The One Hundred Plaques Across Canada Initiative: Friday, August 22, 2014
Remembering Croats, Among Others, Interned During Canada’s First National Internment Operations of 1914-1920
This is the plaque to be unveiled commemorating the internment of 8,579 people from 1914 to 1920 in 24 internment camps across Canada.
During the First World War, Canada, along with Britain, was at war with what was then the Austro-Hungarian empire. As a result, 8,579 so-called “enemy aliens” in Canada, including Ukrainians, Germans, Croats, Poles, Hungarians, Armenians, and Alevi Kurds, among others, were imprisoned in 24 internment camps across Canada – not because of what they had done but simply because who they were and where they came from. While the largest affected group was the Ukrainian community, most were civilans and included women and children.
To mark the 100th anniversary of Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914-1920, 100 plaques will be unveiled across Canada on Friday, August 22, 2014, the 100th anniversary of the War Measures Act.
The 100 plaques are intended to be unveiled at 11:00 am (local time) in Ukrainian, Croatian, German, and Hungarian churches and cultural centres, among others, as well as in local and regional museums and other public venues, creating a “wave” of unveilings, moving from east to west, from coast to coast. These plaques will hallow the memory of all of the victims of the internment operations and help educate our fellow Canadians about a little-known event in Canada’s history.
Ivan Grbesic, Chair of the Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund (CFWWIRF) (www.internmentcanada.ca<http://www.internmentcanada.ca>) said: “We’re calling on our fellow Croats and friends of the Croatian-Canadian community to attend the unveilings on Friday, August 22, 2014 at one of four locations (Norval, Mississauga and Hamilton) so that they can join us in not only witnessing the unveilings but to remember and commemorate those who suffered as a result of this tragic event in our Canadian history”.
This initiative enjoys the financial support of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation and the Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.
For further details, please contact the host of one of the unveiling sites in our Croatian-Canadian community:
Croatian Franciscan Center of the Queen of Peace
– Croatian Cultural Center Rev. Marko Puljić
9118 Winston Churchill Blvd.
Norval, ON L0P 1K0 Tel: (905) 456-3203
E-mail: cfcnorval@gmail.com
Parish of Croatian Martyrs
Father Kamber Croatian Parish Park
Rev. Ivica Reparinac
4605 Mississauga Rd.
Mississauga, ON L5M LC6 Tel: (905) 826-8844
Email: office@croatianmartyrs.ca
Parish of the Holy Cross
Rev. Marijan S. Mihokovic
1883 King St. East
Hamilton, ON L8K 1V9 Tel: (905) 549-6707
E-mail: holy.cross.hr@sympatico.
Croatian National Home
Ivan Luksic
1925A Barton Street East
Hamilton, ON L8H 2Y7 Tel: (905) 549-8734
