Enemy Alien: A True Story of Life Behind Barbed Wire

by Kassandra Luciuk, Nicole Marie Burton (Illustrator)

" This graphic history tells the story of Canada's first national internment operations through the eyes of John Boychuk, an internee held in Kapuskasing from 1914-17. The story is based on Boychuk's actual memoir, which is the only comprehensive internee testimony in existence. The novel follows Boychuk from his arrest in Toronto to Kapuskasing, where he spends just over 3 years. It details the everyday struggle of the internees in the camp, including forced labour and exploitation, abuse from guards, malnutrition, and homesickness. It also documents moments of internee agency and resistance, such as work slowdowns and stoppages, hunger strikes, escape attempts, and riots. Little is known about the lives of the incarcerated once the paper trail stops, but Enemy Alien subsequently traces Boychuk's parole, his search for work, his attempts to organize a union, and his ultimate settlement in Winnipeg. Boychuk's reflections emphasize the much broader context in which internment takes place. This was not an isolated incident, but rather part and parcel of Canadian nation building and the directives of Canada's settler colonial project.

Genres: Graphic Novels, History, Nonfiction, Canada, Memoir

82 pages, Paperback

Published March 31, 2020

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read multiple accounts of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, but this is the first I have ever heard of Ukrainians being imprisoned in Canada during World War I along with other immigrants who bore Austro Hungarian passports. The Canadian government used them as forced labor to build their own prison and clear forest land that was developed after the war for agricultural and other commercial purposes by third parties.

This adaptation of an anonymous personal narrative by one of the internees written in the 1940s is full of prisoner strikes and reactionary brutality by the police and guards. It's ironic that this occurred partly due to the Red Scare, but the poor treatment radicalized some of the prisoners and/or motivated them to join labor unions and engage in strikes after leaving the camps.

I am always freshly amazed by the amount of evil and darkness hidden in history's nooks and crannies.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic memoir treatment of the WWI Canadian internment operations as seen through the eyes of one prisoner is a welcome addition to a growing body of literature on this era. Kassandra Luciuk has researched well, using words from the papers of an actual internee to recreate his day to day existence in the internment camp at Kapuskasing. Nicole marie burton's artwork is effective and engaging and it fleshes out the sparse text. Hoping this gets a wide readership. #enemyalien #netgalley

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An underreported story of WW1 internment camps. Simply told and illustrated it's a pretty illuminating telling of this injustice.

[Vickie Van Vliet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel covers a very underrepresented part of Canadian history: the internment of Ukrainian Canadians during World War One. The writing is simplistic. Within the simplicity, a powerful story unfolds. The introduction paves the way for the story in a way that doesn't wreck the storyline. I loved learning more about this chapter of Canadian history through a multimedia perspective.

[Nicole Overmoyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to see an excerpt of this, my first ever graphic novel.

[Jayme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a long time since a publisher dared to produce an extract in place of the full kahuna for a netgalley file, especially without advertising it as an extract, and it's certainly been a long time since that sinful behaviour has annoyed me more. For I would have loved this book. The introduction was fine, and so the editorialising around this anonymous memoir has to go down as a success, fitting nicely around the core text and presenting it very well. There is some overlap (the main narrator is forced to give us the same facts the introduction does very early on), but the voice of the lead character is great, bitterly but reasonably telling us how it was to be a slave labourer in an internment camp for Ukrainians (and Germans and Turks etc) by Canada in World War One. I've got six entrance to Ukraine stamps in my passport, so I really was looking forward to filling in this gap in my knowledge, and comparing it to another interest of mine, the WWII Holocaust. I hardly got so far, for this book showed us all its academic virtues, and many of the ligne claire-styled artwork besides, then stopped with the apparent completion of the camp. With so much of the real thing unseen it's only logical for me to admit that fact, but it's not that reasonable for me to downgrade the book as a result. It does look mighty fine, and an important piece of literature, especially for those with vested or academic interests. A potential five stars – and certainly a good four.

[Isabelle Duchaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

topline: absolute masterpiece of scholarship and a poignant reminder of how far we have come, and may continue to go, in our quest for 'security.' Kassandra and illustrator Nicole Marie Burton retain the dignity of the internees while profiling the abuses waged by the state.


more details:

non-fiction graphic novels (although this term isn't 100% accurate since they are non fiction) and in particular, historic graphic novels are my favourite genre.

If I had to get *more* specific about my favourite sub genre of historical graphic novel, it would probably be about the First World War.

Imagine my absolute shock and delight when, in the introduction to Through Their Eyes: A Graphic History of Hill 70 and Canada's First World War, I caught a reference to a graphic novel by Kassandra Luciuk about Ukranian internment in Kapuskasing in WWI.

Kassandra and I were classmates in undergrad, where we took a Canadian Social History seminar together
My family is from northern Ontario; my maternal grandparents from Kapuskasing, and my sister and extended family live there now. I grew up down the road in Cochrane.

and despite this, I had absolutely no idea that Kap was built on a legacy of forced labour.

this book is great because it doesn't just focus on the interment camp; it contextualizes the experience of newcomers - who to be clear, were wooed to Canada as a matter of industrial policy - and then subsequently deemed 'enemy aliens' and conscripted as forced labour.

[Shirley McAllister · Rating 3 out of 5]

WWI Internment Camp in Canada
This is about Ukrainian people in an internment camp in Canada during WWI. There is an interesting introduction explaining the book and about the Canadian internment system.

The Ukrainians were told if they immigrated to Canada there would be jobs for them. After they immigrated they found that they were placed in an internment camp and sold to companies to work for them.

The story is told in a short graphic novel depicting the story.

There was some good information that I did not know about WWI. It was written in an unfamiliar style which I was not used to.

Thanks to Cassandra Lucius and Nicole Marie Burton,the authors, Between the Lines the lines publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of the book.

[Val Lem]

It has taken a century for this story to be rediscovered. Wartime has often been the excuse for othering immigrants with drastic consequences and no respect for what we today would consider human rights and access to fair justice. Even after the war ended, the character gets shipped off as an indentured labourer to Cape Breton where the coal miners and steel workers were exploited by their industrial overlords. Before we pat ourselves on the backs saying that happened a century ago, we just have to look at our current complicity in the exploitation of foreign agricultural workers, corporate lobbying against living wages and governments backtracking on promises of a paltry two paid sick days.

[Kailyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. A bit dry graphic novel wise, but informative of a rarely discussed part of Canadian history. I hope to be able to read more about this subject in the future.

[Paul Danyluk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opened my eyes to the realities of Ukrainian internment in Canada. I really appreciate how the story frames the experience in the larger machinations of immigration and labour history.

[Anthony]

A little known topic in Canada.

[Calvin Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+

Given the growing racism we see today, and the hatred of immigrants, this should be required reading in schools.

A dark chapter of history I fear we may be to close to repeating.

[Danielle Vuong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an excellent way to learn about the internment of Ukrainians in Canada during World War 1.

[Alice Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who is from Kapuskasing, where the POW camp was this was an important read. The history, narrative, and art were good.