The autobiographical survival account of Ludwig Schaaf and his journey to Canada
3 October 2022
The recording of the presentaiton is available here: https://youtu.be/aQQY7EgJlcA
Presenters: Ludwig Schaaf, Jillian Fortin, Lorene Schaaf, Ryan Neeser
When: Friday, October 21, 2022, 12 pm MDT
Where: Business Bldg., Room 2-05, University of Alberta
In this presentation, Ludwig Schaaf, together with his family co-presenters, will discuss his autobiography that he co-wrote with his granddaughter Jillian. His story is one of perseverance, courage, and determination which allowed him to lead his family, though just a child himself, in their harrowing flee from Ukraine and dramatic immigration to Canada. This presentation will also encompass several topics such as:
- growing up in Ukraine
- adapting and learning to succeed in Canada
- the history of Germans in Ukraine and how families such as Ludwig's found themselves there
- devastating effects that political forces such as Catherine II, Stalin, and Hitler had on the lives of their citizens returning to Ukraine
Ludwig Schaaf was born in 1931 to a German farming family in a small village in what is now Southern Ukraine. When the Bolsheviks invaded, it was his responsibility as a young child to lead his family out of the war to safety. They fled from Ukraine to Poland, then to Germany, and finally to Canada. Arriving in Canada with little more than the clothes on his back, and without a formal education, he worked hard to bring his family over from Europe to Canada and eventually started a successful home-building company with his brother. He now resides happily in Edmonton with a large loving family including 3 children, 8 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. He is extremely proud of his family. It was important for Ludwig to create this book so that his grandchildren would know his background. It was also critical to him to document these historical events for his 20 first cousins who also fled Ukraine, but were sadly sentenced to 45 years imprisonment in Siberia.