Interview with Antoinette (Toni) Ciccarelli

Antoinette (Toni) Ciccarelli was born in Guglionesi, Italy on September 23, 1915. She was six years old when she immigrated to Canada with her mother and sisters. Her father, Vincenzo who had immigrated earlier died after the family moved to a farm in Scarborough some years after their arrival. After her father’s death, the family moved to downtown Toronto, where Toni worked in various grocery stores and did volunteer work at Casa D’Italia. On June 10, 1040, she was sorting mail at the Front Street Post Office when she was picked up by two RCMP officers, taken to a police station and fingerprinted. She was designated an enemy alien and had to report to the police monthly until the end of the war. In her interview she describes the arrest and internment of local Italian Canadians such as the Orlandos. Despite the hardships she faced during the war years she eventually returned to volunteer work; working with organizations such as the Canadian Cancer Society, Villa Charities, Variety Village and the Heart and Stroke foundation.