Uta Maria Heine Sonier

Of Coming Into My Inheritance (Pier 21, Halifax in February 1952)

New beginnings in a new country in a new year.
Mother busy with us, visas, and the packages
Rolled down the gangplank in baby’s ancient carriage.
Helpful hands pushed us onwards to the railroad station
Into the Traveller’s Aid office that became Heaven.
Nursery rhymes on the walls that I copied,
Not understanding them, but they spoke to me.

We three spent but a few hours in this safe, warm haven;
We had a train to catch that would carry us to Dad.
On the platform, flashing like a beacon, was a showcase
With pairs of shoes, bright and eye-catching like butterflies.
In this sooty place they were like a promise of spring.
Mother said that they were much too old and expensive for me;
I did not agree and promised myself that some day
I would walk through life on only those kinds of shoes.

Onwards we were swept in our berths towards Toronto.
Mother had lost sight of baby’s buddy and treasures.
Once the train stopped during the night and she had to leave
To buy us sandwiches at one of the railroad stations.
First taste of Canadian bread and peanut butter.
Laughing, she called it cotton batten bread, it was so soft.
She was happy, for they had understood her
High-school English at the cafeteria.

We had not seen Dad since he had left a year ago
To see if the soil was good to plant his family in.
I could hardly wait to show off how well I had learned
To play the flute since he had left us in Germany.
And now he was coming to meet us in Toronto.
He had brought along Blue Danish cheese sandwiches.
I loved him so much, I said that I loved them too.
Together once more, we went on to Windsor.

On arrival Mother found Thomas’ buggy again.
She never knew how it had reached its destination.
Not even a package or a pillow was missing,
Pillows that had been stuffed with the feathers of her geese!
What kinds of people were these people of Canada
That did not take our things, even when they had the chance?
And so, at that C.N.R. station, we all started to grow the fragile rootlet of trust.

Mercer, Ouellette, Tuscarora: such strange names were these.
Across the street from us was the grocery store Hassan.
They let me shop there all by myself on the first day.
“Salt, salt, salt,” I whispered, running there so I wouldn’t forget.
Old Mrs. Hassan called me, the child stranger, “Honey.”
I asked Dad what that meant, and he told me, “Honig.”
Another one of my roots started to sprout
Deep into Canada’s soil so full of kindness.

Our superintendent let me make a garden
Just like the one I had left behind in Germany.
There I made friends with Grace who gave me a rubber ball.
I lost it and have almost forgotten my first friend,
But she made another root to catch hold and grow.
For it was her dark hand that led me to school
And taught me many words I am writing now
And made it hurt less when I was called a D.P.

Canada’s soil is rich with potential, but it needs
So many roots to hold it down and make it richer,
Or else the topsoil will become dry and blow away.
Canada has made the promise of the shoes come true.
But then I did not step before her empty-handed
For I came bearing the heritage of my fathers.
She will let me give her my love and my trust
And so let me come into my inheritance.

Written by: Uta Maria Sonier (née Heine; 1941-2022), during her Bachelor Arts-English Program at the University of Windsor, c1968.

Family Historical Context:

An excerpt from a private family historical document as written later by Thomas Heine (Uta’s younger brother by 9 years), based on verbal accounts previously shared by their parents Maria and Heinrich Heine:

"We made the crossing in the lower levels of the Homeland, and apparently the journey was terrible.  The seas were very rough for the entire voyage, and we were all seasick.  There was a baby carriage in the gangway that continually rolled from one end of the passageway to the other with the ship's rolling.   Mama and Uta were too ill to secure it.  They arrive at Pier 21 in Halifax looking like death warmed over, and absolutely filthy.  The Red Cross station set up at the pier was an incredibly clean place filled with friendly people".

Uta was ~10.5 years old when she had first arrived to Canada, via Pier 21, along with her mother Maria Heine (née Pietrowicz; 31 years old), and her younger brother Thomas Heine (~13 months old).

Travelling westward from Halifax by train, they eventually reunited with their father Heinrich Heine (40 years old) likely in Toronto, Ontario, and the family then returned to settle in southern Ontario where they then lived for several decades.   Another brother, Patrick eventually too was born into the family in 1957.  Over the course of their lives, the family on several occasions spoke fondly of their gratitude to Canada and their love of our country’s beauty.

Uta eventually later met her future husband and lifelong love Robert (Bob) Sonier (1942-2018), at the University of Windsor, where they both had been enrolled in Bachelor of Arts programs.  They later married in 1968, and eventually became parents to 3 children ( 2 boys, 1 girl).  During his childhood, Bob, and his French Acadian family of origin, had lived in the Atlantic Maritime provinces, in various locations over the years within Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. At the time of Uta’s emigration to Canada, unknown then to each other, Bob had already been close by, living with his parents and 2 sisters, about 10-15minutes away in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.