Memoir Collection

Margot Richens

Margot (Haacke) Richens was born in Magdeburg, Germany, on 5 January 1930, three years before Adolf Hitler assumed power. She experienced the tumultuous “rebirth” of the Reich in the 1930s and its utter decimation during the war. She lived during her teenage years in the new nation of East Germany where Communist oppression replaced Nazi oppression. In 1950 she escaped to West Germany and it was there she met her husband Red Richens, a sergeant in the Canadian army. After marrying in Germany in early November 1955, Red and Margot sailed to Montreal and took the train to Winnipeg, where they settled for a decade and where Margot had her only child, Peter. Seeking life anew, they moved to Calgary in 1966. There Margot’s health suffered grievously for years, she divorced Red, and she found a measure of fulfillment in art, writing and family. This excerpt is part of a larger memoir manuscript and is Margot’s account of her life in West Germany, of meeting her husband, and of her migration to Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student & Academic Services for The Alberta Women's Memory Project - Last Updated July 11, 2024