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PODCAST

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives

Mennonite Heritage Archives

Explore the history of Mennonites through materials found in the Mennonite Heritage Archives. Using interviews, object, and documents, this podcast will dive into stories inspiring, tragic, strange, and beautiful. As varied as the lives of the people and organizations whose materials are housed in the Mennonite Heritage Archives, this weekly podcast aims to educate and inspire greater interest in Mennonite history.

history

All Episodes

14:59

Inventors and Innovators with Dick Braun (Part 2)

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/10/04

Send us Fan Mail It's time for Part 2 of our conversation with Dick Braun of Osler, Sask., which focuses on the prolific innovator, Julius Klassen. Klassen became known in the metal manufacturing industry, most notably for his machine that could manufacture engine radiators of any size, right up to units for sea-faring ships. Support the show Your donations help preserve and share stories like this one! Make a gift here or call 204.560.1998. Find out more by visiting the Mennonite Heritage A...

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14:59

Inventors and Innovators with Dick Braun (Part 1)

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/09/27

Send us Fan Mail Today we bring you Part 1 of a conversation with Dick Braun of Osler, Sask. Dick has written on the topic of Mennonite inventors and innovators from the past. What he’s learned is so interesting, we just had to share it with our listeners. Support the show Your donations help preserve and share stories like this one! Make a gift here or call 204.560.1998. Find out more by visiting the Mennonite Heritage Archives website - https://www.mharchives.ca/ Follow the Mennonite Her...

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15:00

Forced to Fight

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/09/20

Send us Fan Mail Today we share the the story of Jakob Guenther, who was born and raised in Russia, only to be conscripted by the German army during WWII just because he spoke German. He was forced to fight against the country from which his ancestors came. Separated from his family, he spent the rest of his life on a quest to find them. Support the show Your donations help preserve and share stories like this one! Make a gift here or call 204.560.1998. Find out more by visiting ...

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15:00

C. C. Penner

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/09/13

Send us Fan Mail By the time C. C. Penner managed to get out of Soviet Russia in 1949, he’d lost track of his wife and family, and had to leave them behind. Eleven years later, he schemed a plan to meet Nikita Khrushchev, premier of the Soviet Union, in New York City in 1960 to appeal for the reunification of his family. This is his story. Support the show Your donations help preserve and share stories like this one! Make a gift here or call 204.560.1998. Find out more by visiting the Mennon...

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15:00

David Toews

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/09/06

Send us Fan Mail We’re delighted to launch our fall season with the story of David Toews, one of the most influential Mennonite leaders in 20th century Canada. He became so well-known across the Prairies and in Ottawa, that Prime Minister William Lyon Mckenzie King invited Toews and his wife to dinner. Some called Toews the Mennonite Moses after the Hebrew prophet who led his people out of slavery in Egypt. Without David Toews, many Mennonites would not be in Canada today. Support the show Yo...

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15:18

SUMMER REWIND: First Harvest in Canada 1876

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/08/30

Send us Fan Mail For our last rewind of Summer 2026, we bring you a special feature from Thanksgiving 2025! Mennonite history enthusiast Gerhard Ens first recorded this fictional account of the first harvest by Mennonites in Canada (1876) on audio tape in the Low German language. The story, told through the eyes of an impatient 10-year-old Henry, has now been translated into English and adapted for radio by the Tales team. We hope you enjoy this nostalgic and entertaining re-telli...

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15:18

SUMMER REWIND: The Disappeared Beaver Mennonite Church

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/08/24

Send us Fan Mail Today, we bring you a story about the Beaverlodge Mennonite Church, a little known congregation that formed in the late 1920s and disappeared from the landscape of Peace River country in northern Alberta some 15-ish years later. Guest Doug Klassen, Executive Minister of the Mennonite Church Canada, shares about his little-known family connection to the church, and we capture his reaction when a surprise visitor shows Doug church records containing names of his ancestors. Supp...

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15:18

SUMMER REWIND: From Russia with Woe (Part 2)

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/08/17

Send us Fan Mail During Stalin’s Reign of Terror the 1930s, Jacob Petrovich Janzen was one of many Mennonites swept up into forced labour camps called Special Settlements, and then the more severe form of the camps called the Gulag. More than 80 years later, his great-grandaughter, Maria Lotsmanova, discovered parts of his story with help from the Gulag History Museum of Repressions in Moscow. Maria shares with listeners what she has learned about her great-grandfather's struggle and fa...

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15:12

SUMMER REWIND: From Russia with Woe (Part 1)

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/08/10

Send us Fan Mail Today, we bring back 'From Russia with Woe', part one of a two part series. During Stalin’s Reign of Terror the 1930s, Jacob Petrovich Janzen was one of many Mennonites swept up into forced labour camps called Special Settlements, and then the more severe form of the camps called the Gulag. More than 80 years later, his great-grandaughter, Maria Lotsmanova, discovered parts of his story with help from the Gulag History Museum of Repressions in Moscow. Maria shares with listen...

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15:18

SUMMER REWIND: Trapped in Icy Waters

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/08/03

Send us Fan Mail Today in the rewind episode, guest host Sara Dyck brings you the chilly tale about a group of Mennonites whose ship became trapped in icy Lake Superior in the spring of 1876. A journey that was meant to take five days turned into a 15 day ordeal. They ran out of food, and almost out of coal to power the steam ship. Their story is pieced together from letters and journals of the travelers who did - eventually - arrive at their southern Manitoba destination. Support the show Yo...

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15:14

SUMMER REWIND: A Short History of House Barns with...

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/07/27

Send us Fan Mail Today, we bring back 'A Short History of House Barns'! Join me and Roland Sawatsky, curator at the Manitoba Museum and past curator at the Mennonite Village Museum in Steinbach, as we reveal that a house barn is (!SPOILER ALERT!) “a barn connected to a house,” how far back we can trace the history of these structures, what a GANK is — and oh, so much more. While we might take these buildings for granted, I was surprised at what we can learn about how people have interac...

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15:16

SUMMER REWIND: Smallpox and the Mennonite Experience

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/07/20

Send us Fan Mail Today, we bring back Episode 48, Smallpox and the Mennonite Experience. According to historians, the smallpox virus has been circulating among humans for about 3,000 years. In this episode, we unpack the involvement of Russian Empress Catherine the Great and her vaccine cause, and share Mennonite encounters with smallpox and vaccinations as they lived and travelled across Europe, Russia, and into Canada. Support the show Your donations help preserve and share stories like thi...

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15:13

SUMMER REWIND:Aunt Ollie Part 1: Children’s Party

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/07/14

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we take you back to the nostalgic days of Aunt Olly Penner, beloved radio personality and host of the show, Children’s Party. Olly Penner graced the microphones of CFAM for a 28-year long career. Support the show Your donations help preserve and share stories like this one! Make a gift here or call 204.560.1998. Find out more by visiting the Mennonite Heritage Archives website - https://www.mharchives.ca/ Follow the Mennonite Heritage Archives on Instagram...

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15:15

SUMMER REWIND: The Mobility of Peter Dyck

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/07/06

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, we learn about Peter P. Dyck. He was a familiar sight around Carman from the 1940’s to his death in 1970 – a man that refused to stay still despite the loss of his mobility after a tragic accident. While he spent much of his life in the hospital in Carman, Manitoba, his resilience and ingenuity were an inspiration to many. Original Air Date: January 19, 2025 Support the show Your donations help preserve and share stories like this one! Make a gift here or...

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14:59

The Mennonite Treasury of Recipes

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/06/29

Send us Fan Mail If The Mennonite Treasury of Recipes were a person, it would be eligible for Old Age Security this year. Not bad for a book whose roots date back to a group of women who volunteered to feed 3,000 people attending a church conference in Steinbach over 65 years ago. Guest host Sara Dyck brings you the history of the book, and archivist Conrad Stoesz learns that if he wants to bring News Years Cookies — or Portzelky — to a party, he needs to start cooking earlier in the day! Sup...

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14:59

Mennonites and Nationalism (Part 2)

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/06/22

Send us Fan Mail In Part 2, Mark Jantzen unpacks major historical events that influenced the Mennonite view of patriotism and nationalism, and the role that faith played in their understanding of how to relate to the state and the state church. Support the show Your donations help preserve and share stories like this one! Make a gift here or call 204.560.1998. Find out more by visiting the Mennonite Heritage Archives website - https://www.mharchives.ca/ Follow the Mennonite Heritage Archiv...

en-ca

14:59

Mennonites and Nationalism (Part 1)

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/06/15

Send us Fan Mail In Part 1, guest Dr. Mark Jantzen of Bethel College in Kansas shares what he’s learned about the history of Mennonite’s and their various understandings of national identity. Is it language, homeland, culture, ethnic background, or something else that they claim? Listen in and find out! Your donations help preserve and share stories like this one! Make a gift here or call 204.560.1998. Find out more by visiting the Mennonite Heritage Archives website - https://www.mharchives...

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15:00

Looking for Peter Hampton

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/06/08

Send us Fan Mail Today, join host Sara Dyck as she shares the story of researcher and writer Helene Warkentin’s quest to learn about Peter Hampton. Born Peter Paetkau in Russia, Hampton spent his younger years in Grunthal, Manitoba, eventually ending up in Ohio. Though he changed his surname, interest in his Mennonite story stayed with him for a lifetime. Your donations help preserve and share stories like this one! Make a gift here or call 204.560.1998. Find out more by visiting the Mennoni...

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14:59

Laureen Harder-Gissing on Family Secrets

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/06/01

Send us Fan Mail Today, we have an interview with Laureen Harder-Gissing from the Mennonite Archives of Ontario. Laureen has studied family secrets, their connection to church life and family genealogies, and how secrets are handled at a public archive. Your donations help preserve and share stories like this one! Make a gift here or call 204.560.1998. Find out more by visiting the Mennonite Heritage Archives website - https://www.mharchives.ca/ Follow the Mennonite Heritage Archives...

en-ca

15:00

Adina Janzen

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives ·

2026/05/25

Send us Fan Mail Today, guest host Sara Dyck brings you the compelling life story of Adina Janzen, who survived the dark Soviet era in Russia. In 1934, her father was taken by Soviet authorities. They instantly lost the family breadwinner. At one point, a starving Adina turned to eating chalk! Her story is a heartrending yet hope-laden tale of living on three different continents and finding light in dark places. Your donations help preserve and share stories like this one! Make a gift here o...

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