Tag: enemy aliens

Lost Liberties exhibit at Canadian Museum of History

I would have loved to go to the opening of this exhibit at the Canadian Museum of History which explores the three times the War Measures Act has been used in Canada. My grandfather was interned in WWI as an enemy alien the first time it was used and his story is featured in the exhibit. I was invited, but with covid, I opted not to go.

Ryan Boyko did go, and he took these pics. Thank you, Ryan! If you want to know more about WWI internment, I’ve written three books set during that time: Prisoners in the Promised Land, Silver Threads and Dance of the Banished. Or you can watch Ryan’s documentary, That Never Happened.

Silver Threads

Original edition, 1996

2023

Silver Threads is the magical story of Anna and Ivan, two young newly-weds who escape poverty and hardship in Ukraine to start a new life on the Canadian frontier. As they struggle to build their homestead, World War I breaks out. And when Ivan volunteers to fight for his new homeland, tragedy strikes. While Anna works and waits alone, hope comes from an unexpected source. Based on true events, Silver Threads is a stirring lesson in history and a heart-warming tale of love and faith.

Silver Threads was selected by the Ontario Library Association as a Best Bet for 1996.

Ukrainian edition available here.

Reviews:Macleans wrote:

“A classic fable about the power of love.”

Lubomyr Luciuk on Kingston Whig Standard wrote:

“Remarkably, Ms Skrypuch has retrieved an all-but-forgotten indignity in Canadian history without bitterness….This is a book that every Canadian grade school library should own.”

on Edmonton Journal:

“Canadian readers of all stripes like Silver Threads.”

on Ukrainian Weekly:

“It was not at all hard for me to become enthralled, immediately, with ‘Silver Threads.’ ”