British Columbia artist Michelle Loughery painted a mural to honour First World War Canadian internees. Depicted in the mural on the real estate building in Vernon, B.C., is Dan Koneszynigi, an immigrant from Ukraine. “He was arrested and interned in the Vernon camp,” Loughery said. “His only crime was being unemployed.” Like many Ukrainians, Koneszynigi came to Canada with the promise of opportunities. At the man’s side is a woman who entered an internment camp with her baby to join her Ukrainian husband.

“With this mural, I feel like generations of people are speaking through me,” she says. “I didn’t understand my Ukrainian heritage before. I didn’t understand why my Ukrainian grandparents were so harsh. Now I understand.”

Loughery drew inspiration from her great-grandfather, Michael, who was interned in a Vernon camp with his son, Stephen. Once released, Michael lived in Alberta. He was diagnosed with turbuculosis and couldn’t work so his wife took care of the family financially.

“They were ashamed. We never spoke Ukrainian. It was like it never happened,” Loughery said.

This mural is the first of Loughery’s series called the Sunflower Project, which consists of a number of paintings across Canada that draw on the same theme.

Do you have an ancestor who served in the Great War? Submit their story and it could be included on this Great War Album website.