Croatians in Toronto
Croatians in Toronto
By: Vinko Grubisic
From: Polyphony Vol.6, 1984 pp. 88-91
© 1984 Multicultural History Society of Ontario
By: Vinko Grubisic
From: Polyphony Vol.6, 1984 pp. 88-91
© 1984 Multicultural History Society of Ontario
Today some 40,000 Croatians live in Toronto. How much history do
the Toronto Croatians have behind them? What have been their
political, cultural and athletic achievements?
Research on Croatians in Ontario, and in Canada generally, is
difficult because of the fact that Canadian statistics did not
have a separate entry for Croatians until 1921. We do not know
what kind of administrative difficulties were faced by the very
first Croatians in Canada, but those who arrived by the end of the
last century have had to identify themselves as "Austrians,"
''Hungarians,'' ''Yugoslavic group," ''Serbo-Croats," etc. It was
difficult and humiliating for them to accept the nationality of
their oppressors, who most often were the cause of their leaving
their native soil. "The census for the city of Toronto, for
example, yields many Germans, Poles, Italians, Jews, and even
Swedes, Norwegians, and Portuguese in the 1860's and 1870's but
few Croats are easily identified."
In the nineteenth century a few Croatians were farming in southern
Ontario. At the beginning of the current century, several hundred
Croatians were working in various industries in Toronto. Before
World War One, the economic crisis forced several thousand
Croatians from their homeland towards the New World. The
Austro-Hungarian Empire, in which all Croatian lands were
incorporated at that time, did not discourage the young and
productive people from emigrating. However, the monarchy changed
its attitude once it was at war.
With the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in
1918, the Croatians hoped to achieve their long cherished dream of
national liberty. Instead they were faced with far greater
national and economic oppression than ever before. As a result,
new waves of emigrants left Croatia and a large number of them
came to southern Ontario, in particular to Toronto and Hamilton,
many of them settling in Canada between 1923-29.
During the depression, very few Croatian labourers entered Canada.
The majority of Croatian immigrants at that time were women,
either wives of earlier settlers or unmarried women. "This decade
(1931-41) was indeed the only period in which the number of male
Croatian immigrants was surpassed by the number of female
immigrants.''
After World War Two, the majority of Croatian immigrants to Canada
settled in Toronto. They found jobs mainly in heavy industries and
construction, so that after the Italians, the Croatians are
probably the largest ethnic group in the construction industry in
Toronto.
Many educational and social activities of the Toronto Croatians
were achieved within the framework of the Croatian parish-Our Lady
Queen of Croatia. From 1939-41, Rev. R. Grskovic was the first
Catholic priest to work with Croatians in Toronto. During World
War Two the Croatians were left without their own priest, but by
1947 Rev. R. Hrascanec became their spiritual leader. He remained
in Toronto until 1950. Then, for a brief time, the Croatian
Catholic pastor was Rev. A. Rab, succeeded by Rev. Jure Vrdoljak,
who had been in Sudbury from 1955-61. In the first year of his
pastoral work in Toronto, the Croatian Catholic parish was
officially established and a church was purchased and restored.
Soon it became the gathering place for Croatians. The church
burned down in 1962, and Vrdoljak's successor, Rev. Charles D.
Kamber, built a new church in 1965 on the very same grounds. Rev.
Kamber was assisted by Rev. Bozidar Vidov, Rev. M. Grgas and, from
time to time the Slovene Roman Catholic priest Rev. France
Skumavc.
"Reverend Kamber's active parish work among the Croatians in
Toronto in the sixties resulted in further purchases of land for a
park and a parish graveyard and he earned universal praise for his
efforts after his death in 1969. Kamber's successor, Rev. Josip
Gjuran, introduced many new activities to Metro Croatians. He was
assisted in his parish work by Rev. Aleksandar Boras (1971-75), by
Rev. Ivan Golec (1975-80) and by Rev. lvica Kecerin, who is now
head of a new parish centre in Mississauga.
Currently there are three priests in the Toronto parish: Rev.
Josip Gjuran, Rev. Jurica Jezerinac and Rev. Valent Bogadi. They
are assisted in their work by nuns belonging to the order of
Servants to the Child Jesus: Sister Eduarda Maric, Sister Marinka
Vrnoga and Sister Mariangela Majic. On Sundays about 2,000 parish
bulletins are distributed in this parish. Rev. Gjuran also speaks
on the radio each Sunday (1:30-3:00 p.m.) so that his pastoral
words can reach all Croatians of southern Ontario.
The Association of Croatian Women is very active in the life of
the Toronto Croatian parish. The Caravan Croatian pavilion is held
each year in the spacious parish hall. The Croatian Catholic Youth
is involved in the many Croatian charitable actions. They often
organise theatre presentations, visit the sick and the elderly.
There is also a Croatian Charitable Youth group that organises
diverse activities in the Croatian Hall (Hrvatski Dom) on Dupont
Street, with all profits going to charitable needs within the
community.
Ten years ago, Croatians of Islamic faith built a Croatian mosque
in Toronto, headed by Mr. Kerim Reis. Many Croatians of Christians
faith helped their Islamic brothers in building the Croatian
Islamic spiritual and cultural centre. It is open to all Islamic
people for their spiritual needs. It is here that the children are
taught the Croatian and Arabic languages, where you can find
Croatian Islamic newspapers, books, brochures, etc.
The Croatian Fraternal Union (CFU), an insurance company which is
still very active among Croatians, already had, before World War
Two, some 1,000 members. Today there are several lodges which are
united to form the Federation of CFU for southern Ontario. It is
also noteworthy to mention the existence of the Croatian Credit
Union of Toronto (Hrvatska Kreditna Zadruga) in which thousands of
Croatians deposit and save their money.
Although Croatian language teaching took place in the interwar
period, it was not until 1961 that the first Croatian school was
organised in Metro Toronto by Rev. Bozidar Vidov, also its first
teacher. Rev. Vidov published the school's first textbooks,
including a Croatian grammar manual, in the English language. The
Saturday school has been steadily growing so that today it has 650
students and is one of the largest Croatian schools in Ontario. It
has been named Croatian School Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac.
Croatian language and literature has also been taught at the high
school level in Toronto as a credit or interest course.
The Croatian Cultural and Educational Society of Canada (Hrvatsko
Kulturno Prosvjetno Drustvo u Kanadi) was also formed here in
1969. Unfortunately, its newspaper "Napredak" (Progress) was only
short-lived. In 1972 several intellectuals established a Toronto
chapter of the Croatian Academy of America, "an American
organization whose broad purpose was to educate the members and to
publish information generally concerning Croatian literature,
culture and history." Last year the Toronto chapter of CAA,
together with the Pontifical Institute, organised a symposium on
the five centuries of the first Croatian printed book. In 1978 the
Croatian Students' Federation was founded and its branch at York
University, in cooperation with the staff from the university and
Croatian businessmen, prepared the largest symposium on Croatian
culture ever held in Canada-Croatian Nationalism and Culture in
the Nineteen and Twentieth Centuries. Some twenty scholars from
Canada, the United States and Europe took part in it.
ManyTambouritza groups were formed before World War Two, but the
real renaissance of folk music and dance developed in the 1960s.
One of the best-known dance groups in Toronto is the Zrinski
Frankopan Croatian Folk Ensemble, directed these past fourteen
years by Nikola Vrdoljak. "The Ensemble has not only presented
authentic Croatian folklore in song, dance and music, but also
taken a very active role in presenting displays of Croatian arts
and craft associated with various traditional, national and
religious celebrations.'' Another excellent folklore ensemble is
Croatia, which has existed since 1971, under the direction of
Professor Eli Vranesic. Toronto has also twice been the host city
for the Canadian-Croatian Folklore Festival, the largest annual
folklore manifestation among the Croatians in Canada.
Among the early Croatian immigrants to Canada and, consequently,
to Toronto, there were relatively few people who could read and
write. However, already in the first decade of the century, there
were several subscribers to the Catholic weekly "Danica" (Morning
Star), published in Chicago. The first Croatian paper published in
Canada was the "Kanadski Glas" (Canadian Voice), which later
became the "Hrvatski Glas" (Croatian Voice). Since 1929 it has had
quite a large number of Toronto subscribers. Being the official
organ of the Croatian Peasant Party in Canada, its first editor
was Petar Stankovic. Adherents to the party, which was founded in
Toronto in 1930, named their branch Stjepan Radic, thus honouring
the founder and leader of the Croatian Peasant Party and, one can
say, of the Croatian nation. Radic was killed in the Belgrade
Parliament in 1928. His death provoked feelings of repugnance for
the Belgrade government. The Croatian Peasant Party built its
Toronto hall in 1930, where practically all their meetings and
cultural activities were held. The hall was since purchased by an
Irish group in 1981. Some Croatian workers in Toronto also began
to publish their left-oriented paper "Borba" (Fight). Its editor,
Tomo Cacic, was obliged to move from Toronto to Montreal. He
changed the name of his paper to "Slobodna Misao" (Free Thought)
in 1931.
From the beginning the Yugoslav Monarchy has tried to control and
direct political activities among Croatian immigrants. In 1927 the
Yugoslav Club was founded in Toronto. "The Croatian immigrants
were in no way attracted to such organisations because they were
conscious of the events in their native country, and they were
aware of the problems which faced their nation." The proclamation
of the Croatian Educational Federation, at its meeting of April
10, 1939, deserves mention because it can be considered very
typical of its time:
Croatian Educational Federation of Canada:
-organises and brings together working people regardless of their political opinion, with the objective of educating them about democracy through the newspapers, schools, libraries, and by presenting lectures; -brings the Croatian people closer to Canadians and familiarizes them with the Canadian democratic organisations and institutions;
-develops Croatian culture by organising various cultural activities such as establishing choirs and tambouritza orchestras, and organising various sports;
-helps newcomers from Croatia solve their problems and gives moral support and material help to those working towards the liberation of the Croatian people in the old country.
After World War Two, thousands of Croatians escaped Yugoslav
communism and found refuge in Toronto. Some of them became members
of the Croatian Liberation Movement (Hrvatski Oslobodilacki
Pokret), which has been publishing "Nezavisna DrZaVa Hrvatska"
(Croatian Independent State) since 1960. Another political party
in Toronto with his own publishing voice is the Hrvatska
Republikanska Stranka (Croatian Republican Party). Its paper is
"Hrvatski Put" (Croatian Way), formerly "Nas Put" (Our Way). The
Croatian political party which owns a hall on Dupont Street is
Hrvatski Narodni Otpor (Croatian National Resistance). The
Croatian National Congress (Hrvatsko Narodno Vijece) was founded
in Toronto in 1974. It is an umbrella organisation which counts
several thousand members all over the world. Recently the first
meeting of the Croatian Committee for Human Rights was held in
Toronto. Some 550 people attended its first banquet. This
committee has awakened significant enthusiasm among Croatians and
their friends.
In this short survey, we have not mentioned the most important
Croatian contribution to Toronto. Thousands of people who came
here, either looking for human and political freedom or for a
better life, took part in the spiritual and material growth of
Toronto. Many ordinary, anonymous people who were and still are
working in the construction industry, in factories and hospitals,
in public services, or in their own businesses have participated
in the flourishing of one of the largest and most beautiful cities
in North America. In 1981 Croatians gathered to celebrate the name
change of Awde Avenue to Croatia Street. This remarkable event for
the Croatian community was noted in many Croatian papers
abroad.
Croatians are proud of their tradition and culture, but at the
same time they are very open-minded people. Their spiritual,
political and cultural leaders often cite a line from the work of
the poet Drago Ivanisevic: "Being a Croatian, I am a brother of
mankind. "
