Giulietta Doganieri
Giulietta Doganieri was 4 years old when they took her father away in the middle of the night. She remembers very vividly how they stormed the house and turned everything upside down looking for who knows what. Nicola Doganieri was interned for 3 years at camp Petawawa.
Nicola was the editor of L’Operaio, an Italian Canadian newspaper that helped many people in the Italian community, and that would fight to help widows receive a spousal pension. While Nicola was interned, his wife worked as a cleaning lady in order to feed the family.
Honourable David Lametti
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
The Honourable David Lametti is originally from Port Colborne Ontario and is of Italian descent. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of Toronto, then continued his studies at McGill University. He earned a Masters from Yale Law School, and completed his doctorate at Oxford.
Lametti spent most of his academic career in Montreal and got to know a few of the internee families that have been fighting to obtain recognition and an apology from the Canadian government. He has been working alongside Joyce Pillarella and Giuletta Doganieri to receive an official Government apology from the Canadian Parliament.
Lametti believes it is important to give the families that recognition and to set history straight, so it will not happen again.
Joyce Pillarella
Joyce Pillarella is an oral historian from Montreal. She stumbled onto a postcard from her grandfather to the family in Italy. She asked questions but never received a straight answer.
Nicola Germano had come to Canada in 1920 to help support his family. Nicola was a staunch and strong fascist supporter both in Italy and in Montreal. He openly showed support through the Casa d’Italia and “Dopolavoro” programs.
He continued to visit and correspond with his family until he was interned on June 10, 1940. He was sent first to Camp Petawawa and then to Fredericton. For months, the family was unaware of what had happened to him.
Financial support and correspondence stopped after his arrest. His wife, who had gotten sick, died as she had no money to pay for her medications.
Roger Boccini Nincheri
Roger Boccini Nincheri was born in Florence Italy. His parents Elfie Iussa and Alberto Boccini emigrated to Vancouver before World War II, leaving Roger behind with his paternal grandparents. The plan was to reunite with Roger as soon as they got settled; however, as the war broke out, Roger remained in his grandmother’s care for the duration of the war.
Back in Canada his father became the editor of the Italian based newspaper L’Eco Italo-Canadese and was interned for his fascist tendencies. Alberto was interned at Kananaskis, St. Helen’s Island and then Petawawa.
While he was detained on St. Helen’s island, his wife Elfie moved to Montreal from Vancouver to be closer to her husband. She would visit him daily at the camp. When he was transferred to Petawawa she could no longer visit. Alberto was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was released from the camp in 1943. He travelled home and died shortly after his arrival.
Roger has no memories of his father. While in Montreal, Elfie befriended Gabriel Nincheri, son of Guido Nincheri. In the mid 40’s, Elfie, now a widow, reconnected with Gabriel, rekindled their friendship, and shortly after got married. Elfie and her family moved to Montreal to be with Gabriel, and in 1949 Roger was able to reunite with his mother, his brother, and his new stepfamily.