This is the 73rd anniversary of the declaration of war against Benito Mussolini’s Italy. In the weeks and months that followed, 600 Italian men were picked up and transported to distant internment camps. Now the Canadians who were traumatized in childhood by the break-up of their families are sharing the experience.
In an interview with CBC Radio, Guilietta Doganieri described a long, cold winter drive with her mother for a brief visit with her father at the camp when she was five years old. Guilietta, now in her seventies, said the household furniture, including the stove, was seized and her mother was left destitute. A younger sister died during her father’s absence.
Sandra Corbo was sent to an orphanage at 4 when her grandfather was taken. The family home in Toronto was seized and their bank account frozen. Her parents moved to Montreal in an attempt to support the family, but life was gruelling. In an interview with Montreal’s Gazette newspaper, Sandra Corbo said life slowly returned to normal following her grandfather’s release, but he never returned to his trade as a tailor, and the family never spoke of the experience.
Joyce Pillarella, an oral historian, was motivated by the memory of her grandfather, another of the men taken away. She has been gathering stories for years and is one of the key organizers of today’s event in Montreal. She says it is an opportunity to make personal memories into civic memories.
Carmel Kilkenny spoke with Jim Zucchero, the editor of Beyond Barbed Wire, a collection of stories of the Italian Internment in Canada.
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