Journey of the Gottfried Family

By the 1920s over 200,000 Jews lived in Vienna, Austria. It was the third-largest Jewish population in Europe. Jews held Austrian citizenship and served in the military. They participated in the cultural and civic life of the country. 

The Gottfrieds were a Jewish family who lived in Vienna. Leopold Gottfried was a successful businessman. He and his wife, Chaje, had three children, Manfred, Lori, and Gerda.

Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938. After this, antisemitism and restrictions on Jewish Austrian citizens increased. Following the Nazi annexation, the Gottfried family sought a way to leave Austria.

In January 1939, Leopold received permission for his family to immigrate to Shanghai. The family travelled by train from Vienna to Genoa, Italy. There, they boarded the Conte Biancamano ocean liner.

“We went first to Italy by train, and then to the boat. I remember the train ride, and also all the other people who were going to Shanghai. The mood was unhappy and relieved that we were leaving. The real sigh of relief came when we crossed the border from Austria into Italy.”

—Gerda Kraus (née Gottfried)

Gerda met her future husband, Hans Kraus, at a New Year’s Eve party in Shanghai. Although Hans worked in Nanjing, they regularly wrote to one another and tried to see each other when it was possible. They became engaged in 1945 and married in 1947.

"When we married, people were still very poor after the war. But we did the best we could. For instance, there were nice cafe houses that you could rent, and they catered as much as you could afford. We had families and friends; I have a box full of wedding congratulations. It was a happy occasion, and we were all in the same boat."

—Gerda Kraus (née Gottfried)

Hans and Gerda Kraus’s stay in Israel was brief. There were tensions and uncertainties in the newly established State of Israel. Also, Gerda and her sister, Lori, deeply missed their parents and their brother, Manfred. Luckily, Manfred was able to get permission from Canadian authorities to sponsor the immigration of his two sisters and their husbands.

“But it was after the war, people were so poor. They resented us being there and taking away their bread. And the newcomers were unhappy to sit on the sand in a tent with the heat, and the flies, and no food. So, the people that lived there were resentful, so there were always frictions."

—Gerda Kraus (née Gottfried)

Before immigrating to Canada, Hans and Gerda returned to Vienna to get their passports. This was a long process. They both had to prove that they were legal Austrian citizens before the Second World War. They stayed in Vienna for almost four months. But for Gerda, returning to Vienna only brought bad memories.

“I was so full of bitterness, you know, and I thought, ‘Wherever I walk in the streets, there must have been blood.’…Everyone says to forgive and forget but I can't forget, and I can’t forgive.”

—Gerda Kraus (née Gottfried)

Hans and Gerda Kraus and Hugo and Lori Seeman left Vienna on December 28, 1949. They arrived in Paris on December 28 and left the next day for Le Havre to catch their ship, the SS Samaria.

On January 30, 1950, Hans, Gerda, Lori and her husband Hugo departed on the SS Samaria to travel to Canada.

Hans and Gerda Kraus and Hugo and Lori Seemann arrived in Halifax on February 8, 1950. Afterwards, they boarded a train and crossed Canada. The journey took six days.

"We came over on the Samaria to Canada. And we landed in Halifax, and took the train... And it was bitter cold. The Atlantic was so stormy, you know."

—Gerda Kraus (née Gottfried)

The family passed through Montreal on February 10, 1950, on their train journey to Vancouver, British Columbia.

By February 12, 1950, the group reached Winnipeg, Manitoba. Hans Kraus recorded details of their trip in a small notebook.

On February 13, 1950, the four arrived in Edmonton, Alberta. This was their last stop before reaching their new home in Vancouver.

After almost one year apart, Gerda Kraus and Lori Seemann were reunited with their brother and parents in Vancouver. They, along with their husbands, stayed in Vancouver. In later years, the family remained close-knit, travelling and celebrating together.

“My sister and I are only three years apart, and we have been close all these years. Always, even as children. We never had fights. Sometimes there is sibling rivalry. We loved Freddy [Manfred], we loved each other. We were a loving family.”

—Gerda Kraus (née Gottfried)