#Canada Immigration Service | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

if-you-fan-a-fire · 2 years ago

Photo

“Funérailles Rouges Dans La Rue Arcade,” Le Petit Journal. March 12, 1933. Page 1. ---- Une foule considerable assistait, hier midi, aux funérailles de Nick Zynchuck, tui accidentellement par le policier Zappa lundi dernier. Communistes, chômeurs, curieux et policiers se coudoyaient dans une atmosphère de méfiance. presque meute. Notre photo de gauche montre l'extraordinaire densité de la foule autour du cercaeil de Zynchuck, au moment où on plaçait celui-ci dans le corbillard pour le mener au cimetière de Lake-View. Remarques les placards et les banderoles que portaient les chefs des sympathisants du mort. La photo de droite indique avec quel soin le Police prévenu les bagarres, On voit ici les “constables spéciaux" empêchant une bataille, tandis que trois femmes s'éloignent en tonte hâte.

[AL: The police did not ‘stop’ any fighting - the funeral of Zynchuk, himself killed by a policeman while resisting his eviction, became a police riot, as the special constables beat and abused men, women and children, including unconnected passerby and a Montreal Gazette journalist. Below the cut I’m including a lengthy English language analysis of this incident from Molinaro’s history of anti-Communism and the state of exception in 1930s Canada of this incident. Well worth reading.

The Murder of an Immigrant: Nicholas Zynchuck “The state repression of the 1930s increased in 1933, particularly in Montreal as Premier Taschereau launched his aggressive campaign against communism. If the Buck et al. trial was the start of the repression against Communists and fellow travellers during the Great Depression's exceptional state, the case of Nicholas Zynchuck in Montreal represented the depths of it. His case demonstrates how ethnicity and culture helped influence who was (and was not) a Communist.

On the afternoon of 6 March 1933, Montreal police were called to 3962 Saint Dominique Street in Montreal's downtown core. Saint Dominique contained a number of townhome complexes, many of which were rented to Polish immigrants, mainly Yiddish speakers, working in nearby factories and shops. On this afternoon, police walked in on an eviction, the history of which dated back to the previous Friday. John Wlostizosk was a Polish immigrant who had been renting 3962 with his wife. Wlostizosk had fallen on difficult times and become unemployed, probably because of the broken leg he was nursing at the time of his eviction. He was two months in arrears on his rent and was ordered to pay immediately or be forced to leave. Wlostizosk could not pay, and the next day a court-ordered bailiff and his assistants attempted to evict the family, claiming that they had an order to do so from the Supreme Court. They were unsuccessful, and Mrs Wlostizosk reported that she was thrown to the ground by the men and had her clothing torn.

The majority of the witnesses stated that the bailiff returned at 2:30 p.m. on 7 March; he and his assistants reportedly forced their way into the home and pulled Wlostizosk out of his bed, dragging him outside. Wlostizosk's wife, while screaming, clung to the bed sheets as her husband was dragged out of the home, and she was then pushed down the stairs. Her screams drew neighbours from all around, and soon a crowd of several hundred emerged, urging the couple to stand their ground and not leave." When constables Joseph Zappa, Paul Couchey, and Victor Jette of the Montreal police arrived at the scene (later joined by Constable A. Cloutier), they found an angry mob, the bailiff's truck half-loaded with furniture and clothing from the home, a screaming Mrs Wlostizosk standing on the steps to the house, and a clothed John Wlostizosk leaning against the house to keep him away.

At this point, Nicholas Zynchuck, a Polish immigrant, former Canadian Pacific Railway worker, and a border at 3962, arrived home. He ran up to the house searching for his clothes. When told by bystanders that the items were in the truck, he entered it but found nothing of his inside. He reportedly then grabbed one of the baillifs by the arm, saying, "I want my clothes." The bailiff replied that he could not have them because everything in the house was being sired When Zynchuck made for the house again, he was blocked by three constables. The crowd, which had grown to approximately two thousand, began removing furniture and items from the truck to prevent them from being taken."

From this point on, the eyewitness accounts differ drastically. Three witnesses and the officers claimed that they saw Zynchuck grab a bar of some sort (reportedly an iron bedpost) from the truck and begin swinging it at the officers, slightly grazing one of them. As he turned to attack the bailiff's assistant, Constable Joseph Zappa fired his revolver, hitting Zynchuck in the back mid-swing. Fourteen others claimed that Zynchuck had no bar." Yetta Rotter, of 3972 Saint Dominique, gave her account to the Toronto Star the morning after the shooting, and it was corroborated by the majority of the witnesses. Zynchuck, she said, "just asked them [the police) to let him get his clothes. Then someone said 'shoot him." and the constable pulled out his gun and fired" as Zynchuck turned to leave.

On the morning of 7 March, Constable Zappa, seated at the back of police station no. 12, was interviewed by his superiors, who included Assistant Inspector A. Brodeur, with a Star reporter present. In the interview, which formed the basis for the official police report, Zappa claimed he had shot Zynchuck because he, Zappa, "was mad." "Why didn't you shoot over the man's head?" his superiors asked. The constable grinned and shrugged his shoulders: "He's a communist."

When Zappa was asked if he was excited at the time, he replied, "No." Assistant Inspector Brodeur announced a half-hour later that the shooting was "justified under the circumstances though regrettable." The public had to understand, he explained, that this section of the city was "a hot-bed of communism." Police actions may not have been just, but the police did what was necessary for security. René Clouette, the attending bailiff charged with evicting the family, told reporters an account that differed from that of the other witnesses. He claimed he went to the house on the afternoon of 6 March with about a dozen assistants but found men in the home who were adamant that the furniture not be taken, and so he returned with about fifty assistants and began loading furniture into a truck. He claimed that one of the tenants, John Wlostizosk, entered the scene, walking in on his own accord but with crutches. Clouette denied the witness accounts that he and others had dragged Wlostizosk out of bed by his feet and pushed his wife down the stairs of the home. The shooting occurred, he explained, as the mob began taking things out of the truck that he and his men were loading.

Led by Deputy Coroner Dr Pierre Herbert, a coroner's inquiry with jury was ordered on 8 March to investigate Zynchuck's death. Antoine Senecal and Albert Berthiaume conducted the case for the police, and Michael Garber, retained by the Canadian Labor Defense League (CLDL), cross-examined witnesses The scene in Montreal was tense. Police were dispatched through out the city to quell outbursts of protests following the shooting. One hundred "communists" were reportedly dispersed from Viger Square. The courtroom itself was under heavy police guard, and a number of officers were armed with tear gas should protesters threaten the court.

The first witness examined was Adolph Sasnofvska of 4370 Saint Dominique Street. He testified that Zynchuck was a Ukrainian born in Poland who had come to Canada five years earlier and who worked as a labourer. He was thirty-seven years old at the time of his death. Sasnofvska's description of Zynchuck's ethnicity reveals that he was an immigrant of Polish citizenship but that he identified as being Ukrainian. He was presumably born in the former Eastern Galicia.

René Clouette, the bailiff charged with evicting Wlostizosk, told the inquiry the same version he had earlier provided to the media. His assistants gave a sensational account of Zynchuck grabbing a bedpost, letting out a cry in his native Ukrainian, and then charging the house in a crazed, barbarian-style attack, swinging the bedpost wildly. Zappa was called to the stand but did not want to testify. The coroner told him that he was not obligated to do so, but one of the jurors stood up to say that the jury wanted him to give evidence. A five-minute recess was called.

After conferring with Senecal and Berthiaume, who represented the police, Zappa gave his account of what happened. He claimed that the crowd was getting difficult to control and that some people started taking furniture out of the truck. One of the people removing furniture darted towards him with a six-foot iron bar. The man began swinging the pole as he approached Zappa. After taking one swing at Zappa and missing, Zappa claimed that the man turned gun "kicked up" and the man "was shot in the back." "I was afraid for my own life," he stated, and that all he could do was fire in the man's direction to protect himself.

Under cross-examination, Garber asked Zappa if Zynchuck first asked to enter the house. Zappa replied that he did not, stating that Zynchuck got the bar from the truck, tried to hit him but missed, and took another swing at Bertrand the bailiff before being shot. Garber asked Zappa why he did not fire a warning shot in the air. Zappa replied that he had already threatened to do so, but it had no effect on the crowd. He claimed that no one ordered him to shoot. Garber asked, "Did you tell the reporter of the Star that you were mad when you shot?" Zappa replied, "Mad? Mad? Well I was not very happy." Garber continued, asking, "Were you asked by the Star reporter why you did not shoot over the man's head?" Zappa replied that the reporter had just asked his name and left. He also claimed he had never told Zynchuck to move or he would shoot. Zappa's account was implausible.

Witness testimony contradicted the scene painted by the bailiff and officers, Robert Dubareau, a passer-by who lived on Saint Catherine, claimed he saw Zappa shoot Zynchuck and that there was no iron bar in Zynchuck's hands or any swinging of a bar by Zynchuck. Another witness, Mrs Rotter, said the same thing. The papers did not detail the accounts of other witnesses that contradicted the officers' claims or note whether there had been other any other witnesses.

Inconsistencies in the bailiff and Zappa's testimonies went unad dressed. The press reported that some of Garber's questioning had been stopped; Garber was likely not allowed to question much of the evidence. The evidence that raised the most doubt about Zappa's version of events was the autopsy report. Curiously, the autopsy report was entered into evidence, but it is not clear if anyone discussed it further in court. The report, read into the record by Dr. Rosario Fontaine, stated that the bullet entered Zynchuck from the right side of the back and travelled right to left, tearing through a kidney before finally resting in his spine.

Zynchuck was shot at a maximum distance of four to five feet (with one paper reporting that the autopsy report stated that he had been shot at a distance of eighteen inches). This meant it was impossible for Zynchuck to have cleared a minimum six-foot space around him with an iron bar. The report matched eyewitness accounts the morning after the shooting that stated that Zappa had shot Zynchuck as he turned his back to the officer. He was shot in the back on the right side, and the bullet travelled from right to left, which could have occurred if Zynchuck, facing Zappa, had begun turning to the left to leave, exposing the right side to Zappa's revolver."

Either way the bulk of the evidence raised questions about the officers' version of events, but to no effect. In a closing statement to the jury, Deputy Coroner Herbert reminded the public:

"We have never had any problem with the French-Canadians, and it is always the foreigners who start such trouble. When four constables are faced with 500 angered foreigners their lives are in danger... I hope that this will be a lesson for other foreigners who attempt to resist the police."

Zynchuck's death would teach the foreign communists how they should behave and respond to police. The jury reached a decision in less than a minute and cleared Zappa of any misconduct.

That the coroner's inquiry failed to satisfy the Saint Dominique community was obvious from the way the community rallied behind their fallen member with one of the largest funeral processions the city of Montreal had ever seen. Fifteen to twenty thousand people marched from Verdun to the funeral parlour of William Ray at Arcade Street at 12:30 p.m. on 11 March. Some of those walking in the long columns of marchers hummed "The Internationale," and Canadian Labor Defense League (CLDL) musicians played for the marchers. Labour leaders made speeches reminding those in attendance of how Zynchuck was killed. The real culprit, some speakers claimed, was Bennett and his policies, while others said Zynchuck was killed because of private property. Some speakers insisted that the lives of workers were just as valuable as those of the "bosses." Workers Unity League (WUL) representatives spoke at the funeral.

Zynchuck's death brought the community out in the tens of thousands, but it is doubtful that everyone was there to hear the CLDL or WUL use Zynchuck's funeral as a means for spreading propaganda. Indeed, there was serious doubt as to whether Zynchuck was ever a Communist or that he had belonged to the CLDL, the WUL, or any other labour organization. The Reverend R.G. Katsunoff of the Church of All Nations spoke at Zynchuck's funeral and stated that he knew Zynchuck as a member of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church who had no relatives and belonged to no Communist organizations. Some members of the CLDL and other Communist organizations went beyond condemning his death and used Zynchuck's funeral as a platform to preach political propaganda. They tried to paint Zynchuck as a Communist killed for being a Communist when he was actually killed because he was foreign born and because he was Communist on account of his ethnicity, class, and where he lived.

Shortly after the funeral procession was underway, Montreal police sent an even stronger message to the foreign community as a reprisal presumed a for Zappa's inquiry and to prevent Communists from using his death as a spectacle for recruitment.

As the steady line of marchers quietly carried on down the street, many holding signs condemning the death of Zynchuck, plain-clothes officers entered the crowd, and so did eight hundred mounted officers who were lying in wait for the marchers. Officers charged into the funeral procession dispersing people, punching and clubbing any who quickly enough. Witnesses described the scene as chaos as droves of people fled in terror, fearing for their lives and safety. The crowd split into groups of fifty, and even passers-bys not part of the march were caught in the cross hairs of police. A woman on her way home, who could not move fast enough for the officers, was shoved into a snowdrift. Witnesses watched in shock and horror as marchers were knocked to the ground and, when they did not get up quickly enough, faced even more punches and kicks. One man was tossed from officer to officer, who kicked or punched him for the length of a city block. Others witnessed a man beaten badly by police she walked; he stopped walking to try to recuperate, only to have officers deliver a punishing blow from behind, knocking him unconscious to the ground, where he was left.

Neither young nor old were spared the fury of the police. Nor were the reporters: Henry Prysky of the Gazette, and son of Detective Sergeant Felix Prysky of the homicide department, was beaten by police even after he identified himself as a reporter. Mounted officers mowed over marchers, forcing them into the streets, where other officers forced them back onto the sidewalk. According to witnesses, the mourners never retaliated. They were determined to keep the march from turning into a riot or violent protest. Statements from witnesses. to the dismay of both the CLDL and Montreal police, affirmed that the vast majority of people at the funeral were there for Zynchuck and not in support of any Communist politics. The Verdun Workers Association, who led the procession, denounced some press suggestions of Communist activity, citing that 35 per cent of their members had served in the Great War and strongly denouncing suggestions that their loyalty should be questioned.

The mourners' non-resistance did not deter police. One machinist, as the Herald described him, was walking along the street when police began clearing it. "Suddenly I was tripped," he said, "and thrown into snow bank. While I lay there two other men bent over me and struck me in the face." The man claimed that police never asked him a single question before the beating started. A mile from the march, witnesses reported that a woman walking with a toddler was pushed by police for not walking fast enough and that when she protested, she and her toddler were forced into a snow bank. Police had deemed the funeral a political action by Communists and a security threat. They decided - they judged in the moment - what was and was not legal and what to do to stop it.

Montreal residents felt outrage and condemned the events at the funeral. The Herald, in an editorial, denounced the actions of police and stated that "the actions of the police force on Saturday were a blot on the honour of the force... Had they been agents of Moscow they could not have served the cause of violence better." The Star, as well as the Gazette, was equally critical of the police for attacking the funeral. Besides reporting the attack on its own reporter, the Gazette detailed a bizarre scene in which two plain-clothes officers, each "taking the other for a communist," got into a fight. They were eventually separated by officers who recognized them. One officer lost some teeth in the scuffle, but he was dissuaded by other police from taking out an arrest warrant on the other officer. The two reportedly shook hands, and police refused to release their names."

The violence at Zynchuck's funeral prompted a strong response from community groups. Protests began immediately after the funeral. In one instance, 225 youth protested the death of Zynchuck and the events of the funeral at the Youth Forum on Drummond Street. Some of the most outspoken criticism of police actions, ironically, came from Christian churches and ministers who claimed that it was the police, and not the Communists, who were behaving in an un-British manner. On 13 March, members of the Protestant Ministerial Association voted in the majority to appoint a committee that could represent Protestant churches, as well as a diverse segment of prominent citizens, to press for a judicial investigation into the events of the eviction at Saint Dominique Street and Zynchuck's funeral. The committee was separate from religious institutions but provided them with some representation."

Called the Citizens' Committee, the group consisted of prominent community members such as ministers, lawyers, and academics. including Professor F. R. Scott and law professor Warwick Chipman, a prominent member of the bar in Montreal. The committee heard evidence from ministers such as the Reverend Katsunoff, who spoke at Zynchuck's funeral and now reiterated his claims that Zynchuck was no Communist. He described the funeral and the events leading up to it after Zynchuck was shot. Wanting to give Zynchuck a funeral, he explained, were a dozen representatives of different societies, such as various Ukrainian and Polish groups. Katsunoff explained that a Greek-Catholic priest was approached to conduct the funeral but that he was asked too late and could not do it in time. he claimed the police kept one of Zynchuck's closest friends detained for hours and compelled him to sign Zynchuck's body over to them to stop a funeral from being held.

Montreal police recognized that a funeral for Zynchuck could become a spectacle for the Communists. Katsuwolf recalled how police tried to storm the funeral parlour in an effort get Zynchuck's body, but people jammed the entrance to the parlaour and stood watch until a funeral was arranged. Katsunoff told the committee that the funeral march was orderly until someone blew a whistle. Someone shouted, "Come on boys," and plain-clothes officers jumped into the crowd. A banner held by one of the marchers that read "Shot in the back" was grabbed by police as they entered the crowd from all directions, beating the crowd as they entered. Katsuwolf was sure that the two plain-clothes men that he had spoken to “smelt of some kind of liquor." The committee heard that several witnesses of Zynchuck's death claimed that they could swear under oath that they saw him shot as he turned his back to Zappa in an effort to leave. It was later reported that Zynchuck's grave site was purchased by an unnamed sympathetic citizen of Montreal who had never personally met Zynchuck."

The committee refrained from deciding anything and instead took a wait-and-see approach until further official inquiries were completed. Following the publicity that the committee meeting generated, Montreal deputy chief Charles Barnes, who oversaw the police response to the funeral march, commented on the funeral, stating that he had seen no trouble anywhere" and witnessed no violence, as the crowd was easily dispersed. Despite Barnes's attempt at damage control, a new inquiry into Zynchuck's death was about to be called."

On 14 March, Joe Batula, a former fellow officer of Zynchuck's in the Polish army, filed a complaint against Zappa in the death of Zynchuck so that an arrest warrant could be issued against him for manslaughter. Michael Garber and another lawyer retained by the CLDL. Oscar Gagnon, represented Batula. Justice Victor Cusson agreed to issued for Zappa's arrest. He set the date of the hearing for 21 March issue a prewarrant inquiry to investigate whether a warrant should be Gagnon explained that a hearing was needed because all the evidence at the coroner's inquest "was designed to exculpate the constable" and that they had had "no chance to present [their] evidence." Gag non's statement confirms that the evidence of witnesses that could contradict Zappa and his fellow officers was suppressed during the coroner's inquiry.

Zynchuck's death and funeral spurred progressives into action and solidarity. In addition to the frequent protests throughout the city. Writers in the Canadian Forum claimed that these events symbolized the illiberal state of Quebec. Zynchuck's death and funeral became the source of inspiration for a variety of poems, stories, and plays, including a play entitled Eviction performed by the Workers' Experimental Theatre. Poet Dorothy Livesay wrote a poem entitled "An Immigrant (Nick Zynchuck)" and a story, "Zynchuck's Funeral.” As mentioned earlier, F. R. Scott was instrumental in forming an ad hoc group to protest the events and suggest reform. He had been outraged by witnessing a labourer who had been standing near the street during the funeral suddenly be knocked to the ground by a "ferocious punch to the jaw" from a man later identified as a plain-clothes police officer. The CLDL temporarily united with the Trades and Labour Congress and the Montreal Labour Party to protest Zynchuck's death and the funeral violence. They had support from the Protestant Ministerial Association, the Montreal Women's Club, the Delorimier Liberal Reform Club, the League for Social Reconstruction, and the Montreal United Church's Committee on Social and Economic Research.

The hearing began on 21 March. Oscar Gagnon of the CLDL stressed from the outset that this was not a trial, just an inquiry decide whether an arrest warrant should be issued, and thus a hearing of evidence ex parte as per article 655 of the Criminal Code was sufficient to issue the warrant. In an unexpected move, Justice Cusson allowed both sides to present evidence, including witnesses called by Zappa's counsel, Philippe Monette. Berthiaume was permitted to represent the police. Variations of Zynchuck's death were told to the court in English, Polish, and Yiddish. The courtroom was initially restricted to the public, but by mid-morning the judge had lifted the restrictions, and it became filled to capacity.

The bailiff Clouette retold his version of events. But the majority of the witnesses in this hearing told a different story than the one told by Zappa, his fellow constables, and the bailiff and his assistants during the coroner's inquiry. These witnesses described how Zynchuck was shot in the back by Zappa as he turned to leave. Several witnesses claimed that the bailiff's assistants shouted at the officers to shoot Zynchuck. Papers reported that Zappa's counsel, Mr. Monette, was very aggressive in his cross-examination of witnesses, leading Garber to ask the judge why cross-examination should even be allowed, as this was not a trial. The judge claimed he wanted all the facts before making his decision. The defence gave their interpretation next and followed the same story as told by the witnesses during the coroner's inquest. The autopsy report was read into evidence again by De Rosario Fontaine, who claimed that on the basis of the hole in Zynchuck's jacket, the shot might have been fired from a distance of four or five leet but not less than eighteen inches. Witnesses for Zappa claimed that the crowd was advancing until Zappa fired his gun.

On 24 March, Judge Cusson announced that he had decided not to issue a warrant for Zappa's arrest, citing that riot conditions had prompted Zappa to shoot, as Zynchuck was part of a crowd of thirty or more persons who were advancing on the officers. Whether Zynchuck was armed or not was inconsequential to the judge; "killing one or more," he stated, there being no other way to suppress the riot, constituted a "justifiable homicide." Exceptional measures were necessary. Curiously, Zappa's evidence, given on the day of the judge's decision, contained mention that the crowd was advancing on him, and yet, even after the coroner's report, Zappa claimed that Zynchuck was "six, eight, nine" feet from him when he shot.

The CLDL lawyers did not agree with the judge's finding, stating that it was significant that no iron bar was produced as evidence. When Cusson asked the lawyers what Zappa was to have done beyond shooting, Garber replied, "I believe that he'd have to read the Riot Act before shooting." The judge was taken aback, asking:

"Do you believe that a Montreal jury - or a jury anywhere - (you are a lawyer of reputation, Mr. Garber, and I appreciate you highly) but do you believe that any jury would find Constable Zappa guilty?"

The judge insisted on an answer from Garber, who replied:

"It might happen. There might be a jury that would find him guilty of manslaughter."

Cusson disagreed, stating that he had had no hesitation in refusing the warrant. The CLDL made one last plea to Premier Taschereau, but this fell on deaf ears. The Citizens' Committee did not seek to further fin any flames: the legal process had run its course. The committee recommended that police not send plain-clothes officers to break up crowds in the future, something the police force said it would consider. Joseph Zappa was completely exonerated,

The case of Nicholas Zynchuck shows the depth of the repression against Communists and anyone presumed of being one. For law enforcement, communists were automatically guilty of an offence and violence had become part of the construct of security. Members could never publicly admit that they were CPC members or even publicly state that they believed in the same ideology without exposing them selves to the possibility of a Section 98 charge. But the most significant danger to Canadian society was how individuals were classified as being communists.”

- Dennis C. Molinaro, An Exceptional Law: Section 98 and the Emergency State, 1919-1936. Toronto: Osgoode Hall Press, 2017. p. 171-182

6 notes · View notes