‘They’d want us to remind everybody what happened,’ B.C. residential school survivor says

It's not easy for Jack Kruger to dredge up memories from his residential school years but he does it for the many others who didn’t live long enough to do the same.

WARNING: This story contains details that readers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.

It’s not easy for Jack Kruger to dredge up memories from his residential school years but he does it for the many others who didn’t live long enough to do the same.

“They’d want us to remind everybody what happened and why we need to talk, why we need to teach people in school and in our communities that something happened,” Kruger, a member of the Penticton Indian Band, said.

“I am doing this for those who can’t talk.”

In 1956, Kruger was forced onto a train to Cranbrook by the police and members of the clergy. Once they arrived, they were loaded onto a cow truck and driven to the St. Eugene Residential School, which was operated by the Catholic Church from 1912 until 1970.

Jack was six years old when he made that life-changing journey.

“There was a whole bunch of us children there. Many were crying because they didn’t want to leave home,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I was told I was going for a little ride and little did I know what it was all about.”

Kruger stayed at the school until he was in Grade 8 and the intervening years offered a nightmarish array of memories he’s had decades to sort through.