The year was 1954 when Hildegard Neeth and her family immigrated from Germany to Canada. Before immigrating to Canada, Hildegard and her family witnessed a lot of death and destruction, when fleeing from her birth city, Königsberg which was a city taken over by the Soviet Red Army in 1945. From Königsberg they fled to the city Duisburg which they later immigrated from in 1954.

This is a map of Königsberg from 1940. 

Not long after the war many people wanted to leave Germany because they worried another war would start. This was one of the reasons Hildegard and her family left Germany in 1954. Another reason they wanted to leave was that they were scared that Hildegard's brother, Bruno would be forced to become a soldier to fight another war. They also did not feel safe with the presence of Russian soldiers in parts of Germany, including where they were living at the time.

When Hildegard and her family began the process of immigrating they were given a choice between Australia or Canada.

When it came to deciding where they wanted to immigrate, Hildegard and her family chose Canada. There are many major pull factors that made them choose Canada, the first one being the freedom in Canada, that Germany had lacked because of the expulsion of German's by the Soviet Union.

Hildegard's mom and dad, Gertrud and Arno wanted their family to immigrate from Germany to Canada so they could provide them with a better life allowing for a fresh start.

The third reason they came to Canada was the safety and security it offered. After the war Germany was a devastated, dangerous country that had a collapsed economy, with many cities in ruins. This led to the country being very unsecure and unstable for people to live in. That's why they felt Canada would be a good place to go.

The final reason they came to Canada was that Hildegard and her siblings still wanted to experience the changing of seasons and snow.

Hildegard and her family began their journey to Canada on a ship. The ship took 9 days to get to Quebec, from there they took a train to Winnipeg.

When Hildegard came to Winnipeg she faced many challenges with adjusting to her new life. Three of the main challenges that she faced were leaving behind her extended family in Germany, being bullied and made fun of for being a displaced person, and finally having to learn English. Not knowing the language caused lots of barriers for her in school.

Although it was hard for Hildegard and her family to adjust there were many benefits they got from immigrating to Canada. They no longer had to worry about a war and being unsafe. There was a stable and growing economy in Canada. Finally, growing up in Canada allowed Hildegard and her family to have a promising future. She eventually met her husband, Edward who also immigrated from Germany to Canada and raised a family of their own.

This is the story of how  Hildegard Roeder came to Canada, and how I became a third generation immigrant.

German Culture

Clothing

Women traditionally wear dresses called dirndls, a dirndl is a skirt, bodice and apron. Everyday clothing is well-made, simple and comfortable.