Summary
In 1971, after his father's death, [Arthur Kroeger] investigated the contents of a wooden box, one of two treasures [Heinrich] had brought with him from the Soviet Union (the other was a family clock). He found that it contained the cryptic notebooks his father had kept for decades, as well as letters and other documents. The contents of the box, supplemented by Kroeger's meticulous research, became the basis of Hard Passages.
Aliens were not allowed to receive any public funds (28,000 indigent aliens were deported from Canada 1930-35, none of them Mennonites). Finally, in 1933 Heinrich became a citizen, and the family became eligible for relief. Still, it wasn't until the 1940s that the oldest sons were able to profit from a rented farm, start a farm-machinery business in a nearby town, and use their earnings to support their parents and educate their younger siblings.See the full content of this document
Extract
Mennonite Story a Heartbreaking Read
Reviewed by Faith Johnston
Hard PassageBy Arthur KroegerUniversity of Alberta Press, 269 pages, $35IN 1919, civil war erupted in the new Soviet Union, a country already decimated by the First World War.Two...See the full content of this document
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