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This item contains recordings of three interviews. The first interview is with Petrea Mihalchan. Petrea was a Romanian From Boiani, Bukovina, born in 1892. He left Boiani in 1909 and came to Vegreville, Alberta. Petrea talks about immigration and his life in Canada.
The second interview is with an unidentified couple. The interviewer speaks Ukrainian and some English. The interviewed man is a Belorussian who speaks some sort of "Ukrainianized" Belorusian with many Russian words. The woman is Ukrainian but has been born in Canada. She speaks Ukrainian with her husband and mostly English with the interviewer. The first part of the
interview is apparently missing. In the interview they discuss language dialects, churches, and the Russian Federation.
The third interview is with 91 year old, Raveta Toma, who left her home of Boiani, Bukovina/Austria in 1899, when she was 13years old. She talks about coming to Canada and her life in Boiani.

This item contains one interview with John Liss of Sangudo.
Introduction by the interviewer: John Liss is in a hospital in Edmonton after surgery, he is an activist not only in Polonia matters. He talks at the beginning about Norman Louis, the interviewer should write to him. Mr. Louis is an expert on a kind of wheat which came to Canada from Poland. He (Liss) wrote an article on that. The wheat came probably from Gdańsk to Scotland and later to Ontario, probably not from Ukraine, he had to clarify that. Mr. Liss continues to talk about Karol Horecki, but the interviewer intervenes as she has written a book on him.
The interviewer asks Mr. Liss when he came to Alberta for the first time. He came from Milwaukee to Winnipeg to work and to get acquainted with horticulture. He wanted to get a "preemption to British Colombia". In 1911, he worked as a printer for the "American Echo", then as a journalist for the "Kurier Polsko". He mentions Michał Gruszka who fought a battle for equal rights for the Catholic Church as German and Irish bishops discriminated the Polish clergy. M. Gruszka was the brother Wacław Gruszka, the author of book on Poles in America. M. Gruszka was sent to the poorest Polish colony (in Wisconsin), as German and Irish bishops boycotted the Polish clergy. They asked what newspaper they were reading. If they read the "American Echo" they couldn't get a job. He talks about the Bankhead parish and a priest called Seal. Polish miners from Bielsko-Biała who were reading the Kurier were told by Seal the the paper was "godless". The miners were nice people. Liss wrote an article on the priest Seal, he was told afterwards that he will end in hell.
When he went to Alberta prior to WW I - did he meet Poles in handicraft, trade, or not at all? Liss says that he met Franciszek Hraby, a mechanic of machines used in banks, an important position. He was of Polish descent but a part of his family were Czechs in
Winnipeg. He identified as a Pole, was a Polish patriot. A second person, he met him only once, had studied at Polytechnic University of Gdańsk, he had a German name, but spoke pure Polish, he was an honest Pole. He forgot name (later he recalled the name: Hartwig). His man sold agricultural machines to Poles and Ukrainians, he met him in Edmonton in 1914 after the outbreak WW I.
One of the Poles in West Lake had a business, he forgot his name, his daughter is still living there. I was a long, old-Polish name.
The interviewer asks about the second wave of migration in the 1920s: Did he meet Poles who weren't peasants or laborers? He mentions Andy (Adolf) Solikowski of Edmonton, he was a "contractor"and the owner of apartment houses, he had a building business. Mr. Majewski (May) was active in the mining business, he is an intelligent man and attending Polish activities. The interviewer suggests that there was a huge difference between the first and second wave migrants. Mr. Liss corroborates that. The first wave migrants came from Galicia, were illiterates. In the second wave, there were no people in sheep skins, there was a difference in clothing, and the majority of them settled in cities. The first wave migrants wanted re-migrate and buy additional land in the old country. Mr. Liss recalled how he went from Athabasca 700 Miles by foot with a backpack. He supported himself by hunting and cooked the game in a pan. He bought bread in stores, it was in 1912. He didn't meet any other Poles on the way, but he met at the East River a man called Peters (a Latvian). That man was in Russian service as a sailor, he was good athlete and swimmer, he helped him, pulled him out of the East River when they crossed the river, saved his life. Peters was a Bolshevik, Liss was a social democrat. Peters was the most ardent Bolshevik - Liss thinks that the man is identical with Jakov Peters, a Latvian revolutionary (he saw his photograph in a newspaper). They walked together for one week.
When was the farm founded? In 1915 but he arrived in 1912. His father joined him from Calgary. He built a stable for horses. Later, he went to a soldier's camp at Niagara Lake. What was his most important success among his activities? To support his family. He planted trees at this farm, explains his attachment to the soil with his family history, he had found some documents in the archives of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Mr. Liss continues to talk about cooperative stores and the building of grain elevators. The farmers were at the mercy of large enterprises, they acted in self-defense. They were also at the mercy of large dairies. In the 1920s and at the beginning of the 1930s he founded cooperatives in the whole county, he organized the delivery of flour and apples. He was the only Pole, there were not many Poles in the area, and those who lived there were not interested. They came later, after WW I. There were also some Galician Poles, 7-8 Polish, some sent their children to higher education. They laugh at the American Polonia sitting in their ghetto. Mr. Liss thinks about the Polish Jokes: Many Poles are limited, they don't have ambitions. Asked about the relationship between farmers of different national backgrounds, Mr. Liss states that many have the tendency to 'clannishness'. In mixed areas, with Hungarians, Latvians, Americans, Germans, people have to cooperate and help each other. Asked about the relationship between Poles and Ukrainians prior to WW I, Mr. Liss says that they were very amical. He learned very quickly the Ruthenian language, almost like a
Ukrainian. The visited each other's church at holidays. The interviewer asks why the relationship became so hostile afterwards, in the 1920s and 1930s? The Ukrainians did everything to give their children an education, the Poles did this only later. But there was a
feeling of superiority - I'm Polish and he's Ukrainian. The Ukrainians from Galicia brought hostility towards Poles, there was much propaganda. Any reactions of the Poles? There were no organizations, they ignored it. In a slaughter house in Edmonton where many Poles worked there, the Ukrainians were hostile. It was the same in mines. With Slovakians it was easier but with Ukrainians unbearable. What was the role of Greek Catholic and Orthodox priests? Mr. Liss had no contacts. During WW I, in 1914/15, there were Tsarist agents who disseminated Russophile propaganda among Orthodox Bukovinians. Mr. Liss spoke Russian as he went to a Russian school for 2 years. Who did Sangudo look like? At the beginning a railroad was built in 1912. The hamlet didn't exist, but a few houses - a store and a post office. The inhabitants: Americans of different descend (Swedish, Scottish, English, German). In 1914 there was no train station. The foreman was a Kashubian called Dietz. He collected money for a Polish church with him. In 1912, Dietz' nephew called Piesik (from North Dakota) founded an insurance firm, his Polish was weak. Poles were meeting there, the Parochial committee had its seat there.

This item contains a recording of Avenir Nizoff and George Ivanenko talking about the Harbin immigrants. They discuss different groups of people coming from Harbin starting in 1924. They discuss religion, wars, politics, language, and ethnicity, in relation to these people.

This item contains an interview with Pastor Dusterhoff. Pastor was born on December 11, 1897, in a colony [Niedernstine] in the Novohrad-Volynsk district. Both parents were born there too. His great-grandfather settled there around 1855-1860 coming from Poland, from Radom. They were from Posen in Eastern Prussia originally. Polish nobility rented/sold them the land. His great-grandfather had 40 desiatyn of good land. They had mixed farming. He has been a pastor for 52 years in Western Canada, 51 of them in Alberta. He discusses how he came to Canada and how he became a pastor, as well as the German Moravian congregation in the Leduc area.

This file contains an interview with Tom Peterson that was conducted in English on October 4, 1976. Tom Peterson was 77 years old at the time of the interview. He immigrated to Canada from Latvia, arriving at the end of April 1928. He first settled at Pigeon Lake in 1929. During the interview he talks about his process of immigrating and learning English, and meeting other Latvians in Edmonton. He purchased his homestead from the CP and his wife joined him in Canada 6 months later. They farmed until 1951, when he gave his land to his eldest son and moved to Edmonton to become a decorator. He was very active in the Latvian community and discusses this involvement and the immigration and development of Latvians in Canada. Aside from his family and the Latvian community, Tom also discusses politics in the 1930s and 1970s.

This item contains two interviews, one conducted with Mr. and Mrs. German, and another with Mr. Eichele. M. German was born in 1909 in Odesa, although originally the family came from Germany and spoke German. His parents were farmers. They came on a steam boat from Liverpool to Halifax, they then came to Regina on a train from Halifax where he had an uncle, and moved to Alberta in the Spring of 1910, to Bow Island, an area with many Germans. His dad built a house, which was more like a shack, where they had some animals. His dad grew wheat. He took over his dad’s farm. During WWI, when they already lived in Canada, his family did not have problems because they were Germans, although they did experience tough times during the Depression. Mr. and Mrs. German got married in 1924, then bought the land. In 1940, they came to Calgary. Then sold it and bought the lot and built the place they were being interviewed. Retired in 1968. Have 2 children. Mrs. German's parents came from Russia, too ([Menheim] near Odesa). She was born in the USA, in Mackintosh, North Dakota in 1907. Her parents had a homestead over there. Then they moved into Alberta in about 1908. Her father got a homestead in Alberta. They moved together with a big German community. She had 6 siblings and was the youngest, 2 from the previous marriage of her dad. Her family was Catholic and spoke German.

This item contains an interview with Mr. Eichele and Mr. Louis Oel, conducted in Calgary, AB in German on August 25, 1982. Content of the interview contains discussion on their school years – walking about 3 km to the school. The important role of the priest and church – every morning had to go first to the church. On weekends, visited the church twice or even thrice, The Albert Cattle Association, paying big taxes while being unemployed, and taking over an agency in Calgary

This item contains an interview with Zdzisław Jan Krywkowski, conducted in Stoney Plain, AB on April 19, 1977. The
How did he come to Canada during the war? He came completely legally, from Switzerland where he had been a student. He studied political sciences at the international labor office. Then he came to France, where the so-called 4. Polish division was formed. He never took part in any battle as there were not enough people. He embarked a ship close to Bordeaux in 1940 and arrived in Plymouth. He English were much friendlier than the French from whom the had received no information. As he spoke some English, he went around with a colonel called Koszałkowski Marian. Afterwards, they were brought to Glasgow, then they were living in tents. He spent the whole war in Britain, predominantly in Scotland. He joined the 1. Corps of the Polish Army (the 2. Corps was commanded by General Anders). Among his superiors were General Maćko, his direct superior was Karol Kraćkiewicz (or Kraśkiewicz). In 1944, the worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Jewish matters. They countered the propaganda (also in the English press) that all Poles are anti-Semites and that they are persecuting the Jews together with the Germans.
His parents remained in Poland, they spent the war there. He calls Włocławek his native city although he was born in Warsaw, but he spent only four years there. His mother was the headmaster of a large school in Włocławek, a former student of her (an ethnic German) warned her after the German invasion in Poland, and his parents relocated to Warsaw. His father spent a part of the war in Żarnów close to Opoczno, his native village. He recalls a family legend that his ancestors came from Ukraine during one of the Cossack uprisings.
Why did he come to Canada? In Scotland, he worked a teacher but his salary was meagre. He had three specialties: history, political science and economics. When he talks about his experiences as a school teacher, the interviewer asked him to switch to English as it will have to translate the interview. He continues in English: He wanted to work in a secondary school. He received an offer from Alberta. In Ontario, he would have had to study for a year at a university, and BC was slow to answer.

This item contains an interview recorded with George Webber and Mrs. Henny Webber on October 15, 1976 in Stoney Plain, AB. George came to Canada in 1898 to Stoney Plain. Came over with his parents by boat (boarded in Riga). His family was German, lived in Saratov on Volga River. 40 miles west of Saratov, place [Norka] – all German settlers. The family decided to come to Canada. Catherine II brought Germans to Russia and gave them 100 years of relief from military service. In 1882/3 Russian-Turkish was broke out and his dad had to go to that war, but he did not want to. A relative was at Duma, came to [Norka] and advised them to leave. The family then went to Lincoln, Nebraska. His father and 2 uncles worked together, had mills and farmed at the same time. They did not like it in the USA. So they came to Canada in 1898, when land was $3 an acre. His wife came after him, in 1910, with one of his cousins. He knew his wife’s mother but not Henny. Problems with settling in Stony Plain: clearing land, WWI broke out. People were nice to them and helpful.

Henny was born in [Norka], Russia. Came to Canada in 1925 with her husband. Came to Stony Plain because had friends over there. Did not speak English when arrived. Early life in Canada was difficult. Had sisters in the Old Country, in the Siberia. Some relatives went back to Russia in few years. Speaking German in Russia, attending a Russian school – she understood Russian. She had 7 children; they spoke German at home.
Life in Stony Plain during WWII was not easy – Germans were suspects.

This item contains two recordings of interviews conducted in the summer of 1982 in Edmonton, AB. The first interview was conducted in English with Eugene Weber. Mr. Weber was born in Scott, SK in 1932 and the interview discusses the history of his family before and after his birth, and the importance of German community.

The second interview was conducted with Mr. and Mrs. Sommer in Polish, German and English. In the interview, they discuss Mr. Sommer's history of being born in Rivne (Volyn), where his mother also born. His grandfather worked as a basket maker, his father was a farmer in Volyn (Poland). The name of the village was [Maschk]. The father of Mrs. Sommer died after the WW1 and she grew up in another family. In the year 1914, when the WW1 started, Russians took all Germans from Volyn to Siberia. In the year 1916, at the age of 19 he was taken from Siberia to the Russian army. He had to fight at the Russo-Turkish war. In the year 1918, he came from the war to Kostanay after serving in the Russian army. In 1921 he came back to Volyn. His wife and him grew up in the same village and got married in 1923, first lived at her uncle´s place. His older brother lived in Canada and helped his brothers move there too. They came to Canada in June 1929. They came from Maschk to Rivne by train, came to Halifax from Danzig by ship. After they took the train to Edmonton and New Sarepta. After the arrival they stayed at the immigration camp. At the time of immigration they already had three children (born in 1924, 1926 and in 1928). Later they had one more baby (daughter) in Canada.

This item is an interview conducted on June 15, 1981. Veronica Whitfield interviewed Mr. Herklotz. Mer. Herklotz talks about his family, being in the Soviet Army in WWII, and coming to Canada in 1948 and learning English.

This item is an audio recording of an interview conducted with Waldemar Hildebrandt on January 19, 1982. The interview covers the history of Hildebrandt's family living in Radomyshl and Kyiv area and his membership in the Komsomol Youth organization before the war (side a). The interview also covers his involvement in WWII, first as a member of the Soviet Army and then the German Army and then as a Prisoner of War, before becoming a cook for the American Army (side b).

This item contains 10 files of audio from an interview conducted by Art Stelter with his father Dan Stelter. Topics discussed include Dan's father coming to Canada, because he had to work for 30-35 rubles a month for a farmer (Polish or Russian) on a contract. A worker could not leave unless found another person to take over his contract. His father worked in Ukraine but was born in Poland. Was 12 years old when moved to Zhytomyr area. His dad was a Prussian. His father’s parents moved from Poland to Ukraine because Russians wanted German settlers to develop their land. Many German farmers were possessors of the land, but his father’s family had their land on a lease. Ukrainian farmers being backward comparing to Germans. Living in a village but having 2-5 acreages outside. Schools in villages. Father could not write but was able to read. Lutheran churches. His father married at 16. One child died. About 1886 he emigrated to Winnipeg at age 30. Grandmother Amalia. Women worked cleaning offices. German community in Canada His mother snuck from Poland to Germany on a false passport; left from Hamburg to Liverpool on a boat, then to Quebec. Rough trip on a ship. Marriage without love, just duty. Mother could write in German. In 1918 the family came to Bruderheim. Most Bruderheimers came from Zhytomyr. Moravians and their church in Bruderheim. Shwartz was the first church minister. Family had 25-30 horses, 250 acres of land. Sold everything in the fall of 1927 and moved to Bruderheim with a big sum of cash to avoid bank charge commission. Dan’s Russian background: grandfather Martin [Stuter] lived near Lublin, Poland. Called themselves Prussians but considered themselves German. But they could have been from Austria. Dan’s grandfather was the youngest in his family. Janott’s mother was Dan’s grandmother. Married a guy named Kobus. Came to Kelowna. Athabasca [Stulters]. Ludwig and Jastina moved from Lublin to Ukraine in 1867 to get a new life. Lutheran church was responsible for finding settlements. Not all families moved to Bruderheim after WWI. 100 years exempt from military service. Clergy: [Shwanke]. Martin was never a citizen of Russia, lived on rented land of a nobleman. Problem of leaving while having an understanding. When he was 12, they moved to Volyn area, in Zhytomyr. Does not know names of villages or family stories. Martin Dan’s family: Amalia born in 1863. Historical circumstances at that time with Russian occupying lands and leading wars against Poland. Polish reaction against the Germans. Family members were hanged. Family moving to Ukraine at that time. Amalia’s mother was still living when they left for Canada. Wendy, Dan’s mother’s sister, died in Bruderheim in 1951. Russian government pension. Amalia had a brother who went to South America (Brazil). Violence against the Germans in Russia. Mother’s side of family coming to Ukraine via Poland in 1857. School teachers having connection with Volga Germans. [Greenwert]. Danny coming directly from Germany. German accents of people from different areas, distinction of High German vs. Low German. Yiddish as German dialect. His family living in Ukraine for 20 years. His mother’s background: sold most of their belongings to come to Canada. When they came it was Spring. Mom’s father bought a cheap place to live. It turned out to be haunted house. Grandmother was the only one who saw the ghost and heard the steps. [Going back and force between moving to Ukraine and to Canada in his story]. Sold the house and the land for cash to a Polish couple on their way to Canada. The ghost was a man who hung himself. Arrived in March. Grandmother’s brother was in the army and that time and did not want to go to Canada. Came in 1905. Bruderheim. Germans in Medicine Hat. Grandparents speaking languages other than German. Naturalization papers of the family.

They then discussed Dan's life. Young years of Dan. Having typhoid as a child. School years of Dan: good at math. A year in Edmonton, Medicine Hat, another year in [Newberg]. Leaning English, prohibition to speak German on school grounds. Finished grade 7 in [Newberg]. Farm work on acres. Reading in German. Identifying birds through a book he got as a gift from a Bishop. Playing sports (baseball). Reading books on Canadian folklore (stories) and German literature (religions, war stories) at home (buying them from a travelling salesmen). Publishing house of Minnesota Germans. German newspapers in Canada.
Family raising cattle of different breeds. Father retired from [Newberg], bought a house in Medicine Hat in 1970. Population there was about 20K people. School in Medicine Hat. Selling the farm. School closed up. Churches his family visited. Moravian Brothers in Poland and Russia. Minister from a Moravian church came to the family to baptize Dan. No regular religious community. Dan stay home till almost 20 y.o., then went to USA and stayed there till 23 y.o. Dan in Michigan for 7 years (construction work mostly, for car companies). Laid off during the Depression. Dan applied for American citizenship. Visiting America, difference of American way.
Farming in Bruderheim. The estate was developed by a Ukrainian who did not built anything on it and was forced to sell the land because a cancellation was reported on his land. A story of a curse that Ukrainian had, broke his leg. Inside story was that he was drinking, fell of the truck and broke his neck. Building various buildings on the land (chicken house, barn, etc). The farm was bought in 1931 for $3000 (2 mortgages of 6%). In 1944 he paid off the second mortgage. The interest was cancelled. [Herman Hendrik] helped him not to lose the farm. A loan from a federal government to pay off the first mortgage. [Abraham] made a motion against the mortgages for farmers. When he started farming in 1931 he started with nothing (no equipment or cattle), married in a year. Then bought horses for $150, another for $50 (on a credit). In 1932, oats were about 6 cents a bushel. He bought a buggy. Got Ribbon (a horse) in 1933 who turned white when was about 6 y.o. Had several cows. Bought one for $16. A bull in the neighborhood for the cows. Returning to Canada broke, to a farm. Crop prices during the Depression (30 cents a bushel). Liberal views. Dan’s first voting in 1935 in Provincial Election. Listening to [Eibrahard] on radio. Major Douglas in Ottawa, socialist. Labor Movement. [Walter Cuhl] a member of Parliament. Uncle Fred involved in politics and Social Credit idea: government giving the banks power, giving national loans. Local leaders in Bruderheim in social credits: [Bas Wirsky] who had a hardware store, UFM members from Kuts, Baker, [Bill Tomski], Toman (a school teacher). Social Credit Board. Social Credit Party progressiveness. East exploiting the West. SCP as a popular movement, its influence on government and politics. [Peter Stefora].
Surface Rental Rights Owners’ Association, 1949-1951: Alberta, farms around Bruderhaiem – the government owned all the minerals rights. Leduc, Red Water area, Calmar. Oil companies paid 1%, the government expected 12% payback. Farmers’ Union went on 5%. Oil companies buying farmers’ lands. Saskatchewan farmers’ being paid too little. Pressure on the government from the oil companies.