Winnipeg – The Shevchenko Foundation (TSF) is pleased to announce the launch of Project Roll Call, a searchable online resource that identifies the individuals who were interned in Canada during World War I. The database is a project of the TSF WWI Internment Legacy Fund, formerly the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.
During Canada’s first national internment operations from 1914-1920, Ukrainians and other Europeans were branded ‘enemy aliens’ and imprisoned unjustly in 24 internment camps throughout Canada. These so -alled ‘enemy aliens’, originated from countries at war with Canada and primarily included members of the Austro-Hungarian, German, and Ottoman empires as well as Bulgaria.
Tens of thousands of others were obligated to carry identity documents and report regularly to the police. Many were subjected to disenfranchisement, restrictions of their freedom of speech, movement, association, deportation, and the confiscation of what little wealth they had.
Project Roll Call represents the work of numerous organizations and individuals, and to date identifies over 7,000 men, women and children who were interned in Canada during World War I. The information was drawn from a broad network of internment camps, and reveals diverse ethnicities, corresponding P.O.W. numbers, detailed vital statistics, release or deportation dates, physical descriptions, and other important historical data.
“This project was first initiated in the late 1990s by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association together with Ihor Bardyn and the Canada Ukraine Parliamentary Program. It has since continued to evolve with funding from the former Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund,” commented TSF President Boris Balan. “The goal of the project was to provide greater insight into Canada’s first national internment operations while offering family members of internees an opportunity to research and learn more about their personal histories.”
“We’re pleased to publicly launch this database. We trust that it will serve as an extremely useful additional resource for anyone wishing to delve deeper into this historical injustice,” concluded Balan.
The online resource also includes a collection of newspaper articles that offer additional insight into the internment operations and the areas affected, and a list of cemeteries across six provinces where 124 men and children who lost their lives were buried.
The Canadian WWI Internment Legacy is an endowment fund to support projects that commemorate and recognize the experiences of ethnocultural communities affected by the First World War Internment. The Internment Legacy is a continuation of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.
Access the online resource Project Roll Call at this link: https://roll-call.internmentcanada.ca/
For resources on the Canadian First World War Internment Operations and information on the WWI Internment Legacy visit: https://www.internmentcanada.ca/