The first Ukrainian-Canadian historical marker recalling Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914-1920 unveiled at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on Oct.28.
Attended by His Beatitude, Sviatoslav, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the event was organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation with the assistance of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.
“We are very pleased to have the people of Ukraine join us in remembering this episode in Ukrainian Canadian history, when thousands of Ukrainians and other Europeans were needlessly imprisoned, forced to do heavy labour for the profit of the jailers, disenfranchised, and subjected to other state censures, not because of any wrong they had done but only because of where they had come from, who they were,” said Andrew Harasymiw, chairman of UCCLF.
“When His Beatitude visited Canada a few years ago, he paid a special visit to the internment campsites in Banff National Park, demonstrating his personal interest in hallowing the memory of all of the internees.”
He added, “With his co-operation we are now unveiling a marker in Ukraine’s capital city, recalling what was once an almost forgotten story both in Canada and in Ukraine.”