Canada’s First National Internment Operations, 1914-1920: The Serbian experience

For the remainder of the Serbian story to be told, more research
needs to be done. Fortunately, Dr. Marinel Mandreš, of Serbian-Romanian
heritage, received a grant from the Endowment Council to
study the internment of Serbian and Romanian internees during the
Great War. His research will: examine the dichotomous predicament
of the Serbs as both “enemy aliens” and “friendly aliens”; record the
advocacy work of the Odbrana; confirm the Serbian names; chronicle
the internee experience; and determine the location and/or fate of internees
after the war.
Dr. Mandreš will also be examining the diplomatic initiatives of
Mihajlo Pupin and Antun Seferović vis á vis the internees. His research
has unearthed names of Serbs and Romanians, including ex-internees,
who volunteered in the Canadian Expeditionary Force or Serbian,
Montenegrin and British military units, thus proving their loyalty. As
part of the Allied effort, in 1917 Srpska Narodna Odbrana founding
members Božidar M. Markovich of Toronto and Špiro Hutalarović of
Winnipeg were appointed respectively as the Serbian War Mission’s
representative and its recruiting agent. There is evidence that other
Odbrana members were also representatives.
The primary research of Dr. Mandreš, undertaken in Canadian
archives and the Arhiv Jugoslavije in Belgrade, is scheduled to be completed
within three years. 24)

Project “CTO”
The Government and Canadian institutions had not included the centennial
of Canada’s first national internment operations in the centennial
commemorations of the start of the Great War. On the initiative
of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation, the Endowment
Council of the CFWWIRF funded Project “CTO” – meaning
one hundred – to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the enforcement
of the War Measures Act on 22 August 1914 which had loomed so
ominously in Canadian history and which had left such painful memories
to so many. It had inspired intolerance, prejudice, injustice and
suffering. The Act and its ramifications had almost been erased from
collective memory. In fact, one can speculate whether the internment
of the Japanese, Italians and Germans in World War II would have
even taken place if the memory of Canada’s first national internment
had been imbued in the collective historical consciousness. Project
“CTO”, led by Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, was a symbolic effort to remedy
that omission.
One hundred memorial plaques were manufactured and distributed
to one hundred ethnic and community organizations in 59 cities
across the country with the intention of unveiling them in remembrance
ceremonies. Most plaques were distributed to Ukrainian organizations
while a nominal number were distributed to the affected
communities. Demand was so high that the final number of plaques
reached 115. The design of the oval plaque was comprised of an archival
photo of internees behind barbed wire enhanced with the words “Re-
calling Canada’s First National Internment Operations 1914-1920” in
both official languages.
Draga Dragašević, past member of the Endowment Council representing
the Odbrana, co-ordinated the project in the Serbian community
which received two plaques placed in the Serbian Heritage
Museum in Windsor, Ontario and in front of the Saint George Serbian
Orthodox Church in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Working committees
were formed in both cities to plan the unveiling ceremony, educational
sessions and receptions. In Windsor the committee was comprised of
Anne Dube, Miloš Savić, Draža Chuk, Julka Vlajić, Cathy Diklich and
University of Windsor archivist, Dr. Brian Owens. In Niagara Falls
the committee was comprised of John Mrmak with assistance from
Denise Mateyk, president of the Saint George and Saint Archangel Michael
Church Congregation; Aca Pantelić, president of the Odbrana;
and George Yerich Sr., an internee descendent.
At precisely 11 a.m. on Friday, 22 August 2014 in every time zone
in Canada beginning in Nova Scotia, Project “CTO” came to life as
plaques were ceremoniously unveiled “in a wave of remembrance
hallowing all the victims of Canada’s first national internment operations”.
25) And in both Serbian communities a symbolic connection
was made with the humanitarian work of Božidar M. Markovich on
behalf of the Odbrana 95 years earlier. In Windsor honourary presidents
of the Odbrana, Bora Dragašević and Milorad Gaćeša, and vice
president Blažo Brković unveiled the plaque in remembrance of the
internees and the Odbrana connection. 26) In Niagara Aca Pantelić and
George Yerich Sr. unveiled the plaque in another symbolic connection
with the past work of the Odbrana and the tragedy of a family
member. 27) Powerpoint presentations compiled by Draga Dragašević
and Dr. Marinel Mandreš formed the educational segment of the programs
in both cities as did informative exhibits in the Serbian Heritage
Museum and Niagara’s Serbian hall. At both locations tributes were
paid to the memory of interned Serbs who had been forgotten and for
whom memorials were held for the first time in a century.
One of the highlights of the Niagara memorial was the recently
discovered story of Nikola Yerich, a confirmed Serbian internee who
settled in Niagara Falls in 1907. He was detained in 1914, sent to Kapuskasing
and released in 1916. 28) His nephew was Pane Yerich and his
great-nephew is George Yerich Sr., a prominent Niagara businessman.
Nikola was secretary of the local Odbrana chapter in 1917 after his release.
With the recent discovery of his grave, until now unknown even
to his descendents, his great-nephew placed a wreath at his gravesite, a
fitting tribute on this day of remembrance.

Conclusion
The story of Canada’s first national internment operations is still not
in the public consciousness or in educational curricula, except in a
localized way. More often than not, most Canadians recall the World
War II internment of Japanese Canadians who won an apology in 1988
from then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and a restitution package
for individual survivors and a community fund from the Government
of Canada.
But there are no survivors of the World War I internment and
their silence prevailed across the decades until 1978. Through the efforts
of the Ukrainian community, which was most affected by the
tragedy and which has worked steadfastly for decades to unveil this
forgotten and lamentable episode, a settlement was negotiated with
the Canadian Government for the establishment of the Canadian First
World War Internment Recognition Fund. Through the grants which
it awards what is being salvaged is “memory”, just as Mary Manko
Haskett had requested – not reparation or even an apology – rather a
venue to ensure the remembrance of the souls who had suffered injustice
and humiliation only because of where they had come from and
who they were. It is a lesson for all. We must cherish and protect our
freedom and civil rights.
Now that the Serbian story is moving forward through the efforts
of the Serbian National Shield Society of Canada (Srpska Narodna
Odbrana u Kanadi) and the superlative research of Dr. Marinel
Mandreš, it is incumbent on all Serbs to memorialize all the silenced
Serbian voices, victims of man’s prejudice and intolerance on both
sides of the ocean. Here in Canada we have an opportunity to learn, remember
and never forget their sacrifice. May their memory be eternal.

Bibliography
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Measures_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergencies_Act
www.internmentcanada.ca

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24) CFWWIRF . Annual Report 2014. 19-20.
25) Endowment Council. Remember. Learn. Never Forget Them… Poster. 2014.
26) Tanja Zec-O’Neill, “Project ‘CTO’ Memorial Plaque and Museum Exhibit:
Remembering the Internment,” Voice of Canadian Serbs (25 September
27) John Mrmak, “The Plaque on the stone: Niagara Serbs remember the
internment.” Voice of Canadian Serbs (25 September 2014) 11.
28) Mandreš 22 August 2014.