Czech Refugees in Cold War Canada: 1945–1989 (Studies in Immigration and Culture, 15) - Softcover

Raska, Jan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0887558275 ISBN 13: 9780887558276

Publisher: University of Manitoba Press, 2018

Synopsis

During the Cold War, more than 36,000 individuals entering Canada claimed Czechoslovakia as their country of citizenship. A defining characteristic of this migration of predominantly political refugees was the prevalence of anti-communist and democratic values. Diplomats, industrialists, politicians, professionals, workers, and students fled to the West in search of freedom, security, and economic opportunity.

Jan Raska’s Czech Refugees in Cold War Canada explores how these newcomers joined or formed ethnocultural organizations to help in their attempts to affect developments in Czechoslovakia and Canadian foreign policy towards their homeland. Canadian authorities further legitimized the Czech refugees’ anti-communist agenda and increased their influence in Czechoslovak institutions. In turn, these organizations supported Canada’s Cold War agenda of securing the state from communist infiltration. Ultimately, an adherence to anti-communism, the promotion of Canadian citizenship, and the cultivation of a Czechoslovak ethnocultural heritage accelerated Czech refugees’ socioeconomic and political integration in Cold War Canada.

By analyzing oral histories, government files, ethnic newspapers, and community archival records, Raska reveals how Czech refugees secured admission as desirable immigrants and navigated existing social, cultural, and political norms in Cold War Canada.

About this title

About the Author:

Jan Raska is a historian with the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, Halifax.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Manitoba Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0887558275
• ISBN 13: 9780887558276
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320