Objekt des Monats
Jedes Objekt in der Sammlung des Deutschen Auswandererhauses erzählt eine ganz persönliche Auswanderungs- oder Einwanderungsgeschichte. In dieser Rubrik stellen wir Ihnen jeden Monat ein anderes Objekt vor – eine Fotografie, ein Dokument oder ein persönliches Erinnerungsstück.
April 2024
Tile featuring an image of the “Arosa Star”, circa 1956
Short Biography
Archie Stocker is just 11 years old when in 1947 he and his two-year-older brother sneak away from their home in the Bergisches Land to leave Germany. The brothers are drawn by adventure and the Canadian forests. They reach Osnabrück, where they are eventually caught by the police and brought back to Bergneustadt to their parents. However, Archie’s dream of Canada lives on, and in December 1956, nine years later, he finally boards a ship in Bremerhaven bound for Quebec City. The stormy Atlantic crossing aboard the ‘Arosa Star’ remains unforgettable for him. It marks the beginning of an eventful immigration story.
Upon arriving in Canada, the young man initially works as a laborer in a clothing factory in Vancouver. However, he does not want to stay in the city: “I wanted to experience more of the beauty of British Columbia,” as Archie himself says. Over the next few years, he takes on various jobs, first working as a dishwasher in a construction camp in the forests 96 km away in Garibaldi, and then as an employee at a general store with a post office. In his free time, Archie is always adventurous: he goes fishing, climbs, and explores the landscape. Eventually, in 1961, he finds himself on Graham Island, one of the main islands of Haida Gwaii in the northwest of British Columbia. Here, he initially works in a sawmill, then in a logging camp, where he operates machinery and drives heavy logging trucks loaded with logs.
On Graham Island, nearly 750 kilometers from Vancouver, he meets Elizabeth (“Liz”), a member of the indigenous Haida group. Archie and Elizabeth marry in 1964 and become parents to five children. To this day, Archie Stocker lives on Graham Island, his “paradise at the edge of the world.”
Significance of the object
The porcelain tile serves as a souvenir for Archie Stocker from the turbulent Atlantic crossing on the “Arosa Star,” which marked the beginning of his new life in Canada. He recalls the dramatic voyage:
“At night, the storm struck with full force. December 6: From a menacing black sky, the unleashed furies howled down upon us. The ship reared up, bucking and rolling in a battle against the tremendous mountain waves that crashed onto the deck with such force that the hull trembled and groaned under the impact. There was great panic. We had suffered a violent collision in the middle of the Atlantic! Cries of ‘Iceberg!’ rang out. That was surely impossible? Immediately following this inexplicable jolt, the ship leaned heavily to one side. Passengers rolled across the floor, desperately grasping for something to hold onto. And outside, hell broke loose! […] We were told that two massive waves from different directions had collided in front of the bow, and the Arosa Star was thrust into this as if into a rock wall! […] Then the ship reared up again. The stairs shot upright as if they wanted to overturn. Everyone fell down and landed on the lower steps. New injuries!
Historical context
The history of the ‘Arosa Star’ tells of rough seas, accidents, and shipwrecks. The steamship was originally launched in 1931 under the name ‘Borinquen’ and served various shipping companies as an emigrant and cruise ship as well as a troop transport for the US Navy until 1970. Especially on the transatlantic emigration voyages between 1954 and 1958, the ‘Arosa Star’ frequently encountered turbulence due to heavy seas. Many passengers can recount such experiences.
The ‘Arosa Star’, at that time sailing under the name ‘Bahama Star’, becomes a witness to a serious accident at sea when it rushes to the rescue of shipwrecked individuals on November 13, 1965, in the Atlantic near Panama. The disaster occurs aboard the passenger ship ‘Yarmouth Castle’, which has caught fire. Nearly 460 people are rescued by the ‘Arosa Star’ and another ship, while an additional 90 people lose their lives as a result of the fire.
The final chapter in the history of the ‘Arosa Star’ begins on April 13, 1970, when it lies anchored off the coast of California. A hurricane hits the ship, which is now named ‘La Jenelle’, pushing it ashore and causing it to capsize. The former ocean liner becomes stranded on the beach and cannot be saved. To this day, remnants of the shipwreck lie off the shore of Port Hueneme.
Do You Also Have …
… a story of emigration or immigration in your family that you would like to share with the German Emigration Center together with the related objects and documents for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau by phone at +49 471 / 90 22 0 – 0
or by e-mail at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de