Victor Regehr was born on August 20, 1929 in Kleefeld, Ukraine. His parents tried to emigrate before World War II began but were unsuccessful, and in 1943, Viktor was taken in a mass deportation and separated from his family but the Russian Red Army, along with thousands of others and exiled them to Siberia. He was there for 12 years in Kazakhstan, there he met his wife Maria, who had also been exiled there. In 1961, Viktor was able to bring his family to Canada for a better life. Victor passed away October, 30th, 2014.

Maria Regehr Neumann was born on May 3, 1919 in Leipzig, Bessarabia, (Moldova). Maria was exiled in Siberia for 10 years, where she met Viktor.

Maria has written a family history that includes how life was before World War II, and then after and how it affected and changed the family’s life. During World War II, Romania changed sides, and in 1940 the Soviets formed a Hitler-Stalin alliance, which led to the Soviets occupying Bessarabia. The German population faced expulsion from their homeland as the SS evacuated the villages. The village of Leipzig was vacated, each household only allowed a two horse wagon with few personal belongings. Maria was first taken to Poland, then in Germany. In 1945, Maria, her sister and mother were forced to leave Germany because they were not born there, forcing them to take a train to Kazakhstan. They were given housing in abandoned sheds, and for ten years they worked for meager compensation in harsh temperatures. In 1955 they received permission from Moscow to return to Germany where they were reunited with the rest of their siblings. In 1961 Maria and her husband chose to immigrate to Canada.