Agnes Thiessen

Title: Agnes (Fast) Thiessen fonds

Dates of creation: 1986

Physical description: 1 cm of textual records

Biographical sketch: Agnes Fast (1907-1999) was born in Klippenfeld, Molotschna, South Russia to Wilhelm and Helena (Dyck) Fast. She married Johann Thiessen (b.1906) in 1931. The couple had four children. The family endured hardships in the 1930s. Johann was arrested and exiled several times. In 1943, they joined the Great Trek to Germany. Here, they lived as refugees. Johann was conscripted into the German army and not heard from again. Agnes and her children immigrated to Ontario in 1950, sponsored by relatives in Port Rowan. In 1951 they moved to Kitchener. In 1926 Agnes was baptized in the Mennonite Church, and in 1959 was rebaptized and became a member of the Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church.

Custodial history: Given to Marlene Epp by Linda Huebert Hecht. Donated by Marlene Epp to the Archives in 2023.

Scope and content: An account by Agnes Thiessen of her life. Predominant is a description of her family's experience as refugees on the Great Trek from Soviet Ukraine to Germany, as refugees in Germany, and their arrival in Ontario in 1950.

Notes: Original archival description created 2023 by Laureen Harder-Gissing