Ernst Radke

My name is Ernst (Ernie) Radke and I was born on May 9, 1928 in the village of Akkermann, province of Seimenu in Roumania. Before I was two years old my parents, Teodor and Katherine Radke, decided to immigrate to Canada. My father told me that having a son motivated them to make the move. He felt that most wars started in Europe and he did not want his son involved or impacted by war. It was a difficult decision because it meant leaving many family members and friends behind. My father’s brother and his wife came to Canada in 1929 and they encouraged us to come as well. Two more of my father’s brothers also decided to immigrate and they traveled with us.

I have no memories of life in Roumania but my parents told me of our journey from Europe to Canada. In 1930 we left our village and traveled by train, going through Czechoslovakia and then on through Poland to get to the free port of Danzig. My parents were very fearful when the train went through Poland. When we got to Danzig we boarded a passenger ship called Estonia. We made a stop in Copenhagen, Denmark where the ship took on food supplies for the travel across the Atlantic Ocean.

The journey took 10 days. The seas were very rough for the first 9 days. My father said there were times when the propeller would come completely out of the water and the entire ship would vibrate. My mother was sick the whole time and wouldn’t leave our cabin. My father would wrap me up and take me out on the deck. Both of us were in fairly good health during the journey and we did not experience the seasickness that my mother did.

On the morning of the 10^th day the sea was calm and my father said they could see land, way off in the distance. Our destination was Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ship arrived too late for everyone to clear customs so we anchored about a mile off shore until the next morning. When the call came that breakfast was being served on the ship, very few were interested. Most of the passengers were anxiously waiting to get off in Halifax. The remainder of the passengers were traveling to New York. It was March 27, 1930 when we arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax harbor.

After clearing customs we crossed the street and boarded a train to travel to Alberta. My parents could not speak English so they would try their best to talk with their hands and draw pictures of what they wanted. The train trip took one week to travel across Canada to Alberta. During the trip my father managed to get ahold of a map and, checking his ticket, noticed that our destination was Castor. He managed to communicate with the train conductor that this was incorrect and that we needed to go to Carstairs, not Castor. The conductor made the arrangements to have our tickets changed.

We arrived at Carstairs, Alberta and all our luggage was unloaded. My mother and I stayed in the station while my father went out on the street to try and get some help. My dad had a watch and knew what time it was but he needed to talk to someone who could understand German. He walked up and down the street in Carstairs and asked “Wie viel uhr ist ehs?” (What time is it?) Eventually someone answered him in German and told him the time. My father asked the man to telephone his uncle, who lived on a farm east of Carstairs. My father’s uncle came and picked us all up and took us to their place on the farm. My two uncles who travelled with us from Europe also settled in Alberta, one near Carstairs, the other near Hannah.

Our new life in Canada was difficult. My parents were poor but they worked very hard. My father worked on various farms until my parents were able to rent a farm of our own. I didn’t speak any English when I started school and the teacher of the one-room school spoke no German. Fortunately, there was a grade two student who spoke both German and English. She acted as my translator until I was able to understand and speak English on my own. My parents also learned to speak the language and they read newspapers to help with learning English.

We moved to Calgary during WWII. At the time farmers were not allowed to leave their land but we received special permission due to my mother’s serious health issues. Her doctor wrote a letter stating that she needed to move to the city to be closer to medical care. Calgary has been my home ever since.

My parents became Canadian citizens in 1935. I always assumed that I received my citizenship at the same time. However, in 1980 while applying for a passport I found there was no record of my citizenship. After further checking we found my name listed on the back of my father’s citizenship papers. Maybe at the time they were issued they didn’t see the need to issue separate papers for a young child.

I have never been back to visit my birthplace. My relatives who remained in Europe experienced some extreme hardships during WWII and after the war they all moved to various places in Germany. Although my family went through some difficult times in Canada, we were thankful we lived in a free and safe country. I am grateful that my parents had the courage to make the difficult decision to move away from their families and come to Canada to become proud Canadian citizens.