[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Fw: Winnipeg?

[Lloyd Friedrick]

Why choose Winnipeg ?  
Here is my father's story of his emigration to Canada.

A lot of the towns and villages in old Volhynia had a large segment of Jewish business people. Firstly, they were good at it and secondly, the Russian Orthodox church frowned on usury but allowed the Jewish merchants to perform the function of money lending.
My Uncle Gottleib and his close friend, both unmarried came to Canada in 1913 directly from Zhitomir to Brenen to Halifax. He travelled to Winnipeg via train and stayed with a Jewish family and soon found work on a farm near the city.
My father and my Uncle Louis followed the next year. Father told us that his travel arrangements had all been made in Rozyszcze. His mother held a sort of funeral for him because she knew she would never see her youngest son again.
He had the name of the same Winnipeg Jewish family sewn on the inside of his overcoat. He simply showed this name to the immigration people in Halifax and they directed him to the Train to Winnipeg.
On his arrival in Winnipeg, the conductor gave instructions to the carriage driver and he was taken directly to the house. 
The Jewish family operated a boarding house for Volhynian Germans. He arrived in time for supper which he shared with about six other recent German immigrants. The following morning, the man of the house took him to a store where he was provided with GWG bib overalls, work shirt and boots on credit. Father said that he arrived with no money, but I take this with a grain of salt, as most immigrants boasted of coming to this country penniless. Then he was taken to a sewer ditch construction site and began work before noon.
This was all part of the travel arrangement. After supper, the couple gave them instructions in speaking and reading English. During my childhood living in western Saskatchewan, I often wondered why Father would subscribe to the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper rather that the Edmonton Journal. Later, I heard him explain to a neighbour that the family used this newspaper for English reading instruction and father was devoted to the paper for most of his life. He did say, it was really rewarding when these young men finally were able to read the "Help Wanted" ads. 
Uncle Gottleib returned to this house year later, it had to be a gathering point. He greeted Dad with the German equivalent of "You here already?"
So, it is my observation, that the Jewish people in Volhynia were the original travelling agents and provided a worthwhile function.
In closing, these men were able to save enough money to bring their mother to Canada in 1925.
It must have been a joyous reunion for all of them

lloyd friedrick

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Ed Sonnenburg 
To: Volhynia Listserver 
Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 8:43 PM
Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] help


One of the things they would have done is shiver.
Those people msut have liked cold weather to
be nuts enough to move to the coldest area
of North America.  Winnipeg is known as
the coldest city.

ô¿ô


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marg Driechel" <driechel at telus.net>
To: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 8:54 PM
Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] help


> Hi
> When German Lutherans immigrated from Volhynia in 1890 and then spent a
year in Winnipeg, what would they have been doing there?  Would they have
worked on Mennonite
> farms?  Is there any way to get information about them at this time?  My
grandmother (Lydia Quast or Kwast) was born in 1891 while the family spent
the year (1890-1891) in Winnipeg and was baptised in a Lutheran Church
there, but I can not find the name of the church - hoping to find a record
of her baptism.
> Marg
>
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