2022 graduating student Charles Hatfield and current student John Hatfield would certainly agree. Charles, 72, and his brother John, 67, began their education journey over four decades ago, when Charles enrolled at the University of Manitoba, majoring in physical education with a minor in mathematics.

“As a kid, I wanted to play for the Blue Bombers in high school,” Charles says. “I thought physical education would allow me to do something athletic with my career, but after three years I realized my strength was my brain and not my body.”

After graduation, Charles applied for a position teaching mathematics at Shaftsbury High School. He was a beloved teacher and taught there until his retirement. John, a fellow sports fan, had the same idea as his brother, but inevitably came to the same conclusion.

“I went into physical education, and I found, the same as [Charles] did, that as athletes go, I was very ordinary,” he explains.

John applied for a position as a library assistant at UM’s Elizabeth Dafoe Library, where he worked for 40 years.

“I wasn’t very suited to being a teacher, so when I did get an opportunity to just get into the library as a regular office worker, I took that and I much preferred that kind of life,” says John. “I thought it was just a super job, because the campus is a great environment to be, among young people, and the whole atmosphere in the library.”

A linguistic revelation

While Charles retired after 25 years, John enjoyed his time working at the library so much that he never considered retirement. But when their mother died, John had a revelation.

“Our mother was born in Germany, she lived there until she was seven years old and then she moved to Canada. She spoke German to both of us,” Charles says. “About a year after she died, John said ‘if we don’t take a German course of some kind, we’re going to lose our language’ because we don’t speak it to each other, we speak English.”

The fear of losing their language prompted Charles, after a career of teaching, to wade back into the waters of student life.

“I was only going to take just the first-year German course, just to brush up on my grammar, and that was it,” Charles explains. “I was happy to be retired.”

Charles previously hated English or literature courses in high school and was ‘thrilled’ when he graduated, thinking he wouldn’t take any such courses again. But the single German grammar course sparked an infatuation with literature and language that Charles never could have predicted.

“I took the course, and just had a fantastic professor and I loved the rules!” Charles says. “Germans have rules for grammar, and it was close to mathematics, and I loved it. I took as many grammar courses as I could, and I ran out of grammar courses.I would take one course a year, or two half courses – one every semester, and just kept filling in with whatever I could, and it turns out most of them were literature courses, and suddenly, I liked literature too.”

As a high school math teacher, Charles looked down on language and literature courses, feeling they were not as “important” as mathematics. Now his feelings are different.

“My mind has completely changed,” Charles says. “My German literature professors are all brilliant. They’re the smartest people I know.”

Like a seasonal flu, Charles’ new love of German literature eventually spread to his roommate, John. Filling his time with his university studies has made the transition to retirement a pleasant one.

“I felt that I had to retire for my health’s sake, but it turned out to be a good thing, because I’ve loved it ever since I finished work,” John says. “Things are even better.”

The new kids in class

Charles and John both say the transition back to school could not have been better, due in no small part to their connection with fellow students who, despite the large gap in age and experience, welcomed and engaged with them as though they were peers.

“In the one class, we didn’t even sit together because I like to sit in the front of the room, and [John] likes to sit in the back,” Charles explains. “He was sitting in the back with his own friends who were 19- and 20-years-old and I was sitting with my group of 19 and 20-year-old friends at the front. They’re young enough to be my grandkids and they’re talking to me like I’m one of the bunch. It just made me feel so much younger, sitting with these kids who accepted me.”

Charles Hatfield with his master’s degree parchment.

Selma Osmanovic, a classmate of Charles and John, says that the feeling was mutual, and that the brothers’ patient and open presence in class was invaluable to her and other classmates’ learning experience.

“He brought so much wisdom to our classes and our casual discussions,” Selma says of Charles. “It became very easily noticed when he was not present to add his thoughts.”

Charles will be graduating this June with a masters degree in German and Slavic studies. His thesis, which focuses on the depiction of Indigenous women in German literature of the 19th century, is nominated for the German Studies Canada Prize for the Best MA Thesis. He says his thesis was inspired by his professor, Dr. Alexandra Heberger, who went above and beyond to support him, even ordering books from Germany for them to discuss together. The additional support from his professor was invaluable in helping illuminate the text for him, while challenging some of his own biases and perspectives.

“Here’s this professor, reading, I don’t know, 14 or 15 new books, just so she can discuss them with one student!” explains Charles. “We got to have these great talks on how this [book] is more stereotyped than the others and what are the good parts. To really criticize them, you must not think Eurocentrically. I’m a Eurocentric thinker, I can’t help it, but I can now catch myself thinking Eurocentrically and can be critical of it.”

While Charles and John say their “overwhelmingly positive” experience at UM helped expand their intellectual horizons, their eager participation in class also left a lasting impact on their professors and classmates.

“Our discussions reminded me of why I fell in love with my job and research in the first place and gave me a new focus for my personal research as well,” says his professor Dr. Heberger, who supervised Charles’ thesis. “It was such a pleasure working with Charles because there was always a level of joy, curiosity and great enthusiasm added to all his academic work. Charles’ writing and all his presentations in class were inspiring. I am very grateful that Charles and John are part of my journey.”

The Department of German and Slavic Studies and the Program in Central and Eastern European Studies at the University of Manitoba strongly condemn the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine. Since 24 February 2022, 5:00 a.m. Kyiv time, Russia’s massive attack on Ukraine has started the worst security and humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War Two. This assault causes suffering, devastation, and damage to the people and cultural heritage of Ukraine. All the programs of our department (Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, German, and Hungarian) and the multi-disciplinary Program in Central and East European Studies stand united with Ukraine and its people in these perilous times. As scholars and educators, we reject President Putin’s justifications of this war and its misrepresentation as a “special military operation.” We declare our support for all those in Ukraine and beyond who are suffering because of this invasion. We stand together with the people of Ukraine, our students, partners, and colleagues from all ethnic backgrounds who are in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, and around the world who oppose this war. The Department of German and Slavic Studies expresses solidarity with our partner institutions in Ukraine: Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, and the Lviv Polytechnic National University. If you feel the direct impact of the war (especially international students from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, who are enrolled in the courses taught by our Department) and need assistance, please let us know at german_slavic@umanitoba.ca. 

Learn more about supports available to anyone impacted by the invasion of Ukraine.

—————————————

I am currently working toward a double major in Spanish and German Studies with a focus on second language acquisition as well as literature and culture. My enthusiasm for foreign languages has always existed somewhere inside of me. Ever since my final year of elementary school, I have dabbled in this or that language, learning a few phrases here and a new alphabet there. However,

Giessbrecht in Cologne, Germany

my interest in seriously studying to be able to really communicate in more than one language is really thanks to my high school foreign language teachers who managed to develop my fascination into a true passion. The Faculty of Arts is a perfect place to pursue this as they offer a seemingly endless number of language and culture courses.

I had also always been highly interested in studying abroad for a semester or maybe even two (NOTE: you do not need to be a language major or even speak another language to study abroad as many universities offer various courses in English). The only thing holding me back was the financial side of going abroad as I felt that did not have nearly enough money saved up for such an extensive undertaking.

Fortunately, I found out about several scholarships that I could apply for to cover the costs of my international exchange to Germany and as it so happened, I managed to receive an undergraduate scholarship from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service). This allowed me to study at the University of Greifswald, a partner university of the U of M in Greifswald, Germany, for two semesters. Both the process of applying to the exchange program and the scholarship application started almost a year before the actual exchange took place. It all seemed like quite a bit of paperwork at the time. However, Dr. Alexandra Heberger was there every step of the way to help with the application for the scholarship as well as answering all the questions I had about the exchange in general.

Studying in Germany has truly been one of my favourite university experiences so far and is something that I will always look back on as the exciting adventure that it was. During my year abroad, I got to know many awesome people and experience different cultures, traditions and different ways of living and thinking (also, let us not forget about the amazing food). In addition, it was a great opportunity for me to discover and learn things about myself I had not known before. For example, living away from home has helped me to grow more independent and has made me realize how much potential I really have when I step out of my comfort zone.

Whenever I had a break from classes, I took the opportunity to travel around Germany and to other parts of Europe, like Italy. One of the most exciting adventures I had was hiking up Mount

View from Mt. Vesuvius

Vesuvius, an active volcano, with a friend I had met at the University of Greifswald. Looking over the beautiful Italian coast once we had arrived at the top of the volcano was amazing. It was a simply awe-inspiring view that had me appreciating the beauty of our planet… and, the nice breeze up there (especially after hiking up a few kilometers to the crater in crazy heat).

Aside from discovering new places in my free time, studying in Greifswald has been very beneficial to my degree. It gave me the chance to take several German Studies courses that different than those available at the U of M. I had a course load of four classes per semester. Some of the courses focused on the acquisition of German as a second language and its didactic consequences, while others were about the history of the German language and how it evolved into the language spoken by over 90 million native speakers today.

I am now in the final year of my B.A. and I might take a year off after I graduate. I do plan to continue studying and pursue a degree in education. That way I get a chance to, in the future, inspire students to learn another language because it truly does open doors to whole a new world. Furthermore, learning a new language, though it may take time, is something you will never regret because it is simply extremely useful in your personal as well as professional life.

If you are a student considering a travel exchange, my advice is: Go for it! It might seem daunting at first to leave behind everyone and everything you know, but it is a time you will always look back on and think of as one of the most rewarding adventures in your life. If you have any questions about a travel exchange, just get in contact with the International Centre at the U of M or visit the Exchange Advisor at the Faculty of Arts Student Services Office. They are ready to answer your questions or concerns and they do a great job of preparing you for the exchange before you go abroad.

Languages offered include French, Spanish, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, German, Latin, and American Sign Language. For summer term, these languages are all offered at the introductory/beginner level and some are at the intermediate level.

Summer courses provide an opportunity to catch up or get ahead on credits, permit you to lighten your regular semester load, normally offer smaller class sizes and provide an intensive environment to engage in the language and get plenty of practice. The key to learning any language is participation. To that end, a Language Lab is available for oral practice.

If you have already learned a language other than English, consider expanding your knowledge of its vocabulary, grammar, culture, and even literature through the courses offered. Becoming more proficient at the language can help to improve your chances for success in school and in your career.

Why learn a language?

There is a bigger picture to learning a new language than picking up a few verbs and phrases. Courses teach more than just grammar and vocabulary. Students learn new sounds, expressions, and ways of seeing things. Studying a language can help expand your view of the world and increase your appreciation of other cultures and other peoples.

Transferable skills along with foreign language skills make for more valuable employees in the global marketplace. Studying a language can increase creativity, enhance listening skills and memory, and improve analytical and general communication skills. Not only will you have a competitive edge in career choices, you are more likely to be seen as a bridge to new clients that can be called upon to travel and communicate with people in other countries throughout your career.

Consider spending this summer learning a language. Exploring a language now could lead to a major, minor, honours, or master’s program in the future or it may open opportunities for travel, career choices, community involvement, and fun with family and friends.

For the full list of Arts summer language courses, visit Aurora.

Can’t take a course this summer? Even more language courses will be available from the Faculty of Arts in the fall and winter terms.

The Society was one of the original contributors toward the endowment fund, established in 1999, that has a goal to secure the offering of language and cultural courses at the university on an annual basis. “This generous donation will enable the community, university, department and students to plan for the future as it moves the fund rapidly toward its long-term goal,” said Myroslav Shkandrij, Acting Head, Department of German and Slavic Studies. “Polish studies have formed an integral part of the department promoting, preserving and enhancing the study of the Polish language and culture.”

For over 60 years, the university has worked in partnership with Manitoba’s Polish community – some 85,000 people – to foster and advance Polish language, culture and history and to ensure that the Polish experience remains a vibrant part of our province’s cultural fabric.

At the event, Jeff Taylor [BA/75, MA/78, PhD/88], Dean, Faculty of Arts noted that, “Donations such as this help the Faculty of Arts serve our students and the Province by offering courses and programs in a broader range of cultural and geographic areas. This ultimately benefits the greater community by delivering graduates with practical, creative, and analytical skills and abilities that they can then share within their communities.”

The Canadian Polish Congress, Manitoba Division, created the endowment fund and continues to raise the awareness of the Polish Studies program which in turn helps, along with various fundraising initiatives, to increase the capital of the fund.

It takes a great deal of work by many volunteers to keep fundraising going. Shkandrij added, “We are so grateful to the Polish community, the Congress Fundraising Committee and the Society for their support to help make our program strong and viable into the future.”

Adam Muller’s remarks at the opening contextualized the events remembered in the exhibit, the destruction of Synagogues in Nazi Germany and their place in Raphael Lemon’s concept of cultural genocide. Other speakers at the opening included Peter Fahrenholtz, Consul General for the Federal Republic of Germany; David T. Barnard, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manitoba and Belle Jarniewski, chair of the Freeman Family Foundation Holocaust Education centre. The exhibit was introduced by a formal lecture on the creation of the exhibit by Marc Grellert of the Technical University of Darmstadt, who emphasized the importance of digital and online media in working through and remembering our past.

Following the introductory greetings and lecture, attendees were the first to see the exhibit installed in Canada. Greg Smith, associate dean of arts responsible for internationalization said that the exhibit “reminds us that the attack on Jewish religion, culture and community by the Nazi regime also left permanent holes in the physical landscape of Germany. By reconstructing the synagogues virtually and in such detail, visitors are able to experience a kind of cultural time travel which both celebrates what was, and reiterates what was lost. It’s truly impressive.”

The exhibit remains open until March 4, 2017, hours and available exhibit programming can be found on the events calendar here.

The exhibit, Synagogues in Germany: A Virtual Reconstruction, is a large and interactive German multimedia exhibition brought to Winnipeg by the University of Manitoba, the Freeman Family Foundation Holocaust Education Centre, and the German government. It will be installed at Winnipeg’s Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery before travelling for dates in Vancouver and Toronto.

Work on the exhibition began following the 1994 firebombing of a Lübeck synagogue, the first racist attack on a Jewish house of worship in Germany since 1945. Now, after 20 years of architectural research at Darmstadt Technical University, scholars have created elaborate 3D digital reconstructions of more than 25 of the more than 1000 synagogues destroyed on Kristallnacht.

Along with associated placards, photographs, text panels, books, and three documentary films, these reconstructions speak to the nature and significance of cultural loss as an instrument of genocide. They also visually document the extraordinary architectural variety and historical importance of the buildings the Nazis destroyed, and in so doing contribute to commemorative work ongoing in the wake of the Holocaust by providing a source for reflection on what the historical destruction of Jewish culture means today.

Exhibit hours: From Jan. 29-Mar. 4, 2o17, open weekly on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m; Tuesday, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Admission: Free
Location: Mennonite Heritage Centre, 600 Shaftesbury Blvd.
Please note: Group visits can be arranged, as can guided tours, by emailing Synagogues.Germany@umanitoba.ca. A complete schedule of exhibition-related events, themed tours by experts, and general tours for the public, will be made available later in January 2017.

The exhibition and related programming have been made possible thanks to the generous assistance of the Federal Republic of Germany / the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa), the German Consulate General-Toronto, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the University of Manitoba, the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery, the Freeman Family Foundation Holocaust Education Centre, Kuehne + Nagel, and Hapag-Lloyd AG.

Public Programming

Admission to the exhibition and all events are free and open to everybody interested. Lecture Series (in Presentation Room, upper level of MHC Gallery)

All lectures will be between 30 and 45 minutes long with subsequent discussion. Exhibition guides are available after lectures for questions on the exhibition.

Sunday, February 12, 2 p.m.

• Belle Jarniewski (Holocaust Education Centre of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada / International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance): The Impact of the Shoah on Jewish-Christian Dialogue

Tuesday, February 14: 6 p.m.

• Prof. Stephan Jaeger (German and Slavic Studies, University of Manitoba): German Public Memory of the Third Reich and the Holocaust between 1945 and 2017

Sunday, February 19, 2 p.m.

• Sharon Graham (History, University of Manitoba): Reform Judaism from Hamburg to Cincinnati to Winnipeg

Tuesday, February 21: 6 p.m.

• Prof. Adam Muller (English, Film & Theatre, University of Manitoba): Cultural Genocide in Comparative Perspective

Sunday, February 26: 2 p.m.

• Prof. Ralph Stern (Architecture, University of Manitoba): Stolpern: Disrupting Narratives of Spatial Appropriation

Wednesday, March 1, 5:30 p.m.

• Prof. Benjamin M. Baader: (History & Judaic Studies, University of Manitoba): The Resurgence of Jewish Life in Germany Today

Public tours guided by specialists

Each tour  is about 1 hour and no prior booking is needed, just meet in the foyer of the MHC Gallery.

• Sunday, February 5, 2 p.m.: Guided tour with Sharon Graham (History, University of Manitoba)
• Tuesday, February 7, 7 p.m.: Guided tour with Prof. Alexandra Heberger (German and Slavic Studies, University of Manitoba)
• Sunday, February, 12, 1 p.m.: Guided tour with Esther Hein (German, University of Manitoba)
• Tuesday, February 14, 7 p.m.: Guided tour with Emma Mikuska-Tinman (German, University of Manitoba)
• Sunday, February 19, 1 p.m.: Guided tour with Michelle Lietz (English, University of Manitoba)
• Tuesday, February 21, 7 p.m.: Guided tour with Nicholas Mckenzie (Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Manitoba)
• Sunday, February, 26, 1 p.m.: Guided tour with Malak Abas & Braeden Hafichuk (University of Manitoba)
• Saturday, March 4, 3 p.m.: Guided tour with Prof. Stephan Jaeger (German and Slavic Studies, University of Manitoba)

Through an exhibit of photographs, text, film and computer-aided design, visitors can see the grand and varied architecture of these former Jewish houses of worship, as well getting a sense of how community and culture was destroyed with the buildings, says a Winnipeg genocide scholar.

“Genocide is the destruction of a people, not of people,” explains Adam Muller, one of two University of Manitoba professors co-ordinating educational programs and forums around the exhibit.

“You can achieve the destruction of a people through physical means and through the destruction of cultures.”

Synagogues in Germany: A Virtual Reconstruction, runs from Jan. 29 to March 4 at the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery, 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., on the south campus of Canadian Mennonite University. Viewers use computer workstations to see simulations of 25 synagogues, or experience the scale of the buildings through projected images on gallery walls.

A journalist, author, political commentator and leading opinion maker in today’s Ukraine, Portnikov is a frequent guest on Ukrainian TV and radio current affairs programs, is often quoted in the Western press and has a large following on social media. His articles have appeared in publications around the world and he has won awards for his fearless commentary on events in Ukraine, Russia and Eastern Europe. His recent books include Bohorodytsia v synahozi (Mother of God in the Synagogue) and Tiurma dlia anholiv (Prison for Angels).

Vitaly Portnikov

Born in 1967 in Kyiv, Ukraine, Portnikov graduated from the Moscow University Faculty of Journalism in 1990. He worked for the Kyiv newspaper Molod Ukrainy (Youth of Ukraine) as an analyst specializing in post-Soviet countries, and with the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In 2007 he was appointed editor-in-chief of the Media-Domholding and the Ukrainian newspaper Gazeta24. Since 2008 he has hosted the weekly TV show Kyivskyi pohliad (Kyiv View). In May 2010 Portnikov was appointed editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian television channel TVi, and in November 2012 he became its president, a position he held until the channel ceased broadcasting in 2015.

Besides being a leading analyst of Ukrainian political affairs, he also writes on Jews and the Middle East and has a column in Israel’s most popular Russian-language newspaper Vesti (News) and in the Moscow-based Evreiskie novosti (Jewish News).

Portnikov is the winner of the “Zolote Pero 1989” (Golden Pen) award of the Ukrainian Association of Journalists. He has also been nominated as Journalist of the Year in Ukraine.

A selection of his articles in English can be found at: theotherrussia.org/tag/vitaly-portnikov

Note – Updated Date/Time of Lecture:  Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 7:00 pm

Place:  University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, 330 Elizabeth Dafoe Library, Fort Garry Campus, U of M

Admission Free, Reception to Follow

Sponsored by: the U of M Archives & Special Collections; the Slavic Collection – Elizabeth Dafoe Library; and the Department of German & Slavic Studies

For information on the event, please call: 204-474-9986.

The internment of 8,579 people, who were branded as “enemy aliens”, were forced into 24 internment camps located across Canada – from Nanaimo to Halifax (one was located in Brandon, Manitoba). In addition there were 5 receiving stations (one was in Winnipeg). Men, women and children suffered during this internment operation, not because of anything that they had done, but only because of who they were and where they had come from. In addition some 88,000 individuals had to register with the RCMP, carry identity cards and report regularly to the police.

The commemoration in Winnipeg on the 100^th anniversary of the initiation of the Canadian government’s internment operations will begin with a one day Symposium (Oct. 24 – 10am to 2pm in Committee Room 254 of the Manitoba Legislature). Five academics will present papers on various topics of the Internment Operations and they include Dr. Bohdan Kordan (University of Saskatchewan), Peter Melnycky (Dept. of Alberta Culture), Iryna Konstantiuk (instructor of Ukrainian/Russian languages in the department of German and Slavic studies, University of Manitoba), James Kominowski (Slavic Librarian and Archivist, department of German and Slavic studies, University of Manitoba) and Andrea Malysh (Program Manager of the First World War Internment Recognition Fund). During the Symposium there will be ample room for questions and answers as well as discussion.

The second part of the commemoration is the unveiling of a statue on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislature Building (immediately north of the Taras Shevchenko monument – on the north- west side of the Legislature) at 3 pm in the afternoon. The bronze statue was commissioned by UCC-MPC and was created by Ontario artist John Boxtel in 2015. The statue depicts a typical internee with fingers pointing to himself as if declaring “Why me!” Similar representations of this statue are located at another five internment sites across Canada. On the base-pedestal of the statue are the words “REMEMBER, LEARN AND NEVER FORGET” in English, French, Ukrainian and thirteen other central and east European languages (recognizing that all these ethno cultural communities were influenced by the Internment operations of 1914 to 1920.

The unveiling program begins at 3:00 PM with dignitaries, greetings, an unveiling ceremony as well as a church blessing.

All of the above events and activities are free to the public. Come and commemorate and remember the impact of the Internment Operations on Ukrainians and other central and east Europeans in Canada.

For further information contact Roman Yereniuk (204 -474 8907 or 204 250 7552) or Joanne Lewandoski (204 -294 2276).