Beyond the Barbed Wire: Experiences of Italian Canadians in WWII display case

Display case in the exhibition Beyond the Barbed Wire: Experiences of Italian Canadians in WWII.

The display case contains copies of the RCMP Annual Reports from 1940-1943. Lists of Italian Canadians to be interned in the event of war had been compiled by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) well in advance of June 1940. The RCMP kept systematic records of the identities of Italian men involved in cultural and benevolent societies, such as the Order Sons of Italy (OSI). These reports demonstrate the detail with which the RCMP maintained these records. The 1941 report provides information on the arrest and internment of Italian men from Vancouver.

The Italian Cultural Centre Society (ICC) in Vancouver, BC created a project entitled A Question of Loyalty, which recognized and commemorated the experiences of those affected by the internment of Italian Canadians in British Columbia during World War II. The project included a play (Fresco, written by Lucia Frangione in collaboration with the BellaLuna Ensemble) a book (Injustice Served, the story of BC’s WWII Italian Enemy Aliens by Ray Culos), and an exhibition at the Italian Cultural Centre (Beyond the Barbed Wire: Experiences of Italian Canadians in WWII). The exhibition was on display at Il Museo at the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver, BC from March 8, 2012 to August 31, 2012.