Remembrance Day 2008

Today is Remembrance Day (or Veterans Day in the United States) where we celebrate our freedom. The red poppies are to commemorate the sacrifices of those who served in the First World War. A Wikipedia article provides more background.

This past weekend while driving to Lake Louise, I came across this statue of a Ukrainian internee at a Ukrainian internment camp near Castle Mountain in Banff National Park.

The plaque on the ground reads as follows:

During Canada's first national internment operations in World War One, thousands of immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the majority of Ukrainian origin, some citizens of Canada, were imprisoned as "enemy aliens". Internment operations lasted from 1914 to 1920. This plaque is in memory of those held as Castle Mountain camp from 14 July 1915 to 15 July 1917.

The plaque on the statue reads as follows:

Why?

Ukrainian internee at Castle Mountain

by John Boxtel

For those wanting to know more about Ukrainian Canadian Internment camps, you can read this Wikipedia article and another specific article on Castle Mountain Internment Camp.

My photograph of a Ukrainian internee statue located at the Ukrainian Canadian Internment Camp near Castle Mountain in Banff National Park is hosted at Flickr. If you click on the picture, you will be taken to my Flickr account where you can see more pictures.