• Arnold ja Heli Rakfeldt
    Country of Origin: Sweden Ship Name: Aquitania Date of Arrival: November 22, 1949 Our journey to Canada, myself (Arnold ja Heli), Ilmar, and Miralda Rakfeldt and children, Helle, Tiia and Jaak Rakfeldt began on November 14, 1949 from Stockholm to Goteborg, Sweden from there to London, England where …
  • George S and Geraldine G Zwaagstra
    … Tjerkwerd, The Netherlands on April 27, 1951 aboard the Georgic with his parents Sjouke and Anna Zwaagstra and younger brother Broer (Gerald). His older brother Pier (Peter) arrived at Pier 21 on March 29, 1950 …
  • Canadian Citizenship Act, 1946
    The Canadian Citizenship Act came into effect on 1 January 1947 under the government of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. The act established Canadian citizenship as a distinct category and allowed residents of Canada to obtain citizenship regardless of their country of origin. [1] Prior …
  • Helle, Tiia ja Jaak Rakfeldt
    … Arrival: November 22, 1949 Our journey to Canada, myself ( Arnold ja Heli ), Ilmar, and Miralda Rakfeldt and children, Helle, Tiia and Jaak … and hope that I would be reunited with my wife and children and that this obstacle would also be resolved. I was struck with the curious … off schedule and we finally arrived in St. Catharines on November 25-26th 1949. Our reason for coming to Canada and leaving Sweden was …
  • Ilmar ja Miralda Rakfeldt
    Country of Origin: Sweden Ship Name: Aquitania Date of Arrival: November 22, 1949 Our journey to Canada, myself ( Arnold ja Heli ), Ilmar, and Miralda Rakfeldt and children, Helle, Tiia and Jaak Rakfeldt began on November 14, 1949 from Stockholm to Goteborg, Sweden from there to London, England …
  • Erika Hertel Danner
    … Halifax, Nova Scotia Date of Arrival: March 31, 1960 Age on Arrival: 26 Erika Hertel was born Sept 23, 1934, the oldest of four siblings. Walli, the … mother did not leave. She was afraid that her husband would not find his family when he returned from the war. Erika’s family lived in … Erika Hertel Danner …
  • Archimede, Dina and John
    … World War II had finally ended and horizons of hope beckoned beyond the mountains and coastlines of Italy. Having been sponsored by Uncle … my 27 year old father, Archimede Altorio, left the familiarity of his native Aielli in the Abruzzi Region of Italy, to cross the Atlantic … to begin establishing himself in this new land. On June 14, 1950, 26 year old Dina and 22 months old Giovanino (John) disembarked at Pier …
  • Postwar Immigration through Pier 21
    … by Jan Raska, PhD, Historian (Updated October 26, 2020) Introduction V-E (Victory in Europe) Day, May 8, 1945, marked …
  • Yolan Bencsik
    … Families 1956 We huddled each night around our radios giving us the news from Budapest. I saw five pointed stars in our town square, … of life and often times taking only a slice of bread with lard as his lunch. Our landlord accused my father of threatening to shoot his … a cot in our kitchen. My sister Eva (Erdos) who was six years old and I, who was eight at the time, were told that we were going to visit our …
  • Refuge Canada
    … lives and often dangerous voyages in search of refuge. Canada has provided that refuge for many. However, over the course of the twentieth century, Canada has had a mixed record in welcoming refugees, reacting generously to …