Olivia Grandy
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
After attending a remembrance ceremony two years ago near their home community of Assenede, Belgium, Sabina De Craecker and her husband, Dany Van Hyfte, felt compelled to take action.
Touched by the young ages on more than 1,100 white headstones marking the graves of Canadian, British, Polish, Australian, New Zealand and French soldiers who died during the Second World War, the couple decided to do what many families of the deceased could not: ensure their final resting places were cared for and beautified.
“The horror they must have lived before dying. We can’t imagine it,” De Craecker said about the scene. “But if you see the ages on the white stones, and Oh my God, that is overwhelming.”
With a routine of tending the graves four or five times a year, the couple “adopted” two fallen soldiers’ graves through a non-profit organization called Belgium-Canada — a grave adoption program for Canadian soldiers buried in the Adegem Canadian War Cemetery in Maldegem, Belgium.
They recently decided to search online for the family members of their adoptee, Cpl. Peter J. Klassen of the South Saskatchewan Regiment, who died when he was just 19 years old.
Using the location of Klassen’s regiment as a clue, they navigated to a Facebook page called Historic Saskatchewan, which is dedicated to sharing historic photos and events. From there, Klassen’s story was also picked up by the Swift Current Legion. It’s post about Klassen now has 220 comments and 1,000 shares.
De Craecker says her and her husband’s outreach has attracted more attention than they could ever have imagined and has sparked renewed interest in family history among Klassen’s many descendants in Canada.
“We did not know that such a simple post on Facebook would have such an impact,” she said.
Klassen’s great-niece, Marilyn Topechka, whose grandma was his sister, says her relatives are enjoying digging into the past.
“People are looking up the genealogy now, and family trees, so, yeah, it’s created a whole new interest in not only our immediate family, but my grandma’s family, the Klassen family,” said Topechka, who lives in Vegreville, Alt.
Born in Wymark, Sask. in 1925, Klassen was killed in France on Sept. 14, 1944. According to Topechka’s records, he was originally buried in a garden near a house, but then reburied in Belgium after the war.
Klassen ‘insistent’ on going to the army despite Mennonite background
With many siblings, Klassen’s family tree has a wide reach.
At the time of his enlistment, he was one of ten siblings. Topechka’s records also show that he had five other older siblings who died under the age of six.
Topechka says Klassen’s desire to serve in the army ran counter to his family’s Mennonite pacifist beliefs. Enlisting required his father’s signature, which he eventually provided.
“My mom told me that my great-grandfather took it so hard when (his son) was killed, because he felt responsible, because he signed the papers to send him over there, and she just said he never forgave himself for that throughout his life.”
“From what I’ve been told, he was insistent that he wanted to go to the army.”
As a mother of two, De Craecker says the thought of losing a son feels personal.
“Of course, having two sons and having to wait so long for two sons, I don’t want to imagine what it would be like if they were killed, and that I could not visit their grave,” said De Craecker, who also spoke about her experience with infertility.
Along with Klassen’s grave, De Craecker and Van Hyfte adopted the grave of Nova Scotian soldier Charles Emile Leblanc, who served as a pilot. They chose the two soldiers because the anniversaries of their deaths fall close to their sons’ birthdays: Sept. 13, one day before the anniversary of Klassen’s death, and June 17, the anniversary of Leblanc’s death.
Several times a year, De Craecker and her husband bring flowers to the graves and ensure solar yard lights are still working. During this time of year, she says Hellebores, or the hardy Christmas Rose, do well during the Belgian winter.
“We get out the weeds and then we say a little prayer. We stand. We remember,” she said about the process.
Family ties renewed and new connections created
For cousins Stan Klassen, Victor Klassen and Henry Giesbrecht, who all live in Swift Current, learning more about their Uncle Pete’s grave has recently brought them together.
“We’re just very, very happy that someone, such as this couple from Belgium, is taking care of his grave site and acknowledging what he did in the war,” said Victor, the son of John Klassen, who was Klassen’s brother.
“I know he came from a very loving family,” said Henry, whose mother, Sarah, was Klassen’s sister.
Since learning about Klassen’s grave adoption, Topechka says she has also forged a distinct connection with De Craecker across the Atlantic.
“I actually was teasing (De Craecker) that she didn’t realize when they adopted the grave, she was also adopting a family,” said Topechka, adding they’ve been speaking several times a week since the online “connection” was made last month.
De Craecker says the ongoing contact warms her heart. Both De Craecker and Topechka remarked about the extraordinary links sparked by small acts of social media outreach.
“That is so beautiful because it’s like everything comes to life through this simple Facebook post. We find each other again. We stay in contact,” De Craecker said.
Topechka even suggested an offline gathering may be in store.
“Who knows, maybe there’ll be a family reunion in the near future planned with the Klassens.”
