Researching parents emigration Germany to Canada. PassengerShipList Bremerhaven - Que

[mymomshistory]

This is all quite new to me, and I am not an 'old hat' at navigating my way around the internet. I found getting on this site and auctioning a little difficult. But I am thrilled to have finally found my way here. I am researching my parents emigration from Germany to Canada in the 1950's. I did find my mother's passenger ship list on the Groote Beer from Rotterdam to New York, via Halifax - where she disembarked in March 1955.
HOWEVER, I SIMPLY CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHAT TRAIN SHE TOOK FROM HAMBURG TO ROTTERDAM IN 1955. WHAT KIND OF TRAIN - THE ROUTE, THE INTERIOR ETC. EVERY DETAIL I CAN FIND. IF ANYONE CAN HELP, I WOULD BE MOST GRATEFUL. MY PARENTS WERE ALL I HAD, AS I HAVE NO SIBLINGS AND AM WRITING A BOOK ON THEIR LOVE STORY & VOYAGE TO CANADA.

My father came to Canada two years earlier than the mother. They met through some kind of news exchange cultural forum - I DO NOT KNOW THIS EITHER, after my father settled in Toronto. She saw his photo in Hamburg & started writing him. My father was born in Bremen and came to Canada in 1953 from Bremerhaven to Quebec's Port of Call in Quebec, CANADA on the M.S. FAIRSEA.
Talk about multicultural! The Fairsea was a type C3 bought by Russian émigré Alexandre Vlasov, under his Alvion Steam Ship Corporation. Vlasov founded the Sitmar Shipping Line ( Società Italiana Trasporti Marittimi) under the flag of Italy to manage her. Her first sailings as a passenger ship was from Naples to Australia began in 1952. Then she made only six voyages from Bremerhaven to Quebec’s port in 1953. They were April 30, May, June 24 (arrived in Québec on July 3), July 17, August 6 and September 18. MY FATHER WAS ON ONE OF THESE VOYAGES. Canada will not give out the passenger lists for Post WWII under the privacy act. They are not posted anywhere that I can see on the web. However, neither was my mother's ship list official. I found it in Hugo's Groote Beer thread. After 1953, the Fairsea sailed continuously from Bremerhaven to Australia until 1955. Australia's immigration cite is wonderful and comprehensive with ALL their ship passenger lists. However, they do not have information on the Fairsea's six voyages to Canada, at Quebec' Port of Call during 1953. From Quebec, my father took the train to Toronto. He somehow met my mother through a German cultural news venue,they started communicating and she came to Canada.

I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL FOR ANY HELP, INSIGHT OR INFORMATION. THANK YOU & GOD BLESS. I hope I can navigate my way back here.

[HerMajesty]

This is great! What a fascinating story!!! Best of luck on your book! I do a lot of genealogy, but don't have experience with research regarding Germany. Have you contacted local 'county' history groups there? They are often a wealth of info. Best of luck here, too!!! This is such a friendly place!!

[mymomshistory]

For a moment I thought the Queen herself was responding with an answer - lol. Thank you for reading it. Canada has the Passenger Lists, they just refuse to release them. There SHOULD be another passenger list at Bremerhaven's port where they left, but I cannot understand German or navigate to who would have it. You're funny.

[HerMajesty]

Funny? I thought that was a pretty serious (for me) answer!!! I'll ask my sister and brother-in-law to see if they have ideas........they've lived in Europe (Belgium) for a long time, travel a lot, know a lot of people, and might know how to contact some local history groups in Germany. Canada is pretty liberal with releasing info, so my crown is off to them for that. I have a cousin who wrote a successful book about our family based on my uncle's letters home during WWII years in the states. Have you checked the local newspapers in Hamburg, as this may be where she saw his photo. If they have an archive, even if you didn't speak the language, you could peruse the pics. If you get a block of text, you can put it into sites online that will translate - tho you have to be ready for errors in words.....like great uncle can coume out as fat uncle. Bablefish is one site. Lots of places have people who speak English who can help...........Have you contacted the current train companies? Are there train 'fan clubs' in the area that may have researched and saved the history of local trains? Those are usually great groups of people.......are you on Ancestry??

[mymomshistory]

Oh, I didn't mean your answer was funny. It's my own naivety. I actually thought for a moment, the Queen of England was answering my thread. My daughter received a scholarship from her.
Your information is very exciting and insightful. That's exactly why I posted on this site. Thank you, thank you for any help or comments.
I am most grateful to you. I don't know how to put a smiley on here. But I am smiling and grateful for your kindness and help.

[HerMajesty]

Babelfish.com is a translation site. (I spelled it wrong above). Are you looking on the Ancestry site for info??

[Anniemcc2]

I too, do a lot of family history research and would suggest that you go to Rootschat.com and post your query on the Canada board. You could also try the message boards at Rootsweb.com.

Also try joining the relevant German and Canadian Province mailing lists - http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ I received so much help and advice from the lists that I joined when I first began my research 12 years ago that I now admin 2 Rootsweb mailing lists.

Almost forgot - there is also a Ship's mailing list with associated website - http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/i...ShipsList.html

"Find passenger lists, fleet lists, shipping schedules, ship descriptions, wreck data, and other information which is not readily available online. Subjects also include emigration/immigration, ports of arrival, ports of departure, naturalization and border entry records. To help with your questions, there are many regular members of the list, with a wide range of expertise and resources, who are ready and willing to assist and guide you on your search. Additional information can be found on TheShipsList website. http://www.theshipslist.com/ "

HTH

[suesjools]

What a cool story, thanks for sharing.

Agree with the above, rootsweb and ancestry.com are two good places to start. I've also heard that the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints in Utah has a huge repository of geneology records of all kinds, not just Mormons, maybe another good research contact.

Good luck and have fun with your search,

[Anniemcc2]

What a cool story, thanks for sharing.

Agree with the above, rootsweb and ancestry.com are two good places to start. I've also heard that the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints in Utah has a huge repository of geneology records of all kinds, not just Mormons, maybe another good research contact.

Good luck and have fun with your search,

The LDS website: http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp BUT a word of warning- whatever information you find, take with a healthy pinch of salt until backed up by firm evidence. As along with all their transcripts of UK Parish Registers and many others, there is also patron submitted data which can be very unreliable.

[suesjools]

Annie, thanks, I don't know too much about the LDS website, except a friend used it with good results a few years back.

Best wishes for many good sales to all,