Jutta Rahn's Story

When we arrived by train in Windsor in July, 1952 from Quebec City, we were greeted by Mr. Alexander Fischer, MCC representative and Mr. Nick P. Tiessen and son Hardy. (The Tiessen brothers Frank, Nick and Jacob P. and Tina and their families welcomed us to their farms. )They came to pick us up with quite a large stake truck but it held mainly family members and Hardy because our Hab und Gut (belongings) were minimal. Our family now included six siblings: Axel was born in 1951 in Kiel, West

On a cold, frozen night in January, 1945, a five year old girl slept in the warmth of the only home she had known. She was unaware of the global tempest spinning around her which would soon change her life forever.

The young girl and her family lived comfortably on a prosperous farm near Doerbeck in Prussia, present day Poland. Her home was rich with a German Mennonite culture, heritage and traditions.

She knew her father had left years before, conscripted into the German army, but was blissfully unaware that he was in a Russian prisoner of War Camp in Siberia. Her bed was warm and her mother, Oma, older brother and her three sisters were safe and with her.

Suddenly fate entered her room, her home, her life. The Russians were coming. It was time to flee for their lives.

Soon she was on the road with her fatherless family. She could take only what her small arms could carry. The toys, books and pretty clothes were all left behind.

Following her mother, who carried her three-year-old sister on her back, she walked desperate miles on a crowded desperate road filled with desperate people. She saw bright flares suddenly illuminate the dark night sky. At first she thought they were beautiful, but then she would hear the roar of Russian planes as they fired seemingly endless rounds into the fleeing, frightened and screaming people.

For five days they walked, cold, starving and so afraid, seeking shelter in abandoned homes until they reached the surrounding port city of Danzig. For days they waited in the burning city, hiding in cellars from the air bombardment.

Finally, a ship arrived take them to Denmark and life. The family was excited to secure passage on a retrofitted ship, the Gustoff, which would take them out of Danzig - destination: Unknown. In what seemed a tragic twist of fate, the little girl became sick with the measles, and the whole family was forced to remain in the beleaguered city of Danzig.

As fate would have it, the ship the Gustoff was sunk, trying to cross the near frozen Baltic, with the loss of over 6,000 lives, but that young girl and her family were not aboard. In a near miracle this young girl and her family were again able to secure passage on another ship, and survived the dangerous, crowded, dirty voyage out of Danzig to Denmark.

This five year old girl was, and is, my Oma, my grandmother.

After a lengthy stay in that refugee camp in Denmark, the family found it's way back to relatives in Germany. They had predetermined an address, a "safe haven" so to speak, where they would meet up in the event of a separation. It was through the efforts of many letters and with the help of the Red Cross, that this family was reunited with their father. He had been released from the Siberian Prisoner of War camp.

He then walked, hopped trains, and stumbled his way across Russia back to Germany. He had left for the war weighing 220 pounds. He returned weighing 99 pounds. The Russians let him go because my great-grandfather was sick with malaria.

While in Denmark, Oma's family received a Care package sent through the Mennonite Central Committee. Inside was precious food and clothing. It was better than any birthday present. The package included a name and address of the kind benefactor, a thoughtful, generous family from Ruthven, Ontario.

Against their will the reunited family returned to Communist East Germany. Soon, discovering that there was no life for them there, they planned a dramatic escape. The family was split into two groups. If one group was captured, the other group might make it. At least some would have freedom.

Under cover of night, my Oma and her team crossed a stream, and snuck past the armed guards into West Germany. Her father returned for the three remaining family members. On the second crossing, her baby sister cried and they were discovered; taking pity on them, the guard allowed them to cross.

Years were spent living with seven other families on a farm estate near Kiel in West Germany. The country was devastated by war. The infrastructure and basic economy was destroyed. Life was a bare existence. Still, the government organized schools. However, only the best students were allowed to attend a school of higher learning. After ten days of exams and testing, my Oma was asked to attend the gymnasium in Ploen.

Life was hard in post war Europe and my Oma's father searched for the chance of a better life. Seeing that chance in Canada, he grasped the assistance of the MCC and the CPR to obtain passage on a ship, the Beaverbrae. In 1952, as so many other immigrants had, the family landed in Quebec City, Canada.

Pure chance placed the young family in Leamington, Ontario, on a farm on Concession one. The family struggled with the language, with having lost everything, but having life, peace, and an unlimited opportunity to build a new successful life.

My Oma has always kept the heritage and traditions that she knew as that five year old girl alive.

I have been blessed to travel with my Oma to Germany twice. Soon, I hope to travel with Oma back to that farmhouse near Doerbeck in Prussia and meet and share memories with that little five-year-old girl.

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