Elisabeth "Lucy" Braun

1928 - 2019  (91 years)

• Name	Elisabeth "Lucy" Braun
  Born	1928	Wernersdorf, Molotschna, Taurida, Südrussland, Ukraine
  Gender	Female
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/258069454
  Died	29 Aug 2019	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Buried	Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I233538	Generations
  Last Modified	12 May 2024

  
  

  Father	Peter Johann Braun,   b. 15 Feb 1899, Wernersdorf, Molotschna, Taurida, Südrussland, Ukraine ,   d. 20 Nov 1988, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 89 years)
  Mother	Ekaternine "Katja" Braeul,   b. 26 Dec 1897, Wernersdorf, Molotschna, Taurida, Südrussland, Ukraine ,   d. 7 Jan 1997, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 99 years)
  Family ID	F63939	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Biographical sketch: Lucy Braun (1928-2019) is the daughter of Peter and Katharina (Braul) Braun. Her given name is Elisabeth, but she was usually known by the German "Lusie" or later in Canada, the English "Lucy." Born in Wernersdorf, Molotschna, South Russia, she was the fifth of nine children. Both her grandfather Johann Braun and father Peter Braun had been village administrators ("Burgermeister") in Wernersdorf; Johann from 1907-1910 and 1914-1917, and Peter from 1941-1943. Her mother, Katharina Braul, came from several generations of teachers: Jacob Johan Braul (1803-1866), Johann Jacob Braul (1835-1907), and David Johan Braul (1861-1933). David Braul's first wife, Eliese (Harder) died in 1916. After immigrating to Canada in 1924, he married Agathe Nickel (or Nikkel) in Arnaud, Manitoba in 1926. David Braul was the secretary for the Mennonite group that purchased land from Lyman Farms in Arnaud in the 1920s. Peter and Katharina and their children did not emigrate from the Soviet Union in the 1920s. Lucy's four younger siblings did not survive infancy. After the birth of twin siblings in 1930, Lucy was sent to live with her Aunt Louisa (Braul) and Uncle Willie Rempel in Crimea to ease the burden on her parents. In 1937, when her aunt and uncle were deported to Siberia, she returned to her parents. The family joined the Great Trek of Mennonites from the Soviet Union to Germany in 1943, where they found work on an estate farm in Poland. In 1944, her father and brothers were drafted into the German army. Lucy and her mother tried to travel west but were deported back to the Soviet Union. They were moved to Martuk, Kazakhstan in August 1945. Here they struggled daily for their survival. After 1957, they were able to make contact with her father and three brothers in Ontario, Canada. In 1966, Lucy and her mother were able to immigrate to Canada, settling in New Hamburg, Ontario. In the absence of news about his wife during their years of separation, Peter had married again, but following the discovery that Katharina was still alive, the second wife promised to "step aside." She died of cancer in 1959. In 1969, the family learned the fate of Lucy's brother Ewald, who was separated from the others during the war. He died of tuberculosis in the Soviet Union in 1947. After her arrival in Canada, Lucy worked at Home Hardware in New Hamburg, where she still lives. Outside of work, she pursued her interest in family history and genealogy. She was particularly inspired by a relative, Henry Goertz, who gave her a copy of his manuscript on the village of Wernersdorf. Custodial history: Donated to the Archives by Lucy Braun in 2016 Scope and content: The fonds consists primarily of genealogical charts, correspondence, photographs, and photocopies of journals of family members. Spellings of given names and surnames include many variants. Series 1 consists of Braul (Braeul) family documents, tracing their origins in West Prussia through settlement in Russia and immigration to Manitoba in the 1920s. Series 2 follows the Braun family from their origins in West Prussia to Russia. The series primarily documents the children of Jacob Johann Braun and Helene (Bargen). This couple had 12 children; 10 survived childhood. Series 3 consists of research by Lucy Braun over several decades to list the families in her home village of Wernersdorf in 1943. Her research captures the village population as it was just prior to most of the families departing for Poland on the Great Trek of Mennonites leaving the Soviet Union with the German army. The families are listed by farmyard ("hof") and/or house number ("haus"). Details of previous owners of some of the houses are given. Genealogical information about the families and their descendants are given, as well as some details of family and personal histories. Many photographs and letters gathered by Lucy Braun over the course of her research are included. Some families have extensive information in the files, while others have only basic details. Braun also researched other family genealogies, including her aunt Anna (Voth) Braun. She assisted Tina (Harder) Bergen (adopted daughter of Johann and Katarina (Dyck) Harder) in searching for information about her birth parents. In the early 2000s, Lucy assisted a relative, John A. Harder, with the transcription of Harder family letters. The letters were translated and published in From Kleefeld with Love (Kitchener: Pandora Press, 2003). Lucy Braun (2019) Mennonite Archives of Ontario. Available at: https://uwaterloo.ca/mennonite-archives-ontario/personal-collections/lucy-braun (Accessed: 7 May 2024).

  
  

• Event Map

  Died - 29 Aug 2019 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth