The beginning of my story starts with my Great-Great Grandparents from Germany during the 1800's, and immigrating on foot and by wagon to Russia. The hard working settlers were determined to make this their home. Before long small villages were formed. The unsettled times arrived during Stalin's reign in WW I, leaving thousand of families hungry and starving.
My childhood memories of fear and poverty in my hometown of Johannestal. Living under the Communist Regime, struggling with the day to day brutality which was bestowed on the German people. Men, women and children being sent off to Siberia to hard labor camps, often never to be seen or heard of ever again. Going through the times of food rations for a whole day of work. During Hitler's rule, times were starting to look better but before long Germany was in trouble.
We were ordered to pack up our belongings and leave our homes. The villagers traveled the country side on foot, one by one, on the long wagon trail to West Germany. We landed in the small town of Creglingen where we made our new home. World War II was in full swing, where my brother was drafted. In 1945, Germany lost the war. With the war over, we located missing family members, and now I was off to a fresh new beginning on Canadian soil.