[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Beaverbrae reunion - in Kitchener

[Helen Gillespie]

The Beaverbrae was a ship that brought many Wolhynian refugees to Canada from 1948 to 1953. DPs - or Delayed Pioneers as we have frequently called ourselves.

This coming weekend, there will be a reunion in Kitchener, Ontario, of those that immigrated by way of the Beaverbrae.  The attached is an article in the local Kitchener Waterloo Record dated 29 Sept 10.

My own parents arrived in Canada on June 8, 1950.  I found a copy of the typed manifest of the list of the passengers - luckily - in the Deputy Minister's file in the fonds at Library and Archives Canada.  There are about 400 names on the list. I don't think the rest of the lists are open. My grandparents arrived on the Beaverbrae the following February with my aunt and a cousin, and three other aunts had arrived in May 1950.  That ship basically crossed the Atlantic every two weeks, bringing boatload after boatload of ethnic Germans, Dutch and others - all under the auspices of the Canadian Christian Council for the Resettlement of Refugees - comprised of Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist and Mennonite churches whose congregations sponsored individuals and families in their quest for a new start in Canada.
This should be an amazing reunion. If any listserv members live in the area, or have a Beaverbrae connection, it might be worth the trip.


http://www.record.ca/News/Local/article/784822

http://www.intown.net/BethelLutheran/Beaverbrae.html


Helen Gillespie