On Jun. 24,1924 they [JAKOB KOOP family] left Lichtenau, Molotschna and travelled by train to Libau, Latvia. Over a thousand people were on that train of 50 freight cars and it was crowded with people and baggage. The train trip took almost 9 days. The cars were drafty but the weather was mostly pleasant. They had a chance to see much of Russia they had never seen. The only food they had for those days was what they had brought with them. Whenever the train stopped for a while they would get out and make a fire and boil some water to make tea or prips. They were relieved when the train crossed the border and they were on Latvian soil. At Libau they boarded a small ship called the Maclean, which took them through the Kiel Canal to Antwerp, Belgium. Before docking they had to bathe with a disinfectant; all hair was shorn off men, children and even some women. Their clothes were washed in a special solution. Mother was proud of the fact that they found no lice on her family and her hair was not shorn. In Antwerp they were again given a thorough health inspection and about 60 people were detained but they passed. On Ju1. 8, 1924 they boarded the ocean liner S.S. Minnedosa and left Antwerp. The ocean voyage lasted 9 days and according to Dad it was a pleasant and mostly calm voyage. Many were seasick in spite of this, but our family was only a little queasy the first two days and after that were fine, even Mother, who was two months pregnant. They were crowded in the lowest hold of the ship. There were no individual rooms, only four large rooms. During the day they spent a lot of time on deck. The food was good but different from what they were used to. On Jul. 17, 1924 they saw the skyline of Quebec City, but they were stopped and about 50 people were removed to be quaranteed on an island until their health problems cleared up. By the time the ship docked it was late and they had to remain on the ship till morning.

Next morning they disembarked and they were taken to a large immigration hall, where they were met by a reception committee from the Mennonite Colonization Board, who assigned them to their destinations. Some had individual relative sponsors, but the majority were assigned to Rosthern, Sask. and to Kitchener, Ont. Our family went to Kitchener that same day and arrived there at 3:00 P.M. Mother says she was exhausted from the excitement, the uncertainity, and the ordeal in the noisy immigration hall. The train ride had been comfortable; everyone had a seat and train stewards frequently came around with food and drinks. But in Kitchener they had to face another ordeal. They were met by a large crowd of Old Order and Pennsylvannia Dutch Mennonites, who had received lists of the immigrants weeks earlier. On these lists were the names of the families, their ages, number of children and the father's occupation in Russia. Many had chosen a family and had sent in the name of the family of their choice. These families had received the names of their sponsors in Quebec. Others had agreed that they were willing to take a family but would make their choice when the 'Russlanders' arrived. Our family had no sponsor. The families with pre-arranged sponsors left and thinned the ranks. Those who had been farmers in Russia were soon chosen. Dad felt very humiliated when farmers would stop and question him and then move on. In Russia he had always been a teacher and had never worked on a farm. Finally only a few widows with children and our family was left. The local church leader was encouraging, promising a place would be found. Late in the evening a dairy farmer, Arthur Pannabecker, drove into the station and agreed to take our family ...

• Helen Koop Johnson, Tapestry of Ancestral Footprints (1995), pp. 155-156