First in a series of first-hand accounts from the children of Sons of Freedom Doukhobors that were forcibly removed from their families and confined at the New Denver School. Approximately 200 children were interned at the school between 1953 and 1959.
Eleven-year-old MichaelB次元官网网址檚 journey to the began when several policemen wielding billy clubs came through the door of his Krestova home on a cold winter day in 1955.
The officers declared that all of the children in the house had to come with them. MichaelB次元官网网址檚 parents and grandparents begged the officers to leave their children alone, but to no avail.
When his grandmother reached out to touch a policemanB次元官网网址檚 hand in a pleading gesture, she was struck with a club. MichaelB次元官网网址檚 father and grandfather were tossed out of the house into the snow, even though they were barefoot.
The police then turned their attention to MichaelB次元官网网址檚 13-year-old sister. She lied to the officers, telling them she was 15. Being tall for her age, they believed her and she escaped the horrors that Michael was soon to experience.
Michael was then taken to the school at Crescent Valley where children from the area, some as young as six years old, were being collected into a group.
Those children were then placed on a bus for the two-hour drive to New Denver. They werenB次元官网网址檛 given an opportunity to use the washroom.
B次元官网网址淎 lot of people filled their pants,B次元官网网址� said Michael, who is now in his 80s. B次元官网网址淚 still remember the smell.B次元官网网址�
That was just the beginning of many embarrassing and uncomfortable situations those children would endure.
Michael was one of about 200 Sons of Freedom Doukhobor children that were removed from their homes between 1953 and 1959. He spoke to Castlegar B次元官网网址 after the Province of B.C. offered an apology in February for the forced confinement of the children. Michael isnB次元官网网址檛 his real name, but we have agreed to grant him anonymity due to the sensitivity of the events he shared with us.
When Michael and the other children arrived at the site of the former tuberculosis sanatorium they were forced to go up into the attic of the facility and bring down the old beds.
B次元官网网址淭hat attic was rat and mice infested,B次元官网网址� said Michael. B次元官网网址淭he mattresses were there from the old, sick people. They were stinky and stained and we had to put those mattresses on our beds.
B次元官网网址淲e had to sleep in them B次元官网网址� small, young children sleeping in mattresses that were soiled and dirty and mouse infested.B次元官网网址�
Michael kept that mattress for the entire three years he spent there. To this day, the memories of sleeping on that bed bring him to tears.
Michael says abuse at the school came in many forms B次元官网网址� psychological, physical and sexual. Some came from the adults who were supposed to be caring for the children, and some came from the children themselves.
B次元官网网址淲hen the lights go out, thatB次元官网网址檚 when bad stuff starts among the kids,B次元官网网址� he said.
Michael has a noticeable scar on the tip of his nose from one of those incidents.
One night after the lights went out, some of the older boys were smoking. One of those boys took his cigarette and burned MichaelB次元官网网址檚 nose.
B次元官网网址淚 have to carry that the rest of my life. That mark B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 a brand.B次元官网网址�
On another occasion, Michael was just getting comfortable in his bed and drifting off to sleep. An older boy jumped on his bed, pinning him down so that he couldnB次元官网网址檛 move and performed a sex act right in front of MichaelB次元官网网址檚 face.
Michael says he thinks he was a target for the bullies because he was quiet and not a fighter. Personal belongings were not secured at the school, so Michael says that the stronger children took what they wanted.
B次元官网网址淭hey controlled the whole thing like a mafia. If you werenB次元官网网址檛 nice to them, you get beaten up. They controlled everyone else through fear.B次元官网网址�
He recalls one particularly quiet girl whose arms were black and blue most of the time.
B次元官网网址淪he never was OK after she left,B次元官网网址� said Michael.
Abuse also came from some of the adults and Michael was aware of other children who were sexually abused at the school.
Over the years, Michael would endure more incidents of bullying, physical punishments, hard work and psychological abuse.
B次元官网网址淎 lot of times I thought about taking my life,B次元官网网址� said Michael. B次元官网网址淚t was unbearable.B次元官网网址�
He occasionally found ways to sneak out of the school. But the fear of being caught and punished was always top of mind and the students knew they had to be back in time for role call.
One day, he and a friend decided they couldnB次元官网网址檛 take it any more. The pair sneaked out of the facility and tried to hitch hike home, but no one would pick them up.
They made it as far as Silverton (about five kilometres) before a police car came around a corner and they knew that was the end of their escape plan.
Upon returning to the school, Michael remembers being given extra work, including washing windows, as punishment.
Another tragedy of the New Denver internment was broken familial relationships. For Michael, the breach was not repairable.
B次元官网网址淚 had no relationship with my parents after I got out of there.B次元官网网址�
He says the children were repeatedly told by staff that their parents did not want them.
B次元官网网址淭hat stays with you,B次元官网网址� said Michael. B次元官网网址淭hey were programming kids to be against their parents.B次元官网网址�
Life after New Denver
Life was not easy for Michael after he left New Denver.
From age 16 on, he had to support himself in spite of not having a proper education. That meant doing mostly low-paying labour and seasonal jobs for many years.
B次元官网网址淵ou were programmed to take the back seat of the bus all of the time,B次元官网网址� said Michael. B次元官网网址淲hen an opportunity would come, I always felt I was not good enough.
B次元官网网址淵ou are ashamed when you are around people to say that you were in New Denver and that was where you got your education.B次元官网网址�
Michael moved to the Okanagan to find work in the agriculture industry while still a teenager. But he avoided telling people he was a Doukhobor because he feared the stigma.
B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 speak proper English and had a strong accent,B次元官网网址� said Michael. B次元官网网址淚t was a drawback.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 felt I was a third-class citizen, that I was not good enough.B次元官网网址�
He couldnB次元官网网址檛 blend into the society of the Okanagan, so eventually he came back to the West Kootenay and his childhood homestead.
Michael remains heartbroken not just over the things he experienced, but also over the tragic outcomes of other families affected by the New Denver internments.
He knew a mother who committed suicide after her children were taken, a grandfather who had a heart attack as he watched his grandchildren taken away, several suicides of former school residents, and multiple stories of addiction among survivors that ruined lives and families, and led to premature deaths.
B次元官网网址淭hey tried to drown out the memories,B次元官网网址� said Michael.
He says the memories from his childhood are difficult to talk about.
B次元官网网址淏etween us survivors, we donB次元官网网址檛 really talk about it,B次元官网网址� said Michael.
B次元官网网址淒eep inside, we are burnt out. We are flattened. When you start talking one-to-one, you start crying.B次元官网网址�
ElizabethB次元官网网址檚 story
One day while living and working in the Okanagan, Michael ran into Elizabeth, another New Denver survivor. She too had gone to the area to find work.
The two would eventually marry, have several children and spend the rest of their lives together.
ElizabethB次元官网网址檚 trauma started before she was taken from her Glade home. Like many SonB次元官网网址檚 of Freedom children, she spent months hiding from the police.
B次元官网网址淭here were a lot of times they would come looking and I would be hiding in different places,B次元官网网址� says Elizabeth.
She remembers hiding in the hay and in a neighbourB次元官网网址檚 root cellar. She also hid in a crawl space under her familyB次元官网网址檚 home that was so small she could barely fit into it. She remembers trembling as she watched through cracks.
B次元官网网址淚 could see their boots,B次元官网网址� she recalls now.
Many survivors recount stories of policemen and other searchers looking for children in haystacks by poking into them with pitchforks.
Elizabeth escaped one such search because she and several other children were hiding in a wooden shelter buried in a haystack that a neighbour had made.
The pitchfork did not reach the huddled children.
B次元官网网址淚t was traumatic,B次元官网网址� said Elizabeth. B次元官网网址淓very time you are hiding, you are nervous and scared.B次元官网网址�
Eventually, at the age of 10, she was captured and transported to New Denver.
Some of the hardships she recalls revolve around the chores the children were made to do.
A few years into the detentions, a new director was appointed at the New Denver Residential School. According to historical documents included in the BC OmbudspersonB次元官网网址檚 report Righting the Wrong, the director dismissed all of the housekeeping staff and decided that the interned children would be responsible for all of the cleaning going forward.
Many survivors recount stories of long chore lists and chores used as punishments.
On top of rotating daily chore lists, Elizabeth was assigned to peel mounds of potatoes every morning before breakfast. Potatoes were a principal staple of the childrenB次元官网网址檚 diet.
The loss of family connections and missing out on family milestones was especially hard for Elizabeth. She missed her grandmotherB次元官网网址檚 funeral and her brotherB次元官网网址檚 wedding.
B次元官网网址淚 always had a feeling that things were not right, the way things were,B次元官网网址� said Elizabeth.
She also remembers B次元官网网址渢he fence.B次元官网网址� Children had to visit with their parents outdoors through a chain link fence, no matter the weather. Those visits occurred every other week, for just one hour.
B次元官网网址淚t was just with the fingers you could touch, or kiss, through the fence. You couldnB次元官网网址檛 hug or anything, and that was hard.B次元官网网址�
Elizabeth says there were some occasions that she had fun and good times with the other girls at the school.
B次元官网网址淏ut in the back of your mind was always the thought that we were not at home and things were not right.B次元官网网址�
Elizabeth stayed at the school for three years. At that time, all of the children at the school were released after an agreement was made between the parents and government officials.
By then, she was 13 years old and her childhood was gone.
B次元官网网址淚t was hard, I was really happy we were coming home. But three years passed B次元官网网址� I was 10 and then I was 13.
B次元官网网址淚 was a teenager already, and I wasnB次元官网网址檛 sure how to go about being at home again. I lost my connections with my parents.B次元官网网址�
Elizabeth says she has tried to train herself to leave the past in the past.
B次元官网网址淪o you donB次元官网网址檛 get upset every time you think about it or talk about. It is not good for us.B次元官网网址�
But Michael says he hasnB次元官网网址檛 been able to put the past behind him.
B次元官网网址淭here is not one day that goes by that it doesnB次元官网网址檛 come and haunt you B次元官网网址� the baggage that we have lived through.B次元官网网址�
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