POW #: P745
ARRESTED: July 10, 1940
RELEASED: February 10, 1941
NATURALIZED: 1907
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Waiter, Ottawa Café; Musician, Music Teacher

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditional release

Giuseppe (Joseph) Paduani and his family lived at 7071 Drolet St. in Montreal. He had worked as a waiter at the Ottawa Café for 33 years prior to his internment. The café, located at 404 St. James St. West, was within Montreal’s business district and patronized by the city’s leading professionals and business people. After his release from the Petawawa Internment Camp, he was unable to get his old job back.

Paduani was a musician. From 1909 to 1936, he played with the Victoria Rifles Band. He played with the Second Canadian Artillery Band from 1936 to 1939. And from 1939 until the time he was interned, he played with the Regiment de Maisonneuve. Paduani had also taught the clarinet and other instruments throughout the years.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) suspected Paduani of being a member of the Fascio Giovanni Luparini, the dopolavoro and the Casa d’Italia. He was also alleged to have given money to the Italian Red Cross during the Ethiopian campaign and to Italian schools in Montreal.

J.D. Hyndman, a judge appointed to review the cases of internees, had this to say about Paduani:

The only thing that can be said against him is that he was in some way associated with the Fascio and Dopolavoro, his real connection being obscure even to himself [sic]. At any rate I am satisfied that he was in reality forced into paying certain dues so that he might keep his Band together and obtain engagements for it and had no other thought or object in mind, and when he testified that he never attended any meeting of the Fascio or gave gold or money to Italy I fully believe him. At any rate this association lasted only two or three years – 1936 to 1939… I firmly believe that any connection with the Fascio or Dopolavoro had no significance to him and that it was solely on account of his interest in the success of his Band which, by the way, was composed of as many Canadians as Italians.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 672, Internee File 5146, “Giuseppe Paduani.”
• Library and Archives Canada, J.D. Hyndman Fonds: MG 30, E 182, Vol. 14, Letter to Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice, Jan. 8, 1941.

POW #:
ARRESTED:
RELEASED:
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S):
TOWN/CITY:
MARITAL STATUS: Unknown
OCCUPATION:

No biography available for this internee.

POW #: P469
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: January 02, 1942
NATURALIZED: April 28, 1933
BORN: January 03, 1902
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Taxi Driver, Contractor

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and reporting monthly

Donato Palangio left Italy at 16 years of age and went to the United States. Like many other Italian men at the time, he was a sojourner, migrating to make enough money to eventually return home and purchase land. When he returned to Italy, he married and had three children while he was still in his twenties. He immigrated to Canada in 1927. His wife died soon afterward. In 1931, he married Annina Zoletti, a Canadian-born woman of Italian origin. In 1937, his children joined him in Canada.

Until 1936, he worked as a sewer contractor for the city of Montreal. Government documents indicate that for two years, from 1936 to 1938, Palangio worked sporadically and for low pay, making “hardly enough to live on.” In 1938, he used his car as a taxi and his wife worked as a dressmaker. He also entered into a partnership with Nicola (Nicholas) Frascarelli (also interned).

In 1938, Nicola Frascarelli incorporated Frascarelli Construction Co. Although the company had significant debts, in 1940 it had a valuable contract for excavation work with Shell Oil Co. of Canada Ltd. It is unclear if or how Palangio was involved with Frascarelli Construction Co. The relationship went sour and Frascarelli sued Palangio on April 23, 1940, for fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. The partnership Frascarelli & Palangio declared bankruptcy in the fall of 1940, while both men were interned at Petawawa.

Arrested on June 10, 1940, Palangio was held at a facility in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and then moved to Petawawa. In the review of his case, Palangio admitted to having been a fascist in Italy but denied having been a member of fascist organizations in Canada. He had belonged to the Order Sons of Italy, until 1935, and had been the financial secretary. Initially, Justice Hyndman did not recommend Palangio’s release: “At the time this objector was heard I was under the impression that anyone who had been a member of the Fascio or the Sons of Italy was to be considered dangerous to the State…” (J.D. Hyndman to Minister of Justice, May 19, 1941).

In the appeal, Justice Hyndman heard from witnesses, including Domenico Vocisano, a contractor (Vice President of Asconi Construction Company) in Montreal, who was detained himself. He testified on Palangio’s behalf. Another character witness was William Rabinovitch, who considered Palangio to be his best friend. In report, Hyndman quoted Rabinovitch:

…he remembered Palangio saying “men were foolish to wear black-shirts when Balbo came here.” He did not want his children to be brought up Fascists so brought them out to Canada. He knows Palangio to be a good, loyal citizen – discussed with him the treatment of the Jews in Italy which Palangio said “was the crasiest [sic] thing… When the Casa was finished witness wanted him to go and see the building, but he refused… I might add that before the hearing in Montreal, the R.C.M.P. was notified in advance so that evidence, if any, might be produced, but no testimony was offered and I therefore assume that there is nothing further against this man (J.D. Hyndman to Minister of Justice, May 19, 1941).

Although Justice Hyndman recommended his release on May 19, 1941, a government document dated September 13, 1941, noted that Palangio’s detention was to continue. He was finally ordered released on December 29, 1941, and freed on January 2, 1942.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

Do you know…
What happened to Palangio after his release?
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 657, Internee File 4003, “Donato Palangio.”
• Library and Archives Canada, J.D. Hyndman Fonds: MG 30, E 182. J.D. Hyndman to Minister of Justice, in the Matter of the Defence of Canada Regulations and in the Matter of Donato Palangio, 40D-269-4-D-47, May 19, 1941.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, F-3, Vol. 3563, Part 5.

POW #: P784
ARRESTED:
RELEASED: January 29, 1942
NATURALIZED: April 10, 1931
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S):
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Unknown
OCCUPATION:

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and required to report monthly to the authorities

No biography available for this internee.

POW #: P587
ARRESTED: June 11, 1940
RELEASED: February 05, 1943
NATURALIZED:
BORN: March 04, 1905
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION:

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Giuseppe Palladino was married to Maria. The couple had two young children at the time of Palladino’s internment. The youngest child was born in November 1940 – after the father had been interned. The Palladinos lived at 173 Saint Zotique St. in Montreal. Maria’s father also lived at this address. He was elderly and therefore unemployed. Maria appealed to the Custodian of Enemy Property to help her with her stressful economic situation.

Palladino’s release conditions were as follows: he had to report to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) once a month, could not change his place of residence or leave Montreal without the consent of RCMP, and was forbidden to be involved in fascist activities or organizations.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 673, Internee File 5217, “Giuseppe Palladino.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3, Part 6, Letter from Louis St. Laurent, Minister of Justice, to S.T. Wood, RCMP Commissioner, Jan. 28, 1943.

POW #: P568
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: February 22, 1942
NATURALIZED: December 29, 1914
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Labourer

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and reporting twice a month

Vito Palmeri immigrated to Canada when he was 16 years old, leaving his parents behind in Italy. He had completed the fifth grade. He worked primarily as a general labourer. He went back to Italy during World War I to serve in the Italian military. He also travelled to Italy on other occasions to visit his aging parents. During one of his trips, he met and later married Filippa Bonasoro. The couple settled in Montreal and had two daughters, Antoinette and Francesca. At the time of his arrest, the children were 12 and 6 years old. With his pay cheque, Palmeri was able to support his family.

Palmeri was an active member of the fascio located at the Casa d’Italia. His wife had contributed her gold wedding ring to Mussolini’s “Gold for the Fatherland” campaign, whereby gold jewellery collected in Italy and elsewhere was melted down into gold bars for the Italian government. Palmeri’s eldest daughter Antoinette was a member of the children’s group Opera Nazionale Balilla. The girls in the group were known as Piccole Italiane. Organized and funded by the fascist government in Italy, the balilla provided Italian language lessons as well as recreational and fitness activities, but it also served as a venue for instructing children on fascist principles.

On June 10, 1940, Palmeri was arrested at his home by two Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers. The family was having dinner and was allowed to continue eating as the officers waited patiently. His daughter Antoinette Palmeri recalled that evening:

My father came home with the paper. And I guess he knew something was happening… Well, the doorbell rang and two detective(s) came with the badge … “Mr. Palmeri?” “Yeah.” My father says, “Yes, I’m the one.” He says, “You’re under arrest.”… And he says, “You can have your supper, finish your supper.” … So we had supper, very fast because he was getting nervous. We were having supper and not having supper at the same time. We didn’t know what was going on. So, he said, “Can I take a jacket and a hat?” He said, “Yeah, take a jacket and a hat.” And they brought him in the car.

He was allowed to kiss his family good-bye. They were not told where he was being taken. They only learned of his whereabouts days later by word of mouth. Palmeri’s good friend and Antoinette’s godfather Alberto Severo Biffi was also interned, as was the family doctor Antonio D’Anna, and neighbour Adone Pozza. When Mrs. Palmeri and Mrs. Pozza heard that their husbands were being held at the Bordeaux Jail, they went there hoping to visit them. They were told that their husbands had been transferred elsewhere, but they were not told where. Palmeri’s family only learned that he was in Petawawa Internment Camp when they received a Prisoner of War (POW) letter from him.

In his absence, the family struggled to make ends meet. Palmeri’s wife worked as a seamstress. She also washed clothes for Helene MacIntosh – also known as Mrs. Zerillo, the estranged wife of Umberto Zerillo who was interned. She had been living with Julius Lupi before he, too, was interned. Antoinette Palmeri remembers Mrs. Zerillo fondly.

Although Antoinette does not remember any assistance, the Palmeri family received a small amount in government relief. Palmeri was able to assist his family from camp: “And my father in Petawawa, I think he was washing clothes… I don’t know… for somebody. And in washing clothes for these men, these prisoners, they used to write to the wives, that maybe they had money, to send money to my mother or to give it to my father. My father used to send [money to] us. My father used to wash clothes.”

Upon his return, Palmeri spoke little of his internment experience. He only told a few stories of how the internees passed their time, including working in the camp, gardening, and playing practical jokes. When he was about 50 years old, he was able to find work as a labourer. He retired with a small pension and lived until his mid-80s.

Reflecting on her father’s experience and on the actions of the Canadian government, Antoinette noted: “They were wrong. Because they were not criminals, first of all. They were not criminals. They were all good fathers – working fathers – taking care of their families. Why they were interned? They didn’t do nothing wrong. Were they afraid that they would do something? They didn’t do anything.”

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro
 
SOURCES:

• Interview with Antoinette Palmeri. June 14, 2011. Columbus Centre Collection.
• Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces: RG 24, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 656, Internee File 3876, “Vito Palmeri.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, C11-19-2-3-pt 4.

POW #: P342
ARRESTED: June 11, 1940
RELEASED: February 12, 1943
NATURALIZED: 1914
BORN: 1893
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Windsor
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Cement Finisher/Labourer, Windsor Park Commission, City of Windsor

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon agreeing to a special undertaking

Giovanni (John) Palmieri arrived in Canada in April 1911. A Roman Catholic, his first wife Florence left him in 1929. At the time of his arrest, he was 47 years old and had been a citizen (a naturalized British subject) for 26 years. He was raising his two children – 14-year-old Anna and 11-year-old John – and living with his common-law wife, Antoniette Turca. He worked as a cement finisher/labourer for the City of Windsor. He managed to support his family. He had some assets, mainly property.

Palmieri was arrested and held at the Windsor City Jail. He was released to the custody of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) one day later, on June 12, 1940. It is unclear where he was taken in the interim. Government records indicate he was not transferred to Petawawa Internment Camp until September 18, 1940. He may have been held in Toronto at the Don Jail or on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition.

According to RCMP records, he was charged with involvement in the fascio based on a list published in the newspaper Il Bollettino. He does not appear on the spring 1940 government lists.

His family faced financial hardships during his internment. They received government relief in December 1940.

Palmieri was among the few Italian Canadian internees transferred to Fredericton Internment Camp. It is unclear what evidence supported his continuing internment. An appeal of his case was heard on at least one occasion, but his release was denied on March 27, 1941.

The reasons for his eventual release are not known.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

Do you know…
What was the nature of Palmieri’s activities with the fascio?
Why was Palmieri held so long? Why was he transferred to Fredericton Internment Camp?
What happened to Palmieri after the war?
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 653, Internee File 3617, “Giovanni Palmieri.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, F-3, Vol. 3563, Part 1.
• Windsor Police Services Board and Windsor Police Service, RG 8, D Records of Operational Divisions 1915-1959, II. Administrative Division 1920-1957, 1. Criminal Records Branch – Prisoners Registers 1920-1950, Unit 11 [1940].

POW #: P662
ARRESTED:
RELEASED: March 05, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Hamilton
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Employee, G.W. Hendershot Co. Ltd; Butcher at Charles Coffee Shop

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (4) (Defence of Canada Regulations) and reporting monthly

There is very little information known about Leonardo Palmieri (a.k.a. Leonard Palmiere and Leo Palmer). The Custodian of Enemy Property maintained a file on this individual, which noted that he had no assets and no dependents. The reasons for his arrest and release are not available. After his release, he was required to register as an enemy alien. 

Biographical information is lacking.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

Do you know…
What happened to Palmieri after the war?
Why was he interned?

SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 669, Internee File 5015, “Leonardo Palmieri.”

POW #: P326
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: July 15, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN: July 08, 1897
DIED: March 02, 1986

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Sudbury
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Physician/surgeon

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Luigi Pancaro was born and raised in Cosenza, Calabria, Italy. In 1926 he received an honours degree in medicine from the University of Rome and decided to migrate to Canada. Pancaro arrived in Halifax in the fall of that same year and made his way to North Bay, Ontario – home to an Italian community. He left North Bay in 1930 to study surgical technique at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. After completing his studies he moved to Sudbury and resumed the practice of medicine.

Pancaro’s interest in fascism began prior to his arrival in Canada. He was in Rome on October 28, 1922 when Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy. He held the Italian dictator in esteem for the positive changes he noticed happening in Italy. In an interview with the Sudbury Star in December 1932, Pancaro praised the many infrastructure projects underway in Italy such as the electrification of railways and better access to drinking water. In Canada, Pancaro became the secretary of the Italian fascio of Sudbury. In the same article he stated the aims of the fascio were to “urge all Italians living abroad to be loyal to their country of adoption” and “to promote harmony and comradeship among Italians in Sudbury.”

On 10 June 1940 Pancaro was attending to a patient and his wife when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrived at his office. The couple quickly left and the office was ransacked by police searching for evidence against Pancaro. He was taken to the Sudbury Jail and did not have a chance to say his goodbyes to his family before leaving Sudbury. During his internment, he practiced medicine on fellow camp mates and diagnosed fellow internee James Franceschini with throat cancer.

Pancaro’s absence meant his wife Lina had to cope with five children and no income. She rented out parts of the Pancaro family home and did chores to which she was not accustomed such as putting coal in the furnace. After petitioning the Custodian of Enemy Property, Lina was able to access monies made from the sale of Sistosan, a medicine that hindered bleeding and invented by her husband.

In July 1941, Pancaro’s daughter Caroline recalled having a dream one morning that her father had come home from the camp. As Caroline said this to her mother in the neighbouring room, her father answered her. She remembers that he came into her bedroom and embraced her while still wearing his prisoner’s uniform.

Pancaro’s release conditions were as follows: he had to report to RCMP once a month, could not change his place of residence or leave Sudbury without the consent of RCMP, and was forbidden to be involved in fascist activities or organizations.

Once at liberty, Pancaro slowly resumed his medical practice. He and his family eventually returned to Italy when Luigi accepted the role of private doctor to Father Pio, who is now venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 

SOURCES:

• Bagnell, Kenneth. Canadese: A Portrait of the Italian Canadians. Toronto: Macmillan, 1989.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 657, Internee File 3937 “Luigi Pancaro.”
• The Sudbury Star 14 Dec. 1932: 11.

POW #: P988
ARRESTED: January 28, 1941
RELEASED: May 03, 1943
NATURALIZED: No
BORN: May 08, 1905
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Other Ontario
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Grocery Clerk, Carload Groceteria

Roberto Carlo Arturo Pancaro had served in the Italian army prior to emigrating. He arrived in Canada on September 29, 1937, and settled in North Bay. He lived at 484 Worthington St. East. Since his arrival in North Bay, he worked as a grocery clerk (and was paid under the table) at the Carload Groceteria.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Pancaro may have arrived in Canada with the help of Frank Scappatura (also interned) to take on the position of secretary of the North Bay fascio. Pancaro was actively involved in this group, and he replaced Italo Gioia as the fascio’s leader after Gioia was interned. Pancaro’s older brother, Luigi Pancaro, a doctor from Sudbury, was also interned during the war.   

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3, Part 2, Letter from RCMP to the Inter-Departmental Committee, Jan. 6, 1941.

POW #: P771
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: June 02, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION:

RELEASE NOTES: Released conditionally upon his first subscribing to the Undertaking set out in Regulation 24 of the Defence of Canada Regulations (DOCR), and further that he report once a month to the Officer Commandant, RCMP, Montreal, QC

Nicola Pannunzio lived with his wife, Lucia, on Fabre St. in Montreal, QC.  On June 10, 1940 he was arrested; he arrived at Camp Petawawa on June 26, 1940.  He was released on June 2, 1942 at 12:13 a.m.  Nothing else is known of Pannunzio.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga
 
SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 697, Internee File 12660 “Nicola Pannunzio.”
• Minister’s Orders List, V1 & V5.

POW #: P404
ARRESTED: June 20, 1940
RELEASED:
NATURALIZED: March 07, 1928
BORN: May 15, 1888
DIED: 1961

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Ottawa
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Lieutenant, Fire Department, City of Ottawa

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and monthly reporting

Around 1903, Frederick (Fred) Rocco Pantalone first came to Canada with his father. The family returned to Italy, but Pantalone returned alone to Canada and became a citizen (a naturalized British subject). In Ottawa, he met and married Antoinetta Locatelli. The couple had five children: four sons (Bill, Gordon, Edward and Salvatore) and one daughter, Lydia. Although he worked delivering bread with a horse and cart for a local bakery, Pantalone had high ambitions. He would eventually be hired as a fireman with the Ottawa Fire Department in 1915, and would be promoted twice to the position of Lieutenant.

Pantalone proudly served as a fireman, battling the raging blaze that claimed seven lives and destroyed most of the Parliament Buildings in 1916. He suffered smoke inhalation during another fire at a local theatre. Once while responding to a fire, Pantalone fell off the horse-drawn fire engine, which ran over his chest. According to his son, Salvatore Pantalone, his father’s position made him an exception and a target:

…he was the only Italian…and there was a lot of jealousy. Why should an Italian be there when the other people are out of work? I know that, and why should he be an officer giving other people orders? I know that. Because they’d come away from some banquet at the Chateau Laurier in those days, my father wearing a tuxedo and all that sort of stuff. My mother in a gown because it was a formal dinner they had. And he’d come out and he always had a new car every couple of years. Much to my mother’s anger… anyways, a big scratch with a nail across the car…another fireman. He was happy. He loved his job. He was from what I understand, a disciplinarian though. He didn’t like them hanging around, smoking in front of the station, when there was things to be done in the station. I know that. These are facts, the things I know. And that’s not too popular sometimes you know.

An active member of the local Italian Canadian community, Pantalone served as the President of the Order Sons of Italy and was an active clergy member of St. Anthony of Padua, helping to organize church bazaars. According to the records of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Pantalone was also a member of the local fascio known as Duca d’Aosta. Its members included Gino Tiezzi, Giuseppe Costantini, Dr. Vittorio Sabetta, and Vincenzo Sorrenti (“The Organization and Activities of the Italian Fascist Party in Canada,” Ottawa, 1937, p12.  RG146, Vol 97, File AH-1999/00227, LAC). All but Sorrenti would be arrested and interned.

Two of Pantalone’s children did visit Italy as representatives of Ottawa’s Organizzazioni Giovanili degli Italiani all’Estero (OGIE – Italian Youth Organizations Abroad). His son Gordon went in the summer of 1934; most of the costs of these trips were sponsored by the Italian government. His daughter Lee (Lydia) also later travelled to Italy. As Salvatore notes:

Pardon my language but it was, it was a great thing, we used to have fun. We used to go to summer camp. We’d have a band, play the bugle. We went to all kinds of things. We didn’t have boy scouts, so we did this and it was great fun. So my father and many people thought Mussolini was great – just finished reading Conrad Black’s Franklin D. Roosevelt…and he quotes many letters that he had written to my dear Duce…my dear Mussolini. And he thought he was a great man – a lot of people did. But I don’t think Roosevelt was a fascist. Neither was my father, but he thought well, they’re doing good things, they’re going to school, they’re doing the railways, they’re doing many good things. So that’s it, as far as I know. I know he definitely, he never, never had a tessera…membership card of the Fascist Party.

When Italy declared war against France and Britain on June 10, 1940, Pantalone was on holiday with his family, visiting his married daughter in Thunder Bay. On learning the news, Salvatore heard his father say, “Damn fools, they expect to win a war with guitars.” Pantalone returned to Ottawa. On June 20, 1940, Pantalone reported to work. He was arrested while in his uniform and handcuffed in front of his platoon. He was interned on June 26, 1940 at Camp Petawawa.

Pantalone had been making $150/month – a decent salary for those times. During his internment, his family struggled to make ends meet. They rented out the upstairs of their home. His wife, who was very skilled in crocheting, tried to sell her work to the Central Canada Exhibition for their Arts and Crafts Show. She was offered $25 for her work.

Pantalone’s case was reviewed by Justice JD Hyndman, along with Gino Tiezzi (godfather to Pantalone’s son) and Giuseppe Constantini (family friend). He writes: “I have given the case of these men a great deal of consideration, and am convinced that their association with Italian organizations, such as the Sons of Italy, had no evil motive and, if anything, they were more or less dupes of crafty agents of the genuine Fascist groups” (JD Hyndman to Minister of Justice, December 18, 1940, JD Hyndman fonds, MG30, E 182, Vol 14, LAC). Hyndman recommended a conditional release for all three. In response, it appears that the RCMP provided additional information to justify continued internment. Writing on February 14, 1941, Hyndman states:

…it was never intended that the Defence of Canada Regulations respecting internment should be used for punitive purposes but merely with the object of preventing sabotage or subversive acts…Whilst this man, at most, may have been somewhat foolish and indiscreet, nevertheless I am entirely satisfied that he is not in any way dangerous as contemplated by the Regulations and that it will be ordinary justice to grant his liberty, especially on condition of his reporting at intervals as mentioned in my former report.

Pantalone was released two weeks later. His return home left a lasting impression on his son Salvatore:

Gordy picked him up somewhere, railway station, I guess – and he came in the front door. It was a cold night…about 11 or midnight – something like that. And this man came in with his overcoat on, sat down and hardly saw his face… And all I saw was the white head. And he didn’t have a white head when he went in you know. Well, grey hair not white. But it was black. And I remember that. And his shoulders shuddering a bit, I guess, sobbing – that I remember.

Pantalone tried to return to his position at the Fire Department, but his fellow firefighters had voted unanimously against having him back. He tried to appeal to the Chief of the Fire Department, the City Controller and even the mayor. He was told: “Well Fred, we can’t take you back, you might bomb the police station.” His son Salvatore believes his father was more upset by this reaction than the actual circumstances of the internment itself.

We know Pantalone must have asked Justice Hyndman to write the various parties on his behalf. Writing to the City Controller, Hyndman states: “I notice that the press described Mr. Pantalone as ‘an alien enemy’. This is not correct and is unfair as he is a British Subject by naturalization in good standing with all the rights of a British Subject.” (JD Hyndman, Ottawa, to JA Forward, City Controller, Ottawa, 15 Apr 1941, James Duncan Hyndman, MG 30, E 182, Vol 14, LAC) To the Fire Chief, Hyndman notes:

It seems to me that it would be a very great hardship if Mr. Pantalone, having served in your Department for upwards of twenty-three years should, on account of this unfortunate matter be deprived of further employment and possibly sustain the loss of a pension which I understand would accrue to him if he served a few years longer.

Despite these efforts, Pantalone did not return to the Fire Department and lost his pension. Instead, he worked in a bakery and then as a taxi cab driver. Two of his sons enlisted in the Canadian army, and Salvatore joined the Royal Canadian Navy. Pantalone himself would eventually secure a position as a fire marshal in the Canadian navy, serving in this role throughout the remainder of the war. As his son Salvatore stated, “He was an enemy alien, he’s in a prisoner of war camp, and then he’s in a navy uniform.”

After the war, Pantalone was posted to the Canadian Joint Staff, Naval Service in Washington, DC. He eventually settled back in Ottawa. Having lost his pension with the Fire Department, he subsisted on a small pension due to him by his limited time in the naval service and government pension entitlements.

He did not return to his active participation with the Italian Canadian community. Salvatore believes that members of the community may have been involved in identifying his father to authorities.

For another family perspective read: A Granddaughter’s Perspective.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

SOURCES:

• Filoso, Angelo et al. Memories to Memorial: The Internment of Ottawa’s Italian Canadians during the Second World War. Ottawa: Italian Canadian Community Centre of the National Capital Region, 2011.
• Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces: RG 24 Vol 6586 File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP): RG 117 Vol 651 File 3417.
• Library and Archives Canada, JD Hyndman fonds: MG30, E 182, Vol 14.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG146, Vol 97, File AH-1999/00227, “The Organization and Activities of the Italian Fascist Party in Canada,” Ottawa, 1937, p12.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18 Vol 3569 File E.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, C11-19-2-3-pt 4.

POW #: P341 / P634*
ARRESTED: June 26, 1940
RELEASED: December 13, 1940
NATURALIZED: Yes
BORN: September 22, 1910
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Niagara Region
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Shoemaker

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release

Raffaele Paone arrived in Canada in 1924. He married Irene (real name Chiarina) in 1932. The couple had met at the home of Raffaele’s cousin Leonardo Covelli. Covelli was also interned during World War II. Raffaele and Irene (b. October 24, 1914, in Italy) lived with Raffaele’s parents. His father was employed though records do not mention his vocation. The Paones lived at 1178 Robert St. in Niagara Falls.

Paone’s shoemaker shop was located at 420 Portage Ave. in Stamford Centre which is now part of Niagara Falls. During Paone’s internment, Irene tried to rent the shop with little success. As a result, she requested that the Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP) provide her with $40 per month to cover living expenses and an additional $100 to pay off existing debts. Irene did receive some financial support but still had to work a cleaning job at a local motel. 

While interned, Paone wrote to the CEP and requested that all compensation cheques issued to him be forwarded to Irene for her to cash. He was receiving payments of $28.50 per month because of a paper mill injury in 1930 that led to the loss of his leg. In his letter, Paone also stated that when he was arrested on June 26, 1940, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) took $100, a gold pocket watch, his car license, keys, and unnamed personal items from him. He asked that the CEP locate the items and that the cash be sent to his wife and the personal items sent to him in camp. Paone’s license, watch, keys, comb, pocket book, and purse were sent to the Commandant of Petawawa and given to Paone on December 2, 1940. The $100 seized by police during Paone’s arrest, was deposited in the joint account held by him and Irene minus $5.38 in fees charged by the CEP.

After six months of internment, Paone became sick and was released. Now at liberty, Paone sold all of his shoemaking equipment and took a year off from working. He was then hired by the Northern Company to work as a cleaner in Chippawa, which is now part of Niagara Falls. After three years with the Northern Company, Raffaele and Irene established McDonald Grocery and operated the store until 1954. Raffaele then worked as a janitor for Canada Post. 

*Government documents provide two different prisoner of war numbers.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk

SOURCES:

• Interview with Irene Paone, Nov. 20, 2011.  Italian Canadians as Enemy Aliens: Memories of WWII, Columbus Centre Collection.
• Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces, RG 24, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 662, Internee File 4469 “Raffaele Paone.”

POW #: P335
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: May 08, 1941
NATURALIZED: 1923
BORN: July 30, 1890
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Windsor
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Labourer

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditional release, but must report to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) upon arrival

Not much is known about Giuseppe (Joseph) Paonessa. At the time of his arrest, he was 50 years old, a citizen (naturalized British subject) and married to Theresa. The couple had six children: Mary (20), Pauline (18), Violet (15), Philomena (12), Madeline (9), and Michael (5). Paonessa was a janitor at a bus garage. 

He was processed at the Windsor Jail, where the note in the police register indicated the offence charged as “Investigation”. In his possession were $6.20, a watch, a knife, a billfold, pencils and a shotgun. He was released to military authorities and transferred to Petawawa Internment Camp on June 18, 1940.

Paonessa’s name does appear on the government list dating to Spring 1940 of “Important Members of the fascio who are naturalized and whose internment is recommended”. His nephew in his written plea for his uncle’s release notes: “A good many years ago, Uncle Joe joined an Italian Lodge, which had insurance and sickness benefits for its members. This Lodge had the full approval of the Canadian Government and provided entertainment for the Italian people” (Walter Bula, letter to Mr. McPherson, March 19, 1941,RG 117 Vol 659 File 4203, LAC). Likely, the nephew is referring to the local lodge of the Order Sons of Italy.

Despite the reasons for his arrest, Paonessa’s family did suffer as a result of his internment. His family applied for and received government relief. However, they were expected to first consume the monies in his pension fund – $756.81. Also, half of his daughter Mary’s salary was included in the government’s calculation as household income, thus reducing the family’s entitlement.

During this time, Paonessa had six nephews serving in the Canadian military, including Bula who wrote on his behalf:

My Aunt has tried in every way at her disposal to have her husband released, but all her efforts have proven futile, thus I was prompted to write this message to you. Auntie Paonessa is an elderly woman…and not in the best of health, even by a stretch of the imagination, is forced to go out and try to earn a living for herself and her children…it makes me feel sick, to see them suffering from such want and privation. I cannot help feeling a little bitter about the whole thing…Sir, being a Canadian and being in the Canadian Army…I can readily understand the detention of anyone who may do harm to this country. But not my Uncle Joe, Sir, he is such a quiet, easy going person, who never spoke anything but of the highest of this country, Canada. (Walter Bula, letter to Mr. McPherson, March 19, 1941, RG 117 Vol 659 File 4203, LAC)

The reasons for his release are not known. Additional biographical information is lacking.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

Do you know…
What was the nature of Paonessa’s involvement with the fascio?
What happened to Paonessa after the war?
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP): RG 117, Vol 659, File 4203.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, C11-19-2-3-pt 4.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol 3569, File E.
• Windsor Police Services Board and Windsor Police Service, RG8, D records of operational divisions 1915-1959, II. Administrative Division 1920-1957 1. Criminal Records Branch – Prisoners Registers 1920-1950, Unit 11 [1940].

POW #: P1174
ARRESTED: August 25, 1941
RELEASED: October 21, 1941
NATURALIZED:
BORN: 1895
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Hamilton
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Bootlegger

RELEASE NOTES: See below

Antonio (Tony) Papalia was born in 1895 in Calabria, Italy.  He arrived in Montreal, QC on September 6, 1912 aboard the S.S. Tarmena.  He first stayed in Montreal working odd jobs as a labourer.  In 1915, he moved to New Brunswick where he worked in local coal mines.  In 1917, he moved to Hamilton, ON where he worked at the Steel Co. of Canada and did other odd jobs.  It was likely during this time that he worked as a driver for crime boss, Rocco Perri.  Since 1929, Papalia became self-employed as a bootlegger. 

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Papalia was paroled as an “enemy alien” on July 5, 1940 in Hamilton with the Parole Certificate #45677.  He was registered under the National Registration Act on August 20, 1940.  As required, he reported to authorities first on August 6, 1940 and again on September 4, 1940.  On September 6, 1940, Papalia skipped town fearful of internment.  He was finally arrested almost a year later on August 25, 1941 at 11 a.m. by Constable W.I. Touchie (RCMP) and Constable C. MacFarlane (Hamilton City Police).  Papalia refused to disclose names of those who helped him while he was in hiding.  He claimed that he left Hamilton for North Bay, ON where he stayed with friends.

At the time of his arrest, Papali was married to Rosie Taliano.  They had seven children: Angelo (24), Joseph (21), Johnnie (18), Antoinette (16), Domenic (12), Frank (11), and Rocco (6). All of the Papalia children were Canadian-born. Papalia did not have a bank account or life insurance and his only asset was his house and lot located on Railway Street.  According to Papalia, he never applied for naturalization because he could not read or write in English or Italian.  He was noted as being Roman Catholic. 

Arriving at Camp Petawawa, Papalia saw a familiar face ― Perri.  The two apparently had an altercation, but camp guards quickly intervened.  The decade-old hostility between Papalia and Perri stemmed from an incident involving Bessie Starkman, Perri’s wife.  Starkman was involved in the drug trade and dealings went sour with the Rochester mafia (likely linked to Buffalo crime boss, Stefano Magaddino). Shortly after, Starkman was murdered in August of 1930; Papalia and other known associates of Perri, Dominic Antonio Pugliese and Francesco (Frank) Silvestro were all named suspects.  Perri accused Papalia of disloyalty because the latter befriended Magaddino leading up to the 1930 murder.

After a short stint in the internment camp (about two months), Papalia was released with a condition to report monthly to the RCMP and further instruction that he could not leave Hamilton.  It is unclear why Papalia was released so quickly.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga
 
SOURCES:

• Hamilton Ontario List.
• Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces, RG 24, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 699, Internee File 14243 “Antonio Papalia.”
• McBride, Michelle. From Indifference to Internment: An examination of RCMP responses to Nazism and Fascism in Canada from 1934 to 1941. Thesis (M.A.). Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1997.
• Minister’s Orders List, V1 & V4.

POW #: P562
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: February 13, 1941
NATURALIZED: 1925
BORN: August 27, 1891
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: President, Calabrese Construction Company; was also the proprietor of a coal and wood business

RELEASE NOTES: Had to report monthly to RCMP

Marino Paparelli was married to Mary Pallesi. They lived with Mary’s mother at 600 Gounod St. in Montreal. Both his wife and mother-in-law were ill although no specifics are mentioned in Paparelli’s Custodian of Enemy Property file. 

Paparelli appears to have been a very successful business person. In addition to his businesses, he owned a number of properties on Gounod St., St. Denis St. and Chateaubriand Ave. which he rented. He, along with Ernesto Alovisi and Teodoro Pizzagalli, owned shares in the Dante Hall Amusement Company. Alovisi and Pizzagalli would also be interned during World War II.

On August 11, 1937, Paparelli was elected as vice president to the Casa d’Italia board of directors. He was also a vice president of the dopolavoro.

Paparelli’s release from the Petawawa Internment Camp may have had something to do with an unnamed medical issue. H.A. Fortier, a judge appointed to review the cases of internees, had recommended Paparelli’s internment continue but changed his mind after reading a report by the Medical Officer at Petawawa.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk

SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 646, Internee File 3158 “Marino Paparelli.”
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 643, Internee File 2898 “Teodoro Pizzagalli.”
• Library and Archives Canada, CSIS: RG 146, Vol. 97, File AH-1999/00227, RCMP, “The Organization and Activities of the Italian Fascist Party in Canada,” Ottawa, 1937.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3 Part 2, Letter from Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice, to S.T. Wood, RCMP Commissioner, 6 Feb. 1941.

POW #: P351
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: March 30, 1941
NATURALIZED:
BORN: December 17, 1892
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Windsor
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Section hand, Michigan Central Railway (Windsor Yards)

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Giovanni Papiccio arrived in Canada in 1920. He was married to Bernice and the couple had a daughter, Filomena (b. 1928). The Papiccios lived on Randolph Ave. in Windsor.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) believed that Papiccio was a member of the Windsor fascio and had donated two dollars to the local Italian school. He did admit to J.D. Hyndman, a judge appointed to review the cases of internees, that he was a member of the dopolavoro and the Italian War Veterans’ Association.

Papiccio’s release conditions were as follows: he had to report to RCMP once a month, could not change his place of residence or leave Windsor without the consent of RCMP, and was forbidden to be involved in fascist activities or organizations.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES :

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 660, Internee File 4204 “Giovanni Papiccio.”
• Library and Archives Canada, James Duncan Hyndman fonds:  MG30, E 182, Vol. 14, Letter to Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice, 29 Jan. 1941.
• Library and Archives Canada, James Duncan Hyndman fonds:  MG30, E 182, Vol. 14, Letter to Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice, 11 Mar. 1941.

POW #: P833
ARRESTED: July 29, 1940
RELEASED: September 26, 1941
NATURALIZED: July 05, 1932
BORN: September 09, 1906
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Hamilton
MARITAL STATUS: Unknown
OCCUPATION:

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations)

There is little information in government documents about Giovanni Parente.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces, RG 24, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3 Part 1, “Minister’s Orders – Italian,” no date.

POW #: P832
ARRESTED: June 27, 1940
RELEASED: June 28, 1941
NATURALIZED: Yes
BORN: November 08, 1892
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Hamilton
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Business man, owner/operator of Bayview Hotel

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditionally – had to report to RCMP at Hamilton upon arrival

Raimondo (Raymond) Parisi was born in Racalmuto (in the province of Agrigento) in Sicily, Italy on November 8, 1892.  He was not educated. In 1913, he came to Canada to find a better life. In 1925, he became naturalized.  A year later, he started his hotel business and after acquiring the comfortable life that he so desired, he was able to bring over his family from Italy.

By 1940, Parisi owned and operated the Bayview Hotel on Stuart St. West in Hamilton, ON.  He and his wife, Nancy Spatazzo, were childless.  The RCMP considered him to be a member of the mafia and a “strong supporter” of fascism and Mussolini.  Their records note: “He is the constant associate of racketeers and convicted criminals.” On June 27, 1940, Parisi was arrested; he had on him a knife, $100 cash, and a gold watch with a chain.

Parisi claimed total innocence, denying any membership in the fascio or having sent any money/gold to Italy towards the Ethiopian Campaign.  Further, he never went to court and/or had any dealings with legal trouble.  However, he did admit to being a member of the Raculmutese, a mutual aid society for Sicilians, and he did donate $25 towards the construction of Hamilton’s Casa d’italia, but purely from a “business point-of-view.”  Lastly, he hadn’t returned to Italy since his arrival in Canada and his family was very much “pro-British.”

Despite his attempt to thwart claims against him, Parisi was sent to Petawawa Internment Camp on August 15, 1940.  In his absence, his brother-in-law, Baldasaro Spatazzo, ran the hotel for him.  There was mention of Parisi’s brother, but it is unclear why he was not interned or why he did not take over the hotel instead of Spatazzo.

During his internment, Parisi continued to fight for his innocence.  He paid a lawyer to have him released.  Parisi stated that leading up to the war he attended a meeting for the Red Cross and Home Defence, and that in 1939, he donated $85 to the Red Cross.  Receipts for this and other similar donations were sent to the Minister of Justice as a way to help his appeal for release.  Parisi believed that he was targeted by jealous people who ill-informed authorities so that he could be interned.  One individual was Dr. Agro, who Parisi claimed was bitter after his refusal to help him build an Italian building on Barton Street.  

JD Hyndman reviewed Parisi’s case and described him as a “rough-looking person.”  Witnesses included insurance agent Ralph McKay, who described Parisi as “a very honest and upright man.”  He further claimed that before Italy joined the war, Parisi said, “‘You could not blame the Italian people but just Mussolini and that it would be a good thing if someone took him out and shot him.’” Another witness, Rev. Father Charles Mascari, found Parisi “to be a good, hard-working honest man who gave subscriptions to many organizations.”  Mascari stated that many types of organizations met at Casa d’italia for social events and that “[Parisi] knew they were doing nothing wrong and that it was like any ordinary racial club.” Hyndmand reported: “I might add that towards the conclusion of the case I asked Constable Touchie, of the R.C.M.P., who cross-examined some of the witnesses, whether he had any evidence to offer and he states that he had not.”  Hyndman recommended Parisi’s release and on June 28, 1941, almost a year later, Parisi was a free man.

After the war, Parisi petitioned to the government for loss suffered as a result of his internment.  In his letter dated November 22, 1947, Parisi stated:

When I made my Oath of Allegiance before the Judge in 1925, I meant to become a loyal citizen of this Country; loyalty that I have always maintained … and the certificate of naturalization which I have received gave me all the rights and privileges, as well as duties, as a British Citizen; rights and privileges which were taken from me at the time of my arrest, when the [RCMP] came to declare me under arrest by order of the Minister of Justice.  I made no protest at that time and followed them.  While they took me to Toronto they hand cuffed me as if I was a bad criminal, and which I did not expect according the laws of this Country, without a formal crime charge.

Parisi further details the many expenses that he incurred during this time, such as $550 ($25/week in salary plus $25/week for room-and-board) paid out to his brother-in-law for operating his hotel.  Another $700 was spent on lawyer fees for Parisi’s release and then $150 towards the Custodian of Enemy Property for the handling of Parisi’s affairs.  More importantly, Parisi was forced to sell his business for $12, 000 (which he believed was valued at $30, 000) after loss of business due to discrimination and boycotting of his hotel, even after his release.  Parisi states: “Now I appeal to the Canadian Government to take my case into consideration on the ground that … I have been hand-cuffed, forced to live among common criminals at the jail, my name stained and the loss of about $30,000.00.”

It is unknown what became of Parisi’s appeal.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga
 
SOURCES:

• Archives of Ontario, Order Sons of Italy, Grand Lodge Records: Raimondo Parisi, Petition.  22 Nov 1947, F4378.
• Hamilton Ontario List.
• Library and Archives Canada, JD Hyndman Fonds: MG30, E 182, Vol. 14.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 681, Internee File 6028 “Raimondo (Raymond) Parisi.”
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 3563, Part 1.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3569, File E.
• Minister’s Orders List, V1 & V4.

POW #: P449
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: February 19, 1942
NATURALIZED: December 15, 1924
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION:

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Luigi Pascale and his wife lived at 2071 Hampton Ave. in Montreal. They had three adult children: a married daughter, a son serving in the Canadian Air Force, and a second son who wanted to enlist in the Canadian forces.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Pascale did not always support Italy’s fascist regime:

Pasquale … was previously opposed to the Fascist regime but having been wounded in the Great War was entitled to a pension from the Italian Government. It is reported that this individual’s pension was cancelled due to his anti-Fascist [sic] tendencies. More recently, the pension was restored to Mr. Pasquale and he became President of the Dopo Lavoro [sic] at Montreal.

Pascale, along with Italian school teacher Professor Arrigo De Bernardo, assisted in organizing an Italian summer camp at Rawdon Quebec during the last two weeks of July 1937. The camp was modeled on those that existed in Italy and 80 children attended. They were taught to sing Italian songs, learn the Italian language, history and culture. Montreal store keepers were thought to have provided food and provisions to the camp. There were rumours that similar camps existed near Toronto and Winnipeg but no hard evidence was found.

Pascale’s release conditions were as follows: he had to report to RCMP once a month, could not change his place of residence or leave Montreal without the consent of RCMP, and was forbidden to be involved in fascist activities or organizations.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces, RG 24, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, CSIS: RG 146, Vol. 97, File AH-1999/00227, RCMP, “The Organization and Activities of the Italian Fascist Party in Canada,” Ottawa, 1937.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 674, Internee File 5323 “Luigi Pascale.”

POW #: P736
ARRESTED: June 20, 1940
RELEASED: March 03, 1942
NATURALIZED: January 10, 1933
BORN: September 14, 1909
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Niagara Region
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Labourer, Furnace Department, Canadian Carborundum Company Ltd.

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and reporting monthly

There is very little information known about Vincenzo Pascuzzi. The reasons for his arrest and release are not available. His name appears on the spring 1940 government list of “important members of the fascio naturalized whose interrogation is recommended.” The Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP) maintained a file on this individual, which noted that he had life insurance with the Order Sons of Italy and assets totalling about $2150.

Biographical information is lacking.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro
 

Do you know…
What was the extent of Pascuzzi’s involvement with the fascio?
What happened to Pascuzzi after the war?
 

SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 658, Internee File 4059, “Vincenzo Pascuzzi.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, C11-19-2-3-pt 4.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3569, File E.

POW #:
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: July 09, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Unknown
OCCUPATION: Owned a cigar business

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Enrico Pasquale was the owner of the Italian-language newspaper L’Italia. In the early 1920s, he was very active in the Montreal lodge for the Order Sons of Italy. 

On August 11, 1937, Pasquale was elected as treasurer of Montreal’s Casa d’Italia. He was also an advisor on the executive committee of the dopolavoro.

Pasquale’s brother Panfilo Pasquale was also interned during World War II. A third brother, Edward, was detained temporarily by police and then released.

Following his release from the Petawawa Internment Camp, Pasquale had to report monthly to Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was not allowed to be associated with any Italian organizations for the duration of the war.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 

SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, CSIS: RG 146, Vol. 97, File AH-1999/00227, RCMP, “The Organization and Activities of the Italian Fascist Party in Canada,” Ottawa, 1937.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3 Part 6, Letter from Louis St. Laurent, Minister of Justice, to S.T. Wood, RCMP Commissioner, 9 July 1942.
• Salvatore, Filippo. Fascism and the Italians of Montreal: An Oral History, 1922-1945. Toronto: Guernica, 1998.

POW #: P411
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: November 03, 1940
NATURALIZED: March 1923
BORN: 1888
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Owned dried meat importing business

Panfilo Pasquale arrived in Canada in 1900 at the age of 12. He returned to Italy for two years during the early 1920s to visit his parents. Pasquale and his wife had five children: Lazzaro (26), Angelo (24), Annie (23), Louise (16) and Caesar (13). 

Pasquale’s dried meet importing business was located at 416 Bonsecours St. His three oldest children ran the business while he was interned at Petawawa.

Pasquale was interned because the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) believed he was a member of Montreal’s Fascio Giovanni Luparini. However, a report by an RCMP informant known as No. 17 stated,

[Pasquale] is a good Italian and at one time was also patriotic, but during at least the last six years he has never participated to any patriotic manifestation. In fact, he was more or less anti-Fascist [sic] and for this reason he was not well-looked upon by the consular and Fascist authorities.  There even existed rancours [sic] between him and his brother Enrico Pasquale on account of Fascist politics. He could be defined as a good ‘Canadian’ but not a ‘Fascist.’

Pasquale’s brother Enrico Pasquale was also interned during World War II. A third brother, Edward, was detained temporarily by police and then released. 

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 649, Internee File 3324 “Pasquale Panfilo.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3 Part 2, Letter from Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice, to S.T. Wood, RCMP Commissioner, 23 Oct. 1940.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3 Part 2, Letter from N.A. Robertson, Chair of the Inter-Departmental Committee, to Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice, 18 Oct. 1940.

POW #: P1047
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: July 10, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN: January 28, 1899
DIED: January 26, 1961

CAMP(S): Kananaskis, Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Vancouver
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Coal Miner (1922-28); Partner, Montreal Bakery (1930-34); Owner, Paris Bakery (1934-c.1942)

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and reporting twice a month to the RCMP in Vancouver

Santo Pasqualini arrived in Canada from Udine, Italy in 1922 and worked as a coal miner in Mountain Park, Alberta, for approximately six years. He then moved to Vancouver to work in a fishing fleet. He became a citizen (a naturalized British subject) in 1929.

In 1930, Pasqualini and Luciano Zanon became partners at the Montreal Bakery in Vancouver. In 1933, he returned to Italy where he met and married Alice Vit. She became a citizen in 1940. The following year, with their $2000 share from the partnership at the Montreal Bakery, the couple opened the Paris Bakery on Powell St. in Vancouver. Santo and Alice Pasqualini were also raising two children, Lino and Lina, while establishing a new business.

According to his wife Alice, Pasqualini was a member of the local fascio, the Circolo Giulio Giordani. She said that they considered it an Italian community club: no one knew that the club had political ties. Pasqualini joined primarily for the travel benefits. He believed membership entitled him to free or cheap trips to Italy, sponsored by the Italian government, for the Anno Santo (Holy Year) in 1940. The Pasqualinis wanted to visit family members in Italy.

On June 10, 1940, at approximately 3:00 p.m., Pasqualini was at home sleeping after having worked through the night. According to conflicting records, three or four Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) detectives and officers entered the home to question Pasqualini. Although he denied he was a fascist, he was handcuffed and arrested. The officers said his name was on the list. He was taken to a makeshift prison in the Canada Immigration Building, near the Georgia Street Bridge.

Alice was at work, and she only heard what happened later that day. Visitors were not permitted, but Alice learned that from the Georgia Street Bridge, one could see the windows where the men were detained. Alice went to see her husband from the bridge and waved her handkerchief. She did not see him again for 25 months.

After ten days, Pasqualini was moved to the Kananaskis Internment Camp in Alberta. Santo sent a letter to inform Alice of the transfer. They were allowed to send monthly letters, in English, which were censored. Since Alice could not write in English, family friend Cinna Sampido helped her to correspond with Pasqualini. A year later, Pasqualini was transferred to the camp at Petawawa. Once again, Alice was informed of the transfer through her husband’s letters. She did not receive a formal notice from the Canadian government.

During Pasqualini’s internment, his family suffered many hardships. The Paris Bakery closed. The family requested and received government relief – $26 a month. When Alice became extremely ill and was hospitalized, the children were separated and placed with family friends. Alice believes that her husband was finally released on compassionate grounds, due to the intervention of her family physician, Dr. Ragona, who wrote to the government on the family’s behalf. Other community members offered their support, including a silent benefactor who gave the family $10 a month while Alice was sick. And Father Bortignon provided emotional support.

Since the family bakery had been lost and work was hard to find, Pasqualini began working in construction – polishing terrazzo floors with a large cement grinder. He was able to buy a new home. And Alice’s health improved.

Pasqualini became ill due to the cement dust he breathed on the job. He was supposed to wear a mask, but chose not to for personal reasons. His health deteriorated over the years, and he died from a work-related respiratory condition in 1961.

Biography by Krystle Copeland
 
SOURCES:

• Alice D’Appolonia.” La Cisilute, Sept. 2002.
• D’Appolonia [Pasqualini], Alice. Vancouver, to Regress [sic] Committee, National Congress of Italian Canadians, Toronto, April 17, 1991.
• Interview with Alice D’Appolonia. March 18, 2011. Columbus Centre Collection.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 673, Internee File 5201, “Santo Pasqualini.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: F-3, Vol. 3563, Part 6.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: Vol. 3569, File E.
• Vancouver Committee Meeting: Redress Committee formed by CIBPA, CIAO, National Congress Members. c. 1990.

POW #: P353
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: January 28, 1941
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Other Ontario
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Co-owned a grocery store

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditional release

Luigi Pasquantonio was married to Ernestina Gentile and they lived at 161 James St. in Sault Ste. Marie. Pasquantonio co-owned a grocery store at 163 James St. with his brother-in-law John.

Pasquantonio was the Venerable (president) of the Sault Ste. Marie lodge of the Order Sons of Italy. The evidence used to justify his internment was a letter he wrote to G.B. Ambrosi, a former vice consul at Toronto:

Faithful to the principles of Italianism and of attachment to Fascism, on May 29 we showed in the Temple of the Order the film ‘Ninth Fascist Year’ which you thoughtfully have entrusted to the Grand Venerable Mr. Nicola Masi, I am sending you to the authorization of the Canadian authorities, and I am affixing to it a copy of the notice we distributed to the public on the occasion of the showing. We shall be grateful to you if you will cooperate in obtaining other films of this kind so that we may reveal to our emigrants more and more the excellence of Fascist Italy. Always at your disposal and at the command both of you of the Fatherland, I send you my greetings.

J.D. Hyndman, a judge appointed to review the cases of internees, did not feel that the letter was enough proof of Pasquantonio’s disloyalty to Canada because it was written in 1933 – a time when no conflict existed between Italy and the British Empire. Pasquantonio was also alleged to have expelled a member of the Order Sons for giving a fascist salute during an Armistice Day celebration.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 660, Internee File 4227 “Luigi Pasquantonio.”
• Library and Archives Canada, James Duncan Hyndman fonds:  MG30, E 182, Vol. 14, Letter to Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice, 20 Jan. 1941.

POW #: P567
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: April 15, 1941
NATURALIZED:
BORN: 1896
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Extra gang foreman, Maintenance of Way Department, Angus Shops, Canadian Pacific Railway

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditional release

Pasquale Passaretti came to Canada in 1910 and was preceded by his father. Passaretti began working for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1911. He was married and had five children ranging in age from five to seventeen. The Passarettis lived at 4600 Iberville St. in Montreal. With the loss of income that resulted from Pasaretti’s internment, his family was in danger of losing their home.

Passaretti had been a member of the dopolavoro until 1938; he was not a member of the fascio and had only been to the Casa d’Italia once to attend a baseball team banquet.

Following his release from the Petawawa Internment Camp, Passaretti could not get his job back with CPR. His lawyer, Francois Caron wrote to J.D. Hyndman, the judge appointed to review Passaretti’s case:

I cannot conceive how this man would be considered dangerous by the Department of Justice when you have recommended him for liberty and when your recommendation has been accepted. May I add in finishing … that my client has belonged to the union for 25 years, that he has obtained seniority among the employees and that therefrom he is entitled to certain privileges according to the agreements made between the company and the union. May I also say that if Passaretti find work at some place else, he will lose all his rights to a pension, all his rights for sickness and also all the money he has paid to the union.

I think it appears from the file that Passaretti is the father of a large family, that he owns a house which is not fully paid and that any refusal from the C.P.R. Company to hire this man will put him in such a position that he will lose his house and that his children will become indigent which does not seem what your Lordship desired when you decided that this man was not guilty of anything against the State. 

Whether Passaretti was able to return to the CPR is not known.   

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 

SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 684, Internee File 6358 “Pasquale Passaretti.”
• Library and Archives Canada, James Duncan Hyndman fonds:  MG30, E 182, Vol. 14, Letter from Francois Caron, 29 Oct. 1941.

POW #: P807
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: January 18, 1943
NATURALIZED: February 05, 1923
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Hamilton
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Owner, Cabot Macaroni Manufacturing Co.

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and agreeing to a special undertaking

Nello Pataracchia owned a house at 239 Park St. North in Hamilton, where he lived with his wife, Ida Georgi Pataracchia, and five children: two sons, ages 10 and 6, and three daughters, ages 9, 8, and 4. The couple owned a rental property located at 68 Currie Street in St. Catharines, Ontario. Pataracchia also owned a 1937 Studebaker Coach. His business, Cabot Macaroni Manufacturing Co., was located at 325 James St. North in Hamilton. 

On June 10, 1940, Pataracchia was arrested. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) records indicate that the family home was searched that day and that the arresting officer, Sgt. Coburn, seized the following items: an envelope (containing $104.95), cheques (totalling $900), and certificates for 1214 shares of capital stock of St. Catharines Wine Company of Canada Ltd., St. Catharines Hotels Ltd., and Canada Balsam Products Co. Ltd.

In a statement by Price, Waterhouse & Co. on November 25, 1940, Pataracchia’s total assets were estimated at $67,904.43. This included the two residential properties, balances at several bank accounts, the Cabot Macaroni Manufacturing Co., and the certificates of shares.

While interned, Pataracchia authorized his employees, Sam Principi and Guy D’Allesandro, to jointly manage the business. M.V. Galvin, assistant bookkeeper, indicated in his letter to Pataracchia, that the company’s major clients returned stock and cancelled orders, thus resulting in a slight downturn in the business. However, he wrote:

…it is still in good shape, all bills having been met promptly and expenses kept down… Things seem to be taken care of very minutely and I do not think your interests are suffering in any way. The children are going to Loretto Academy which I suppose you already know. Mrs. Pataracchia receives $100 per month from the business for her support and the support of the children and is also getting the taxes paid out of the business, and coal and light and gas bills. I imagine she is comfortably provided for and if she is not I would be willing to help in any way.

The Department of Justice with whom I had long conversations last August can be counted upon to treat you very fairly and as they pointed out at that time your internment is precautionary only and not to be considered by you as a punishment. The staff and myself look forward to the time when you will be back again… (Letter from M.V. Galvin to Nello Pataracchia, Hamilton, October 31, 1940).

A few months later, Pataracchia wrote to his wife:

Dear Ida,

I am going to write you again today to assure you of my affection. I can now write you only a letter and one postcard a month, the possibilities of writing have taken a turn from bad to worse. Please be patient. I am feeling quite all right, but when I think of you, of your situation and consider all other things realizing your pains, then the labour only is keeping me away from anxieties as to your poor health and I pray to God asking him to help you, to make you strong and to preserve your health… when I was detained in Hamilton, Lame [illegible] told me that Mr. Plumer could perhaps give you a job or some help. You could get in touch with him telephone, No. 2729.

Many sincere regards to you and to the children (Letter from Nello Pataracchia to Ida Georgi Pataracchia, Petawawa, January 4, 1941).

In October 1941, Pataracchia wrote to the Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP) requesting that his wife’s monthly allowance be increased to $150. He also asked that his wife take over from Principe and D’Allesandro as power of attorney and that she handle his personal accounts. His requests were granted only after he wrote again, one month later. The increase in Ida Pataracchia’s monthly allowance made two family trips possible: to Camp Petawawa in April 1942 (cost: $100) and to Camp Fredericton in August 1942 (cost: $200).

During Pataracchia’s internment, letters were written on his behalf for his release. In February 1941, Sullivan and Sullivan Lawyers wrote to Price, Waterhouse and Co. stating that Ida Pataracchia had initiated a petition for the release of her husband. In November 1942, Galvin wrote to the Toronto RCMP, claiming to have acquired new information which he would present to the Minister of Justice. Galvin believed that his boss was interned because of a $500 loan made out to the Dopolavoro Society in Hamilton, which appeared in Pataracchia’s 1935 income tax return. Galvin had heard of other internees who had made similar loans to such organizations and who were released after obtaining an affidavit from the RCMP showing it was only a loan and nothing more. The RCMP’s response to Galvin was that there was no record of this loan but of one made out to Casa d’Italia in Hamilton for $600. This was validated by an earlier letter from Pataracchia to CEP, where he inquired of the supposed sale of Casa d’Italia on Barton St. East in Hamilton. Pataracchia stated that the owner of Casa d’Italia owed him $600  (Letter from Nello Pataracchia to CEP, Petawawa, July 5, 1941).

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga

Do you know…
Was Pataracchia more involved with the dopolavoro than we know of?
Why did Pataracchia remove Principe and D’Allesandro as powers of attorney?

SOURCES:

• Hamilton Ontario List.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117-A-3, Vol. 665, Internee File 4747, “Nello Pataracchia.”
• Minister’s Orders, List V1 & V6.

POW #: P566
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: March 08, 1941
NATURALIZED: 1926
BORN: 1898
DIED: May 20, 1974

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Businessman, Tailor

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditional release. As Pateras did not become naturalized until 1926, he had to report to the RCMP in Montreal immediately upon arrival so that his registration and parole, in compliance with existing regulations, would receive attention.

Salvatore Pateras was born in Italy in 1898. He came to Canada around 1925. Two years later, he married Maria (Mary). She was born in Montreal to Italian parents. The Pateras lived on Congrave St. in Montreal. They had three children: a daughter and two sons.

Pateras was arrested on June 10, 1940, at the factory where he worked. His daughter Teresa was 11 years old. She remembers that her aunt, who worked with her father, called the house around 5:00 p.m. to inform her mother. Shortly thereafter, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) came to search the house. Teresa recalled the conversation between her mother and the RCMP. The officers said that Salvatore Pateras was arrested on suspicion of being a fascist, because he appeared in a photo with men who were known fascists. Teresa remembers her mother arguing that the picture was innocently taken at a community event, perhaps a church feast. According to his daughter, Pateras was non-political and he was careful not to be involved with any fascist organizations.

Salvatore Pateras was interned on July 4, 1940, at Camp Petawawa. His internment lasted eight months. During Pateras’ absence, the family was evicted from their apartment by their non-Italian landlady. However, Maria’s parents were very supportive and bought the family a house to live in.

After his release from camp, Salvatore Pateras went back to working as a tailor. Eventually, he bought a tailor company and managed forty employees.

Pateras passed away on May 20, 1974.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga

SOURCES:

• Interview with Teresa Pateras Ventura. June 28, 2011. Columbus Centre Collection.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 2163, Internee File 9979, “Salvatore Pateras.”
• Minister’s Orders, List V1 & V3.

POW #: P897
ARRESTED: September 13, 1940
RELEASED: March 08, 1942
NATURALIZED: No
BORN: 1896
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Toronto
MARITAL STATUS: Divorced
OCCUPATION: Building contractor

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Eugene Pattuti arrived at Halifax aboard the Dante Alighieri in July 1923. He applied for naturalization in 1934 but his application was not approved. At the time of his arrest, Pattuti was living at 36 Shaftesbury Ave. in Toronto. However, his Custodian of Enemy Property file indicates that he lived in Detroit for an unknown period of time in the mid 1930s. While there he ran a beer garden. Pattuti also divorced his wife Vera Yates in Detroit in 1935. Pattuti had a criminal record stemming from an unknown charge in Sudbury in 1936.

Pattuti’s release conditions were as follows: he had to report to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) once a month, could not change his place of residence or leave Toronto without the consent of RCMP, and was forbidden to be involved in fascist activities or organizations. 

After Pattuti was released from the Petawawa Internment Camp, he moved to Montreal where he was briefly employed for the Quebec Paving Company.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 684, Internee File 6338 “Eugene Pattuti.”

POW #: P340
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: July 14, 1941
NATURALIZED: May 1926
BORN: September 20, 1895
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Windsor
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Plasterer

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditional release, but must report to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) upon arrival

Not much is known about Angelo Pavan. At the time of his arrest, he was 50 years old, a citizen (naturalized British subject) and married to Fiorina. The couple had three children: Aldo was 18, Dena 16 and Velma 6. Pavan was a plasterer. He owned his home and had a 1937 Ford truck. 

He was processed at the Windsor Jail, where the note in the police register indicated the offence charged as “Investigation.” He had $10.60 on his person when arrested. He was released to military authorities and transferred to Petawawa Internment Camp on June 18, 1940. On July 14, 1941, Pavan was released; his brother, Eugenio Pavan, arrived at Petawawa that very same day as a transfer from Camp Kananaskis.

Pavan’s name appears on the spring 1940 government list of “important members of the fascio who are naturalized and whose internment is recommended.” The reasons for his release are not available. Other biographical information is lacking.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

Do you know…
Was Pavan an active member of the fascio?
What happened to Pavan after the war?
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces: RG 24, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 659, Internee File 4202, “Angelo Pavan.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, C11-19-2-3-pt 4.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3569, File E.
• Windsor Police Services Board and Windsor Police Service, RG 8, D Records of Operational Divisions 1915-1959, II. Administrative Division 1920-1957, 1. Criminal Records Branch – Prisoners Registers 1920-1950, Unit 11 [1940].

POW #: P1048
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: December 13, 1941
NATURALIZED:
BORN: 1898
DIED:

CAMP(S): Kananaskis, Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Vancouver
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Bricklayer, Pacific Mills

RELEASE NOTES: Ordered to report monthly

Eugenio Pavan was born in 1898 in Italy. He fought in World War I.  In 1920, he came to Canada, first arriving in Sault Ste. Marie and then moving to Windsor. He worked for a short time in Detroit.  In 1931, he moved to Vancouver.

Government files stated that he was arrested on June 10, 1940; however, in a 1990 meeting held by the Vancouver Committee Meeting: Redress Committee, Pavan stated he was arrested on June 29, 1940 at his workplace. He was a bricklayer at Pacific Mills and he had just bought a house for his family (four children). As a result of his internment, he lost his house and his job.

Pavan was interned at Kananaskis and Petawawa for about a year and a half. Ironically, on the day that he arrived at Petawawa, his brother, Angelo Pavan, was being sent home. While Pavan was gone, his wife had a nervous breakdown; also, one of his daughter’s broke her arm and a Dr. Ragone helped to treat her.

In Pavan’s own words:

What can I say? I lost the job, you know, manufacturing the “carta”, [wallpaper] I made decorations – the carta, for a company Pacific Mills, and they arrested me there. And I still don’t know the reason. I know I was a member of the group of Italian WWI veterans, called Italian War Veterans. I was the secretary and they took me away. I was away for 18 months. I worked from morning to night in the woods, every day.

Post-release, Pavan started his own business.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga
 

SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 2664, Internee File 18980 “Eugenio Pavan.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG18, Vol. 3569, File E.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG18, F-3, Vol. 3563, Part 5.
• Minister’s Orders List.
• Vancouver Committee Meeting: Redress Committee Formed by CIBPA, CIAO, National Congress Members. c. 1990.

POW #: P318
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: February 02, 1941
NATURALIZED:
BORN: April 24, 1911
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Other Ontario
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Labourer, Macassa Mines

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Maggiorno Pellarin was married to Ines and the couple had two children. The family lived at 2 Station Rd. in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Ines rented part of the home to boarders although it is unclear whether she did this prior to or as a result of her husband’s internment. She was collecting relief while Maggiorno was in Petawawa Internment Camp.

Pellarin’s release conditions were as follows: he had to report to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) once a month; he could not change his place of residence or leave Kirkland Lake without the consent of the RCMP; and he was forbidden to be involved in fascist activities or organizations.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 661, Internee File 4324 “Maggiorno Pellarin.”

POW #: P641
ARRESTED:
RELEASED: March 05, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Other Ontario
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Cook, Olympia Restaurant

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (4) (Defence of Canada Regulations)

There is very little information about Ercole Pellissero (a.k.a. Frank Sero). The reasons for his arrest and release are not available. The Custodian of Enemy Property maintained a file on this individual.

Biographical information is lacking.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

Do you know…
Why was Ercole Pellissero interned?
What happened to him after the war?
 
SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 670, Internee File 5021, “Ercole Pellissero.”

POW #: P828
ARRESTED: June 1940
RELEASED: April 21, 1941
NATURALIZED: Yes
BORN: August 19, 1891
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Niagara Region
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Business man, owner and operator of Thorold Concrete Block

Giuseppe Pennachetti was born on August 19, 1891 in Fermo, Marche, Italy. He arrived to Canada in 1914 and lived in Thorold until his brief return to Italy in 1922, where he married a lady named Maria. Pennachetti returned to Thorold that same year, bringing with him his new wife. The couple first lived on Albert St. and then moved to West St., where most Italian families lived. In 1923, they gave birth to their first son, Primo, and a year later their second son, John, was born. On September 13, 1926, Pennacchietti was naturalized. In 1927, his third son, Ennio (Andy) was born.

Pennachetti worked odd jobs here and there such as the collection and selling of firewood or ice ― cut from the frozen Lake Ontario during winter time. Eventually, he and a fellow named Joe Quattrim started their own small business making concrete blocks by hand. Eventually, Pennachietti split from his partner and continued the business in his own backyard. This expanded to Pennachetti excavating basements of homes and providing the concrete blocks to create the basement walls. Pennachetti let his wife, Maria, be the face of the family because she was the more social of the two. He was illiterate often signing his name with an “X.” He also did not become fluent in the English language.

Pennachetti was arrested in June of 1940; he was held at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds in Toronto before being sent to Petawawa. At the time, his family had grown to include another son, Lou, who was just three years old. In Pennachietti’s absence, his wife and his two eldest sons kept the business going. According to grandson Leonard Pennachetti, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) came with forms one day to try and get his grandmother to sign over the business but she refused. The family struggled but with the help of the local parish priest they received support.

Leonard first heard of the internment story from his grandfather on his 18th birthday. He recounts the story as he was told:

It was my dad who met the RCMP who showed up in the yard. And rather than asking for his parents they said, “Where’s the dynamite? Where does your father keep the dynamite?” And my father, being a kid and being deferential to authority, he took them up to the loft in the barn, which was behind the house and showed it to them… So they ― I presume ― used that as a pretext to arrest my grandfather and they took him away. And they [the family] had no idea where he went. He was gone and I think it was the intervention of the parish priest at Holy Rosary Church in Thorold who was able to find out what was going on.

An investigation into Pennachetti’s affairs found that he was a member of the Order Sons of Italy until 1939. However, Pennachetti stated that his reason for joining was simply to take advantage of insurance benefits which entitled him to free doctor’s visits and $200 in case of death. He paid a membership fee of 65 cents/month.

More pressing an issue, however, was the fact that Pennachetti had dynamite on his property. Government records state: “With regard to the finding of dynamite in his garage, he states that about four years ago he engaged two men to use the dynamite for him and that one of them must have left what had remained in his garage, and that as a matter of fact he did not know it was in his garage.” A witness testified that Pennachetti had bought from him large trees as tall as nine feet and that these were the trees that were cut down to create the dynamite. According to Pennachetti’s grandson, the dynamite was actually used to clear farm land (one of his grandfather’s other means of income). Pennachetti suspected that his internment had in part to do with his previous business partner who he parted ways with due to differences. 

JD Hyndman concluded at Pennachetti’s hearing:

I felt that the only serious point in the whole evidence was the possession of dynamite, but that has been fully and satisfactorily explained by the witnesses abovementioned, and I am satisfied that his membership in the Sons of Italy has no significance whatsoever as bearing on his loyalty but was purely for the purpose of insurance which a poor family such as this would naturally desire.

Hyndman recommended release and in April of 1941, Pennachetti returned home to his family. 

Shortly after his release from camp, his two eldest sons served in the Canadian Forces ― one was stationed in British Columbia intercepting Japanese signals using the Morse code. After the boys’ return from the war, they convinced their father to buy machinery so as to expand the family business. They changed the name from Thorold Concrete Block to General Concrete and it became quite successful with additional plants opened up in Stoney Creek, Toronto, and Morrisburg. 

The family also bought land in St. Catharines, when they suspected business would grow once the Welland Canal was expanded. When that didn’t happen, they instead turned the land into a vineyard. A second purchase of a lot on Cave Spring Rd. in Beamsville led to the success of Cave Spring Winery, which today is still in successful operation by the Pennachetti family.

Leonard remembers his grandfather as a simple man who was “pretty quiet and unassuming.” Further, he says that he owes his knowledge of grape-growing to him: “I became my grandfather’s designated helper. I was too young to work at the [cement] block plant and so he kind of recruited me. And I mean I loved being with him so it wasn’t a hard thing for me to do. So I got interested in grape growing through that experience.”

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga
 
SOURCES:

• Interview with Leonard Pennachetti, grandson of Giuseppe Pennachetti. November 23, 2011. Columbus Centre Collection.
• Library and Archives Canada, JD Hyndman Fonds: MG30, E182, Vol. 14.
• Minister’s Orders List, V1 & V3.

POW #: P344
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: December 22, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN: March 21, 1899
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Windsor
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Shoemaker

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Vito Peralto boarded at 358 Tuscarora St. in Windsor prior to his arrest. He was employed as a shoemaker for Steve Paris at 531 Ouellette Ave. He was married; both his wife and child were living in Italy. Following his release from the Fredericton Internment Camp, Peralto lived at 320 Tuscarora St. and may have boarded there as well.

Peralto’s release conditions were as follows: he had to report to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) once a month, could not change his place of residence or leave Windsor without the consent of RCMP, and was forbidden to be involved in fascist activities or organizations.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 660, Internee File 4205 “Vito Peralto.”

POW #: P294/P389*
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: September 25, 1943
NATURALIZED:
BORN: January 30, 1887
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Toronto
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Owner, Italian Publishing Company

Attilio Perilli was the owner of the Italian Publishing Company and was responsible for publishing the Italian-language fascist newspaper Il Bollettino Italo-Canadese and The Thunderbolt, the journal of the Canadian Union of Fascists. The Italian Publishing Company was also a print shop. Perilli also acted as a commission agent for a few New York firms that shipped coffee to Italy.

While interned, Perilli’s printing press was repossessed by the Toronto Type Foundry Company for missed payments. All of his personal belongings were sold as well.

According to historian Angelo Principe, Perilli published a camp version of Il Bollettino Italo-Canadese while interned at Petawawa Internment Camp.

After his release, Perilli relocated to 3048 Eastchester Rd., Bronx, New York City. In a letter to a friend intercepted by the Canadian Directorate of Censorship, Perilli explained his decision to move to the United States:

In truth, for my part, in order to feel completely free I thought it opportune to leave CANADA and return to NEW YORK, where it isn’t necessary to register or report to anyone. A good big difference between those who say they are citizens of CANADA and those who are citizens of AMERICA ….  The Canadian authorities, properly those of TORONTO, have disposed of absolutely all my property; it is enough to say that after having sold all my machinery and what is inherent to the estate, they also sold everything that concluded my personal patrimony, that is, furniture, clothing, linen, etc. If I hadn’t had a suit in my valise at the camp I should have had to go about the TORONTO STREETS in the jacket the camp authorities might have given me. I am delighted by their prowess, even if the law did require it. In conclusion, if I hadn’t had friends in TORONTO, after 40 months I should have been forced to borrow money and a change of clothing, and all this because they took me to camp simply for protection, being unable to accuse me of anything other than having been born in ITALY. Will think of this next. Tell my friends I am in NEW YORK, if I can be of help to anyone. 

*For unknown reasons, Attilio Perilli’s Custodian of Enemy Property file listed two prisoner numbers.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk

SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 644, Internee File 3077 “Attilio Perilli.”
• Principe, Angelo. The Darkest Side of the Fascist Years: The Italian-Canadian Press: 1920-1942. Toronto: Guernica, 1999.

POW #: P631
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: March 19, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN: 1898
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Hamilton
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Paper-hanger; Bootlegger

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations)

Some of the Italian-Canadian internees seemed to have been interned for their criminal activities. In this group, one would include Michele (Mike) Perri (alias Tony Scalandro). His older brother Rocco Perri (also interned) was “Canada’s King of the Bootleggers” and one of the most prominent mob bosses in Canadian history.

The Perri brothers were born in southern Italy, in Calabria, and were brought up in a pastoral community. It is unclear when Mike Perri arrived in Canada; we know he was present in the country in the late 1920s. His infamous brother had settled in Ontario in 1908.

Perri had married Anna Barbaro in Italy. The couple had children. He had left his family in Platì. In the early 1930s, he lived with his brother in the mansion Rocco Perri owned in Hamilton. He was involved with the housekeeper, Mary Wlatyka or Latika (spellings of her last name vary based on different sources). Although the housekeeper was also married, Perri and Wlatyka seemed to have a common-in-law relationship and are noted as cohabitating in government documents.

Mike Perri was present on August 13, 1930 when Bessie Starkman (his brother’s common-in-law wife and business partner) was murdered in the garage of their home.  He testified at the inquest into her murder, which was never solved. With Bessie’s death, Rocco Perri’s will was changed to name his brother as the primary beneficiary of Rocco’s possessions. However, even brotherly love and trust was limited – Rocco Perri included a caveat in his will that should his beneficiaries be suspected in causing his death, they would forfeit their share of the estate.

Mike Perri was involved in his brother’s illegal activities: bootlegging, gambling and prostitution. He fled the scene of a police raid on October 5, 1932. Apparently he escaped barefoot, but later turned himself in. He was released on bail. The outcome of any trial on the matter is not known.

In 1938, Mike Perri travelled to Italy for the wedding of his daughter Caterina, accompanied by other known Perri associates. His brother remained in Canada.

Throughout the 20s and 30s, the authorities had been largely unsuccessful in stopping Rocco Perri’s criminal activities. Instead, Perri seemed to undertake his “business” with impunity, even admitting his bootlegging in newspaper interviews. Clearly involved politically and well-connected – Perri bribed and corrupted Canadian government officials of every kind – chiefs of police, judges, customs officers, MPs etc. However, in the police records of both brothers, there is no indication of any fascist activities or support for the Italian government’s policies.

It seems the outbreak of war against Italy provided a pretext for the arrest of Rocco and Mike Perri. Both brothers were quickly arrested. They were handcuffed and taken to Toronto, held on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition.

After his release, Mike Perri ran a grocery store on John St. South in Hamilton and seems to have stayed away from criminal activity. Released later, his brother Rocco disappeared in 1944. The criminal activity in Hamilton, including drug trafficking, was under the control of previous Perri associates, now affiliated with the Magaddino mafia family based in Buffalo.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

Do you know…
What happened to Mike Perri in the late 1940s?
When and how did he die?
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP): RG 117, Vol 2652, File 18585.
• Nicaso, Antonio. Rocco Perri: The Story of Canada’s Most Notorious Bootlegger. Mississauga: John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd, 2004.

POW #: P629
ARRESTED:
RELEASED: March 05, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Toronto
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Labourer

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (4) (Defence of Canada Regulations)

There is very little biographical information about Phillip Perri.

The reasons for his internment seem to be due to the fact that he was already in police custody for vagrancy: “We understand that the above party was unmarried and was handed over for internment by the Toronto city police who had arrested him on a vagrancy charge. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police interrogation report and exhibits do not disclose any evidence of Perri having had any assets at the date of his internment and it would not therefore appear to us that the Custodian has any further interest in this matter (Price Waterhouse Co to T. Laidlaw, Counsel for the Custodian, August 21, 1940).

It is unclear how this individual could be a serious threat to the security of the state.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro
 
SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 670, Internee File 5023, “Phillip Perri.”

POW #: P298
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: September 28, 1943
NATURALIZED:
BORN: December 29, 1887
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Hamilton
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Bootlegger; Gangster and Crime Boss

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and agreeing to a Special Undertaking

Rocco Perri (born Perre) was a notorious and well-known criminal throughout the 1920s and 1930s. He was the founder of a bootleg empire that included Ontario and contacts in the Maritimes, New York City, Buffalo, and Chicago. Known as “Canada’s King of the Bootleggers”, he ranks among the most prominent mob bosses in Canadian history.

Perri was born in southern Italy, in Calabria, and was brought up in the pastoral community of Platì. He left home at 16 years of age, travelling to the United States. He arrived in Montreal, Canada in 1908 but soon thereafter settled in Ontario. Perri struggled during these early years, finding seasonal work as a waiter and labourer. In pursuit of cash, he seems to have engaged in some criminal activities, including extortion and arson. In 1913, while in Toronto, he ran off with his married landlady Bessie Starkman Tobin. The couple first moved to the Niagara Region where Perri found work as a labourer on the construction of the Welland Canal. In 1915, they settled in Hamilton, where they opened a fruit and vegetable stand and later a grocery store.

With the passing of the Ontario Temperance Act in 1916, Rocco Perri and his common-in-law wife Bessie began their bootlegging empire. Their names soon often came up in police investigations pertaining to the illegal sale and distribution of alcohol, prostitution and illegal gambling. Perri’s name was also connected to a number of brutal murders and killings involving known associates. In the late 1920s, Bessie Starkman, who was Perri’s equal partner in the running of his criminal network, became involved with drug trafficking. It’s unclear how involved Perri was in this aspect of the business.

In 1921, Perri had applied to become a citizen (naturalized British subject). Approved by the county judge, the application was rejected by the Department of State; government files referred to Perri’s known criminal activities as the reason. Around the same time, Perri began an affair with Olive Routledge, which resulted in two daughters Autumn and Catherine. Learning of his relationship with Bessie Starkman and that he did not intend to marry her, Routledge committed suicide in 1922. Perri was named in later newspaper reports on the suicide and testified at the inquest held into the death. He seems to not have taken responsibility for the children (although admitting he was the father). The girls were raised by their maternal grandparents.

In 1926, Perri was charged with manslaughter and customs offences resulting from the deaths of 45 people in Canada and New York State due to alcohol poisoning. Referring to himself as a macaroni salesman, he denied involvement and was acquitted. During the case, Perri was represented by Charles Bell, who had been elected and was serving as a Liberal MP.

In 1927, along with Bessie, Perri was called to testify before a Royal Commission on customs. During their testimony, they claimed to have $98.78 in their bank account. Due to these claims, they were later charged with perjury. Charges against Bessie Starkman were dropped; Perri pleaded guilty. This would result in his first prison sentence. As prisoner #40075, he served five months in 1928.

On the night of August 13, 1930, Bessie Starkman was murdered in the garage of their home. Perri had been present when unknown gunman opened fire. Starkman died instantly. Some reports claimed Perri’s involvement or complicity in her murder. Others indicated that she had been killed due to a debt incurred over a drug deal with American mobsters. Known Perri associates, Dominic Antonio (Tony) Pugliese, Tony Papalia, and Frank Silvestro were all named in connection to her death.

During the inquest into Bessie’s murder, which remains unsolved today, rampant discrimination and italophobia were evident. There were calls for the round up of the whole Italian community and arguments for the declaration of martial law to deal with the “Italian” problem. This sentiment would later return in full force with the Italian declaration of war in 1940.

Perri inherited most of Bessie’s estate. With her death, Rocco Perri’s will was changed to name his brother Michele (Mike) Perri as the primary beneficiary of his possessions. However, even brotherly love and trust was limited – Rocco Perri included a caveat in his will that should his beneficiaries be suspected in causing his death, they would forfeit their share of the estate.

After Bessie’s death, Perri’s criminal success waned. He did open a gambling house in Hamilton with John Taglierino and maintained his lavish lifestyle. However, other players affiliated with the Magaddino mafia family based in Buffalo were wrestling control of his territory.

In 1937, Annie Newman moved in with Perri; she became his business as well as life partner. In an escalation of the turf wars, unsuccessful attempts were made on Perri’s life, including two bombings of his home and of his car in 1938.

In the summer of 1939, Perri and Newman were charged with bribery and conspiracy with respect to customs offences. The trail was heard in Windsor and both were represented by Paul Martin, who was also elected and serving as a Liberal MP. Later, he would be a cabinet minister and senator. Martin’s defense was very effective; some would say prescient, as he countered the prosecution evidence and strategy. Perri and Newman were acquitted in February 1940.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the authorities had been largely unsuccessful in stopping Rocco Perri’s criminal activities. Instead, Perri seemed to undertake his “business” with impunity, even admitting his bootlegging in newspaper interviews. Clearly involved politically and well-connected, Perri bribed and corrupted Canadian government officials of every kind –chiefs of police, judges, customs officers, and MPs. Although he is noted as an important member of the fascio in government lists dating to spring 1940, in his police records there is no indication of any fascist activities or support for the Italian government’s policies. It seems the outbreak of war against Italy provided a pretext for his arrest, and those of other criminals with whom he associated.

On June 10, 1940, Perri was arrested along with his brother. They were handcuffed and first taken to Toronto, held on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition. They were interned in Camp Petawawa, where Perri and the other mobsters (like Giovanni Durso and others already mentioned) kept mainly to themselves. Regardless, Perri was well-liked by the other internees. He shared his parcels and played cards with the others. Perri was known to saw wood and work in the kitchen.

During his internment, the Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP) tried to determine Perri’s assets and his net worth. The Income Tax Department of Hamilton noted they had made a lengthy investigation into Perri’s affairs in 1936 with no results. A memo dated July 5, 1940 in the CEP file further notes that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) stated they had no information of value in investigating Perri’s financial affairs. Perri himself in April 1942 claimed to have no bank accounts, securities, real estate, insurance, claims and debts.

As his internment continued, Perri suffered from depression. His absence from Hamilton allowed Magaddino’s men to gain control of the territory and his business. In camp, he was reported to have an altercation with Tony Papalia, briefly interned in 1941. Perri accused Papalia of betraying him by befriending Stefanio Magaddino. The argument was ended by the intervention of the camp guards. 

Perri was transferred with the remaining Italian Canadians to Fredericton Internment Camp in July 1942. He was released from Camp Fredericton in September 1943. Among the terms of his release, he was not allowed to return to Hamilton and instead settled in Toronto where he stayed with Annie Newman’s sister. Newman herself was serving a three-year sentence in Kingston on a gold theft and smuggling charge. Perri claimed to be working as a janitor and doorman for the Metro Theatre in Toronto, which Newman owned.

In April 1944, a meeting was held at the house of his cousin Joseph Serge in Hamilton and attended by Perri and some of his former associates. On April 23, Perri received a phone call – he was supposed to meet with Tony Silvestro. Instead, he vanished. On April 25, Serge contacted police to report Perri’s disappearance. A suicide note was found in Perri’s car.

Some accounts suggest Perri was murdered on April 23, and his body dumped into Hamilton harbor; his enemies wanted him dead. Of interest, information in the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) suggests that after his disappearance, Perri was engaged in drug-smuggling operations from Mexico. Perri is believed to have died in 1953 but the details as to where or how are disputed. His surviving family claims he had a massive heart attack.     

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP): RG 117, Vol. 705, File 22000.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol 3563, File C-11-19-2-5, Part 4.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol 3569, File E.
• Nicaso, Antonio. Rocco Perri: The Story of Canada’s Most Notorious Bootlegger. Mississauga: John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd, 2004.

POW #: P981
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: June 20, 1941
NATURALIZED:
BORN: 1874
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Unknown
OCCUPATION: Doctor

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditionally (See below)

Dr. Alfredo (Alfred) Perrino was born in 1874.  He lived on St. Denis Street in Montreal, QC. 

Perrino was the second person to hold the post of Grande Venerabile for Montreal’s Grande Loggia, associated with the Order Sons of Italy. On June 10, 1940, Perrino was arrested and soon after, he was sent to Petawawa Internment Camp.

He was released with the following notes:  “Released unconditionally. As Perrino did not become naturalized until June 27, 1928, he must report to the RCMP, Montreal, immediately upon his arrival at that point, when the matter of his registration and parole, in compliance with existing regulations, will receive attention.”

His release was based on compassionate grounds as he was 67 years old and was confined to the camp’s hospital.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga
 

SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 694, Internee File 10688 “Alfredo Perrino.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, F 3, Vol. 3563, Part 4.
• Minister’s Orders List, V1 & V4.

POW #: P907
ARRESTED: October 29, 1940
RELEASED: September 1942
NATURALIZED: April 13, 1926
BORN: June 18, 1878
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Hamilton
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Labourer, Steel Company of Canada

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Eleuterio Perroni came to Canada in 1904 and worked as a labourer for the Canadian Pacific Railway between Sudbury and Toronto until 1914. That year he returned to Italy to serve in the Italian army. Back in Canada in 1923, Perroni settled in Sudbury and worked as a miner. In 1925 he re-located to Hamilton, where he lived at 8 Alpha St., and was hired by the Steel Company of Canada. On June 10, 1940, Perroni was suspended from his job because of pro-fascist sympathies. A.J. Stretton, of the Steel Company of Canada, claimed that Perroni had worn a fascist button and black shirt to work. He also made more than a few comments in support of fascism. However, in August 1940, Perroni was re-hired due to a labour shortage. Since the Steel Company of Canada was involved in work for the war effort, Perroni’s employment there gave authorities cause for concern.

Perroni admitted to membership in the dopolavoro, Fascio Giuseppe Tudisco and the Italian War Veterans Association during questioning by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Perroni was married to Filomena Di Gennaro and the couple had four adult children: Giovanni (b. 1908), Domenica (b. 1916), Louisa (b. 1918) and Pietro (b. 1920). It appears as though Filomena and the children lived in Italy.

Perroni’s release conditions were as follows: he had to report to the RCMP once a month; he could not change his place of residence or leave Hamilton without the consent of the RCMP; and he was forbidden any involvment with fascist activities or organizations.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 2070, Internee File 6484 “Eleuterio Perroni.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3 Part 2, Letter from RCMP to the Inter-Departmental Committee, 9 Oct. 1940.

POW #:
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED:
NATURALIZED: Yes
BORN: 1900
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Business man, owner/operator of New Fashion Tailoring

RELEASE NOTES: See below

Nicola (Nick) Petrella was born in Italy in 1900.  He moved to Canada in May of 1922, arriving in Quebec City. He became naturalized on April 8, 1937. 

In 1940, he was married with four children. They lived on Rousemount Blvd. in Montreal, QC.  He owned a business, New Fashion Tailoring, located on St. Hubert Street.

Based on a report from Special Agent 203, Petrella was a member of the fascio, the Italian War Veteran’s Association, the Italian Brotherhood Society of Canada, and the Casa D’Italia.  Clippings from L’Italia proved Petrella to be a president of the Fratellanza Italo-Canadese which was believed to be affiliated with the Fronte Unico Morale, an umbrella organization of Italian fascist organizations in Montreal.  In a 1937, Petrella received a diploma of ‘Benemerit’ by Alberto Severo Biffi, then secretary of the fascio organization at Casa D’Italia.

On June 10, 1940, Petrella was arrested and held at the local Bordeaux Jail.  In his absence, his brother-in-law, Martino, took over operations of the tailor shop at a rate salary of $20/week.  Mrs. Petrella received $35/week from the business and a delivery boy received $5/week.

The government’s file on Petrella includes letters from bill collectors, such as those from landlord, Theo Menard Limitee, who claimed that Petrella owed him several months of rent ($35/month).  Limitee inquired if he had the right to Petrella’s merchandise in the store and if he could rent the store out to another tenant in the meantime.  It is unknown what became of Limitee’s inquiry.

Another letter, dated January 16, 1941 from Price, Waterhouse & Co. to the Custodian of Enemy Property confirmed that Petrella was still being held at the Bordeaux Jail but was to be transferred to Petawawa shortly.

Petrella was released from internment on February 23, 1942 on the condition that he report monthly to the RCMP.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 668, Internee File “Nicola Petrella.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, F-3, Vol. 3563, Part 2.
• Minister’s Orders List, V1 & V2.

POW #: P623
ARRESTED: June 20, 1940
RELEASED: January 30, 1943
NATURALIZED: March 23, 1933
BORN: July 26, 1914
DIED: October 05, 1998

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Toronto
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Tailor and fitter

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Lorenzo (Lawrence) Francesco Paolo Petroro was born in the United States to Canadian-born Elvire Petroro and Camillo Petroro, an Italian. The family travelled extensively; they lived in the USA, Italy, and Montreal (Quebec). In 1933, Lorenzo Petroro became a citizen, a naturalized British subject. Along with his brother Emile, he remained in Canada when his family returned to Italy in 1938. Petroro then settled in Toronto in 1939.

At the time of his arrest, he was dating Lucy Eaboni. His name does appear on the government list dating to spring 1940 of “Important members of the fascio who are naturalized and whose internment is recommended”. Reportedly, his landlady had also notified authorizes that he possessed a photograph of Mussolini.

Petroro was held at the Don Jail before being taken to Petawawa Internment Camp. It is not known if he objected to his internment and whether hearings were held on his case. Petroro was among the Italian Canadians transferred from Petawawa to Fredericton Internment Camp in late 1942. We do not know what evidence supported his continued internment.

While interned at Fredericton, Petroro wrote to his girlfriend about paintings and a charcoal sketch of himself he was sending her:

The small one is oil painted with a coat of special varnish on it for protection against dust and humidity. A glass top is not suitable for it but the charcoal drawing does need it … Don’t laugh at the seriousness of the pose, it was advised so by the artist* claiming that all poses of paintings must be serious ones … I had to pose a dozen times 45 minutes each and believe it or not I was dozing each time. (Lawrence Petroro, letter to Lucy Eaboni. February 1, 1943. CWM 20090134-001, Canadian War Museum)

From the two letters available in the collection of the Canadian War Museum, it seems that Petroro handled his internment fairly well, telling Lucy “…when you feel the blues coming just kick it away and tell yourself that life must be taken as it comes” (February 1, 1943. CWM 20090134-001, Canadian War Museum).

Released in early 1943, Petroro returned to Toronto. The conditions of his release were as follows: he had to report to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) once a month; he could not change his place of residence or leave Toronto without the consent of the RCMP; and he was forbidden any involvement in fascist activities or organizations.

Petroro married Lucy on October 11, 1943 and worked as a tailor. Along with his brother Emile, they were able to reconnect with their remaining family in Italy in 1943 – their father had passed away in 1940.

After the war, the Petroros lived in Toronto, New York, Florida and Toronto.

*Interned artists Guido Casini and Guido Nincheri did charcoal sketches of fellow internees. Vincenzo Poggi completed sketches as well as paintings while in camp. It’s unclear which artist Petroro is referring to in the above description. However, as he is writing from Fredericton, we suspect the artist was either Casini or Poggi; both were still interned at that time.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

SOURCES:

• Canadian War Museum. Catalogue entry description. Search term “Petroro”. http://www.warmuseum.ca/military-history-research-centre/about-the-online-catalogue
• . Lawrence Petroro, letter to Lucy Eaboni. February 1, 1943. CWM 20090134-001, Canadian War Museum.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, C11-19-2-3 Part 4.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3 Part 5, Letter from Louis St. Laurent, Minister of Justice, to S.T. Wood, RCMP Commissioner, 30 Jan. 1943.

POW #: P242
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: November 01, 1940
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Toronto
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Mechanic, Packard Ontario

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations)

Luigi (Gene) Petrucciani worked as a mechanic for Packard Ontario located at 1029 Bay St. prior to his internment. He lived at 2202A Bloor St. West with his widowed mother. This camp letter Petrucciani wrote to the Custodian of Enemy Property (printed in full) details the difficult situation his mother was in due to his internment:

I take the liberty of appealing to you for help and advice in a matter of first importance regarding my widowed mother, Mrs. Nicoletta Petrucciani. She is now living in a rented dwelling at 2202A Bloor St. West, Toronto, and I have been her only support since 1936. At the time of my arrest I left her a modest sum of money with which to pay the rent, ($26.00 per month) and living expense, and I know that she is now approaching the limit of her resources. I have a sister, married to Mr. F. Ruffo and living on Kennedy Avenue, corner of Bloor, whose husband only earns enough to keep his family going, and therefore the burden rests entirely upon my shoulders. Now I understand the landlord has told my mother that he intends to raise the rental, and in the circumstances, I am much worried as to the possibility of my mother being able too [sic] carry on with an increased rental of $35, or about 33% increase in rental.

Would you be good enough to look into the matter and see what can be done, considering that my own mother has a right to live, and that, her health being very poor, she cannot possibly work for her own maintenance. The landlord is actually my sister’s father-in-law, and this does not seem to deter him from actually taking measures which might be within the law, but are certainly without any humane and charitable consideration. May I suggest to you that my feelings on the matter, being a question of the survival of my own mother, are certainly not conducive of my peace of mind, and I would be very grateful for whatever you could do to help me in this almost tragic situation.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 662, Internee File 4545 “Luigi Petrucciani.”

POW #: P323
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: November 03, 1940
NATURALIZED: Yes
BORN: August 28, 1889
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Sudbury
MARITAL STATUS: Unknown
OCCUPATION:

There is very little information known about Adolfo Pianoso. Government documents indicate that he was arrested on June 10, 1940, and released by November 3, 1940. His name does appear on the government list dating to spring 1940 of “Important members of the fascio who are naturalized and whose internment is recommended”. The reasons for his release are not available. Biographical information is also lacking.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk and Lucy Di Pietro
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces, RG 24, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3569, File E.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3 Part 1, “Minister’s Orders – Italian,” no date.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3 Part 4.

POW #: P231
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: October 29, 1940
NATURALIZED: Yes
BORN: May 10, 1887
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Toronto
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Owned and operated a wholesale fruit business

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations)

Giuseppe (Joseph) Piccinini was married to Rose and the couple had five children: Joseph (b. 1922), Salvatore (b. 1923), Vincent (b. 1927), Harold (b. 1931) and an unnamed baby girl (b. July 1940). Salvatore ran the fruit wholesale business while his father was interned.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces, RG 24, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 681, Internee File 6018 “Giuseppe Piccinini.”

POW #:
ARRESTED: July 08, 1940
RELEASED: November 20, 1940
NATURALIZED: May 29, 1907
BORN: 1885
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Toronto
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Owner, Star Beverage Co.

Not much is known about Vincenzo Piccininni. At the time of his arrest, he was 55 years old and married to Catherine. They had two daughters who were 24 and 7 years old. He owned a small business which made soft drinks under the names Star Beverage Co., Blue Bird Beverage, and Blue Bird Ginger Ale. The business was struggling and went bankrupt in August 1940. Piccininni wrote the following letter to the Custodian of Enemy Property:

It was a surprise indeed that after three years since my internment and ruination caused me by it, through the government’s blunder in interning and ruining an innocent man whose only fault it was to have been born in Italy, but to have lived an exemplary life since his good fortune of having been granted the privilege of settling in Canada, and of loving this country and serving her as any true and loyal adopted son should, I should be asked to pay a sum of money that I do not possess, for anything that I am not responsible or service not rendered.

My business did not require any administration nor any investigation by your office, since I was struggling to keep it going under adverse and hard conditions of the depression years. I was just beginning to see the silver linings amongst the clouds of the tragic depression years when this had to happen to me. Then you should know that after my internment, with no definite acknowledge of the time such internment would last or anybody to look after my business, on August 13th, 1940, it was auctioned off and all I owned in the world then went to smoke, $1350 were realized out of a business worth $10,000. Now at my age, 58, with no trade or experience other than making soft drinks, which was my only trade, I am trying to eke out my existence at $22.60 per week as caretaker at a moving picture show with a wife and a child of 10 years of age to keep. This is the “squarest” deal that I have ever had in my life.

Still, I hold no grudge or feel any bitterness against anyone. I know I was one of the victims of circumstances. But I feel that at least the government which alone is responsible for my plight and of my family’s should leave me alone and try not to add insult to injury. Therefore, being not in a position to pay this money I feel that I do not owe anything to your office since I repeat, there was nothing to investigate nor to administer in my business.

I hope and trust that this will suffice to convince you of my predicament, assuring you that any and all of my statements can stand full investigation (Vincenzo Piccininni, September 18, 1943).

Piccininni’s family lived with his in-laws during his internment. After his release, Piccininni found employment as a caretaker at the Odeon Theatre.

The reasons for his arrest are not known.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 670, Internee File 5017, “Vincenzo Piccininni.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, F-3, Vol. 3563, Part 1.

POW #: P676
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: January 28, 1941
NATURALIZED: 1927
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Owned and operated a tailor shop

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditional release

Marino Pierpaoli arrived in Canada in 1913. He was married to Jean and the couple had three children: Aldo (b. 1920), who helped run the tailor shop while his father was interned, a second son (b. 1918) who suffered from some kind of illness, and a daughter (b. 1925). The Pierpaolis lived at 75 St. Zotique St. East. The tailor shop was located at 79 St. Zotique St. East.

While interned, Pierpaoli forwarded Jean “a bank letter” so she would be able to pay the insurance and coal, as well as provide for living expenses. He also suggested to Jean that she try to receive money owing from customers:

As I see all your plans are based on the weekly expenses for your living, about $15.00, but I think this is too much, especially if you consider that the school of Aldo is not included. Aldo should not lose his time for education; he should take some courses, especially business and bookkeeping courses which can be of value and use for him in the future. 

Pierpaoli continued, “I received the cushion and the cigars and I beg you not to spend any money and not to send me anything until I write you. We have plenty to eat here. The meals are sufficient.”

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 662, Internee File 4462 “Marino Pierpaoli.”

POW #: P778
ARRESTED: August 09, 1940
RELEASED: November 04, 1940
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Unknown
OCCUPATION:

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations)

There is very little information known about Vincenzo Pietracupa. Government documents indicate that he was arrested on August 8, 1940, and released by November 4, 1940. The reasons for his arrest and release are not available. Biographical information is also lacking.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces, RG 24, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3 Part 1, “Minister’s Orders – Italian,” no date.

POW #: P540
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: April 25, 1941
NATURALIZED:
BORN: April 13, 1886
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Unknown
OCCUPATION:

Angelo Pio was born on April 13, 1886 in Italy.

In 1940, he lived in Montreal. He was arrested on June 10, 1940.

Upon his unconditional release on April 25, 1941, he was ordered “to register, as required by the National Registration Act, at the Post Office in his locality immediately on his arrival.” He was given a second-class ticket, “suitable clothing” and “haversack rations sufficient for his journey.” It seems that Pio was ill which expedited his release from internment camp, as further notes on the release state: “In view of the present precarious state of this person’s health, the Acting Minister desires that his direction be accomplished with all possible dispatch.” 

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG18, Vol. 3569, File E.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG18, F-3, Vol. 3563, Part 3.
• Minister’s Orders List V1 & V3.

POW #: P561
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: March 18, 1941
NATURALIZED: Yes
BORN: October 03, 1905
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION:

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditional release

Rolando Pirozzi came to Canada in 1919. He was married to Mary and the couple had two Canadian-born children. The Pirozzis lived at 7213 Berri St. in Montreal. 

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 672, Internee File 5116 “Rolando Pirozzi.”

POW #: P563
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: September 01, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Unknown
OCCUPATION:

RELEASE NOTES: Released conditionally upon his first subscribing to the Undertaking set out in Regulation 24 of the Defence of Canada Regulations (DOCR) and further that he subscribe to a special Undertaking.

Domenico (Dominic) Piscitelli lived on St. Urbain Street in Montreal, QC. He was arrested on June 10, 1940.  There is no biographical information on Piscitelli. 

He was released conditionally on September 1, 1942 with the stipulations that he had to report monthly to the RCMP and that he could not change his residence or leave Montreal without first reporting details to the RCMP.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga
 
SOURCES:

• Minister’s Orders List V1 & V6.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 704, File 20955.

POW #: P1496
ARRESTED: March 13, 1942
RELEASED: February 12, 1943
NATURALIZED: Yes
BORN: June 21, 1899
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Other Quebec
MARITAL STATUS: Separated
OCCUPATION: Labourer, Anglo-Canadian Pulp and Paper Co.

RELEASE NOTES: Released conditionally upon his subscribing to a special Undertaking.

Lino Piticco was born on June 21, 1899 in Lestizza, Udine in Italy.  In August of 1923, he and his wife arrived in Canada via New York City. The couple first lived in Powell, River, BC where Piticco found work for two years, before moving to Windsor, ON for about five years.  There was also a five month period where the Piticcos left Windsor for Toronto, ON but this was only for a brief five months.

On June 10, 1929, Piticco was naturalized. A year later, he and his wife became legally separated; by this time, the couple had two children.  Piticco and the children moved back to Italy.  In April of 1932, Piticco left his children in the care of his parents and returned to Canada.

By 1940, Piticco was living in Quebec City, QC on St. John Street. He was a labourer for the Anglo-Canadian Pulp and Paper Mills Limited.  He was an alleged member of the dopolovaro and the fascio.  He was also suspected of being active in fascist schools and at the Institute of Italian Culture, after appearing in the pages of L’Italia Nuova. Personal letters were also used as evidence for his active fascist activities. RCMP Commissioner S.T. Wood said, “Although the contents of these letters are not always important the fact is that he always ends with the Fascist salutations.”

Piticco was arrested on March 13, 1942 and was sent to Petawawa Internment Camp on May 26, 1942.  He was released on February 12, 1943.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga

Do you know…
If Piticco returned to his children in Italy post-release or did he stay in Canada?
 
SOURCES:

• McBride, Michelle. “From Indifference to Internment: An Examination of RCMP Responses to Nazism and Facism in Canada.”  MA Thesis, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland, 1997.
• Minister’s Orders List V1 & V6.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 703.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 704, File 20955.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, Part 3.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3569, File E.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, F-3, Vol. 3563, Part 5.

POW #: P983
ARRESTED: December 23, 1940
RELEASED: September 08, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Kananaskis, Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Employee, Pizzagalli Terrazzo Tile Mfg. Ltd.

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and his subscribing to a special undertaking

Carlo Pizzagalli lived at 6757 Henri Julien St. in Montreal with his wife and three children.

He was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on December 23, 1940, and was held at the local Bordeaux Jail. He was interned for about 20 months, first at Camp Petawawa and then at Camp Kananaskis.

Pizzagalli’s only asset was a 1928 Dodge Sedan. During his internment, the car was kept in the garage of his employer Teodoro Pizzagalli who owned Pizzagalli Terrazzo Tile Mfg. Ltd. Teodoro Pizzagalli was also interned. According to Carlo Pizzagalli’s statement, the battery was dead and the key was broken in the lock. He gave consent to sell the vehicle so that his family would receive funds from the sale. The vehicle was appraised by Price, Waterhouse & Co. as being in “very poor condition” and worth “between ten and fifteen dollars” for “scrap value.” Mrs. Pizzagalli refused anything less than fifteen dollars. It appears that she was receiving help from friends (Letter by Price, Waterhouse & Co. to Edgar Read, the Custodian’s Office, Department of the Secretary of State of Canada, Ottawa. Montreal, July 4, 1941).

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga

Do you know…
Was Carlo Pizzagalli related to Teodoro Pizzagalli, the sole owner of Pizzagalli Terrazzo Tile Mfg. Ltd.?
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 2118, Internee File 8382, “Carlo Pizzagalli.”
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 643, File “Pizzagalli Tile Co.”

POW #: P401
ARRESTED:
RELEASED: April 15, 1941
NATURALIZED: Yes
BORN: May 25, 1885
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Business man, Owner of Pizzagalli Terrazzo Tile Mfg. Ltd.

RELEASE NOTES: Released without conditions

Teodoro Pizzagalli was born in Carlozza, Come, Italy on May 25, 1885. He came to Canada in 1912 and was naturalized on December 26, 1920. On June 29, 1923, he started a company which imported slabs of marble, marble chips, cement, and tile from Italy. The company was co-founded with a fellow named Primo Nardello but the partnership dissolved on April 14, 1924.

By 1940, Pizzagalli had his second company; he was the sole owner of Pizzagalli Terrazzo Tile Mfg. Ltd. which was located on 105 Jean Talon St. West in Montreal. He lived with his wife and two sons (Angelo and Jean Pierre) on Vimy Rd. It is noted that Pizzagalli served as a Grande Venerabile in the Grande Loggia in Montreal.

On July 4, 1940, Pizzagalli was interned at Petawawa. One of his employees, Carlo Pizzagalli, was also interned but for a much longer term. It is unclear if the two are related.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga

Do you know…
Was Teodoro Pizzagalli related to his employee, Carlo Pizzagalli?
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 643, Internee File 2898 “Teodoro Pizzagalli.”

POW #: P439
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: April 15, 1941
NATURALIZED: Yes
BORN: February 18, 1882
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Coal handler, Dominion Steel and Coal Co.

RELEASE NOTES: Released unconditionally – had to report to the RCMP immediately upon arrival in Montreal

Gennaro Placido was born in Italy on February 18, 1882. He arrived in Canada in 1911 and was naturalized in 1937.

He lived on Papineau Ave. in Montreal with his wife, Emilia; it is uncertain if they had kids. Placido worked as a coal handler for Dominion Steel and Coal Co. for 18 years prior to being interned. He was a hard worker, working six days a week and sometimes even on Sundays. He earned about $1500/year. Further, he often helped around the small store, which his wife ran to help bring in extra income.

On June 10, 1940, Placito was arrested. The claims against Placido were that he was a member of the fascio and the dopolavoro, and that he was a well-known propagandist, selling Il Progresso Italo-Americano in the family store.

Upon investigation, Hyndman discovered that while Placido was a member of the Order Sons of Italy, it was only to collect insurance benefits. Placido denied belonging to the fascio and other claims including him being anti-British. Hyndman wrote: “There is another Union called the International Union and the representative of that Union told him [Placido] ‘they would fix him if he did not join their Union.’ Moreover, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Staff Sergeant John Leopold wrote:

According to Mr. Spada there is a rumour circulating in Montreal that the above names Italians [Canio Nicolini, Gennaro Placido, Costanzo D’Amico] were interned on the recommendation of the Rev. Bersani because they opposed him many times in matters concerning the church.  They are said to have been members of the church council.

At the time of Hyndman’s investigation, Placido was so ill due to a liver problem that he had to be interviewed while he was a patient at the Petawawa Camp hospital. Moreover, in December of 1940, Placido was so sick that his wife was called to come visit him at the camp.

Hyndman concludes:

My opinion of this man from seeing and hearing him is that he is an illiterate, uneducated man and a typical common labourer, and to say that he was ‘active in the patriotic and Fascist propaganda at the Montreal Harbour among the coal-handlers’ seems to me to be the height of absurdity… I feel sure that had the police themselves investigated this case instead of relying only on the reports of common informers, this man never would have been interned…This is one of the most pitiful cases I have ever seen. The man is ill. A little ignorant, simple, hardworking man. I regard it the very height of absurdity to call this man a propagandist or a dangerous man. He should be released at once.

Placido was released from Petawawa on April 15, 1941 at 12:28 a.m.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga

SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 671, Internee File 5074, “Gennaro Placido.”
• Library and Archives Canada, JD Hyndman Fonds: MG30, E182, Vol. 14.
• Minister’s Orders List V1 & V3.

POW #: P818
ARRESTED: June 20, 1940
RELEASED: August 02, 1941
NATURALIZED: April 03, 1924
BORN: March 04, 1888
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Niagara Region
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Labourer, City of Niagara Falls

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditional release

Giuseppe Plantedi was married to Rosina (b. 1904) and the couple had four daughters: Edith (b. 1921), Angelina (b. 1922), Annie (b. 1931) and Jean (b. 1940). The Plantedis lived at 1630 Lombard Street in Niagara Falls. While Giuseppe was interned, his family received $41.35 a month in government relief.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk

SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 661, Internee File 4431 “Giuseppe Plantedi.”

POW #: P196
ARRESTED: July 25, 1940
RELEASED: March 15, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Kananaskis, Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Other British Columbia
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Prospector, hard rock miner; Farmer

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and ordered to report monthly to Vancouver authorities

James Poggi was born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, but moved to Canada a few years before 1900. At the time of his arrest and internment, he had lived in the same house for 41 years and had been living in British Columbia for 43 years.

Through his hard work, Poggi had amassed considerable assets including multiple properties located in Greenwood and Midway, British Columbia. At the time of his internment, he also owned silver and gold watches, jewellery, gold cufflinks and collar studs, United States Mint gold coins, as well as shares and stocks.

Poggi was first interned at Kananaskis Internment Camp and was then sent to Petawawa Internment Camp. His release was scheduled to be on, or around, December 10, 1941, but he became ill. He was admitted into the military hospital in Camp Petawawa. In one letter, he expressed concern about the validity of his will should he die in the camp.

After his release, Poggi wrote many letters to the Custodian of Enemy Property asking for compensation for the damage done to his home and property, for lost or stolen personal belongings, with one item claimed as invaluable – a lock of hair belonging to his deceased mother.

In a letter dated March 1943, Poggi gives details about his failing health due to the stress of having been arrested and interned. He fainted twice when first detained at the Grand Forks and Nelson jails, and then at Camp Petawawa he suffered a stroke and became paralyzed. At the time of Poggi’s release, he was carried out on a stretcher and laid in bed during the long train ride home: “You have ruined my health for life. There is no money in the world that can pay for my health. I was an innocent man but you put me in jail and in the camp” (Letter from James Poggi to the Custodian’s Office, Department of the Secretary of State of Canada, Ottawa. Greenwood, BC, March 29, 1943).

Poggi was bitter about his internment. In a letter dated June 1950, he made references to the Canadian government paying “war damages” to their “enemies – Japanese,” and threatened to take his case to the court should he not receive compensation (Letter from James Poggi to the Custodian’s Office, Department of the Secretary of State of Canada, Ottawa. Greenwood, BC, November 26, 1945). In 1950, Edgar T. Read wrote that Fred Read took little time on this file and, since Poggi had threatened to appeal to Prime Minister St. Laurent, a suitable reply should be sent to him (Memorandum by Edgar T. Read to G.G., July 12, 1950).

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga

Do you know…
What happened to James Poggi after 1950?
 
SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 2028, Internee File 5349, “James Poggi.”

POW #: P564
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: September 28, 1943
NATURALIZED:
BORN: April 10, 1900
DIED: 1988

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Artist

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Vincenzo Poggi attended the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, in Milan, from 1917 to 1923. After graduation, he lived in Paris for three years where he worked for a firm that decorated homes.  From 1926 to 1929, he worked for several stained glass studios in Milan. In 1929, Poggi arrived in Montreal for a one-year contract to work for Guido Nincheri’s (also interned) stained glass studio in Montreal. At the end of his contract, Poggi decided to stay in Canada. He continued to work for Nincheri until 1940, when he was interned.  Poggi began his artistic career as a portrait painter, but he found it nerve-racking to paint while trying to maintain a conversation with the sitter.  He eventually switched to stained glass windows.

In 1940, Poggi lived at 4058 Ontario St. East in Montreal with his mother Olga Poggi. He had been acting as director of the International Press Service which was a front for Italian government propaganda. In his report to Rome on October 9, 1935, Montreal’s vice-counsul, Giuseppe Brigidi, references Poggi’s appointment to the unpaid position. Brigidi describes Poggi as “a youth recently arrived from Italy, a person in which we have absolute trust, full of ambition and true Italian spirit.” The bulletin assembled by the agency (with information provided by Brigidi) was distributed to other newspapers, clubs and groups, universities, politicians and religious leaders. Of note, the Italian community is not specifically identified as a target audience. It is likely that this position led to Poggi’s initial internment.

After Poggi was taken into custody, he was held in the Bordeaux Jail before being transferred to Petawawa Internment Camp. According to his son Maurice, Poggi was indignant that he had been placed in a jail with common criminals.

Poggi was originally released on January 28, 1941. However, an informant told the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that Poggi was a member of the Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell’Antifascismo (OVRA, Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism). This led to his re-internment a year later. During his second internment, Poggi came into conflict with the fascists in the camp. When Poggi returned to Petawawa in January 1942, Nello Trasciatti and other fascists living in Hut 11 refused Poggi entrance into the hut stating that Poggi was not a good fascist. During a discussion among those living in the hut, Annibale Battigalli suggested that Poggi be allowed to stay, but that he be watched closely.  In a letter, Poggi describes another incident in which internees, Francesco (Frank) Cocomille and Osvaldo Giacomelli, threw his bed and blanket outside the hut. He called Giacomelli and Cocomille two of Trasciatti’s “three stooges.”

Poggi’s hut mates also objected to his giving painting lessons to Norman Ade Clark, an Englishman whose reasons for being in camp are unknown. Antonio Di Pietro, another of Poggi’s fascist hut mates, believed that Clark was an RCMP spy. At one point, Di Pietro insulted Clark and the Englishman gave the fascist a black eye. Poggi continued to give Clark lessons even though the rest of those living in the hut were against it. Poggi taught Clark for a few more weeks before his hut mates confronted Poggi about the lessons. To protect himself from harm and to avoid any further confrontations, Poggi stopped giving lessons to Clark.

In addition to teaching fellow internees how to paint, Poggi also painted a number of portraits of internees and life in camp.

In the summer of 1942, Poggi wrote to the Red Cross to ask for help for his 60-year-old mother, Olga Poggi. In another letter written by Poggi in June of 1942, addressed to a Camp Commandant in Petawawa, Poggi asks for help in trying to obtain financial help for his “aged and sick mother.” He mentions here that because he is not a naturalized British subject, his mother was ineligible to receive relief. Thus he was her only means of support.

While at Fredericton Internment Camp, Poggi requested English and Italian dictionaries and grammar books. It is unclear whether the books were for personal use or whether he planned on teaching other internees.

Poggi’s release conditions were as follows: he had to report to RCMP once a month, could not change his place of residence or leave Montreal without the consent of RCMP, and was forbidden to be involved in fascist activities or organizations.

In 1944, he married Jeannette Armand (b. 1912 in Sudbury, Ontario). It was also around this time that Poggi began to work for J.P. O’Shea.  The following year, the couple had a son, Maurice (b. December 11, 1945). In 1947, Poggi started his own studio, but also continued to work at O’Shea until it closed down in 1950.

Poggi passed away on May 21, 1988. Maurice Poggi said that when his father died in 1988, a man came up to him after the funeral and introduced himself as Salvatore Vistarchi (also interned), thus indicating a friendship between the two older men.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES:

• Bartlett, Jane. “A Quiet Man Displays His Artistry,” The Westmount Examiner, Feb. 6, 1959: 6.
• Brigidi, Giuseppe. Diplomatic dispatch. October 9, 1935. Photocopy provided to researchers; original source unknown.
• Canadian War Museum, Vincent Poggi, 1900-1988.
• Interview with Maurice Poggi. November 29, 2011. Columbus Centre Collection.
• Letter by Vincenzo Poggi. CWM 20020203-020, Canadian War Museum. Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces: RG 24, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 691, Internee File 8054, “Vincenzo Poggi.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3563, File C-11-19-2-3, Part 3, Letter from S.T. Wood, RCMP Commissioner, to Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice, May 1, 1941.

POW #: P304
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: March 18, 1941
NATURALIZED: 1923
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Niagara Region
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Business owner and tailor, Pontano Tailors and Cleaners

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditional release. As Pontano did not acquire naturalization until 1923, he had to report to the RCMP in Niagara Falls, Ontario, as soon as possible after his release so that his registration and parole, in compliance with existing regulations, would receive attention.

Pietro Pontano lived at 63 Geneva St. in St. Catharines, Ontario. His rent was $40 a month. Pontano’s business, Pontano Tailors and Cleaners, was on the ground floor of the two-storey building and the family lived on the second floor. Pontano was married to Marietta, who had two adult children – Jean and Roger Rondeau – from a previous marriage. Pontano operated a second store in the same business – Valet Service was located at 623 Queen St. in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Pontano used his 1938 Chevy truck for his business.

Pontano was arrested on June 10, 1940. It is unclear when he arrived at Camp Petawawa, but his release date indicates that he was interned for less than a year.

According to a statement by Marietta Pontano, in July 1940, her husband had $145 on him when he was arrested and interned. The money was meant to pay an outstanding balance towards Standard Tailors in Toronto. She stated that her husband lost $75,000 in Montreal in 1929, and that he had not been able to accumulate such wealth again.

During Pontano’s internment, Pontano Tailors and Cleaners was renamed Valet Service and his stepdaughter, Jean Rondeau, managed the business. The second store in Niagara Falls, initially managed by Marietta Pontano, was eventually closed due to the expenses. The store equipment was sold for $350. The balance in Pontano’s savings account was $60.48. Both amounts were released to his wife.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga
 

Do you know…
Why was Pontano interned?
What happened to him after his release from camp?
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 665, Internee File 4746, “Pietro Pantano.”
• Minister’s Orders, List V1 & V3.

POW #: P325
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: November 14, 1942
NATURALIZED:
BORN: September 14, 1890
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Sudbury
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Truck driver

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and agreeing to a special undertaking

Not much is known about Francesco Porcelli. At the time of his arrest, he was 50 years old and married to Antonia. The couple had four children. When taken into custody, Porcelli had $117.00 on his person – a large amount in those days. The confiscated money was used by the Custodian of Enemy Property to pay the tax arrears on his home.

Porcelli appears on the spring 1940 government list of “important members of the fascio who are naturalized and whose internment is recommended.” Porcelli’s family suffered as a result of his internment. His family received government relief.

The reasons for his release are not available. The conditions of his release included the following: he had to report to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) monthly; he could not travel from Sudbury without first notifying the RCMP; and he could not change his place of residence without first reporting to the RCMP.

Other biographical information is lacking.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

Do you know…
Was Porcelli an active member of the fascio?
What happened to Porcelli after the war?
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 659, Internee File 4197, “Francesco Porcelli.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, C11-19-2-3-pt 4.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, F-3, Vol. 3563, Part 6.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3569, File E.

POW #: P565
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: September 27, 1941
NATURALIZED: February 14, 1934
BORN: November 11, 1894
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Montreal
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION:

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Adone Pozza was married to Teresa Calliari and the couple had five children: Lidia (b. 1920), Corrado (b. 1925), Lauretta (b. 1929), Maria (b. 1932) and Giovanni (b. 1935). The Pozzas lived at 7139 Alexander St. in Montreal.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Adone was a member of the executive committee of the Montreal dopolavoro.

While Adone was interned, the family received $5.05 per week in relief payments. Lidia also worked at this time and earned $10 per week.

Pozza’s release conditions were as follows: he had to report to the RCMP once a month; he could not change his place of residence or leave Montreal without the consent of the RCMP; and he was forbidden any involvement in fascist activities or organizations.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 
SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, CSIS: RG 146, Vol. 97, File AH-1999/00227, RCMP, “The Organization and Activities of the Italian Fascist Party in Canada,” Ottawa, 1937.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 654, Internee File 3720 “Adone Pozza.”

POW #: P533
ARRESTED: June 25, 1940
RELEASED: September 19, 1942
NATURALIZED: Yes
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Cape Breton
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Operator, Imperial Gas Station and Garage

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release (see below)

Giovanni Pozzebon owned and operated a gas station and garage on the corner of King Street and Plummer Avenue in New Waterford. This property also had an adjoining beauty parlour. Pozzebon was married to Juditta and the couple had five children – all of whom were employed at either the gas station and garage or the beauty parlour. Gino (b. 1919) worked in the garage while his brother Caridi (b. 1923) sold and delivered gas for the gas station. Ernestine owned and operated the beauty parlour where she was helped by her sister Inez. Another of Pozzebon’s daughters, Secondine, was the bookkeeper for both the gas station/garage and the beauty parlour. All of the Pozzebon children lived at home. The Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP) allowed the children to carry on the family businesses and they were expected to pay board to their mother Juditta.

Pozzebon owned a 1930 Chrysler sedan and a 1940 Oldsmobile sedan both which were alleged by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to have been used in the traffic of illegal liquor. It was typical practice for the law firms who acted on behalf of the Custodian of Enemy Property to take the license plates from all cars owned by internees. However, it looks as though in the case of the Pozzebon family they were allowed to keep the plates in order to use the cars for the operation of the garage. Yet, in a letter from the law firm of Cromwell, Balcom and Company to the CEP the firm maintains that the Oldsmobile was still used in the transportation of illegal liquor:

We now have a report from the [RCMP] that members of the family have been using the Oldsmobile Sedan as a taxi, principally for the purpose of carrying liquor, and they advised us that Mr. Pozzebon himself was formerly in the illegal liquor traffic, and that two sons have been convicted within the last few months of violations of the Liquor Control Act. Apparently it can be said that the family is carrying on business in about the same manner as the father did formerly! Accordingly, we have today written the RCMP and authorized them to take away the license plates from the said car, and have also given them a letter to deliver to Mr. Gino Pozzebon and/or Miss Secondine Pozzebon, as a reminder that the entire property is vested in the Custodian and that in order to assist the family the Custodian had allowed them to try and carry on the business to provide for their maintenance. We have also suggested that if there is any further difficulty we will take away the tires from both cars and the license plates from the other one, and in addition, put someone else in charge of the business.   

Biography by Travis Tomchuk

SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 654, Internee File 3659 “Giovanni Pozzebon.”

POW #: F2
ARRESTED: June 19, 1940
RELEASED: July 07, 1941
NATURALIZED: October 22, 1926
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Kingston
TOWN/CITY: Windsor
MARITAL STATUS: Widowed
OCCUPATION: Housekeeper

RELEASE NOTES: Unconditional release

Maria Pressello arrived in Canada in 1920. At the time of her internment in 1940, she was widowed with four adult children. She lived with her married daughter Gina Marcocchio at 1996 Parent Ave. in Windsor. Pressello was a member of the Giovanni Caboto Club and the Italian Society of St. Angelus Church. 

During her internment, Pressello had all of her teeth removed and was given a set of dentures. She worked in the kitchen at the Kingston Prison for Women. She tried to stay away from other prisoners as much as possible. Her behaviour was exemplary. A letter written by the prison’s warden to Lieutenant Colonel Stethem, the Director of Internment Operations, stated: “In admitting this woman it is noted she is evidently a different type entirely from the Haiinger woman and appears to resemble closely the motherly type. She has expressed a willingness to work while here and apparently appreciates the opportunity of having extended to her this privilege.”

Pressello was accused of being a fascist, but no proof of this was uncovered. In a letter to the Minister of Justice, J.D. Hyndman, the judge appointed to review Pressello’s internment, stated:

At the time of the [initial] hearing I placed a good deal of confidence in the report of the Secret Agents [sic], but on closer examination of the file I find that S.A. 203, at the time he made his report against this woman, did not even know that she was a woman, which is quite sufficient proof of the unreliability of such a report. As his information came from S.A. 17, I presume that the latter was not aware either of the fact that it was a woman and not a man that he was dealing with.

Biography by Travis Tomchuk
 

SOURCES:

• Library and Archives Canada, Correctional Service of Canada: RG 73, Vol. 73, File 23-1-12, Accession #80-81/253, “Re: Female Internee Maria Pressello.”
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 660, Internee File 4216, “Maria Pressello.”
• Library and Archives Canada, J.D. Hyndman Fonds: MG 30, E182, Vol. 14, Letter to Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice, Oct. 21, 1940.

POW #: P628
ARRESTED:
RELEASED: September 28, 1943
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa, Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Other Ontario
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Hoist Engineer

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and agreeing to a special undertaking

Emilio Preteroti was single and lived on Queen St. in Sault Ste. Marie. He was a hoist engineer, but he was unemployed at the time of his arrest and internment.

Preteroti was a smoker. In a letter dated August 16, 1943, he asked the Custodian of Enemy Property to send him $25 for personal items and included tobacco on the list. He also requested an inquiry into one of his properties, which was rented to Dominic Sorrenti. Preteroti claimed that Sorrenti owed $277.50 in back rent. The latter contested the amount due because the house was in “very bad condition.” Preteroti asked the Custodian to collect the overdue rent and to evict Sorrenti. He also indicated that repairs should be done to the house and a new tenant found. It is unknown what became of this request.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga

Do you know…
Do you know the dates of Preteroti’s arrest and internment?
Do you know why Preteroti was considered a threat by the Canadian government?

SOURCE:

• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 2017, Internee File 5036 “Emilio Preteroti.”

POW #: P625
ARRESTED: June 10, 1940
RELEASED: September 19, 1941
NATURALIZED: September 24, 1932
BORN: June 24, 1902
DIED:

CAMP(S): Petawawa
TOWN/CITY: Hamilton
MARITAL STATUS: Married
OCCUPATION: Clerk, Fruit Store

RELEASE NOTES: Conditional release upon undertaking Regulation 24 (Defence of Canada Regulations) and reporting monthly

At the time of his arrest, Dominic Antonio (Tony) Pugliese was married and had two children. His family lived in Italy. He was interned at Camp Petawawa on June 26, 1940. His name appears on the spring 1940 government list of “important members of the fascio, who are naturalized and whose internment is recommended.” The Custodian of Enemy Property maintained a file on this individual. The reasons for his release are not available.

Some of the Italian Canadian internees may have been interned because of their criminal activities. Published sources indicate that Dominic Pugliese was heavily connected to the mob, especially the Papalia family. Along with Tony Papalia (also interned), he was suspected in the killing of Bessi Starkman (the common-law wife of Rocco Perri). Rocco Perri (also interned), known as “Canada’s King of the Bootleggers,” was one of the most prominent mob bosses in Canadian history. Pugliese’s son later married Antoinetta, the daughter of Tony Papalia, and sister of notorious Johnny “Pops” Papalia. He was also convicted in 1935 for dealing in counterfeit $10 American bills.

Biography by Lucy Di Pietro

Do you know…
What was the nature of Pugliese’s criminal activities?
What happened to Pugliese after the war? Did his family join him in Canada?
 
SOURCES:

• Dubro, James. Mob Mistress. Toronto: Macmillan, 1998.
• Library and Archives Canada, Canadian Armed Forces: RG 24, Vol. 6586, File 5-1-1.
• Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG 117, Vol. 656, Internee File 3827, “Dominic Antonio (Tony) Pugliese.”
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, C11-19-2-3-pt 4.
• Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG 18, Vol. 3569, File E.
• Prager, Jim. Legends of the Morgeti. http://morgeti.blogspot.com/

POW #:
ARRESTED:
RELEASED:
NATURALIZED:
BORN:
DIED:

CAMP(S):
TOWN/CITY:
MARITAL STATUS: Unknown
OCCUPATION:

No biography available for this internee.