#polish immigration to canada

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"CANADA IS 'HOME' ΤΟ 135 IMMIGRANTS," Toronto Star. June 24, 1943. Page 3. ---- Canada became the official home of 135 foreign-born residents this week when they took the oath of allegiance to His Majesty the King. William Stangret, Parkham Ave., native of Poland, has lived here 16 years. He took the oath proudly.

Miss Helme Rahikka, native of Finland, has lived in Toronto for the past 13 years. "This is the happiest moment of my life," she exclaimed as she received her papers proclaiming her a Canadian citizen.

Private W. Strand, who has lived here 18 years, served with the Canadian Army before transferring to the Norwegian forces. A native of Norway, he went to school here. He wears a long service medal.

Tom Dorosh, native of Russia. came to Toronto 16 years ago. His father, brothers and sisters are fighting with the Russian forces. "I am happy to be a real Canadian if not exactly a new one," he said.

#toronto #immigration to canada #naturalized canadian #canadian citizen #canadian citizenship #canada in the british empire #russian immigration to canada #russian canadians #finnish canadians #finnish immigration to canada #norwegian immigration to canada #polish immigration to canada #polish canadians #canada during world war 2

[pipbellerophon]

and they made the duchess of winniepeg have a polish last name as a nod to the majority of slavic immigrants to canada historically landing in the prairies? omg they made the duchess of winniepeg have a polish last name as a nod to the majority of slavic immigrants to canada historically landing in the prairies <3

#winniepeg had the highest polish population in canada in 1940 #jacquelyn scieszka #r duchess of winnipeg #asoue #pipbellerophon #this has been in my drafts since i did a research paper about ukrainian immigration in high school. Why in drafts for so long

[strangesickness]

okay this started off as a bit but then it just kept getting longer. so uh. the losers as canadians, I GUESS????

for my non-canadian friends: being canadian is basically just like being american (so either imagine the US if you're american, or imagine some random high school movie) there's just less billboards and if you're french you can buy alcohol while still in high school, but i was thinking about it, if anything would be notably different about the losers if they were canadian.

and then it struck me! they're french immersion students!

derry is now derry, ontario, a rural township 30 minutes from vankleek hill and about an hour from the quebec border. they have one k-8 school and one 9-13 school that sit side by side on a river. the town has a pretty strong francophone foundation, but in recent years english speakers have been moving up from southern ontario, and the town is now pretty evenly split french/english.

but thats not what we're here for!! so: losers!

bill, eddie, stanley, and richie have been in the same class every year since they were four on account of being french immersion students (schools will typically only have enough french immersion students for one or two classes, and with derry being a small town with a growing english population i think even families who spoke french at home would begin putting their children in the english stream)

when they were five stan started crying trying to color the northwest territories with a crayon on a map of canada assignment, bill lent him his color pencils which is how they became friends

richie could not spell saskatchewan to save his life, and fits "scasckatchawan" into the space on the map in horrible squished letters, stan is aghast at this, and richie realizes his opportunity to get a rise out of stan, so he does an even worse job than normal, this is how they become friends

eddie can't spell saskatchewan either but is embarrassed to admit it because he doesn't want to be grouped in with a dumbass like richie, he announces that he thinks the assignment is stupid, and richie immediately dares him to spell it. a friendgroup is born.

eddie, ben, beverly, and mike all have english as a first language, richie and stan learned both simultaneously, and bill has french as a first language

eddie's paternal grandparents immigrated from poland, and since they wanted frank to speak both polish and english, they decided not to bother with french, sonia met frank at an english university and moved up to derry with him when they got married, they speak english at home, and sonia never learned polish. the plan was to have frank teach eddie polish but he died before he could, so sonia puts eddie in french immersion so he'll still be bilingual

ben is from labrador and had to move to derry to live with his aunt. ben had been in french immersion when he was living in labrador, because arlene figured it would give him more opportunities, so he continued with it in derry

beverly's mom was from a french speaking part of quebec, but her dad never learned french. he puts her in french immersion since he can't teach her french himself.

mike speaks english at home but the only nearby catholic school was a french school closer to the quebec border, so he's the most fluent of the four. theres no catholic high school nearby so he ends up going to derry high with the rest of the losers where he takes advanced french

maggie and went are both quebecois, but went is from montreal and grew up speaking english, whereas maggie is from a small town north of quebec city and grew up speaking french. they're both french/english bilingual and speak both at home.

richie has grown fond of speaking in an unholy sort of "franglais" that mostly consists of english words with a godawful quebec accent, french swears, and incorrect verb conjugation he picked up from eddie

maggie is an angry ex-catholic who swears a lot (most french canadian swears are religion based and lowkey sacrilegious in nature) and has a pretty strong quebec accent. richie, does not, except for when he's swearing in french (or stressed or angry), this isn't even a bit on his part, he just emulated the way his mom said the words. his friends point out that he sounds like a very angry lumberjack when he says "tabarnak" and he bases an entire Voice on it

stan's parents both grew up in derry when it was a mainly french speaking community, but wanted to make sure stanley would fit in with his peers who were becoming more and more english, so he learns both from birth

bill's parents both immigrated from france and only speak french, bill is french french and is frequently confused by the differences between quebec french and france french. he starts speaking in a pretty distinctly french canadian way because of richie, and starts swearing like a french canadian (like a sailor), also because of richie, his parents are horrified.

when they're in high school richie won't stop making fun of bill for being french and bill's like??? you're french too??? and richie's like. no. i'm french canadian, you're actually french. eddie points out that richie's thing is worse.

richie uses pretty much exclusively french-canadian swears (of which there are many) because of maggie, his friends will sometimes say these things because he says them so frequently, but none of them have quebec accents, so it sounds horrible and awkward and richie mocks them relentlessly whenever this happens

every time one of the losers turn 18 they drive up to quebec so they can get a drink lol. even for the losers who don't want to drink they drive up to quebec, and make the birthday boy/girl show the bartender their ID and ask for like. an apple juice. it is very funny.

#how did this even happen this was supposed to be a short joke post #also richie stan bill eddie beverly and ben all have god awful social skills because of being in french immersion #whereas mike like. actually had to learn how to meet new people and holds all of the social skills in the friend group #french immersion kills peoples social skills because they don't meet new people in school after the age of four #what even is this tbh #anyways. #it stephen king #it 2017 #it 2019 #it novel #stanley uris #bill denbrough #mike hanlon #ben hanscom #beverly marsh #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #maggie tozier #posts afflicted with a strange sickness #red's ramblings

[tornrose24]

This is probably going to be the last update to this AU for a month or so since I will need a break from it to work on other stuff (with maybe an exception for a Halloween related drawing).

Also, I think since I never named them yet, Suzie's friend is named 'Jules.'

Lily, Suzie, Nate, Jules, and all the puppeteers are mine.

Oh, and since I wasn't able to, here's more info on the pupeteers:

-George Donovan–a comedian and voice actor. Known for doing a few comedic guest roles on TV shows in the 50’s and 60’s. Was known to have two sons. Was supposed to do a few voice roles for Hanna-Barbera in addition to working for Playfellow Workshop. Was known to be allergic to chocolate.

-Elizabeth Callister– an LA stage actress known for doing voice roles in a few cartoons. Daughter of a well-known producer, which allowed her to enter the ranks of the entertainment industry. Said to be ‘spoiled sweet’ and was hoping to entertain children. Was said to show small signs of what might have been ADHD.

–Stanley Hersh– a stage actor from New York. Son of Jewish-Polish immigrants who came to America in the early 1930s. Was said to continue his family’s store if he wouldn’t be able to make it into show business. It is believed Welcome Home would have been his biggest break prior to his disappearance.

–Zelda duPont– a singer and stage actress. Was involved with a few civil rights movements under a different name along the East coast. It is presumed that she was hired as a puppeteer because ‘no one is supposed to see who is playing them.’

-Louise Sherman–a well-known trans actress from the 60’s, yet was better known in the LGBTQ community as opposed to a wider audience. Supposedly a friend of Welcome Home’s creator. Spent a few years abroad in England and had been involved with a few Shakespeare plays.

-Travis McCoy–an actor from Texas. Had starred in a few Westerns and Romantic-Comedy projects. Was said to be very popular with his female fans due to his charm and good looks, but was never seen dating anyone up until his disappearance.

-Bertrand Parsons–a New England and New York stage actor also known for doing voice roles. Was also well-known in the LGBTQ community, yet this was kept silent from the main public for many decades. It is believed by some that his name is in fact a stage name.

–Walter Jones–Little is known about him, but he was a puppeteer for a few shows. Was said to be good friends with Welcome Home’s creator (and some suspected that the two might have been more than friends). It is believed Welcome Home would have been his big break given that he was to voice the main star of the show. He was given a draft card just before the show aired, and it is believed that he–like many other young men–escaped to Canada to avoid the draft.

#welcome home #welcome sisters au #welcome home ocs #wally darling #barnaby b beagle #julie joyful #frank frankly #howdy pillar #sally starlet #poppy partridge #eddie dear #welcome home oc

[radiofreederry]

Happy birthday, Léa Roback! (November 3, 1903)

A communist, trade unionist, pacifist, and feminist, Léa Roback was born in Montreal, one of nine children of Polish Jewish immigrants. The only Jewish family in Beauport, the unique circumstances of Roback's upbringing meant that she was a polyglot at a young age: she spoke Yiddish at home, English in school, and French in her community. She also learned German while abroad, during which time she became a communist and joined the Communist Party of Germany. She lived in Germany for a time as political tension mounted and the Nazis gained power, and left in the fall of 1932. Returning to Quebec, she joined the Communist Party of Canada, established a Marxist bookstore, and campaigned for the poor and the rights of women. She also helped to establish a garment workers' union and supported female workers on strike. She remained an activist her entire life, denouncing war and nuclear proliferation and pushing for further progress in women's rights, until her death in 2000.

"All my life I have stood with the working men and women. I was proud to belong to the rank-and-file. Whenever I said 'we,' I meant 'we,' what we could achieve together. That’s what I loved."

#birthdays #lea roback

[mysillytdsideblog]

Total ROTI headcanons

race & identities

mike

Ethnicity: italian-mexican

Nationality: canadian

second gen immigrant from mexico to manitoba, canada

speaks spanish, italian, and english

plural they/them collective pronouns

no set identity bc of being a system, ive made a post about the alters identities

Scott

Race: White

first gen immigrant from southern US to canada

speaks english

cis straight

Anne Maria

Ethnicity: Mexican

Nationality: American-Canadian

Moved from Jersey to Canada

Speaks english

she/her

cis straight

Zoey

Ethnicity: Japanese

Nationality: Canadian

speaks english

she/her

cis straight

Dakota

Race: White

Nationality: Canadian

Speaks english

she/her

cis straight

Dakota

Ethnicity: Russian

Nationality: Canadian

lives in Quebec

speaks english, french, and russian

They/She

Pangender Pansexual

Lightning

Ethnicity: Morrocan

Nationality: Canadian

speaks english

he/him

cis straight

B

Race: Black

Nationality: American-Canadian

Moved from Brooklyn to Canada

speaks english and french

he/him

transmasc unlabled

Brick

Ethnicity: Korean-Chinese

Nationality: Canadian

speaks english and chinese mandarin

he/him

cis gay

Sam

Race/Ethnicity: White-Ashkanazi Jew

Nationality: Canadian

speaks english, hebrew, arabic, and some japanese and chinese

he/him

cis straight

Cameron

Race: Black

Nationality: Canadian

speaks a little bit of a lot of things but only fluent in english

he/him

cis idk what

Jo

Ethnicity: Polish-Ukrainian-German-Greek

Third Gen Ukrainian immigrant to canada

Nationality: Canadian

speaks english

she/her

?? lesbian

Staci

Race: White

Nationality: Canadian

speaks english

she/her

cis straight

#total drama #total drama island #total drama revenge of the island #td #tdi #tdroti #headcanons

[sevendeadlyyamis]

BFDI Ethnicity HCs

Why? I just feel like it.

Characters will be sorted in alphabetical order in their post-split BFB and TPOT teams (And also the exitors):

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: In a human au, I imagine them all living in Canada. Just keep that in mind when reading this blog post.

----------------------------------------------------

Have Cots:

- Balloony : Romani British (His grandparents are from Romania) - Bubble: 1/3 Ukranian, 2/3 Mongolian (Her mother immigrated to Mongolia in her 20s) - Gelatin : Hawaiian - Leafy : 1/2 Taglog-Filipino, 1/2 Saudi Arabian (Tree is her father and Woody is her half-brother) - Lollipop : Black Hungarian (Her ancestors were from South Africa, and Teardrop is her niece) - Ruby: Chinese (Although some of her sisters are 1/2 Thai) - Teardrop: Romani Hungarian (Lollipop is zer aunt)

Have Nots:

- Blocky : 1/2 Japanese, 1/2 Scottish - Firey: Ojibwe (Ojibwe people are one of the Indigenous groups in Canada. Firey Jr is his cousin) - Flower : 1/3 Irish, 2/3 Turkish - Loser : African-American (Specifically Libyan) - Spongy : Francophone (French-Canadian) - Taco : Chilean - Woody : 1/2 Saudi-Arabian, 1/2 Taiwanese (His half-sister is Leafy and his father in Tree)

The S!:

- Bottle : 1/4 Turkish , 3/4 Korean - Clock : Finnish (White) - Cloudy : 1/2 Belgian, 1/2 Palestinian - Ice Cube : Korean - Rocky : Brazilian - Winner : Desi (Their great-grandparents are from Pakistan) - Yellow Face : Born and raised Anglophone (English Canadian)

Team8s:

- Barf Bag : Malaysian - Coiny : Egyptian - Donut : Indonesian-German - Gaty : 3/4 Greek, 1/4 Cree (Indigenous Canadian tribe) - Needle : Japanese - Pin : 1/2 Malgasy , 1/2 Indian (Grandmother on her mother's side is from Madagascar and her father is from India) - Saw : Japanese

Death P.A.C.T again!:

- Black Hole : 1/2 South African, 1/2 Romani Hungarian - Fanny : Iroquois (Indigenous Canadian tribe) - Lightning : 1/2 Anglophone, 1/2 Korean - Marker : Mexican (Pen and Pencil are his cousins) - Pie: Iranian (She's also a muslim) - Remote : Afro-Syrian - Tree : Saudi Arabian-Australian

The Strongest Team On Earth:

- Basketball : Hispanic Danish (Her ancestors are from Peru) - Bell : 1/3 Chilean, 2/3 Metis - Eggy : Latin American - Foldy : Japanese - Grassy : Anglophone (Black) - Robot Flower : Black German - Snowball : Icelandic

Just Not:

- Bomby : 1/2 Chinese, 1/2 African American - Book : Black Francophone - Cake : 1/3 Puerto Rican, 2/3 Colombian (His parents are both black) - Naily : Taiwanese - Nickel : Indonesian (May or not be related to II Nickel) - Pillow : 1/2 Swedish, 1/2 Japanese - Price Tag : Manobo-Filipino (Manobo are Indigenous people that reside in the Philipines

Are You Okay?:

- Eraser : Indian-Polish - Fries : Peruvian - Golf ball : 1/2 Scottish, 1/2 Nigerian (Her mother immigrated to Canada from Nigeria when she was a teenager which is when she met Golf ball's father in an airport (He's a year younger than her[*Golfball's mom] ). ) - Pen : Mexican (Pencil is his sister and Marker is his cousin) - Puffball : 1/2 Vietnamese , 1/2 Anglophone (White) - Tennis ball : 3/4 British , 1/4 Thai - TV : Ukranian

Exitors:

- Pencil : Mexican (Pen is her sibling and Marker is her cousin) - Bracelety : 1/2 Greek, 1/2 South African - Liy : 1/2 Slavic-Greek, 1/2 Vietnamese - Roboty : Unknown - 8-Ball : Japanese - Stapy : Italian-Peruvian - Match : 1/2 Metis, 1/2 Afro-Mexican - Firey Jr : 1/2 Ojibwe, 1/2 Mexican (Firey is his cousin) - David : 1/2 Francophone, 1/2 German - Dora : Colombian

Others:

- Profily : Laos-Anglophone (Their grandparents immigrated to Canada in the 70s) - Onigiri : 1/2 Korean, 1/2 Japanese - Evil Leafy : Taiwanese (Woody's mother adopted her when she was 8) - Tune : Cantonese

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that is everything: Thank you for listening

#bfb #bfdi #battle for bfb #battle for bfdi #tpot #the power of two #yami rambles #anti dni #battle for dream island #alt-right dni #bfb human au #bfb humanized #bfdi humanized #bfdia #battle for dream island again

[probablyasocialecologist]

Since its inception in 1948 as a settler colonial state, Israel’s leaders have followed in the footsteps of other settler states like the United States, Canada and Australia, by managing the tensions among its different immigrant communities through legal democratic processes. It was the only way to reconcile the differences between, say Iraqi and Polish, or Moroccan and Russian immigrant communities. Needless to say, that has not applied to the Palestinian citizens of Israel, who suffered under direct military control through 1966. Throughout that period, the secular Ashkenazi elites – concentrated in the Labour movement that created and led the earlier settlement of Palestine – had an advantage over the more conservative Sephardic immigrants and religious groups, and became the masters of the land. But the 1967 war changed that. The occupation and settlement of East Jerusalem, and the rest of the newly occupied territories, have given vigour and momentum to messianic, fanatical, and hyper-nationalist Israelis ever since. Their movement rose to power for the first time in 1977, supported by the marginalised Sephardic Jews and more than a few Labour leaders dreaming of a Greater Land of Israel or total control of all of historic Palestine. From then on, American complicity in the form of economic and military support has provided the radical Israeli Right with much-needed momentum. And lately, Arab and Palestinian appeasement of fanatical Israel further hardened its racism. The Palestinian Authority has been repressing its own people in order to provide protection to Israel’s entrenching apartheid, rendering its survival an Israeli necessity. Likewise, the willingness of autocratic Arab regimes to ditch the “land for peace” formula, and to sign up for unconditional peace and normalisation with colonial Israel, has provided Netanyahu and his fanatical allies with the legitimacy and the rationale to double down on their fanatical expansionist policies. As hundreds of thousands of settlers in hundreds of illegal Jewish settlements proliferated throughout Palestine, blurring the lines between Israel and its occupied territories, it was only a matter of time before the ruling fascists turned inwards, and tried to solidify their fanaticism in Israel as in Palestine, come what may. When supporters of Minister of National Security Itmar Ben-Gvir follow through on his call to carry arms, those weapons will not only be used against Palestinians – but also against secular, liberal Israelis they abhor no less.

#israel #palestine #zionism

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

By Lev Golinkin

The Canadian Parliament gave a standing ovation on Friday to a 98-year-old immigrant from Ukraine who fought in a Third Reich military formation accused of war crimes. The elderly veteran, Yaroslav Hunka was honored during a session in which President Volodomyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine addressed the lawmakers to thank them for their support since Russia invaded his country, saying Canada has always been on “the bright side of history.” The  Speaker of the House of Commons, Anthony Rota — who had compared Zelenskyy to Winston Churchill — recognized a “veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today even at his age of 98.”  The assembly then rose to applaud a man in a khaki uniform standing on the balcony, who saluted, according to this screenshot from Canadian television. 

The man was identified as Hunka by the Associated Press, which published a photograph showing Zelenskyy smiling and raising a fist during the ovation.

The AP caption described Hunka as having “fought with the First Ukrainian Division in World War II before later immigrating to Canada.” The First Ukrainian Division is another name for the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, the military wing of the Nazi Party; the unit was also called SS Galichina. This is the same unit that is honored by controversial monuments in Canada, Australia, and, as the Forward recently exposed, the suburbs of Philadelphia and Detroit. Jewish groups have called for their removal. After a Forward article in August that was followed by coverage in the Philadelphia Inquirer, local television stations and other news outlets, the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia temporarily covered the monument located in a cemetery in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, pending discussions with local Jewish leaders. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and regional branches of the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League had expressed outrage about the monument. Formed in 1943, SS Galichina was composed of recruits from the Galicia region in western Ukraine. The unit was armed and trained by the Nazis and commanded by German officers. In 1944, the division was visited by SS head Heinrich Himmler, who spoke of the soldiers’ willingness to slaughter Poles.”  Three months earlier, SS Galichina subunits perpetrated what is known as the Huta Pieniacka massacre, burning 500 to 1,000 Polish villagers alive. 

There is more to the article. Read it. We should be hearing more about this over the next few days.

And according to this article, Canada also imported 2,000 of Hunka's SS Nazi friends at the end of WWII to live out the rest of their lives in comfort, untroubled by the atrocities they committed.

#ss #14th waffen grenadier division #nazis #yaroslav hunka #ukrainians #ukraine

[doberbutts]

Yet another example of white fans sorely lacking in any racial knowledge: a post regarding the Harfoots saying "they're all different ethnically but have the same accent? How does that even work?" and I'm wondering if they speak to literally any person of color ever at this point.

Accent is, shockingly, not determined by race but by the language(s) you learned to speak as a child. When I was in grade school, we had two Asian kids (both Chinese adoptees) in my class. One spoke identically to all the other American kids. One spoken WITH A WELSH ACCENT because his parents had immigrated to the US from WALES. And he was very proud of his Welsh upbringing and frequently threw hands whenever people asked if he was British.

I work with a latina woman from Puerto Rico who speaks with a typical American accent for the area. She came here when she was very young.

I stick out here whenever certain accent or culture things come up, less because of being black, and more because I had a VERY Pennsylvania Dutch upbringing and it shows in the way I talk at times and the occasional German word I don't know the English translation for. New England in general is not particularly racially diverse (mostly Polish, Irish, and Italian) but the black people who do live here have the same accent everyone else has for the most part.

I had a British Literature teacher, a white woman, who was born and raised in India by white people who have been living in India for generations. English was her third language which she learned in school, not from her parents, who rarely spoke English and when they did, like her, it was very obviously accented. Quite different than the German-influenced English I grew up hearing.

One of the chihuahuas' breeders is a white-passing mixed race afro-native woman from northern Canada, and her accent is only noticably different if you hear her husband or kids- who were raised in the US- speak in the same conversation as her.

A friend of mine is from Syria. He's been in the US since he was a young child. His accent is practically undetectible, in fact we (friend group) often forget his first language isn't English until he asks us what a word we said in passing means or until he brings up his citizenship status.

The color of your skin or the racial mixup within your genetics has absolutely fuckall to do with how you say words. That's determined entirely by what words and sounds and pronounciation rules you learned as your language center in your brain developed as a child. Harfoots being ethnically diverse but having the same accent is unrealistic? As unrealistic as real life, I suppose.

[meadowlarkx]

Explore my bookshelf!

Tagged by @searchingforserendipity25 @jouissants and @swanmaids! Thank you so much 💕💕

An estimate of how many physical books I own: I really have no idea especially because they're not all in one place right now. Maybe 200-300? Hmm. A lot (to me)

Favorite author: Tolkien right now? Ursula Le Guin? I really like Sarah Waters and as a wee lass I really adored Patrick Rothfuss. Umm. I realize I usually tend to pick stuff to read from individual authors based on their premise instead of going through an author's repertoire. Sorry, authors. But it's genuinely hard for me to pick a favorite since they all strike different notes! Fandom writers I've known past and present also loom large here for me.

A popular book I've never read and never intend to read: Hmm maybe The Locked Tomb? The vibes just seem too ironic for me. But I might still read it sometime, it just hasn't grabbed me yet. Probably also Discworld. Sorry to everyone.

A popular book I thought was just meh: The Song of Achilles... Whoops. Anyway, I found some aspects of the writing style lovely, but as a story and a retelling it majorly fell flat for me.

Longest book I own: Les Misérables probably, or one of the big compiled editions of Shakespeare or Austen

Longest series I own all the books to: Hmm, I think A Song of Ice and Fire from my fan days in high school—but kinda by accident (I'd already read the last books on ebook when I was gifted them). Still surprises me to think I do actually own all of those tomes in hard copy

Prettiest book I own: Mariana and the Merchild... yes it's a children's picture book. And you've almost certainly heard me bring it up sometime. Lesbian-coded child-rearing of my heart. Look at the pictures!

A book or series I wish more people knew about: As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann—imagine a fictional microhistory that's also a darkly painted yet tender and gripping gay romance that's also about utopian experiments and the English Civil War. When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai—this book is a dream, a messy and confusing dream, but I recommend it to everyone ever! Chinese folklore and mythology, queer and sapphic-ness, through time and space from ancient China to modern-day immigrant communities in Canada—so touching and really beautiful. Many moments from this one still stick in my brain.

Series: The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud—OK, it's been a while since I read this in full, and I just said I don't always like irony and these books are crammed full of silly little jokes and targeted towards a younger audience, BUT just thinking about them makes me tear up with emotion. Ages-old wry shapeshifting djinni, snotty-kid-becomes-politician, and hardened girl from the underclass navigate an alternate magical-spirits-powered British imperialism. It's queer and incisive TO ME.

Nonfiction: A Biography of No Place by Kate Brown, about borderland villages in Soviet Ukraine and the drastic changes in structures/social organization and identities that occurred from 1920-1950. Poorly said but I just think the perspective this book takes is unique and insightful and empathic and everyone should read it.

Book I'm reading now: The Bandit Queens and Lays of Beleriand. In theory I'm reading them hell yeahhh

Book that's been on my TBR list for a while but I still haven't got around to it: Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino and The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. I checked both of these out to read over the summer and renewed them like 3 times and did I read them... no I did not. Also a bunch more are on the TBR but you know how it is

Do you have any books in a language other than English: La Reine Margot in French is the one I tried seriously to read in recent times, but I have some others in French and Spanish, mostly from high school. 1 in Czech (a copy of With Fire and Sword I have from @sparklingdali for the pictures ❤️). Polish With Fire and Sword & The Deluge pdfs & a couple of physical books ambitiously in Polish, emphasis on the ambition part.

Paperback, hardcover, or ebook? Ideally I check out whatever version the library has. I prefer physical copies and I guess paperbacks, but I'll do ebooks if I have to! At this point I try to only actually buy (hopefully secondhand) books I think I'm really going to want to keep, because I already have too many to move with

Tagging @themelodyofsilence @nibi-nix @tuulikki @sparklingdali @bachaboska if you'd like to do this, and anyone else who hasn't done it yet!

#*i didn't mention orhan pamuk in authors. i failed on that #my posts #tag meme #have been enjoying you guys' recs! 💖

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Funérailles Rouges Dans La Rue Arcade,” Le Petit Journal. March 12, 1933. Page 1. ---- Une foule considerable assistait, hier midi, aux funérailles de Nick Zynchuck, tui accidentellement par le policier Zappa lundi dernier. Communistes, chômeurs, curieux et policiers se coudoyaient dans une atmosphère de méfiance. presque meute. Notre photo de gauche montre l'extraordinaire densité de la foule autour du cercaeil de Zynchuck, au moment où on plaçait celui-ci dans le corbillard pour le mener au cimetière de Lake-View. Remarques les placards et les banderoles que portaient les chefs des sympathisants du mort. La photo de droite indique avec quel soin le Police prévenu les bagarres, On voit ici les “constables spéciaux" empêchant une bataille, tandis que trois femmes s'éloignent en tonte hâte.

[AL: The police did not ‘stop’ any fighting - the funeral of Zynchuk, himself killed by a policeman while resisting his eviction, became a police riot, as the special constables beat and abused men, women and children, including unconnected passerby and a Montreal Gazette journalist. Below the cut I’m including a lengthy English language analysis of this incident from Molinaro’s history of anti-Communism and the state of exception in 1930s Canada of this incident. Well worth reading.

The Murder of an Immigrant: Nicholas Zynchuck “The state repression of the 1930s increased in 1933, particularly in Montreal as Premier Taschereau launched his aggressive campaign against communism. If the Buck et al. trial was the start of the repression against Communists and fellow travellers during the Great Depression's exceptional state, the case of Nicholas Zynchuck in Montreal represented the depths of it. His case demonstrates how ethnicity and culture helped influence who was (and was not) a Communist.

On the afternoon of 6 March 1933, Montreal police were called to 3962 Saint Dominique Street in Montreal's downtown core. Saint Dominique contained a number of townhome complexes, many of which were rented to Polish immigrants, mainly Yiddish speakers, working in nearby factories and shops. On this afternoon, police walked in on an eviction, the history of which dated back to the previous Friday. John Wlostizosk was a Polish immigrant who had been renting 3962 with his wife. Wlostizosk had fallen on difficult times and become unemployed, probably because of the broken leg he was nursing at the time of his eviction. He was two months in arrears on his rent and was ordered to pay immediately or be forced to leave. Wlostizosk could not pay, and the next day a court-ordered bailiff and his assistants attempted to evict the family, claiming that they had an order to do so from the Supreme Court. They were unsuccessful, and Mrs Wlostizosk reported that she was thrown to the ground by the men and had her clothing torn.

The majority of the witnesses stated that the bailiff returned at 2:30 p.m. on 7 March; he and his assistants reportedly forced their way into the home and pulled Wlostizosk out of his bed, dragging him outside. Wlostizosk's wife, while screaming, clung to the bed sheets as her husband was dragged out of the home, and she was then pushed down the stairs. Her screams drew neighbours from all around, and soon a crowd of several hundred emerged, urging the couple to stand their ground and not leave." When constables Joseph Zappa, Paul Couchey, and Victor Jette of the Montreal police arrived at the scene (later joined by Constable A. Cloutier), they found an angry mob, the bailiff's truck half-loaded with furniture and clothing from the home, a screaming Mrs Wlostizosk standing on the steps to the house, and a clothed John Wlostizosk leaning against the house to keep him away.

At this point, Nicholas Zynchuck, a Polish immigrant, former Canadian Pacific Railway worker, and a border at 3962, arrived home. He ran up to the house searching for his clothes. When told by bystanders that the items were in the truck, he entered it but found nothing of his inside. He reportedly then grabbed one of the baillifs by the arm, saying, "I want my clothes." The bailiff replied that he could not have them because everything in the house was being sired When Zynchuck made for the house again, he was blocked by three constables. The crowd, which had grown to approximately two thousand, began removing furniture and items from the truck to prevent them from being taken."

From this point on, the eyewitness accounts differ drastically. Three witnesses and the officers claimed that they saw Zynchuck grab a bar of some sort (reportedly an iron bedpost) from the truck and begin swinging it at the officers, slightly grazing one of them. As he turned to attack the bailiff's assistant, Constable Joseph Zappa fired his revolver, hitting Zynchuck in the back mid-swing. Fourteen others claimed that Zynchuck had no bar." Yetta Rotter, of 3972 Saint Dominique, gave her account to the Toronto Star the morning after the shooting, and it was corroborated by the majority of the witnesses. Zynchuck, she said, "just asked them [the police) to let him get his clothes. Then someone said 'shoot him." and the constable pulled out his gun and fired" as Zynchuck turned to leave. 

On the morning of 7 March, Constable Zappa, seated at the back of police station no. 12, was interviewed by his superiors, who included Assistant Inspector A. Brodeur, with a Star reporter present. In the interview, which formed the basis for the official police report, Zappa claimed he had shot Zynchuck because he, Zappa, "was mad." "Why didn't you shoot over the man's head?" his superiors asked. The constable grinned and shrugged his shoulders: "He's a communist." 

When Zappa was asked if he was excited at the time, he replied, "No." Assistant Inspector Brodeur announced a half-hour later that the shooting was "justified under the circumstances though regrettable." The public had to understand, he explained, that this section of the city was "a hot-bed of communism." Police actions may not have been just, but the police did what was necessary for security. René Clouette, the attending bailiff charged with evicting the family, told reporters an account that differed from that of the other witnesses. He claimed he went to the house on the afternoon of 6 March with about a dozen assistants but found men in the home who were adamant that the furniture not be taken, and so he returned with about fifty assistants and began loading furniture into a truck. He claimed that one of the tenants, John Wlostizosk, entered the scene, walking in on his own accord but with crutches. Clouette denied the witness accounts that he and others had dragged Wlostizosk out of bed by his feet and pushed his wife down the stairs of the home. The shooting occurred, he explained, as the mob began taking things out of the truck that he and his men were loading.

Led by Deputy Coroner Dr Pierre Herbert, a coroner's inquiry with jury was ordered on 8 March to investigate Zynchuck's death. Antoine Senecal and Albert Berthiaume conducted the case for the police, and Michael Garber, retained by the Canadian Labor Defense League (CLDL), cross-examined witnesses The scene in Montreal was tense. Police were dispatched through out the city to quell outbursts of protests following the shooting. One hundred "communists" were reportedly dispersed from Viger Square. The courtroom itself was under heavy police guard, and a number of officers were armed with tear gas should protesters threaten the court. 

The first witness examined was Adolph Sasnofvska of 4370 Saint Dominique Street. He testified that Zynchuck was a Ukrainian born in Poland who had come to Canada five years earlier and who worked as a labourer. He was thirty-seven years old at the time of his death. Sasnofvska's description of Zynchuck's ethnicity reveals that he was an immigrant of Polish citizenship but that he identified as being Ukrainian. He was presumably born in the former Eastern Galicia. 

René Clouette, the bailiff charged with evicting Wlostizosk, told the inquiry the same version he had earlier provided to the media. His assistants gave a sensational account of Zynchuck grabbing a bedpost, letting out a cry in his native Ukrainian, and then charging the house in a crazed, barbarian-style attack, swinging the bedpost wildly. Zappa was called to the stand but did not want to testify. The coroner told him that he was not obligated to do so, but one of the jurors stood up to say that the jury wanted him to give evidence. A five-minute recess was called. 

After conferring with Senecal and Berthiaume, who represented the police, Zappa gave his account of what happened. He claimed that the crowd was getting difficult to control and that some people started taking furniture out of the truck. One of the people removing furniture darted towards him with a six-foot iron bar. The man began swinging the pole as he approached Zappa. After taking one swing at Zappa and missing, Zappa claimed that the man turned gun "kicked up" and the man "was shot in the back." "I was afraid for my own life," he stated, and that all he could do was fire in the man's direction to protect himself.

Under cross-examination, Garber asked Zappa if Zynchuck first asked to enter the house. Zappa replied that he did not, stating that Zynchuck got the bar from the truck, tried to hit him but missed, and took another swing at Bertrand the bailiff before being shot. Garber asked Zappa why he did not fire a warning shot in the air. Zappa replied that he had already threatened to do so, but it had no effect on the crowd. He claimed that no one ordered him to shoot. Garber asked, "Did you tell the reporter of the Star that you were mad when you shot?" Zappa replied, "Mad? Mad? Well I was not very happy." Garber continued, asking, "Were you asked by the Star reporter why you did not shoot over the man's head?" Zappa replied that the reporter had just asked his name and left. He also claimed he had never told Zynchuck to move or he would shoot. Zappa's account was implausible.

Witness testimony contradicted the scene painted by the bailiff and officers, Robert Dubareau, a passer-by who lived on Saint Catherine, claimed he saw Zappa shoot Zynchuck and that there was no iron bar in Zynchuck's hands or any swinging of a bar by Zynchuck. Another witness, Mrs Rotter, said the same thing. The papers did not detail the accounts of other witnesses that contradicted the officers' claims or note whether there had been other any other witnesses.

Inconsistencies in the bailiff and Zappa's testimonies went unad dressed. The press reported that some of Garber's questioning had been stopped; Garber was likely not allowed to question much of the evidence. The evidence that raised the most doubt about Zappa's version of events was the autopsy report. Curiously, the autopsy report was entered into evidence, but it is not clear if anyone discussed it further in court. The report, read into the record by Dr. Rosario Fontaine, stated that the bullet entered Zynchuck from the right side of the back and travelled right to left, tearing through a kidney before finally resting in his spine. 

Zynchuck was shot at a maximum distance of four to five feet (with one paper reporting that the autopsy report stated that he had been shot at a distance of eighteen inches). This meant it was impossible for Zynchuck to have cleared a minimum six-foot space around him with an iron bar. The report matched eyewitness accounts the morning after the shooting that stated that Zappa had shot Zynchuck as he turned his back to the officer. He was shot in the back on the right side, and the bullet travelled from right to left, which could have occurred if Zynchuck, facing Zappa, had begun turning to the left to leave, exposing the right side to Zappa's revolver." 

Either way the bulk of the evidence raised questions about the officers' version of events, but to no effect. In a closing statement to the jury, Deputy Coroner Herbert reminded the public: 

"We have never had any problem with the French-Canadians, and it is always the foreigners who start such trouble. When four constables are faced with 500 angered foreigners their lives are in danger... I hope that this will be a lesson for other foreigners who attempt to resist the police." 

Zynchuck's death would teach the foreign communists how they should behave and respond to police. The jury reached a decision in less than a minute and cleared Zappa of any misconduct.

That the coroner's inquiry failed to satisfy the Saint Dominique community was obvious from the way the community rallied behind their fallen member with one of the largest funeral processions the city of Montreal had ever seen. Fifteen to twenty thousand people marched from Verdun to the funeral parlour of William Ray at Arcade Street at 12:30 p.m. on 11 March. Some of those walking in the long columns of marchers hummed "The Internationale," and Canadian Labor Defense League (CLDL) musicians played for the marchers. Labour leaders made speeches reminding those in attendance of how Zynchuck was killed. The real culprit, some speakers claimed, was Bennett and his policies, while others said Zynchuck was killed because of private property. Some speakers insisted that the lives of workers were just as valuable as those of the "bosses." Workers Unity League (WUL) representatives spoke at the funeral. 

Zynchuck's death brought the community out in the tens of thousands, but it is doubtful that everyone was there to hear the CLDL or WUL use Zynchuck's funeral as a means for spreading propaganda. Indeed, there was serious doubt as to whether Zynchuck was ever a Communist or that he had belonged to the CLDL, the WUL, or any other labour organization. The Reverend R.G. Katsunoff of the Church of All Nations spoke at Zynchuck's funeral and stated that he knew Zynchuck as a member of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church who had no relatives and belonged to no Communist organizations. Some members of the CLDL and other Communist organizations went beyond condemning his death and used Zynchuck's funeral as a platform to preach political propaganda. They tried to paint Zynchuck as a Communist killed for being a Communist when he was actually killed because he was foreign born and because he was Communist on account of his ethnicity, class, and where he lived. 

Shortly after the funeral procession was underway, Montreal police sent an even stronger message to the foreign community as a reprisal presumed a for Zappa's inquiry and to prevent Communists from using his death as a spectacle for recruitment.

As the steady line of marchers quietly carried on down the street, many holding signs condemning the death of Zynchuck, plain-clothes officers entered the crowd, and so did eight hundred mounted officers who were lying in wait for the marchers. Officers charged into the funeral procession dispersing people, punching and clubbing any who quickly enough. Witnesses described the scene as chaos as droves of people fled in terror, fearing for their lives and safety. The crowd split into groups of fifty, and even passers-bys not part of the march were caught in the cross hairs of police. A woman on her way home, who could not move fast enough for the officers, was shoved into a snowdrift. Witnesses watched in shock and horror as marchers were knocked to the ground and, when they did not get up quickly enough, faced even more punches and kicks. One man was tossed from officer to officer, who kicked or punched him for the length of a city block. Others witnessed a man beaten badly by police she walked; he stopped walking to try to recuperate, only to have officers deliver a punishing blow from behind, knocking him unconscious to the ground, where he was left.

Neither young nor old were spared the fury of the police. Nor were the reporters: Henry Prysky of the Gazette, and son of Detective Sergeant Felix Prysky of the homicide department, was beaten by police even after he identified himself as a reporter. Mounted officers mowed over marchers, forcing them into the streets, where other officers forced them back onto the sidewalk. According to witnesses, the mourners never retaliated. They were determined to keep the march from turning into a riot or violent protest. Statements from witnesses. to the dismay of both the CLDL and Montreal police, affirmed that the vast majority of people at the funeral were there for Zynchuck and not in support of any Communist politics. The Verdun Workers Association, who led the procession, denounced some press suggestions of Communist activity, citing that 35 per cent of their members had served in the Great War and strongly denouncing suggestions that their loyalty should be questioned.

The mourners' non-resistance did not deter police. One machinist, as the Herald described him, was walking along the street when police began clearing it. "Suddenly I was tripped," he said, "and thrown into snow bank. While I lay there two other men bent over me and struck me in the face." The man claimed that police never asked him a single question before the beating started. A mile from the march, witnesses reported that a woman walking with a toddler was pushed by police for not walking fast enough and that when she protested, she and her toddler were forced into a snow bank. Police had deemed the funeral a political action by Communists and a security threat. They decided - they judged in the moment - what was and was not legal and what to do to stop it. 

Montreal residents felt outrage and condemned the events at the funeral. The Herald, in an editorial, denounced the actions of police and stated that "the actions of the police force on Saturday were a blot on the honour of the force... Had they been agents of Moscow they could not have served the cause of violence better." The Star, as well as the Gazette, was equally critical of the police for attacking the funeral. Besides reporting the attack on its own reporter, the Gazette detailed a bizarre scene in which two plain-clothes officers, each "taking the other for a communist," got into a fight. They were eventually separated by officers who recognized them. One officer lost some teeth in the scuffle, but he was dissuaded by other police from taking out an arrest warrant on the other officer. The two reportedly shook hands, and police refused to release their names."

The violence at Zynchuck's funeral prompted a strong response from community groups. Protests began immediately after the funeral. In one instance, 225 youth protested the death of Zynchuck and the events of the funeral at the Youth Forum on Drummond Street. Some of the most outspoken criticism of police actions, ironically, came from Christian churches and ministers who claimed that it was the police, and not the Communists, who were behaving in an un-British manner. On 13 March, members of the Protestant Ministerial Association voted in the majority to appoint a committee that could represent Protestant churches, as well as a diverse segment of prominent citizens, to press for a judicial investigation into the events of the eviction at Saint Dominique Street and Zynchuck's funeral. The committee was separate from religious institutions but provided them with some representation."

Called the Citizens' Committee, the group consisted of prominent community members such as ministers, lawyers, and academics. including Professor F. R. Scott and law professor Warwick Chipman, a prominent member of the bar in Montreal. The committee heard evidence from ministers such as the Reverend Katsunoff, who spoke at Zynchuck's funeral and now reiterated his claims that Zynchuck was no Communist. He described the funeral and the events leading up to it after Zynchuck was shot. Wanting to give Zynchuck a funeral, he explained, were a dozen representatives of different societies, such as various Ukrainian and Polish groups. Katsunoff explained that a Greek-Catholic priest was approached to conduct the funeral but that he was asked too late and could not do it in time. he claimed the police kept one of Zynchuck's closest friends detained for hours and compelled him to sign Zynchuck's body over to them to stop a funeral from being held. 

Montreal police recognized that a funeral for Zynchuck could become a spectacle for the Communists. Katsuwolf recalled how police tried to storm the funeral parlour in an effort get Zynchuck's body, but people jammed the entrance to the parlaour and stood watch until a funeral was arranged. Katsunoff told the committee that the funeral march was orderly until someone blew a whistle. Someone shouted, "Come on boys," and plain-clothes officers jumped into the crowd. A banner held by one of the marchers that read "Shot in the back" was grabbed by police as they entered the crowd from all directions, beating the crowd as they entered. Katsuwolf was sure that the two plain-clothes men that he had spoken to “smelt of some kind of liquor." The committee heard that several witnesses of Zynchuck's death claimed that they could swear under oath that they saw him shot as he turned his back to Zappa in an effort to leave. It was later reported that Zynchuck's grave site was purchased by an unnamed sympathetic citizen of Montreal who had never personally met Zynchuck."

The committee refrained from deciding anything and instead took a wait-and-see approach until further official inquiries were completed. Following the publicity that the committee meeting generated, Montreal deputy chief Charles Barnes, who oversaw the police response to the funeral march, commented on the funeral, stating that he had seen no trouble anywhere" and witnessed no violence, as the crowd was easily dispersed. Despite Barnes's attempt at damage control, a new inquiry into Zynchuck's death was about to be called."

On 14 March, Joe Batula, a former fellow officer of Zynchuck's in the Polish army, filed a complaint against Zappa in the death of Zynchuck so that an arrest warrant could be issued against him for manslaughter. Michael Garber and another lawyer retained by the CLDL. Oscar Gagnon, represented Batula. Justice Victor Cusson agreed to issued for Zappa's arrest. He set the date of the hearing for 21 March issue a prewarrant inquiry to investigate whether a warrant should be Gagnon explained that a hearing was needed because all the evidence at the coroner's inquest "was designed to exculpate the constable" and that they had had "no chance to present [their] evidence." Gag non's statement confirms that the evidence of witnesses that could contradict Zappa and his fellow officers was suppressed during the coroner's inquiry. 

Zynchuck's death and funeral spurred progressives into action and solidarity. In addition to the frequent protests throughout the city. Writers in the Canadian Forum claimed that these events symbolized the illiberal state of Quebec. Zynchuck's death and funeral became the source of inspiration for a variety of poems, stories, and plays, including a play entitled Eviction performed by the Workers' Experimental Theatre. Poet Dorothy Livesay wrote a poem entitled "An Immigrant (Nick Zynchuck)" and a story, "Zynchuck's Funeral.” As mentioned earlier, F. R. Scott was instrumental in forming an ad hoc group to protest the events and suggest reform. He had been outraged by witnessing a labourer who had been standing near the street during the funeral suddenly be knocked to the ground by a "ferocious punch to the jaw" from a man later identified as a plain-clothes police officer. The CLDL temporarily united with the Trades and Labour Congress and the Montreal Labour Party to protest Zynchuck's death and the funeral violence. They had support from the Protestant Ministerial Association, the Montreal Women's Club, the Delorimier Liberal Reform Club, the League for Social Reconstruction, and the Montreal United Church's Committee on Social and Economic Research.

The hearing began on 21 March. Oscar Gagnon of the CLDL stressed from the outset that this was not a trial, just an inquiry decide whether an arrest warrant should be issued, and thus a hearing of evidence ex parte as per article 655 of the Criminal Code was sufficient to issue the warrant. In an unexpected move, Justice Cusson allowed both sides to present evidence, including witnesses called by Zappa's counsel, Philippe Monette. Berthiaume was permitted to represent the police. Variations of Zynchuck's death were told to the court in English, Polish, and Yiddish. The courtroom was initially restricted to the public, but by mid-morning the judge had lifted the restrictions, and it became filled to capacity.

The bailiff Clouette retold his version of events. But the majority of the witnesses in this hearing told a different story than the one told by Zappa, his fellow constables, and the bailiff and his assistants during the coroner's inquiry. These witnesses described how Zynchuck was shot in the back by Zappa as he turned to leave. Several witnesses claimed that the bailiff's assistants shouted at the officers to shoot Zynchuck. Papers reported that Zappa's counsel, Mr. Monette, was very aggressive in his cross-examination of witnesses, leading Garber to ask the judge why cross-examination should even be allowed, as this was not a trial. The judge claimed he wanted all the facts before making his decision. The defence gave their interpretation next and followed the same story as told by the witnesses during the coroner's inquest. The autopsy report was read into evidence again by De Rosario Fontaine, who claimed that on the basis of the hole in Zynchuck's jacket, the shot might have been fired from a distance of four or five leet but not less than eighteen inches. Witnesses for Zappa claimed that the crowd was advancing until Zappa fired his gun.

On 24 March, Judge Cusson announced that he had decided not to issue a warrant for Zappa's arrest, citing that riot conditions had prompted Zappa to shoot, as Zynchuck was part of a crowd of thirty or more persons who were advancing on the officers. Whether Zynchuck was armed or not was inconsequential to the judge; "killing one or more," he stated, there being no other way to suppress the riot, constituted a "justifiable homicide." Exceptional measures were necessary. Curiously, Zappa's evidence, given on the day of the judge's decision, contained mention that the crowd was advancing on him, and yet, even after the coroner's report, Zappa claimed that Zynchuck was "six, eight, nine" feet from him when he shot.

The CLDL lawyers did not agree with the judge's finding, stating that it was significant that no iron bar was produced as evidence. When Cusson asked the lawyers what Zappa was to have done beyond shooting, Garber replied, "I believe that he'd have to read the Riot Act before shooting." The judge was taken aback, asking: 

"Do you believe that a Montreal jury - or a jury anywhere - (you are a lawyer of reputation, Mr. Garber, and I appreciate you highly) but do you believe that any jury would find Constable Zappa guilty?" 

The judge insisted on an answer from Garber, who replied: 

"It might happen. There might be a jury that would find him guilty of manslaughter." 

Cusson disagreed, stating that he had had no hesitation in refusing the warrant. The CLDL made one last plea to Premier Taschereau, but this fell on deaf ears. The Citizens' Committee did not seek to further fin any flames: the legal process had run its course. The committee recommended that police not send plain-clothes officers to break up crowds in the future, something the police force said it would consider. Joseph Zappa was completely exonerated,

The case of Nicholas Zynchuck shows the depth of the repression against Communists and anyone presumed of being one. For law enforcement, communists were automatically guilty of an offence and violence had become part of the construct of security. Members could never publicly admit that they were CPC members or even publicly state that they believed in the same ideology without exposing them selves to the possibility of a Section 98 charge. But the most significant danger to Canadian society was how individuals were classified as being communists.”

- Dennis C. Molinaro, An Exceptional Law: Section 98 and the Emergency State, 1919-1936. Toronto: Osgoode Hall Press, 2017. p. 171-182

#montreal #police shooting #killed by police #police riot #eviction #resisting evictions #polish immigration to canada #ukrainian immigration to canada #xenophobia in canada #anti-communism #canadian labor defence league #funeral march #acab #service de police de la ville de montréal #state repression #suppression of dissidents #great depression in canada #iron heel #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada

[girlactionfigure]

Jewish Partisan Fighter

Wanted Dead or Alive

Abe Asner was a Jewish partisan and veteran of the Polish army who used his military training to fight Nazis and rescue Jews during the Holocaust.

Born to a traditional Jewish family in Nacha (now Belarus) in 1916, Abe was raised in Lida, Poland and served in the Polish army. After Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Abe went to Lithuania, which for centuries had been a hub of Jewish life and learning. Germany invaded Lithuania in June 1941 and the Nazis immediately forced all the Jews into squalid ghettoes. Abe knew his best chance of survival was to find a place to hide where the Germans wouldn’t find them. Young, strong, and desperate, Abe fled into the forest.

Over the next three years, as his family and the other Jews were deported to death camps where most of them perished, Abe stayed alive by staying on the run. He traveled at night, foraging for food and accepting the kindness of farmers who sometimes shared provisions with him. Most of the time he was hungry.

With a group of fellow Jews including several of his brothers, Abe established a hideaway deep in the woods that became a base camp for about sixty Jews, as well as escaped Russian POWs. One of the few with military training, Abe became a leader of the group of partisans. (Partisans were civilians who fought against the Nazis.) He managed to obtain weapons, and organized attacks against the Nazis including sabotaging German supply lines and robbing food convoys. They also snuck into the ghetto and helped fellow Jews escape. Their missions were conducted under cover of darkness and Abe later recalled, “The night was our mother.” This scrappy band of militants were such a threat to the Nazis that high bounties were placed on their heads, “dead or alive.”

During the harsh winter in the Lithuanian forest, some of the Jewish partisans chose to return to the ghetto. Sadly, many of them were deported to concentration camps before they could escape again. Abe remained in the forest, sometimes barely clinging to life due to starvation and hypothermia. One day, he and his brother were foraging for food in a nearby town when they encountered a young Jewish woman who wanted to join them in the forest. Abe was hesitant because their small group didn’t even have enough food for themselves, but his brother made the point that if 33 people were going to starve, why not 34? Abe relented, and wound up marrying the woman, whose name was Libke. 

In 1944, the Russians arrived and liberated the area. Many of the Jewish survivors were drafted into the Russian army but Abe was able to avoid it. He was, however, detained by the dreaded NKVD, the Soviet secret police. Finally, Abe was released because of a law allowing those who were Polish citizens before 1939 to return to Poland. From Poland, Abe immigrated to the United States and then Canada.

The trauma of the war years stayed with Abe for the rest of his life and he suffered from PTSD. Despite his physical and emotional pain, Abe built a successful life in Canada. He was proud of his brave actions during the war and said, “We didn’t go like sheep. We did as much as we could. We did a lot. People should know somebody did [fight back.] People should know.”

Abe Asner died in 2015, at age 98. He was survived by Liebke, two daughters and four grandchildren. 

For fighting Nazis and helping his fellow Jews, we honor Abe Asner as this week’s Thursday Hero.

#Thursday Hero

[handweavers]

okay random question about your mention of orangemen in the canadian prairies - is that a lot of the irish descendents for the prairies? I've moved here only recently bc my wife is from here, and her irish ancestry is stronggg catholic irish lol. I'm familiar with the polish/ukrainian/etc immigration influences here, and how they were treated by english/scottish immigrants, but not enough about irish immigration evidently!

orangemen are exclusively protestant and usually scots-irish ancestry (the descendants of scottish settlers in northern ireland during the plantation of ulster) and basically function as like. hardcore right wing british nationalists, their ideology is fascist and extremely racist and pro-capitalist, they're british monarchists, they despise catholics and native irish, they typically occupy positions of wealth and status that have allowed them to exploit catholic irish in the north and play a huge role in the assimilation of the irish into the british anglophone sphere etc.) irish catholics are their main targets in ye olde country, so your wife's irish catholic family in the prairies likely comes from a very different background.

however, in canada wealthy scots-irish protestants of the orange order make up a significant number of former prime ministers, premiers, and men in other positions of power esp during the 1800s confederation period and the western imperial push across the prairies to the pacific coast. they ran many of the residential schools and orchestrated indigenous genocides, often in tandem with the catholic church which doesn't make sense from an old country perspective but from a "we are actively colonizing natives and doing genocide" perspective they had shared economic interests.

for example, it was men of orange who targeted louis riel and the red river colony, and it was them who hunted him to his death. they were the ruling class of the canadian nation-building period, they ran the local hudson's bay company outposts in rupert's land, they were the ones who established settlements and were the ones on the ground organizing genocide against indigenous peoples and in canadian parliament.

irish catholics in canada are also settlers of course but they generally held a different position in early-"canadian" society and in the process of imperial conquest of what would become canada. their position was closer to that of eastern european settlers, rather than the scots-irish/scottish/british ruling class.

#thankfully (?) my irish protty ancestors were poor and stayed in ireland instead of leaving to terrorize first nations #but its still an important history nonetheless

[heavensenthearty]

I checked out your AO3 profile, and all those fics sounds really cool, with the amount of effort put into the details (with the surnames for example...Even if "Paradis" sounds and reads more French than Native/Inuktitut) congrats !

Thanks for sending this, it was sweet! ☺️💖 "Paradis" is a surname from French ascendancy but it is also currently present in Canada. It isn't common or uncommon. I chose it because I headcanon Sokka and Katara with mixed Inuk/French ancestry in a modern AU, explaining their blue eyes. I haven't polished that headcanon yet, but I imagine one of their grandfathers as a French immigrant in Canada. He was black and had blue eyes, so Katara and Sokka inherited the dark skin and clear eyes as well.

#katara #sokka #modern au #katara paradis #sokka paradis #angel answers 🤍

[notreallyimportant]

If you’re not on TikTok, here’s the beef of the week: SARA FALCON

She’s private but you can still see all the duets and stitches of her videos of her saying the US isn’t diverse because we only speak one language and Hispanic isn’t a culture. Only to back track after the responses of her saying this is, mostly from POC Americans, that explain the US is diverse because there’s at least 350 spoken languages recognized on the US census on top of the there’s languages not even recognized such as the languages of the 500+ indigenous tribes between here and Canada having their own languages not recognized by the US, many languages that are derived from enslaved Africans such as Tutnese, and multiple languages spoken by immigrants around the would. So that number recoils very well be in the thousands.

Ms. Sara Falcon decided to back track after being told she was wrong and possibly racist( because how are you going to say Hispanic isn’t a culture. Like I know it’s an ethnicity, but it’s also a cultural group.) like any good white European, she said it’s a social experiment on US patriotism in our education system… also that she’s Italian and not white, so her ancestors didn’t participate in colonizing the world…. Like I know Italians tan… but Italians also participated in colonization… Christopher Columbitch…bus… bitch ass…Ethiopia? And it’s a social experiment? Ma’am. Have serval seats.

Like there were many, like I said, many POC Americans explaining that the US is diverse… it’s just that due to white supremacy, they hate what makes them diverse. Like for the longest time we’ll here “my ancestors were Polish and they weren’t considered white” cool. My ancestors were enslaved and weren’t even considered human..I mean there are those who still think that. Up until the 1990s indigenous people were put into schools that had the conditions of a prison..and were treated worse.

And for it to be a social experiment, it was very sloppy. I promise you that someone who went to a private school in the riches neighborhood in New York will not have the same education as someone who went to the poorest public school in Mississippi.

Like this just proves Europeans, specifically white Europeans act dense on purpose. But is probably one of the few times I’ve seen the left and the right pause for more than five minutes to bully the Europeans.

#white europeans #this is why we bully Europeans #TikTok #Sara falcon