Abe Wittenberg was born August 1, 1919 in Gnadenheim Slavgorod, Siberia to Abram & Katharina Wittenberg. The family came to Canada in 1925 and settled in Drake Saskatchewan where Abe went to school. In 1928, the family relocated to Winnipeg and Abe attended Lord Kitchener School until the Wittenberg family came to Yarrow in 1935. They settled in a home on Central Road close to Boundary Road.

Abe found work in the hopyards near Yarrow and other seasonal work. Though the work required long hours, he still found time to play softball and was a formidable pitcher. In 1942 Abe, his brother Jacob and their friend Jacob Wiebe were employed by McKenzie Barge & Derrick in Vancouver.

His brother Jake can't remember the reason, but perhaps it was a desire for adventure, they decided to join the Canadian army and the three of them went to the Little Mountain Army Recruiting offices and enlisted in February 1943.

Most of the Mennonite boys joined the Medical Corps, but the Abe, Jake and Jacob decided to join the infantry. Abe trained at Vernon and then at the Currie Barracks in Calgary for more advanced infantry training.

Abe was posted overseas to England, sailing on the Queen Mary in August 1943.

In September 1943, he was sent to "Africa" (which seems to have been a code name for the invasion of Italy) and served with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, 1st Division. He was wounded and recovered, served in Sicily and then on to Italy where he was fatally wounded. Abe was killed in action near the Navagolian Canal in Italy on December 13, 1944 and was buried at the Canadian War Cemetery Ravenna, Italy.

For further infomation on the life of Abe Wittenberg and the other war dead from Yarrow, see "Yarrow's War Dead" by Harold Dyck in Village of Unsettled Yearnings, edited by Leonard N. Neufeldt.