Invitation to The North
by Hermann Tietgen

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A man with a recent degree in Agriculture from the University of Berlin, Hermann came to Canada in 1930 to escape inflation and lack of jobs in Germany. A chance encounter led him to the North and a job prospecting for gold. He fell in love with the North like so many others had done before him. In 1939 the declaration of war against Germany stopped all searches for gold in the North. Suddenly other minerals were more important. This brought all the gold prospectors to Edmonton from the North and there were many more men than jobs. Hermann, his wife, and little daughter moved ‘back’ to Montreal where he was hoping to find a job. Fortunately, through a friend of a friend, he did land a job at an alloy-producing plant in Beauharnois, Quebec near Montreal. The first job was as a ‘stoker’ on a platform above the huge vats of molten metal, stirring the mass which would be used to make armoured steel for vehicles and tanks, for the Canadian Armed Forces. He worked at St. Lawrence Alloys as a Stores Keeper and then as the Purchasing Agent, until he retired in 1968. He died in 1970, never having returned to the North which he loved so well. This is his story in his own words.

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Edited by Marcia Tietgen Smith and Karen Smith Cade

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Contributors

Author

Hermann Tietgen

Editor

Marcia Tietgen Smith

Editor

Karen Smith Cade

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