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Warkentin, Isaac (1885–1971)

Proper Title

Isaac J. Warkentin fonds

Dates of Creation

1895–2014

Physical Description

28 cm of textual and photographic material, including 57 letters with translations, 658 photographs, and digital photo scans of entire photographic collection

Biographical Sketch

Isaac J. Warkentin (Grandma #209445) was born on November 27, 1885, to Johann Warkentin (Sept. 17, 1859 – May 18, 1948) and Sara Loewen (Aug. 19, 1860 – June 27, 1930) in Hoffnungsfeld, West Reserve, Manitoba. Isaac went to school in Winkler and Gretna and then attended Wesley College in 1908–1912 to study education. In 1913, Isaac went to Leipzig, Germany, in order to study Pedagogy.

On July 28, 1914, the First World War broke out. Isaac was still in Germany at this time and the war prevented him from returning home to Canada. On September 15, 1914, Isaac was arrested and placed in a Leipzig prison due to his enemy citizenship. After spending ten days in solitary confinement and sixteen days in communal prison, Isaac was released. After his release, Isaac was prohibited from leaving Leipzig without consent and had to report to the police station twice a week. Given his status as a citizen of an enemy country, he was also no longer allowed to attend classes at the university.

Luckily, Isaac had close friends in the German Christian Student Union. These friends provided him with a place to live until December 6, 1914, when Leipzig ordered the expulsion of all inhabitants with enemy citizenship. Having been expelled from Leipzig, Isaac went to live with another friend, Pastor Bohne, in Etzdorf, Germany. He stayed in Etzdorf for several months until March 1915, when he was imprisoned in the Ruhleben Civilian Internment Camp ten miles from Berlin. Isaac remained in prison until the end of the war, only returning to Canada shortly before Christmas 1918.

Isaac lived the rest of his life in Manitoba. He married Maria Warkentin (March 24, 1899 – Nov. 3, 1970) on August 3, 1924, and spent 40 years teaching in various Manitoba high schools before he retired in June 1955. Even in his retirement, Isaac continued to teach Grade 12 chemistry and mathematics. Isaac and Maria raised four children: Helen, Johann Heinrich Cornelius, Bernhard Alfred Waldemar, and Frances Winnifred Agnes. He died on October 6, 1971.

Custodial History

The Isaac Warkentin letters were kept by Helen Rempel, daughter of Isaac and Maria Warkentin. Helen Rempel transcribed many of the letters. In 2012, Helen had Lawrence Klippenstein view the many boxes of pedagogical books Warkentin had collected. At this time, Klippenstein also secured the letters of Isaac Warkentin, which he gave to the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies. In 2023, another daughter, Winnefried, donated six of her father's photo albums to the CMBS collection.

Scope and Content

This fonds contains the letters written by Isaac Warkentin during his time in Germany between 1913–1918. Most of the letters are written in German, with a few written in English. Some of these  letters have been translated from the German by Walter Regehr (see volume 1386, file 9). The letters describe Isaac's experience at university in Germany, the events following the outbreak of the First World War, and his time spent in the Ruhleben Civilian Prisoners camp. The fonds also contains 658 photographs. These files document the assumptions, motivation, vision, and everyday life of one Mennonite school teacher, Isaac Warkentin, and the particular times in which he served.

Notes

  • Volumes 1386, 1528.
  • Photograph Collection: NP205-01-01 through NP205-01-19, see https://archives.mhsc.ca/index.php/isaac-j-warkentin-photograph-collection.
  • Digital photo scans of all photographs in this collection were made by great-granddaughter Jacy Young and saved to the CMBS server @ ... Electronic Collections/Personal papers and collections/Warkentin family photos/.
  • Accession Nos.: 2012-15; 2023-10.
  • Title based on contents of the fonds.
  • Finding aid consists of a file list, item list, and photograph list.
  • Item list is labelled according to location and date of correspondence.
  • Description created by Kate Woltmann, July 2014; updated by Jon Isaak Oct 2023.
  • No restrictions on access.
  • Languages: German and English.

File List

Volume 1386

  1. Isaac Warkentin Correspondence - Items 1–7. -- 1913–1914.
  2. Isaac Warkentin Correspondence - items 8–15. -- 1914–1915.
  3. Isaac Warkentin Correspondence - items 16–24. -- 1916.
  4. Isaac Warkentin Correspondence - items 25–29. -- 1917.
  5. Isaac Warkentin Correspondence - items 30–34. -- 1917.
  6. Isaac Warkentin Correspondence - items 35–44. -- 1916, 1918.
  7. Correspondence to Isaac Wakentin - items 45–54. -- 1913–1917.
  8. Correspondence and newspaper clippings - items 55–57. -- 1960, 1973.
  9. English translations for file 1, items 1–5. -- 2014.

Item List

  1. Leipzig, Nov. 4, 1913.
  2. Leipzig, Nov. 17, 1913.
  3. Leipzig, Dec. 1, 1913.
  4. Leipzig, Apr. 22, 1914.
  5. Leipzig, May 3, 1914.
  6. Leipzig, June 18, 1914.
  7. Leipzig, Oct. 15, 1915.
  8. Leipzig, Oct. 19, 1914.
  9. Leipzig, Dec. 1, 1914.
  10. Etzdorf, Dec. 6, 1914.
  11. Etzdorf, Dec. 23, 1914.
  12. Etzdorf, Feb. 5, 1915.
  13. Etzdorf, Feb. 17, 1915.
  14. Etzdorf, Feb. 25, 1915.
  15. Ruhleben, Mar. 25, 1915.
  16. Ruhleben, Feb. 8, 1916.
  17. Ruhleben, Aug. 24, 1916.
  18. Ruhleben, Sept. 23, 1916.
  19. Ruhleben, Oct. 6, 1915.
  20. Ruhleben, Oct. 21, 1916.
  21. Ruhleben, Nov. 5, 1916.
  22. Ruhleben, Dec. 2, 1916.
  23. Ruhleben, Dec. 10, 1916.
  24. Ruhleben, Dec. 22, 1916.
  25. Ruhleben, Jan. 6, 1917.
  26. Ruhleben, Jan. 20, 1917.
  27. Ruhleben, Feb. 4, 1917.
  28. Ruhleben, Feb. 24, 1917.
  29. Ruhleben, Mar. 3, 1917.
  30. Ruhleben, Mar. 17, 1917.
  31. Ruhleben, Mar. 24, 1917.
  32. Ruhleben, Apr. 20, 1917.
  33. Ruhleben, Apr. 27, 1917.
  34. Ruhleben, May 11, 1917.
  35. Ruhleben, Mar. 11, 1918.
  36. Ruhleben, Apr. 30, 1918.
  37. Ruhleben, May 12, 1918.
  38. Ruhleben, July 16, 1916.
  39. Ruhleben, July 30, 1918.
  40. Ruhleben, Aug. 14, 1918.
  41. Ruhleben, Aug. 27, 1918.
  42. Ruhleben, Sept. 1, 1918.
  43. Ruhleben, Oct. 15, 1918.
  44. Ruhleben, Nov. 6, 1918.
  45. Leipzig, Nov. 5, 1913.
  46. Leipzig, Dec. 13, 1914.
  47. Leipzig, Feb. 24, 1914.
  48. Leipzig, Apr. 28, 1914.
  49. Ruhleben, Feb. 4, 1916.
  50. Ruhleben, Dec. 16, 1917.
  51. Ruhleben, [1915-1918].
  52. Ruhleben, July 27, 1917.
  53. Ruhleben, Dec. 18, 1916.
  54. Ruhleben, [1915-1918].
  55. Correspondence from Herr Bohne to Isaac's daughter, Helen Rempel. -- 1973.
  56. Transcription of obituary from "The Star" (Steinbach Bible Institute). -- 1960.
  57. Newspaper clipping. -- 1973.

Volume 1386 (continued)

  1. Wesley College photo album. 13 photographs. See digital copies. -- 1909–1912.
  2. Miscellaneous family photos. 4 photographs. See digital copies. -- [1895–1905?].
  3. Warkentin family photo album. 46 photographs. See digital copies. -- [1900–1912?].
  4. Warkentin family photo album. 98 photographs. See digital copies. -- [1919–1965?].

Volume 1528

1. Isaac Warkentin photo album. 203 photographs. See digital copies. -- [1907–1912?].
2. Isaac Warkentin photo album. 132 photographs. See digital copies. -- [1920–1960?].
3. Isaac Warkentin photo album. 157 photographs. See digital copies. -- [1913–1920?].

Photograph Collection

Note: Items #6 through #19 [below] are a sample of the photo scans made by great-granddaughter Jacy Young, who digitized all the photographs in this collection.
See https://archives.mhsc.ca/index.php/isaac-j-warkentin-photograph-collection

NP205-01-01: Portrait of unknown male, possibly roommate in Barack # 15, a friend of I.J. Warkentin
NP205-01-02: Woman with flowers (Maria Voth Warkentin?)
NP205-01-03: Young man studying
NP205-01-04: Woman with a baby
NP205-01-05: Young man seated outside (brother of Isaac?)
NP205-01-06: Isaac Warkentin as a youth
NP205-01-07: Young teacher
NP205-01-08: Blumstein School, No. 503
NP205-01-09: At Wesley College, Winnipeg
NP205-01-10: Student portrait
NP205-01-11: At Lower Fort Garry
NP205-01-12: College friends
NP205-01-13: College track and field team
NP205-01-14: High jump event
NP205-01-15: Students in Germany
NP205-01-16: Students in Germany
NP205-01-17: Ruhleben Internment Camp
NP205-01-18: Lowe Farm School, 1943
NP205-01-19: Isaac J. Warkentin

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