Table of Contents
Timeline
Focusing on the lead up to World War II and its immediate aftermath, the timeline presents the dates of key events and happenings, along with photographs and videos. The timeline sets the historic environment in which the internment of Italian Canadians occurred.
1919
1919
The social unrest that follows World War I in Italy leads to il biennio rosso (the Two Red Years) which lasts from 1919 to 1920. Massive social protest, strikes and the occupation of factories and land are sparked by high unemployment and inflation.
It was really because of my strong sense of patriotism. I remember the disorder that reigned in Italy at the end of World War II. The country was paralyzed by strikes, farmers spread over the countryside snatching up land, the trains didn’t arrive on time, Italy had fallen in the clutches of socialists who were at the root of our social problems.
May & June 1919
Begun as a strike by city workers, the resulting labour unrest known as the Winnipeg General Strike becomes the largest general strike in Canadian history. On May 15, 1919, most of the working population of Winnipeg, around 30,000 workers, walks off their jobs. Local, national and even international coverage of the strike describe the agitators and strikers as foreigners, communists and anarchists intent on the overthrow of the Canadian government. Fearing the spread of the strike action to other cities, the Canadian government intervenes. On June 21, 1919, police violently engage the crowd assembled at Market Square. In addition to numerous arrests, many strikers sustain injuries and one dies. The demonstration ends with federal troops occupying the city streets. Workers return to their jobs on June 25, 1919.
1919
The right to vote in a Canadian federal election is extended to all women in the Act to confer the Electoral Franchise upon Women.
1920
1920
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is formed by the merger of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP, founded 1873) with the Dominion Police (founded 1868) and is the national police force of Canada. The RCMP Security Service branch also oversees specialized political intelligence and counterintelligence, until it is replaced with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in 1984.
January 16, 1920
Although the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June of 1919, it was not registrered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations until October 21, 1919 and came into effect on January 10, 1920. Six days after the Treaty came into effect the League holds its first council meeting in Paris.
First council session of the League of Nations at the Palais du Quai d’Orsay in Paris, Photographer Unknown, January 16, 1920, UNOG Library, League of Nations Archives
November 15, 1920
In November of 1920 the headquarters of the League of Nations is moved to Geneva, Switzerland since Switzerland is considered to a neurtral country given that they did not fight in World War I. The first General Assembly is held here on November 15, 1920.
1921
1921
November 09, 1921
The National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista or PNF) is founded in Rome. The political party is created by Benito Mussolini.
December 06, 1921
Liberal William Lyon Mackenzie King defeats Arthur Meighen and the Conservatives and he is elected as Prime Minister of Canada. King’s first of three terms lasts from December of 1921 to June of 1926.
W.L. Mackenzie King, M.P., Leader of the Liberal Party, New York, NY, Champlain Studio, April 15, 1922, Champlain Studio / Library and Archives Canada / C-001978
1922
1922
Luigi Pancaro, seated in front left of carriage, during a World War I procession through Rome, Italy, Photographer Unknown, 1914, Courtesy of Maggie Pancaro Pallotta
Luigi Pancaro is studying medicine at the University of Rome. Interested in fascism, he participates in the March. Luigi would hold Mussolini in esteem for the positive changes he noticed happening in Italy. In a later interview with the Sudbury Star in December 1932, he praises the many infrastructure projects underway in Italy such as the electrification of railways and better access to drinking water.
September 01, 1922
During World War II, the date of one’s naturalization (citizenship) is used in determining “enemy alien” status and those who have to report their activities to the authorities. After June 10, 1940, enemy aliens include Italian citizens and those Italians who had been born in Italy, but were naturalized as British subjects after September 1, 1922. In some cases, even Canadian-born Italians are designated as enemy aliens.
1923
1923
July 01, 1923
The Chinese Immigration Act comes into effect. Commonly known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, it prevents Chinese immigrants from entering Canada. Exceptions are made for merchants, students and diplomats. It would be repealed in 1947, through community lobbying, including the efforts of Chinese Canadian war veterans. However, it would not be until 1967 and major immigration law reform that Chinese immigration policy barriers would be lifted.
1924
1924
1925
1925
The dopolavoro is created to challenge socialist cultural leagues in Italy and to turn Italians into supporters of the fascist movement. The dopolavoro provides sporting and outdoor activities to its members as well as libraries stocked with fascist literature. Many members join for the leisure activities and not necessarily for the fascist politics. Though created in Italy, the dopolavoro is exported to countries where Italian communities exist. In Canada, the dopolavoro is tied to the work of the fascio and overseen by Italian consular officials.
October 29, 1925
Arthur Meighen and the Conservative Party of Canada are elected with the most seats in Parliament but not enough to form a majority. William Lyon Mackenzie King hangs on to position as Prime Minister with the help of the Progressive Party.
1926
1926
Nicholas Zaffiro, son of internee Francesco Zaffiro, video interview, August 10, 2011, Columbus Centre Collection
Francesco Zaffiro comes to Canada in 1926, sponsored by his uncle Gaetano Girgenti. He does not have much formal education but he does have a trade. Zaffiro borrows money from his uncle to open a shoemaker’s shop.
April 03, 1926
The Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) is founded through a decree by Benito Mussolini. The ONB is an Italian fascist youth organization which served to supplement school education. The organization functions between 1926 and 1937.
June 28, 1926
Arthur Meighen begins a brief three month stint as Prime Minister of Canada. However, William Lyon Mackenzie King is re-elected as Prime Minister in September of the same year.
September 25, 1926
William Lyon Mackenzie King begins his second term as Prime Minister of Canada.
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King addressing a crowd of supporters from his vehicle during the federal election campaign, Ontario, F.J. Skitch, ca. July 1926, F.J. Skitch / Library and Archives Canada / PA-138867
1927
1927
Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell’Antifascismo (Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism, OVRA) is created to serve as the secret police under the Italian fascist government. Paid agents are suspected of infiltrating other organizations and groups to report on and stop any anti-Fascist activity or work.
August 23, 1927
Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are executed in Massachusetts. The two men were convicted of murdering two men during a robbery on April 15, 1920. After a controversial trial and a series of appeals the two immigrant men were nonetheless executed. Even Benito Mussolini made quiet inquiries into the case and was apparently prepared to ask the Governor to commute the sentences.
1928
1928
April 02, 1928
Camillien Houde is elected as mayor of Montreal.
Sketch of Montreal mayor Camillien Houde at Camp Petawawa. On August 2, 1940 he publicly urged men in Quebec to ignore the National Registration Act. Three days after this public declaration Houde was arrested by the RCMP, charged with sedition and interned without trial, Guido Nincheri, September 1, 1940, Archives de la Ville de Montréal (VM6, D026.34-7-035)
1929
1929
Order of Italian Canadians, a benevolent society, is created in Montreal. It comprises antifascist lodges that had left the Order Sons of Italy due to increasing fascist interference.
February 11, 1929
The Lateran Accords are signed between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See. At the time the agreement is ratified Italy is under the fascist rule of Benito Mussolini. The signing of the Lateran Accords gave the Papacy full territorial rights over the Vatican City, separate from the state of Italy.
Benito Mussolini, right, signs the Lateran Pact, while Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, secretary of state to Pope Pius XI, waits his turn, Rome, Italy, Photographer Unknown, February 11, 1929, UPI Telephoto, Columbus Centre Collection.
October 24, 1929
The United States stock market crashes. The crash marks the beginning of a 10 year period known as the Great Depression.
Investor Walter Thornton tries to sell his luxury roadster on the streets of New York after the 1929 stock market crash, Photographer Unknown, October 29, 1929, Columbus Centre Collection.
1930
1930
June 28, 1930
The Conservative Party of Canada, led by Richard B. Bennett, wins the federal election. William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the leader of the opposition.
1931
1931
December 11, 1931
The Statue of Westminster is passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and gives Canada complete legislative independence from the United Kingdom in national and international matters.
1932
1932
July 31, 1932
The Nazi Party wins the most seats in the German federal election.
1933
1933
January 30, 1933
The German election on July 31, 1932 and the subsequent election in November 1932 failed to produced a majority government. In the absence of an effective government, president Paul von Hindenburg reluctantly agrees to appoint Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany. Hitler is to head a short-lived coalition government formed by the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) and the the German National People’s Party (DNVP).
Adolf Hitler speaking to his supporters from his balcony, Germany, Photographer Unknown, January 30, 1933, Library and Archives Canada / C-016798
1934
1934
February 22, 1934
Montreal journalist Adrien Arcand forms the Parti National Social Chrétien (later known as the Fascist Christian National Socialist Party) in Montreal. The party idenitifies with Nazism, the political philosophy outlined by German leader Adolf Hitler.
Three men standing in the doorway of the Aviation Club (Club d’Aviation Canadien), which is one of the Nazi meeting halls in Montreal, QC, Photographer Unknown, c. 1939, Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives
June 10, 1934
Italy wins its first World Cup. The soccer tournament takes place in Italy and the final is held in the Stadium of the National Fascist Party (later demolished in 1953). This high-profile sporting event is used by Benito Mussolini to promote Italy, his leadership and fascism to the world, while at the same time uniting the country behind the national team. Il Duce regularly attends matches and celebrates the overtime victory against Czechoslovakia on June 10.
August 19, 1934
On August 2, 1934 the president of Germany, Paul von Hindenburg dies. The day before his death the cabinet enacts a law that would abolish the office of the president and merge its powers with that of the chancellor in the event of Hindenburg’s death. This merger is approved on August 19, effectively making Adolf Hitler the head of state and government and taking the title of Führer of Germany.
October 27, 1934
By a recent disposition of the superior authorities, Lieutenant Mancuso, President of the War Veterans’ Association, has been nominated a member of the Directorate of the Fascio of Montreal and has been assigned to the office of propaganda and assistance. We congratulate Lieutenant Mancuso who is a most active element of our community and is always ready to cooperate in all patriotic manifestations.
October 27, 1934, L’Italia, newspaper referenced in the records compiled by the RCMP, Library and Archives Canada
1935
1935
October 07, 1935
The League of Nations decides that Italy has violated its obligations under the Covenant and begins the slow process of imposing commercial and financial sanctions against Italy. These sanctions do not cover vital materials such as oil and are not carried out by all members of the League rendering them ineffective.
Anti-fascist demonstrators denounce Mussolini in front of the Embassy in Washington, D.C., Associated Press, October 11, 1935, Columbus Centre Collection.
October 14, 1935
William Lyon Mackenzie King is elected to a third term as Prime Minister of Canada.
1936
1936
The terms “fifth column” and “fifth columnist” originate when Emilio Mola (1887-1937), a Nationalist General during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), notes that the four columns of his forces outside Madrid would be supported by a “fifth column” of his supporters inside the city. The term is used extensively in Britain in the early stages of World War II to explain the internment of German nationals, and subsequently is used in the United States and Canada.
May 05, 1936
Italian forces capture the capital of Addis Ababa, all sanctions against Italy are dropped and Ethiopia is merged with other Italian colonies and becomes Italian East Africa. Italian East Africa is disassembled by the Allies in 1943.
July 17, 1936
Spanish Civil War begins.
Large sign on La Imperial building in Puerta del Sol, Madrid which reads “Evacudad Madrid”.
1937
1937
Mr. Sebastiani (who is a most active Fascist) resigned from the Casa d’Italia due to the fact that he could not agree with the less militant policy of the present Italian Consul in regard to Fascism. Sebastiani is understood to have desired that the Marquis de Simone walk in the footsteps of his predecessor, Mr. de Brigidi, but this Marquis de Simone was apparently unwilling to do with the result that Sebastiani severed his connection with the Casa d’Italia and has threatened to withdraw his financial support from that organisation also.
RCMP, “The Organization and Activities of the Italian Fascist Party in Canada,” Ottawa, 1937, Library and Archives Canada
October 27, 1937
The Gioventù Italiana del Littorio (Italian Youth of the Lictor) is founded in Rome. It replaces the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) and is created to supervise the education of youths.
Front cover of a special issue of P.N.F. Gioventù Italiana del Littorio, III Campo Roma, XII Leva Fascista to commemorate the 12th encampment of fascist youths, 1938, Italian Life Under Fascism: Selections from the Fry Collection, Department of Special Collections, Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1938
1938
June 19, 1938
Italy repeats as World Cup champions. On June 19 at the Colombes Stadium in Paris, France, the Azzurri beat Hungary 4-2.
The 1938 World Cup, perhaps more than any tournament, clearly demonstrated the powerful nature of soccer. Spain was being ripped apart by civil war, Hitler and the Nazis were occupying Austria, and a crisis-ridden Europe was teetering on the brink of World War II. And yet, for 15 days in June, the World Cup beamed a powerful light of hope and friendship through the ominous clouds hovering over the continent.
John F. Molinaro, “1938 World Cup: Italy repeats as champions”. November 25, 2009, CBC Sports. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/fifaworldcup/features/story/2009/11/21/spf-1938-france.html
July 14, 1938
The Manifesto della Razza (Manifesto of Race) is enacted in Italy in July of 1938. The Manifesto is a series of anti-semitic laws that stripped Jews of their Italian citizenship and removed them from governmental positions and professions. It is published anonymously in Il Giornale d’Italia on July 14, 1938.
1939
1939
May 22, 1939
Italy and Germany sign the Pact of Steel agreement promising to aid the other in the event of war.
Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goering, Rudolph Hess and other members of the Nazi and Fascist Parties after the signing of the Pact of Steel in Berlin, Germany, Photographer Unknown, May 22, 1939, Library and Archives Canada / PA-114781
September 01, 1939
Poland is invaded by Nazi Germany.
Canada invokes the War Measures Act. First introduced during World War I, the Act gave the government unlimited powers to protect the state from any internal or external threats. This included banning subversive political organizations and suspending foreign-language newspapers. The Act also allowed for the internment of Canadian residents born in countries or empires at war with Canada.
A motorized detachment of the invading German army rides through a Polish town, badly battered from repeated bombings by the Luftwaffe, Acme Newsphotos, September 1939, Columbus Centre Collection
September 03, 1939
France and the United Kingdom declare war against Germany.
Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King and members of the Cabinet broadcasting messages to the Canadian people following the special emergency Cabinet meeting following Great Britain’s declaration of war, Ottawa, ON, National Film Board, September 3, 1939, National Film Board of Canada / Phototheque / Library and Archives Canada / C-016770
September 10, 1939
Canada formally declares war on Germany.
Around 850 German-Canadians are interned and over 66,000 German and Austrian Canadians (naturalized citizens), who arrived in Canada after 1922, are forced to report to police regularly.
Headline from The London Free Press announcing Canada’s war declaration, September 11, 1939, Columbus Centre Collection
December 18, 1939
The first division of Canadian infantry to cross the Atlantic arrives in England.
1940
1940
May 10, 1940
German military invades France.
May 30, 1940
Adrien Arcand, founder of the Parti National Social Chrétien (later known as the Canadian National Socialist Unity Party), and many of his followers are arrested and detained for the duration of the war when the party is banned under the War Measures Act.
Adrien Arcand at desk making speech in uniform, Photographer Unknown, ca. 1930, Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives
June 10, 1940
Italians are arrested in the United Kingdom.
June 10, 1940
A few minutes after 1:00 pm (EST)
Word reaches Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King of Benito Mussolini’s declaration of war. King begins to draft his resolution to declare war against Italy.
June 10, 1940
A few minutes after 1:00 pm (EST)
Dr. Luigi Pancaro’s office is attached to his home on Morris St. in Sudbury, Ontario. While talking to a patient and his wife, four uniformed police officers walk into his clinic. The elderly Italian couple leave quickly. Dr. Pancaro, the Secretary of the Sudbury Fascio, is ordered to unlock his filing cabinet and two police officers go through his patient records. Placed in the back of a police van, Dr. Pancaro is taken to the Sudbury jail on Elm St. He finds himself locked in a jail cell with some of his own patients.
Dr. Luigi Pancaro sitting at his desk, Photographer Unknown, ca. 1942, Courtesy of Maggie Pancaro Pallotta.
June 10, 1940
1:10 pm (EST)
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), with the aid of the provincial and municipal police, begin a round up of suspected fifth columnists in Sydney, Copper Cliff, Sudbury, Toronto, and Montreal.
Police raid on Casa d’Italia, Montreal, QC, The Gazette (Montreal), June 10, 1940, Gazette / Library and Archives Canada / PA-140527
June 10, 1940
1:10 pm (EST)
Antoinetta Maria (Toni) Ciccarelli (née Bassano) is working at the Front Street Post Office in Toronto when two Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers approach and aske her to pack her things. She is taken to their office, fingerprinted and designated an enemy alien for her volunteer work in the kitchen of the Casa d’Italia. Later she is asked by one of her neighbours Mrs. Orlando to bring clothing and rosary beads to her two sons, both being held at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds along with many other “boys” from the neighbourhood.
Antoinette (Toni) Ciccarelli, enemy alien, video interview, June 16, 2011, Columbus Centre Collection
June 10, 1940
1:10 pm (EST)
Gerard Di Battista is working in the family store in Lachine, Quebec. Two police detectives enter and ask about the location of his father Luigi, a member of the fascio and Order Sons of Italy. The 15 year old agrees to look for his father who is not present. On returning to the store Luigi exchanges a few words with the police officers and tells his son to let his mother know that he is going with the officers to Montreal. Gerard’s mother on learning what has happened reassures her son that the detectives probably want to ask his father a few questions and that he should be home for dinner.
Gerard Di Battista & Victor Di Battista, sons of internee Luigi Di Battista, video interview, April 15, 2011, Columbus Centre Collection
June 10, 1940
1:10 pm (EST)
Nellie Cavell is working as a secretary/stenographer at the Italian Consulate in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dr. Brancucci, Vice Consul, arrives in the late morning (10:00 am PST)and annouces, “Siamo in guerra!” – “We are at war!.” Along with other office staff, including Grace Fabri and Cleofe Forti, Nellie is ordered to gather office documents and burn them in the furnace located in the basement of the Marine Building. She watches them burn and is then told to go home. She does not see any Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) or other police officers that day, but is later declared an enemy alien and required to report monthly. Dr. Brancucci is placed under house arrest and Grace Fabri’s father is interned.
Nellie Cavell, enemy alien, video interview, June 6, 2011, Columbus Centre Collection
June 10, 1940
1:30 pm (EST)
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King reads over the resolution with a colleague. At the same time police officers begin rounding up Italian Canadians in Windsor.
Two page spread from the Prisoners’ Register with names of Italian Canadian men arrested on June 10, 1940 in Windsor, Ontario, Windsor Police Service, June 10, 1940, Windsor Police Services Board and Windsor Police Service, RG8 DII – 1/10, Windsor Public Library.
June 10, 1940
2:15 pm (EST)
Prime Minister King eats a quick lunch.
June 10, 1940
3:40 pm (EST)
The House of Commons is in session and passes an unanimous resolution to declare war against Italy.
June 10, 1940
4:00 pm (EST)
The Senate session unanimously passes the same resolution introduced in the House of Commons.
June 10, 1940
4:00 pm (EST)
Romano Scattolon, a miner in Dominion, Cape Breton, and founding member and treasurer of the Italian Community Club, returns home from work and finds two Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers waiting for him. He is not allowed to eat or change his clothes and is taken to a jail in Glace Bay where he spends the night. He has no idea what is happening.
Geno Scattolon, son of internee Romano Scattolon, video interview, June 22, 2011, Columbus Centre Collection.
June 10, 1940
5:00 pm (EST)
Raids begin against Hamilton’s Italian Canadian community.
![Personal diary of Nida Olivieri, whose father, Antonio (Tony) Olivieri was interned in 1940. Select entries describe the mood and atmosphere of the Italian Canadian community in the Hamilton, Ontario area leading up to the declaration of Italian Canadians as enemy aliens on June 10, 1940. Entries in the journal during her father's internment were intentionally left blank. Entries begin once again when her father returns home. She writes about her father’s mood and reintegration after his internment. In an interview with Toni McDermott, Nida's daughter, she reads from these and other entries from the journal and describes what this journal personally means to her. The journal is simulated leather bound with a locking metal clasp. Transcribed entries include: May 21. / Tues. 1941 Mikey[?] went home / last week. I do miss / the big blond giant. He / seemed so clean[?] and strong, / somehow, like a god. May 22. / Wed. 1940 Italy might join / Germany. I hope she doesn’t. / It will go bad with us. / Mayor refused invitation to / Italian banquet. May 25. / Sat. 1940 Worked hard all / day. Veterans parade tomorrow. / Italians not invited. Sodality[?] / meets tomorrow. May 26. / Sun. 1940 Sodality[?] crowning / tonight. Not so hot today. / I realized my ambitions / …[unclear] / …[unclear] / …[unclear] Soldiers lined up…[unclear]…singing. June 10. / Mon. 1940 Italy joins Germany in war / Police were here this aft & took Papa / away for investigation. He’s to say / the night. Three lieutenants in today one / sameone as Thurs. Steel plant men rejected. June 11. / Tues. 1940 What a day! We ran around all / day long – [unclear, names individuals] /looking for our men! / Cops, Mounties, soldiers. What a bunch! / Yesterday [scribble] [unclear] ‘spy.’ Maybe Papa’s / [arrow leading to top of entry, entry continues] taken up North to a concentration camp. I / now realize what this war meant. For / the first time I know real sorrow. “Afraid” - box July 17. / Wed 1940 Papa came home today. / We were out and what a surprise / we got! He is so tanned and / hard looking, but not the same. His / spirit seems broken, somehow. July 18. / 1940 Thurs. I hope Uncle Don & / the rest could come out now. / Auntie seems hopeful. Papa / has many interesting things to / tell about the camp. July 19. / Fri. 1940 [unclear] much for what / [unclear] papa & someday “he” will regret what he did / [unclear] We have lots of / company all the time now. July 22. / Mon. 1940 I went to the dentist / this morning. He’s good. [unclear] / so interested & all [unclear] / [unclear] July 23. / Tues. 1940 Papa is afraid to go outside [unclear]. / He is afraid still.](https://www.italianheritage.ca/files/2024/02/Diary-of-Nida-Olivieri-Hamilton-ON-1939-19406-b271cb4ea2d97d71.jpg)
Personal diary of Nida Olivieri, daughter of internee Antonio Olivieri. On June 10 and 11, 1940 she writes about the arrest of her father and other Italian Canadian men in Hamilton, Courtesy of the family of Antonio Olivieri.
June 10, 1940
6:00 pm (EST)
Prime Minister King leaves his office and heads home for dinner.
June 10, 1940
6:00 pm (EST)
Santo Pasqualini, who had worked all night, is asleep when he is awoken by the police. They accuse Santo of being a fascist, as he is a member of the local Order Sons of Italy and the Circolo Giulio Giordani. Although he denies that he is a fascist, the police handcuff him and take him away. Santo’s wife Alice is at work and hears from another woman that Santo has been taken by the police. She learns that Santo is in a prison near the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the Georgia St. bridge. From the bridge you can see the prison’s windows. Alice and a friend go to the bridge and wave their hankies. No contact is allowed between Santo and his family or anyone else. After ten days he is transferred to the Kananaskis internment camp. The families of the internees are not notified about this transfer.
Alice D’Appolonia, wife of internee Santo Pasqualini, video interview, March 18, 2011, Columbus Centre Collection
June 10, 1940
6:00 pm (EST)
The Frenza family has just finished dinner in Montreal, with Leonardo and Assunta heading across the street to visit with neighbours. Daughter Ninetta is playing when she notices two Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers approaching her home. She runs to tell her father and he returns home. The police search the house, seize material and take Leonardo, a shoemaker and volunteer secretary of the Order Sons of Italy, with them. The family does not know where he is going or when he will return.
Antonia Maria (Ninetta) Ricci, daughter of internee Leonardo Frenza, video interview, June 20, 2011, Columbus Centre Collection
June 10, 1940
9:00 pm (EST)
Prime Minister King returns to his office and attends the meeting of the War Committee and Council.
June 10, 1940
10:00 pm (EST)
The Prime Minister signs an order-in-council asking King George IV of Great Britain to grant Canada permission to join the war against Italy.
June 10, 1940
10:20 pm (EST)
The War Commitee and Council meeting concludes.
June 10, 1940
Between 10:30 and 11:00 pm (EST)
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King gives a radio address informing listeners that Canada has begun the formal process to declare war against Italy and that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have begun to take Italian Canadians suspected of subversive activities into custody.
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King broadcasting on CBC radio, Toronto Star Archives, 1940, Toronto Star Archives/GetStock.com
June 20, 1940
Italian soldiers enter France.
June 24, 1940
France signs an armistice with Italy.
July 02, 1940
A British passenger liner SS Arandora Star carrying German and Italian internees is sunk by a German U-boat on its way to Canada. More than 800 lives are lost.
August 04, 1940
The Italian military invades British Somaliland.
September 13, 1940
As you already know my son Berlino Colangelo is in a concentration camp, and you have registered all his property. The last two or three letters he has written me request me to send his guitar which he says he would like to have very much. The purpose of this letter is to ask your permission which I presume is needed before sending his guitar. Please let me know at your earliest convenience if I could send the same. Hoping for a speedy reply.
Urbano Colangelo to Custodian of Enemy Property, September 13, 1940, Library and Archives Canada
September 27, 1940
The Tripartite Pact is signed by representatives of Germany, Italy and Japan in Berlin, Germany, creating the Axis Powers.
October 28, 1940
Italian forces invade Greece. The Italians retreat after three weeks.
1941
1941
January 16, 1941
There has been a great big change in our house since daddy has been taken away to the camp. Mother cries all the time worying [sic] how we will get along. Daddy means everything to us honest, Mister Beckett and without him we can’t go on. Won’t you please help him in his case so he can come home to us soon? Please Mr. Beckett, I ask you to try hard to help my daddy come home.
Mano Carlucci, son of internee Carlo Carlucci, letter to G.G. Beckett, January 16, 1941, Library and Archives Canada
March 19, 1941
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, nephew of internee Giuseppe Paonessa, letter to Mr. McPherson, March 19, 1941, Library and Archives Canada
March 27, 1941
Al’s letter pleased me very much as it is encouraging and it is possible that some action will be taken on my case soon. Send the 14” plane it will do. Maybe we will be allowed to send some souvenirs for Easter. Don made some forks and spoons, and a meat chopper for his wife. We will send home to you. Get Chester his suit but get him a good one… Tell him that Gaetano makes the coffee every morning now and the cooking is done by Mascia and Lonza…We go to mass every Sunday and Rosary every night…Send me another $3 for this month as we are allowed to spent $8.00 a month.
George Capponi, internee, translated letter to Irene Capponi, March 27, 1941, Library and Archives Canada.
June 09, 1941
I agree with you when you say that you will never forget or forgive about my being put in here. After all, some one has to suffer so that someone else will get his laurels, from men that have worked for them. I have worked for them for years and the only gratitude I have received is this. I will trust God that in the end justice will prevail.
Peter Frare, internee, POW letter to Anna Frare, June 9, 1941, Library and Archives Canada
June 16, 1941
The United States government orders all German and Italian consulates closed. All consulate staff are given until July 10th to leave the country.
December 07, 1941
The Imperial Japanese Navy attack the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. That night arrests of Japanese, German and Italian enemy aliens begins across the United States. Many of these individuals are eventually interned.
Battered destroyers in drydock after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Associated Press, December 7, 1941, Columbus Centre Collection
December 11, 1941
Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The United States counter and declare war on Germany and Italy.
1942
1942
February 24, 1942
The internment and relocation of Japanese Canadians begins: roughly 700 Japanese Canadians are interned and more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians are forcibly relocated.
Community kitchen at Japanese Canadian internment camp, Greenwood, BC, National Film Board, ca. 1943, National Film Board of Canada / Phototheque / Library and Archives Canada / C-024452
1943
1943
February 12, 1943
As a result of the handling of my affairs by your agents, I lost my business, my bank account, my house furniture, my stocks, my law books and office furniture, numerous personal items and documents, to say nothing of an extremely valuable stamp collection and my share of the accumulated profits of the law firm in which I was a partner. Your agents permitted by former partner, A.G. Cameron to take possession of all the above assets on the flimsiest pretext imaginable and, so far as I am aware, made no attempt to protect my interest or assets.
E.V. Fabri, internee, letter to G.G. Beckett, February 12, 1943, Library and Archives Canada
June 22, 1943
The Allied bombing of Sicily and Sardinia begins.
July 09, 1943
The Allies invade Sicily.
July 24, 1943
Members of the fascist government hold a vote to return constitutional authority to King Vittorio Emanuele III. This effectively ends Benito Mussolini’s rule. The next day the King names Marshall Pietro Badolgio prime minister. Mussolini is arrested by the carabiniere (Italian military police).
September 03, 1943
The Allies invade the Italian mainland at Reggio di Calabria. An armistice is signed between Italy and the Allies ending Italy’s involvement in the war.
September 10, 1943
German forces occupy Rome.
Map of Rome and surrounding areas held by German forces, Associated Press, 1943, Columbus Centre Collection
September 12, 1943
German paratroopers rescue Benito Mussolini from imprisonment at San Grasso in the Apennine mountains.
September 18, 1943
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, internee, letter to Custodian of Enemy Property, September 18, 1943, Library and Archives Canada
September 23, 1943
The German-backed Italian Social Republic is established at Salò, Lombardy with Benito Mussolini as its leader. It lasts until April 1945.
October 01, 1943
Neopolitans successfully oust the German military from Naples.
October 13, 1943
The Italian government declares war against Germany.
November 05, 1943
The Italian air force bombs the Vatican in order to destroy its radio station. The fascist government believes that the Vatican radio station was sending coded messages to the Allies. The Vatican is neutral during World War II.
1944
1944
January 04, 1944
The Battle of Monte Cassino, Lazio, Italy, begins. German and Italian soldiers fight the Allies in a series of battles that last until May 1944. The Allies emerge victorious.
Photogravure showing a view of the Abbey of Monte Cassino before Allied bombings destroyed the building during World War II, Hielscher, 1922, Columbus Centre Collection
January 22, 1944
The Allies land at Anzio, Lazio, Italy.
March 24, 1944
German soldiers kill 335 Italians at the Ardeatine caves in Rome. The massacre was the German military’s response to an attack carried out by Italian partisans the previous day.
June 04, 1944
The Allies enter Rome.
Entry of Allied forces into Rome, Italy, G. Barry Gilroy, June 4, 1944, Lieut. G. Barry Gilroy / Canadian Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-140135
1945
1945
January 27, 1945
Soviet soldiers liberate the Auschwitz concentration camp.
April 28, 1945
Benito Mussolini is captured in northern Italy and executed by communist partisans at Mezzegra, Lombardy. The following day his corpse is taken to Milan and put on display.
May 01, 1945
The German army is defeated in Italy.
May 07, 1945
Germany surrenders to the Allies.
May 08, 1945
The Allies formally accept the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and the end of the Third Reich. Celebrations erupted throughout the western world, with crowds taking to the streets to mark the end of World War II. The day would become known as Victory in Europe Day, or VE Day.
Military personnel and civilians celebrating V-E Day on Sparks Street, Ottawa, ON, Department of National Defence, May 8, 1945, Canadian Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-114617
July 06, 1945
Italian Canadian internee Nello Trasciatti is released from the Fredericton Internment Camp. He is most likely the last Italian Canadian internee to be released.
August 06, 1945
The United States Air Force drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
August 09, 1945
The United States Air Force drop an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.
View of the ravaged courtyard at the Nagasaki Medical School and Hospital, located half a mile from where the United States Air Force dropped the second atomic bomb, U.S. Army Air Forces photo, Wash. D.C., 1945, Columbus Centre Collection
September 02, 1945
Japan surrenders to the Allies marking the end of World War II.
