Donselaar Memorial Park at Edgewood is the place of a camp for interned people during World War I
During World War I, the Canadian government enacted the War Measures Act, precipitating the capture and internment of over 8,500 Austro-Hungarian citizens, mostly Ukrainian or of Ukrainian descent. There were also 80,000 Ukrainian citizens who were considered “enemy aliens”; they were tracked and ordered to report to the local authorities across Canada.
The men were forced to labour here under armed guard only because of the nation of their birth.
The camp was opened in the Fall of 1916.
Rare postcards show the Edgewood camp where Ukrainian Canadians were interned during World War I.
In 2009, a memorial plaque commemorating Ukrainian-Canadian imprisonment was unveiled. The tri-lingual plaque is at the entrance to the ball diamond just off Killarney Crescent. To reach the ball diamond, take the small dirt road leading east off of Killarney Crescent, about 30 meters south of where Killarney intersects with Granby Drive.
Photos: https://www.edgegateway.ca/images/Newsletter/November-2009-Newsletter.pdf; https://www.nelsonstar.com/news/postcard-recalls-painful-part-of-edgewoods-past/; https://onthisspot.ca/cities/edgewood/edgewood
