The scope of this Oral History Project is to collect the life stories of German-speaking immigrants to Canada by conducting biographic interviews with members of the German-Canadian community (immigrants from German-speaking central Europe as well as their descendants) who have ties to Waterloo Region of south-western Ontario, Canada. The interviews were video-recorded, transcribed, and the information gathered presented in two distinct ways. The initial presentation is a book which would contain individual community members' recollections of their immigration and settlement experiences. These accounts are embedded within the larger, historical context. The book chapters focus on a variety of migration-related topics, such as life before immigration to Canada, the immigration experience, life after arrival in Canada, work experience, language, and maintaining social and cultural heritage.
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LCSH: Germans--Ontario--Waterloo (Regional Municipality)--History--1938-2011 LCSH: Germans--Ontario--
Waterloo (Regional Municipality)--Social conditions--1938-2011 LCSH: Waterloo (Ont.: Regional municipality)--
Emigration and immigration--1938-2011 LCGFT: Oral histories
Table of Contents
Preface: Changing Times!..................................................................................1
Walter Stechel
The Oral History Project....................................................................................3
Elizabeth Wendy Milne and Mathias Schulze
The History of Waterloo Region........................................................................9
Elizabeth Wendy Milne and Mathias Schulze
Mennonites......................................................................................................20
Christine Kampen Robinson and Nikolai Penner
They Came from South-eastern Europe.........................................................32
Lori Straus and Emma Betz
They Came from East-central Europe .............................................................47
Stephanie Cooper and Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach
They Came from Germany and Austria ..........................................................58
Stefanie Templin and Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach
Illustrations......................................................................................................69
Arrival in Canada.............................................................................................87
Judith Linneweber and Harald Bauder
Earning a Living ...............................................................................................98
Ryan Carroll and Grit Liebscher
Who Are We? .................................................................................................110
Alissa Melitzer, Natasa Nuhanovič, and Paul Malone
How to Build a Canadian Bird with Feathers from Across the Sea.............120
Melanie Wei
Connecting with the Old Country ................................................................134
Lisa M. Rosen and James M. Skidmore
Speaking the Language.................................................................................147
Wes Lindinger and Grit Liebscher
Family and Children ......................................................................................156
Friederike Schlein and Linda Warley
Looking Ahead...............................................................................................165
Elizabeth Milne and Mathias Schulze
Bibliography ...................................................................................................168
