Shovel Made by an Internee
Artifact
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Video
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Activities
LOOK
Look closely at this object. What do you think it was used for? To verify your answer, read the Historical Context below.
LOOK
Look closely at this object. What do you think it is made of? To verify your answer, read the Historical Context below.
THINK
Take the perspective of an internee like George Forchuk. What must the camps have been like, if he was willing to risk injury or death to try and escape? To inform your answer, use evidence from the Historical Context provided.
THINK
George Forchuk had to change his name after he escaped the camp. After being an internee, what sort of obstacles do you think he would have faced during his lifetime?
Details
Date 1915–1918
Materials - Iron
Historical Context
Choose one of the three levels below to match your needs.
- Europeans from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ukrainians, Croatians, Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, and subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria were all internees in labour camps in Canada.
- George Forchuk was a Ukrainian immigrant who was arrested and interned in 1915. He escaped the camp, but had to change his identity in order to rebuild his life.
- An internee from Morrissey Camp, near Fernie, British Columbia, made this shovel to dig a tunnel to escape.
In the labour camps, Ukrainian internees rubbed shoulders with Croatians, Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, Europeans from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.
George Forchuk, a Ukrainian immigrant, was arrested in 1915, at the age of 19. He was sent to a labour camp in Jasper, Alberta.
Forchuk escaped the camp and the backbreaking work, but had to change his identity in order to rebuild his life.
An internee from Morrissey Camp, near Fernie, British Columbia, made this shovel to dig a tunnel to escape.
“Even now, almost ninety years later, it still hurts me to talk about it. It affected him all his life. He lost his identity. He had to become someone else.”
— Marshall Forchuk, son of George Forchuk, 2006
In the labour camps, Ukrainian internees rubbed shoulders with Croatians, Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, Europeans from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.
George Forchuk left Ukraine and immigrated to Canada in 1913, at the age of 17. He received 160 acres of land to clear in Alberta. Arrested in 1915, he was part of a group of internees sent to a labour camp at Jasper, Alberta, tasked with building infrastructure for the future national park.
Forchuk escaped the camp and the backbreaking work, but had to change his identity in order to rebuild his life. The good farmland he had been given was never returned.
An internee from Morrissey Camp, near Fernie, British Columbia, made this shovel to dig a tunnel to escape.
- Europeans from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ukrainians, Croatians, Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, and subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria were all internees in labour camps in Canada.
- George Forchuk was a Ukrainian immigrant who was arrested and interned in 1915. He escaped the camp, but had to change his identity in order to rebuild his life.
- An internee from Morrissey Camp, near Fernie, British Columbia, made this shovel to dig a tunnel to escape.
In the labour camps, Ukrainian internees rubbed shoulders with Croatians, Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, Europeans from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.
George Forchuk, a Ukrainian immigrant, was arrested in 1915, at the age of 19. He was sent to a labour camp in Jasper, Alberta.
Forchuk escaped the camp and the backbreaking work, but had to change his identity in order to rebuild his life.
An internee from Morrissey Camp, near Fernie, British Columbia, made this shovel to dig a tunnel to escape.
“Even now, almost ninety years later, it still hurts me to talk about it. It affected him all his life. He lost his identity. He had to become someone else.”
— Marshall Forchuk, son of George Forchuk, 2006
In the labour camps, Ukrainian internees rubbed shoulders with Croatians, Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, Europeans from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.
George Forchuk left Ukraine and immigrated to Canada in 1913, at the age of 17. He received 160 acres of land to clear in Alberta. Arrested in 1915, he was part of a group of internees sent to a labour camp at Jasper, Alberta, tasked with building infrastructure for the future national park.
Forchuk escaped the camp and the backbreaking work, but had to change his identity in order to rebuild his life. The good farmland he had been given was never returned.
An internee from Morrissey Camp, near Fernie, British Columbia, made this shovel to dig a tunnel to escape.
Summary
- Europeans from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ukrainians, Croatians, Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, and subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria were all internees in labour camps in Canada.
- George Forchuk was a Ukrainian immigrant who was arrested and interned in 1915. He escaped the camp, but had to change his identity in order to rebuild his life.
- An internee from Morrissey Camp, near Fernie, British Columbia, made this shovel to dig a tunnel to escape.
Essential
In the labour camps, Ukrainian internees rubbed shoulders with Croatians, Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, Europeans from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.
George Forchuk, a Ukrainian immigrant, was arrested in 1915, at the age of 19. He was sent to a labour camp in Jasper, Alberta.
Forchuk escaped the camp and the backbreaking work, but had to change his identity in order to rebuild his life.
An internee from Morrissey Camp, near Fernie, British Columbia, made this shovel to dig a tunnel to escape.
In-Depth
“Even now, almost ninety years later, it still hurts me to talk about it. It affected him all his life. He lost his identity. He had to become someone else.”
— Marshall Forchuk, son of George Forchuk, 2006
In the labour camps, Ukrainian internees rubbed shoulders with Croatians, Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, Europeans from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and subjects of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.
George Forchuk left Ukraine and immigrated to Canada in 1913, at the age of 17. He received 160 acres of land to clear in Alberta. Arrested in 1915, he was part of a group of internees sent to a labour camp at Jasper, Alberta, tasked with building infrastructure for the future national park.
Forchuk escaped the camp and the backbreaking work, but had to change his identity in order to rebuild his life. The good farmland he had been given was never returned.
An internee from Morrissey Camp, near Fernie, British Columbia, made this shovel to dig a tunnel to escape.