Journal, Vol. 32, No. 4 – Winter 2009

On the cover: A photograph of the Mayer family at the grave site of their brother located on Karateren Island in the Aral Sea.

Svetlana Mayer’s article tells of the family’s deportation from Russia to Kazakhstan in 1941. Article: “The Lessons of History” by Les Brost as presented at the 40th Annual Convention of AHSGR. AHSGR Storytelling Winners (Adult Division): 1st Place “Ode to Sauerkraut” by Anne M. Stang; 2nd Place “The Girls of ‘66” by Gwen Schock Cowherd; 3rd Place “New Year’s in Saskatchewan – 1946” by Anne M. Stang. Honorable Mentions (Adult Division): “. . . and it was the end of the first day . . .” by Gerald Warner Bertsch; “Farewell the Sea” by Svetlana Tsekhanovich Mayer; “A Long Way from Home: The Story of Susanna and Heinrich Wagenleitner’s Children” by Valentina Titarenko and translated by Tanja Schell. (Youth Division) 1st Place Winner “My Great-Great-Great-Grandma Justina Leppke” by Victoria “Bailey” Penner Parrish; 2nd Place Winner “Learning from Grandma” by Evelyn Elaine Gaunt; 3rd Place Winner “My Great-Great-Great-Grandpa Loewen: Fishing and Frog Hunting” by Gabriel Reume.