SUSK Marks the 100 Th Anniversary of Canada's First National Internment
UKRAINIAN CANADIAN STUDENTS' UNION СОЮЗ УКРАЇНСЬКОГО СТУДЕНТСТВА КАНАДИ UNION DES ÉTUDIANTS UKRAINIENS CANADIENS SUSK marks the 100th Anniversary of Canada’s First National Internment Operations (1914-1920) During Canada’s First National Internment Operations (1914-1920), thousands of men, women, and children were branded as “enemy aliens,” and subjected to state-sanctioned indignities, including internment, forced heavy labour, and disenfranchisement. Internees were subjected to such treatment not because of any wrong they had done, but only because of who they were, where they had come from. The majority of civilian internees were Ukrainians and other Europeans. Racist and anti-immigrant attitudes were common during the pre-war period. Together with wartime xenophobia and ignorance, these attitudes were largely responsible for the internment operations. Internees were held in 24 camps across the Dominion. To mark the 100th anniversary of Canada’s First National Internment Operations, SUSK calls upon its member Ukrainian Students’ Organizations and all Ukrainian Canadian students to commemorate and raise awareness of these dark pages in Canada’s history. Events may include film screenings, informational exhibits/displays, lectures, seminars, and memorial events. In addition, SUSK encourages all Ukrainian Canadian students to support “CTO – The One Hundred Plaques across Canada initiative”, organized and led by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation (UCCLF). On Friday August 22, 2014 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the War Measures Act, 100 commemorative plaques will be unveiled across Canada. All plaques will be unveiled at 11am local time in Ukrainian, Croatian, Serbian, German, and Hungarian community centres, creating a “wave” of unveilings, moving from east to west across Canada.
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