A documentary about the 1920s migration of Mennonites from the Soviet Union to Canada and its commemoration a century later is getting a second screening in Lethbridge.
The Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta presents The Russlaender Migration: From Revolution to Reflection at the Movie Mill this Sunday at 3 p.m.
Screening organizer and board member Dave Neufeldt says in between 1923 and 1930 about 21,000 Mennonites came to Canada.
“As part of that migration, people would have taken a train across Canada. As a commemoration of the start of that migration, in 2023 there was a train trip organized to commemorate that migration, where the people would travel across the country by train,” Neufeldt explains. “There was a lot of footage taken of that trip. The film is using that footage to tell this story of that migration.”
According to Neufeldt, the peak year was in 1926, and that’s when a lot of people would have come to this area. “My family came then, and 1926 was the year the first Mennonite church in Coaldale was started. That was the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church, and they’re having a 100th anniversary celebration in May.”
There was a previous screening of the film last month, and Neufeldt adds the Movie Mill was packed. “Some people didn’t get in. That’s why we’re doing it again.”
Screenings of the film have been also held in Calgary and Edmonton.
There’s no charge to attend the screening of the film, but donations to the Mennonite Historical Society are appreciated.
