The wedding of Elisabeth Stobbe and Dietrich Baerg in the 1930s at Schönau, Molotschna Colony. Dietrich’s sister Lena (Helena) Baerg stands to the left of the bride. On the far right is her sister, Agnes Baerg. The two young women in the middle are not identified. Dietrich and Lena were Alida’s mother’s maternal cousins. The parents of Dietrich and Lena were Heinrich Baerg and Aganetha (Schellenberg) Baerg, formerly of Tiegenhagen.
The Heinrich Unruh Family, parents and 8 children, their ages given in brackets. Seated (left to right): David (20); the mother, Maria (nee Schellenberg); the father, Heinrich (59); Abraham (14). Standing (left to right): Maria (11); Peter (16); Erna Neumann (wife of David); Anna (25), Alida’s mother; Helena (26); Heinrich (23); Kaethe (10). Alida’s grandfather, Heinrich Unruh, returned home to his family on Dec. 31, 1938 after enduring 6 years of hard labour in a prison camp (Gefangenschaft). The entire family had suffered serious consequences due to his imprisonment. The four oldest siblings had to work at manual labour however received only 50% of their wages because they were considered “enemies of the people”. Ten-year-old Kaethe has the distended belly of malnutrition. She was also quite ashamed of her underpants, which were her brother’s cut-off pants and are visible under the dress. This photo was published in: Harry Loewen, ed. Road to Freedom, Mennonites Escape the Land of Suffering (Kitchener (Ontario): Pandora Press, 2000), p.66.
A sewing class in the home of the instructor in Tiegenhagen, Molotschna Colony. Alida’s mother, Anna Unruh is seated at her sewing machine on the left. The other young women in the class are: (clockwise, left to right) Alice Hiller, ?Froescher, Herta Dause, Lena Suderman, the instructor, Irma Martens, ? Kasianj. The name of the young woman seated in the front is not known.
The young Unruh family in Tiegenhagen, Molotschna Colony, Ukraine. Heinrich and Maria Unruh, grandparents of Alida, are pictured with (left to right) Helene aged 3, baby Heinrich 6 months, and two year old Anna (mother of Alida). This photo was taken when grandfather had come home on leave from the medical corps during WW I.
Formal portrait of Anna and David Penner, a wealthy couple of Lindenau, Molotschna Colony, Ukraine. In 1891 they took Alida’s grandfather, Heinrich Unruh of Gnadental into their home as a foster child who could work for them. Heinrich was 11 years old at the time. His father had died two years earlier. His mother (Alida’s great-grandmother) and the three younger of Heinrich’s 10 siblings remained in Gnadental, some distance away. Heinrich probably did not see them often after coming to live with Anna and David Penner.
The 18 year old Abraham Unruh, Alida’s maternal uncle, is seated with his guitar. Abraham was the brother of Anna Unruh, Alida’s mother. The photo was taken Aug. 22, 1943 and sent to Anna Unruh who was living in Leipzig, Germany at that time. Abraham changed his name to Adolf under the German occupation of the Ukraine.
This photo of the Halbstaedter Musikverein (Halbstadt, Molotschna Colongy, Ukraine) was taken in Halbstadt circa 1908 and given to Alida Unruh’s grandmother, Frau Heinrich Unruh, on her birthday, January 14, 1914 by her brother David Schellenberg, a horn player who is wearing a light suit and is seated in the second row. This unique photo has survived two world wars and The Great Trek out of Russia in 1943.
The name on the building is: "Товарищество Я. И. Пеккеръ И Сыновья / J. A. Pekker und Söhne" (Partnership of J. A. Pekker and sons). Workers are standing in front of the building. Jakob Barkowsky, Rita's grandfather was the son of Michael Barkowsky, who was apparently very poor and died while quite young. Of the four children, only the youngest was able to remain with the mother. Jakob was taken in by a Pekker family in Tiegenhagen for whom he then worked.
A group of young women. Rita's great-aunt, Anna Letkemann sister of her grandmother, Maria (Letkemann) Barkowsky is second from the right in the front row. As a single woman, Anna Letkemann was sent to Siberia and came to Canada in the 1940s.
A women's spa called Eupatoria in Maynaki (name of the local place). Women came here for mud baths to improve their health. This postcard was sent to "Gatchen" (Agatha Barkowsky, mother of Rita (Krahn) Reimer, in 1921 for her tenth birthday. The writer encourages "Gatchen" not to give up but continue to be a support to her parents in these difficult times.
Postcard sent to Fischau, Molochna in 1904 to the family of Peter Barkowsky, uncle of Rita's mother, Agatha Barkowsky. This and the following postcards were in the possession of Agatha Barkowsky. When they were forced off their property in Fuerstenau, Agatha and her family, the Barkowskys' moved to Halbstadt to live with Agatha's maternal grandparents, the Letkemann's.
The family of Johann J. (Jakob) and Susanna Riediger are in front of their home with their covered carriage and some of their horses. This photo might have been taken when one or both of the married daughters, Margaretha (Riediger) married to Alexander Fischer and Mariechen (Riediger) Hildebrand left the Ukraine with their husbands. Perhaps one of these couples is standing in front of the horse at the right. The man 2nd from left beside the team of horses could be Johann J. (Jakob) Riediger.
