August 20, 2018 to January 3, 2019
This pop-up exhibit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the resettlement in Canada of approximately 12,000 refugees from Czechoslovakia, who fled the Warsaw Pact invasion of their homeland in 1968. Considered by Canadian officials as ‘good material,’ many of the refugees were young, well educated, and skilled professionals who could make an immediate contribution to Canada’s economy and society. This exhibit briefly explores the events that led Czechs and Slovaks to leave their country and the role of the Canadian government and community organizations in helping them begin new lives in Canada.