Imagine an interviewer approached you today and asked you to tell your life story: what would you say?
As GCS’ former project assistant, a key part of what I did was process Oral History interviews, particularly life story interviews, which emphasize the whole of one’s life rather than centering on a specific period or theme. Many of the interviewees were German migrants who discussed their experiences during the Second World War and the postwar period, and their arrival and early life in Canada.
I find life story interviews fascinating, because they reveal much about lived experiences and the way we form narratives about the past as we become further removed from the events themselves.
But consider the enormity of attempting to sum up a lifetime of moments— and what if you have never told all or parts of your story before? It’s understandable, then, that these interviews can range from just a few hours to many hours over multiple sessions; it all depends on the individual and what they decide to share.
Not long ago, I finished processing a particularly interesting interview with “Wilhelm Fahrer” (a pseudonym due to copyright,) conducted by Alexander Freund in Edmonton, Alberta in 1996. What struck me first was the sheer multitude and variety of experiences Fahrer chose to share during his interview—conducted over two sessions and about six hours—and his excellent storytelling ability. He spoke at length about his training and duties as an officer and lieutenant in the German armed forces between 1943 and 1945; his close combat with Red Army soldiers and resulting injury in 1944; and experiences which shaped his youth and years abroad in the United States and Canada.
Fahrer was interned at an American prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in 1945, and it was there that he learned more about ‘America’; he was taken in by the idea of the freedom and independence, both personal and financial, he thought he might find there.
When the American occupation ended, Fahrer was transferred to a British POW camp. Upon his release and completion of his Oberschule education, he enrolled in the Pädagogische Hochschule in Kiel. Through the university’s partnership with Bethel College, a Mennonite post-secondary institution in the United States, Fahrer studied abroad for two years and gained new perspectives on faith, freedom, and identity. Being German in the United States so soon after the end of the Second World War was at times a difficult experience. Through personal research, including a visit to the Hoover Library in California, Fahrer was able to learn about the war from different perspectives and gain a broader understanding of its consequences.
Fahrer returned home to Germany and completed his Jugendarbeit (volunteer work experience) with Mennonite organizations in Berlin and Hamburg. But he felt the pull to move to North America, where he saw a better, more stable future and more opportunities for adventure and growth which were not present in Germany during that period. The United States was not the destination this time, however; the family had settled on Canada, which was calling for foreign labour, particularly in the farming and lumber industries.
In 1952, Fahrer, along with his parents and older sister, immigrated to Leamington, Ontario sponsored by the Canadian Christian Council for the Resettlement of Refugees (CCCRR) and the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC.) They worked on a Mennonite family’s farm, where Fahrer had a contract, but were unable to adapt to their employer’s much stricter observance of Mennonite values and the contract ended early. Fahrer, being the sole provider, took on odd jobs as a labourer and salesman to support his family. He later returned to university, received his teaching doctorate, and worked as a professor until his retirement.
This brief glimpse into a lifetime full of memories emphasizes just how detailed life story interviews can get. These interviews offer so much insight into the perspectives of each interviewee—how they view the world, how they render the past, and what they deem worth telling—and hold so much value in shaping the stories of the future. Fahrer’s story resonated with me because of his ability to convey truly difficult experiences in a matter-of-fact, sometimes even lighthearted way, and his conversational manner makes this interview a fascinating one to listen to and read.
Stay tuned for Wilhelm Fahrer’s interview, which will be available at the University of Winnipeg’s Oral History Centre in the near future. Want to learn more about Oral History in the meantime? Visit the Oral History Centre’s website here and check out www.whattheycanteachus.ca to read and listen to the stories of four German immigrant women who came to Canada in the 1950s.
German-Canadian Studies 