Fonds MHC 1 - Abram and Aganetha (Reimer) Friesen family fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Abram and Aganetha (Reimer) Friesen family fonds

General material designation

Parallel title

Other title information

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

CA MHCA MHC 1

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

Physical description area

Physical description

8 cm of textual records

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

Parallel titles of publisher's series

Other title information of publisher's series

Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

Numbering within publisher's series

Note on publisher's series

Archival description area

Name of creator

(1870-2001)

Biographical history

Abram Friesen (1870-1943), Mennonite farmer, born in Berdjansk, Russia married in 1896 to Aganetha Reimer (1872-1924) born in Fernheim, Crimea. They had 9 children born to them in Ogus-Tobe, Crimea between 1897 and 1914. They were: Heinrich Friesen (1897-1919); Sara Friesen (1899-1968) married to Jacob Braun of Tiegenhagen, Molotschna, S. Russia; Helene Friesen (1902-1982) married to Abram Dueck; Peter Friesen (1903-1977) married to Eva Sudermann of Berdjansk; Renate Friesen (1906-1987) married to Peter Dueck; Gerhard Friesen (1907-1937); Mariechen Friesen (1909-2001) married to Hans Federau; Anna Friesen (1912-1997) married to Jacob Wall; and, Katherina Friesen (1914-1928). Jacob and Sara (Friesen) Braun lived in Tiegenhagen, Molotschna (S. Russia) until they immigrated to Canada in 1925 where they settled at Ste. Elizabeth, Manitoba. The rest of the Friesen family remained in the Soviet Union. Heinrich disappeared in 1919 after the Russian Revolution. Gerhard disappeared in 1937 in Siberia where he had been sent to work in the forest. With the changes during the early years of the new Soviet regime in the 1920s, Abram Friesen with some of his family was sent to Siberia in 1930, where he died in 1943. The family maintained letter contact with Jacob and Anna (Friesen) Braun in Canada from 1921 to 1938. In 1956 contact was again established between family members in the Soviet Union and the Braun family in Manitoba. Letters written mainly by Helene (Friesen) Dueck, Renate (Friesen) Dueck, Anna (Friesen) Wall and Peter Friesen were received from 1956 to 1982. Anna (Friesen) Braun died in 1968 in Manitoba. Jacob Braun visited visited many of these family members in the Soviet Union on a tour in 1971. The correspondence ceased shortly after Helene (Friesen) Dueck passed away in 1982. A few letters were exchanged after that. Anna (Friesen) Wall, the last of the siblings, died in 2001.

Custodial history

Anne (Braun) Letkeman acquired the letters from her parents and siblings.

Scope and content

This fonds consists of two sections of letters which Jacob and Sara Braun received from the Friesen family. The first section dated 1921 to 1938 were received from the Friesen family in Ogus Tobe, Crimea, first while living in Tiegenhagen (Ukraine) and then after 1925 while living at Ste. Elizabeth, Manitoba. The second section dated 1956 to 1982 are letters written mainly by Helene Dueck, Renate Dueck, Peter Friesen and Anna Wall in the Soviet Union to Jacob and Sara Braun in Manitoba. The letters are arranged chronologically by year. The letters provide a view of how one immigrant family to Canada remained in contact with the family members left in the home country. They also provide a view of how one family experienced life in the Soviet Union from 1921 to 1982.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Anne Letkeman of Winnipeg

Arrangement

Arranged and described by Alf Redekopp, July 27, 2011.

Language of material

  • German

Script of material

  • Gothic

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Finding aids

Associated materials

Related materials

Accruals

Language of material note

50 % in Gothic script

Alternative identifier(s)

Standard number area

Standard number

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Control area

Description record identifier

Institution identifier

Rules or conventions

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Language of description

Script of description

Sources

Accession area

Related subjects

Related people and organizations

Related places

Related genres

physical storage

  • Box: Volume 5552-5553