Russian Mennonite Immigrants Oral History Project

Title: Russian Mennonite Immigrants oral history project

Dates of creation: 1976-1978

Physical description: 117 cassette tapes; 7 cm of textual materials

Administrative history: In 1976 Mennonite Central Committee Canada provided a grant to the Institute of Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies at Conrad Grebel College for an oral history project to interview Mennonites who immigrated to Canada from Russia in the 1920s. The project was conducted under the direction of Walter Klaassen. Henry Paetkau and Stan Dueck conducted the interviews from 1976-1978. In all, 82 interviews were conducted in English, German and Low German. Transcripts of selected interviews were produced during the project.

Scope and content: A finding aid provides both interview summaries and biographical summaries of the persons interviewed. Transcripts produced during the project were scanned in 2020 and can be found in the list below.

Custodial history: The tapes were deposited in the Mennonite Archives of Ontario upon the completion of the project.

Note: Tapes marked with an asterisk have also been copied to CDs in .wav files.

Interview #

1. Interview, Cornelius Martens (1892-    ) by Henry Paetkau, May 25, 1976, New Hamburg, Ontario.
   Tape 1 (A/B); 105 minutes in German*
2. Interview, David Thiessen (1894-    ) by Henry Paetkau, May 26, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario
   Tape 2 (A/B); 110 minutes in German*
3. Interview, Cornelius Nickel (1902-    ) and Agatha Nickel (1904-     ) by Henry Paetkau, May 26, 1976, June 8, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario
   Tape 3 (A/B); 111 minutes; Tape 9 (A/B); 117 minutes in English* ; Interview transcript
4. Interview, Alex Classen (1898-1976) by Henry Paetkau, May 27, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
   Tape 4 (A/B); 120 minutes in English* ; Interview transcript (partial)
5. Interview, Gerhard Peters (1903-    ) and Helen Peters (1904-     ),  by Henry Paetkau June 1, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
   Tape 5 (A/B); 118 minutes in English*
6. Interview, Wera Neufeld (1902-    ), Olga Neufeld (1904-     ) and Alice Neufeld (1907-    ) by Henry Paetkau, June 2, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario.
   Tape 6 (A/B); 101 minutes in English*
7. Interview, Jacob P. Dick (1905-    ) by Henry Paetkau, June 3, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario
   Tape 7 (A/B); 100 minutes in English*
8. Interview, Cornelius Unruh (1902-    ) by Henry Paetkau, June 7, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario
   Tape 8 (A/B); 115 minutes in English*
9. Interview, Katherina Klassen (1885-    ) by Henry Paetkau, June 9, 1976, St. Mary's Ontario
   Tape 10 (A/B); 74 minutes in English*
10. Interview, Herb Enns (1912-    ) and Marie Enns (1912-     ) by Henry Paetkau, June 9, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario
    Tape 11 (A/B); 120 minutes in English*
11. Interview, Jacob C. Fast (1901-    ) by Henry Paetkau, June 14, 1976, June 17, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario
    Tape 12 (A/B); 120 minutes; Tape 15 (A/B); 118 minutes; Tape 19 (A); (60 minutes) in English* ; Interview transcript
12. Interview, Herman Koop (1898-    ) by Henry Paetkau, June 15, 1976, July 14, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario
    Tape 13 (A/B); 110 minutes; Tape 19 (B); 60 minutes in English* ; Interview transcript
13. Interview, Woldemar Schroeder (1907-    )  by Henry Paetkau, June 16, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario
    Tape 14 (A/B); 104 minutes in English*
14. Interview, Maria Toews (1897-    ) by Henry Paetkau, June 22, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario
    Tape 16 (A/B); 77 minutes in German*
15. Interview, Henry Poetker (1904-    ) by Henry Paetkau, June 23, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario
    Tape 17 (A/B); 79 minutes in Low German*
16. Interview, David Wiebe (1901-    ) by Henry Paetkau, June 25, 1976, July 30, 1976 Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 18 (A/B); 113 minutes; Tape 27 (B); 60 minutes in English* ; Transcript of July 30 interview
17. Interview, Gerhard Braun (1897-    ) by Henry Paetkau, July 15, 1976, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 20 (A); 60 minutes in Low German*
18. Interview, Mr. & Mrs. Johann Bergen by Henry Paetkau, July 15, 1976, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 21 (A/B); 84 minutes in English*
19. Interview, Henry Goertz (1898-    ) by Henry Paetkau, July 19-20, 1976, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 22 (A/B); 120 minutes; Tape 20 (B); 60 minutes in English*; Interview transcript
20. Interview, Maria Klassen (1905-    ) by Henry Paetkau, July 19, 1976, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 23 (A/B); 82 minutes in German*
21. Interview, Nikolai Isaak by Henry Paetkau, July 20, 1976, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 24 (A/B); 96 minutes in Low German*
22. Interview, Henry Huebert (1898-    ) and Clara Huebert (1908-     ) by Henry Paetkau, July 26, 1976, St. Catharines, Ont.
    Tape 25 (A/B); 93 minutes in English*
23. Interview, William Andres (1902-    ) by Henry Paetkau, July 26, 1976, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
    Tape 26 (A/B); 98 minutes in German*
24. Interview, Frank Steingart (1896-    ) by Henry Paetkau, July 26, 1976, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 27 (A); 57 minutes in English* ; Interview transcript (partial)
25. Interview, Abram A. Wall (1902-    ) by Henry Paetkau, July 27, 1976, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 28 (A/B); 120 minutes in English and German*
26. Interview, Johann J. Wichert (1897-    ) by Henry Paetkau, August 4, 1976, Vineland, Ontario
    Tape 29 (A/B); 102 minutes in German*
27. Interview, Abram H. Heinrichs (1902-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 4, 1976, Virgil, Ontario
    Tape 30 (A); 58 minutes in English*
28. Interview, Nickolas J. Fehderau (1904-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 6, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 31 (A/B); 120 minutes in English* ; Interview transcript
29. Interview, Abram Dick (1896-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 9, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 32 (A/B); 88 minutes in English*
30. Interview, Henry P. Rempel (1907-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 10, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 33 (A/B); 108 minutes in English*
31. Interview, Henry Tiessen (1905-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 11, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 30 (B); 58 minutes; Tape 34 (A/B); 51 minutes in English*
32. Interview, Jacob J. Klassen (1910-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 11, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 35 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 36 (A); 29 minutes in English*
33. Interview, Henry Hiebert (1896-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 13, 1976, Aug. 27, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 37 (A/B); 62 minutes; Tape 38 (A); 30 minutes; Tape 46 (B); 31 minutes; Tape 54 (A); 19 minutes in English* ; Interview transcript
34. Interview, Dietrich Klassen (1901-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 16, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 39 (A/B); 61 minutes; Tape 36 (B); 14 minutes in English*
35. Interview, Henry J. Reimer (1899-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 18, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 40 (A/B); 61 minutes; Tape 41 (A/B); 60 minutes in German*
36. Interview, Gertruda Reimer (1884-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 18, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 42 (A/B); 61 minutes; Tape 43 (A); 30 minutes in German*
37. Interview, John Mathies (1904-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 19, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 44 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 43 (B); 16 minutes in English*
38. Interview, Abram P. Klassen (1893-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 23, 1976, Kitchener, Ontario
    Tape 45 (A/B); 59 minutes; Tape 46 (A); 28 minutes in German*
39. Interview, Abram P. Regier (1895-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 24, 1976, Virgil, Ontario
    Tape 47 (A/B); 61 minutes; Tape 48 (A/B); 62 minutes in English (some German)* Interview transcript
40. Interview, Nick Fransen (1907-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 24, 1976, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 49 (A/B); 61 minutes; Tape 50 (A/B); 56 minutes in German*
41. Interview, Gerhard J. Enns (1885-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 24, 1976, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 51 (A/B); 56 minutes in German*
42. Interview, Henry Dueck (1902-    ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 26, 1976, Waterloo, Ontario
    Tape 52 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 53 (A/B); 62 minutes in English* ; Interview transcript
43. Interview, J. J. Rempel (1886-    ) and Elizabeth Rempel (1895-     ) by Stan Dueck, Apr. 25, 1978, Virgil, Ontario
    Tape 54 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 55 (A); 30 minutes in Low German*
44. Interview, David Hamm (1898-    ) by Stan Dueck, Apr. 25, 1978, May 10, 1978, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 56 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 66 (A/B); 60 minutes in Low German*
45. Interview, John Weier (1909-    ) and Susan Weier (1909-     ) by Stan Dueck, Apr. 26, 1978, Virgil, Ontario
    Tape 57 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 58 (A/B); 39 minutes in English*
46. Interview, Jacob Enns (1898-    ) by Stan Dueck, April 25, 1978, May 9, 1978, Virgil, Ontario
    Tape 59 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 64 (B), Tape 65 (A/B); 76 minutes in Low German*
47. Interview, Gerhard Toews (1897-    ) by Stan Dueck, May 2, 1978, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 60 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 61 (A/B); 41 minutes in German*
48. Interview, Agatha Rempel by Stan Dueck, May 2, 1978, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 62 (A/B); 60 minutes in English*
49. Interview, Sara Braun (1895-    ) by Stan Dueck, May 2, 1978, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 63 (A); 30 minutes in English*
50. Interview, Maria Berg (1897-    ) by Stan Dueck, May 24, 1978, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 67 (A/B); 60 minutes in Low German*
51. Interview, Cornelius Andrews (1898-    ) and Anna Andrews (1900-     ) by Stan Dueck, May 24, 1978, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 68 (A/B); 56 minutes in Low German*
52. Interview, N. N. Driedger (1895-    ) and Jac. D. Janzen  (1895-     ) by Henry Paetkau, Aug. 22, 1977, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 101 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 102 (A); 30 minutes in German*
53. Interview, H. J. Dueck (1899-    ) by Stan Dueck, May 29, 1978, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 70 (A/B); 60 minutes in Low German*
54. Interview, Renate Wuerffel (1898-    ) by Stan Dueck, May 29, 1978, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 71 (A/B); 42 minutes in German*
55. Interview, John Mathies (1910-    ) by Stan Dueck, May 31, 1978, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 72 (A/B); 60 minutes in English
56. Interview, Paul Wallman (1901-    ) by Stan Dueck, May 31, 1978, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 73 (A/B); 60 minutes in German*
57. Interview, John Peters (1902-    ) by Stan Dueck, June 5, 1978, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 74 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 75 (A); 18 minutes in Low German*
58. Interview, Jacob P. Penner (1901-    ) and Katherina Penner (1901-     ) by Stan Dueck, June 6, 1978, Leamington, Ontario.
    Tape 76 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 77 (A); 14 minutes in Low German*
59. Interview, Jac. D. Janzen (1895-    ) by Stan Dueck, June 6, 1978, June 21, 1978, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 78 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 77 (B); 28 minutes in English; Tape 89 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 90 (A/B); 52 minutes in German
60. Interview, J. P. Driedger (1901-    ) by Stan Dueck, June 6, 1978, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 79 (A/B) 60 minutes; Tape 80 (A/B); 60 minutes in German*
61. Interview, Gerhard Thiessen (1894-    ) by Stan Dueck, June 7, 1978, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 81 (A/B); 90 minutes in German*
62. Interview, John Fast (1905-    ) by Stan Dueck, June 19, 1978, Kingsville, Ontario
    Tape 82 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 95 (A/B); 60 minutes in English
63. Interview, Abram Barg (1895-    ) by Stan Dueck, June 20, 1978, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 69 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 63 (B); 20 minutes in German*
64. Interview, Alex Fischer (1894-    ) by Stan Dueck, June 20, 1978, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 84 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 85 (A/B); 60 minutes in English
65. Interview, Henry Pauls (1904-    ) and Mrs. Henry Pauls (1908-     ) by Stan Dueck, June 20, 1978, Blytheswood, Ontario
    Tape 86 (A/B); 46 minutes in English*
66. Interview, N. N. Driedger (1893-    ) by Stan Dueck, June 21, 1978, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 87 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 88 (A/B); 46 minutes in German (some English)*
67. Interview, Jacob Epp (1888-    ) by Stan Dueck, June 28, 1978, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 91 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 92 (A/B); 51 minutes in German*
68. Interview, John Enns (1901-    ) by Stan Dueck, June 28, 1978, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 93 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 94 (A); 25 minutes in Low German*
69. Interview, Johanna Thiessen (1898-    ) and Justine Thiessen (1891-     ) by Stan Dueck, June 29, 1978, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 96 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 97 (A/B); 50 minutes in Low German*
70. Removed at request of interviewee
71. Interview, Peter J. Sawatzky (1894-    ) by Stan Dueck, June 29, 1978, Leamington, Ontario
    Tape 99 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 100 (A); 17 minutes in Low German*
72. Interview, Aaron Baerg (1904-    ) and Gertrude Baerg (1905-     ) by Stan Dueck, May 31, 1978, St. Catharines, Ontario
    Tape 103 (A/B); 60 minutes in English*
73. Interview, Henry Regehr (1903-    ) by Stan Dueck, July 11, 1978, Steinbach, Manitoba
    Tape 104 (A/B); 55 minutes in German*
74. Interview, W. J. Wiebe (1902-    ) by Stan Dueck, July 11, 1978, Steinbach, Manitoba
    Tape 105 (A/B); 60 minutes in Low German*
75. Interview, H. H. Epp (1901-    ) by Stan Dueck, July 12, 1978, Steinbach, Manitoba
    Tape 107 (A/B); 60 minutes in Low German*
76. Interview, Peter A. Vogt (1900-    ) by Stan Dueck, July 13, 1978, July 22, 1978, Steinbach, Manitoba
    Tape 106 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 108 (A); 30 minutes in German*
77. Interview, Jacob Penner (1897-    ) and Aganetha Penner (1897-     ) by Stan Dueck, July 14, 1978, Grunthal, Manitoba
    Tape 110 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 111 (A); 30 minutes in German*
78. Interview, Franz Guenther (1891-    ) by Stan Dueck, July 14, 1978, Grunthal, Manitoba
    Tape 112 (A/B); 60 minutes in German*
79. Interview, Abram Bestvater (1899-    ) by Stan Dueck, July 14, 1978, Grunthal, Manitoba
    Tape 113 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 114 (A); 28 minutes in Low German*
80. Interview, Gerhard G. Dueck (1891-    ) by Stan Dueck, July 18, 1978, Springstein, Manitoba
    Tape 115 (A/B); 60 minutes; Tape 114 (B); 16 minutes in Low German*
81. Interview, Franz Peter Froese (1883-    ) by Stan Dueck, July 20, 1978, Winnipeg, Manitoba
    Tape 116 (A/B); 60 minutes in Low German*
82. Interview, Anna Rempel (1893-    ) by Stan Dueck, July 20, 1978, Winnipeg, Manitoba
    Tape 117 (A/B); 44 minutes in Low German*