Moving West: German-Speaking Immigration to British Columbia, 1945–1961 by Christian Lieb M.A., University of Maine, 1999 M.A., Gerhard-Mercator-Universität, 2001 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of History © Christian Lieb, 2008 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopying or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Moving West: German-Speaking Immigration to British Columbia, 1945–1961 by Christian Lieb M.A., University of Maine, 1999 M.A., Gerhard-Mercator-Universität, 2001 Supervisory Committee Dr. Patricia E. Roy, Supervisor (Department of History) Dr. Peter Baskerville, Departmental Member (Department of History) Dr. Perry Biddiscombe, Departmental Member (Department of History) Dr. Peter Liddell, Outside Member (Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies) Dr. Franca Iacovetta, External Examiner (University of Toronto) iii Supervisory Committee Dr. Patricia E. Roy, Supervisor (Department of History) Dr. Peter Baskerville, Departmental Member (Department of History) Dr. Perry Biddiscombe, Departmental Member (Department of History) Dr. Peter Liddell, Outside Member (Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies) Dr. Franca Iacovetta, External Examiner (University of Toronto) ABSTRACT Germans are among the largest ethnic groups, both in Canada as a whole and in British Columbia. Nevertheless, neither nationally, nor provincially, has this group received much academic attention, especially for the years between the end of the Second World War and the building of the Berlin Wall when about 200,000 German-speaking persons arrived in Canada. Based on the life stories of fifty German immigrants interviewed in British Columbia, published biographies, and archival records from Germany and Canada, this study reconstructs the conditions in interwar and postwar Europe that led to the mass-emigration of Germans in the late 1940s and the 1950s. It argues that this migration movement was not only influenced by government policies and the support of humanitarian organizations, but also by the existence of earlier settlement facilitating chain migrations to Canada. From the port of entry, the dissertation follows the immigrants’ adaptation and integration into Canadian society. Though the vast majority of them did not speak any English, or know much about their adopted country, iv except that it must be better than what they left in war-torn Europe, Germans are generally ranked among the best integrated ethnic groups in Canada. Yet, despite this assessment, the picture emerging from the sources strongly questions the existence of a singular German immigrant identity in Canada. The distinct self-perceptions of German nationals and ethnic Germans based on their experiences in Europe during the Second World War created striking differences in their patterns of immigration and adaptation to life in Canada which are still discernible after over half a century of settlement in North America. v Table of Contents Supervisory Committee………………………………………………………………….. ii Abstract………………………………………………………………………………….. iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………… v List of Tables and Figures……………………………………………………………… vii List of Illustrations……………………………………………………………………... viii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………… ix Chapter 1: Introduction and Historiography……………………………………………... 1 Chapter 2: German diaspora communities in Europe and Canada, 1918–1939………... 28 2.1 Germany and Austria…………………………………………………………. 32 2.2 German diaspora experiences in Eastern Europe between the wars………….. 40 2.3 The German community in Canada before the Second World War………….. 47 2.4 Sudeten German settlement in Saskatchewan and the Peace River ………….. 55 Chapter 3: Resettlement and Displacement, 1940–1946……………………………….. 60 3.1 Precedents of population transfers and expulsions, 1920–1945……………… 61 3.2 Organized Resettlement Schemes of Ethnic German Groups, 1939–1943…... 67 3.3 Ethnic German Groups resettled to the Warthe District, 1940……………….. 70 3.4 Flight and expulsion of ethnic Germans and German nationals, 1944–1946… 75 3.5 Expulsions and Population Transfers from Eastern Europe, 1945–1950…….. 83 Chapter 4: Postwar Conditions in Germany and the increasing Emigration Interest…... 92 4.1 German-speaking refugees in Western Germany…………………………….. 93 4.2 German emigration interests after the Second World War………………….. 110 4.3 Emigration fever and the transmission of information……………………… 118 4.4 Choice of Destination – Why Canada?............................................................ 127 4.5 Discrepancy between interest in leaving and actual emigration…………….. 133 Chapter 5: German Government influence on migration……………………………... 136 5.1 Emigration Policy in Imperial Germany and the Weimar Republic………… 137 5.2 Emigration Restrictions under Allied Occupation, 1945–1949……………... 141 5.3 The Establishment of a West German Emigration Policy, 1949–1951……... 148 5.4 German-Canadian Negotiations on Migration………………………………. 160 5.5 Germany’s attempts to influence emigration, 1954–1959…………………... 173 vi Chapter 6: Canada’s immigration policy, 1945–1962………………………………… 180 6.1 Canada’s immigration policy in the early postwar years, 1945–1947………. 189 6.2 Opening the Door for German immigration, 1947–1950…………………… 203 6.3 Canada’s assisted passage scheme, 1947–1957……………………………... 214 6.4 PICMME / ICEM and other financial support for German migration………. 216 Chapter 7: Migration to Canada……………………………………………………..... 227 7.1 Visa application procedure………………………………………………….. 230 7.2 Processing of Applications at Canadian Visa Offices………………………. 236 7.3 The Trans-Atlantic Voyage…………………………………………………. 246 7.4 Arrival and First Impressions of Canada……………………………………. 256 Chapter 8: Ethnic support networks in British Columbia……………………………... 261 8.1 Accommodation……………………………………………………………... 265 8.2 Employment arrangements………………………………………………….. 269 8.3 Informal support networks…………………………………………………... 282 8.4 Formal support networks……………………………………………………. 292 Chapter 9: Life in Canada – adjustment and integration...……………………………. 305 9.1 Failure and Re-Migration……………………………………………………. 306 9.2 Adapting to the way of life………………….………………………………. 314 9.3 Improving employment and upward mobility...…………………………….. 324 9.4 Patterns of Integration………………………………………………………. 329 9.5 Marriage patterns……………………………………………………………. 343 Chapter 10: Becoming Canadian?.................................................................................. 348 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….. 366 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………... 378 Appendix……………………………………………………………………………… 400 vii List of Tables and Figures Figure 2.1: Annual German emigration as an average per decade, 1871–1937………... 37 Figure 2.2: Immigration of German Nationals to Canada, 1922–1931………………… 51 Table 4.1: German emigration from West Germany to Canada, 1953–1956…………. 105 Table 5.1: German Immigration to Canada, 1951–1953……………………………… 171 Table 6.1: PICMME / ICEM supported migrations…………………………………… 219 Figure 9.1: Total Immigration from Germany to Canada and Re-Migration…………. 310 Table 9.2: Language retention of fifty German-speaking immigrants interviewed in British Columbia…………………………………………… 338 Table 9.3: Marriage patterns among fifty German-speaking interviewees……………. 344 Table 10.1: Acquisition of Canadian citizenship among Ethnic Germans and German Nationals………………………………………………………… 349 Table 10.2: Time elapsing between arrival in Canada and application for citizenship………………………………………………………………… 350 Table 10.3: Self-Identification of Ethnic Germans and German Nationals…………… 357 viii List of Illustrations Maps: Map 2.1: Place of Birth of German-speaking immigrants interviewed in British Columbia in 2005–2007…...………………………………………….… 33 Map 3.1: Resettlements of Ethnic German Groups with areas of origin and destinations, 1939–1941……………………………………………………… 67 Map 3.2: Division of Germany at the Potsdam Conference……………………………. 81 Map 3.3: Movements of German-speaking refugees and expellees in Central and Eastern Europe between 1944 and 1948…………………………………. 85 Map 4.1: Place of residence of later immigrants to Canada in 1947………………..… 100 Map 7.1: First Destinations of German-speaking immigrants in interview sample……………………………………………………………………….. 260 Map 9.1: Location of Interviews with German-speaking immigrants in British Columbia, 2005–2006……………………………………………….. 347 Photographs: Picture 6.1: Papers for passage on MS Fairsea………………………………………... 221 Picture 6.2: Total amount of loan for Fallot family…………………………………… 222 Picture 7.1: Fallot Family taking a meal at the Bremer Überseeheim before embarkation, July 1953…………………………………………………… 247 Picture 7.2: Fallot family ready to embark on MS Fairsea in Bremerhaven, July 17, 1953……………………………………………………………… 249 Picture 7.3: Pipke family posing in their Sunday best on deck of the MV Beaverbrae, July 1950……………………………………………….. 252 ix Acknowledgements Coming to the University of Victoria in 2001 was a great decision. Though I did not know anybody in town (nor anywhere on the West Coast for that matter), the History Department quickly became a centre for both intellectually stimulating connections and wonderful friendships. The many graduate students I met during my time here made the experience less isolating while studying for comprehensive exams and then later writing the dissertation. In particular, I would like to thank Nick May and Hugh Gordon for their friendship. In terms of the research