"The Barbed Wire Solution: Ukrainians and Canada's First Internment Operations 1914-1920 (travelling exhibit)
Ukrainian Insurgent Army (in-house exhibit)
Projects in Ukraine
During and after World War I, between 1914-1920, the Canadian Government used the War Measures Act for the first time to declare certain groups of immigrants living within Canadian borders to be "enemy aliens." Many were immigrants from Eastern Europe who were originally recruited to settle the Canadian Prairies. Because they were citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was at war with Britain and Canada at the time, they had to register, periodically report to police, reveal all their activities and whereabouts, refrain from all travel outside the country and prove their employment. Failure to do so made them liable to arrest and incarceration in one of the 24 internment camps set up across Canada.
The travelling exhibit The Barbed Wire Solution: Ukrainians and Canada's First Internment Operations 1914-1920 explores the social, economic and political circumstances that led to Canada's first use of the War Measures Act. It also looks at the conditions of daily life in the camps for the prisoners and their guards. The exhibit leaves the viewer with a striking reminder of a dark and relatively unknown moment in Canadian history. Launched in 1995, The Barbed Wire Solution has travelled extensively thoughout Canada and efforts are being made to house it permanently in Toronto (UCRDC Exhibition Director Switlana Medwidsky).
On a related theme is the book Silver Threads, the magical story of Anna and Ivan, young newlyweds who escape poverty and hardship in Ukraine to start a new life on the Canadian frontier. Its author, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch was inspired to write Silver Threads because her own grandfather was one of thousands of internees during World War I. The book, beautifully illustrated by Michael Martshenko, is available in English and Ukrainian in most Canadian bookstores.
The World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations, in co-operation with the Ukrainian Canadian Research & Documentation Centre (UCRDC), invites the public to view an exhibit of photographs and documents that reflect the life and times of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Ukrains'ka Povstans'ka Armiia, or UPA), the anti-Soviet and anti-German Ukrainian guerrilla army that operated in Western Ukraine from 1942 to 1954. Two hundred and sixteen negatives, including detailed sketches of hideouts and photos of clandestine meetings and even traitors, were found in the hollow of a tree in Ukraine in 1999 and serve as the basis of the Ukrainian-text exhibit. Also included in the exhibit are artifacts, descriptions of tactical strategies and military manoeuvres, maps, and publications issued by and about UPA. The exhibit will run indefinitely at The Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre Monday to Friday, 10 AM to 4 PM, or by appointment. Please call 416-966-1819 for more information.
In 1992 UCRDC and the Institute of Historical Studies at Lviv University in Ukraine undertook a joint project collecting oral histories of World War II survivors currently living in Ukraine. Oral history provides historical information and creates historical records when none are available. It is particularly suited to fill gaps in documentation of life under Soviet rule.
Supervised and trained by UCRDC archivist Iroida Wynnyckyj, a team of interviewers collected and documented over 400 oral testimonies in Ukraine and produced a catalog of holdings. Copies are available for in-house use at UCRDC.