Material Type

Photograph

Date Range

[1942-1943]

Physical Description

33 black and white copy photographs

Physical Condition

Excellent

History Biographical

"The Esche family could easily be mistaken for just about any other band of foreign tourists traveling about taking photos.However, their visit the week of May 27 was a pilgrimmage of sorts, retracing the steps of ancestor Paul Weiser, who was a prisoner of war who worked and lived in Brule in the 1940s. Weiser took albums full of photos during his time in Brule and his daughter, Inge Esche, and family members Mario, Silvio and Rudolf were intent on staging those same photos where ever possible to recreate that period of his life.“He really admired his time here in Canada,” said the family, adding that a picture Weiser took in Brule was enlarged and hung in a place of honour in the living room, where it remains to this day. “If not married he would not have gone back to Germany.” Weiser was captured by the Allies in the Netherlands in 1941 and ended up at the prisoner of war camp in Lethbridge before being moved to Brule in 1943, where he made the acquaintance of Mark and Agnes Truxler and their daughter Jacqueline.Jacqueline Hanington was 11 and remembers the German prisoners of war coming by for activities like table tennis. “The men had quite a bit of freedom,” Hanington said. “We lived at Black Cat Ranch at the time and they came to visit us. That’s how we met.” Weiser became friends with the Truxlers while he worked at a planer mill with the Brule Lumber Company. He continued working there as a prisoner until the war ended, at which time he was hired as an employee to earn money.He left Brule in 1946 and was shipped to England before returning to his homeland in 1947. “Nine months later (our) mother was born. He didn’t waste any time,” said the sons, evoking a chorus of laughter.Weiser and his wife, Liesbeth, would end up on the east of the Berlin Wall when Germany was split, but he maintained letter writing back to his friends in Brule.“My mother and father always wrote to Paul after he left here and his English was quite good actually,” Hanington said. “When I got a little bit older I started writing him too.”There had been steady correspondence for almost 50 years, but the long-time friends lost touch in the late 1990s. Hanington then went to Peter Bundscherer at Queen’s Bakery and asked for help writing a letter in German.Weiser died in 1997 and the news of his death helped reignite the correspondence between families in 1999.This resulted in the first Esche family trip to Brule in 2002, when they began to retrace Weiser’s life in Canada through his photos.“With each trip it gets more and more exciting,” said the family.Weiser had albums of photos that the family has brought along, graciously donating copies to the Hinton Historical Tracks and Trails Society.Those photos have a bit of a back story as well. Although Weiser and other prisoners of war in Brule were treated well and provided a fair bit of freedom, they weren’t supposed to have cameras.Weiser obtained his camera and film on the sly, with family and friends smuggling him photo supplies in cakes and sausages. Weiser would send an encrypted message home saying what he needed.The Esche family spent a week in the Brule area before moving on to British Columbia for the remainder of their vacation." [Source: "In the footsteps of a father" by Tyler Waugh. The Hinton Voice, 3 June 2010]

Language

English

German

Acquisition Source

Hinton Historical Tracks & Trails Society 225 Gregg Avenue Hinton, Alberta T7V 2B7

Scope and Content

The fonds consists of 33 black and white copy photographs from the album of former German prisoner of war (POW) Paul Weiser, showing Camp 133 at Lethbridge and some of the daily activities of the POWs who were interned there.

Access Restrictions

Public Access

Accession No.

20101052000

Collection

Archive

Less detail