Italian-Canadian Narratives Showcase
Italian-Canadian Narratives Showcase
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Internee List – U

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Internee List

In 1940, hundreds of Italian Canadians were taken from their homes and separated from their families. They were held in prisons and remote camps. The Canadian government claimed they were threats to national security. Some were released within a few months. A few did not return home for five years.

Learn more about these men and four women.

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U

Urso, Giacomo (John)

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POW #: P1498
ARRESTED: June 05, 1942
RELEASED: September 28, 1943
NATURALIZED:
BORN: October 28, 1904
DIED:

CAMP(S): Fredericton
TOWN/CITY: Winnipeg
MARITAL STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION:

RELEASE NOTES: Conditonal release


Giacomo (John) Urso was born in Palermo, Italy on October 28, 1904. He arrived in Montreal on October 15, 1932 aboard the ship Ciogo. He was single and had no fixed address; it seemed that he had travelled around Canada and the United States.

He went by the aliases John Catalono and John Randazzo. Urso had a police record in the United States for which he served 15 months at Atlanta Penitentiary in Georgia, USA for “breach of US Internal Revenue Act.” 

After his release from prison, he was deported to Windsor, ON. It was there that he was arrested on June 5, 1942 at 2:30 p.m. by Cst. W.S. Ramsay of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Urso was sent to Camp Fredericton (Ripples). At the time of his arrest, his address was listed as Union St. in Winnipeg, MB. An investigation into his affairs noted that at one point Urso worked as a cook for Charles Montonaro in Hamilton, ON. His brother, Charles Urso, who lived on Jarvis St. in Toronto, stated that Urso had no assets. 

Urso was released conditionally on September 28, 1943 where he was sent to Dorchester Penitentiary in Dorchester, NB.

Biography by Louanne Aspillaga

Do you know…
What his connection was to Winnipeg?
How long Urso stayed at Dorchester Penitentiary and what happened to him afterwards?
 
SOURCES:

  • Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 3569, Envelope F.
  • Library and Archives Canada, Custodian of Enemy Property: RG117, Vol. 704, File 19844.
  • Library and Archives Canada, RCMP: RG18, Vol. 3569, File C.