The Camps, Season 2, Episode 16
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Video
Audio
Activities
LOOK
Watch this clip from The Camps. What are its main messages? Explain them in your own words.
THINK
According to Jerry Bayrak, how can the internment of a family member affect later generations?
Details
Date 2016
Materials Transcript
My name is Jerry Bayrak. Three generations of our family were interned at the Spirit Lake Camp. My mother was born at the camp December the 16th 1915.
Families were housed in one area and the single men were in the swampy area. The barracks were built on stilts it was so wet.
I guess people don’t realise the lasting effects. My great-grandmother was here in the midst of a TB epidemic. My great-grandmother had TB and my grandmother died of tuberculosis at age 32. My mother, about a year after I was born, she left the farm and went in to Edmonton and spent two years in hospital. My sister, before she finished high-school, ended up in the Aberhart TB centre in Edmonton.
Four generations suffered as a result of the camp. It’s really something that this story is finally coming out. And it’s still having a hard time coming out, it was so well hidden.
Historical Context
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- The War Measures Act restricted civil liberties for hundreds of thousands of Canadians, censored the media, required registration for certain groups, and suspended freedom of expression and association (the freedom to join and leave groups voluntarily).
- Mary Hancharuk Bayrak was born to Ukrainian parents at the Spirit Lake internment camp in Quebec. She spent her first eight months of life there.
- In this video clip, Mary Bayrak’s son Jerry Bayrak describes the tragic impact of internment on three generations of his family.
The War Measures Act restricted civil liberties for hundreds of thousands of Canadians, censored the media, required registration for certain groups, and suspended freedom of expression and association (the freedom to join and leave groups voluntarily).
Mary Hancharuk Bayrak was born to Ukrainian parents on December 16, 1915, at the Spirit Lake internment camp, near Amos in Abitibi, Quebec. She spent the first eight months of her life there.
Mary’s father was interned at Spirit Lake, so lodgings were allocated to Mary and her mother, grandmother and brother. Lodgings were not available for all women and children and, if their main provider was arrested, many families struggled.
In this video clip, Mary Bayrak’s son Jerry Bayrak describes the tragic impact that internment had on three generations of his family.
The War Measures Act restricted civil liberties for hundreds of thousands of Canadians during the First World War. Many people from countries at war with Canada were arrested and detained in internment camps.
Mary Hancharuk Bayrak was born to Ukrainian parents on December 16, 1915, at the Spirit Lake internment camp, near Amos in Abitibi, Quebec. She spent the first eight months of her life there.
Given that her father Nikolaj was interned, lodgings were allocated to Mary, her mother Felicia, her grandmother Anna and her brother Edward. Lodgings were not available for all women and children. With the detention of their main providers, many struggled. The government provided a small amount of money to some families, but it was often insufficient. Children were placed in orphanages or went to work.
Mary’s father Nikolaj was freed, with conditions, in August 1916.
In this video clip, Mary Bayrak’s son Jerry Bayrak describes the tragic impact that internment had on three generations of his family.
- The War Measures Act restricted civil liberties for hundreds of thousands of Canadians, censored the media, required registration for certain groups, and suspended freedom of expression and association (the freedom to join and leave groups voluntarily).
- Mary Hancharuk Bayrak was born to Ukrainian parents at the Spirit Lake internment camp in Quebec. She spent her first eight months of life there.
- In this video clip, Mary Bayrak’s son Jerry Bayrak describes the tragic impact of internment on three generations of his family.
The War Measures Act restricted civil liberties for hundreds of thousands of Canadians, censored the media, required registration for certain groups, and suspended freedom of expression and association (the freedom to join and leave groups voluntarily).
Mary Hancharuk Bayrak was born to Ukrainian parents on December 16, 1915, at the Spirit Lake internment camp, near Amos in Abitibi, Quebec. She spent the first eight months of her life there.
Mary’s father was interned at Spirit Lake, so lodgings were allocated to Mary and her mother, grandmother and brother. Lodgings were not available for all women and children and, if their main provider was arrested, many families struggled.
In this video clip, Mary Bayrak’s son Jerry Bayrak describes the tragic impact that internment had on three generations of his family.
The War Measures Act restricted civil liberties for hundreds of thousands of Canadians during the First World War. Many people from countries at war with Canada were arrested and detained in internment camps.
Mary Hancharuk Bayrak was born to Ukrainian parents on December 16, 1915, at the Spirit Lake internment camp, near Amos in Abitibi, Quebec. She spent the first eight months of her life there.
Given that her father Nikolaj was interned, lodgings were allocated to Mary, her mother Felicia, her grandmother Anna and her brother Edward. Lodgings were not available for all women and children. With the detention of their main providers, many struggled. The government provided a small amount of money to some families, but it was often insufficient. Children were placed in orphanages or went to work.
Mary’s father Nikolaj was freed, with conditions, in August 1916.
In this video clip, Mary Bayrak’s son Jerry Bayrak describes the tragic impact that internment had on three generations of his family.
Summary
- The War Measures Act restricted civil liberties for hundreds of thousands of Canadians, censored the media, required registration for certain groups, and suspended freedom of expression and association (the freedom to join and leave groups voluntarily).
- Mary Hancharuk Bayrak was born to Ukrainian parents at the Spirit Lake internment camp in Quebec. She spent her first eight months of life there.
- In this video clip, Mary Bayrak’s son Jerry Bayrak describes the tragic impact of internment on three generations of his family.
Essential
The War Measures Act restricted civil liberties for hundreds of thousands of Canadians, censored the media, required registration for certain groups, and suspended freedom of expression and association (the freedom to join and leave groups voluntarily).
Mary Hancharuk Bayrak was born to Ukrainian parents on December 16, 1915, at the Spirit Lake internment camp, near Amos in Abitibi, Quebec. She spent the first eight months of her life there.
Mary’s father was interned at Spirit Lake, so lodgings were allocated to Mary and her mother, grandmother and brother. Lodgings were not available for all women and children and, if their main provider was arrested, many families struggled.
In this video clip, Mary Bayrak’s son Jerry Bayrak describes the tragic impact that internment had on three generations of his family.
In-Depth
The War Measures Act restricted civil liberties for hundreds of thousands of Canadians during the First World War. Many people from countries at war with Canada were arrested and detained in internment camps.
Mary Hancharuk Bayrak was born to Ukrainian parents on December 16, 1915, at the Spirit Lake internment camp, near Amos in Abitibi, Quebec. She spent the first eight months of her life there.
Given that her father Nikolaj was interned, lodgings were allocated to Mary, her mother Felicia, her grandmother Anna and her brother Edward. Lodgings were not available for all women and children. With the detention of their main providers, many struggled. The government provided a small amount of money to some families, but it was often insufficient. Children were placed in orphanages or went to work.
Mary’s father Nikolaj was freed, with conditions, in August 1916.
In this video clip, Mary Bayrak’s son Jerry Bayrak describes the tragic impact that internment had on three generations of his family.