It took seven years to research and write, the same amount of time the page鈥檚 subject was in operation.
The Vernon and District Family History Society鈥檚 book, The Most Difficult Of Our Camps 鈥� Vernon Internment Camp 1914-1920, has been released.
The society will be selling this book and providing membership information at Vernon鈥檚 Village Green Shopping Centre on Friday, and Saturday, Oct. 20 and 21, as well as at an open House Saturday, Oct. 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the lower level of the Peace Lutheran Church, 1204-30th Ave.
The book was researched and written by members of the Vernon and District Family History Society, and made possible by grants from the Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.
It takes the reader into the lives of some of the internees with numerous biographical sketches, photographs and extensive details about their camp life.
During the First World War, 8,579 Ukrainians and other Europeans were incarcerated in 24 camps across Canada. The area in central Vernon, known as MacDonald Park, became the longest occupied internment camp where men, women, and children were held behind a barbed fence, between 1914 and 1920.
The book also contains details about the various work camps situated at Mara, Edgewood, and Monashee.
Below is an excerpt from the pages:
Closure and Aftermath
The internment camp in Vernon operated from Sept. 18, 1914, to Feb. 20, 1920, long after the war had ended, making it among the longest-lived of the camps that were established in Canada. In short, the Armistice on Nov. 11, 1918 was not a signal for the release of internees from Vernon, from other camps in the British Empire, or any allied power.
Initially, delays in release were a result of a lack of ships in which to return prisoners to Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire, and by an ongoing blockade of these countries, following the end of the war. Moreover, Great Britain and the United States postponed the release of prisoners to display solidarity with France, which sought to employ its prisoners in clearing minefields and in reconstructing regions in the northwestern part of the country, and which had been fought over or occupied for most of the war.
In 1919, a third factor delayed release: Great Britain and the United States decided to retain their prisoners until the Central Powers and especially Germany, signed a peace treaty. That occurred at Versailles, France on June 28, 1919鈥�..
For more information visit or email verfamhist@shaw.ca to purchase a $30 copy.
