Civilian Internment in Canada

“Readers are challenged to reconsider internment’s significance and to accept that it embraces a variety of cultural, ethnic, political groups and individuals and the differing manner with which they were dealt. […] These essays bring refreshing approaches to the subject matter and a promise of dynamic future research.”

– Keith Regular, The Ormsby Review

“Hinther and Mochoruk believe this searing tale – in addition to others – serve as a “powerful reminder” of the “fragility of civil liberties and human rights,” as well as a stand-in for a larger, more contested discussion on internment over the span of Canada’s history. […] The editors very much want readers to understand that Canada, despite all of the adulation it often receives in global diplomatic circles these days, had a “rich and shameful” record on these very civil right and liberties via civilian internment—defined as the detention as a prisoner without formal charge and conviction, almost always for political or military reasons.”

– Britta Crandall & Russell Crandall, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books

“Many of the chapters—including Christine Whitehouse’s on the ambivalent sexualities of Jewish refugees, Judith Kestler’s on the positive reminiscences of interned German merchant marines, and Franca Iacovetta’s on the “risky business” of complicating a community’s understanding of its internment—are fascinating and, at least to this reader, novel.”

– Jordan Stanger-Ross, BC Studies

“The collection reminds us to be cognizant that civilian internment is a human rights concern and is often the result of bypassing civilian liberties for the sake of national security. This is an important work that will remind a wide range of readers that human rights violations are not mere memories of a distant past, but they continue to shape our society today.”

– Jonathan Chan, Ontario History