This photo is of the former clock factory owned by the Kroeger family. The one and a half story building is surrounded with a metal fence. a white car is parked in the drive on the right.
This photo is of members on the tour lead by William Schroeder to Russia on a boat going around the Isle of Chortitza. People are sitting in benches on the top deck.
This photo is of the junction of the Dnieper and Chortitza river. Arid looking hills with a few trees are seen along the shoreline. A small shelter can be seen on the rocky shore.
This photo is of a former Mennonite teacher's college (Chortitza Zentralschule) in the village of Chortitza. It is still being used as a school. It is made of red bricks and has pictures of Lenin beside the door. Green shrubs and trees hide part of the building.
This photo is a combination of three photos pieced together by photographer Bill Schroeder on one of his trips/tours of the Ukraine. A road is in the foreground and a low fence surrounds the oak tree. Inside the fence is a few boulders and grass. Behind the grass in the background are smaller trees and a woman a small structure. A modern building can be seen through the trees on the far right in the back. -- Note: this photo is over sized. Bill Schroeder's comments on this picture are: The famous old oak in the village of Chortitza provided shelter for the first Mennonite immigrants from the Vistula Delta in 1789. The tree is estimated to be about seven hundred years old. It had a height of thirty-six meters (115 feet). The crown had a diameter of forty-three meters (137 feet ), and the trunk had a diameter of about 3.4 meters (about 11 feet). The shape of its leaves was similar through slightly smaller then the leaves of the burr oak common in the prairie states and provinces in North America. Because of its size, great age and unusual shape the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who live in that area till 1774, considered this oak to be sacred. The practice of worshiping an oak tree was a carry-over from per-Christian times (988) when Slavic people worshiped Perun and Svantovit. This magnificent oak served as a natural monument for many years. It was protected by the state and served as a popular tourist attraction. Unfortunately the old oak died during the 1990s. (William Schroeder). See MHC 631.6 for enhanced version.
The photos in this collection are from the Klaas Kroeker family. Klaas came from Chortitza, Chortitza colony Russia to Canada in 1903 and settled in Lost River, Saskatchewan after a brief stay at his brother's (Jacob Kroeker) in Reinland, Manitoba. Other members of Klass Kroeker's family came to Canada in 1925. These photos are a collection of family photos.
This photo is a portrait of Nicholas J. Kroeker (1905-), also known as N.J. Kroeker, standing behind his mother Anna Kroeker (nee Anna Schellenberg) (1876-). This photo was taken shortly before they immigrated to Canada. Anna died in Lost River, Saskatchewan and Nichlas (Klaas Kroeker) died in Vancover, BC in 1983.
This photo is a portrait of, left to right, top row David K. Kroeker (1875-), Jacob K. Kroeker (1870-1905). Front row, Maria Kroeker (nee Maria Koslowski (1833-1911), and Klaas Kroeker (1828-1914). This photo was taken in Russia. The family moved to Canada in 1903, Jacob returned to Russia to marry Anna Schellenberg. They had one son. When Jacob died in 1905, Anna and son Nicholai moved to Canada in 1925. Klaas is a brother to Jacob Kroeker (1836-1914) from Reinland, Manitoba. Klaas and his family stayed for a short time with brother Jacob when they came in 1903 to Canada, before relocating to Lost River, Saskatchewan.
This is a photo of the Bethania Hospital for the mentally ill, located near the Dnieper River in the Chortitza Colony between the settlements of Einlage and Kronsweide.
Black and white photo. On left is woman dressed in long, dark, striped dress. She is wearing a light-coloured, floor-length veil, with decoration at the top of the veil. She is holding the elbow of a man who is dressed a dark suit with flowers and a light-coloured ribbon attached to his lapel. He has a goatee and is resting his left hand on the corner of something that is on the right edge of the photograph. Note on back reads: "Mr. & Mrs. Peter Regier Chortitza 20.10.1891" and at bottom "A. P. Regier - Virgil, Ont."
Black and white photo. Young child in casket with eyes half open and mouth partially open. Right hand visible along edge of casket. Ribbons, flowers, and greenery along bottom edge of casket. Head is resting on light-coloured pillow, with light-coloured clothes on child. Note on back of photo reads: Mein Bruder Peter P. Regier 18 Chortitza 15.4 1898. A.P.R.
