• Mark, Edna and Keith Brain
    … discovered a very long queue. Keith, who had been very good, was by this time very tired and very upset and was almost hysterical. A short … eggs for breakfast every morning. Soup, chicken, vegetables, sweet and ice cream for lunch. For dinner, we were served turkey, vegetables, … would have liked more but after paying 40 pounds each boat fare and 26 pounds each train fare, we had very little money to spare for …
  • 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 …
  • 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 …
  • How eating dirt shaped one man's relationship with food
    … and sugar so that you can quench your hunger." Other times, he and his brother stole crackers from market stalls. Or they fashioned … into the orphanage, he was thrilled to have regular food to eat. This experience marked him. "My favourite food by far is rice and beans … moved with them to Lower Sackville, NS. “It blew my mind” Of course, this brought a change in all aspects of his life, including the way he …
  • 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 …
  • John and Kirsten Karding
    … Emigrant ship Goteborg ship at Pier 21. Twenty-seven years earlier they were born in Denmark, John in Central, and Kirsten in the northwest Jutland peninsula. On January 26th, 1922, John was born Johannes Therkelsen, the youngest of four, in … village named Hygum fifteen kilometres from the town of Vejle. In 1944 his father passed away after suffering 20 years from virus …
  • Steven F. and Margaret S.
    … Steven F. Kucha, Jr. (Istvan Kucsa, Jr.) left from his homeland of Fot, Hungary, with his mother (Mary), and sailed from Antwerp on the ship called the Minnedosa …
  • 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 …
  • 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 …
  • How eating dirt shaped one man's relationship with food
    … and sugar so that you can quench your hunger." Other times, he and his brother stole crackers from market stalls. Or they fashioned … into the orphanage, he was thrilled to have regular food to eat. This experience marked him. "My favourite food by far is rice and beans … moved with them to Lower Sackville, NS. “It blew my mind” Of course, this brought a change in all aspects of his life, including the way he …