Routes to Freedom

Lithuanian Displaced Persons seeking asylum in Canada, like other Eastern European immigrants, usually secured refugee status by agreeing to work as laborers for a period of time. For women, the "contract" might require service for one year as a domestic. Men found themselves engaged in tough, physical labor in forests, hydro plants, and mines.

In either case, the path to a new life was not easy.

Kadis, the husband of my Dad's twin sister, Jonė, arrived on a contract to work on Hydro projects in Dryden, a town in northwestern Ontario.

Dryden, Ontario, about 1948. Kadis, on the left, stands in front of a Hydro facility.

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Dryden, Ontario, about 1948. Kadis, on the far right, and coworkers appear to be dressed in "hazmat" uniforms.

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making these photographs available to us.