Ich bin Italiano: The Internment of Trentini, Tirolesi, and Triestini in Canada during the First World War

Abstract

Citizenship, rather than ethnicity, determined the treatment of immigrants during Canada’s first national internment operations (1914–20). Italians were concurrently treated as friends and enemies. Those born in Italy were “friendly” aliens. Those born in Austria (Trentino, Tyrol, and Trieste) were declared “enemy” aliens and subjected to monitoring, arrest, and internment. Personal narratives are constructed for most of the fifty-one interned Italians. Many of them rebuilt their lives in Canada. The goals of this article are to (1) establish the identities and narratives of internees, (2) determine why and where they were interned, (3) relate their experiences during and after internment, and (4) determine whether any organizations intervened on their behalf. Thematic headings include (1) pre-1914 immigration and settlement of Italians from Austria, (2) wartime predicament of Italians, (3) initiatives of diplomats and ethnic organizations, (4) internee narratives, and (5) aftermath of internment.