This fonds consists of family documents, unpublished genealogies, a computer database and 83 photographs. Many of the genealogies are computer generated reports based on data that Ed Schellenberg collected and compiled for himself and others interested in Mennonite family history. Some of surnames of the families he researched included Schellenberg, Rempel, Braun, Barkman, Falk, Schlabach, Warkentin and Reimer.

This fonds contains documents pertaining to the life of William Hespeler, such as confirmation of attending the Polytechnic Institute in Karlsruhe (1847-1849), of deferment from military service in 1850, of immigration to Canada, and of naturalization as a British subject. The fonds includes the items taken to Russia in 1872 (i.e. responses from Ottawa to the Russian Mennonite inquiries about priveledges been sought such as exemption from military service). The fonds also contains various items with the autographs of individuals such as Otto von Bismark, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia, and the British monarch, Queen Victoria. The documents pertain to Hespeler's service to Canada or Germany.

The contents of the materials are largely sermons written by the two men. Other materials include a diary of David Stoesz, correspondence, church material and personal material. Some of the material has been microfilmed. See Microfilm # 91.

This fonds contains a series of journals begun in Russia in 1908 and continued in Canada after 1923. Parts were written while the writer was still living in Nikolaifeld, then Arkadak, and finally in Hanley, Saskatchewan. There are transcriptions and translations with the materials which were completed by the MHC volunteer staff Jake Friesen in 2008.
File list:
Volume 5661
Heinrich Riediger (1884-1954) diaries

1. Henry Riediger Diary. -- Jan. 1908- Sept. 1909. [transcription only]. [Original was not donated.]
2. Henry Riediger diary original, transcription and translation. -- Sept – Dec. 1909.
3. Henry Riediger diary original, transcription and translation. -- 1914-1915.
4. Henry Riediger diary original, transcription and translation. -- 1915-1916.
5. Henry Riediger diary original, transcription and translation. -- 1925-1926.
6. Henry Riediger diary original, transcription and translation. -- 1928-1929.
7. Henry Riediger diary original, transcription and translation. -- 1930-1931.
8. Henry Riediger diary original, transcription and translation. -- 1932-1933.

This fonds contains a ledger containing family and genealogical data, including some church transfer documents, 16 sermon booklets and additional loose pages, a personal date book (Christliches Vergissmeinnicht), and several other documents created or collected by Peter J. Dyck. There is an English translation of a sermon written by P.J. Dyck on the occasion of the "sudden and self-inflicted death of a person whose passing causes the bereaved great sorrow" which is of note.

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.

This fonds contains mainly letters received from siblings who remained in the homeland (Russia/Soviet Union) written in the post-revolution era, after Johann J. and Helena Wiens immigrated to Canada. The letters describe experiences of family, exile and complete disruption of their way of life as the communist regime developed. There is a 19-year period of no letter exchange beginning in 1937 when Stalin initiated an horrendous purge of anyone that might be a threat to his regime. After Stalin's death, things began to change slowly, and starting in 1956 contact was again established and another series of letter were exchanged. This fonds includes letters which Johann received from his sister Anna Siemens, his brother Jacob's family, his brother Peter Wiens and his sister Liese Letkemann. There are also some letters from relatives, David and Justina Kasper, Gertrude (Enns) Regehr and others. In addition to the letters from Russia, this fonds also contain two notebooks -- one consisting of the Wiens family register compiled by Johann J. Wiens, and the other a 1948 trip diary and address book created by Helena Wiens.

This fond consists of letters, poems, and other written excerpts which were received and preserved by the family of Cornelius and Elisabeth Froese. The items give a picture of life in the former Soviet Union during the 1930s. They show the sense of dire poverty, poor crops, and loss of property and goods. They speak of life working in a collective farm and the difficulties created when the required food or fees could not be raised. One letter comes from Brazil, where another family member emigrated. A few letters seems to be from a later period when it was possible to travel between the USSR and Canada and visit relatives. Two letters were translated by John Froese (1924-2012). The remainder of the items were translated by the Mennonite Heritage Centre volunteer Ed Enns in 2012.

This fonds consists of a set of personal journals from 1936 to 2011, which records people that visited, places she visited and the activities of those she lived close to. There is also a series of notebooks containing personal notes, sometimes attending to loved ones who were in the last days of life in the hospital. Contained in this fonds are also some items which she acquired from her father, mother, sisters and brothers, as well as some person memorabalia like a recipe book, book of her school art work and the record of her baptism. A significant item is the friendship book started by her grandparents, Jacob J. and Elizabeth Loewen, which contains birth, marriage and death dates of many friends and family members. The fonds also contains several hundred letters which she received from her parents, siblings and friends.

This fonds consists of a transcription of Rempel’s war diary, autobiography, published and unpublished Low German stories and poems including a partial translation of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. The material captures Low German stories, prose, and proverbs and provides context for Rempel’s life experience.