ENEMY− and NAMES+: Ukrainian Internment in Canada, 1914–1920, and the Names That Came Back (First Edition)

Description

In 1914 Canada labelled its Ukrainian neighbours “enemy aliens” and sent thousands to camps behind wire. This twelve-week course follows one fictional family through the camps, the lost vote and the long silence, and the names, laws and plaques that came back.

Full description

In 1914 Canada went to war with Germany and Austria-Hungary, and people who had come from those empires to farm, lay track and mine became “enemy aliens” in law. Most of those interned were Ukrainians from Galicia and Bukovyna. By official records, from 1914 to 1920 Canada interned 8,579 people in 24 camps and receiving stations, and about 80,000 had to register and report to the police.

This book turns the series’ lens on Canada, because power without care does not belong to one empire. ENEMY− names what power took: the enemy alien label, the numbers of registration and reporting, exile to the camps, the means taken (wages, property and, in 1917, the vote), and the years of silence. Beside the Canadian camps stands their mirror, Thalerhof in Austria-Hungary. NAMES+ names what people kept: names restored, acknowledgement in law in 2005, the recognition fund of 2008, memorials and plaques, and the descendants’ stories.

The book is a twelve-week course. Each week follows the Melnyks of No. 12 River Street, a fictional family with roots in Sambir: Yosyp, made to work at Castle Mountain, and his brother, sent to Thalerhof. Every event behind their story is documented, with sources. Sister streets run from Vernon and Mara Lake to Banff, Brandon and Kapuskasing.

We Remember keeps those who died, those taken in other ways and those held at Thalerhof, and 28 October, National Internment Commemoration and Education Day. For Every Age gives four guides: The Name on the List, a story for children; six lessons for youth; a one-hour evening for 28 October; and a guide for teachers and leaders.

For university and college courses in social work, history, human rights, education, Canadian and Ukrainian studies; for museums, churches, community groups, teachers and families; and for readers of Ukrainian descent. Help shape the next edition: write to sasha@drokacademy.ca with corrections and family stories.

This is the first edition. Our goal is to find people with lived experience of what it describes, including Crimean Tatar and Lemko readers, survivors, their families and descendants, and their communities, and to review the book with them for accuracy. If you have lived this history, or you find something that is not accurate or something that is missing, please write to sasha@drokacademy.ca. The second edition will carry every correction, and the author is looking for co-authors who will shape it. The Ukrainian edition, ВОРОГ− і ЗГАДКА+ (Voroh− i Zghadka+), is now available.

Inside

• Twelve weeks, one for each class of a course term, in four parts: CARE, POWER, the minus word and the plus word
• River Street: one fictional family and the documented history behind every week
• Every week read on three circles (personal, cultural, structural) and in four times: before, what the empire brought, since 1991, the future we choose
• Three readings a week, discussion questions, a research task and key terms
• We Remember: who the filter took, with dated, sourced counts, and where the names are kept
• For Every Age: four guides, for children, youth, a community evening, and teachers and leaders

The author takes no income from this book. Proceeds after production costs support students. The author supports student caregivers and those who stand with Ukraine.

Teaching it? Instructors can request a free review copy, and every student in a course that adopts the book receives it free. Write to sasha@drokacademy.ca.

Author line

Dr. Oleksandr Kondrashov (Sasha) is the founder of DROKACADEMY, a healing and writing space in Kamloops, British Columbia, and a social work educator who currently teaches at Thompson Rivers University. Born in Lviv, Ukraine, and in Canada since 2004, he has taught over 7,000 students across five Canadian universities. DROKACADEMY’s motto guides this series: Love. Care. Share. He has visited and photographed five former internment camp sites in British Columbia and Alberta, and the photographs in this book are his own.