AC Emigration to Canada

The regulations said that if a registered person were married during this time, that person’s spouse could also emigrate if he/she wanted to. Hans was a teacher in the high school at the time and he got a salary. He thought that if times become more difficult, they would follow. Hans was arrested several years later and was sent away for four years. When he came back, there was no possibility to emigrate and so they stayed in Russia and died there. They had three children. Hans Jr. was born in 1923, Lori in 1924 shortly after our departure, and Luise four years later. Hans Jr. has a sensible Russian wife and two children: Kolja and Olja. Lori also had a Russian husband. They had four children. Liesel also had a Russian husband who was an alcoholic. She had a daughter Julia who was often with her grandparents because her parents were separated and Liesel worked. Later her husband died and Liesel married again.

In 1923, the first contingent of emigres left for Canada from the Old Colony. That was the largest contingent from the Old Colony. There followed several smaller contingents in the same summer.

A year later in 1924, the first and biggest contingent from the Molotschna left from Lichtenau on June 24. There were 1200 people. In that “Schalon” our family traveled. David Klassens and Heinrich Klassens and many other former estate owners were in that group as well. How difficult it was for us to say goodbye to Mariechen and Hans and their little Haenschen, never to see them again!

We boarded cattle cars and off we went through the wide Russian lands to the border. In our car was our family, father, mother, Nicholas, Alexander, Agnes, Gerhard and Albert, and also the family of Ernst Neufeld. In that family, there were the parents and also two children. The areas we traversed were splendid. When we came nearer north, there were many forests with fir trees and birches with white trunks. Cities and villages were situated in these forests and rivers flowed through the area. It was very beautiful. At times, the train stopped at larger stations and we were able to buy boiling water. We had our own food. We traveled several days and nights before we reached Riga. There is the Red Gate where the train crossed the Russian border into Latvia. However, before we went through the train stopped suddenly. Doors were flung open and soldiers armed with guns entered yelling and jumping around. Our possessions were searched and they took what they wanted. Then with curses they slammed the door shut and through God;s grace, the train with its large contingent moved slowly through the Red gate. When we arrived in Riga and everyone had debarked the cars, all 1200 people of our large group stood beside the train and sang, “Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices” from the bottom of our hearts. It was heard far and wide. We were so happy, so happy, that we were out of Russia. Here all our clothes were disinfected and we could bathe. We stayed several days in Riga. There we were put on a relatively small boat and we sailed through the Kaiser Wilhelm canal to Southampton. We were there several days also. It was a large harbor city. There we were put on a large ocean-going vessel, the “Manitoba”, and off we sailed to Canada.

In our group there were many young people. Since we had nothing to do, Mr. Konrad organized a choir and we sang our German folk songs and also many spiritual songs. Many became seasick on the ship, mother and Luise among the,, but father, Albert and I remained healthy. So the three of us always went to the dining room for our meals that we found delicious after the many years of deprivation. Especially the wonderful oranges and other fruits. One day, a sailor came to me and asked if Albert was my brother. “Yes”, I replied, “he is my brother.” “Well, do you see what he is doing?” When I looked, I was shocked. He was riding on the rail of the ship as it was going up and down through the waves. I ran quickly to him and took the 7-year-old from his perch. After that I didn’t often have him out of my sight. For two days there was a heavy storm. No one could go out on deck. The waves poured over the edge of the ship. Then the ocean calmed down. The young people sang a lot and communicated with each other, and cupid floated around and touched the hearts of the young people no matter how difficult the times were. My brother, Alexander had become engaged to Martha Unruh in Ohrloff and on the trip they were a couple. Then the happy morning came when we saw land from the ship, Canada’s coastline. We came closer and closer until we could see the coastline clearly, and so finally came to Quebec. There we disembarked and with the train we went further afield. Our family arrived in Stouffville. Our whole group remained in Ontario. There the Pennsyvania Mennonites had agreed to look after the various families for a year, so that they wouldn’t become a burden to the government. When we arrived in Stouffville, Mr. Christ Weidman was there with his car, a Ford, to pick us up. They had furnished a small house for our family with furniture, dishes and groceries. There was a table and chairs so all of us could sit. As soon as we had arrived and our things had been brought in, and we had been able to have a wash, Mrs. Weidman and her daughter Annie came in with a nice dinner and put it on the table. We all ate a nice dinner and a nice piece of pie. That was the first time that we ate pie, I liked it a lot. Later, I learned to bake pie from Mrs. Weidman.

After dinner, Mrs. Weidman and Annie removed the dishes and we were alone. Since we were very tired from the trip, we all lay down for a rest. But soon we learned that in Canada, “Time is Money”. Soon there was a sharp rap on the door. They were the farmers who had hired my brothers, Nick and Alex, before we had come. They took the two immediately in order to make hay, and so they helped to make hay on their first day in Ontario. Our brothers stayed with the farmers until the end of the harvest.

The next morning, the wife of the farmer came to pick up Lisa to help her. Lisa remained there for more than a year. A day later, another farmer (also Weidman) came and picked me up. Weidman’s had a 22-year-old son who had tuberculosis. He was isolated upstairs in a room. His mother looked after him personally. Outside of his room there was a veranda where he spent much of his time in the fresh air. The daughter Mathilde was 20-years-old. She worked in an office in a nearby town. Then there were twin boys, aged five. There was a lot of work there. The family was good to me and I liked them. The summer was soon over and for the winter they didn’t need any help.