[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] -GRs in Mexico

[gloriah4 at juno.com]

Hello Kathy,

Thanks for the family story of migration from Russia to Moscow. I am
beginning to realize there were many GRs in Mexico, especially in the
early 1920s; and both Mennonite and Lutherine. Looks like Mexico was
quite a hub between Russia and Canada. Hearing of such activity is
encouraging to me and will hopefully aid in further research in this
area.

Again, thanks.
Gloria Hoppe
Researching: HOPPE, TOBER (TOBERT), SAWATZKI, Volhynia, Mexico, Canada

On Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:47:50 -0600 "Del & Kathy Sperling"
<dksperling at chase3000.com> writes:
> Dear Gloria and list, 
>       A book I have about a third cousin tells about their leaving 
> Alexanderthal, South Russia in 1925-26.  They left to find security 
> in Canada as it did not seem conditions would improve in Russia.  
> The family left their home in August of 1926 and traveled to 
> Berdjansk with horses where they took the train to Moscow.  There 
> they found out all would be able to get visas into Canada except one 
> member because of trachoma.  So they decided to join a group of five 
> other families traveling to Mexico.   The family left Moscow for 
> Holland by train going through Germany.  At Rotterdam they boarded a 
> freight the "S S Rotterdam" which took them to Mexico with a 
> stopover in Spain.  They also docked in Havana, Cuba.  They arrived 
> in Mexico City in October 1926.  Six other Mennonite families 
> traveled with them.  The Funks rented a house and stayed their four 
> months.  Then they traveled by train to Manitoba going by way of 
> Kansas where my g-grandfather hosted them.  [they were related]  !
>  They took the train on to Gretna and then Plum Coulee was the final 
> stop.  
>     Hope this helps with the story of a trip of one family.  As I 
> recall from my research several other families did this also.  It 
> was the fastest/most available way to get out of Russia at the time. 
>    Kathy Penner Sperling
>     --information taken from Prairie Roots and Branches by Arnie 
> Neufeld.  
> 
> Researching  Jost, Regehr, Loewen, Leppke, Penner, Gaede, Funk, 
> Janzen, Duerksen/Dirksen, Fenske
> Sperling, Ewy, Harms, Thiessen, Born, Albert, Feierherrn/Frierhelm 
> and others.
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <gloriah4 at juno.com>
> To: <esonnenburg at sympatico.ca>
> Cc: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
> Sent: Friday, April 28, 2006 2:11 AM
> Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] -Political "Standardized" 
> Language-
> 
> 
> > Ed,
> > 
> > Your mention of "GRs from Mexico" really perked my interest. Do 
> you have
> > other information about them in addition to "language"?  
> > 
> > I ask because my husband's family immigrated into the U. S. via 
> Mexico
> > and yet we can locate nothing that links them back to the Ukraine. 
> Their
> > passports show that they left the Ukraine by way of LeHavre and 
> the next
> > (and last) stamp shows their disembarking in Vera Cruz Mexico. 
> This was
> > in 1926.
> > 
> > One of our main research questions is, how did they get from the 
> Ukraine
> > (and from where in the Ukraine) to LeHavre? Also, we have been 
> unable to
> > locate a ship manifest since we have been unable to find that 
> their ship
> > ever sailed to Mexico. It did indeed sail from LeHavre that year 
> but only
> > landing in New York it seems.
> > 
> > Were there many GRs in Mexico? Somehow I've always pictured our 
> family as
> > being exceptions and we can't figure why they went to Mexico of 
> all
> > places. 
> > 
> > Any scrap of help is appreciated.  Thanks.
> > 
> > Gloria Hoppe (wife of Al HOPPE)
> > East Texas, USA
> > Researching: HOPPE, TOBER, SAWATZKI, Neudorf Volhynia, Novograd 
> Walinsk
> > 
> > 
> > On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 11:16:53 -0400 "Ed  Sonnenburg"
> > <esonnenburg at sympatico.ca> writes:
> >> When translating old letters I always found it a challenge when 
> the 
> >> writer
> >> threw in words or phrases from another language.  When people 
> live
> >> in a certain place for a generation or two they pick up local 
> >> words.
> >> My GR relatives and friends would flawlessly speak German but
> >> then curse in either Russian or Polish.  
> >> 
> >> I always found it a challenge to understand the low German
> >> but when the GRs from Mexico spoke low German and
> >> threw in Spanish words it was almost impossible to understand.
> >> 
> >> It is pretty hard for me to speak German today without throwing
> >> in an English word -  Ich geh und leere aus den Garbage.
> >> I'm going to empty the garbage can.  It was too hard
> >> to say Muell Eimer.
> >> 
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