Christmas Movies of days gone by...with great messages

 "Certain aspects of my life, are not in order."

From the Movie, The Gathering

The Andy Williams Christmas Show (1966)

 

In the 1960's and 70's, when we had cable, there was no hundreds of channels to choose from.  We had a basic set of channels, maybe 10 or less...and that was all.

It was limited.  Networks showcased certain programs during specific seasons.  One of those good memories was Christmas.  A highlite for our family, every year, was to watch many of those "Christmas specials".

And, of course, one of the most memorable was the "Andy Williams Christmas Special". Christmas tree was all set up, house decorated...at that age I would be in my pajamas...and watch the show with my Mom & Dad.  It was a safe place to be. 

It's pretty cool that someone posted one of these on Youtube from 1966.  I was 6 years old at the time.  He sang many of the same Christmas hits every year...but no one cared.  It was entertaining...we all loved them.

 

The Trailer....

 

As I have written, Mom & Dad bought a new Prowler Trailer in July 1976.  It was used on our family trip to Disneyland.  As the years went by, Mom & Dad often went camping with their close friends, George and Doris Straza, throughout the Okanagan.

While the colors of this trailer might be "dated" now, it was the "modern" look in 1976.  Mom & Dad also got their monies worth on this one.

We have fond memories of camping with them, and we were even able to camp with two of our kids, Elissa & Becky, on one of their trips.

These photos were found on the web from people who still have this model and have maintained them after all these years.  It gives you an idea of what it looked like.  Pretty cool!

My Dad's car....

 

Through the years, my Dad purchased a number of vehicles. I don't remember a lot of them, but this one stands out.  It was the summer of 1976 and we were preparing for a family trip to Disneyland. Dad bought this car and a new Prowler trailer.  July 1976.

Dad loved this car so much he would not let me drive it until the summer of 1981, when I was getting married, as the car was being used in our wedding party.  In fairness, I could have driven it before, but just never needed to as I had my own vehicle.

I do know I begged Dad to let me get my drivers license at age 16, so I could "help" with the driving on our trip. LOL...no way. I had to "wait" until I turned 17.

Anyways, this 1976 Buick LTD was an amazing car.  Dad loved it.  He certainly got his moneys worth on this one.

A good memory.

One of the hardest things I ever did was in the winter of 1992.  Dad had passed away on November 27th.  I had to drive the car around the area that Mom & Dad lived every couple weeks that winter just to keep things running ok. I cannot express to you how hard that was.

These are great photographs of exactly how the car looked.

Remembering: A light in the kitchen

My first trip to Russia took place in August of 1992. We hit up a lot of Russian cities that most Westerners were ignoring...that meant travel by rail and often overnight.

I remember one of those trips...I woke up at a place we had stopped at...a small Russian village that still had an apartment building in it. (not the one pictured here...but just as old)

Anyways, I recall a light being on in one kitchen...the rest of the windows were dark.  I was thinking...imagine....Here I am from so far away, where my whole life surrounds my country, culture and city.  Yet so far away, here, right now, in that small kitchen...God knows their names, sees them, they have a story...and God loves them too.

I prayed for those I did not know.  Even now as I remember I pray for them.  

It just struck me as somewhat amazing...that God knows all about them, about me...about all of us...and He loves us just the same.

I think of this from time to time...I just felt it was time to record this observation.

Something cool....

My grandmother, Elisabeth Dieser Gerk, was born on August 19, 1902. Her birthdate and baptism are preserved in this old Church record from that time, in Russia. Granny was born in a time when Russia was on the old Julian calendar. Her passport and other papers documenting her birth are all based on that old calendar. 

The problem is that Russia did away with the Julian calendar and moved to the Gregorian calendar, as the western world had done, just after the Russian revolution. 

 So what does it mean? The date that my family celebrated her birthday is wrong. Using a conversion table, my grandmother was born on September 1, 1902. 

 So what is cool about that? 

My Dad, John Gerk, was born on September 1, 1933. The same birthdate as my grandmother, his Mom!

It's all about God....

It’s All About God: When something happens to me ... how can I learn to interpret it from the perspective of what God might be up to rather than just from the perspective of how it makes my life easier or more difficult? –Tim Shroeder

Heard that quote in the winter. 

Trying to apply it in my life is another matter all together.

In his amazing book "Reaching for the Invisible God", Philip Yancey tells the story of another favourite author of mine, Father Walter Ciszek.  How Ciszek applied this concept of accepting what God had for him, in his day to day life.

Ciszek says: 

"Across that threshold I had been afraid to cross, things suddenly seemed so very simple. There was but a single vision, God, who was all in all; there was but one will that directed all things, God's will. I had only to see it, to discern it in every circumstance in which I found myself, and let myself be ruled by it. God is in all things, sustains all things, directs all things. To discern this in every situation and circumstance, to see His will in all things, was to accept each circumstance and situation and let oneself be borne along in perfect confidence and trust. Nothing could separate me from Him, because He was in all things. No danger could threaten me, no fear could shake me, except the fear of losing sight of Him. The future, hidden as it was, was hidden in His will and therefore acceptable to me no matter what it might bring. The past, with all its failures, was not forgotten; it remained to remind me of the weakness of human nature and the folly of putting any faith in self. But it no longer depressed me. I looked no longer to self to guide me, relied on it no longer in any way, so it could not again fail me. By renouncing, finally and completely, all control of my life and future destiny, I was relieved as a consequence of all responsibility. I was freed thereby from anxiety and worry, from every tension, and could float serenely upon the tide of God's sustaining providence in perfect peace of soul.

He continues:

"His will for us was in the twenty-four hours of each day: the people, the places, the circumstances He set before us in that time. Those were the things God knew were important to Him and to us at that moment, and those were the things upon which He wanted us to act."

This is the principle that I am trying to discern.  When folks walk the Camino, they treat it and everything that happens, as the Will of God.  How to make that a metaphor for life? How to apply it in my own life?  I have to learn.

Christmas 1975

Here it is folks, the latest AND greatest video games of the 1970's!!

My Uncle Ed, who lived in Calgary at the time, had this video game.

I was enthralled!  Imagine playing hours of Pong!

All treats for the eyes from the 1975 edition of the Sears Christmas catalog!

Christmas 1968

Found this on Ebay!  1968 Sears Christmas Wishbook!  You have no idea how excited we were as kids to have this arrive at home.  We fought over it...naturally my older brothers won for first dibs on browsing the pages.

This edition is great...on it is the gift I must have asked for in 1968 (I was 8 years old), which is Major Matt Mason!  And my dear parents were kind enough to get it for me as a Christmas present.

Oh, the hours I spent going through these catalogs....dreaming of train sets and cars and all the many toys one could get.

Rockets!!

When I was a kid,some friends started building model rockets.  THE place to buy these, were, of course, from Estes, based out of Colorado.

The only problem was, in Canada, at that time, it was almost forbidden to fly them.  You had to apply for a special licence, and your application form had to include a detailed map of where you would be flying them, keeping sure that you were not too close to any buildings.

I still ordered some to build...even though I couldn't fly them.

Well, those days are over, of course. You can easily launch them.  One of my joys was doing this with some of our kids through the years.

It's kinda cool to collect some of the old catalogs I used to get when I was a kid.  One of them had an ad to join the "Estes Aerospace Club".  Club membership came with a bunch of goodies...and I, of course, was a member when I was about 15.  I still remember collecting the parcel notification and riding my bike downtown to the post office to pick up my parcel...my first rocket kit!

Here is a scan of one of the old ads from days gone by.

It's neat that Estes still operates today!

Some day if I ever have any spare time I think I'd like to try to build some again.

Margareta Stremel

Margareta Stremel & Friend

There are no shortage of sad stories in this life.  Yet bravery and resilience abound, even in the midst of tragedy.

Margareta Stremel was born June 16, 1895 (OS) in the Volga German village of Josefstal. Her parents were Johannes Stremel & Anna Marie Arnold.

Margareta will marry Tsiriak Michael Gerk, at the age of 16, on February 5, 1912 (OS), also in Josefstal.

Michael Gerk was the oldest brother of my grandfather, Paul Gerk.

Not much is really known of their life together.  They would worked hard on the farm. In military draft records for 1914, it shows that Michael, when he served in conscription duty, lived and worked in the nearby village of Rosenberg. Why he lived and worked there we can only speculate.

After the war, revolution, and then civil war, Michael and Margareta will escape from Josefstal. Traveling together were also Margareta's brother Georg Stremel, along with his wife Katharina Burghardt. Also leaving with them was Michael's brother Paul, my grandfather.

The traditional family story states that, en route, Michael and Margareta will both be stricken with some serious illness, probably Typhus.  Michael will die of this.  My grandmother said she was told that Michael died as they were traveling through Poland, on their way to Germany. Deathly ill herself, Margareta will be taken to Saint Hedwig Hospital in Berlin, where she will slowly recuperate.

Managing to fight on even though she lost her husband, Margareta will be sponsored by a Canadian family and come to Canada in August of 1924.  In Canada she will work for the Sieben family of Primate, Saskatchewan.

Margareta will marry again. She will marry Anton Kloster, born in the Volga village of Semenovka.  They will have one child, a son...John Kloster...born August 29, 1928, in Macklin, Saskatchewan.

Sadly, Margareta Kloster will pass away on March 5, 1930. She passed away in Macklin but will buried in Grosswerder, Saskatchewan.

Her son, John Kloster, will grow up and marry...in 1951...the daughter of Paul & Elisabeth Gerk, Mary Gerk....my aunt and uncle.

Interestingly, her brother Jacob, who stayed behind in Russia, will have a son, also named Jacob....he will marry Lydia Gerk, the daughter of Jacob Gerk....also a brother of Paul and Michael.

The courage she must have had....escaping Soviet Russia...dealing with the death of her husband, and then pressing on to come to a strange new country, all the while rebuilding her life!

Our family remembers this brave lady!

Birth/Baptism record for Margareta Stremel, born June 16, 1895 in Josefstal and baptized the same day. Parents are Johannes Stremel & A. Marie Arnold. Godparents were Nikolaus Gerk & A. Margareta Arnold.

Marriage record for Tsirian Gerk, age 18 & Margareta Stremel, age 16.  Married in Josefstal on February 5, 1912...witnesses are Konrad Gerk & Georgii Hollmann

Passenger List for Margareta Gerk, age 27, traveling to Canada in August 1924. She lists next of kin in Russia as Jacob Stremel, her brother in Josefstal.

Grave of Margaret (Stremel) Kloster, Grosswerder, Saskatchewan
Photo courtesy John & Mary Kloster

Old jobs

Peoples Food Market was an important place in Kelowna for years.  I remember going with my parents here, and waiting in the car while they shopped.

One of my first jobs after high school was working here.  I worked from 1978 to 1981....3 years.  The last 2 of those years I worked grave-yard shift, from 11:30 pm to 7:30 am.  At the end, I pretty much could no longer sleep during the day.

I made some good friendships during that time and learned a lot.

This old photograph was courtesy of the "Old Kelowna" Facebook page.

Peoples Food Market was located on the corner of Glenmore Road and Bernard Avenue.

Interesting Books on the shelf....

One of the "interesting" books I consulted during my initial search for missing family, was this little atlas, published in the USSR, in Moscow, in 1977.

Soviet Road Maps were notorious for being misleading, or inaccurate.  I searched the pages of this, looking, in vain, for our little village, about 200 km north of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad).

Notwithstanding, as we filled in the missing pieces of family that had disappeared and where they lived then, it was a valuable help in seeing where they all went...spread throughout the vast lands of Siberia throughout the years.

I was even able to use some of it on my own travels in the former USSR.

A mystery.....solved at last?

Stories abounded when I would visit my grandmother.  One of those stories was that my great-grandfather, Georg Gerk, left Russia around the time of the Russo-Japanese War to escape being drafted.

Strange, since he was not a young man in those days....but Russian officials decided to draft older men who had already served their military duty.  It left farms without the head of the family to run them.  Many men left Russia so they would not have to serve.

My great grandfather traveled to Argentina to be with his older brother, also named Georg, and his family.  He would later return to Russia, eventually retire and die in 1924.

When my grandfather escaped Russia, he searched for his uncle and family...with probably hopes he could travel to Argentina.

He's actually listed in this Volga German publication from 1923, Number 34, looking for Georg Gerk.

We dont actually know if he ever heard from his, or the family.  We do know he would try to travel to the USA, and unable to do that, would travel to Canada as a refugee.

Meanwhile, for some years I have tried to research what happened to this line of the Gerk's.  Interesting.  As time wears on, and records become available online, I have been able to trace some of their movement in Argentina.  One of my grandfather's cousins, Elena Gerk, married Johannes Kloster in April of 1903 in Puán, Argentina.  Johannes would die in 1918 in Crespo....and then Elena will marry Peter Alois Gerk in 1919 also in Crespo.  Peter Alois Gerk was a widower, also from Josefstal, but only a distant relative.

So what happened to them?  Through the years I've been in touch with some descendants,  but they said they knew nothing of their history.

This past week some more pieces of the puzzle arrived.  Some contact with some of the great-grandchildren of Johannes and Elena (Gerk) Kloster. 

So far we know this: Elena Gerk died about 1959 in the State of Santa Fe.  It is believed that her parents also died there, Johann Georg and Margareta Haberkorn.  Folks are now working on getting confirmation and possible photos of graves.

In the meantime, they found a photograph of Elena and her husband, Peter Alois Gerk, and children.  Dates are not known...but at last we have something...and additional clues!

More later....it's been many years of searching....but we are close to closing this file on this line of the family!

A lesson I learned from my Dad

"Lying in a hospice bed, in the very last situation he would have chosen for himself, my father taught me that to die with dignity means to accept what God has given you and deal with it till the end. It means to play the hand God has dealt you, no matter how bad a hand it is, without folding. It means actually to live as if the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, and in either case blessed be the name of the Lord."

-David Mills, Real Death, Real Dignity: First Things, March 2011

 This older article aligns itself perfectly with the lesson I learned from my own Dad.

My Dad was a quiet man...he let his life teach us kids the lessons of life.

When he was diagnosed with a brain tumour, once again, he let his way of doing things lead us by example.

The complete article is found here.

There you will find the valuable lessons the writer learned while watching his own father die.

The same lessons I learned from my Dad...well, "learned" also means I will apply them.  But will I?  I have the map....I will, when the time comes, have to make sure, or, at least, try to follow it.

But the lessons this amazing man taught me remain.

A Dad's Song for one of his kids....

Had you on my mind

I had a little time
I know we kinda overdue
Turning back the pages
To our younger days
Yeah, I can still imagine you
Boomin' like the thunder
Chasin' life with wonder
With fire that could light a room
Bottom kinda fell out
Waited for the rebound
But you never made a move

When life cuts so deep
Try and remember

You, you're not alone
We've all been there

Scars come with livin'
You, you're not alone
We've all been there
So, lift your head, lift your head
Lift your head to where your help comes from
You, you're are not alone
We've all been there
Scars come with livin'

Life ain't got no sequel
We all broken people
The only road to found is lost
Oversimplifyin'
Ain't no shame in tryin'
Passion never counts the cost

Now you won't take my phone calls
You won't text me back at all
I just wanna see you
I can't stand to see you gone
Yesterday I missed you
Yesterday I played your song
I'm oversimplifyin', I'm oversimplifyin'

But try and remember

You are not alone
We've all been there
Scars come with livin'
You are not alone
We've all been there (been there, been there, oh), oh
So lift your head, lift your head
Lift your head to where your help comes from
Yeah, you, you're not alone
We've all been there
Scars come with livin'

Writer/s: Toby McKeehan, Bryan Fowler, Cole Walowac
Publisher: CAPITOL CHRISTIAN MUSIC GROUP

A song to listen to....

In the soil, I
Now surrender
You are breaking
New ground

So I yield to You and to Your careful hand
When I trust You I don't need to understand

Make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me

Songwriters: Brooke Ligertwood

New Wine lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group

I can't imagine....

Imagine you hear a news report....some obscure group of people, thousands of miles away in Russia, are being sent to Siberia.

Accused of being "spies", they are "Germans" who live along the Volga River.  The world is facing war...with Germans.

You probably shrug.  Who cares?  Right?

But what if you used to live there.  You know these people.  Your own parents, whom you have not heard from for almost 10 years..are in this group.  Your brothers, your sisters, aunts, uncles....all farmers...just trying to live their lives.

That was the situation of my grandparents.  I can't even imagine the pain they must have felt when they heard this announcement?

Spies?  Hardly.

Here's what the official announcement stated:

"According to reliable facts, which were obtained by the military authorities, among the German population residing in the districts in the Volga Region, there are thousands and tens of thousands of diversionists [saboteurs] and spies, who, at a signal given from Germany, must commit sabotage in the districts which are populated by the Germans in the Volga Region.

Concerning the presence of such a great number of saboteurs and spies among the Germans in the Volga Region, none of the Germans residing in the Volga Region informed the Soviet leadership that the German population of the districts in the Volga Region is hiding in its vicinity the enemy of the Soviet people and Soviet regime.

In order that acts of sabotage and bloodshed do not take place, which were planned according to Germany’s order given to the German diversionists [saboteurs] and spies in the Volga German republic and adjoining districts, the Soviet government, according to martial law, will adopt punitive measures against the entire German population in the Volga Region.

In order to avoid such undesirable occurrences and for the prevention of serious bloodshed, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR deems it necessary to resettle the entire German population residing in the districts in the Volga Region and other districts, and that the resettlers be allotted land and receive state assistance in the new districts.

For this purpose, the abundance of arable land in the districts of Novosibirsk, the Omsk Region, the Altai Region, Kazakhstan, and other neighboring regions is to be distributed to the resettlers.

In connection with this, the State Committee of Defense is instructed to execute urgently the removal of all Germans in the Volga Region and to allot land in the new regions to the resettled Germans of the Volga Region."

Here's a Western report giving you a better idea what the deportation meant.

Of course, what is not stated, is that these "Colonists" were thrown into the Soviet GULAG. Many will never be heard from again. Two of my grandfather's brothers will perish in these labour camps. But of course, because of the Iron curtain, our family will not know this. There was only silence. Imposed silence. We will finally discover what happened to our family in 1984.

Memories that pop up out of the blue...

The mind is amazing thing....for no good reason a memory can force its way out...and you are left wondering, "Where did that come from?"

Out of the blue today I was thinking of my Dad's laugh.

I could hear it in my mind....then the memory came.

My Mom was at the hospital as she had just delivered my sister, Debbie.  I slept in my parents bed....so I must have been 7 years old.  It was morning and my Dad and I were talking....and I fell out of bed onto the floor.  My Dad laughed his usual laugh.

I remember it so well I can hear it in my mind!

It's a laugh I really miss.

A Reading.....

Cleaning out old books, downsizing. Lots to ponder.  Every book has a story....why I read it...when I got it...what I learned from it...all my books had a purpose.

I was going across an old English Bible I had...in a section of the Bible was a bookmark...I had written down the reading I had done at my Dad's funeral in 1992.

You have no idea how difficult it was to read anything at my Dad's funeral.

But here it is..a reading from the Book of Wisdom, Chapter 4 verses 7-15. Although from the apocryphal books of the Bible, it gave our family comfort during a painful time:

But the righteous man, though he die early, will be at rest.

For old age is not honored for length of time,

nor measured by number of years;

but understanding is gray hair for men,

and a blameless life is ripe old age.

There was one who pleased God and was loved by him,

and while living among sinners he was taken up.

He was caught up lest evil change his understanding

or guile deceive his soul.

For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good,

and roving desire perverts the innocent mind.

Being perfected in a short time, he fulfilled long years;

for his soul was pleasing to the Lord,

therefore he took him quickly from the midst of wickedness.

Yet the peoples saw and did not understand,

nor take such a thing to heart,

that God’s grace and mercy are with his elect,

and he watches over his holy ones.

Wisdom: 4:7-15 Revised Standard Version 

 

9 Years old....

I was nine years old when men walked on the moon.

50 years ago this past week, I sat with my parents on our front steps, looking up to the Moon...saying that it was hard to believe but there were men there right now.

I was an amazing time to be alive....to watch the moon walk on TV.  From the amazing lift-off, to the splashdown, everyone was fascinated by what was happening.

When Apollo 13 was developing, I joined with millions of other people praying for their safe return.

We watched with fascination, as the "grainy" video, gave way to clearer and clearer shots as technology advanced before our very eyes.

50th Anniversary events are underway...with a lot of cool documentaries, web sites in real time, and photos being published.

Just an amazing time.

Memories of Food gone by....

One of my favourite memories is of the Saturday lunches I would have with my grandmother.  After cutting her lawn, she would have made lunch...my Dad would arrive and we would all eat lunch together.

One of her specialties was Baking Powder Noodles.  A dish she learned to cook in Russia, Granny would serve them with a dish of peaches.

We loved them so much that my Mom learned the recipe from watching Granny (nothing written down).

Mom would make them for me, every now and then, for a special treat since she knew I loved them.

Thanks to Nadia Giondana for posting the recipe....will try it some day!

Underground Seattle & "The Night Strangler"

I was13 years old when "The Night Strangler" hit the TV screen.

My Dad and I loved it.

The sequel to the 1972 hit "The Night Stalker", Strangler focused on Underground Seattle, an amazing place I never knew existed.

My dream had always been to travel to Seattle and take the tour.

A few years Marina and I were able to take it, and it certainly lived up to expectations.

While, not as elaborate as portrayed in the Strangler movie, it none-the-less is a great is a great tour and a wonderful setting to film a suspense movie!

Glad to have gone...and always love this set of two classic movies!

The city under a city...underground Seattle

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes...

"...he made a memory that would live as long as sons tell sons, about fathers they loved." -(Movie version of Something Wicked this Way Comes)

I finally read this book, after seeing the movie multiple times. The book is a wonderful tale of sons, growing up....with all the adventure of life. Best friends tackling good and evil.

Best friends on the hunt for adventure.

But its also a story of a Dad....who loves his son and will do whatever he must to protect him from evil. As a Dad...I can relate to this quest...and while I have often failed at it, the Dad in this wonderful story did not....at least not when faced with this huge evil and his understanding of the autumn people.

He taught his son well.

Why you should never take No for an answer in research....

In 1978, when I first decided to try to find missing family for my grandmother, it was a daunting task.

I knew that my grandfather had attempted to find his family.  My grandmother told me the story how, when they lived in Osoyoos, my grandfather had seen a newsreel report about the Spanish Civil War...this would have been in the mid to late 1930's.  On this newsreel he spotted a young man he felt looked like his youngest brother Johannes, being taken prisoner.

Keeping in mind the last letters our family received was in 1933.

There was no response to the request.

I set out...writing to the Red Cross for help.

Alas, the response was always negative.

Not wanting to give up, I tried again.  I would interview anyone I could find who had ties to the USSR, in hopes of leaving no stone unturned.

I subscribed to some Soviet publications, particularly aimed at Soviet Germans, that might be useful.

I wrote to any address I could get my hands on, hoping those might direct me.

Little did I know that at the same time, my grandfathers youngest brother, Johannes, was indeed hearing that we were looking for him.  A copy of one of the letters I wrote would find its way to him, but, sadly, the return address...my address, was not with the letter.

In the meantime, the Red Cross in the USSR finally managed to "find" our family.

In 1983, we were sent a letter detailing our search for some family, that included some names and addresses of family members.

 And so I wrote.

Johannes (Uncle Vanya) would tell us that her heard from the Red Cross almost a year earlier, then waited for our letters to arrive.

And what a writer he was.

In fact, all the family would soon respond.

In November of 1983, we would receive the first of many letters...in some strange envelope with Soviet stamps.

He would send us pictures, pepper us with questions, while answering the many questions we had.

My grandmother would finally learn the fate of her parents.  The fate of her beloved siblings.

We would learn of the family members who perished in the GULAG. The deportation to Siberia.

It was 50 years since we had last heard their voices.

There was much tragedy. News my grandmother didn't want to hear.  The deaths of her parents, in 1933. The brothers and sisters now gone.

We would re-establish ties to family.  The two sisters still alive of my grandmother's.

I tell this story because all initial responses to my request were negative.

But we kept trying.  We kept writing. Many people helped with translations of letters to Germany, Argentina and to the USSR.

Eventually, it paid off.

So...the moral of the story?  Don't give up. Keep at it.

There is truth out there. It may be up to you to find it.

 First Letters:

95 years ago...a test of courage

I never knew my grandfather, Paul Gerk.  This amazing man escaped from Russia at the age of 19.  Thrown in prison by the Communists at the age of 18, Paul left Russia with his oldest brother Michael in 1921. Traveling to Minsk, Michael will die of typhus.  Paul will join other Volga Germans escaping the communist government.  On December 9, 1922, Paul will arrive with a group of over 900 refugees, in Frankfurt/Oder in Germany.

He will be housed in a refugee camp for almost 2 years until arrangements can be made to leave Germany. Originally trying to travel to an uncle in Argentina, or family friends in Iowa, Paul will eventually be sponsored by a farm family in Holdfast, Saskatchewan, Canada.

He will arrive in Saint John's, New Brunswick on April 5, 1924.

95 years ago.

I have often thought about what Grandpa was thinking as he sought freedom in the West.  What it might have been like to live through the Communist Revolution, the Civil War and then the Red Terror.

My Dad always said his father was a quiet man.  I assume the pain of what he lived through, as well as leaving your entire family, never to hear from them again, weighed heavy on him.  A man of deep faith, Grandpa Gerk died at the age of 52 on June 3, 1954.

95 years ago this month, this courageous man arrived in Canada.  Everything our family has today, we owe it to the courage of this young man...and the kindness and generosity of so many people who helped him on his way.

May our family never forget him.

Baptism/Birth record for "Pavel Gerk", born 14 Jan 1902 (OS) Parents: Georgii Gerk & Margareta Rohwein. Godparents: Pavel Schaab & Elisabetha Domme

Passport for Paul Gerk, 1924

Refugee list, December 1924 listing Paul Gerk. Hopefully seeking aid from family friends in Fort Dodge, Iowa

Passenger list for Paul Gerk

Paul Gerk, 1946

A little girl's story....

She was born on October 14, 1912. The second youngest of nine children.

Ludvina Dieser was born to Johannes Dieser and Marie Eva Heit in the little German-Russian town of Josefstal, near the Volga River. (She is 3 years old in this photo from 1915)

My grandmother called her sister by her nickname, Lilly. Lilly was 13 years old when my grandmother left Russia forever in 1925.

In a story that Granny Gerk told me, she remembered Lilly sitting in the corner in their family home, during the Volga famine of 1921-22, and just chewing on her nails...there was so little food.

Lilly will survive that famine.

It was not until 1984, when we established contact again with our family in the USSR, that we would discover Lilly's fate.

Another famine would rage in Russia. 1933 was the last time we would hear from family.  Lilly will survive that dreadful year.  Her mother, my great-grandmother, will die from starvation in August of 1933. But in November of 1934, Lilly will die from complications from her weak condition at the age of 22.

Family members tell us that Lilly asked to be buried in the wedding dress she was saving for when she wed...because she was going home "to be with Jesus".

They will bury her in the same grave that they buried her Mother.

Another sad tale....but as I promised my grandmother, Lilly is not forgotten!

Did someone say Camels?

Volga German farmer using Camels

A fascinating part of the history of our Volga-German family was the use of Camels on the farm.

My grandmother mentioned it to me a few times...her family did not have them but the Gerk family did.

I don't know how many other families in their little village of Josefstal might have had them, but our family certainly did.

Confirmation came when this document about our family was discovered in the former Soviet archives in Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad)

It lists, among other things, the amount of land our family farmed...and also a list of farm animals owned.

It states:

…two wood houses, eight horses, from 8 to 10 bulls, 4 camels, 8 to 10 chickens, small livestock from 77 to 94, personal land of 45 hectares, rented land of 85 hectares. (Source: GAVO Fond 2659 Op. 2 14 L40)

So, there you have it. Our family had 4 camels. Fascinating to use camels on the farm...but common in Russia.