# Jajo's Secret

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***Jajo's Secret*** (version in Ukrainian: «Таємниця Джаджо») is a 2009 made-for-TV documentary film about the [internment of Ukrainian Canadians](/source/Internment_of_Ukrainian_Canadians) by the [government of Canada](/source/Government_of_Canada) during [World War I](/source/World_War_I). It was produced and directed by [James Motluk](/source/James_Motluk) (credited as James E Motluk) and broadcast on [Omni Television](/source/Omni_Television).[1] One of the first projects funded by the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.[2]

## Summary

The film begins with the discovery by filmmaker Motluk of a parole certificate issued to his late grandfather, Elias, in 1918. Trying to uncover the truth about why the certificate was issued, he begins a journey that is chronicled in the film, first to [Sault Ste. Marie](/source/Sault_Ste._Marie,_Ontario), [Ontario](/source/Ontario) and then to [Ottawa](/source/Ottawa). What he discovers is that the Canadian government created legislation known as the *[War Measures Act](/source/War_Measures_Act)* to arrest and intern thousands of Ukrainians whom they perceived as [enemy aliens](/source/Enemy_alien) during World War I. After the war, these prisoners were paroled and made to work as [forced labour](/source/Forced_labour) in many private Canadian companies on the railroad, in the mines and even building the national park system.[3] Motluk traces his own grandfather to a camp located in the northern Ontario town of [Kapuskasing](/source/Kapuskasing).

Until recently, the Canadian government tried to hide what had happened. During the production of the film, the government finally apologized to the Ukrainian community and agreed to pay restitution.[4] The title refers to Motluk's grandfather whom he would call Jajo, a child's version of Tato which is Ukrainian for father.

## Critical reception

The film has received a lot of praise since its debut on Omni Television in June 2009. In 2011, it was invited to screen at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University)[5] in New York and later at the [Ukrainian Museum](/source/Ukrainian_Museum) in [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan).

## References

1. ["Canadian Documentary Premiere on OMNI.2"](https://web.archive.org/web/20091225153158/http://www.omnitv.ca/ontario/info/press/p_20090604.shtml). [Omni Television](/source/Omni_Television). June 4, 2009. Archived from [the original](http://www.omnitv.ca/ontario/info/press/p_20090604.shtml) on December 25, 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2012.

1. Motluk, James (2009). ["Projects funded to date – *Jajo's Secret*"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110706183346/http://www.internmentcanada.ca/CFWWIRF_2009.pdf#page=37). *Recalling Canada's first national internment operations: Annual report of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund*. Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund & Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko. p. 29. Archived from [the original](http://www.internmentcanada.ca/CFWWIRF_2009.pdf#page=37) on July 6, 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2025.

1. ["Mount Revelstoke National Park of Canada - Mount Revelstoke Internment Camp - 1918"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130208180629/http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/revelstoke/natcul/hist/intern.aspx). *pc.gc.ca*. [Parks Canada](/source/Parks_Canada). July 20, 2012. Archived from [the original](http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/revelstoke/natcul/hist/intern.aspx) on February 8, 2013. Retrieved February 19, 2025.

1. ["Welcome | Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund | 202-952 Main Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2W 3P4 | Phone: 204-589-4282 | Toll Free: 1-866-288-7931"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140325041404/http://www.internmentcanada.ca/). Archived from [the original](http://www.internmentcanada.ca/) on 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2014-04-15.[nonspecific]

1. ["Jajo's Secret, 2009"](http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ufc/films/library_jajo.html). Ukrainian Film Club of Columbia University. Retrieved February 19, 2025.

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