Family history and family stories fascinate me―they always have. To gather these stories and learn the history of my Mennonite ancestors I have read books, interviewed, and travelled to the Ukraine, Mexico and across Western Canada.
Occasionally, I have written a short story to share with a few family members, or prepared a talk to share at a family reunion. In 2014, I sat down and began to pull together all that I had discovered about my Friesen ancestors and wrote my first book, Johann Friesen of Poland and His Descendants – Telling Their Stories.
Johann Friesen of Poland, by Henry A. Friesen. Submitted photo.
Reading about Poland – its economic, political and religious environment – and then imagining how my earliest-known Friesen ancestor, Johann Friesen, lived in that milieu was a good starting point. What followed was the story of the next generation’s migration to South Russia (Ukraine) and the development of the Mennonite community there over the next 100 years. I unearthed the heart-wrenching story of my great, great grandparents leaving their homeland in Russia and travelling halfway around the world to begin life as pioneers on the Canadian prairies.
Open Wide Your Heart, by Henry A. Friesen.
In the fall of 2015, I turned my attention to the stories of my mother’s ancestors, the Rempels. I began with their life in Poland, then South Russia and their epic journey to Canada in 1878. But the more I wrote, the more I realized that it was my Grandpa’s story that I wanted to tell. His choices intrigued me. His decision to stay in Canada in 1922, when almost all of his family and many of their contemporaries emigrated to Mexico, captivated me.
Henry A. Friesen, author of Johann Friesen of Poland and His Descendants and Open Wide Your Heart.
The stories that emerged from the 1930s include two tragic deaths: Grandma (Katharina) in 1933 and the youngest of the children, Susanna, in 1936. These huge losses, coupled with the dire farming conditions of the Depression years, made my Grandpa’s life very hard. I was surprised to learn though that my surviving aunts and uncles had many positive memories of this time, a time when their father was a single parent and nurtured them into adulthood. The character of my Grandpa shone through their stories. He was a generous and thoughtful parent, and for this reason, I placed his portrait on the front cover and called the book Open Wide Your Heart.
My website, www.henryfriesen.com provides more information about these books and includes links for on-line purchases from McNally Robinson. Johann Friesen of Poland is $16.95 and Open Wide Your Heart is $25.
