The Basin Record Newsletter Vol.7 Issue 2

Published by the Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History CBIRH Newsletter : Vol. 7 No.2 The advent of the First WorldWar brought with it the internment camps. Immigrants, classified as “enemy aliens”, typically single and unemployed men of Austro-Hungarian and German descent, were arrested and detained at one of the 24 camps established through- outCanada.Onesuchcampwas inMorrisseyB.C. “War as always, engendered an environment of fear anduncertain- ty that exacerbatedtheextant hostilities towardsGermans andAus- tro-Hungarians” said Archeologist Sarah Beaulieu in her thesis, ‘Remembering the Forgotten Ar- chaeology at the Morrissey WWI InternmentCamp’. In all roughly 10,000 individuals were strippedof their freedom, civil liberties, and imprisoned during the years of 1914 to 1920. Of that vast number, 81 prisoners were female, and156were children. Thoughgroupedunder theAustro -Hungarian umbrella, the internees consisted of Poles, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Serbs, Czechs, and Croats. The people as a whole were labeledasGalicians. The Austro-Hungarians were likened to “beasts of burden” by the Federal Minister of the Interior and slated for work in labor camps; and their German counterpartswere sent to confinement camps to suit theirperceivededucation, intelligence, andmilitaryprowess. Government officials created Morrissey to shield communities province-wide fromthe responsibility of providingwelfare toenemy aliens andtoprevent themfromjoining thewareffort. Itwasbuilt as a permanent solution for the internees who had been temporarily housed at the Fernie Skating Rink, after the provincial government rented that facility in June of 1915. Prisoner relocation toMorrissey beganinSept , 1915andfinishedwithitsclosingonOct27,1918. “Manyof the300detainees had lived in the local community since 1897, and inthemines, hadworkedsideby sideformanyyearswith those who supported their internment,” said Ms. Beaulieu in her thesis. Morrissey (a ghost town) was chosen for its location because it housed abandoned facilities that couldbe rented from the Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Company (CNPCC). The suggestion was made on behalf of the Conservative Association that represented local mer- chants. Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Mackay oversaw the solicitation of endorsements from the mayor, community-stakeholders and members of the CNPCC, leading to the conversion of what had originally beenacoal-mining town from1902-1904 to theMorrissey InternmentCamponSeptember28th, 1915. Conditions in Morrissey were less than ideal. Internees reported abuse by camp police, substandard food, improper healthcare (tuberculosis and the Spanish fluwere epidemics at the time), harsh punishments (solitary confinement or the black hole), and intolera- ble conditions in the winter. “Records demonstrate that prisoners were beatenwithout reason and though court records note blatant evidenceof violence, theguardswere invariably acquitted,” said Ms. Beau- lieu in her thesis. Escape attempts were a frequent occurrence at the camp. A forty-five foot tunnel was uncovered by camp police under the prisoners’ quarters, disrupting one of the most infamous jailbreaks known to Morrissey. “The descriptions of how POW’s were hunted when at- tempting to escape is also a very disturbing reminder of the slight regardgiventoPOW’s,wroteMs.Beaulieu. Camp life included the hostel-like setting of the Morrissey Hotel, also known as the Big Building, and later the Slav Compound. It was reportedly clean and utilitarian, offering a reading and recreation room, along with the usual amenities associated with basic living. Work consisted of hard labour often 12 hours a day. The prisoners were exploited for cheap labour onmassive projects includingmin- ing, logging, and roadwork. They were paid a wage of $0.25 a day. For entertainment prisoners enjoyed craftsmanship and many of them demonstrated superb talent and skill in their wood carvings. They opened a night school with the support of the YMCA and taught several subjects to the prisoner-guard communitywithin the camp. “As is common inprisoners ofwar camps or any institutional confinement for that matter, mental escape is a necessary antidote tobarbedwiredisease,” saidMs. Beaulieu inher thesis. Insanity and untimely deathwere common themes among the camps andMor- rissey was no different, with theMorrissey Cemetery featuring sev- eralmarkedandunmarked graves that resultedduring its operation fromSep28,1915toOct21, 1918. The Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund was created to address those individuals who had their civil and human rights terminatedby theWarMeasuresActandthe intergeneration- al traumathatwas theresultof lifeat thecamps. 0047.0339 Morrissey Internment Camp , C. 1914-18 Wiki Image