Letter by James Poggi to the Office of the Custodian, Greenwood, BC, March 29, 1943 - en anglais seulement

This is a four page handwritten letter by internee James Poggi to the Office of the Custodian. Dated March 29, 1943 at Greenwood, BC. Black ink on plain white paper.

Poggi gives details about his arrest on July 25, 1940. He says that he was first put in a jail at Grand Forks, BC, and was so upset that he fainted twice. He then explains his transfer to two other jails, before being taken to Camp Kananaskis in AB.

He also talks about his failing health due to the stress of having been interned. For example, at Camp Petawawa he suffered a stroke and became paralyzed. Poggi claims damages to his eyes and teeth, weightloss of 30 pounds, and loss of "three quarters" of his hair.  He writes, "Before my internment I was the healthy and strong a man as anybody would want to see. I never was sick in all my life I have lived 43 years in British Columbia and I was never sick a day. But the internment has ruined my health. I spent seven month [sic] in bed sick in a prison hospital with heart dease [sic]. This disease came to me by worry and malancoly [sic]."

Poggi is claiming damages for the following:

$30, 000 loss of mining property and farmland
$3500 loss of deal to sell farmland
$7000 loss of deal with Continental Securities Corporation Ltd., 112 Pacific building Vancouver BC
$30, 000 loss of deal with Consolidated mining and Smelting Company
$3517.71 stolen/loss property at his home and at his Greenwood mines
$140, 000 injuries sustained while arrested and interned (e.g. paralysis of left side, heart condition, etc.)

James ends his letter with: "You have ruined my health for life there is no money in the wold [sic] that can pay for my heath [sic]. I was an innocent man but you put me in jail and in the camp."