had an impact on the lives on all Italian-Canadians across social classes, not just those who were interned. For ethnicity had defined them as enemies. Canadians reacted with discrimination, bullying and violence. Italians were cut off from municipal relief. They lost jobs in the private and public sectors and, with an Italian last name, had difficulty finding another one. Their businesses were closed down or went bankrupt. Italian names were painted over on shop signs. The internees’ assets were seized by the Custodian of Enemy Property and sold below market value. Suppliers refused to sell to Italians or pay their invoices. Mutual aid societies that offered relief, insurance, social and medical services ceased operation. Dreams and aspirations had to be postponed or were never realized.
Women had a terrible struggle, for the family breadwinner was gone. Children were pulled out of school to try to find work. Bank accounts were frozen. Landlords didn’t want to rent to Italians. Wives had to request government permission to access funds. Family and friends were afraid to assist, for fear of being interned themselves. Close to 20,000 Italian-Canadians in Montreal were considered enemy aliens and had to register, be fingerprinted and were given restrictions by the RCMP. Definitions of “Us” and “Them” divided people and a panic mentality took hold.
Remembering is an act. This means that people are trying to make sense of what happened as they recount the events. The internees have all passed away, but the life stories of their children inform us of what it was like to live through that period. For some, speaking to me was the first time they had ever talked about the internment. Tonight, we will remember and unpack historical markers for the public. These will anchor our past, for the benefit of future generations. In doing so, we will honour the families of the men who remained silent and the resilient spirit of the pioneers, to move forward.