Anna Friesen

Title: Anna (Schmidt) Friesen fonds

Dates of creation: 2004-2006, 2022

Physical description: 1 cm of textual records

Biographical sketch: Anna Schmidt (1929-2022) was born to Katharina (Schoenke) and Johann Schmidt in Margenau, Molotschna, Soviet Ukraine. Her father died in 1933 in a Soviet labour camp. In 1943, along with her mother and brother, she joined Mennonite refugees fleeing the Soviet Union in an event commonly called the "Great Trek." After several years as refugees in Germany, Anna and her mother immigrated to Canada in 1947. Anna married Jacob J. Friesen (1930-2016) in 1951; the couple would have three children. Following her marriage, Anna lived most of her life in Vineland and then Waterloo, Ontario. Her brother Georg was separated from Anna and her mother in 1945, but was able to immigrate to Canada in the 1970s with his family.

Custodial history: Donated to the Archives in 2023 by Leonard G. Friesen

Scope and content: Photocopy of a memoir by Anna Friesen titled "My Life on the Road, 1943-1951 [by] Anni Schmidt (Anne Friesen)." The memoir covers her journey from Margenau to Germany in 1943, her arrival in Canada in 1947, and the years in Canada before her marriage in 1951. A printed copy of her obituary from 2022 is also included in the file.

Notes:  A scanned .pdf copy of the memoir is also located at the Archives.
Original archival description created 2024 by Laureen Harder-Gissing.