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As every summer members of the Remembrance Society, friends and
local politicians congregated at the Anna Tuerr Memorial to
remind us of what is important in life in regards to our past,
present and future.
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| M.C. Klaus
Koeppen, past president, introduces speakers and
proceedings |
Master of Ceremonies Klaus Koeppen, a past president, introduced
the various speakers, who all kept their remarks succinct and to
the point, after Male Choir Concordia with Dr. Alfred Kunz
conducting, offered a musical welcome.
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| The Concordia
Choir under Dr. Alfred Kunz |
| The Mayor of Wilmot Township, Wayne Roth, where the Memorial is
located, was first to speak in agreement about the past that
does not need to be repeated. |
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| Toni Bergmeier, National President
of the German Canadian
Congress delivered a rousing speech about injustice and
compassion for the victims. He also brought greetings from the
Provincial President, Ernst Friedel, who is currently dealing
with a health challenge. We all wish him a speedy recovery. |
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| PC MP for Kitchener-Conestoga Harold Albrecht added his voice to
the sentiments, |
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| as did Andrew Telegdi, past Member of Parliament
and long time friend of the Remembrance Society. |
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| A highlight of the memorial service was the reading of a poem by
Danuta Grigaitis. (see: here) |
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| Another musical interlude was followed by the current President
Helene Schramek, who explained the purpose and activities of the
society: |
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Memorial Speech
by Helene Schramek
“Honored Guests, dear members and
friends of the German Canadian Remembrance Society.
Liebe Ehrengäste und liebe Mitglieder und Freunde der deutsch-
kanadischen Gedächtnisstiftung.
This year we celebrate the 8th anniversary of the
Society and the 5th memorial service, here, at the Anna Tuerr
Park in Mannheim.
Dieses Jahr feiern wir das 8. Jubiläum der Gedächtnisstiftung
und die 5. Gedächtnisfeier hier im Anna Tuerr Park.
Since the beginning in 2002, we have increased our membership
from the original 3 to more than 300 and as the Society becomes
more visible through their key projects, more and more German
Canadians are attracted to join.
The Remembrance Society is now involved in the planning and
organization for events such as the annual German Pioneers Day
celebrations, which are now commemorated in many cities in
Ontario and also the main organizer for the annual Remembrance
Day/Volkstrauertag, which takes place every year at the Woodland
Cemetery to honour and remember those, who suffered and died in
tragic circumstances.
Simultaneously, the society is involved in the long term task of
restoring German cemeteries and the preservation of German
heritage, hopefully within context of a future museum.
At the same time, the Remembrance Society also wants to keep all
Canadians aware of the major contributions, German Canadians
have made to this, our country, for more than 300 years and for
more than 200 years, right here in Waterloo Region.
Much of this proud tradition has been overshadowed and is no
longer part of public awareness, due to unfortunate events,
which led to 2 wars in the last century.
These historic events of the last century also led in Europe to
the forced expulsion of German settlers, who had lived
peacefully and successfully for many centuries in Austro-Hungary
and Russia or later in the many successor states, as part of a
general persecution and suppression of all things German.
Without keeping these events in mind, it is not possible to
understand, that preserving and maintaining our German heritage
here in Canada is a difficult task at best. That it will take
time, effort and patience, until the contributions of German
Canadians in Canada will get again the recognition and respect,
they deserve.
To this end, the German Canadian Remembrance Society wants to
make a small contribution.
But as this service takes place at the Anna Tuerr Memorial, it
is not only the memory of past events that moves us, but also
the hope for a better world, filled with peace and good will to
all.
Aber mit dieser Feier am Anna Tuerr Monument bewegt uns nicht
nur die Erinnerung an die Vergangenheit, sondern auch die
Hoffnung auf eine bessere Zukunft, eine Zukunft mit Frieden und
gutem Willen.
Let us remember, learn from the past, and take the lessons of
our personal and national history to heart, today and in the
years to come.
Lasst uns erinnern, lasst uns von der Vergangenheit lernen, und
lasst uns die Lehren der persönlichen und gemeinschaftlichen
Geschichte zu Herzen nehmen, heute und in der Zukunft.“
 Appropriately Father Wolfgang Weiss of Germany and formerly of
the St. Mary’s Church in Kitchener told a story that had most of
the people almost in tears before he spoke a prayer and the
Concordia Choir sang one more time.
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Members and friends, celebrities
and dignitaries |
Picnic at Paul Tuerr's Farm
| Gathering under the tents |
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 Everyone was invited afterwards to the Paul Tuerr Farm for the
picnic and fundraiser with raffle and silent auction, where 700
sausages donated by Pillers and huge amounts of potato salad
from the Concordia Club were waiting to be consumed by a large
hungry crowd.
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| Paul Tuerr
surrounded by friends |
Paul Tuerr was constantly surrounded by people happy to see him.
The camaraderie of so many members, now counting 300, was
amazing.
| Lining up for
potato salad, etc. and Piller's sausage |
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 Especially noteworthy is the fact that the society now
has a youth section that was there to volunteer time to help
serve the people and do whatever was necessary to make the
gathering a success.
| The Concordia
Choirs |
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No one wanted to leave, but eventually the evening was ended,
but not before Danuta Grigaitis had played some memorable
melodies on her accordion for a sing along.
Until next time
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
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