A new documentary that is premiering across the country tells the tragic story of the thousands of Ukrainian men, women, and children during World War I, and a small chapter of that history took place near Munson from October 13, 1918, to March 21, 1919.

Ryan Boyko has written and directed “That Never Happened,” taking on the subject of the internment. The name of the film comes from a conversation he had with a teacher, who, when questioned about the period of history, the teacher responded with what has become the moniker of the movie. His film hopes to tell the story to a wider audience.

“I think it is a pretty incredible opportunity to get this story out to the world. It is a piece of history that was forgotten,” said Boyko. “It was systemically wiped out of history. This year, September 20, this documentary screened at the United Nations and it was the permanent mission of Canada’s official selection as part of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That tells us how we have come as a county.”

While thousands were detained, it is true there is very little known about the 24 camps across the country. In fact, the Canadian Government ordered the destruction of records of the internment in 1954. Part of the legacy of these camps is some of the projects the prisoners worked on, such as parts of Banff National park. In Munson, it was the railway.

“There was a Munson line that went from Munson to Eaton, Saskatchewan, just outside of Saskatoon. That was a rail line they were building,” said Bokyo.

A scan of The Drumheller Mail archives reveals only a couple of references to the internment. These were small paragraphs describing the work being done by the prisoners, under the guard of veterans of The Great War.

  The Munson camp came into existence at the tail end of the war. About 65 were sent to Munson. They were housed in railway cars and worked on the railway. The Spanish Flu outbreak and disciplinary issues forced the relocation of the camp, and prisoners were moved to The Eaton Internment Camp in Saskatchewan.

There is nothing left in Munson that shows any sign of the camp, even the railway has since been decommissioned and removed. A monument was unveiled at the Badlands Historical Centre in 2002 by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The documentary includes archived video of this dedication.

“The British government and the American Government at the time said these are ‘friendly aliens, these are not enemy aliens, they are the King’s subjects and they must be treated as such,’ but the Canadian Government didn’t feel the same,” said Boyko.

The film’s premiere in Calgary was sold out on October 23, the second day of the theatrical release of “That Never Happened.”

He says while Canada has come a long way, today, many of the underlying issues persist.

“One of the things when we started making this documentary, we thought we were creating something from a niche community, it was probably going to play in church basements and have a very short shelf life. The film really took on a life of its own with the international politics that are happening today, the interest, the fact it was systematically wiped out,” he said. “The way it really maps on to social justice, these are major topics being talked about by governments all over the world.”

TheStandard Community Facility Enhancement  Society filled its summer full of memories, working hard on ‘Memory Lane.’

The Mail reported in the spring of 2018 the Society received a funding boost from  CHS Ag Services to work on its Memory Lane project. They have continued to work hard fundraising and this summer they saw the fruits of their labour with great progress on the project.

The vision of Memory Lane is an interpretive trail encircling the village celebrating the history of the village. The work began on the stretch of CPR land on the south end of the village donated in 1923. This year they cut in the trail and put in a gravel base. They have also installed five bridges along the walkway

The society also enhanced the landscape with flora, fauna, and artifacts including the original speeder shack. Most recently a caboose was brought to the site.

Member of the Enhancement Society, Don Sundgaard, is humble about the society’s accomplishments.

    ‘We always figured we needed to do more,” he said of the busy summer.

With the path base in place, they are looking to have it paved next summer and are hoping they can realize some savings by working with nearby paving projects in the area.

Next year they are looking at fixing up the speedster shack.

“One of our directors has agreed to take it on and restore it,” said Sundgaard. “We just acquired an old grain wagon this week, so we are going to restore that over the next year.”

At about the midpoint of the trail they have has created a space where Sundgaard says they will be doing a “mock-up” of the original railroad station.

    “It is being done by the grandson of the fellow who lived in the station that was operated by his father for 27 years. He also contributed the caboose,” he said.

In the meantime, they will continue to fundraise and have been receiving a number of memorial donations for the installation.

“This is what we are looking at over the next couple of years. It will be 1.1 kilometres long when we are done the first phase. If we get some more enthusiasm from other directors and people in the town, we have the potential to make a four kilometre long path,” he said.