The Odyssey of Willi W. : genesis of Canada's Sudeten settlement Tomslake Cover Image

Book

The Odyssey of Willi W. : genesis of Canada's Sudeten settlement Tomslake

Pueschel, Rudolf 1910-1992 (Author).

Summary: In 1939 the Peace River district in British Columbia saw a remarkable influx of Sudeten Germans who had escaped Nazi persecution. Back home they were city dwellers of various trades and vocations, except farmers. However, the only way they could be admitted to Canada was to establish themselves as farmers. Fighting cultural and social odds, and nature's caprices, they succeeded after converting bush to arable soil. The Sudeten settlers' experience is a story of human suffering that gave way to triumph in the wake of the 1938 Munich agreement between Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany. Thus it had to be told in historic context with pre-World War II European events, in particular with the Sudeten problem and the Sudeten German social democracy in mind. This book tells the Sudeten settlers' story, in particular that of their leader Willi (Wilhelm, William, Bill) Wanka." --

Record details

ISBN: 9780966396898 (sc.)
ISBN: 0966396898 (sc.)
Physical Description: print
vi, 207 p. : ill ; 22 cm.
Publisher: Mountain View. Ca. : Ready For Print Publication Post, c2009.

Content descriptions

General Note:	Includes recommended reading.
Formatted Contents Note:	Roots and achievement -- Historical background -- "There will be a place in Canada..." -- Search for a new homeland -- Search for arable land -- First encounter with the new world -- The immigrants -- Settlement problems -- From tears to triumph -- At war -- Halfway -- Toward self-administration -- Point of no return -- Contribution to post-war immigration -- Epilogue.