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Abram and Aganetha (Reimer) Friesen family fonds
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8 cm of textual records
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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.
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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
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50 % in Gothic script
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Name access points
- Wall, Anna (Friesen), 1912-1997 (Subject)
- Letkeman, Anne (Braun), 1924- (Subject)