Notizen zu dieser Person
One record says he was born in "Neuhochfeld." Johan's notes are the oldest genealogical records held by the Rempelfamily. Johan was 5'4" tall and had grey eyes. Family photographs show Johan among a large number of other young men,prior to his marriage, in Forestry uniforms. This was the availableform of service alternative to military service in Russia. Theparticular camp he attended was known as Anatol. His son,John,speculates that the service was 2-3 years (1994, pers. comm.). A photo taken of Jacob at 26 years of age is one of the few that showshim without a beard. The first Siberian Mennonite settlement was established in 1899 inOmsk. At that time the relevant provinces were Akmolinsk and Tobolskand there were 12 villages. Agnes Ketler writes (1995, typewrittennotes regarding Wilhelm W. Rempel): "When free land became availablein Siberia, Johan W. Rempel and his younger children went too. In1906 they moved to the Omsk region (where son John was born) but thepoverty was so bad that they came back to Arkadak and built a largeflour mill there". This is likely the mill portrayed in the Rempelcalender (September 1994). Arkadak was a Mennonite settlementlocated in the Saratov region. It was apparently was established in1910 and was comprised of seven villages A record found at the Mennonite Heritage Centre in Winnipeg appears tobe an inventory of assets for this Johann Wilhelm Rempel. It isdated 15 November 1910. The details need to be translated and thenwill appear here. Johan moved to Novo Omsk in 1913 from Arkadat, Russia. John Rempel(his son) says that Johan had gone into business partnership with aMr. Huebert when the World War I broke out and the mill they hadpreviously built in Kamenskoye (near Saratov) burned down (this wasJohan's first mill). (See Pump, 1979, Figure 4 for photo of Mr. Huebert). It was aboutthat time that they had moved back to Omsk (1913) and were preparingto import Massey Ferguson, John Deere, and McCormick tractors andother agricultural machinery from the US. (Mr. Huebert had a flourmill in the Ukraine; Rempel, John, pers. comm., 1994). According toAgnes (Rempel) Funk, the flour mill was jointly owned by Mr. Huebertand Johan Rempel in the years 1908-1913 (pers. comm., 1994).Katherina Giesbrecht indicates that this is when the familydifficulties began (pers. comm., 1994 Mar 18). Pump's (1979) Memoirs show as Figures 6 and 7 two flour mills owned byJohan, one in Kamenskoye (this was likely in the Orenburg Mennonitesettlement) and the other in Arkadak. The book also shows a photo ofthe duplex in which the Rempels and Hueberts lived in Arkadak (Figure8). When the family moved to Siberia they were not alone -- they werepart of a large number of Mennonite families who made that choice,some of which moved even several hundred miles further east. Johnindicates that it was a difficult move since the climate in Siberiawas so harsh - cold and snowy - much like Saskatchewan or Manitoba(Rempel, John, 1994, pers. comm.) Here they appear to have builtanother mill (see architectural sketch) on Colemcena Street. Irene (Peters) Rempel indicates that Johan always had a lot of dignityabout him; he was proud of the fact that he could walk through hisRussian mill in a suit without getting dirty (pers. comm., 01 Apr1994). Figures 9-11 show Johann in uniform, in Mariupol and at the time ofthe immigration to Canada (Pump, 1979). Notes unearthed by Peter Rempel and provided by internet message (20May 1996), indicate that Dr. Drury examined the Johann Wilhelm Rempelfamily on 20 May 1926. It notes that they came from the Omsk area,Omsk district,and the settlement at the station "Kulomsino". In the CMBC (1926) records, all family members are implied to havebeen born in Morosowo (also known as Neu-Hochfeld in the YazykovoSettlement). Their trip to North America took them from Neu-Omsk viaKubanisino, Russia on 27 October 1926, arriving at Lithuania onNovember 6. They arrived and departed from Southampton on 17 and 20November, arriving in Canada on the steamship Melita at St. John, NewBrunswick on 29 November. They arrived by train in Winkler on 3 December 1926 and stayed withJohan's stepbrother, Wilhelm, for about three months before they movedto Winnipeg. See JWR's son John's message area for more informationabout the trip to Canada. Johann became a citizen (naturalized) on June 9, 1932. After a brief time in Manitoba (1926 to 1930), the whole family movedto British Columbia, (although Tina was later to return to Winnipeg),arriving in August 1930. While there is apparently a diary regardingthe trek from Russia to Manitoba and to British Columbia, it cannot belocated at this time. Daughter, Mary, however, remembered the trip toBritish Columbia quite well. She said that the family bought two carsthat sons John and Henry drove. One was covered, but the other was anopen vehicle, with only curtains to protect them from the wind andother elements. En route, they ate dried rusks and cured meat; andthey camped under the stars on blankets. A gleam came into Mary'seyes when she talked about this time -- as though it were atremendously exciting adventure. En route, Mary can only remembervisiting one family - Anna's sister who lived in Zenita (pers.comm.,1994). They arrived in British Columbia very soon after the first Mennonitessettled in the Yarrow area in February 1928. The followinginformation was taken from "A Brief History of Mennonites in BritishColumbia" that was written by George G. Baerg and published in 1967 asa Centennial project. "The Hop Gardens were the first to employ the Mennonites. Here theyhad to work hard and steadily for 15 cents per hour. They were toldright from the beginning to leave their heads (minds) at home; the HopGardens were interested only in fleet feet and active hands;favouritism played a big role here. To get to the Gardens createdanother difficulty. The only good road to the hop plantationsmeandered along the Vedder Mountain edge for about four to six miles.As they were with lunch loaded and clothing for all kinds of weather,to walk this distance was not simple. ... Settlers J.C. Krause andA.A. Rempel bought jointly a horse. They would start out together,one walking, the other riding. Krause would ride a mile and then tiethe horse to be ridden by Rempel the next mile, whereas Rempel wouldtie it again at the end of the following mile from where Krause wouldagain ride the next mile." Eventually, strawberries and raspberrieswere introduced, but not until sugar beets, green beans, asparagus,peas, and rhubarb were tried. "Like many new immigrants, the Mennonites worked hard and yet weredistrusted by longer-term residents. "As things started to go well[agriculturally and financially, ... the Mennonites were not liked.They were expert farmers, but too aggressive and succeeded whereothers had failed. Their [early] financial difficulties were easilysolved; banks gave them credit with no more security than thelake-bottom lot. Oldtimers with securities had difficulty inobtaining smaller loans. ... A quiet fear arose that this new bloodjust might displace the old inactive neighbourhood. All this createdjealousy and animosity toward the Mennonites. Neighbours tried toscare them with tales that the dykes would not hold and thye would bedrowned out like rats. They were derided and even blackmailed by thelocal press." The issue came to a head with an provincial investigation into theeducational environment for Mennonite students which praised what workthe Mennonites had done in this area. This appeared to turn the localminds to a more favourable appreciation of the Mennonites. After Yarrow (only 8 feet above sea level) flooded in 1948, theMennonites began to look to moving further west to the townsite ofClearbrook (200 feet above sea level). On April 19, 1931, a letter authored by Johann was published in theMennonitische Rundschau. It is quoted below, as translated by AgnesKetler: "You will find a noney order for $1.50 enclosed for the MenonnitischeRundschau and Jugenfreund. Please continue mailing them, but not toBox 3432, Vancouver, British Columbia, but to Abbotsford, BritishColumbia. Many readers will be asking if we are migrating birds. Itcould be that. "Four years ago we came to Canada. The first winter we spent at mybrother's [half-brother, Wilhelm] in Winkler. In spring, we went toWinnipeg. We were planning from there to get a farm, but it didn'twork out. I thought the farmers were too busy because they wereselling one farm just to take on another farm. "We lived in Winnipeg only a little more than three years becausethere were few jobs. And, our sons were let go from the factory [canany one in the family identify which factory?]. We had to look aroundfor a farmstead. "Our idea was to go to British Columbia -- but how to get there? Togo by train, $500 wasn't enough. It was also very expensive by car -especially as the payment [Auslage] was higher. Besides, there werebig mountains. We found out that the road through the United Stateswas better than through the mountains. But, then we were lacking thetravel permit. " We went to the American Consulate where a man asked why we wanted totravel throgh the United States. He wanted to know everything aboutus, for example, how we were living. On top of that, we weren't evenCanadian citizens yet. He didn't give us any hope. "After a few weeks, we went there again. We were better prepared forthe trip in the United States this time. He recognized us and againwanted to know a lot. He was also wanting to make sure we wouldn'tstay on Uncle Sam's land -- he couldn't read it on our foreheads thatwe didn't have that plan. Plus, it would be cheating on our part. Wefound out that he (Mr. Consulate) was almost a neighbour of ours inOmsk, Siberia before the war. "As we went to the American Immigration oiffice, they wanted to know alot about everything - even the names of the whole family and that wehad to see a doctor. As we all were there, the doctor came - a fineman. He asked if we were all healthy. I told him he could see forhimself. He couldn't see it on our foreheads that we were well, buthe could see from our faces hat we were healthy even though we weresick inside (i.e. tired). To leave Winnipeg, where I got used to it,it was difficult. The doctor said we were all healthy. He called outby name and we had to apear before him and he took us to an oficewhere they were writing out the papers. "It was very warm there, so, sweat was running down the writing man's.Another man brought in our Old Country passports. And, then he askedhis colleagues as he put the passports down in front of them, can youread this? I wish I could. All the questions they asked us were inGerman, although it was sometimes very turned around. The menprobably forgot German or were trying to learn it. "The paper was signed for access to the United States on August 1 andwe were allowed seven days to travel in the United States, which wethought was long enough to spend money. When we were completing ourpreparations for the trip. we went to a good friend in Winnipeg wherewe had support and spent our last night." In BC, the Brown Road home was the family's first. Its street addresswas 4040 Brown Road, legally described as "the south half of Block 2,of the southwest quarter of Section 34, Township 10, Map 574, Districtof New Westminster. On 1953 February 1, Johann and Anna sold it toPeter and Anne Heppner (Agreement for Sale of Land). The obituary submitted to the Mennonitische Rundshau (27 May 1953) by"The Family" in Abbotsford, British Columbia is loosely translated as: "The Lord over life and death has taken my beloved husband, Johann W.Rempel, home after a many-year, painful illness. He is taken to theplace where there is no pain or sorrow. "My husband was born in Jazekovo, Morosovo. He borrowed 77 years, 5months and 26 days. He leaves behind from his first marriage withKahtarina Epp a son and five daughrrs;and from a second marriage withAnna Katler, one son. "He is grieved by his wife, two sons, five daughters, and 12grandchildren." He died in his sleep after several days of difficult breathing. Johann's death record (British Columbia, 1953, No. 53-09-004368)indicates that he died of uraemia (3 days' duration), due to/or aconsequence of glomerilonephritis (six years' duration), and"senility" was recorded as "conributing to the death, but not relatedto the disease or condtiion causing it").
Charles
Hansen
