Date
May 10, 2011
Maker
Columbus Centre
Accession#
ICEA2011.0018.0001
Interview 1 With Emilio Mascia
Video interview with Emilio Mascia conducted in Italian.
Emilio Mascia was born in the small village of Rotello in Italy. Though he lived in Italy during World War II – arrived in Canada in 1958 – Emilio’s uncle, Luigi Mascia, was interned at Camp Petawawa for two years. His father-in-law, Antonio (Tony) Olivieri, was also interned, though he does not speak to this. He speaks to the internment experience through the stories told to him years later by his Uncle Luigi and other family members. According to Emilio, Luigi was interned because of his active membership with the Order Sons of Italy in Hamilton, though Luigi’s family was given no reasoning at the time of his arrest. The family left behind relied on the financial assistance of another family member who worked for Stelco Steel Company.
Emilio Mascia introduces himself and speaks about living in Italy during WWII. He also speaks about his Uncle Luigi Mascia and his immigration to Canada and internment during WWII.
Emilio Mascia recounts how he heard about the internment from his uncle, who was reluctant to speak about his experiences at first. He also speaks about his uncle’s involvement in the Order Sons of Italy and what it meant for Italian immigrants to identify with fascism.
Emilio Mascia speaks about how the men passed the time while in the internment camp.
In this clip Emilio Mascia speaks about the difficulty the women faced at home in the absence of their husbands. He then goes on to discuss how his uncle had to essentially start over after he was released from the camp.
Emilio Mascia speaks briefly about how his uncle returned to work after his internment.
Emilio Mascia speaks about how his uncle’s family survived in his absence.
Emilio Mascia speaks to how the internment affected his uncle and his family.
Date
September 07, 2011
Maker
Columbus Centre
Accession#
ICEA2011.0018.0002
Interview 2 With Emilio Mascia
Video interview with Emilio Mascia conducted in Italian.
In his second interview, Emilio Mascia talks more about his life, his family, and his uncle Luigi Mascia who was interned at Camp Petawawa. Emilio’s father came to Canada in 1920, moved back to Italy in 1927 where he married, and then returned to Canada in 1956. Emilio was born in Italy in 1931 and did not move to Canada until 1958. The family found out about Luigi’s internment from a military chaplain, who was occupying the Mascia house during the war. Emilio was very interested in his Uncle Luigi’s internment experience. Many stories were shared at family gatherings by friends and family, which included stories about the Ferri brothers, John Parenti, Berlino Colangelo, Antonio (Tony) Olivieri, and others. Emilio learned that the internees at Camp Petawawa were not mistreated and were not forced to do anything they did not want to do. Internees could even pursue interests like music and gardening. Emilio also talks about moving to Canada in 1958, where he landed a job teaching Italian for Father Mascari (St. Anthony’s Church). He also found work at the White Oaks radio station and the Hamilton theatre ‘Playhouse’, where they played Italian films.
Emilio Mascia recounts how he found out about his uncle’s release from the internment camp while he was living in Italy.
Emilio Mascia speaks about his parents and discusses the family’s migration to Canada after the war.
Emilio Mascia speaks about meeting his wife, who’s father Antonio (Tony) Olivieri was also interned during WWII.
Emilio Mascia speaks about learning about the internment period from his uncle.
Emilio Mascia speaks about how his uncle and fellow internees accepted their internment. He also mentions that his uncle maintained many of the friendships he had formed in the camp after the war was over.
