American Historical Society Of Germans From Russia

Work Paper No. 23 Spring, 1977 Price $2.50 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Ruth M. Amen ...... …………………………………………...... i PRESENT-DAY NAMES OF FORMER GERMAN VOLGA COLONIES Emma Schwabenland Haynes Chart Furnished by Karl Stumpp ...... ……………………………...... 1

DOCUMENTS ON MENNONITE LIFE IN RUSSIA, PART III: THE GERMAN CAPTURE OF THE CHORTITZA VOLOST John B. Toews...... …………………………………………...... 6

THE GERMAN SETTLEMENTS IN VOLHYNIA Friedrich Rink Translated by Adam Giesinger...... ……………………………...... …...... 14 REPORT ON THE 1976 CONVENTION OF THE LANDSMANNSCHAFT DER DEUTSCHEN AUS RUSSLAND Matthias Hagin Translated by Arthur E. Flegel ...... …………………………………...... …...... 19 THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE VOLGA GERMAN SETTLEMENTS IN ELLIS AND RUSH COUNTIES IN KANSAS Lawrence A. Weigel...... …………………………………………...... 21 VILLAGES IN WHICH OUR FOREFATHERS LIVED: TARUTINO, KRASSNA, KLOSTITZ, TEPLITZ, AND SARATA Adam Giesinger...... ……………………………………………...... 29 FOLKLORE FORUM: MARRIAGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS OF THE GERMANS FROM RUSSIA Timothy J. Kloberdanz and Contributors ...... ………………………………...... 37

WE SING OUR HISTORY: A TRADITIONAL WEDDING SONG Lawrence A. Weigel...... ………………………………………...... 65

ADDITIONS TO THE LOAN COLLECTION Reviews by Norman Saul, Timothy J, Kloberdanz, Kermit B. Karns, Mane M. Olson, Paul E. Reeb, and Nancy Bernhardt Holland...... ………………………………...... 67

GENEALOGY SECTION QUERIES AND SURNAME EXCHANGE Prepared by Arthur E. Flegel...... ………………………………...... 73 PASSENGER LISTS Prepared by Gwen B. Pritzkau...... ……………………………………...... 77

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE ...... ………………………………...... 82 COVER: Volhynian German women threshing hemp. Photo courtesy of the Institute fur Auslandsbezie- hungen, Stuttgart. For more photos and Friedrich Rink's brief history of Volhynia, see pages 14-18. Published by American Historical Society of Germans From Russsia 631 D Street • Lincoln, Nebraska 68502 Editor: Nancy Bernhardt Holland ©1977 by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. All rights reserved. PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

Dear Fellow AHSGR Members: Recently a member spent an entire day at headquarters using our file of genealogy record cards and publications to further her own genealogical research. Why do I mention this? It says that this society has come a long way toward providing information for those who are tracing family lines and preparing family histories. Not long ago a staff member at a state historical society said, "We look on your historical materials as the finest we receive." That, too, speaks well for everything AHSGR is doing to record the history of Germans from Russia. These two examples of our achievements should make all of us very proud. To belong to an organization which has accomplished so much in a few short years is indeed an honor. And, to realize that everything has been accomplished by a hard working corps of volunteers is an amazement. This issue of the Work Paper is yet another example of high quality performance. We take this opportunity to express appreciation to all our contributors and writers through the years and to say a special "thank you" to Nancy B. Holland who has served as editor for the past two and one-half years.

Cordially,

PRESENT-DAY NAMES OF FORMER GERMAN VOLGA COLONIES Emma Schwabenland Haynes Chart Furnished by Karl Stumpp

About a year ago, I received a letter from a man who is the descendant of Bessarabian Germans. He wrote that he planned to visit the Soviet Union and would like to go back to his parents' ancestral villages. He told what the German names of the villages had formerly been and asked if I knew by what Russian names they are called today. He also wanted to know if I thought he had any chance of visiting these villages. Unfortunately, I was unable to answer the first part of his inquiry, but upon passing the question on to Dr. Karl Stumpp, I acquired the necessary information for one of the places. It was Klöstitz, whose present name is Wesjelaja dolina. I also told my questioner that I doubted whether Intourist (the official Soviet travel agency) would arrange for a visit to this village, but that if he could speak Russian fluently, he might try to reach it by taxicab or bus from the closest large city which Americans are permitted to enter. During recent years there have been a certain number of cases in which Black Sea Germans, who were born in southern Russia but left the country during World War II, have gone back to their native villages on a visit. For example, in Heritage Review for December 1974, Colonel Theodore Wenzlaff translated a series of articles telling that in 1974 a man now living in Germany returned to the village of Seimeny in Bessarabia at the invitation of a friend who lived there. And Professor Joseph Height in his book, Homesteaders on the Steppe, tells that in 1969 a Mr. and Mrs. Jim Wasserman of Redwood City, California clandestinely returned to Hoffnungstal in their private car. However, to the best of my knowledge, no American has been in the former German Volga Republic since the 1930’s, although some of the people who recently arrived in Germany, went on a visit to the Volga while they were still in Russia and in a few cases lived there after 1955. Officially, no Soviet Germans are allowed to reside in the colonies from which they were deported in 1941, and as time passes on, the present-day Russian inhabitants have a tendency to forget that these villages were founded by German-speaking people. On the other hand, the descendants of emigrants from Russia, now living in the New World, who have always heard these villages referred to by their German names, would have trouble finding their position on a modern map of Russia. For that reason, Dr. Stumpp has undertaken the tremendous task of trying to determine the names by which the former German colonies are now known. In order to do this, he acquired modern Russian maps of the various regions (obtastj) in which the Germans used to live. Then he compared these maps with those showing German names before 1941. He recently sent to me the results of his work as far as the colonies on the Volga are concerned, but is continuing his research on the Black Sea and other German groups. These findings will eventually be printed in some publication of the Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland. After the Volga colonies were founded (1764-1776), the inhabitants formed the habit of referring to their villages by the name of the first mayor. Eventually Russian names were assigned, but the people had become accustomed to the German terms and used the Russian nomenclatures only in official documents. The only exceptions to this rule can be found in the colonies of Jagodnaja Poljana, Kamenka, Krasnojar, Norka, Orlowskoje, Paulskoje, Semenowka, and Schtscherbakowka. In the same way the Black Sea colonies also had Russian names in addition to the German ones. Dr. Stumpp had assumed that these Russian names would be used by the inhabitants of the villages after the German people were all deported, but to his surprise he found that this was not necessarily true. It seems that especially in the Ukraine an entirely new name was introduced so that all memory of the early history of the village would be stamped out. As he exclaimed in a letter to me written in February of this year, "Who will know after twenty or thirty years that the former colony of Grossliebental is now called Welikodolinskoje or that Rohrbach is Nowoswetlowka?" On the other hand, it is more common to find the old Russian names being used along the Volga. Out of 101 former mother colonies, 34 have retained those Russian names by which they were called in the nineteenth century. For identification purposes I shall refer to them by their German names but this does not mean that these names appear on a map. The colony of Straub, for example, was called Skotowka, and this is the name by which it is known today. I should also like to point out that I am using the spelling provided by Dr. Stumpp. In the German language the letter "w" is used in such words as Skotowka but a "v" is customary in English. These thirty-four colonies which retain their old Russian names are: Basel, Bauer, Biberstein, Dehler, Dietel, Dobrinka, Gobel, Graf, Holzel, Huck, Hussenbach, Jagodnaja Poljana, Kamenka, Kaus, Kind, Laube,

1 Meinhard, Messer, Moor, Orlowskoje, Pobotschnoje, Remmler, Rothammel, Schaffhausen, Schaefer, Schilling, Schwed, Seelmann, Semenowka, Stahl am Tarlyk, Straub, Warenburg, Wittmann, and Zuerich. There are three colonies whose present names are a Russianized version of what the village was called in German. Thus Anton is now known as Antonowka; Galka has become Gaiki; and Schuck, Schukowskij. On the other hand, Katharinenstadt, which changed its name to Marxstadt after the Communist Revolution, has become Marx. In ten cases, the Russian name is different from the one used before 1941 but still bears a noticeable resemblance. These can be found in the colonies of Bettinger, Boiroux, Frank, Kolb, Krasnojar, Kukkus, Ober- Monjou, Reinwald, Schoenchen, and Stephan. Frank, for example, formerly had the Russian name Medweditskij Krestowoj Bujerak. Today it is simply known as Medweditza. Dr. Stumpp found sixteen colonies with completely new names: Balzer, Beauregard, Beideck, Brabander, Dinkel, Doennhof, Franzosen, Grimm, Laub, Louis, Mariental, Neue Kolonie, Norka, Pfeiffer, Urbach, and Volmer. It is especially in this last group of names that possibilities of error exist. In looking at a modern Russian map, Dr. Stumpp tried to find the exact spot where a German colony was formerly located. This involved calculations in map reading down to the very last millimeter. (The Maps which he used were of the scale 1:600000.) But, since information about the former colonies is practically non-existent, it is possible that some of these places are neighboring Russian villages. For that reason, Dr. Stumpp requests that anyone having exact information about the present name of these sixteen German villages should let him know. It is even more disturbing that in thirty-seven cases, Dr. Stumpp could find no reference whatever to the former German colonies. In some cases the present-day villages may be considered too small to be included, or perhaps the German villages have ceased to exist or have combined with another colony. During the war years, the homes which the Germans left behind were inhabited by Russian soldiers and refugees from the fighting zone. In the bitterly cold winters of World War II, it mattered little to these people if houses were torn down and used for fuel. We also know that the area was sparsely populated after the war was over. It was, therefore, only practical for people to move together in centrally located spots. But whatever the reason, these are the villages which cannot be found on Russian maps today: Bangert, Beckersdorf, Brehning, Degott, Dreispitz, Enders, Fischer, Gattung, Herzog, Hildmann, Heckerberg, Holstein, Hummel, Husaren, Jost, Kano, Köhler, Kraft, Kratzke, Leichtling, Merkel, Müller, Näb, Nieder-Monjou, Paulskoje, Phillipsfeld, Preuss, Reinhard, Rohleder, Rosenheim, Schuiz, Schwab, Seewald, Stahl am Karaman, Schtscherbakowka, Walter, and Winkelmann. Any reader of this article who corresponds with Volga Germans in Russia today is urged to write and ask if they know anything about the existence of these former colonies. Your efforts will be greatly appreciated by both Dr. Stumpp and me. In the case of the daughter colonies, it is even more difficult for Dr. Stumpp to obtain any information. These places were usually quite small and they are less likely to appear on Russian maps. However, the colony of Alexanderhoeh is called Alexandrowka today, and the colonies of Alexandertal (Neu Schilling), Brunnental, Oberdorf, and Rosendamm are known by their former Russian names of Sosnowka, Kriwojar, Kubzowo, and Marzy.

GERMAN VOLGA MOTHER COLONIES German Name Russian Name Russian Name Position on Map Before 1941 After 1941 of Volga Colonies Anton Sebastianowka Antonowka C-4 Balzer Golyj Karamysch Krasnoarmeisk C-4 Bangert Saumorje ? C-4 Basel Wasiljewka Wasiljewka F-l Bauer Karamyschewka Karamyschewka B-5 Beauregard (Boregardt) Bujerak Beresowka E-2 Beckersdorf (Ernestinendorf) ? E-2 Beideck Talowka Lugnaskoje C-4 Bettinger Baratajewka Waratajewka F-l Biberstein (Glarus) Georgiewka Georgiewka F-l Boiroux (Boaro) Bordowskoje Borodajewka E-2

2

DOCUMENTS ON MENNONITE LIFE IN RUSSIA PART III - THE GERMAN CAPTURE OF THE CHORTITZA VOLOST John B.Toews

The questionnaire which the Stumpp Commando distributed to Germans in the Ukraine during 1942* inquired about conditions immediately prior to the German invasion as well as during the actual occupation. As things turned out, the invasion ultimately terminated German settlements in the Ukraine, many of which had existed for well over a century. Ironically, the liberators became the destroyers. Those colonies closer to the west were overrun and in a sense survived "intact," at least for the period of German occupation. In many ways the Dnieper River became a dividing line for the Germans in Russia, separating moderate fortune from the bad. The Bolsheviks, not certain that their German citizens would remain loyal, ordered the mass evacuation of the settlements in European Russia. Especially tragic was the deportation ordered (August 28, 1941) against the Volga Germans.

Chortitza Mennonite colonies on the west bank of the Dnieper River. Cartographer: Adam Giesinger.

The answers to the Stumpp questionnaire document only the events transpiring on the west side of the Dnieper. From the standpoint of the Mennonites (and other Germans) living in the Chortitza volost, the story had a happy ending. Those on the east side, like the Molotschnaya Mennonites, endured deportation to the Omsk and Novosibirsk oblasts as well as to the Republic of Kazakh (Khazakhstan). The experiences endured by the Chortitza Mennonites mirrored the tragedies suffered by Germans in other regions and cities. The following documents deal only with the events related to the actual occupation by the advancing German armies. The reports, as individual case studies, reflect a microcosm of the tragedies

*Editor's Note: Questionnaries used by "Kommando Dr. Stumpp" during the German occupation of the Ukraine are among "Captured German War Materials" in the Library of Congress. These documents have been microfilmed for the use of members by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. A description of materials among the "Captured Documents" collection and a key to the microfilm prepared by Professor Adam Giesinger is being published by the AHSGR for distribution at the convention of the Society scheduled for June 14-19 in San Francisco.

6 overwhelming the Russian Germans during W.W. II. They nevertheless provide a series of eyewitness accounts covering the actual events throughout the Chortitza volost. Each village tells its story. The data, while allowing for individual varieties of experience, permits the historian to say "This happened here" with the highest possible level of accuracy. Several observations regarding the documents are in order: 1. The struggle for tolerance and a recognized minority status was far from over for Russia's Germans during the 1930's. The rise of National Socialism in Germany as well as Hitler's rabid anti-Bolshevism exposed the Germans to charges of fascism and espionage and of course, to arrest. Many naturally hoped that the Russo-German Treaty of August 23, 1939, would relieve the tension. The fact that the Russian press became favorably disposed towards Germany generated a false sense of security. Of particular interest is the fact that some of the Chortitza inhabitants anticipated repatriation to Germany. 2. The materials confirm the oft-cited reports pertaining to the mass evacuation of collective farm inventory and cattle. Even the swiftness of the German advance did not seriously jeopardize the success of this operation. 3. The severe shortages of wagons and horses within the villages by August, 1941, less than two months after the German attack, is rather surprising. It possibly reflects severe military requisitioning or the unsatisfactory state of farm inventory on the various collectives. 4. The timing of the German capture of the Chortitza volost was crucial for the majority of its German inhabitants. At best the settlers could only have stalled one or two more days before being forced to cross the Dnieper bridges. The retreating Red Army, the tractor-combine columns, and the wagons of the Russian and Jewish refugees simply strained the bridges beyond their capacity. 5. The pro-Germanism in some of the reports is not surprising. The oppressed minority was not only liberated, but often became the favored agents of the new regime. They knew Russian and German. They knew the territory which had supported their forefathers for generations. The reports reflect the ecstasy of a new found freedom. None of the authors thought much beyond the immediate future. They did not anticipate the brief rule of new masters, their harsh treatment of other minorities or their intolerance of religion. When the drama ended they stood collectively condemned as "collaborators." As such they had no choice but to leave their homeland forever. In 1973, one of the members of the Stumpp Commando, Gerhard Fast, published a German language collection of memoirs and reminiscences, Das Ende van Chortitza, describing the German occupation. Especially interesting are the village accounts of the final evacuation in 1943.

BURWALDE LC 146 * After the spring planting in 1941 people were extremely restless. No one knew what was going on, but one noticed the preparations for war. When the head of the village soviet was asked what this meant, he replied the soldiers were being sent to occupied Bessarabia. Before long meetings were held and people were told that we were encircled by powerful enemies, but that we would defeat the enemy, not on our land but on his. . . .When war broke out on June 22 [1941 ] the situation became more difficult. Mobilization was sharply enforced. There was no peace day or night. Two men were posted as guards on every road. The watch stood day and night. Germans were not trusted as watchmen. After several weeks we saw trains carrying piteous looking wounded. . . . No one was allowed on the streets. Anyone caught walking was imprisoned until they knew exactly who it was. Unknown aircraft often came at night and dropped bombs. Early in the morning the entire village was searched for spies and paratroopers. As a result little work was done. Suddenly one night the order came that all people, large and small, old and young, must dig trenches. Everyone had to walk to the worksite by night. It was said the trenches were dug for the protection of the power station. Old women had to carry dirt with their aprons because they did not have the strength to shovel. The roads leading to Zaporozhye were overflowing with refugees and soldiers. If we asked them what was happening, they replied that the road from Dnepropetrovsk to Zaporozhye was teeming with movement. Cattle, machines, and people could not find room on the road. Then came the order that the cattle on our collective should be taken away. This command encountered great difficulties for no one wanted to go to the left bank of the Dnieper. After the cattle were sent on their way the tractor brigades and pigs * Editor's Note: Numbers identify the container in which that material can be found among the "Captured German War Materials" in the Library of Congress.

7 followed. At the bridge there were so many cattle and machines that one had to wait three days to cross the bridge. The entire region was dotted with Red Army soldiers; everything was helter-skelter. When one heard the Red [Army reports] it always appeared as though the Red Army enjoyed great success at the front, and that the front was 100 kilometers away. If one spoke to the individual soldier, however, he declared that this was all a lie. The Germans were winning everywhere. On August 15th two district representatives together with three policemen ordered the entire population to evacuate and form a new collective in another district on the other side of the Dnieper. All the books [documents] of the village soviet were burned. The church books were burned [as well]. When the [evacuation] order of the militia was not carried out, the chairman of the collective stepped in. Wagons were prepared to collect people from each house. The militia went from house to house and drove out the people. Whoever would not come, they declared would have to walk or [even be] shot. There was shouting, the women cried, people did not know what to do. The secretary of the village soviet went ahead and told the inhabitants to resist the order to leave. Even if the men were forced to go, the women and children could stay - he would smooth things over. Then he spoke with the militia and gave them a gratuity. A wagon was brought and the militia drove towards the bridge. The men nevertheless had to drive to the bridge with the head of the collective. It was August 17, The women were at home and [by now] we men were swimming in the Dnieper, The head of the collective became angry and restless because we were swimming and seemed so at ease. We were no longer afraid. Finally the collective chairman broke camp and headed for the bridge. On the morning of August 18 the entire village was calm. Artillery fire could be heard far away. The noise came closer and closer; [finally] the hail of bullets drove us into cellars and trenches. Everyone was very agitated. Then suddenly we heard [the voices of] our German brothers. We sprang out of the cellars and trenches, thanking them immediately for our liberation from Bolshevism.

CHORTITZA LC148 Since [Hitler's] assumption of power in Germany in 1933, we Germans in Russia have, in particular, felt the hostility of the Soviet government. The many arrests of the Germans in the years 1933-34; the accusations that they were fascists and were in contact with Germany; their sentencing and exile - all this bears witness [to that fact]. We lived in the constant fear that each word, each often harmless act could deliver us into the hands of the GPU, later NKVD. These had their spies everywhere, even in the closest circle of friends. Every time the commissars of the GPU changed- Yagoda, Yezhov, Beria- we hoped for a betterment of our lot. Things became steadily worse. The years 1937-38 were the most dreadful. Mass arrests took place. During these years most of the German men were taken from their families. Virtually no home was spared. With few exceptions nothing more was heard from these men. It seems as if they have sunk into the earth. When the [Russo-German] friendship treaty was signed in 1939, we all breathed a sigh of relief. "Now comes deliverance, now the prisoners will be freed from the camps!" We hoped and waited week after week, month after month, but we waited in vain. In spite of this we felt more free; at least no more arrests were taking place. Officially relations between Russia and Germany were at their very best. Everywhere in the press and the radio the section "News from Abroad" placed Berlin at the top of the list. It should be noted that the westward advance of the German troops was carefully followed in every German home. Almost everywhere a map lay on the table and men and women who never were interested in politics and geography, now studied the map and knew exactly where Norway, Dunkirk etc. were located. The fact that we could now hear the German news via radio strengthened our identification with Germany. We felt close to Germany, were anxious about her, and rejoiced over each new victory. During this time we were firmly convinced that we would be taken home [to Germany] like our countrymen in the Baltic, Bessarabia, and Poland. Some were so taken by this idea that they packed their bags and prepared provisions for they thought [the repatriation] could begin at any minute. All objection by more rational, thinking people that it was impossible for Germany to evacuate 1.5 million people during wartime were dismissed with the explanation: for the Fuhrer and Germany nothing is impossible. It was like a fever which enveloped all Germans in vast Russia. Here was the deep longing for the Fatherland, [of which we had been] deprived so long, German youth, especially those in school between fourteen and seventeen years of age, were enthusiastic. We had to speak with the young men and urge them to be cautious in the school, for we ourselves were not sure what was going on. The war in the west was daily conversation in the office. Time and again one heard [the warning] from isolated voices: "We will fight with Germany, whether sooner or later." We Germans did not even want to consider the idea, for war between Germany and Russia meant our destruction. During the months before the outbreak of the war many public speeches

8 were held about international politics. Distinct anti-German sentiments were heard in many of these. The current mood was often discernable in the attitude of the fellow worker. One day, perhaps a week before the outbreak of the war, a Russian lady who had been unfriendly to the Germans in the office of the factory "Engels," happily declared that the danger of war with Germany, which she had anticipated, was passed. One week later it actually came [to war]. It was June 22, 1941. With one stroke all hopes of ever seeing our exiled loved ones were dashed. We all expected to be sent to Siberia, but things remained relatively quiet. Several German men and one woman were arrested in Chortitza. This occurred during the first days; later no arrests took place. The Russian population maintained a very proper conduct towards us. One had the distinct impression that the people were instructed not to incur the enmity of the Germans. Again and again it was publicly stated: "We have nothing against the German people; we are only fighting fascism." The conduct of certain people in the office was very antagonistic, however. Every morning the worst atrocities were cited, which the soldiers ostensibly committed against their enemies. We were sharply observed to see what our reaction [to these stories] would be. We tried to avoid such discussions as much as possible in order not to betray our attitude. The radio and the press did not indicate where the front was actually located, but one thing soon became clear: the Russians were retreating and the Germans advancing. The women were soon forced to dig trenches in the fields. Those with jobs were constrained to shovel dirt after work and on Sundays. Illness was not an excuse. Sick women with doctors' certificates were made fun of and sent to work. The entire steppe was torn up by this trench which was several meters deep in spots. Dug largely by women, it was to hinder the advance of the German tanks. Men, women, and half grown children were brought in from far and wide for this unreasonable work. Many of these people were overrun by German troops while digging. There were also cases in which the diggers were given bottles filled with gas. With these they were to bombard and stop the German tanks. Many lost their lives in this fashion. July came to an end. We were always told that the front was still far to the west, but gradually the truth became known. To our great surprise we noticed a change in the attitude of the workers in the office. A young Russian girl, who also belonged to the Komsomol, threw a printed army report on the table and openly asserted: "These are all lies; the Germans are almost here; the stories of the atrocities are also not true; the Germans were only against the communists and Jews"- she heard this from a fleeing young army man. . . . On August 8 the order to evacuate Chortitza was given, though the front was still very far away. Whoever wished to leave had to register, for everything was to proceed orderly. We were all extremely agitated. We wanted to stay at all costs, for if we survived the passing [of the front] we were saved. We would rather perish in the fire than join the refugees, for their only prospect was famine and death. During the first days of August the streets of Chortitza teemed with restless cattle herds; cows, horses, pigs, sheep were driven past. Then came a train filled with threshing machines and tractors, then box cars filled with refugees, then Red Army columns in disarray, then cattle herds again. Once more we realized how rich the Ukraine was in livestock and wondered why so little butter, lard, and wool was on the market. . . . All these people, animals, and machines were to go to the other side of the Dnieper. There was congestion near the power dam and the bridges. The front was coming nearer: there was no doubt in our minds. As yet only those who wished could leave. We packed the most essential things just in case and waited. Then came August 17. We saw loaded wagons with children on top pass on the street. Men and women walked beside them. We had not seen these wagons before. They belonged to Germans from surrounding villages. Our hearts cringed when we heard the terrible news: the German villages were being forcibly evacuated. Women and girls passed by us weeping. Then the fearful tidings swept through the village: Chortitza must be ready to leave tomorrow— but only the Germans; the Russians could stay. With anxious hearts we waited for the next day. The previous day German planes had dropped a few bombs. The confusion increased. During the night of August 17-18 we heard machine gun fire west of the railway as well as the steadily nearing artillery fire. Next morning an uncanny quiet prevailed. Here and there on the side streets small groups of Red Army soldiers looked carefully to all sides. Others were making a hasty departure through the main streets. One heard muffled firing from afar. Suddenly shots rang out, the first mortar howled through the air, and the fighting began. In a few minutes we were all in the bomb shelter and did not venture out for hours . . . When quiet returned after several hours, we saw about thirty men coming down towards us. Could they be Germans? We hardly dared to think it. A few hours later there was no doubt: we saw the motorcycles with their dust enshrouded riders. The shooting stopped completely and we ventured on to the street. In the evening we sat with the German soldiers. In each one of them we saw our deliverer; we wanted to shake

9 the hand of all and express our gratitude. Our joy only expressed itself gradually, however, for after weeks and years of suppression we had accustomed ourselves to confining sorrow and Joy within four walls. Also on this first day of our liberation we could not yet rid ourselves of the fear of the Soviets. This very important day for Chortitza only claimed the life of one civilian. According to the German soldiers they covered the last 100 kilometers . . . with unexpected speed. Because of this the Bolsheviks were unable to evacuate the German villages, including Chortitza, on the right shore of the Dnieper. A few families, dispersed by the war, are missing but the villages as a whole remain. We are thankful for the leading of Providence yet concerned about the fate of our brethren on the other side of the Dnieper.

FRANZFELD LC 150 When Germany concluded its pact with the Soviets, we Germans [in Russia] breathed more freely. We reassured ourselves that Germany's influence would be so beneficial [for us]. One morning the news came like a bolt of lightening: "A hostile German Army has crossed the borders and incredible battles are going on." At first the radio kept us up-to-date, but soon all sets were confiscated. Many of our young collectivists were in the Red Army and wrote letters, but it was difficult to determine anything from these. We cut our lovely grain and resolutely began to thresh. Soon, however, the horses and wagons were mobilized. Thereupon a portion of the workers were sent afar to dig trenches. These [soon] returned and now all of us had to dig trenches and prepare [defensive] bulwarks in the vicinity. Most of the grain was threshed, the government had received its portion, and the members of the cartel received a portion of their income in natural produce. New reports and new orders arrived daily. All work stopped when the tractor drivers hitched as many machines as their tractors could pull and took them across the Dnieper (They [the drivers] have all disappeared.) All animals: horses, cows, sheep, pigs had to be driven away and the people who took them have also vanished, except for a few women who returned. Day and night the wagons of refugees from the front creaked past. Terrible stories of "German atrocities" were told. In Chortitza there was meeting after special meeting but the German party members and managers were not allowed to attend. Guns were set up in our garden and both day and night Red Army soldiers controlled all movement. Long rows of wagons filled the streets. We too were to flee. The soldiers were decent and if one spoke with them they advised us to stay. Suddenly on August 16 we had to load our basic necessities on wagons and leave the village. Happily they had taken our best wagons and horses, and with the decrepit old and the weak young horses we made little headway. There was one wagon for every five to seven families. Only the children and the sick could ride; the rest had to walk. We were allowed to take our cows and pigs along. Many of the pigs died enroute because of the heat. There were many tragic pictures: high on a wagon sat an old man, over there a sick woman, there a pregnant young woman, here a cripple and a mental patient. We were accompanied by the militia (police), but managed to create so many delays that we barely covered twenty to twenty-five kilometers in thirty-six to forty hours. During the night a wheel was purposely allowed to slip off its axle, once here, once there. A young horse became ill, an old horse exhausted. Cows had to be milked [in order to feed] the children. One man's wagon shaft broke- in short we did not get to the Dnieper "in spite of the best intentions." Really serious problems did occur; one woman had to be brought to the nearest Russian village to give birth to her baby; another lay unconscious for a long period. We remained together and did not allow any wagon to stay behind. The accompanying militia became impatient and grumbled about those accursed Germans. In no uncertain terms the young collectivists informed them that they better behave decently. The following night they disappeared. The long caravans of Jewish refugees did us a great service. They continually overtook us and forced us off the road. We always gave way and allowed them to pass us. On August 17 at night we arrived in the vicinity of the village of Neuenburg. Again we had the good fortune of being forced off the road. We had driven to the side and unhitched the horses. It was a terrible night. ... All night long there were flashes and thundering over Einlage, and rocket fire near the power dam. The next morning (August 18) there was an uncanny silence. At daybreak our young collectivists rode the horses to water (to gain more time) some distance away. Suddenly everything came to life: many Russian vehicles filled with soldiers went by in great haste, moving from Einlage to Dnepropetrovsk. Several times we heard the word "Dessant" (tank). We could not believe our eyes when two small tanks with the insignia of the German Army drove up. They positioned themselves in our vicinity and began shelling the passing Russian vehicles and Red Army soldiers. No longer was there any doubt! When our horses returned we hitched them and drove to the village of Neuenburg. Here we met German soldiers and could greet one

10 another as Germans. The soldiers advised us to retreat somewhat in order to avoid the battle line. , . . We retreated from the road into a valley near a lake. . . . The next day we drove-home.. . .

K.Epp

KRONSTAL LC 146 The war between Germany and Soviet Russia began on June 22, 1941. The Soviet government's distrust of the Germans was already apparent throughout its reign, but it increased noticeably with the outbreak of the war. Ukrainian and Russian guards for example, were posted everywhere: on bridges, fields, near power transmission lines etc. The Red functionaries were fearful of fifth columnists and not without reason. The Germans were everywhere systematically watched. An old man, Gerhand Dyck, was arrested and incarcerated because he was once wealthy: he vanished. Everyone waited for the things which were to come. On July 12, 1941 all over fifteen years of age— men, women, and young people— were mobilized to dig a huge trench. Only the old and women with children stayed, as well as the [local] administration. The harvest was in full swing and had to be attended to by those who stayed behind— naturally not the administration. Meanwhile the fate of the Germans began to clarify itself. On July 23, 1941 large numbers of refugees from the west passed through our village in the direction of the Dnieper bridge. They were accompanied by large cattle herds and tractor trains. Many combines were also being towed. No one knew where they were going. Until late at night one heard the bellowing of cattle. Then [camel an uncanny stillness. Finally the refugees were at rest. . . Suddenly the sound of a motor. A German aircraft was being fired upon by Russian anti-aircraft batteries. . .One looked for shelter. . .On August 8, 1941 we were ordered to take the collective's cattle, tractors, and combines behind the front and over the Dnieper bridge. It was now clear to us that the German villages were being forcibly evacuated. The Jews, Russians, and Ukrainians fled of their own ac- cord. . . . Privately owned animals could remain behind, but we had to promise to bring them along when we ourselves fled. On August 17 a heavily armed militia of seventeen men entered the village with the categorical order that we join the Osterwick villagers and flee behind the front line. . . . The main street was cleared first, sixty-three families totaling 264 persons on 20 wagons. Each was only allowed to take along the basic essentials. . .. We drove to the Dnieper island [Chortitza Isle]. A woman showed us an unoccupied bunker. . . . Each tried to save himself as best he could: some in bunkers, others in the gardens [or] corn and sunflower fields in the valleys. Artillery thundered, airplanes criss-crossed overhead, the children cried. The battle lasted till evening. The left bank of the Dnieper looked like a firewall. . . . Search lights continually flashed on the right bank of the Dnieper. Red Army men joined us and expressed the desire to surrender. Finally dawn broke. Trucks and tanks drew steadily closer. A motorcyclist came around the corner directly towards us. He stopped and shouted. "Hands up!" We answered in German. Puzzled, he asked how we got here. Briefly we explained. Now more motorcycles and tanks advanced towards us. Air attacks were met with machine gun fire. The bullets struck the combines parked alongside the road. Bombs were dropped. Then all was quiet again. . . . On August 18, 21:30 hours the Reds blew up the large Dnieper bridge and ten minutes later the power dam. ... We hitched [our horses to] our wagons and drove back to our village. ... On August 19, 14:00 hours we were again in our beloved Kronstal. . . .

NEUENBURG LC 146 Immediately after the outbreak of the [Russo-German] war both of the Russian collective leaders displayed a distrustful attitude towards the German collectivists. The smallest mistake or whatever could be called a mistake evoked a sarcastic response: "No doubt you're waiting for Hitler!" When it became impossible to deny the fact that the front was coming closer, the collective leaders. . . sought to protect their families and goods against the war danger. Each family harnessed the best horses to the best wagons from the collective and transported all their possessions together with the families to the left bank of the Dnieper. Thanks to their agitation, four families, one Russian and three German, followed their example. These were forced to drive the cattle of the collective, some 414 in number, southwards. After the collective leaders had secured their possessions and families they returned to continue their work of destruction. They burned the entire archive of the collective and the school. Now they were determined to destroy the people as well. Under the pretense that a gigantic battle would take place on the

11 right bank [of the Dnieper] they proposed to “save” the inhabitants. They would be brought to a new district where they could begin a new collective, after all the cattle had already been sent ahead. Every family was ordered to pack their essential goods and provisions and be ready to leave early on August 17. The chairman [of the collective] and the political leader walked along the streets with hand grenades and pistols [thus] forcing the people to obey the command. Two men appeared from NKVD to help them. The inhabitants, though procrastinating, were forced by threats to leave around eight o’clock in the morning. Some three or four families each loaded one wagon. Those who possibly could, had to walk. Only a few old ladies who hid themselves did not make the journey. These observed how the Ukrainians from the neighboring village, encouraged by the Neuenburg chairman, plundered the empty houses in Neuenburg. It is also known that the chairman took the collective treasury as well as a buggy loaded with flour, eggs, and [whole] hams, which he removed from a farm house. The trek of the villagers went via Chortitza and onward toward the railway bridge. In Chortitza the group was [somewhat] delayed. Here we heard that the German troops might arrive by evening. The expelled [villagers] drove on through Rosental. Their escort already disappeared in Chortitza, so they left the road and stopped in a deep gully. The situation was very dangerous because no one knew if the Red Army would use this path for retreat. It did not happen, but for two days and two nights [we] lived in a state of constant fear. On the evening of August 18 it was certain that the Germans had occupied Chortitza and on August 19 the Neuenburg citizens returned home, without having lost a single life. The liberators were joyously greeted along the way; each considered it a joy and honor to have spoken with a German soldier. This day will remain unforgettable for every Neuenburg [inhabitant].

NEUENDORF LC 150

As the front moved towards our district tank ditches were dug. This occurred during harvest. At first only a few workers were taken for excavating, later almost all. Threshing stopped. If at first there was much pressure to get the grain to station, loaded on trains and transported behind the front, there was little enough concern for this later for large piles of grain lay on the fields and no one took notice. All efforts were directed towards the completion of the tank ditches. Near us [Neuendorf] and the neighboring villages some 6,000 men, sent from various districts on the other side of the Dnieper, were at work. On August 16 the village soviet received the order to evacuate the entire population, A week before the collective's cattle, pigs, sheep, and breeding horses were sent to an outlying area. All work stopped and the people were ordered to prepare for a night departure from the village, so as to cross the power dam by morning and get to the left bank of the Dnieper. Here [near Neuendorf] a great battle would take place and everything would be destroyed. Every four or five families were allotted one wagon for their goods and children. There was not too much concern about the Russian population of neighboring villages since the evacuation did not apply to them. Some brought their families to Ukrainian villages by night; others placed their families on the wagons and drove to the assembly place in front of the village; still others let their wagons stand in readiness within the village. The militia came on the morning of August 17 and pressured people to leave. No one wanted to go but finally they left. Because the [wagon] train moved very slowly, many went sideways in various directions and escaped by hiding in gullies, behind protective hedges or in the fields. Later they returned, if not to their own homes, then to nearby Ukrainian villages. Those who had left their wagons in the village did not even depart, for the militia was unaware that they had not left nor did they particularly care. Most of the evacuees came to Burwalde, a few to the island of Chortitza. Only one wagon with the families of two teachers got to the left shore. On August 18 the German army not only overran our region but the entire right shore of the Dnieper and the island of Chortitza, so that all the evacuees could return. No one had been injured in spite of the fact that those in Burwalde and on the island found themselves amid the front line rain of bullets. Two days later at home there were two casualties from Red Air Force attacks: an old woman and boy were mortally wounded by bomb fragments. We were saved by the rapid advance of the German army to the Dnieper, which did not allow the communists to carry out everything they had in mind. They could not burn the village even though they had stockpiled gasoline for this purpose, for they barely escaped themselves. We could hardly believe that we had survived and had finally been freed from Bolshevism. . . .

Neuendorf, October 15, 1942 F. Berg

12 ROSENGART LC 148 Whenever conversation focused on the next war fear was expressed that Russia and Germany would be the protagonists and we Germans would find ourselves in a most serious predicament. When the current war began a tense apprehension prevailed which lessened after the news of the Russo-German friendship treaty [August 23, 1939]. Our fears further dissipated when we learned that Germans from the Baltic countries and Rumania were being allowed back to Germany- There were a number who expected that the Germans from the Ukraine might be able to leave and quietly packed their suitcases, roasted bread etc., in order to be ready at a moment's notice. No call from Germany came, however, though Soviet authorities very energetically inquired about potential emigrants. In the spring of 1941 representatives of various government departments and the party openly spoke of the coming war and of possible difficulties in gathering in the harvest. Tension mounted when all the passing military trains headed in a westerly direction. The news of the war's outbreak on June 22 [1941] filled the hearts with a crippling fear. People remembered 1914 and the anti-German hate campaign, the after shock of which was still noticeable under Bolshevism in spite of its much lauded internationalism and its much stressed minority policy. For the first two months of the war there were no persecutions or reprisals. Suddenly on August 16 of last year [1941] a representative of the party accompanied by two men from the NKVD appeared in the office of the collective to destroy its archive and evacuate the entire collective to the east, ostensibly to save us from annihilation. Fierce fighting was anticipated on the right bank [of the Dnieper]. The least protest on our part was sharply rebuffed, and since these people could not be persuaded of anything, we had to follow their instructions. The larger segment of the collective, 73 men, 90 women and 582 children, made their way over the first railway bridge to the Island of Chortitza and then on August 18 crossed the second railway bridge to the left bank. To their dismay they learned only then that the German army was much nearer than they thought, since artillery was already striking the right bank and soon the left. Once caught up in the endless stream of refugees it was impossible to turn back, especially since preparations were being made to blow up the railway bridge. We consequently continued eastward towards a designated collective [farm]. Inevitably we neared our destination regardless of how slow the journey or of the days spent camping in one locale until forced to continue by the head of the Chortitza district evacuation committee. We arrived on September 12. After registration in the village soviet all men of military age were immediately, as the term went, "mobilized." In reality they were loaded on the train and deported eastward. Even the older men (up to sixty years of age) who remained behind were threatened by the same danger. At the last minute, thanks to a misunderstanding, they were required to drive the cattle of the collective to Rostov and beyond. Following a bitter farewell to loved ones, [the men] headed the cattle and sheep eastward. Only women, children, and five old men remained behind. The train with the cattle moved forward very slowly and finally as a result of the confusion stopped completely. The German troops finally caught up to us on October 11 and we, together with the cattle were able to return. Naturally we went back to the collective where we had left our wives and children. Here, after our departure, the NKVD had taken all the Germans (namely the women and children) and brought them to the railway for deportation to the east. Only the rapid advance of the German Army prevented this from taking place. Once freed a group of women immediately started for home, while the others soon followed. The men with the cattle and sheep also reached home safely. All were miraculously sustained and returned home, (with the exception of the forty-nine deported men). Two young children died enroute while the six born enroute are well and healthy. After our departure on August 17 the NKVD continued to pressure the inhabitants of our village until the last ones left. They went in all directions and concealed themselves in cellars, ravines, and corn fields; one group even got to the island [of Chortitza]. Fortunately the village was overrun [by the German troops] on August 18 and so the dispersed people could return home and once more move into their houses. There was great jubilation when the villagers met the German army, as also with us exiles when we met the soldiers. The women thankfully recall the [arrival] of the first SS troops who, in spite of the surrounding war and noise of battle, made proper provision for them and the children. They supplied them with rations and transportation and always had an open ear and helping hand for them, so that they, the women and children, arrived home without incident.

Rosengart July 20, 1942

13 THE GERMAN SETTLEMENTS IN VOLHYNIA* Friedrich Rink Translated by Adam Giesinger

I. Prehistory (before 1800). German knights, soldiers, officials, savants, artists, merchants, and artisans have been migrating to Volhynia since the Middle Ages and bringing it western civilization. Around 1800 small groups of Germans were living in twenty-five different places in the province. In Dubno and elsewhere German tradesmen had united into guilds. Unfortunately these Germans were almost completely assimilated into the native Polish and Russian population, because there were no German parishes and clergy, traditionally the lone protectors of Germanism in the East. The first German Protestant pastorate was established in the year 1778 at Korez by the Polish landowner who was lord there. Its activity, however, was confined to the local community and came to an end forty years later, when the German artisans' settlement at Korez was dissolved.

II. Earliest Permanent German Settlements (1801-1S33). In the year 1801 the Russian government set up a German Protestant pastorate for Volhynia in the city of Zhitomir. This served the small congregations in the cities and the isolated families of farm managers and forest rangers scattered over the province. In addition to Lutherans, there then lived in Volhynia, as the first German agricultural settlers, four small colonies of Mennonites, who later migrated onward to the Black Sea region. The first German agricultural settlements which lasted to our own day, a total of 125 years, were the Protestant colonies of Annette and Josephine near Novograd VoKnskiy. The owner of the Estate Pilipovitshi invited German farmers from the Danzig region, Poland, and Galicia, a total of twenty-five families, and leased to them two patches of forest land which needed draining and clearing. They were people of extraordinary energy, who overcame all obstacles without outside help. Soon they acquired ownership of their small holdings (seventeen to eighteen hectares), at a price of three rubles per hectare. As the children grew up and new settlers arrived, daughter settlements were founded. Of these first colonies a contemporary writes: "For a long time these colonies remained the only ones, as the difficult conditions under which the settlers lived did not attract new immigrants."

III. The First Reinforcements (1833-1863). After the first Polish insurrection against Russian rule (1831), during which the Germans living in Poland suffered considerably, many families migrated to Volhynia. They were joined by settlers from Germany, mainly weavers, cloth manufacturers, and dyers. These established a strong textile manufacturing colony at Rozhishche in the Lutsk district. New farm colonies also arose in that region and in the Zhitomir district. Thus the German population of the province rose to about 6000.

IV. Mass Migration from Poland (1863-1870). The Germans in Poland were even more disturbed by the second Polish insurrection (1863) than by the first one. Even some years before, while it was only brewing, they began to look around for a new settlement area. In Russia itself peasant serfdom was abolished in 1861. The landowners thus lost their cheap farm labor and began to search for people to rent or buy their land. Volhynia, in the meantime, had become more attractive to the Polish Germans, because the Volhynian German colonies had attained a certain measure of prosperity, news of which had got abroad. When Volhynian landowners sent agents to Poland to recruit settlers, German farmers responded in large numbers. Many new colonies were founded in Volhynia, particularly the so-called forest colonies around the parish center Heimtal in the Pulin district. Some of the settlers rented land, others bought some, paying eleven to sixteen rubles per hectare. These settlements brought the German population of Volhynia to 40,000.

V. Years of Prosperity (1870-1915). The stream of immigrants slowed down gradually and in the 1870's came completely to a stop. Thereafter the population of the colonies increased only as a result of the birthrate, which was higher than that

*This article, written in 1942, was found in manuscript form among the Captured German Documents at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

14 of any other German group. In the year 1881, there were 102,139 Germans in the province. In the next thirty years, their numbers doubled, reaching 200,938 by 1911. The Volhynian Germans are about eighty-five per cent of North German and East German stock and only about fifteen per cent Southwest Germans. They have become mixed; their dialects have almost completely disappeared and their own brand of High German has replaced them. But many traditional stories, jokes, and songs have been preserved. The Volhynian colonists gradually made arable some 500,000 hectares of forest, marsh, and waste land. They founded about 600 small settlements, half of them on bought land, the others on rented land. Leases were made for twelve years and at the end of that time could usually be renewed. In the present neglected state of the landscape, the result of forced collectivization, it is difficult to picture to oneself the appearance of a German colony of the past. There were no compact villages. Each colonist lived on his own landholding, which he had hewn out of the forest. At one end of it he had usually left a little forest, which formed a shelter of oaks and willows. Every wild fruit tree was left standing and was carefully tended. The land was divided into three or more fields. The whole holding and the individual fields were surrounded by wooden fences, four or five boards high, nailed to oak posts. In the farmyard there was an orchard and vegetable and flower gardens. The houses were built of five-inch planks and the roofs covered with straw or shingles. In the early days house and barn were under the same roof. With increasing prosperity the farmyards became squares, with house, barn, granaries, and implement sheds at the corners. Every farm was a closed establishment. The whole colony had a distinctively German aspect, which contrasted favorably with its Ukrainian-Polish environment. In the middle of the village stood the school, beside it the church, generally a simple structure with no tower, often under the same roof as the school. In wealthier colonies there was a beautiful wooden church with tower, bells, and an organ. There were no taverns in the German villages.

Evangelical Church in Dermanka, Volhynia. Photo courtesy the Landsmannschaft derDeutschen aus Russland.

15 With the exception of a few German landowners not belonging to colonist ranks, the Volhynian Germans were generally farmers with small holdings, very few exceeding fifty hectares in size. There was no social problem, since every unmarried male could become a renter and every renter could hope some day to buy a patch of land of his own. Because the Germans lived scattered in little settlements all over the province, they became, in spite of their segregated life, the teachers of the other peoples living around them. When they arrived here, agriculture in this region was in an indescribably backward condition. The colonists introduced the German plow and the German wagon and brought in good breeds of horses, cattle, and pigs. German butter-making flourished; fattening of pigs for market, growing of hops and garden produce brought good profits. The Germans also developed profitable small industrial enterprises. The textile manufacturing settlements of Rozhishche, Tutshin, Yemilchin, and Korostychev became very important. German foundries manufactured machines and implements useful in farming, the first to be made being mowing machines and milk separators. In addition to many windmills, they built a large number of steam-powered flour mills, some of which are still in operation. The work of German tradesmen was highly respected.

In the midst of these economic endeavors, cultural matters were not neglected, in spite of the fact that the mother country itself had forgotten the colonists or, more correctly, had not yet discovered them. With the growth of population the necessity arose of founding, in addition to the provincial pastorate at Zhitomir,

16 parishes in Rozhishche, Heimtal, Vladimir-Volinskiy, Novograd-Volinskiy, Tutshin, Rovno, Lutsk, and Yemilchin. Closely connected with the church was the school. It received no state funds, but had to be supported entirely by the local community. In the early years it was also free from state school inspection and was responsible only to the pastor. At the beginning of the First World War there were about 500 such schools in the province. The school problem gave the colonists much trouble and worry. Most of the small colonies, with twenty to thirty, seldom more, farm families, could not support a highly qualified teacher from the outside. The colonist leaders therefore attempted to establish a teacher-training institution suitable for their conditions. The Russian government raised obstacles and only after decades of effort was it possible to open, in the year 1904, a sexton-teacher seminary at Heimtal, which was to provide teachers for all the German colonies in the western Ukraine, the districts of Lutsk, Zhitomir, Kiev, and Chernigov, The stately massive seminary building is still mute evidence today of the cultural aspirations of the Volhynian Germans. At that time also, shortly before the First World War, a number of colonist sons, potential future leaders, were attending institutions of higher learning at home and abroad.

VI. The Catastrophe during the First World War (1915-1918). Long before the World War, as early as the latter part of the 1880's, the Russian government began a petty persecution of the Germans in Volhynia. Land buying was restricted, school development was obstructed and russification efforts were initiated. As a result many Volhynian Germans emigrated to America and later to the Baltic states and to Germany. The royal colonization commission of Posen (in Prussia) had a trusted emissary here, who recommended the Volhynian Germans highly. The number of Volhynian Germans in America now is estimated to be 100,000 (half of them in Canada) and in Germany 30,000. Even before the outbreak of the war, the chauvinistic Russian press began to incite the Russian public against the German colonists. It was alleged that they had been settled here by the German Emperor along strategically important railway lines. On February 2, 1915 the Russian government announced the infamous liquidation law, according to which all Germans had to leave Volhynia and were deported to Asiatic Russia, This deportation cost 50,000 lives. Fortunately the survivors were permitted to return in 1918. The German army, then occupying the province, took them under its protection. Leaders were appointed to see to it that the returnees' rights were restored and that they were provided with food and seed grain, A congress of the returnees at Novograd-Volinskiy on July 10, 1918 paid tribute to their liberators. After the first harvest, in the fall of 1918, the Volhynian Germans were again self-supporting. Unfortunately there then followed the collapse of the German Empire and the withdrawal of German troops. Some 30,000 Volhynian Germans had migrated to Germany, those remaining behind faced an uncertain future.

VII. Bolshevism and Polish Rule (1918-1941). After a long civil war, aggravated by a variety of warring guerilla bands, followed by a war between Soviet Russia and Poland, Volhynia was divided. The colonists in the west (under Polish rule), 65,000 in number, after a difficult struggle for economic and cultural survival, were re-settled in the Reich, after the great trek of 1939/40. Incomparably more difficult was the lot of those who remained in Soviet Volhynia. At first they were left alone. They were even favored by the setting up of a German autonomous region, centered at Pulin. But the church was repressed and the colonists thus robbed of their leaders. After 1930, with the introduction of the collectives, economic difficulties began and in 1933-34 Volhynia suffered from the first famine in its history. At the same time the persecution of Germans was renewed with great intensity. It was the intention to destroy the German element in Volhynia completely. First all the leading men in the German colonies were eliminated, then whole families were deported and finally entire colonies were removed to Asiatic Russia. The German women remaining behind, deprived of their men, were to be forced to marry Ukrainians. In this way Germandom in Volhynia was to be destroyed, but the valuable German blood [!] was to be preserved. The number of Germans still remaining in Soviet Volhynia at the present time [1942] is about 50,000.

VIII. Retrospect and Prospects. Germans immigrated into Volhynia from small German states and from Poland to escape from poverty and oppressive conditions. On new land in this province they found a free outlet for their energies. Although they received no support from the state, they were benevolently left to their own devices and 17 enjoyed certain privileges, such as their own churches and schools, limited judicial authority, and village self- government, which lasted until the advent of the Bolshevik regime. Throughout their history, the Volhynian Germans cherished with a great love the religious culture they had brought with them from Germany. The majority of them were Evangelical-Lutherans. The few Catholics originally among them either joined German Lutheranism or were assimilated in a short time into Polish Catholicism. Living segregated as they did, Volhynian Germans at no time became involved in the revolutionary and destructive movements prevalent in Russia before the First World War, They were always a law-abiding group. When he had become economically prosperous, the Volhynian German used to say: "I have conquered something for myself." It was indeed true that nothing had been given to him as a gift; he was a culture-creating conqueror. He was therefore not only envied but extraordinarily respected. His ability, his honesty, and his trustworthiness were proverbial. When he traveled through the country he was treated like a lord by the native population. In spite of his simplicity, the colonist was a proud fanner, with a very pronounced desire for freedom and independence. Throughout the period of Bolshevist serfdom he lived in inner opposition to the regime and longed for the restoration of freedom. He has been bowed, but not broken, by the heavy burden that has been resting on his shoulders the last twenty-two years. He must be given back what he had acquired, that which was his, of which he was justly proud, but of which the Bolshevists have robbed him.

V O L H Y N I A

Translator's Note: There are other articles by Friedrich Rink on the Volhynian Germans in (1) Heimatbuch der Ostumsiedler 1954, pp. 31.34; (2) Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Russland 1959, pp. 39-51; and (3) Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Russland 1962, pp. 16-26. These will be translated in due course, for the benefit of those who are not able to read them in the original German.

18 REPORT ON THE 1976 CONVENTION OF THE LANDSMANNSCHAFT DER DEUTSCHEN AUS RUSSLAND* Matthias Hagin Translated by Arthur E. Flegel

The Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland [the German equivalent of the AHSGR] held its convention last year at the Hotel Sauter and Haus der Heimat in Stuttgart November 26-28. The convention program included eight presentations which were extraordinarily complementary. Following the welcome to those in attendance on Friday evening, November 26, by the Chairman and Cultural Coordinator of the Society, Oberstudienrat Joseph Schnurr, Dr. Karl Stumpp reported on his trip to the U.S.A. and his experiences in Washington regarding the eventual return of documents concerning former German settlements in the Black Sea area that had been transferred to Washington, D.C. at the close of World War II. Next, Professor Johannes Harder, author of a number of books and other publications, made his "Literary Presentation." Professor Harder maintains that Russian is the most recent of the European literatures; from Pushkin to Lev Tolstoi in scarcely one hundred years the Russians have made a literary statement valid throughout the world. .. . On Saturday morning, November 27, Professor Brednich of the Folksong Archives in Freiburg/Breusgau spoke on "Folksongs of the Germans from Russia." The following is taken from his presentation: The Folksong Archives in Freiburg was established in the year 1914 and was commissioned, or rather gave itself the commission to document and trace the development of the German folk song in historical context, throughout its proliferation, and in relation to international influences. Since its inception, the Archives has addressed itself to the tradition of folksong throughout the German-speaking regions, including the German settlement areas in eastern and south-eastern Europe. Approximately 20,000 Russian-German folksongs are contained in this gigantic collection. Professor Brednich has also done research among the Germans from Russia in Canada, particularly among the Mennonites in Saskatchewan. He had the opportunity of completing his research project on the Russian-German minority in the Canadian prairies at the National Museum of Man in Ottawa. This type of research was undertaken because folksong research cannot overlook the folksongs of foreign Germans, for among foreign Germans original folksong sources exist which have long since disappeared from the native German regions. Professor Brednich made special reference to the remarkable research achievements of Professor Künzig and Dr. Werner of the Institute for East German Folklore at Freiburg/Breusgau, and to the collections and studies of Oberstudienrat Alfred Cammann of the Research Center for Folklore in Bremen, and to several private collections. In this context, he called attention to such authorities as Maria Wohn from Rothammel/Volga, Ida Ruszkiewicz nee Prieb from Brestowo/Donets region, George Sanger from Leichtling/ Volga, Lawrence Weigel of Hays, Kansas, U.S.A., and those others who are still able to sing parts of hundreds of German- Russian songs. In conclusion, Professor Brednich called attention to earlier researchers and collectors, mentioning specifically, Johannes and Peter Sinner, George Schünemann, Victor Schirmunski, and George Dinges. Following Professor Brednich, Professor Johannes Harder lectured on "The Philosophical Background of the Soviet System." Harder pointed out that the Russian throughout history has been stamped by two elements: his environment and his own nature have predetermined a tendency toward socialism. The vast open spaces in which he lives have ingrained the Russian with a collective spirit—a hunger for community. Another not insignificant influence on the Russian was the challenge to the unity of Byzantian Orthodoxy and the absolutism of the czars posed by the schism of 1654 and the westernization process initiated by Peter I around 1700. The confrontation of eastern mysticism with western rationalism, of the church with the intelligensia had a disturbing effect on the populace. In the struggle between tradition and progress pushed to a crisis by socialist political critics, the western-oriented progressives, first as democrats, then as socialist revolutionaries, opposed every form of reactionism. The decisive question is: will the human and democratic potential of the Russian assert itself? Developments of the past decade give rise to such a hope. Dr. Iris Barbara Graefe** of Austria, author of the book Zur Volkskunde der Russlanddeutschen in Argenfinien (On the Folklore of the Germans from Russia in Argentina) gave a slide presentation entitled "The Germans from Russia in South America." During her last two trips to South America, she became acquainted with four more settlements of Germans from Russia and her lecture focused on them: Mariental,

* Translated from Volk aufdem Weg No. 2 (February, 1977) pp. 1-2. **Editor's Note; Dr. Graefe will be a featured speaker at the AHSGR convention scheduled for June 14-19 in San Francisco.

19 Johannisdorf, and Witmarsum in the State of Parana, Brazil, and San Miguel Arcangel in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Because her report is so interesting, we present the following brief excerpt from it: Mariental and Johannisdorf were established in the year 1878 by Volga German immigrants. Mariental boasts a population of 130 families, while Johannisdorf has 60. Both settlements are of Roman Catholic persuasion. Since the second world war the German language has not been taught in the local schools and there has been considerable intermarriage. Only the older people still speak German; none of the youth. The inhabitants of both communities engage in farming. However, their agricultural development is very limited because they are so far removed from the market areas. Reportedly, many Germans from Russia are scattered in the vicinity of Palmeira while many live in the city itself. The inhabitants of Witmarsum are Mennonites, part of a group of refugees who crossed the frozen Amur River during the 1930's and, escaping through China, reached Brazil in 1932. Initially, they settled in the hilly forest region of the State of Santa Catharina, Brazil. In 1952 they came to the State of Parana, and founded Witmarsum where presently 161 families engage in a most successful milk production. They deliver 20,000 liters [5,280 gals.] of milk to the city of Curitaba, daily. Witmarsum even has its own secondary school. San Miguel Arcangel is a daughter colony whose settlers came in 1903 from the town of San Miguel near Colonel Suarez, Argentina. The locality numbers 900 inhabitants who are also engaged in farming. They have a Spanish public school, but no longer any German school. The village lies in an unusually fertile valley that is well cultivated, Crops raised are wheat, corn, millet, and sunflowers. Because of the increase in population among the Germans from Russia in South America, available land is becoming increasingly scarce which is forcing young people in greater numbers into the cities. During the afternoon. Dr. Matthias Hagin gave a slide presentation covering his tour of the U.S.A. from June 7 to July 6,1976. His comments for the most part dealt with the convention of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia held in Denver, Colorado, June 15-20, which more than 1300 people attended. According to Dr. Hagin, during the last few years our American countrymen have produced a remarkable number of books and articles about the Germans from Russia. The speaker made special reference to several of them. On Saturday, November 28, talks were given by Dr. Karl Stumpp and Oberstudienrat Joseph Schnurr. Dr. Stumpp dealt with the topic "The Further Migration of 1804-05 from Hungary and Poland into Russia." The speaker reminded us that before the immigrations of Germans directly to the Volga region, 1763-1769, and of the Mennonites from Danzig, West Prussia, 1789-1816 and continuing on to 1862 into South Russia, emigrations for Hungary and Poland had taken place from 1711-1740. Many of these people later moved on into Russia during 1804-05. In that connection, he detailed a variety of conditions that led to the emigrations from Hungary and Poland-giving many examples. He also pointed out the locations in the Black Sea area where these migrants settled. Herr Schnurr discussed "Family Names and Nicknames in Various Communities of Germans from Russia." He has chosen to study this subject as a special project. Although he has lectured at previous conventions about names of families, localities, and regions, and about nicknames, the topic has been less than adequately explored, he said. At this gathering he dealt with family names and nicknames from the Volga German communities of Jost, Zürich, Basel, and Katherinenstadt, and from the Black Sea German settlements of Neu Kandel, Alexanderfeld, Worms, Rohrbach, Johannestal, Katherinental, and others. Those responsible for the pleasant gathering and the arrangement of the folklore programs on Friday and Saturday evening were Fräulein Ella Schmidt, Fräulein Merdian, along with Herrn Leibham, Gennann, and others. Anyone will readily agree with Herr Schnurr's comments that the goal of the convention had been achieved, that the topics were perfectly complementary to one another, and that participants had learned much that may be useful in their personal projects.

20 THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE VOLGA GERMAN SETTLEMENTS IN ELLIS AND RUSH COUNTIES IN KANSAS Lawrence A. Weigel

From July 25 to August 1 of 1976, the greatest celebration ever held in Ellis County Kansas brought people from all parts of the United States and Canada to join in the festivities and help make this great historical event a lasting memory. It was the Centennial Celebration of the Volga German Settlements in Ellis and Rush Counties in Kansas. The original contingent of Volga Germans to come to Ellis County consisted of approximately 261 persons from twelve Volga villages. The first group to leave home consisted of the five Catherine founding families who departed from Katharinenstadt on October 22, 1875. They were met in Saratov, the district capital, by five families from Kamenka and Pfeifer who later either helped found Herzog or Pfeifer or settled there. Other groups came from Herzog, Boregard, Liebenthal, Obermonjour, Marienthal, Louis, Neu Obermonjour, Marienberg, Graf, and Schoenchen. The first large group of these Volga German Catholic immigrants set sail on the ship,"The Ohio" of the North-German Lloyd Line on Nov. 2, 1875. They landed in Baltimore twenty-one days later, on Nov. 23, following a rough sea voyage. Through the influence of A. Roedelheimer, an agent for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, and C. B. Schmidt, an agent for the Santa Fe Railroad, the people were persuaded to come to Topeka, Kansas. When land on the Santa Fe proved too expensive, Mr. A. Roedelheimer induced them to check out his firm's holdings in Ellis County, Kansas. The price of the land was $2.00 to $2.50 per acre and was suitable to establish colonies. This then was to become their permanent home in their search for freedom, On Feb. 21, 1876 the original founders of Liebenthal arrived in Hays and on the following day founded Liebenthal in Rush County (thirteen miles south of Hays). On March 1, 1876 the original founders of Catherine arrived in Hays and on April 8, they moved to their new home in Catherine. On April 8, 1876 the founding families of Herzog arrived at the depot in Victoria which had been erected earlier in 1873 when Victoria was founded by a group of Englishmen. The Herzog people founded their village one mile north of Victoria. On August 21, 1876 a group of emigrants from the Bergseite of the Volga coming mainly from Pfeifer, Kamenka, and Rothamel founded the village of Pfeifer in Ellis County. On July 8 a group which subsequently founded Munjor left Russia and after arriving in Ellis County in late July founded the village of Munjor in Kansas. In April-May of 1877 Schoenchen was founded by a group who had originally settled in Liebenthal in 1876. Today, 100 years later, all six of these villages still thrive and are growing. All of the original settlers were Catholic. Those from Pfeifer, Kamenka, and Rothamel were from the Bergseite, and all the others came from the Wiesenseite. When Unsere Leute arrived in 1876, western Kansas was still almost untouched prairie. Hays City was a small county seat just emerging from cattle-trail days of the early west. Old Fort Hays was established here to protect the settlers and railroad builders. The first homes of the Volga Germans were creek bank holes, board tents, or sod houses. In Russia our forefathers had raised spring wheat successfully. After trying it here, they stuck to winter wheat, when spring wheat proved unsuccessful. They also raised tobacco, wheat, and cattle. The Capuchin fathers came from the Pennsylvania province to Herzog on May 11, 1878, after accepting an invitation from Bishop Fink that they assume spiritual charge of the Volga-German colonies. They are still here today. Through their efforts many beautiful churches and schools were built, the most note-worthy being the Cathedral of the Plains in Herzog, so named by William Jennings Bryan. This church is now on the National Register of Historic Places and is visited annually by approximately 12,000 people. 21 Much folklore and many folkways have been preserved in these six colonies for 100 years. Five major dialects are still spoken and amazingly well preserved. Until after World War II, few intermarriages took place between couples of the various villages, and when one did occur it was considered a mixed marriage.

THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRA TION In 1976, all of the people, from all of the villages worked together to celebrate their centennial. All of the past inter-village rivalry was forgotten, and in a great demonstration of unity and ethnic pride, they became as one to make the celebration a success. Under the leadership of Norbert Dreiling, one of Unsere Leute, and an attorney of statewide fame, meetings were held in all of the six communities. The people were ready and anxious to help. A Volga-German Centennial Association was organized in June of 1974 for the explicit purpose of planning and executing 1976 activities honoring the centenary of the arrival of Unsere Leute in Ellis and Rush counties. The Association was incorporated formally on June 4, 1975. It consisted of a representative from each of the original six settlements and Hays. (Approximately 10,000 Volga Germans live in Hays and are all descendants of the people who founded the original six villages.) Dan Rupp and Jack Wilhm of Hays played important roles on this committee. In October of 1975 the first Volga-German Centennial project was launched. Five thousand volumes of Das Essen Unsere Leute came off the press. It was an immediate sensation. A second run of this fine cookbook was printed and nearly 10,000 copies have been sold thus far. A separate chapter on the favorite recopies of each settlement is featured. This cookbook was published under the direction of Irene Dortland. The greatest attraction of the seven-day celebration was a pageant production, a three-hour drama highlighting the exodus of Unsere Leute to freedom. In addition to telling the Volga German experience from the 1763 Manifesto of Catherine the Great through the mass migrations to Russia (1763) and America (1875) the pageant also re-created the famous traditions associated with the Volga German courtship and Hochzeit. The author, Norbert Dreiling, directed the pageant. Leona Pfeifer, a teacher at Ft. Hays College and a descendant of one of the five original scouts of 1874, served as contributing author and assistant director. Lawrence Weigel was contributing author and a member of the cast, portraying the part of Joseph Linenberger. Much of the life of the Linenberger family was portrayed in the pageant, and in addition to Mr. Dreiling and Mr. Weigel, numerous other members of the cast were direct descendants of Joseph Linenberger, the man who migrated to Russia in 1764. The story of the Linenberger family is recorded in the book Grandfather's Story by Helen Hall. A Singerbund under the direction of Lucius F. Schmidt and Irene Rupp Leiker was founded. It was a modern-day revival of early choral groups dedicated to the preservation of traditional Volga German music and songs. This group played a vital role in the pageant. The Singerbund is very active and much in demand today. The celebration began on Sunday July 25 in Liebenthal. Over 2000 people came to attend the Mass, the lunch, the parade and the dedication of Volga German plaques. There was much singing, dancing and visiting. The people were pleased when Archbishop Ignatius Strecker of Kansas City spontaneously asked for the microphone to tell the people that in his estimation there is not another group of people anywhere in Kansas that has had more influence on the Catholic Church in Kansas than the Volga Germans of Ellis and Rush counties. Much credit is due LaVern Dechant and Leonard Herrman, coordinators. On July 26 Schoenchen celebrated its day. Many descendants of settlers in Schoenchen returned to their home town. It was a hot day in July, but the huge crowd joined in a lengthy procession to the cemetery at the edge of town to memorialize their dead forefathers. The bell from the original church was dedicated. There was a dinner featuring traditional Volga-German food, historic games, and a dance featuring Volga German music. Larry Werth served as coordinator. Approximately 2000 people attended. On July 27, Catherine celebrated its day with special emphasis on culture and history of the town. Bishop Firmin Schmidt, a native Volga German son of Catherine and bishop of Mendi, Papua New Guinea was celebrant of the Mass to an overflowing mid-day crowd. There was a dedication of a large stone cross erected to commemorate the first religious services held in the early days. There was an old-fashioned threshing machine demonstration, powered by a steam engine. Antique farming implements were on display. There was an old fashioned pig dinner and a dance. Ethnic dishes were available throughout the day, German singing and music could be heard. Leo Dorzweiler served as coordinator. Between three and four thousand people attended.

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On July 28 Herzog (Victoria) the largest of the colonies celebrated its day. Again there was much emphasis on culture and history of the town. The main emphasis centered on the importance of religion to the economic and social development. The day began with a memorial Mass honoring the original settlers. Two Catholic Bishops were present at the Mass which was said in the Cathedral of the Plains to a capacity crowd. The trumpeters, the torch bearers, the color guard, the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus played an important part in this beautiful service. After Mass a life-size statue of a Capuchin Friar was dedicated followed by the dedication a life-size statue of the Volga German pioneer family. Lawrence Weigel gave the dedication address. Both statues were the work of Fritts Felten, a well known sculptor. There was a huge parade, games, demonstrations, food, just good old fashioned visiting, and a dance in the evening. Francis Schippers served as coordinator. Between four and five thousand attended. Pleifer celebrated its day on July 29. The celebration began with a procession and a memorial Mass honoring the original settlers and the native vocations to the religious life of the Church. A picnic, historic games, contests and a dinner followed. A time capsule of historic items was inserted into the inside wall of the church. The day was concluded with a beef barbecue and an old fashioned picnic. Gene Jacobs was coordinator. Between 2,000 and 2,500 attended. Munjor had its day July 30, 1976. The day began with a memorial service honoring the original settlers. A traditional Munjor picnic atmosphere prevailed. There was folk singing; there were speeches by noteworthy descendants of early settlers, principally Tony Dechant, President of the National Farmers Union; there was a dinner featuring Volga German food served to over 2000 people. Children were taught games which their forefathers played over one hundred years ago, and there were the traditional men's games of Korotka and Alte Sau, between the Munjor and Antonino men. The Munjor choir entertained with German songs. Rupert Pfannenstiel was coordinator. Approximately 5000 people attended. On July 31 a one hour parade consisting of over 100 floats dedicated to the faith and search for freedom of our forefathers delighted the large crowd which lined the streets of Hays. Al Riedal served as coordinator-Saturday afternoon, July 31, featured the presentation to the Ellis County Historical Society of publications, genealogies, history books, records, and founder's plaques, all related to the Volga Germans. Saturday night, July 31, the historical pageant was presented for the third time. On Sunday August 1, the week-long celebration was concluded by an impressive closing Mass at Gross Memorial Coliseum. It was a solemn Pontifical Mass concelebrated by Catherine native Bishop Firmin Schmidt of Mendi, Papua New Guinea, Bishop Cyril J. Vogel of Salina, and Bishop Marion F. Forst of Dodge City, Kansas along with a large number of priests — many of whom were of Volga German ancestry. The entrance procession was most impressive, as parish leaders of all the original six Volga German communities were represented. The Mass was sung by the Singerbund under the direction of Irene Rupp Leiker and Lucius Schmidt and St. Joseph's parish folk choir. Father Richard Rohr, O.F.M. of Cincinnati, a native Volga German son, gave an inspirational homily. The huge arena was beautifully decorated with banners and bundles of wheat to symbolize the religious as well as the historical impact of Unser Lait in developing this great Midwest plains area into the Wheat Belt of the World. Between two and three thousand people were present. This beautiful service was arranged under the direction of Father Blaine Burkey, O.M. Cap.

PUBLICATIONS PREPARED FOR THE 100 YEAR CELEBRATION In addition to events of the week-long celebration, the Volga German Centennial was observed by the production of numerous books, articles, and recordings which are intended to serve as a lasting memorial to the original settlers as well as to preserve and perpetuate the history and culture of the Volga Germans in Ellis and Rush Counties. The following annotated bibliography of materials generated by the Centennial and information on how they may be obtained was prepared by Father BIaine Burkey, O.M. Cap. • Norbert R. Dreiling's Official Centennial History of the Volga-German Settlements in Ellis and Rush Counties in Kansas, 1876-1976 (Volga-German Assn., c/o Hays Chamber of Commerce, Box 220, Hays, Ks., 67601, 159 p., $5.15, plus $1.03 if mailed) includes coverage of the plans for the centennial itself (pp. 6-20); general history of the Volga-German migrations (pp. 21-50); short sketches on each of the original settlements (pp. 51-81) as well as of the dispersion throughout western Kansas (pp. 82-103); essays on "Unsere Leute" religious, patriotic, civic, and educational growth (pp. 104-121); and reports on St. John's Rest Home, St. Anthony's Hospital, Thomas More Prep, and Marian High School (pp. 122-153), as well as some personal reflections (pp. 154-158). • The script for Dreiling's masterful centennial pageant, Unsere Leute: Exodus to Freedom, has also been

25 published (Volga-German Assn., c/o Hays Chamber of Commerce, Box 220, Hays, Ks 67601, 40 p., $2, plus $1.09 if mailed). • Some of the audio highlights of the week are also available on a series of four records by M.D.M. Records (Hays Music Co., 710 Main, Hays, Ks. 67601, each record is about 45 min. and sells for $6.18, plus $1,03 if mailed). The records are of the pageant and the Masses at Victoria, Schoenchen, and Catherine. • Another record released by M.D.M, Records just before the centennial was Volga-German Music, featuring Hochzeit music by Lawrence Weigel, Ig Sauer, Eddie Rome, and Alfred Ruder (Hays Music Co., 710 Main St., Hays, Ks. 67601, 37 min, $6.18, plus $1.03 if mailed). • Weigel also recorded every fine program on Volga German Heritage (Heritage Savings Assn., 11th & Fort, Hays, Ks. 67601, about 45 min., $5, postage free). • Die Liebenthaler und Ihre Kirche by Dr. Emerald Dechant (Dechant & Sons, Liebenthal, Ks. 67553,97 p, $6.70 plus 75¢ by mail) deals with the only original Volga-German Catholic village not in Ellis County. Chapter I (pp. 1 -12), however, presents a general overview of the Volga-German migrations, and Chapter IV (pp. 39-49) paints a broad view of life in the Volga-German villages. Another section (p. 19) tells of the secession of the Schoencheneers who founded a town in Ellis County. The book's numerous family histories are also of note since so many Liebenthalers later married or resettled in Ellis County. • One of the least expensive items published was the thirty-six-page revised edition by Father Meal Mahaffey, O.F.M. Cap., of the History of St. Catherine's Parish, Catherine, Kansas, 1876-1942, written by Father Matthew Pekari, O.F.M. Cap., in 1942. Available in person (at Catherine rectory, $1), or by mail (from Fr. Blaine, Box 9, Hays, Ks., 67601, $1,50). • Towers of Faith and Courage: a Pictorial History of Saint Fidelis Parish, Victoria, Kansas; Saint Ann's Parish, Walker, Kansas; Sacred Heart parish Emmeram, Kansas, edited by Ethel Younger and Francis Schippers (St. Fidelis Church, Victoria, Ks. 67671, 272 p.,$20, plus $2 by mail) is surely the most ambitious undertaking of all. In addition to a history of the three parishes (pp. 9-52) which includes literally hundreds of photos of former pastors and religious vocations from the parishes, there are 623 full-color photos of present parishioners and parish landmarks (pp. 65-136) as well as 850 black and white photos of early businesses, farm scenes, family groups, clubs, graduation classes, etc., from all through the three communities' long histories. At hardly more than a penny a picture the book is a remarkable bargain for the price. • The title Saint Francis Parish, Munjor, Kansas, 1876-1976, does not fully describe a booklet (St. Francis Church, Munjor Rt,, Hays, Ks. 67601, 58 p., $5.00, plus 50¢ if mailed), produced by Father Earl Meyer, O.F.M. Cap., pastor of Munjor since 1975. Besides strictly parish history, Father includes sections on the migration from Russia, the founding and naming of the town, the Munjor Town and Grazing Company, the Munjor town band, and the monastery brewery. Special features of the work include a chart of the original lot owners, a listing of all the immigrants and their immediate families, and a compilation prepared by Father Raphael Engel, O.F.M. Cap., of numerous tragedies which have struck the community over the past 100 years. Seven pages at the end tell the story of Munjor's daughter community, Antonino. • Father John Poell published a revised version of his 1968 history of Pfeifer, The Cross in the Valley (Holy Cross Church, Pfeifer, Ks. 67660, $6, plus 50¢ by mail). • Schoenchen plans to issue its own history at some future date. Fr. Alvin V. Werth, O.F.M.Cap., will author the book. (Pre- publication price $6,00; send pre-paid reservations to Larry Werth, Rt. 2, Schoenchen, Ks.67667). • Among works from outside the area came Dr. Kenneth W. Rock's Germans from Russia in America: the First Hundred Years (Dept. of History, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Go to., 16 p., $1 by mail), fully reviewed elsewhere in this issue of the Work Paper. • Dr. Samuel Sackett of Ft. Hays State put together a very interesting compilation of essays, many of them previously published, on Volga-German speech patterns, folk songs, food, beliefs and superstitions, proverbs, games, musical instruments, religious folk art, and other aspects of folk lore, and published them in a special double-sized issue of Emporia State College's Heritage of Kansas (vol. 9, nos. 2-3, Emporia State Press, Emporia, Ks. 66801, 93 p., $3 by mail). • The Volga Germans in Ellis County, Kansas, 1876-1976, by Anna Knoll (privately published, Washington, D.C., 1976, 89 p.) is basically a study of the descendants of Joseph VonFeldt, Victoria colonist; reviewed elsewhere in this issue. • The Leikers in America, Part II, Issued on the Occasion of the 100th Anniversary of Their Arrival in

26 the United States, by Victor C. Leiker (privately published, Atlantic Highlands, N.J. 1976, 22 p.) tells of the author's efforts to trace the family's roots back into Bavaria. • The History of the Rohr Ancestors, by Barbara Shaw Bittel (privately published, Broomfield, Coin., 1976, 180 p.) is concerned entirely with descendants of Mathias Rohr, Munj or pioneer. • The Volga-German Association's cookbook, Das Essen Unsere Leute, was a grand success, and all 8,000 copies have been sold out for several months. The book sold for $5.67, plus 50¢ if mailed, and will be reprinted if there is sufficient demand. Take or send orders, c/o Hays Chamber of Commerce, Box 220, Hays, Ks. 67601. • Father Blaine Burkey is engaged in the preparation of an encyclopedic work on the Volga-Germans of Ellis and Rush counties, which will include the initial history of each of the hundreds of Catholic families which have come to Ellis and Rush counties from the Volga River district of Russia. Also planned for inclusion are biographical sketches of their descendants who have excelled in a number of categories. Date and price not yet set.

Over 2,000 pictures have been collected of the early Volga German Settlers in Ellis and Rush counties, and are being prepared for permanent file by Father Burkey. In conclusion, I would like to quote what Norbert Dreiling wrote in the Official Centennial History book: "We have much for which to be thankful. Although Unsere Leute have labored every step for every success they are grateful because they never expected, nor did they desire, that anything be handed them on a silver platter. They do acknowledge a special indebtedness to the United States for that one, all-important intangible without which none of this history would have come to pass: freedom. We have crossed three continents in an endless but unyielding search to be free. We have arrived. Free at last, we are home at last."

Schoenchen is ein schones Stadtchen: Homemade sausage and noodles, beer, and other traditional German foods were served to hundreds of people during Schoenchen's centennial celebration day. Other events of Schoenchen's special July 26 included games, demonstrations, exhibits, an antique show, and rededication of the original bell and new belfry in front of the village church where a memorial Mass was held. Photo courtesy of The Hays Daily News.

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28 VILLAGES IN WHICH OUR FOREFATHERS LIVED Adam Giesinger

This time our chronicles will deal with some of the German villages in the Russian province of Bessarabia. The first twelve villages were founded here in the years 1814-1816 by about 1500 German families who had been settled in Poland for some years. They were mainly of North German stock who spoke the Platt dialect, but included a minority of South Germans. Another thirteen villages were founded in the years 1818-1842, some of these mainly by Württemberger and other South Germans. Numerous daughter colonies were founded later in the century. After 1870 many sons of the Bessarabian German villages came to America, where their descendants are now numerous, especially in the Dakotas and in western Canada. The chronicles presented here appeared in the Odessa-Kalender over the years 1895-1912.

TARUTINO (Odessa-Kalender 1895, p. 94) The colony Tarutino is in the southern part of Bessarabia, near the railway station Leipzig. It is a large colony, founded in 1814 by immigrants who had come from North Germany, the province of Posen in Prussia. It now has 358 farmsteads and 4590 inhabitants. The immigrants spoke the Platt German dialect and this has been preserved in the colony to this day. Tarutino is the seat of the land captain [district governor], of a controller of excise, of a notary, and of a number of other officials. A district hospital of fifteen beds is located here and there are two medical doctors. There is also a post office and a telegraph office. The colony has a water system and its streets have been paved for some years. The people of Tarutino excel in farming. Soon after the founding of the colony the government authorities attempted to provide it with a market-place for its products. For this purpose, in the early 1820's, a fortnightly market day was established in the village. These market days still exist and are now the largest in the whole of Bessarabia. Before the reunion of the southern corner of Bessarabia with Russia (in the year 1878), the market days were somewhat better attended than they are now, because today most of the villages in that area take their grain directly to Kiliya or Izmail, which was not the case earlier. To revive the grain trade here, it is necessary to connect Tarutino with the railway station at Leipzig by a branch line. The community authorities have made several submissions regarding this matter to the Southwest Railway Company. Let us hope that the plea will soon be heard and that a branch line will be built. In the last twenty years many vineyards have been planted here. They now total 272 dessiatines and produce an excellent wine. In an average year the production is 75,000 pails, two-thirds of which is sold to outsiders. Additional vineyards are being planted and wine production appears to have a good future. Tarutino has several factories and nearly 200 trading establishments. Among the former are the clubhauling factory of Karl Insert, the textile factory of L. Steiner, the steam-powered flour mill of the brothers Fredric, the farm implement factory of G. Rösner and others. The annual turnover of the trading establishments is more than a million rubles.

The Evangelical Church in Tarutino. Photo courtesy of the Heimat-museum der Deutschen aus Bessarabien.

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The colony has an imposing church and next to it a large two-story building which is the community school. At the present time it is attended by 448 children, divided among four classes and taught by four teachers. The school building is an ornament of the village and an honor to the community. In addition to the community school, there is a private school for girls, with twenty-five pupils, taught by Miss Ludmilla Belinskaya. Thus through the diligence of its inhabitants, Tarutino has become one of the foremost and largest of the German colonies in Bessarabia. God grant that it continue to develop peacefully in the future!

KRASSNA (Odessa-Kalender 1912, pp. 126-127) Krassna was founded in the year 1814 on the right bank of the little river Kogelnik-Kunduk by German and Polish settlers, most of them Catholics. The colony is situated 95 versts from the district capital Akkerman, 100 versts from the provincial capital Kishinev and 140 versts from Odessa. Here, in the middle of a valley four versts wide, overgrown with reeds, bulrushes, thorn bushes and man-high grass and bush, the home of wolves and other wild animals, the tired immigrants, exhausted from the hardships of the long journey, had to settle down. Most of them, on their arrival, were without means and were entirely dependent on support from the government. The land given to them for grain-growing is very hilly and was then almost completely overgrown with thorn bushes, making its cultivation difficult for the newcomers. The well-watered valley, on the other hand, offered them excellent pasture for livestock and led them to engage mainly in the raising and trading of livestock, rather than in grain-growing. In the early decades the development of the colony was hampered by a number of disturbing influences and events. Diseases took many of the new settlers to an early grave. Livestock epidemics often carried off a settlers last cow or workhorse or last saleable animal. Rarely could the settlers sell their few farm products at an acceptable price, because they were too far away from the markets. As a result, because they lacked money, they had to resort to barter to obtain their needs. To be able to sell grain, one had to transport it to the city of Odessa, 140 versts away, which took a week per trip and was somewhat dangerous, because on the return journey there was a chance of being robbed by wandering gypsies. As the settlers were partly Catholics and partly Lutherans, they could not long live together in peace. Discord, quarrelsomeness, and factionalism soon invaded the colony and was ended only when the community split off some of its land on the west side to establish a new village, Katzbach, eight versts from Krassna, to which the Lutheran colonists moved. As a result Krassna became exclusively Catholic and peace was soon restored in the community. In the year 1865 a new parish church was built in Krassna. To the right of the church is the parsonage, built in the year 1885 and located on a spacious lot, connected to a vegetable garden and an orchard. To the left of it is the school, with the teachers' living quarters. This building is much too small for the present number of pupils. It measures 60 feet long and 21 feet wide and has to accommodate 200 children for instruction. But this sad state is soon to be rectified. The Krassna community land comprises 6910.2 dessiatines. There are 114 landholding families and 54 landless families, not counting those who have left the village. As yet Krassna has acquired very little bought land. The families who leave the village generally go abroad. For example, a relatively large village, Caramurat, in Rumania, is inhabited almost exclusively by emigrants from Krassna, In the last years most of the emigrants have been going overseas to North Dakota and to Canada. Also, more than a few have migrated to the Caucasus, At the present time Krassna has 1864 people, all Catholics. It has a parish church, a school with two teachers (a third one is to be hired this year) and 225 schoolchildren. There are fourteen blacksmiths, eight wheelwrights, three cabinet-makers, two tailors, eight shoemakers, two house-painters, three general stores, three wine shops, a wind- powered flour mill and a steam-powered flour mill.

KLÖSTITZ (Odessa-Kalender 1904, pp. 103-106) The colony Klöstitz is located in the northern part of the Akkerman district, at a distance of 28 versts from the Southwest Railway and 100 versts from the provincial capital Kishinev. The village lies in a broad valley, called the Chaga Valley, at a point where several smaller valleys join it. It stretches for two and one-half versts along the east side of the slope of a hill and has two rows of houses along a street bordered by white-washed stone fences and shade trees, which give the village an attractive appearance, especially in the 30 spring. Because in the course of time the number of families grew larger and the original farmyards were no longer able to accommodate them, the community measured out, about twenty years ago, another 100 home-sites half a verst from the old village, where a new village arose, which is now called Neu-Klöstitz. It is not a separate entity from the old village in religious affairs nor in local government. The space between the two villages is partly planted with forest and fruit trees. This colony, like most of those in the Akkerman district, was founded after the great war of 1812, in the year 1815. It has 134 landholdings of 58 dessiatines each, and a total community landholding of 7997 dessiatines. Originally there were 134 families, who came for the most part from Württemberg and Prussia, with a minority from Baden and Rhenish Bavaria. At the present time the colony has 375 families with 2108 people. It was difficult for the colonists, who had come from a variety of regions, to adjust to the new conditions, particularly since the means so graciously provided by the government for the building of homes and the acquisition of farm equipment were far from adequate. Later too there were many difficulties which hampered economic progress. At the time of the Russo- Turkish war of 1828-1829, for instance, the colonists had to do so much transport work for the army, even during harvest time, that the gathering of the farm produce was greatly hindered. As a result of this war also, the plague hit the village on July 15, 1829 and lasted till November 19 of that year. During this time it carried off 332 persons, some families dying out completely; on one day alone, September 14th, fourteen persons succumbed. The colony was also twice seriously afflicted by cholera, in the years 1833 and 1848; in the latter year sixty-nine persons died in two months of this devastating disease. Strong earthquakes took place November 14, 1829 and January 11, 1838. Complete crop failures, as a result of drought, occurred in the years 1833, 1834, 1846, 1847, and more recently in 1892 and 1899. In the two latter years the need was great, but it would have been much greater and many of the poorer people would have died of hunger, if help had not been sent from far and near by their co-religionists. Through the better crops of the years that followed the people were enabled to recover from the consequences of the crop failures. Klöstitz is the parish center of a parish of the same name, to which the colonies Beresina, Borodino, and Hoffnungstal belong. In addition to these, the pastor also serves, for the time being, the daughter colonies Nadeshda and Gnadenfeld on bought land and Jakobstal, Josephsdorf, and Mathildendorf on rented land. The main occupations of the inhabitants of Klöstitz are grain-growing, livestock raising, and wine production. Farming is still carried on by primitive methods for the most part; one sees little of new agricultural techniques or rational soil management. Although a few fanners, following the example of large landowners in the neighborhood, have tried summer- fallow, this has not become general practice. The usefulness of the feed grasses, especially alfalfa and rape-seed, has been recognized and most farmers now have a small patch of clover in their vegetable garden. Wine production, which has become more than a sideline, gives people a significant income, in some years more than their farming. Unfortunately the sale of wine is not regulated and the prices tend to fluctuate widely. The reason for this is, in part at least, the great distance from the railway and from the city. Although there are many and various kinds of tradesmen in the village, their business is not in a flourishing condition, because they serve only local needs, very little of their work being sold outside the village. An exception to this is the pottery, which has a wide sale. The work produced by local potters sells well at the neighboring markets in Tarutino and Arcis. There has been a steam-powered flour mill in the village only since 1896 and a wool-spinning factory will be set up this year. The stately and spacious church, built in 1868, stands in the middle of the village. Opposite it is the school and next to this the village council office. On the other side of the cross-street is the district council office, in which the orphans' fund and the savings bank for the Klöstitz district are also accommodated. Opposite this is the spacious parsonage, built in 1902. In addition to the school mentioned above, which has two classrooms and two teachers for 300 pupils, a second school, which now has one teacher and 130 pupils, was built in 1898 in the new village. The emigration to America which began in the 1870's, after being almost at a standstill for many years, has resumed again with considerable vigor. In the winter of 1901-1902, 16 families with 90 persons left for America, and in the winter of 1902- 1903, another 27 families with 144 persons. The reason for this emigration is not so much dissatisfaction with conditions here as the desire for more land, of which there is less and less per family available here, due to the increase in population.

31 TEPLITZ (Odessa-Kalender 1912, pp. 110-112) Centrally among the German mother colonies of the Akkerman district, close to the right bank of the steppe river Kogelnik, lies the colony Teplitz, founded by farmers and artisans who had emigrated in the year 1817/18 from Württemberg and Prussia, as well as a few from Bavaria, Hungary, and France. The assigned land grant comprised 5715.4 dessiatines of useful land and 154.8 dessiatines of waste land, divided into 100 landholdings of 56.4 dessiatines each,

Farmyard in Teplitz. Photo courtesy of the Heimatmuseum der Deutschen aus Bessarabien.

The village stretches for a distance of about two and one-half versts in an east-west direction along the foot of a beautiful 200-foot-high hill, whose slopes are planted with vineyards. Its beautiful houses and its level street, 120 feet wide and lined with trees on both sides, make a favorable impression on a traveler passing through. This impression is increased by the beautiful church which stands on the brow of the hill. This edifice was built of native stone in the years 1860-1863 at a cost of 20,000 rubles and was consecrated on October 6, 1863. It accommodates 850 people and both its external and internal appearance are pleasing to the eye because of the simplicity of their furnishing. The old-fashioned organ, if the community wishes it, with the help of a legacy from a generous donor, will soon be replaced by a new one. Immediately behind the church is the spacious cemetery, enclosed by a stone fence. Beside the church, to the right of the church garden, is the school yard with the teachers' homes and the school building with four large bright classrooms. Between the school building and the teachers' houses, parallel to the street, is the bell tower, constructed in remembrance of the coronation of our lord and emperor Nicholas II. To the left of the church garden is the village government building, erected in 1904, and right next to it, separated only by a road, the large building, newly constructed in 1908, of the Teplitz community general store. But I hear the question: "Where is the building which houses the headquarters of the volost government which rules over six large villages and whose center is here?" Pardon, my friend, my failure to notice this building. It is not distinguishable from the ordinary farm houses of the village, except for a sign on it with the coat-of-arms of Bessarabia and an inscription. The volost government offices and a seven and one-half-foot-high court room are at the rear of the house, attached to the volost jail. As progressive improvements the volost can point to the acquisition of a 100-pood-heavy safe, secure against fire and theft, in which orphans' funds and debtors' notes are kept, as well as a telephone and letter-box. The orphans' bank as of January 1 of this year has 200,371 rubles of orphans' funds, 8363 rubles capital, 201,941 rubles out on loan and 6793 rubles cash on hand. The employment of the Teplitz population is either in farming or in the trades. The former suffers because of the primitive method of land division, highly unsuitable for present-day conditions. It makes a systematic cultivation of the fields impossible, even though the land is plowed with the most modern plows and the seed is put into the ground with the most modern sowing machines. The trades are represented by blacksmiths, locksmiths, iron workers, wagon builders, cabinet- makers, saddlers, shoemakers, tailors,

32 gravestone makers, carpenters, roofers, house-painters, artists, masons, oven builders, and others, who employ a large number of workers, apprentices, and journeymen. As no trade unions exist, the tradesmen are the plaything of the market, as well as of other predictable and unpredictable circumstances. In addition to the tradesmen mentioned above, Teplitz also has two large bee-keeping establishments. At the present time the village has 350 families, with 991 males and 985 females, who live in 245 houses and possess 340 other farm buildings. In livestock Teplitz owns 802 horses, 1354 cattle, and 2135 sheep. To serve the various needs of the population there are: a steam-powered flour mill, a small bank, seven deep artesian wells, two taverns, a large community store with a hardware section, a small privately owned store, a Russian and four Jewish lumber merchants selling lumber for wagon manufacture, as well as numerous Jewish peddlers, a daily pest for the people. The number of pupils in the school is 225 boys and 184 girls, who are taught by 4 teachers, beginning on September 1. As punctual and regular attendance is not insisted upon, the efforts of these teachers can not be expected to be entirely fruitful.

SARATA (Odessa-Kalender 1899, pp. 108-112)

The little River Sarata in winter. Photo courtesy of the Heimat-museum, der Deutschen aus Bessarabien.

On the main highway which connects the market town of Tarutino with the district capital Akkerman, at the spot where this highway reaches its southernmost point, lies the colony of Sarata, fifty-eight versts from Akkerman and fifty versts from Tarutino. The valley in which it lies, relatively wide here, with the little river Sarata, frequently dry, winding its way through it, is bordered on the west by a height which rises to 150 feet and on the east by a more gently rising hilly slope. This valley offers no particular attraction to the eye of the beholder. The village, on the other hand, viewed from the heights, makes a favorable impression, especially in May, when the houses seem to swim in the green of the acacia trees and only the roofs peek out from the foliage. Sarata is laid out according to a plan. Two straight streets run from north to south and are intersected at right angles by four cross-streets. At three points on the upper, most westerly street, there are circle-shaped areas, on the central one of which stands the church, built in 1841. The story of the founding of this colony (in 1822) is closely connected with the name and the person of its first spiritual leader, Ignaz Lindl. We shall therefore look briefly at his career. It was around the year 1812, when we find Ignaz Lindl, Catholic parish priest in Bavaria, a man of overpowering eloquence, working among his parishioners with great power and ardor, at first in the spirit of the enlightenment, then, influenced by Gossner, in the evangelical manner. His sermons exerted a tremendously electrifying effect on the crowds of many thousands who listened to him. Eight to ten thousand people flocked together every Sunday to hear his living testimony of salvation in Christ. But this fiery preacher, swaying the masses, soon showed a strong tendency to fanaticism in his sermons, in which teachings regarding the millenium became more and more prominent. And his hearers responded favorably, for the

33 writings of Bengel and Jung-Stilling had made a deep impression on the people and had prepared the hearts of many believers for these new ideas. The place of refuge for believers, according to Stilling's explanation, lay beyond Samarkand. There, in the realm of the "princes of Solyma," the elect were to await the advent of the kingdom of peace. After Lindl came under Stilling's influence, therefore, emigration to the east became for him also the ultimate solution. The day of decision was coming ever closer. Religious oppression in Württemberg, the political troubles of the time, crop failure and famine, and, not least, the persecutions and trials which Lindl had to undergo, made easier for many the decision to leave their homeland and to respond to the invitation of Alexander I to settle in the southern part of his empire. When Lindl, who had been under arrest at Augsburg, was freed as a result of the intervention of Baron Berkheim, the son-in-law of the pious Lady von Krüdener, he hurried to Munich, where he heard of the Tsar's invitation through the Russian ambassador and asked for safety and protection from the Bavarian government. After a touching farewell from his parish at Gundremingen, Lindl undertook the difficult journey to far-off Russia and arrived at St. Petersburg on November 15, 1819. There he preached in the Maltese church to listeners from the highest aristocracy. In the meantime large numbers of Württemberger and Bavarians, some traveling over Hungary, others over a much more round-about route over St. Petersburg, had arrived in southern Russia. The Lutheran merchant Werner had led the exodus from the homeland. In July 1820 Lindl left St. Petersburg and hurried to Odessa, where he was to serve as provost over the Catholic parishes of southern Russia. But, hated and persecuted by the Roman monks, on March 20, 1822, he transferred his seat to Sarata, where forty families from Württemberg and the same number from Bavaria, the former Protestant, the latter Catholic, had just settled. For them he became spiritual and temporal leader. In Sarata also this inspired preacher showed an amazing drawing power; people came from far and near to hear his Sunday sermons, so that he often had to preach out in the open air, standing on a pile of lumber. But his activity in Sarata was not to last long, only a year and a half. At the end of the year 1823 Lindl was banished from Russia, for reasons which are not too clear. The community of goods introduced by him here, according to the apostolic model, was then abandoned and all families joined the Evangelical-Lutheran church. In 1824 the colony received its first Lutheran pastor in the person of Lesedow from Tiflis, Sarata is now the center of a parish of the same name, to which the colonies Gnadenthal and Lichtenthal, founded some years later, also belong. Four smaller German villages in the neighborhood, located partly on bought land and partly on rented land, are also served by the pastor of Sarata, as a result of a special agreement made with them. The community land consists of 6488 dessiatines, divided among 101 farmyards and 240 families. To this have been added by purchase, but only in the last decade, about 2000 dessiatines, bought not by the community as such, but by smaller or larger groups of individuals. The number of people in Sarata, not counting the 100 families who live elsewhere, is at present 1720. Characteristic of the native of Sarata is his love for his home village, which he leaves only unwillingly. For a genuine Saratan, there is no place like Sarata.

The cemetery in Sarata before 1940. Photo courtesy of the Heimat-museum der Deutschen aus Bessarabien.

34 Grain-growing, livestock raising, and wine production are the chief means of livelihood for the people of Sarata. The last mentioned of these has become for many a family a source of wealth. There is therefore no end to the planting of vineyards. In good years the village has produced up to 90,000 pails of wine. Tradesmen are doing well in Sarata. There is a large number of carpenters, blacksmiths, and wagon builders, who carry on a more or less flourishing business. Larger manufacturing establishments are an iron foundry, two steam-powered flour mills, a brick factory, and a textile factory. Two Jewish shops and the consumers' co-operative store (now in its second year) provide the necessities in groceries, cloth, and other wares. The market day, which takes place every two weeks, is rather limited in importance.

The German Teachers' Training School in Sarata. Photo courtesy of the Heimatmuseum der Deutschen aus Bessarabien. There is a whole series of public buildings and institutions which deserve mention. Quite near to the church, mentioned above, is the parsonage; next to it is the well-known Alexander Asylum, built in 1867, generally called simply "the institution"; on the same lot as the asylum is the hospital, erected from asylum funds, whose patients are treated by a medical doctor and two assistants. On the other side of the parsonage is the village school, with three classrooms, in which 300 children are taught by three teachers. Near the teachers' residence is the village council office and opposite it is the volost government building, in which the administration of the orphans' fund and the fire insurance fund is also accommodated. There is also a pharmacy, a post office, and a telegraph office. Near the end of the village is the well-known Werner Central School, at present attended by sixty-two students, and in the schoolyard the very neat teachers' residence, built in 1890, one of the most beautiful buildings in the whole village. We must not fail to mention also the cemetery, in which the regular tasteful arrangement of the graves, the beautiful flower beds, and the shining white grave stones, along with the Werner memorial, erected largely from donations by former students at the school and partly from community funds, impress the visitor most favorably. Sarata is, on the whole, a prosperous village, having become so through industry and frugality. But as rich and poor must, according to Holy Scripture, always exist side by side, so there are here alongside the well-endowed houses also others in which poverty, merited or unmerited, has taken up its abode. One misfortune which afflicted the inhabitants of Sarata from the beginning is water-shortage (even in wet years, as in 1897), because most of the wells give only bitter, salty water unsuitable for drinking and cooking. The problem was partially solved last year by the drilling of two deep artesian wells. The water in these does not rise to the top, but has to be pumped. At the founding of the colony one man provided it with a favorable start, which has become a great blessing for later generations. He deserves to have his name gratefully remembered. It is Werner. He lived

35 only two months in Sarata, from July to September 1823, but the church and the Werner School, named after him, erected long after his death from the interest on his legacy, still speak loudly of the noble mind of this incomparable benefactor.

The old Werner School in Sarata. Photo courtesy of the Heimatmuseum der Deutschen aus Bessarabien.

May the community of Sarata continue to prosper; avoiding factionalism, may it build and grow and thrive in harmony and peace for the benefit of our children and children's children!

A Watermelon Party in Sarata in 1934. Photo courtesy of the Heimatmuseum der Deutschen aus Bessarabien.

36 FOLKLORE FORUM MARRIAGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS OF THE GERMANS FROM RUSSIA Timothy J. Kloberdanz

Marriages in the German colonies of Old Russia, like those in other parts of the world, were ideally made in heaven (Die Ehe werden im Himmel geschlossen). In actuality, marriages were arranged by concerned mothers and fathers, persuasive godparents, and village matchmakers. Romantic love might have flourished in some colonies but, based on the recollections of older informants and existing accounts, it seemed relatively rare. To many colonists, marriage was a very practical matter and was not to be taken lightly. It was looked upon not only as a sacred union between a man and a woman, but a bringing together of whole families and households. Thus, precautions were taken to insure that no young men or women allowed their emotions to interfere with long-established traditions and the all-important family loyalties. Despite its restrictive nature, marriage was celebrated by the colonists with unequaled gaiety, so long as it didn't disrupt the agricultural cycle. Even in years of drought and resulting crop failure, wedding guests could be assured that there would be enough to drink and eat and dance-music for sometimes as long as three to six days. Regardless of whether the wedding was held on the Volga, the Kutschurgan Steppe, or in the Crimea, it was indeed a Hochzeit celebration, a "high time" in the lives of the hard-working colonists. No other single event could compare to the lavishness and ritual complexity that surrounded the time-honored institution of marriage. It possessed integral elements of emotion-choked solemnity, deep-rooted anxiety, and frivolity. Marriage demanded respect but it also provided the German colonists in Russia with a wealth of humorous anecdotes and ditties. Some villagers, for example, would delight in teasing a prospective bride with the traditional verse: Vor der Hochzeit sind's Brautleut, Nach der Hochzeit sind's Eheleut. Vor der Hochzeit gibt's Küsschen, Nach der Hochzeit gibt's Schmissen!

Before the wedding a bridal couple, After it's over a married couple. Before the wedding little kisses, After it's over little beatings! The following articles and contributions reflect the many faces of courtship and marriage among the Germans from Russia. Wedding beliefs and customs varied from region to region, village to village, and even family to family. Not all the colonists celebrated marriage in the same fashion but all did regard it as one of life's important milestones. Marriage assured the entire community of a special kind of earthly immortality, in which ancient tradition as well as new life itself would be perpetuated by its members. Taken on January 30, 1923, this unique photograph shows several wedding cooks at a marriage celebration in Sterling, Colorado. The women and their male escort posed for this picture on their way from the summer kitchen to the Hochzeitshaus. All of the people in the photograph are Volga German Catholic emigrants from the Bergseite, From left to right, the individuals are: Myrtle Sewald (holding baby), Gertrude Schell Sewald, Margaret Dillie Sewald, Pauline Schwab Sewald (in background), Melgar Hergenreter, Eva Hergenreter Degenhart, Rose Sewald Schell, Christina Rothmal Mari, Anna Maria Gertner Hochnadel, and John Hochnadel.

37 Loaded Muskets and Holy Water: Marriage Among Volga German Catholics in Old Russia2 The day prior to the marriage ceremony is characterized by feverish activity in the Hochzeitshaus (wedding house) of the prospective bridegroom's parents. The Hausvater and other male relatives butcher one or more large, well-fattened animals for the wedding feast. Afterwards, the fresh meat is given to a group of neighboring women who help the bridegroom's mother prepare it, along with an extremely large quantity of other food. Older women sometimes bake special pastries reserved for festive occasions, including large rings of plaited cakes called Kranzkuchen.2 Younger men and women also help in preparing food for the three-day celebration. The four to six Brautbuwe or Brautburschen (groomsmen) and Brautmädche' (bridesmaids) play an important role in the pre- wedding hours. After helping at the Hochzeitshaus, the youngsters adorn their horses with small bells and streamers and ride through the village. The purpose of the afternoon excursion is to collect dishes and other items that are needed for the celebration. Large baskets are carried by the young people and are used to collect assorted household utensils that are loaned by neighbors and friends.3 When night falls and the first music is heard in the Hochzeitshaus, the pace of the Volga German wedding cycle quickens. The tradition of Polterabend or Bollerowed (racket eve) is one of the few marriage customs that is not supervised by the village elders. It is chiefly an informal gathering of young people, primarily those who helped in preparing the huge quantity of wedding food. Close relatives and neighbors also attend the event. No more than two musicians (usually a fiddler and a dulcimer player) provide music in one of the larger rooms of the Hochzeitshaus4 Guns fired by groups of comrades outside the Hochzeitshaus ring throughout the village. Though the Polterabend celebration is marked by much gaiety it is not supposed to equal the elaborate festivities to be enjoyed later. Thus the boy and girl to be married do not always attend, nor do each one of the musicians.5 Furthermore, the boisterous nature of "racket eve" is frowned upon by the village priest, since it precedes by several hours the actual ceremony of marriage. But the young people dance and sing as long as the musicians play. Erotic ditties are sung by red-faced comrades who have dipped into the alcoholic beverage reserved for the wedding feast. Short songs of a more innocuous nature are also sung: Die Motter backt Kreppel, Mother fries doughnuts, Die backt se so hart; She makes them too hard; Sie schliesst se in Keller She locks them in the cellar Un gebt m'r net satt. And doesn't give me my fill. Sie gebt mer die Brocke, She hands me the crumbs Die Hinkel zu locke. To lure the chickens with. Komm bi, komm ba. Come on, come along, Die Freier sin da.6 The wooers are there. About an hour before midnight, the musicians leave the Hochzeitshaus and the celebration soon comes to a close. Since the wedding ceremony is to be held early in the morning, even the young people hurry home, though they often sing as they run through the village streets. No one voices dissatisfaction that the Polterabend has ended, for three days of singing, dancing, and drinking still lie ahead. On the day of the wedding, a small procession starts from the Hochzeitshaus shortly after sunrise. The group includes the groom, the Brautbuwe (male attendants), the boy's parents, godparents, and other relatives. All are dressed in their finest attire. Comrades who are armed with guns escort the procession as it winds toward the bride's home. The guns that the comrades carry are generally old-fashioned but highly prized. One of the Schüsser (shooters) often carries an ancient blunderbuss (Donnerbüchse) that may be decorated with ribbons. Colorful streamers are also worn by the groom and male attendants. A long white or red ribbon that is worn by the groom is "pinned over the heart" and often touches the ground. A five-piece band also accompanies the procession as it nears the bride's home. The musicians generally wear heavy clothing and gloves. When the procession has reached its destination, one of the musicians starts a small fire in the bride's courtyard to thaw out the instruments. On a signal from one of the Schüsser the band begins to play and the procession is welcomed into the bride's home by the Hausvater, No refreshments are served the guests, for all are fasting in preparation for the wedding Mass. The bride's home is already filled with her relatives and friends, including the Brautmädche' (female attendants) and her godparents. The bride is clearly the center of everyone's attention. Her hair is unbraided and on her head she wears an elaborate wedding wreath (Brautkranz) of colored streamers, wax pearls, and paper flowers. The gown she wears, a gift from the groom's family, is often "blue like the sky." In some colonies, the bridal

38 dress may even be black in color.7 As a symbol of her future status as a housewife, the bride sometimes wears an embroidered apron.8 The bride carries a rosary and often a fragrant sprig of myrtle or mint to ward off evil. Pieces of blessed palms may also be placed in the shoes of the bridal couple.9 The joy and excitement in the home contrasts sharply with the anxiety that is displayed by the young bride. Though she is expected to lament leaving her parents' home, the sorrow of separation is often very real. Outside the musicians play a final number and one of the Schüsser gives the signal to start to church. Relatives spread a white cloth or blanket on the floor of the family home and the bride and groom are bidden to kneel down for the traditional blessing. Holy water is sprinkled on the couple by the Hausvater and the tearful mother.10 Other relatives of the bride also extend their blessing by clasping the hands of the bride and groom or sprinkling them with Osterwasser (holy water blessed by the priest on Easter Eve). Before the bridal couple departs, the bride's parents may follow an old fatherland custom also practiced in the German colonies on the Black Sea. They present the daughter with three pieces of bread and remind her never to forget her parental home.11 Soon the procession forms and starts down the street toward the village church. The two godfathers, carrying their ribboned canes, customarily lead the march and represent the two kindreds that have joined together. Behind them follow the musicians and bridal party.12 The bride is escorted by the Brautbuwe and Brautmadche' who walk at her side. The groom follows behind, along with the godmothers and all the other guests. The parents of the bride and groom are at the end of the procession, followed only by the Schüsser who fire their muskets and guns several times before entering the church. The "shooting" during the wedding march is an ancient custom also practiced by the Russian peasants to "drive away evil spirits."13

Under the looming tower of its evangelical church, villagers of Bauer (Gouv. Saratov) accompany a wedding procession through the broad streets of the Volga Dorf. The elegant Brautigam, in kadus and brilliantly polished boots, matches strides with his rather imposing Braut as they lead a parade of bridesmaids, groomsmen, and half- a-dozen musicians before a cluster of discreetly Halstuch'd village Frauen. Photo courtesy of the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, Stuttgart.

The wedding ceremony is an integral part of an early morning Mass celebrated by the village priest. The people enter the church in much the same order that they have taken their places in the procession. The Gevatterslait (godfathers and godmothers) precede the parents and other guests. The church ceremony is brief and simple, in contrast to the complex folk rituals that surround it. After nuptial vows have been taken, the bride and groom kneel "arm in arm" before the altar. The gesture is evidence of their new status as husband and wife but is also taken as a preventive means to combat the power of a witch who may wish

39 to "take away their love."14 During the ceremony, liturgical songs are sung by the church choir in Latin and German that complement the solemnity of the occasion. Most of the songs emphasize the purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary as well as the innocence of the new bride who kneels before the altar: Der goldene Rosenkranz The golden rosary Besetzt mit Perlen ganz; Entirely decorated with pearls: Besetzt mit lauter Edelgestein, Decorated with nothing but precious jewels, Gehört der Jungfrau rein. Belongs to the Virgin pure. Die Bluemelein in dem Kranz, The little flowers in the crown, Sind alle frisch und ganz; Are all fresh and whole; Ihr Farb ist rot, gelb und weiss, Their colors are red, yellow, and white, Ihr Name heisst Ehrenpreis.15 Their name means praise to her honor. After the wedding ceremony, the altar boys who have served the Mass go the the rear of the church and detain the married couple from leaving. A rope or ribbon is strung across the aisle and is not removed until the groom gives the servers a few coins.16 Such "obstacles" that delay the wedding party are relatively common during the procession from the church to the groom's home. Money may also have to be presented to fellow comrades of the groom who bar entrance to the Hochzeitshaus. The Hausmutter takes her daughter-in-law's hand and leads her into the family home as a gesture of acceptance.17 Or the ceremony of entering the new home may be formalized by a special song sung by the bride before she enters: Komm her, mein Braeutigam! Come here, my bridegroom! Komm her mein Ja und Amen Come here my "aye" and "amen" Und nimm mich bie der Hand, And take me by the hand, Fuehr mich in Gottes Namen Lead me in God's name In deines Vaters Haus Into your father's house Zu deinen Eltern hin, There to your parents, Wo ich, so lang ich leb, Where I, so long as I live, Dir treu verbleiben will.18 Will remain faithful to you. The bridal couple, their parents and godparents, then stand in the Kriliz (porch) of the Hochzeitshaus and accept the congratulations of the relatives and guests who enter. The usual phrase expressed by well-wishers is "Viel Glück und Segen zum Ehestand" ("Much happiness and blessing on your married state").19 Traditionally, the bride and groom do not respond to the wishes but remain silent.

NOTES 1. This is a combined and slightly revised version of two sections on marriage from "The Volga German Catholic Life Cycle: An Ethnographic Reconstruction," by Timothy J. Kloberdanz, unpublished Master's Thesis, Colorado State University (1974), pp. 111-118. This piece is written in the "ethnographic present" - a standard anthropological literary device-which describes events as though they were happening before the reader's eyes. Actually, the marriage customs mentioned were prevalent in the years 1890-1914. 2. The art of making this unique type of wedding pastry was preserved in various Volga German communities throughout the United States. See, for example, Rev. Francis S. Laing's "German-Russian Settlements in Ellis County, Kansas," Kansas State Historical Society Collections 11 (1910), p. 32. 3. Peter Sinner, "Das Volksleben der Wolgadeutschen," Das Neue Russland, Doppelheft 1-2 (1926), p. 11, and Eduard Seib's "Der Wolgadeutsche im Spiegel seines 'Qrnuchtums," Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Russland 3967/68, p. 165. 4. Anonymous, "Wie die Wolgadeutschen Hochzeit feierten," Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Russland 1956, p. 131. 5. This taboo also existed in some Volga German communities in America. See Phyllis A. Dinkel's "Old Marriage Customs in Herzog (Victoria), Kansas," Western Folklore 19, (1960), p. 102. 6. Peter Sinner, "Ein ethnographisches Konzert" HeimatbuchderDeutschenausRussland 3954, p. 87. 7. Seib,p. 166. 8. Amy Brungardt Toepfer and Agnes C. Dreiling, Conquering the Wind. Victor C. Leiker (Publisher), Farwood, New Jersey(1966),p.l51. 9. Fr. John B. Terbovich, "Religious Folklore Among the German-Russians in Ellis County, Kansas," Western Folklore 22,(1963), p. 84. 10. Toepfer and Dreiling, p. 151. 11. This custom is mentioned in Joseph S. Height's volume on the Black Sea German Catholics, Paradise on the Steppe, North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Bismarck, North Dakota, p. 200. 12. Seib,p. 170. 40 13. See Stephen P. and Ethel Dunn's excellent monograph, The Peasants of Central Russia, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York (1967), p. 98. 14. Seib,p. 171. 15. Complete lyrics of this well-known Roman Catholic German hymn can be found in Lawrence A. Weigel and Nick J. Pfannenstiel's A Collection of German-Russian Folk Songs, privately published (1956), p. 86. 16. Sister Mary Johannes, A Study of the Russian-German Settlements in Ellis County, Kansas, Catholic University of America Studies in Sociology 14, Washington, D.C. (1946). p. 113. 17. This custom was also observed by Protestant Volga Germans, as noted in Emma D. Schwabenland's unpublished Master's Thesis, "German-Russians on the Volga and in the United States," University of Colorado (1929), p. 156. 18. Johannes Erbes and Peter Sinner, Volkslieder und Kinderreime aus den Wolgakolonien, "Buchdruckerei Energie," Saratov, Russia (1914), p. 117. 19. Johannes, p. 113.

The Bridegroom and the Locked Door

Winning the hand of a bride in a German colony on the Volga was no simple matter. There were complex matchmaking decisions and long-winded discussions, efforts to obtain parental approval, and a Freierei that sometimes lasted for several evenings. Even on the day of the wedding itself, the bridegroom encountered numerous difficulties, some of which were ritualized in a serio-comic manner. The following contribution is a translation of an excerpt from Eduard Seib's "Der Wolgadeutsche im Spiegel seines Brauchtums" ("The Volga German in the Mirror of his Folk-Customs"). The article appeared in the 1967/68 Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Russland (pp. 145-209). Eduard Seib was a Protestant pastor who was born in the Black Sea Colony of Bergdorf in 1872. He was ordained in Saratov and served a number of German colonies in the Volga region, where he did considerable research on the folkways of the Volga Germans. Seib's manuscript was completed in 1914 while he was pastor in the Wiesenseite colony of Warenburg.In 1938, he was deported by the communists to Kazakhstan, where he subsequently disappeared. Seib's article is a priceless portrait of Volga German folk culture in the "golden age" of pre-revolution Russia. He devoted nineteen pages of his study to customs surrounding courtship, engagement, and marriage on the Volga. The following excerpt, translated by Rosalinda A. Kloberdanz, is taken from pp. 166-167 and concerns a traditional exchange between the bridegroom and the father of the bride shortly before the marriage ceremony. On the morning of the wedding, the bridegroom and guests invited by his family enter the enclosed farm yard of the bride. Once there, the bridegroom appears surprised at finding that the main door of the bride’s home is firmly locked. He bangs on the door and calls out loudly, so that all in the household can hear: Guten Morgen! Good morning!

The bride's father eventually opens the door, but only part-way so that he is able to see the young man standing outside. The Hausvater answers: Guten Morgen, mein lieber Herr! Good morning, my good man! Was ist denn dein Wunsch und Begehr? What is it that you desire? Kommst du zu mir als Freund oder Feind? Do you come here as friend or foe? Sag an, wie ist es denn gemeint? Tell me, what can it be?

Again, the Hausvater closes the door. The bridegroom calls out: Ich komm' zu dir nicht als dein Feind, I come not as your enemy, Obgleich sehr viele bei mir sind. Though many stand at my side. Drum hör mein Wünschen und Begehr Therefore, listen to my wish Und zurrne mir nicht allzusehr. And don't be too annoyed with me.

The door opens part-way and the bride's father asks: Warum macht ihr denn ein Feldgeschrei, Then why are you sounding a battle-cry, Als wenn ein Feind vorhanden sei? As if the enemy were outside? Drum fass dich schnell und sprich dich aus, Calm yourself and speak your mind, Sonst heisst's: pack dich zum Tor hinaus! Or start packing, young man, and be on your way!

41 The door slams shut.

Brautigam: Bridegroom: Ein Feldgeschrei im Jubelton A battle-cry in exultation Ist ja der Sänger höchster Lohn! Is truly the songster's utmost reward! Drum höre nur auf Ton und Sang, So listen to each note and song, Mach auf die Tur und saeum nicht lang. Open the door and don't tarry too long! Vater: Father; Wen sucht ihr da? Wer soil es sein? Whom do you seek? Who can it be? Sag an, wie heisst ihr Name fein? Tell me, what is her beautiful name? Wenn du uns das hast angesagt, When this you've announced to us, Alsdann wird dir erst aufgemacht. Then our door will be open to you.

Bräutigam: Bridegroom:

Eine Jungfrau, zuechtig, keusch und rein, We search for a maiden, chaste, modest, and pure, Katharina soil ihr Name sein, Katharina is her name. Sie soil sein prächtig aufgezieret, She's beautifully attired, from head to toe, Wie man sie zum Altare führet. As if she were ready to the altar to go.

Vater; Father: Hier ist eine Jungfrau, keusch und rein, Here lives a maiden who's chaste and pure, Ist sie's, die ihr wohl habt gemeint? Perhaps she's the one you're looking for? Von Fuss bis Haupt ist sie geziert, She's beautifully attired from head to toe, Wie man sie zum Altare fuehrt. As if she were ready to the altar to go. Bräutigam: Bridegroom: Achja, mein Freund, sie wird's wohl sein. Oh yes, my friend, no doubt she's the one. Doch aber halt! Es faellt mir ein: But wait! I seem to have forgotten: Sie muss auch haben einen Strauss, She must also have a bridal bouquet, Der zeichnet nur den Bräut'gam aus. That is meant for the bridegroom this day, Vater: Father: Ein Strauss liegt hier schon lange Zeit, Den diese Jungfrau hat bereit't. This maiden indeed has a bouquet, Doch aber macht mir das bekannt: She fashioned it long ago. Wem soil sie geben Strauss und Hand? Tell me, though, for I don't understand: To whom will she giver her bouquet and hand? Bräutigam: Ein junger Geselle, hubsch und fein, Bridegroom: Johannes soil sein Name sein, A young man, handsome, good, and true, Dem soil sie gaben Strauss und Hand Johannes is his name, Zu grosser Treue Unterpfand, Her bouquet and hand she'll give to him In an eternal pledge of fidelity! Vater: So kommt denn alle, gross und klein, Father; Mit Harmonie kehrt bei uns ein. So come ye all, large and small, Seid fröhlich nun auf diesem Fest, With harmony into our home. Ihr eingelad'nen Hochzeitsgäst. Be joyous at this weddingfest, All you whom we've invited as wedding guests.

Bräutigam: Bridegroom: Nun stimmen wir ein Loblied an, Now let's strike up a song of praise: Das heisst: Herr Jesu, geh voran! "Lord Jesus, lead the way'" All the guests are ushered into the house, but a few minutes elapse before their Loblied (song of praise) is sung. Everyone waits to be greeted by the beautifully attired bride. Instead, they are confronted by a detestable old woman wearing rags and soiled clothing. She is rejected with general indignation and sent away

42 amidst an interchange of much jesting. Her exit is followed by the entrance of another woman, much younger, who may be either an extremely obese woman who takes one bite after another from a thick slice of rye bread, or by a "Hopfenstange" (a lanky individual) who holds a fingerdicke' Spinnfaden that is supposed to demonstrate her dexterity at the spinning wheel. Naturally, both of these women also are rejected with the same indignation and hilarity. Finally, the search for the real bride begins. Sometimes she is found in an adjoining room. Most of the time, however, she is discovered next door-tied to a chair with streamers— and the wedding guests must offer money to ransom her. Only then may the long sought-after bride affix her bouquet to the bridegroom's right lapel, with a long ribbon hanging from it. The bride's father then entertains the assembled guests with Schnaps and Kuchen.

Wedding Customs of the Germans in the Soviet Union Victor Klein's detailed and comprehensive series of articles on folk songs and customs among the Soviet Germans first appeared in the spring of 1974 in Neues Leben, the German language weekly published in Moscow by Pravda. A condensation of five articles in the series published between May 22 and June 19 (nos. 21-25) prepared by E. Schmidt appeared on pages 2-4 of the August 1976 issue of Volk aufdem Weg, the monthly periodical of the Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland. Part I of the article below is translated from Victor Klein's original article appearing in Neues Leben 21 (May 22, 1974). Part II is a translation of the Schmidt abridgement. The translation is by Dona Reeves, Professor of German Language and Literature at Southwest Texas State University.

PART I Long ago, the wedding was called the "Brautlauf," which meant as much as "running to the bride." Later the word "Brautlauf" was supplanted by "Hochzeit," that is by a "high time" or a festivity in general; the term is limited now, however, to the celebration of marriage. "Tjast”1 is the dialect term for the wedding. "Heirat" once meant "household routine" but later changed to mean the "wedding feast," and so we now have the verbs "heiraten" and "verheiraten," = to marry. Wedding customs are very old and very complex. They represent an organic interpolation of economic, religio-magic (heathen and Christian) and poetic elements. They reflect the philosophy and the mode of life of a patriarchal rural society in many respects. German wedding customs originated in a tribal society in which marriage was of the greatest possible importance for the collective whole. Marriage was celebrated with a rich variety of ritual or cultic customs abiding to strict rules. There were noisy rites at the bride's home (Polterabend) designed to frighten away any evil spirits through commotion and uproar so that the bridal couple, the later wedded couple, might not be harmed. In weddings of the tribal society, bridal songs were sung by choruses in which the entire kinship likely took part. They wished the bride good fortune, blessings, and most of all, plentiful issue. Even today, the proverb teaches us: "Vie! Kinder - viel Segen." (many children, great blessing). In this context, a word about church weddings: until the fourteenth century, fanners were rarely wed in church ceremonies. Contractual marriage developed and came about exclusively in the secular sphere. It was usually led by an elderly gentleman accustomed to speaking who first asked the bridegroom three times in a row if he was willing to marry the girl, the bride. If he answered affirmatively each time, the same questions were directed to the bride and correspondingly answered. After this ceremony, the "Hoch" zeitsgruss," the wedding greeting, was sung, and each of the wedding partners tried to be the first to step on the other's foot. This action had a symbolic value in that it denoted possession of the partner. From this old custom, which incidentally we have not preserved, likely came the figures of speech based on the "Pantoffel," the slipper: "unter den Pantoffel kommen" (to be henpecked) and "Pantoffelheld" (henpecked husband). We still find fragments of this old custom in the folksong, "Wenn alle Brünnlein fliessen,"

1 The Germanist I. J. Awswjew, lecturer at the teachers’ college in Nowosibirsk, has demonstrated phonologically that "tjast" is derived from "Christ." It is presumed that in dialect areas, many engagements and even weddings formerly took place before Christmas and Holy Evening (December 24).

43 where the words appear “. . . ja winken mit den Augelein und treten auf den Fuss," (yes, beckon with your eyes and step on my foot). The wedding customs of the Soviet Germans have changed drastically in the course of time, particularly after the great socialist October Revolution, but they have retained their national characteristics. The total marriage process consisted of the following elements or stages: courtship (Freierei), shaking hands (Hand-schlag), inspection (Beschau), the Polterabend, preparation for the wedding celebration, invitation of the guests, the wedding, and post-nuptial celebration. The courtship ceremony consisted of the future bridegroom's selection of two imaginative and articulate men who were to go to the chosen girl's parents and ask for her hand in marriage. The whole procedure was - and is even today - formal and traditional. One of the suitors turns to the girl's father and asks if he has any calves, or maybe foals, to sell. The father says he does not. After some hedging on both sides, they begin to come to the point in question. To win over the parents, mainly the mother, the suitor quotes various proverbs and comic verses; it is not good for a person to be alone, but for two to be alone, that is fine; happy the wooing that's not long in doing; when a girl gets too old, you have to sell her by the pound. The mother weeps; her daughter is still much too young. She can still stay at home. The daughter appears. She must decide, and she gives her consent if her parents do not object. Before the revolution it sometimes happened that the girl was not asked for her consent at all. She had to marry the fellow she may not have ever seen before. In such cases, economic considerations were of paramount importance. Today, we know of no such comparable cases.

PART II Some days after the courtship ceremony, the "Handschlag," or pledge by shaking hands, took place. The parents on both sides agreed on the dowry, the living arrangements of the future wedded couple, and the wedding expenses. Along with this, the bridegroom's side had to put up a symbolic sum of money, the "Handgeld." In this agreement, the bond of the young people was finally sealed. The wedding day could now be determined. On each of the following three Sundays the new bridal couple was "called out" in church, The "Beschau," or inspection, consisted of the bride's journey to the bridegroom's house in the company of her parents. She would live here in the future, and so she inspected the entire household. Preparations for the wedding consumed a great deal of time. The bridal attendants brought together tables and chairs, benches and footstools, and cooking and eating utensils from the entire village or the surrounding vicinity. Together with friends of the couple they also decorated the wedding house with flowers and greenery. Who was to cook and who was to bake had also been decided during the "Handschlag." Usually the best cooks were chosen for this task. Butchering a sheep, a beef, or poultry was also a part of the preparation. Affluent farmers celebrated the wedding in two houses: one for eating and drinking, the other for dancing. The guests had to be invited about a week before the wedding. It was quite a ceremonious occasion to which considerable importance was attached. Two godparents of the bride and bridegroom, or perhaps good friends who knew what to do, played the role of the wedding inviters. They donned their Sunday best, slicked down their long hair with butter or grease, and rode with their ribboned canes proudly from house to house, inviting relatives or good friends of the couple to the wedding. The whole invitation was a well rehearsed drama in which the guests were invited in long verses. The recited poems of the wedding inviter were intended above all to entertain the listeners. For this reason, they always tended toward the hyperbole, toward humorous puns and similes. Folk literature preserves many variations of inviter verses, but all have the same artistic means of expression in common. The inviter had a ribboned cane in hand, he entered the house, and he recited his verse. In return, he received a ribbon, a shot of Schnaps or money, and he went on to the next house. The invitation continues to be a very important element. Should someone be forgotten either by intention or by mistake, it is and always has been a grave insult. An invitation by a wedding inviter is clearly more warm and heartfelt than the growing custom of sending around written invitations or even of using the telephone. In many cases, the inviter comes into the house, takes off his cap, greets everyone there and speaks: "A friendly greeting from bride and bridegroom and from both of their parents. Please honor us by coming to the wedding next Tuesday." Thereupon the second inviter follows: "The wedding feast is in Nick Becker's house. You are invited, one and all." The musicians continue to be of singular importance. A really festive mood depends on them. Until the

44 end of the nineteenth century, wedding music was provided by fiddle, dulcimer, and bagpipe. The bagpipe was replaced by the accordion or by plucked string instruments such as the guitar. In the twentieth century, wind instruments became more popular, but as a rule, only the wealthy could afford them. Good musicians were prized far and wide because they were hired not only in their own settlement but also in neighboring villages. Generally such a band was made up of several close relatives: father, sons, nephews, and brothers-in-law. The village musician has not yet been fully appreciated. Simple people, but great enthusiasts for their art, the village musicians played days and nights on end for little compensation. They were the heart and soul of every wedding, of every festival, of every celebration. The high point was reached in the "Tuschliedchen," the fanfare, a happy, high-spirited flourish that was sung with a "Huch! Huch! Riwwer un niwwer" and was stamped off to accompany the music. When the window panes rattled, when the kerosene lamp hanging in the middle of the room flickered and went out, when the faces of the dancers glowed, the musicians knew they had done their best. After a hop-polka came a dignified, undulating round-dance, played and sung by everyone in the house. Weddings, festivals, harvest, and other joyous occasions continue to provide a form of relaxation for the people. They offer restoration after the work and burdens of the day, and at the same time, they form a promising glimpse into the future. There are three favored times for weddings during the year: in the fall after the harvest has been brought in, in the winter after Christmas, and in the spring after planting, during the so-called free time. Most marriages, however, take place in the late part of the year. Not without reason do they say then, "Da purzein die Brautpaare nur so von der Kanzel herunter," (bridal couples seem to tumble down from the pulpit). The actual marriage service forms the culmination of the wedding celebration. It was customary for the bridegroom, accompanied by two attendants, to call for the bride at her house. The bride, festively attired in a long white dress, bridal wreath and veil, and surrounded by her attendants, wept, sometimes not just for the sake of the ceremony of leaving her parents' home. In many cases, the tears were genuine, particularly if the girl had been forced into marriage. Many songs that were sung during the removal of the bride give testimony of the event. An essential component of the wedding ceremony is the theft and auction of the bride's shoe. This old custom released a great deal of merriment. As the bride removed her wreath, a song was sung years ago, whose words heightened the melancholy mood of the girl compelled from now on to live in a strange house. Weddings continue to be true singing festivals. On no other day could there be more singing and music making than on a wedding day. New customs and usages have been adopted in the socialist society. Mixed with the national traditions of every ethnic group, customs bearing a pronounced Soviet character are practiced by all citizens throughout the Soviet Union. The marriage service, the "Zusammenschreiben," proceeds as follows: the village clubhouse is decorated with flowers and greenery and inscribed banners. The festively attired villagers arrive. The bridal couple steps on the raised platform to the soft chords of Mendelssohn's wedding march. The chairman of the village council gives a speech flavored with well-intentioned humor. He congratulates the couple and wishes them happiness and many blessings. The secretary ceremoniously presents a certificate to the newlyweds, and then the immediate family brings them their heartiest wishes. Kindergarten children present huge floral bouquets to the couple and lead them home, strewing the way with flowers. In this or in a similar manner, all civil marriage ceremonies are celebrated throughout the country. There is one more important difference: weddings today are celebrated with much more expense and appreciably more wedding guests than in times gone by. On the evening before the wedding, the young people hold the traditional Polterabend, when they eat, play, dance, sing, and give the bridal couple their gifts. Today's young participants sing more Russian than German. Naturally the traditional wedding and bridal songs are sung only in German. Most recently, presents are given on the wedding day. Courtship and the pledging handshake remain, but the symbolic money (Handgeld) has frequently been eliminated. In the Low-German villages of the Altai region as well as elsewhere, guests are invited by written invitation instead of by inviters. The handwritten invitation with a finely painted rose on the upper left side of the sheet is delivered at the edge of the village and is transferred up and down the street from house to house with the greatest possible dispatch. It may be that the inviters might have addressed the guests more personally and impressively, to say nothing of more humorously and more appropriately for the impending wedding mood than written invitations can ever do. And yet, the written invitation, too, has much to commend it, and it has gradually become the rule in many places. The menu of the wedding banquet is quite varied and the servings are enormous. The crowd drinks moderately. They dance after lunch and sing High-German songs. The young people sing a few Russian 45 songs, but then sing along heartily whenever the old people sing in German. Toward evening they drink a kind of coffee and eat, among other things, Rübel cake, boiled meat, smoked ham, and sausage. Before tea, the closest female relatives of the bride remove her wreath and replace it with a silken band which distinguishes her as a married woman. Good friends or close relatives of the bridegroom remove his boutonniere. Bridal wreath and boutonniere are placed upon a plate and auctioned off. During the removal of the flowers, the women and girls sing. The ritual of wreath and boutonniere is carried out strictly. The bride, eyes bound, is turned around three times. She then presents the plate with the wreath to the girt who will marry next. The groom, likewise blindfolded, goes through the same procedure and presents the boutonniere to the future bridegroom of the girl mentioned above. "Destiny," which is said to be made tangible here, is understood in every detail. It is a pleasant and engrossing game for all the wedding guests. After this ritual, bride and groom are seated on two chairs firmly bound together and are raised on high by several muscular men. The couple kisses while the onlookers cheer impetuously. The same thing happens to the couple who are supposed to marry soon. For the guests' good wishes, the present and the future bridegrooms have to contribute a couple more bottles of good wine. As the women and girls sing during the removal rite, they move in a circle around the couple. They sing a slightly revised verse from Carl Maria von Weber's Freischutz:

Wir winden dir den Jungfernkranz We take from you the maiden's wreath mil veilchenblauer Seide With silk the hue of violets. und führen dich zu Spiel und Tanz To sport and dance we hasten you mil ausgelassener Freude With joy that knows no binding.

The same verses, changing only the beginning line, are sung while removing the boutonniere: Wir winden dir den Jünglingstrauss. . . We take from you the boutonniere,. . It is customary for the bride to be dressed and her wreath put aright by a godmother or "Brautmutter." Accompanied by his attendants, the groom comes into the bride's house and takes her to the wedding house. The wedding father or another respected man delivers a solemn speech, wishing the couple good fortune, peace, harmony, and faithful love until death. The bride's dowry is made up of many things. The guests, primarily the close relatives of bride and bridegroom, collect money and buy valuable, occasionally very costly gifts which they present to the couple on their wedding day, usually after the dance following the wreath ceremony. Each donor then steps forward, shakes hands with the bridal couple, and kisses them. In every wedding, the bride's shoe is stolen by two disguised guests and auctioned off. Often the shoe is driven up to 200 rubles. The proceeds are given to the bride. Generally, all wedding guests take part in the auction, although it does happen that only the male attendants redeem the shoe and restore it to the bride. The two masked figures, usually a man and a woman, suddenly appear in the exuberant confusion of the wedding and give a new turn to the frolic. The arrivals are clad in tatters, ill-fitting shoes, or felt boots; in the bitter cold straw hats, in tropical heat a thick turned fur or wool coat, heavy mittens; face painted with soot, colors, or crayons, and long colored beards. They enter shyly, pretending modesty, and the guests gaze at them in amazement. "Make way for these people!" the authoritative wedding father adds energetically. "Who knows who they are? They should show their identification papers!" Looking around the circle, he turns to a loquacious musician: "Hannes, you know the language. Read their papers." One of the figures probes in all of his many deep pockets amid the good-natured laughter and joking of the surrounding guests. He gasps, groans, and wipes the perspiration from his brow. Finally he finds them, the confounded papers! They were sewn to his shorts. With trembling hands, he gives them over to the austere father or to his assistant, the musician, who assumes an intellectual mien, slides his borrowed spectacles onto his forehead, regards the papers from all sides testing their authenticity, and begins to read. He falters, he croaks, he spells out loud. He acts as if the papers were written in Russian and he must translate them into German so that everyone can understand them. The mummers distort their faces, and the guests applaud and laugh at every humorous passage of the often very long, often very improvised rhymed speech. The mummers’ verses remind us of the childrens’ sermons in which illusion and reality are loosely mixed together in similar fashion. It is the same pure nonsense which can be found often in the conclusion of liars' tales or pseudo-fairy tales. However, the rhymed speech is intended for the adult guests; it seeks to entertain them and to intensify even more the exhilarating mood of the wedding. The reciter attains this goal through grotesque humor,

46 unmistakable double-entendre, and desultory, frequently quite unmotivated information. The important thing is the artist's manner of speaking. He makes every possible attempt to speak High-German, but every third word falls into his so familiar dialect. The imperfect tense is rarely used in dialect. The reciter completely falls out of his role. He begins in the third person, glides into the first, and returns to the third. Apparently the mummery and the rhymed speech came about under the influence of Russian wedding customs. Today, weddings are celebrated much more loudly and with much more abandon than formerly, not only because more guests attend them, but because life itself has changed. Particularly heavy demands are placed upon the musicians. Dancers are no longer satisfied with round-dances, hop-polkas, and marches as was the case several decades ago. Young guests demand modern dances, hit tunes, new songs, so that the old village musician has to learn all over again if he wishes to accede to the mandates of youth. There is so much singing at weddings that one song dissolves into the next. After the ubiquitous "Schoen ist die Jugend," comes the thoughtful "Macht man im Leben kaum den ersten Schritt," or other traditional songs. At the same time, many Russian, Ukrainian, and even Soviet-German contemporary songs are sung. Favorites are the joke and dance songs, the so- called "Schnoerkel" or "Juchzer." They are sung, hummed, whistled and stamped off. Every wedding ends with the intractable "Kehraus," the final dance that everyone dances, even those who have otherwise not set foot on the dance floor. Amid the blaring tones of the music, they hum and sing: Kehraus! Kehraus! Sweep out! Sweep out! Kehrt aus allen Ecken aus! From every corner sweep it out! Kehraus! Kehraus! Sweep out! Sweep out! Kehrt nur nicht die Braut mit 'raus! But don't sweep the bride out too! Kehraus! Kehraus.. . Sweep out! Sweep out, . .

German-Russian Wedding Customs in Norka

The following contribution was researched and written by William H. Burbach of Milwaukie, Oregon. He presented it at an AHSGR chapter meeting and based the piece on the vivid recollections of his mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Burbach. The memories of Mrs. Catherine Rudolph were also incorporated in Mr. Burbach's interesting story. Peter Koch, a well-known AHSGR story teller, furnished the wedding invitation in the following account. Wedding customs probably varied in detail in the different German colonies of Russia. The following is an account of the nuptial procedures in the town of Norka in the Volga area. The process of a marriage took a definite order. This was brought about either by the mutual consent of the young people involved, by the instigation of the parents, or the use of a matchmaker. It appeared that the first two situations were more common in Norka, A young man wishing to marry got permission from his family. He needed their approval of the young girl he had chosen for his wife and also of her family. Of course this would be no problem if the young man's parents were arranging this union. After receiving his family's blessing, a group would make a visit to the young girl's home to ask her parents for their daughter's hand in marriage. This group consisted of the young man, his father, and godfathers who play a big part in their god-son's wedding. There was no doubt an air of courtesy with the father doing most of the talking. He would expound on the merits of his son and what a wonderful wife their daughter would be. The girl would be presented a gift that was brought from the young man's mother. If the girl's parents consented there was much hand-shaking and gaiety which called for drinks and refreshments. Sometimes the girl's family would not readily accept and another visit would be required. The German term referring to a couple to be married was "Sie sind gefreit." This is comparable to the English phrase, "They are engaged." A man who took part in these wedding activities was called a "Gefreiersmann."

47 At this time the date of the wedding would be set - generally in the winter because more time was available to make the preparations. No marriages were performed during the Lenten season; then spring followed with warmer weather which meant the resumption of work in the fields. Weddings were also observed during the week so that the celebration did not extend into the Sabbath. Shortly after the agreement of marriage a dinner was attended by the families. This added to the festivity and was referred to as a "Wunghoff." Three consecutive Sundays before the wedding date, announcements of the impending marriage were made at the church services. This gave anybody a chance to speak out against this scheduled union. The invitation to the wedding was made by the god-fathers and close male friends (Gefreiersmaenner) who carried canes to which a ribbon was tied by the bride to be. Going from home to home in the evening the invitation was given by this group in the form of a poem: Ich bring eich einen schönen Gruss Sie backt sie ja nach ihrer Art Von Braut und Bräutigam. Sie macht sie wie ein Wagenrad. Sie lassen euch bitten insgemein Sie hat rote Haaren und Sommerflecken Ihr sollt auch Hochzeitsgaste sein. Das Essen wird vortrifflich schmecken.

Eis den kommenden Dienstag ist das Fest Es sind auch Musikanten da So stellt euch ein ihr lieben Gäst. Die spielen Hopsa Trallalla. Steckt euch Messer und Gabem ein Mit Pfeifen, Geigen und Dudelsack Es wird was zum verschneiden sein. Da kann man tanzen nach dem Takt.

Ein Altes Schaf und eine Lahme Kuh Mein Stoechchen bitt urn ein Band Die kommen ganz gewiss dazu. So mach ich euch noch mehr bekannt. Ein Schwein ist plötzlich umgekommen Blitz! Kreutz! Es fällt mir noch was ein Das wird gewiss dazu genommen. Ich schweig ganz still vom Brantewein.

Und sieben Hühner und ein Hahn Im Keller liegt ein Fass mit Bier Müssen alle auf einmal dran. Es krissellt mien ja selbst dafür. Düse alle sind so fett Selbst gesehen hab ich’s nicht Wie ein gedörtes Wagenbrett. Ein bischen lugen schadt auch nichts.

Unsere Ves Analies Ei da drausen fliegt ein Spatz Sie backt die Kuchen Gebt dem Hochzeitsleider einen Schnaps. Sauer und süss. Das kann man glauben für gewiss.

The literal translation below of course loses much of the humorous charm of the invitation. I bring you a nice greeting Our Aunt Alice from the bride and groom, she bakes the cakes They both request sour and sweet. that you should be wedding guests. You can believe that for sure.

This coming Tuesday is the celebration She bakes them in her own way; so set forth, dear guests. She makes them like a wagon wheel. Bring along your knives and forks for She has red hair and freckles. there will be something to eat. The food will taste awfully good.

An old sheep and a lame cow There will also be musicians will certainly be there. who play "Hopsasa Trallalla." A pig has just been butchered With pipes, violins, and bagpipes which will certainly be taken. There one can dance to the beat.

And seven hens and a rooster On my cane tie a ribbon must all at one time be next. to make it known to you. These are all as fat "Blitz!" "Kreutz!" I have forgotten something else. as a dried up wagonboard. I'll keep entirely quiet about the brandy.

48 In the cellar is a keg of beer Outside flies a sparrow. I am attracted to it. Give the wedding inviter a shot of whiskey. I haven't seen it myself but a little lying doesn't make any difference. When a household accepted the invitation they, as indicated in the poem, acknowledged by tying an additional ribbon to the cane. These ribbons or sashes could be very elaborate and you can imagine how decorative this would be. Drinks were served by the household to celebrate the upcoming wedding. After making several house calls the invitation delegation could go no further and as a result took several evenings to perform their task. Another social function that took place was a dance for the younger people on the day before the wedding. This could be described as a last "fling" for the young with their friends. On the morning of the big day, the groom, his god-fathers, and best men went to the bride's home to take her to church to be married. They called to her to come out of the house. There was much excitement and Joy both outside and inside where the bride and her friends were getting prepared. To tease the groom, one of the bridesmaids instead would open the door and come out. The groom and his friends would express disapproval and keep calling for the bride. You can imagine their reaction whenever an old maid aunt appeared at the door. There was a procession to the church of the wedding party. At times they were accompanied by musicians or they might ride in decorated horse drawn sleighs. You visualize a German-Russian wedding with snow because it was usually held during the winter.

A party of Germans from Russia in South Dakota maintains the old country tradition of a horse-drawn sleigh procession through the winter snows of the wedding season. Photo courtesy of Reuben Goertz.

The bride, as in present times, wore a white gown and a veil which perhaps was not as long. The groom wore in his lapel a large flower from which hung a long sash or ribbon. The male members of the party had bands of ribbons and little flowers around their arms and hats. Generally the couple was escorted by two bridesmaids and two best men,

49 Several couples could be getting married at one service. The wedding parties marched down the aisle with the couples sitting on the front benches. A sermon was first given by the pastor after which the ceremony itself was held. The groom placed the ring on the middle finger of the bride's right hand. There were no double ring ceremonies. The wedding reception was held at the home of the groom's family. In the procession from the church there was much festivity and male friends would fire guns into the air. Upon arriving at the home a receiving line was formed outside with the invited guests extending their blessings and best wishes. The groom's mother at this point would come out of the house and welcome her new daughter-in-law to her new home. The bride was now a member in the household of her husband's family. The festivities would begin with brethren of the church singing and saying a prayer. This was then followed with dancing and other social activities. A wedding featuring much dancing and many musicians was referred to as a "Danz-Hochzett" (Tanz-Hochzeit or dance-wedding) and one with a more religious aspect would be a "Bruder-Hochzett" (Brethren-wedding). The celebration would last for two or three days with guests coming and going. Two meals a day were served consisting of roast, dumplings, Schnitzasoupa (dried fruit soup), and other dishes and breads. In Russia there was a great variety of drinks from potato schnapps to fine grape wine. A punch consisting of hot tea and cognac which had a great effect on the participants was often served. All gifts to the newlyweds were in the form of money. An exception was a beautiful pillow or two made by the bride's god-mother. This was passed around to the guests who placed money upon it. When any man danced with the bride he pinned money to her gown. Coin money was placed in the drinks served to the bride. Another activity was to auction off the bride's wedding shoe which would be stolen from her and then reappear displayed on a pillow with much ceremony. A best man was generally expected to be the highest bidder in redeeming the shoe from those who had stolen it. The lavishness of a wedding was governed by the means of the families and economic conditions prevailing at the time. This was the greatest social event in their lives and they spent as much time and money as they could afford. It was shared by the families of both the bride and groom. So much work was involved in preparing the food that the mothers of the couple and other women relatives and friends were too busy to attend the marriage service at the church. After the wedding the new wife would assume duties like the other women in her home. A cow and a sheep were brought along as her dowry. She would now live happily ever after with her new husband, his father and mother, his brothers and their wives, his nephews and nieces, his grandfather, and maybe some aunts and uncles.

A Bessarabian German Wedding of 1884

Judy A. Remmick Hubert of Lafayette, California, wrote the following account, based on information about her Black Sea German forebears.

In 1881, young Katharina Henke watched her fiance climb aboard a wagon that was to take him to the Odessa port and from there to Alexander Ill's conquered lands in central Asia. A year or two later, Katharina received word that her fiancé was lost in action and presumed dead. What was a young woman to do? Katharina decided to wait for the young man in hope that he would return. The village women whispered that she would become nothing more than a dried-up old maid. But the twenty-two-year-old Katharina did not listen to the sharp tongues of the Bessarabian German women in Hoffnungstal. Meanwhile, Katharina caught the eye of a young blacksmith, Karl Jacobovitch Schweikert, who was visiting from Borodmo, Bessarabia, on business.

50 In the winter of 1884 when the work was done and Karl was free to return to Hoffnungstal, he went straight to Henke Corner and asked her father for her hand. The proposal was a good one, but Katharina, still deeply in love with her lost fiancé, refused to marry him. Finally, pressure from her peers made her accept the burly, Alsatian blacksmith. A dowry was arranged and the formal handshake given. The wedding was to be held in Kloestiz, Bessarabia, where Karl's forefathers had been married before him. Katharina and Karl would be the third generation to marry in the Lutheran tradition in Kloestiz, and the third generation to hear the words of Reverend Peters. On the 22nd of November, 1884, Katharina became Karl's wife. The ceremony at the wedding feast involved a number of honored family traditions. With the gold wedding bands on the bride and groom's left hands (the Russians wore their wedding bands on the right hand), they cut into their wedding cake. The recipe for the cake had been handed down by an ancestor, Georg Frey, who had been a baker in Aidlingen, Germany in the 1700's. The Frey descendents married into another baker's family in Rosenfeld. Thus, the wedding of 1884 also incorporated the Scholderer family's recipes for white bread, coffee, and cake. From ancestors named Butz of NagoId/Calw, Germany, came the recipe for beer known as Buz. That same beer was carried to the Crusades of the Holy Land. The last ancestor in Germany known to make Buz was at the White Horse Inn in Nagold in the late eighteenth century. Along with the breads, the cakes, the Bessarabian wine, ham, and beef resting on the banquet tables, were the Heusel geese. The Heusel family, also ancestors of the couple, had successfully bred geese in great numbers in Bessarabia. Katharina would later reminisce about the herdsmen that drove the birds to the hills or to the rivers in the spring. The merrymaking at the wedding continued into the evening. One of the bride's shoes, which Karl had purchased from his cousin Hagen's shoe factory in Kischinev, was auctioned off to the highest bidder. Then Karl, in his black serge suit (made by the Schneider cousins), stepped forward to his bride in white (black satin was no longer used by the lower or middle class Germans; however, the upper class and aristocrats did make use of it far into the 1900's). Karl was supposed to be the final bidder. At midnight, the unmarried bridesmaids sat Katharina down in a chair in the center of the large room and took the myrtle headpiece from her head. (Her mother's family, the Kranzlers, continued to make these wedding headpieces, but no one knows exactly how long the tradition had been kept. Appropriately, the name "Kranzler" means wreath maker.) The young maidens then unbraided Katharma's dark hair in the ceremony of the Entschleierung. As Katharina left the room she tossed the bridal piece into the air for one of the unmarried girls to catch. According to existing tradition, the maiden who caught the bridal piece was to be the next one wed. The couple lived in Borodino near Karl's parents and in 1888 Karl bought the shops from his father who migrated to the Crimea. Perhaps the reader wonders if Katharina's first fiance was ever found? He returned to Hoffnungstal in 1888 after having been a prisoner in Asia for seven years. That same year Katharina gave birth to her second child. Her marriage to Karl would end unhappily with his death in 1930. Katharina lived until she was nearly ninety-six years old and died in a distant land known as America.

Marriage Customs of the Volhynian Mennonites in Freeman, South Dakota

Gary J. Waltner, a new AHSGR board member living in Weierhof, West Germany, submitted a copy of a research paper on "Courtship and Marriage Customs of the Swiss Mennonites." The paper was written while he was a student at Freeman Junior College in 1957. All of the information in Waltner's paper is based on interviews with older Volhynian German Mennonites living in the Freeman, South Dakota area. He is presently revising the paper for future publication but a few highlights of his interesting account follow.

51 VERLOBUNG (ENGAGEMENT) In the early days in America and in Russia, whenever a man wanted to get married he went to his favorite uncle or to some older man to ask them to be either the Freier or the Stekelmann {Freier means proposer and Stekelmann means middleman). The Freier would accompany the prospective groom and together they would go looking for a bride. Often the boy and his parents had decided on a girl beforehand. The Freier would then go to this girl and try to talk her into marrying the boy. The Freier would build up the boy and his wealth (if he had any) to no end, while the groom waited patiently in the buggy. The Freier spoke to the girl's parents and tried to convince them. They, in turn, had to convince the girl. If the girl wanted a period of time to decide, it was granted. On the other hand, if the girl was ready and wanted the boy, they were ready for the Verlobung. As soon as possible after the Freier had made the match, the parents got together to plan for the Verlobungsfest. If the girl said "no" outright, the Freier and the groom went on to the next place. It wasn't uncommon for a boy to stop at several homes to get a wife. A girl who refused was called affarbus, meaning literally, a pumpkin. A boy that had a number of girls who refused him was said to have had "Ein Wage' voll Harbuse," (a wagon full of pumpkins). People have told of actual cases where the father beat the girl into submission to marry the boy.

A wedding party of Germans from Russia in Freeman, South Dakota sometime after 1906. Photo courtesy of Reitben Goertz.

ENGAGEMENT GIFTS In the early years in America there wasn't any symbol for the engagement. In later years the boy gave the girl a watch to pin on the front or at the side of her dress. This was further ornamented by a golden chain worn around the neck which was long enough to hang next to the watch. The chain was pinned across the front of the vest, and was decorated with brass trimmings. These customs prevailed until rings were eventually exchanged. In the early years, rings were considered a type of jewelry so were forbidden by the church,

52 THE WEDDING CELEBRATION The last of the big weddings in Freeman was held about 1911. The ceremony always took place in the forenoon until 1925- 1930. Weddings were usually held on Thursday, never on Saturday or Sunday. Although weddings could be held in almost any month of the year, most were celebrated in the fall. The first meal to be served at a wedding was dinner, which usually consisted of potatoes, sauerkraut, pork, Schweitzer cheese, and sometimes borscht. Of course, there was always beer. During the early years it was homemade, but later it was bought by the keg. The beer and all of the other food was served by men who wore a white band around the arms. This signified that they were servers. Sometimes drinks stronger than beer were present, but they were neither bought nor served by the host. Wine, though, was occasionally served. After a jug was put on the table and the server's back was turned, the men would take the jug and hide it under the table. Later the server could come back and the men would tell him to put a jug of wine on the table. He would say that he had already put one on, but, just to be kind, he put another one on and the men had twice as much.

Perhaps among those "last . . . big weddings in Freeman" which Mr. Waltner describes are those pictured here. The quadruple wedding perpetuating the tradition of mass marriages in the old country would certainly have been a large and impressive event. The rather elegant wedding party pictured at the Merchants Hotel is identified as the "Lena Menhart Wenzel Wedding." The native modesty of the German from Russia is clearly shown in the portrait of the seated wedding party where the bride and groom are tucked unobtrusively at the edge of the second row. Photos courtesy of Reuben Goertz.

THE WEIBER CAP After the reception the bride and the attendants went into the house and the groom and his attendants visited with the men folk. While the bride was in the house the attendants would bring out a Weiber cap, which fitted over the head and tied under the chin. The hat was made of black satin or any other black material. It had a ruffle border around the edge and was handmade. The Weiber cap signified that the bride

53 was no longer a girl, she was now a Frau. Some women wore them to church for the rest of their lives but others wore them only on special occasions. This custom lasted only the first ten to twenty years here in America, although it was very much the tradition in Old Russia.

THE TRAUSCHEIN The preacher gave each couple a Trauschein as a record. This was a large paper on which the couple, witnesses, and officiating minister signed their names and the date of the wedding. Some people framed and hung them up, others rolled them up and put them away. The Trauschein was richly decorated and very colorful. On it were written many Bible verses. An almost identical type of paper, known as a Taufschein, was given to each person who was baptized.

Two Weddings

Mela Meisner Lindsay shares her recollections of two contrasting weddings in the article which follows.

The two weddings I want to tell you about are worlds apart, not only in time and place, but in essence, The first - irreligious and carnal - took place in early Russia at the hand of royalty. The second - holy in the sight of God — was performed among our Germans from Russia living on the Kansas prairie in the early 1900's. One I witnessed at the age of fourteen. The other I was told about as a child. Both stories are true. We had been in America only a few years and as our housing was inadequate we children slept in the attic where daylight glinted through in the summertime, and snow sifted white over our bedding in winter. I remember, on such a winter night, when the Kansas wind howled and raged, it formed a drift of snow between our bed and the stairway. In the morning we children went squealing through it in our bare feet, complaining to Papa that the cold was unbearable. He listened, his eyes twinkling, dressed in his large Pelz coat, pounding his gloved hands together, for he had been outdoors doing the morning chores. Now he hustled us close to the kitchen stove, promising us he would mend the roof at the first opportune time. Then he proceeded to tell us this story in German; "If you think that little bit of snow is cold, what would you think of this? Long ago in Russia there lived an Empress by the name of Anna. Now, Anna Ivanovna, was a gross and cruel woman, like you will find in no other country. She had a distorted sense of humor and never failed to use it when the occasion called for it, that is, according to her way of thinking. The year was 1740 in her brutal reign. "She had a favorite courtier - one who carries royal messages — by the name of Galitzine. But one day while Galitzine was abroad in another country he married an Italian woman. Upon hearing this, and upon his return, the Empress became so enraged that she forced him to repudiate his beautiful bride and put her out of the Russian border. "Then, she, the Empress, ordered him married to the ugliest woman within the empire. The Empress herself conducted the search which ended with a nomad woman of the dark Kalmuck tribe. Once this was done, the Empress asked all freaks and misfits to be in attendance at the wedding. Furthermore she had an ice palace built on the banks of the Neva River in Petersburg and ordered that the wedding be held there. The temperature was forty below zero. "The doors to the palace were tall and wide so that the guests could ride through mounted on swine, oxen, and goats. Brilliant lights shone throughout and every room was outfitted with furniture of ice. The bedroom included a bed and blanket of ice. After the wedding the bridal pair was sealed in the bed chamber so that they couldn't get out." At this stage of the exciting story we wide-eyed children couldn't keep quiet any longer and we cried, "Did they live, Papa?" "Va, sure, they lived," he nodded, emphatically. "And they didn't die. Papa? Are you sure, Papa?"

54 "Yes, I am sure," he assured us, "for how else could they have had twins later? Twins, born on the very day that the cruel Empress died! . . . Now, on with your shoes and clothes," he ordered. "Come, mack schnell, hurry, quick, your Mama has breakfast ready."

In contrast, a wedding that was beautiful in the sight of God, was held December 26, 1917, the joint wedding day of four young people I knew well. They were J. George Fabrizius and Margaret (Grete) Deines, and William Deines and Martha Dietz. Martha was my cousin, so it was only natural that we should attend the ceremony at little Zion Lutheran Church nine miles south of WaKeeney, Kansas and after that the wedding feast in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fabrizius. More than that, Mama had made Martha's wedding gown and, as was the custom in those days, she had to be on hand early that morning to dress the bride, and do as Mrs. John-Fred Deines did in Margaret's home: stitch the wreath and veil to the bride's hair. This was called "tieing the bride," an honor coveted by every woman in the congregation. Next honor in line was "first cook" at the wedding feast. Usually four to six women attended this task, depending on whether it was a one or three day affair. This particular wedding lasted a day and a night, yet it had all the generous charm of the larger ones where guests visited, sang songs, and danced day in and day out, consuming enough food to fill a granary.

Wedding portrait of Margaret Deines and J. George Fabrizius who were married on December 26, 1917 in WaKeeney, Kansas. Photo courtesy of Mela Meisner Lindsay.

I remember it was a cold, wintry day with snow in the fields. A brisk, sharp wind came out of the north and whipped the manes of our sleek team into golden-brown fans, while we pulled the covers high to cover our noses. To me it was a day of joy and excitement. I had already seen the fresh killed beef hanging in the chill granaries of both farmsteads, had seen the rings of pork sausages, smoked and otherwise, and the dressed

55 chickens and ducks lying on cloth-covered shelves in uncle Fred's wash house, all waiting to be brought together and cooked. I knew, too, there would be a wash boiler full of golden-rich noodle soup with Butter-Knopfe dumplings. And enough pies and cakes, and fancy Kaffee-Kuchen to cover the clean-scrubbed floors of both attics, Nothing in the world, I am sure, can compare with the hushed feeling a wedding brings when sunlight comes streaming through church windows. The minister and bridal pair have a saintly look - even more so when there are two couples. The words "holy bond" are impressive as they write themselves across the hearts of all who speak them for a lifetime to come! But in that day I was a lanky girl just turned fourteen and my eyes and thoughts clung only to material things such as the dainty white finery of the blissful maidens, and the sparkling eyes of the young men dressed in Sunday blue, I thrilled at the bright garlands of paper roses that took days and nights to make, the fluted hearts and trailing streamers that decorated the gay bridal cortege of both automobile and horse carriage. Autos had no heaters then, nor were there tight windows to roll up and keep the weather out, so the happy couples sped away, snug under white covers, streamers and garlands flying to the wind. Not all had autos. Some in the bridal party had flowers fastened to the frames and wheels of their buggies and to the harness of their horses, and they in turn thundered after them. Soon, the hooves of our own horses added to the drumming on the hard-frozen roadway, leading to the wedding feast. The meal seemed to last forever, but what did we young girls care? We sat in the gaily decorated buggies and pretended we were elegant brides, while the boys our own age darted out from behind the sheds and pelted us with snow balls. Not a single youngster out of that yardful dared climb in and out of the newfangled automobiles, under dire threat of their elders. Little tikes trailed out of the house holding in their hands buttery slices of coffee cake, while still others, ages nine to twelve, had fun playing fox-and-geese in a snowy field. But when the tables were finally cleared away and the fiddles and dulcimer struck up the Hoch-Zeit Tanz we older girls hide ourselves inside to watch the couples dance and to gaze wide-eyed as paper dollar after dollar was pinned to the bosom of both brides; each dance meant another dollar! The boys our age lacking courage stayed outside, peeking shyly through the window. But not for long. Naughty imps on the inside decreed it otherwise; they breathed their warm breath against the window pane and soon clouded out their vision. The highlight of the day was that J. George played the dulcimer at his own wedding!

A Double Wedding in Catherine, Kansas 1878

Lawrence A. Weigel, whose exciting series "Volga German Traditions" appears weekly in the Ellis County Star, delighted local readers by including the following folklore piece in his column. It was brought to his attention by Professor James L. Forsythe of Fort Hays College, who discovered it in the May 25, 1878 issue of the Hays City Sentinel. Formerly entitled "Marriage Bells—the Fashionable Russian Wedding," it provides a fascinating account of a century-old Volga German wedding celebration, as described by an American newspaper reporter.

Last Tuesday morning, the long expected double wedding came off at the village of Catharinestaadt [sic]. It was fashionable throughout, and while the Russians of Ellis County may continue to marry until the last lad and lassie are bound with the nuptial knot, a wedding with the tone and finish of this one will never occur in all Russia [or] in Ellis county. The contracting parties are Fredrick Walters to Sophia Meier, and Michael Meier to Anna Walters. All of the parties concerned are well-to-do and belong to the best families of the most intelligent and wealthy community in the Russian settlement. Sophia Meier is the daughter of J. Meier, proprietor of the Saline mill and a large property holder withal. Michael Meier is a nephew and adopted son of J. Meier. Anna and Fredrick Walters are brother and sister and the children of one of Catharinestaadt's best citizens. The brides were handsome young damsels, especially Anna Walters whose fine face attracted universal admiration. . . in fact, the young ladies were belles of the village. Fredrick Walters is a tall, fine-looking man, and Michael Meier is handsome, good and true,

56 But a small number of guests from Hays City were invited and present, though all Catharinestaadt was there, and to the few was granted the grandest frolic and the fullest measure of fun we have no hesitancy in saying, ever taken out of one day before. The guests from Hays were: Col. Love and lady and Miss Shaw, Lieut. Alien and lady, Mrs. Kilbourne, S. Motz, F. C. Montgomery, Capt. Ryan and lady, J. H. Downing and lady, Miss Bertha Hall, Miss Emma Hall, Hill P. Wilson, M. Haffamier and T. C. Amsden. The wedding was performed after the custom imported from Russia, a custom described in these columns several times, and to an American heartily sick of America's straight-laced prosaic way of doing this thing, the Russian wedding festivities are charmingly interesting. At half-past. . . . .but first let us describe the brides' toilets, that is to say, come as near describing the brides' toilets as a poor orphan editor with no sisters or wife could be expected to. The brides were first arrayed in rich, silvery-gray silks, cut en Russian, long white veils were held in place by wreaths of flowers and the usual ribbon decorations were not lacking. The bridesmaids were dressed in white. At the conclusion of the feast, however, the brides changed to the vastly more becoming costume of white tarlatan; and late in the evening still another change was made, and this time into a green dress of, to us, unknown fabric. At half past ten the procession formed at the door of J. Meter's house, and with the bridal party in the lead and amid a straggling fusillade of guns and pistols, marched to the church where Fr. Sommereisen performed the marriage ceremony after the orders of Catholic church [sic]. Forming again, the procession marched back to J. Meter's house, where the wedding feast was spread. It was really excellent, that wedding feast, and consisted of all sorts of liquors, meats, coffee, bread, cake, and dishes too numerous to mention. At the conclusion of dinner, the large room was cleared, a band of music took its station in one corner and began that climax of joviality and fun, the dance. The Russians have figured the healthful amusement of dancing down to such a point that it is the simplest matter in the world to take out all the sport there is in it. It is the wildest, freest, jolliest, gayest and withal most decorous dance imaginable, and breeds a contageious [sic] merriment. . . .it and the wine. Our party caught the spirit and went right into the thickest of the fray and there they stayed until night warned them home. It did one's eyes good to see "our ladies" with hair flying in every direction (it wasn't put up to stand this sort of thing) dashing off a jig. . .yes, sir, actually dashing off a jig with some brawny young Russian, while the men of our party covered themselves all over with glory in their execution of fling and polkas and waltz with the buxom Russian damsels. At the proper intervals the performance of "tush" was given with applause. The Russian males have all good voices and the singing was good. When our turn came, we ranged around the musician's table and sang "John Brown" and "Tramp Tramp" with hearty good will; and the proud consciousness that we, in some manner were representing the great American Nation clambered over the crags of our intellects and made us bear down hard on the chorus. And still the dance went on, and the longer one danced the longer one wanted to. It was kept up without rebate during Tuesday night, rested until Wednesday afternoon, rattled through Wednesday night with unabated [sic] vigor, and if the program was carried out the dance continued all day Thursday. This, as we remarked, was the most fashionable wedding Russia ever had or ever will have. The frolic was given by J. Meier who spared neither money nor pains making it just what it was. The Russians are a hospitable people and on this occasion fairly outdid themselves. The American visitors speak highly of their treatment, and to the last man say they never in their lives before got so much enjoyment out of the same length of time.

Handsome enough to rival those couples described in the 1878 Hays City Sentinel, another Ellis County Brautpaar, William Weigel and Catherine Rohleder of the Emmeram parish pose for their wedding portrait. Photo courtesy of Lawrence A. Weigel.

57 Old Country Traditions in Nebraska's North Platte Valley

Although many fragile traditions of the Germans from Russia have crumbled into disuse in the New World and the new environment of Soviet Russia, some treasured beliefs and customs remain viable even today. Wedding traditions of Our People have well weathered the storms of acculturation and assimilation and still serve to define an ethnic consciousness and an unbroken link with the past, here and now. In ethnic enclaves throughout the Midwest, at any rate, the two or three day German-Russian wedding is still much in evidence: Lawrence Weigel mentions on-going old country traditions in Ellis County, Kansas; Roger Welsch's contribution to Broken Hoops and Plains People includes pictures of a typical two-day wedding in Melbeta, Nebraska; and the recent wedding of Folklore Forum editor Timothy Kloberdanz and Rosalinda Appelhans in Denver, Colorado might, except for minor details, have taken place on the Volga a century ago. Suzy Black, writing in the Scotts Bluff Star-Herald (June 26, 1975) provides an amused description of a German-Russian wedding celebrated in Minatare, Nebraska: Instead of the usual church wedding, demure reception, and the bridal couple slipping off to a secluded honeymoon, Debbie Gorr and Lonnie Hauf were married surrounded by hundreds of guests, had sore aching feet, broken dishes at the reception, a stolen shoe, and the bride's dress ended up chewed and ragged with the petite white flowers on the dress black and torn. But nobody seemed to mind. Following long standing traditions . . . Debbie and Lonnie were married Saturday and spent most of the weekend whirling and stomping through a two-day Dutch Hop wedding. Keeping as many of the old traditions as possible, the young couple was married in the same fashion as the bride's parents were almost twenty-two years ago. The two-day festivity began with the usual church wedding... But instead of the short wedding reception, the newlyweds began a weekend of feasting and dancing which would total over twenty-two hours of celebrating. When it was all over the bridal couple was richer, their folks were a bit poorer and the guests tired, but everyone there will long remember "back when Debbie and Lonnie got married." The dance and the traditional German meals were all held in the American Legion Hall at Minatare . .. Everyone was greeted at the door with a shot of whiskey and one of the cooks explained, "You greet them with a hot shot and then water them down with beer to cool them off," With drink in hand, guests were ushered into the large hall filled with four long tables where 200 persons could be fed dinner at once. More than 600 invitations were mailed out and about 750-800 friends and relatives.. . came . . . When the bridal party arrived [at the hall] a prayer was given, followed by a traditional German dinner. The meal began with chicken noodle soup with butterballs, then rye bread, roast beef, mixed vegetables, potatoes, coffee cake and .. . pie. All was homemade . . . For the Saturday afternoon meal alone, 245 pounds of beef were prepared, 40 chickens were cooked for the soup broth, and 40 loaves of rye bread, 20 coffee cakes and 60 pies were baked. Two young heifers were butchered for the wedding dinner .... cooking began two days prior to the big event. The cooks began working about 6:00 a.m. each day and continued until late evening .... While the bride was eating, her shoe was stolen by one of the housefathers-the first of many unique traditions to follow. Because the weekend focused on the bride dancing every dance, the shoe had to be retrieved. And it was up to the best man and groomsmen to ask for bids to retrieve the shoe. Debbie's shoe cost the five groomsmen fifty-six dollars. They also got a bottle of liquor in the deal too. After everyone was fed and the shoe rescued, the dancing began. The bride and groom danced the first of many, but the last they danced together, during the week-end. Next the bride danced with each of the groomsmen while the groom whirled away with each of the bridesmaids, But the bridal party was not to have all the fun. The cooks emerged from the kitchen carrying dishes and joined the party on the dance floor. Tradition holds that if a dish or two is broken on the dance floor the couple will have luck and good fortune. So the cooks joined the stomping and the china shattered. Dancing was open to the guests, but only for a price. To be able to dance with the bride each gentleman gave some money which the groom pinned to the bride's left shoulder. Then away they whirled. The groom, in the meantime, danced with the wife or female companion of whomever [sic] was dancing with his bride.

58 Cooks worked two days preparing the traditional meal of noodle soup and butterballs and Broda which was served to approximately 800 wedding guests. One of the problems most German couples face today in trying to carry on their traditions is finding cooks to prepare such a meal. Debbie and Lonnie were fortunate in this regard for Debbie's great aunt. Mollie Rokel of Bayard, has a long history of such cooking and in fact prepared the same type of meal for Debbie's parents at their wedding—and in the same kitchen. Helping Mrs. Rokel (photo center) were two Bayard friends, Mollie Schmunk (left) and Millie Vogel (right). The trio had the help of ten other cooks and a number of women pitched in to wait tables and wash dishes so they next shift of guests could be served.

Traditional music for the wedding dance was provided by the Polka Playboys of Scottsbluff: left to right, Roger Fahlbusch, bass guitar; Albert Fahlbusch, dulcimer; Andy Gentry, trombone; and Bob Schmer, accordion. The group, organized in 1971, plays for weddings throughout the North Platte Valley an average of twice a month. In the summer of 1975 the group was selected to participate in the "Festival on American Folk Life" at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Albert Fahlbusch who plays one of many dulcimers he has constructed himself was also invited to participate in the Montreal World's Fair.

A long respected tradition is the theft and ransoming of the bride's shoe. Here best man Bill Howery of LaGrange, Wyoming offers a satisfactory payment to Sam Gorr of Mitchell, Nebraska who replaces the shoe so the dancing can begin. Groomsmen contributed fifty-six dollars to redeem the shoe. Ransom is added to the money pinned to the bride during the dancing and provides a nest egg for the newly-married couple.

Cooks and servers join in the dancing. Since tradition holds that crockery broken at the wedding presages good fortune for the bridal couple, the kitchen crew, including Helen Steinmark, left, and Mrs. Victor Buxbaum, come prepared with plates which will be smashed to the floor at the end of the dance.

Traditionally, gentlemen dancing with the bride pin money to her wedding dress. Here' the Brautigam is surprised to find $500 worth of play money on his lapel after a dance. The bride fares much better with an accumulation of cash at the end of the first few dances. The money goes to give the newlyweds a good financial start.

This continued until about 11:00 p.m. when the musicians took a break and everyone snacked on a lunch of sausage, cheese, rye bread, coffee cake, and pickles. Playing the old traditional German music for the Saturday wedding were the Polka Playboys from Scottsbluff .... The band earned its pay for the weekend from donations put into the dulcimer by the guests. Revived by the food, the guests continued their dancing until early morn. In accordance with current state law ... they had to quit serving liquor and dancing at 1:00 a.m. But his was only the beginning. On Sunday about 1:00 p.m. the dancing began again and continued for twelve hours. A traditional supper of Kraut soup—vegetable soup with cabbage-was served about 5:00 p.m. and a snack of sausage and cheese appeared that evening .... The final event—and the signal that the wedding celebration was over—was the "dancing the veil off the bride." For this the bride's mother removed the veil from her daughter's head and the bridal couple sat in the middle of the dance floor while all the guests made a circle and danced around them, wishing the couple well. Mrs. Gorr, reflecting back on her own wedding twenty-two years ago, said Debbie and Lonnie's wedding was a bit different than hers. Before the state law went into effect, stopping the festivities at 1:00 a.m. the dancing used to continue until 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. Revealing her stamina, Mrs. Gorr said, "I just didn't know I was supposed to be tired." The Gorr's also had a mock wedding at their dance. A group of men dressed up and acted out a humorous skit. But because of the limited dancing time now, the skit was eliminated. Mrs. Gorr also remembers a few troubles with her wedding dress. The bride wears her wedding gown throughout the weekend and it hardly resembles the same beautiful white flowing gown of the day before. Mrs. Gorr said her wedding dress had small buttons up the back and after so many men had put their arms around her, she began losing her buttons. Women at the wedding had to sew up her dress and then cut her out of it when the dance was over. The next day the scene was repeated. Debbie's dress had a zipper. Debbie said she had always wanted the old traditional German wedding after hearing her folks talk about theirs and seeing their wedding pictures. She also has attended similar wedding celebrations. Such a celebration, with all the food, liquor and beer, does not come cheaply. Asked for a rough estimate of the cost, the bride's father quickly replied the bill would be "fantastic." Mrs. Gorr's younger son and daughter were members of the bridal party, and she said she is just hoping they don't come up with the same idea for their weddings.

Folklore Contributions from the 1976 AHSGR International Convention

When the subject of marriage was brought up at the open Folklore Committee session during the Seventh AHSGR International Convention in Denver, Colorado, a number of interesting stories were told by those in the audience. All contributions were tape recorded and deposited in the Society's archive collection. A few of the many interesting responses of convention participants follow: ENGAGEMENT SYMBOL: In Norka (Volga/Protestant), a white birch sapling was sometimes placed on the roof of one of the homes in the colony. Traditionally, this was a symbol that a young girl in the household had recently become engaged and was soon to be married. PROVERB: Lawrence A. Weigel remembered what Volga German Catholic grandmothers often told unmarried girls who feared they would never find a husband: "Is ka Kessel so schief, wo ka Deckel druf basst. " (No kettle is so crooked that you can't find a lid to fit it.) PRE-MARITAL EXAMINATION: Mr. Peter Koch of Portland, Oregon, who was born in Kolb (Volga/ Protestant) said that individuals in the Old Country would have to pass a religious examination before they could be married. Many were illiterate and thus one of the parents often taught the children their religion. "Well, it came to pass that two boys who wanted to get married couldn't read or write so they had to go to the pastor. The minister asked them questions to find out if they knew anything. The boys couldn't

61 answer any of the questions correctly so they were both sent home. When they went back again, one of the boys coaxed the other into going first. Once inside the parsonage, the pastor asked him, 'How many gods do we have?' He answered, *Five.' Frustrated, the pastor ordered, 'Go back home and leam some more.' After the boy left, his buddy asked, 'How did you make out?' 'Well,' he said, 'the pastor asked me how many gods there are and I answered five.' *Huh!' murmured his partner, 'I said seven the first time and didn't have enough!* " BRIDAL GIFT FROM PARENTS: A contributor talked to Marie Lehr from Kukkus (Volga/Protestant) who said that the colonists of Kukkus observed a ceremony before the bride left her parents' home. At this time her parents would present her with a black Halstuch (headshawl) as a sign other new status as a Hausfrau (housewife). WEDDING OMENS: Mrs. Amalie Krell Bischel of Fresno, California, who was born in Stahl (Volga/Protestant) remembered: "If you dream of a wedding there will be a death. If you dream of a death, there will be a wedding." Mrs. Katherine Reifschneider Ostwald of Lincoln, Nebraska, whose parents are from the Volga German colony of Kukkus, commented: "If it rains on your wedding night it means a lot of tears in your wedded life." Another contributor added: "It rained and stormed on our wedding night and it stormed all through our married life." MASS MARRIAGES: A contributor from Frank, Russia, remembered that mass marriages were relatively common. Sometimes, ten to twenty couples would get married at one time in Frank. Generally, the colonists wanted to wait until the crops were harvested before celebrating a wedding.

From our Readers

Mrs. Alex (Mary Ron) Froscheiser of Lincoln, Nebraska, submitted the following: This is information about the courtship, the Freierei, and the wedding celebration of my mother and late father [who were from the Protestant Volga German colony of Schilling]. My mother was twenty years old and my father was twenty-eight at the time of their wedding. Mother told me she had gone with several girl friends to the Kerb, the annual fall festival in Schilling. This was always the first Sunday in October, and the dance lasted three days. She was introduced to my father on the first evening of the festival. He then took her to the dance the following two evenings. On the third day he asked her to marry him, because he wanted to go to the United States. He had been to the U. S. previously and then returned to Russia to find a bride, The prospective bridegroom brought two Freiesmaenner to my mother's home. One was his best friend and the other was his god-father. He talked to her family about getting married. She consented, as did her family. After they each had a drink of Schnaps, the Freiersmaenner and the bridegroom-to-be asked my mother and her family to ride in his wagon to the home of his family, so they could discuss their wedding. It had to be announced three Sundays in the village church. My parents were married on October 31, 1912, in the Kukkus schoolhouse because of the cold weather. The wedding procession had left my mother's home and marched to the schoolhouse. They were led by four musicians who played "Jesu, Geh Voran." After the musicians, came the two bridesmaids, the two male attendants, my mother, the bridegroom, and their families. My mother was dressed in white and wore a veil. After the ceremony, the order was reversed and the bridegroom walked out first, with the bride and the guests following. The wedding celebration took place at noon. Everyone who was invited went to the bridegroom's home. It was a two-day affair. On the first day, the wedding dinner consisted of roast beef, potatoes, millet pudding, tea, and rye bread. At four o'clock in the afternoon of the first day sour apples, cucumbers, Kaffee Kuchen, and hot coffee were served. On the second day, dancing began late in the afternoon. Dinner at this time consisted of Schnitz soup, Grebbel, and Kuchen. When the wedding dance started, the bride and groom danced the first three "rounds" alone. After this, the attendants danced three rounds and when this was completed everyone was allowed to dance for the remainder of the celebration.

62 Anna Achtziger Booth of Weiser, Idaho, who traces her ancestry to the Langenfeld (Volga/Lutheran) colony, remembered this marriage superstition: "It was believed by some that on the wedding night the first one to go to bed would be the first of the couple to die."

Jake Schlagel of Mount Vernon, Washington, writes; I was born in Neu-Messer about one hundred miles from Saratov, Russia. I came to this country when I was six years old with my parents. Everything I know about Freierei and weddings in Russia I heard from my parents and other older folks. When a young couple agreed to get married, the young man would ask two older men (good friends or relatives) to go with him to the girl's parents and ask for her hand in marriage. This custom was brought to this country. When my girlfriend and I decided to get married after going together for a year, I contacted two older men (friends of mine) to go with me to the girl's parents to ask their permission for her to be my wife. After permission was granted, the wedding date was set and plans for the wedding were made. Our wedding ceremony was performed in the German language. I was married to Elizabeth Rudy. (Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. Martin Rudy. They were from "Babotchna," Saratov, Russia. They came to Colorado the same month and year that my parents, did.) At our wedding dinner there were about one hundred and fifty guests. The menu was chicken and duck, noodle soup and butter balls, potatoes, and dressing. It was a real banquet. After the dishes were cleared away, the tables were moved and the guests started to dance. We had a three-piece orchestra to make the music. An Old Country custom was that anyone who wanted to dance with the bride was expected to pin some paper money on her dress. The guests danced until the wee hours of the morning. We received many gifts from the people who attended. The above took place at my bride's parents' home near Longmont, Colorado. My parents’ names were Mr. and Mrs. Frank Schlagel, They lived near Platteville, Colorado, at the time of my marriage.

Pauline Brungardt Dudek of Bladen, Nebraska submitted the following account of George H. Brungardt's wedding as recollected by his brother. Henry: The George Brungardt family came to Hastings, Nebraska, from Frank, Russia in April of 1894. Henry was born August 8 and his eldest brother, George, turned fifteen later that same month. When George married the girl next door, Henry was a lad of seven. The girl was Anna Margarete Kissler who also was born in Frank some seventeen years earlier. She was known more affectionately as Aunt Maggie by all the nieces and nephews. George and Maggie were my godparents. The Germans from Russia who settled in the southwestern part of Hastings, known as "Roosia Town," followed the custom of the Freierei even as late as 1901. Why was this tradition so important? A young girl might marry someone who was not industrious, or someone who drank too much and therefore would not be able to provide adequately for a family. She might even marry someone who was not from the same colony in Russland. (Even though Frank and Kolb were not far apart their ways may have been somewhat different.) The Freierei insured against such marriages. Besides, if one were matched with a next door neighbor, such a marriage was considered ideal as the parties involved already knew each other. The combination must have been just right for George and Maggie because the couple lived to celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary - not in Hastings, but in Scottsbluff, where they moved with their sons around 1940. According to Dad (Henry), a Mr. Hofmann issued the wedding invitations by going from house to house and tying a ribbon to the cane if the invitation was accepted. The actual wedding ceremony was performed in the afternoon at the New York Avenue Congregational Church and was followed with a wedding supper. The young children, however, did not eat with the grown-ups but at the house next door. During the supper, a "wedding pillow" was passed from guest to guest. Paper money was pinned to the pillow as a wedding present. When the meal was finished, the tables were pushed out of the way for the wedding dance to follow. Refreshments included the serving of beer from kegs. The only time that the George Brungardt, Sr., family went "beeting" was at the time of their eldest son's marriage. The custom then was to board up the windows during the newlyweds' absence. However, George and Maggie chose to live in the Brungardt's home, and so did not take part in the "beeting." The family went to Sugar City, Michigan, where George, Sr. did construction work on the sugar beet factory. The rest of the family worked in the beet fields. Ultimately, George and Maggie were laid to rest at Parkview Cemetery in Hastings.

63 Mrs. Lydia Schmick of Saginaw, Michigan, who traces her ancestry to the Protestant Volga German colonies of Oberdorf and Tscherbakovka, submitted the following "marriage proverbs": "Die erschte Heirat ist von Gott, die zweite is von den Mensche, die dritte is von Teufel." ("The first marriage is from God, the second is from the people, the third is from the devil.") "Mädche, tu die Augen auf. Heirate is kein Ferdekauf," ("Girl, open your eyes. Getting married is not like buying horses.") Mrs. Schmick also added some personal recollections of the old wedding traditions: "I remember seeing the two men coming with a cane with ribbons and a little too much schnapps. On seeing them, we always knew we were going to be invited to a wedding. I enjoyed their oral invitation. Thus, every ribbon that came to our house was saved (after being carefully washed and ironed) for the Hochzeitslaedder. Many of the weddings were three days long. How they could afford it I'll never know. I remember seeing two women carrying a wicker clothes basket between them, going through the neighborhood picking up dishes and other tableware. To this day I wonder if the dishes ever got back to the rightful owners. It was bad luck for the groom to see the bride on the wedding day before church so usually the gate was locked. I can remember many dishes being thrown on the floor by the cooks. This was supposed to bring good luck. One of the neighbors of the wedding party had never been to a German wedding. He enjoyed the chicken, butterballs, Brotes, and other foods and was having a wonderful time until the women came in and threw dishes on the floor. This gentleman, to the end of his life, never forgot this. Every time he saw one of the relatives he talked about that wedding!"

* * * *

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue's Folklore Forum. Additional recollections of hitherto unpublished marriage traditions common among the Germans from Russia can still be submitted for possible inclusion in future Work Papers. The next Folklore Forum will emphasize beliefs and customs surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, and early childhood. Anecdotes and recollections dealing with midwives, child-rearing practices, nursery rhymes, childhood amusements and games, and similar topics should be submitted to Timothy J. Kloberdanz, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58102. Related photographs or negatives will also be accepted, although their safety cannot be guaranteed. Thus, readers are encouraged to send copies of valuable photographs rather than originals. Please submit all contributions by October 15, 1977.

The AHSGR solicits articles related to the history, culture, and folklore of the Germans from Russia for publication in the Society's Work Papers. The editor welcomes original research materials, translations, book reviews, short stories, drawings, photographs, poetry, letters, journals, diaries, and materials previously printed in other publications which may be reprinted by the Society. Submissions will be edited to conform to the second edition of the MLA Style Sheet. Manuscripts should be sent to the Work Paper Editor at AHSGR Headquarters, 631 D Street, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68502.

64 WE SING OUR HISTORY: A TRADITIONAL WEDDING SONG Lawrence A. Weigel

Many marriage customs prevailed among our people, some of which remain popular to this day. There were the "Freiersmaenner" or matrimonial agents, the "Einladung" or invitation, the "Pollerabend," the wedding march to the church, the church ceremony, and finally the wedding celebration itself. Among the Volga Germans in Ellis Co. Kansas, no wedding is complete, even to this day, without singing the traditional Brautdusch or Brautlied (Bride's Song). As the guests hold a glass of brandy or wine in their right hand, they sing the toast to the bride and groom just before festivities begin. Not uncommonly, relatives and guests shed a few tears, because the song is so meaningful. It was brought to America in 1876 by the oral tradition, but it also appears in a German Prayer Book-Song Book combination entitled Der Geistliche Halszierde, published in 1846. This book made its way to America from Russia during the migration of 1876. The song also appears in Volkslieder und Kinderreime aus den Wolgakohnien, published in Saratov in 1914, and is entitled "Katholisches Brautlied" (Catholic Bride's Song). In neither of these books are the notes recorded, but the melody used today in America is the one our people used in Russia over 100 years ago. Dr. Iris Barbara Graefe wrote a book entitled Zur Volkskunde der Russlanddeutschen in Argentinien (On the Folklore of the Germans from Russia in Argentina) in which the song appears under the title "Tretet Fröhlich zum Altare," which in reality are the first words of the second verse. The melody, however, is completely different from the one we sing in the United States. To illustrate the popularity of this song, as recently as January 1977 at a wedding in Hays, Kansas, attended by 500 guests, each holding a glass of wine, the toast was sung to the bride and groom in both German and English.

BRAUT LIED

BRAUTDUSCH BRIDE'S SONG 1. 1. Sing with gay and cheerful spirit, Sing mit froehlichem Gemuete, Bridegroom with your lovely bride. Brautigam mit deiner Braut. Whom today God has entrusted, Die dir Heute Gottes Güte, As a helper at your side. Zur Gehilfm anvertraut. May in all your fears and troubles, Das sie dich in Angst und Plagen, She your consolation be. Troesten soil in dieser Welt; And with you share all the burdens, Und die Buerde mit dir tragen, From all sorrow you'll be free. Welche dir beschwerlich fällt.

65 2. 2. Tretet froehlich zum Altare, Cheerfully kneel at the altar, Betet Gott mit Ehrfurcht an, With deep feeling, to God pray; Dessen Guete viele Jahre, Ask that in his loving goodness Euch gesund erhalten kann. You'll enjoy good health each day.

Bittet Jesum urn den Segen, Ask dear Jesus for his blessing, Ladet Ihn zur Hochzeit ein; Invite him as wedding guest; Denn daran ist es gelegen, That's a rule for all good people, Wenn ihr vollet glücklich sein. If you want your marriage blest.

3. 3. Reicht einander Hand und Herzen, Extend hand and heart to each other, Redlich ohne Heuchelei. Be upright, and honest and true. Trachtet dass in Freud und Schmerzen, That in all your joy and sorrow, Eure Treue standhaft sei. Your strong faith will sustain you. Immer soil die Liebe brennen, May your love-light burn forever, Nach dem Göttlichen Gebot. It is written in God's command; Niemand soll die Ehe trennen, May your marriage never waiver, Niemand als allein der Tod. Until death, your love must stand. Translated by Lawrence A. Weigel.

A wedding procession of Germans in the Soviet Union circa 1965, Photo courtesy of the Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland.

66 ADDITIONS TO THE LOAN COLLECTION

Russian Language Sources Relating to the Germans from Russia by James W. Long. Germans from Russia in America: the First Hundred Years by Kenneth W. Rock. (Both published by Colorado State University, 1976.) Reviewed by Norman Saul. These two ground-breaking papers are testimony to the rapid advances that have been made in the last few years in the historical study of the Germans from Russia and should be of interest to all Americans of German-Russian background as well as to general students of ethnic studies and immigration. Both are products of the researches of members of the Germans from Russia in Colorado Study Project at Colorado State University in Fort Collins but extend well beyond the scope of the project title. While participating in the Soviet-American exchange of scholars, James W. Long compiled the first systematic list of works published in Russia and the Soviet Union on the German colonists. His introduction outlines the history of government policy toward the colonists and discusses the information to be found in "primary" works, chiefly official statistical surveys, and in the "secondary" literature. Of special value are his analyses of the most important historians who wrote and published in Russia- Skal'kovskii, Klaus, and Pisarevskii—and of the shifts in interpretation found in the works of these and other Russian and Soviet scholars. The major portion of the pamphlet is devoted to bibliography: books, which also includes some articles, and newspapers. After Long's careful introductory emphasis on the limitations of Russian and Soviet scholarship, the reader may be surprised at the extent of the lists that follow. And it should be made clear, moreover, that this is a selected bibliography, to which many more items could be added. Twenty-one articles from the Journal of the Ministry of State Domains only scratches the surface, and many more could be found in other periodicals. The work of Andrei Fadeev, mentioned in the text, is not included in the list, and the important bibliography of von Schiller, published in 1927, is omitted. Though each Russian item is provided with a valuable English translation, no annotations are given, and the reader will need to refer awkwardly back to the text to identify the more purely chauvinistic and anti-German publications. Dates of publication would be a useful addition to the list of newspapers and periodicals. But the real contribution of this report is to present in handy form a list of many of the neglected Russian sources and to highlight their importance for the historical understanding of German settlements in Russia. Kenneth Rock's brief pamphlet is an ambitious survey of the experience of the Germans from Russia in America, an admirable effort to synthesize over three generations of history from the beginnings of the migration to the celebration of the centennial in Hays, Kansas, last August. It is a sound, well-written introduction that will be especially useful for those who wish to review or rediscover their heritage. Taken together these two projects cover both the American and Russian backgrounds of an unique experience. They demonstrate in text and notes the considerable achievements in the ethnic history of the Germans from Russia over the past few years. They also open up directly or indirectly a number of questions and point out the need for further study. For example, do we not all still tend to romanticize too much on this subject? It is certainly correct and proper to emphasize the injustices of the Stalin era, as both authors do, but the tribulations of World War I in America should also be mentioned. Was the oppression of collectivization worse for Germans than for Russians? What were the conditions during the Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939-41)? Is "literally nothing" known about the diaspora of World War II (Long, p. 4)? How did the fate of the Soviet Germans differ from that of the Crimean Tatars, or of the Jews in Germany, the Japanese in America? The bias of Russian sources, emphasized by Long, could be countered by comparable charges against German sources. Were the zemstvo organs of local government instruments for russification? Or were they captured from within and used to promote the development of cultural consciousness, as some Mennonite historians have argued, thereby becoming vital defenses against russification? There is also a tendency to think of the Germans from Russia both in Russia and America as "agricultural," whereas so many examples of success point toward an urban migration that parallels industrialization in both countries—a story largely left untold, Both authors intend to cover all Germans from Russia, and they do refer in places to Mennonites and Black Sea Germans. Yet the major thrust of their work pertains to the Volga Germans. For example. Rock cites the American Volga German Relief Society's aid to famine victims in 1920-21 without mentioning the equally meritorious work of the Mennonite relief agencies in the devastated Ukrainian colonies. Many

67 opportunities remain to explore the different experiences of Catholic, Lutheran, and Mennonite as well as other emigrant groups such as the Jews and Poles. How did the Germans remain "strangers in the Russian land," as Long suggests (p. 1), if Klaus, Cornies, and many others from the colonies achieved prominence and recognition within the Russian system? And has the term " 'Russians'. , .always been a misnomer," as Rock says (p. 1), when belied by the facts of a unique and special historical experience in Russia? Perhaps the significant successes of the Germans from Russia in America, rightly noted by Rock, can at least in part be accounted for by a steppe-born spirit to overcome.

Editor's Note: Copies of both monographs have been donated to the AHSGR Archives and Historical Library by the Germans from Russia in Colorado Study Project. Copies are available for purchase at $2.00 each from the Project in care of Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523.

Broken Hoops and Plains People: A Catalogue of Ethnic Resources in the Humanities-Nebraska and Surrounding Areas by Galen Duller, et al. Nebraska Curriculum Development Center, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1976.438 pages. Reviewed by Timothy J. Kloberdanz.

There are, it seems, few individuals who persist in calling the United States a "melting pot." What so many national observers and social scientists confidently predicted more than seventy-five years ago has not happened. Though complete assimilation no doubt occurred in some geographical areas, many ethnic Americans (from New York City's Little Italy to San Francisco's Chinatown) never melted. As a result, this country resembles a strikingly rich mosaic rather than the proverbial melting pot. Broken Hoops and Plains People is advertised as a "guide to Nebraska, [which] concerns common people and the Great Plains." It is more than just a guide; the volume is solid evidence which weighs heavily on the ever-weakening metaphor of the melting pot. As Paul Olson, a professor of English at the University of Nebraska, states in his introduction to the book, Nebraska was "one of the most repressive states in the nation in its attack on foreign language-speaking citizens during World War I." Yet despite such out-right repression and other, more subtle attempts to achieve state-wide homogeneity, ethnicity in Nebraska persisted. Ten individuals, including Olson, each contributed a chapter to Broken Hoops and Plains People on representative ethnic groups in Nebraska. The experience of American Indian, Chicano, Black, Czech, Scandinavian, Jewish, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, and German-Russian enclaves are discussed by the authors, Each chapter provides a tantalizing glimpse of a specific ethnic group's historical background and that group's varied contributions to both state and country. Galen Buller's chapter on American Indians, for example, traces the origin of the four major Indian groups in Nebraska and often relies on a well-known Sioux visionary's symbol of his tribe as a "sacred hoop." During the onslaught of white encroachment, Sioux society suffered internal deterioration (as well as the near-genocidal wounds of war) and thus the nation's hoop was broken. For others on the Plains, such as early Czech and Scandinavian emigrants, there was also bewilderment and perhaps the same agonizing experience of culture-loss. But Nebraska soil proved conducive to cultural transplantation, just as it was fertile for tall corn and blue-blossom alfalfa. The chapter on the German-Russians of Nebraska, entitled "Germans from Russia: A Place to Call Home," was written by University of Nebraska folklorist Roger Welsch, It is an excellent piece, considering that Welsch is able to provide a compact yet fairly comprehensive history of Nebraska German-Russians in some thirty pages. Early in his essay, Welsch ponders whether the story of the Germans from Russia is "exciting enough to be of interest or value" and responds thusly: Obviously I believe the answer ... is "yes," because I am writing this now. And my reasons for the positive response arc manifold: I am myself a German-Russian and feel a need to respond to my people's hunger for self-respect; the history of these people is, moreover, typical, and its retelling thereby underlines the inevitable impact of America on its immigrants and of the immigrants on America; and a massive departure of good workers for unknown areas where land is not a monopoly and where free political and religious expression is at least a theoretical potential carries a clear message for America's future, (p. 193) The chapter is divided into several topical discussions including: The Migration to Russia, Life in Russia, The Migration to America, Life in America, and an epilogue, The Fate of the Colonists Left in Russia. Al-

68 though some material is merely background history and has been published elsewhere, the style in which it is presented is wholly refreshing and readable. Interspersed throughout the chapter are several fascinating passages from an unpublished manuscript written by Welsch's father, Chris.* The excerpts range from a description of the "beet trains" which carried German-Russian laborers from Lincoln to the fields out west, and an incident in which Chris Welsch was struck down by a lightning bolt while hoeing sugar beets in the North Platte Valley. Some of Roger Welsch's personal biases surface in the chapter but these are deliberate- He makes it very clear, for example, that he is not a "cheerleader for the German-Russian people." Furthermore, he argues that an exacting portrait of Germans from Russia (yes, warts and all) must be painted, in fairness to everyone concerned: Nobody eats a whole watermelon; we eat the flesh, discard the seeds and the rind, and that's what we must also do with the German-Russian experience. That history has to be combed for lessons that can serve us today, good and bad. We can examine the good and learn from it and discard the bad, remembering what about it made it bad. (p.212) Welsch praises the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia as the "greatest single potential for a rational and productive organization of German-Russian cultural resources." He espouses the importance of combining the subjective with the objective, and cites AHSGR publications as growing evidence of this invaluable approach. Indeed, both perspectives are crucial and contribute to a well-balanced and genuine view of one's ethnic heritage. At the conclusion of the chapter is an informative guide for the reader on "how to find out about the German-Russians." Welsch outlines (and stresses!) the procedure for developing a family history and cites reliable sources for historical and cultural research. A short history of the AHSGR is also provided, with names and addresses of the 1975 officers and chapter presidents. The lengthy bibliography on pages 417-438 of Broken Hoops and Plains People is appropriately divided into sections on the various ethnic groups. The German-Russian bibliography, numbering more than fifty annotated entries, was completed with ample assistance from Nancy B. Holland. Publications by AHSGR, the North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from Russia, and the Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland are listed, along with other books, newspapers, maps, and "materials for fieldwork and research." Nine photographs precede Welsch's chapter on the German-Russians. Included are pictures of German-Russian housing, beet field scenes, ancestral portraits, and a wedding. One of the more intriguing photographs shows a modern German-Russian bride who ingeniously modifies (rather than disregards) a sacrosanct Old Country tradition. Knowing that at least two days of strenuous dancing await her, this smiling Nebraska bride wears tennis sneakers under her wedding gown!

*Editor's Note: A complete version of this fascinating manuscript will be a feature of a future Work Paper. Editor's Note: A copy of the volume has been donated to the AHSGR Archives and Historical Library by Ruth M. Amen. Copies are available for purchase from the Nebraska Curriculum Development Center, 338 Andrews Hall, The University of Nebraska. Lincoln, Nebraska 68588 at $5.00 each, plus postage.

The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, by George Rath. The Pine Hill Press, 1977. 436 pp., illus., maps, index, hardback, 6" x 9". Reviewed by Kermit B. Karns. The book is a history of the Black Sea Germans, beginning briefly with their migration from Germany to the Black Sea region of South Russia, their migration to the United States, and their settlement in the Dakotas. It is the result of the collection of data over a period of nearly fifty years by the author. Many details relating to various personalities have been brought to light for the first time through his personal correspondence and acquisition of private papers. The author, the son of George and Katherine (Reiser) Rath, was born in Nesselrode, Ukraine, Russia in 1891. He attended the University of Dorpat in Estonia, and the University of Tübingen in Germany as a classmate of Dr. Karl Stumpp. After moving to the United States in 1922 he attended the University of Denver and the University of Nebraska and was ordained in the Evangelical Synod of North America. He served congregations at Loveland and Denver, Colorado; Worland, Wyoming; Laurel, Montana; and Jansen, Nebraska. In 1946 he became Associate Professor of Modern Languages at the state college in Peru, Ne- 69 braska, where he taught until his retirement in 1961. The last fifteen years of his life were devoted to final distillation and refinement of the volume which was received from the printers just three weeks before his death. The book touches lightly on the initial migration of the Black Sea Germans to Nebraska and briefly mentions the Volga German people. But the emphasis is on those Black Sea Germans who migrated to the Dakotas. An exhaustive effort has been made to describe all of the settlements of these people in the Dakotas, including areas, place names, churches, and German language publications and literature. Many items in the chapters are referenced to source notes at the end of the chapter. In addition, there is a copious bibliography. Areas, together with about 150 place names are listed in the body of the book along with the churches associated with the community. In an appendix, many place names are listed again with the names of the first settlers and with the name of the Russian village from where they came, Churches of the region are expertly treated. The author goes into considerable detail in the establishment of the churches, their growth, and sphere of influence. He also discusses the various theological colleges in the region. The various German language publications are well covered, with their names, periods and places of publication and circumstances surrounding their establishment and demise. The book also carries biographies of the Reverend William Gottlieb Schauffler 1798-1883, the Reverend Johannes Bonekemper 1795-1857, the Reverend Carl Bonekemper 1827-1893, the Reverend Willaim Bonekemper 1851-1939, the Reverend Carl Kuss 1816-1893, the Reverend Jacob Orth 1837-1883, the Reverend John Frederick Doescher 1840-1918, the Reverend Ernst F. Melcher 1855-1940, the Reverend Johann Jakob Bernthal 1855-1920, and the Reverend Gustav August Georg Bischoff 1851-1914. Professor Rath is also the author of articles in the 1954 and 1963 Heimatbucher and of poems in several other issues. A collection of poems was published under the name of Klange der Seele, and a book of fables under the title Fabeln. Another book in two volumes remains in draft form. His private library is one of the outstanding collections of German-Russian material in the United States. A copy of the book was presented by the reviewer to the AHSGR Archives and Historical Library as a memorial to Professor Rath who passed away on March 6, 1977. The book may be ordered from Mrs. George Rath, care of Peru State College, Peru, Nebraska, 68421 at $12.75, postpaid.

Editor's Note: One unfortunate error in the volume which will be of particular annoyance to members of the AHSGR and the NDHSGR has been called to the attention of the editor by several persons. In one of the closing paragraphs of his volume, Professor Rath asserts that "Two German Russian Historical Societies have been organized in recent years. One is a Volga German organization with Greeley, Colorado, as its center and the other, the North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from the Black Sea, with Bismarck as the center." Neither the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska to which he apparently refers, nor the North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from Russia confines its interests to the narrow limits he suggests. Persons of Volga and Black Sea origin can be found among the members of both organizations. The contents of AHSGR Work Papers are a good illustration of the wide spectrum of research interests among members of that Society who include persons who trace their origins to villages on the banks of the Volga and Black Sea and to the vast tracts of land in Volhynia, Bessarabia, the Ukraine, and Siberia.

As a Mennonite of Pioneer Ancestry, by Esther Dirks Herman. Superior, Nebraska. The Author, 1976. 71 pp. Reviewed by Marie M. Olson.

This booklet contains the reminiscences of the author, a Mennonite, who was reared in South Dakota and now lives in Riverton, Nebraska. It includes a translation of portions of a diary by Tobias Unruh, who was one of the twelve scouts sent to America in 1873 to locate land for settlement by the Mennonites, The diary covers this journey and the journey to America, 1874-1875, by a group of 325 persons of which Tobias Unruh was a member. Also included is the passenger list of the ship Kennelworth which arrived at Philadelphia, Jan. 9, 1875. The book is illustrated with numerous photographs.

70 Goertzen, by Peter Goertzen. Edmonton, Alberta, The Author, 1976. 176 pp. Reviewed by Marie M. Olson.

Mr. Goertzen has produced an interesting genealogy. The brief historical first chapter relates the origin of the Mennonite movement and the wanderings of its followers which brought the author's ancestors to Chortitza in Russia and later to the Americas. In the rest of the book the author devotes a chapter to each branch of the Goertzen family, starting with Gerhard and Helena Goertzen who emigrated to Canada in 1875, some of whose descendents later settled in Mexico and Bolivia. Each of the chapters tells a bit about the family and has a genealogical chart. The book is profusely illustrated with photographs of farms, homes, and persons; house plans; facsimiles of letters and documents; a map of Fuerstenland Colony in Russia from which the ancestors came; a plat of Georgstal — one of the villages in the Fuerstenland Colony; and also a plat of Chortitz village in Manitoba, which the Goertzen immigrants helped to establish and which was one mile west of present day Winkler, Manitoba. Among other special features are: 1) the Canadian government provisions and regulations re the granting of land to the immigrants; 2) the Schleitheim Confession, which gives the basic beliefs of the Anabaptists from which the Mennonite beliefs evolved; and 3) the diary of Johann Wiebe - leader of 150 Mennonites, including the Goertzens, who emigrated to Canada. It traces the itinerary of the group from June 4th, when they left Fuerstenland, to July 10, when they arrived in Manitoba.

"Siberia's Empire Road, the River Ob," by Robert Jordan and Dean Conger. National Geographic Magazine (February, 1976) pp. 145-181. Reviewed by Paul E. Reeb.

The February 1976 issue of National Geographic contains a fascinating thirty-seven page article by two very able staff writers which describes the life and land of inland USSR where many of our kin live today. Included with the article are two 23" x 37" maps of the Soviet Union. One marks off ethno-administrative units which are colored according to ethno-linguistic groups; the other is the classically high quality relief and political map for which National Geographic is noted.

Editor's Note: Two copies of the February 1976 issue of National Geographic have been donated to the AHSGR Archives and Historical Library by Mr. Reeb.

The Volga Germans in Ellis County, Kansas 1876-1976, by Anna Knoll. Washington, D. C., The Author, 1975.89pp. Reviewed by Nancy Bernhardt Holland. A well-timed publication, Ms. Knoll's volume serves not only as a family genealogy, but as a contribution to the celebration of the centennial of the arrival of the Volga Germans to Ellis County, Kansas, as well. Chapter I provides a three and one-half page general background history of the migrations of Germans to Russia and the establishment of colonies along the Volga. Several more pages outline the disenchantment of the colonists and the efforts of railroad agents who on visits to the Volga villages lured colonists to their vast tracts of land in the New World. The first contingent of Volga Germans to arrive in Kansas consisted of three groups of emigrants from various villages in Russia, including twenty-three families from Herzog. They arrived in Topeka on November 28, 1875 and selected three large tracts of river-laced prairie on which to establish the first three villages, Liebenthal in Rush County, and Catherinestadt and Herzog in Ellis County. Ms. Knoll provides a list of the founders of Herzog and gives a brief account of the later arrival of other emigrants from Herzog on the Volga who arrived in 1876 and 1878 to join their countrymen in the three established villages and help found the three other villages of Schoenchen, Munjor, and Pfeifer. According to Ms. Knoll, the Germans from Russia distinguished themselves from other newcomers to the Kansas prairies by arriving in large groups, establishing villages in the old country manner

71 near outlying farmland which they purchased or homesteaded, and by maintaining their own social and religious communities. Ms. Knoll's account provides no new information and she draws her material from such familiar but largely unassailable sources as Karl Stumpp's The German-Russians, Father Francis S. Laing's "German-Russian Settlements in Ellis County, Kansas," “A Study of the Russian-German Settlements in Ellis County, Kansas," by Sister Mary Eloise Johannes, and Conquering the Wind by Toepfer and Dreiling. The major portion of the book is dedicated to genealogies of the descendants of the author's VonFeldt great-grandparents and includes tie-ins to family names of Brungardt, Dreiling, Hoffman, and Schmidtberger, as well as Knoll. Brief biographies of the descendants of the author's grandparents and the author herself complete the volume. The book contains a two-page bibliography and reproductions of more than 100 photographs, primarily of family members in the New World.

The first church in Herzog and precursor of "The Cathedral of the Plains." According to the Official Centennial History of the Volga-German Settlements in Ellis and Rush Counties in Kansas 1876-1976, the first religious services held in Herzog "took place in the home of Alois Dreiling. The floor proved unequal to the weight and a frame church was built adjoining his house, the south wall of the dwelling serving as the north wall of the church. The structure was about 40 x 24 feet and could accommodate only a portion of the congregation" (p. 64). The original church was built in 1876 - the first year of the arrival of the Volga immigrants to the Kansas prairie. Photo courtesy of the Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland.

72 QUERIES A "CAN YOU HELP?" GENEALOGY SERVICE

In an effort to help you achieve maximum success in your search for information, we ask you to please observe the following suggestions and requirements for insertions. 1. Copy must be neatly submitted and as accurately detailed as possible. 2. Copy should be typed or legibly handwritten to avoid error in transcription. 3. Copy should be brief and specific. It is better to have two insertions, than one that is too lengthy and involved. 4. Copy should make use of abbreviations as recommended in Work Paper # 17. 5. The Genealogy Committee must reserve the right to edit copy submitted. 6. Queries are accepted at the rate of 5

BOHNET Need info on BERNHARDT BOHNET b 15 Dec 1778, d 9 June 1859; mar 10 Jan 1813 ANNA SCHWAB MARIA SCHWAB b 3 Apr 1789, Kresbach, Wü. Need parents, brothers and sisters. Victor E. Bohnet, address below

HILDWEIN KATHAR1NA HILDWEIN b 10 May 1826 Odessa, d 6 Feb 1897; mar JOSEPH SCHÖTTLE 1885, SCHÖTTLE Beresina, Bessarabia; Need info on fa JOHANN FRIEDRICH HILDWEIN, places and dates of Birth, Death, and Marriage, and to whom. Victor E. Bohnet, 4824 Norquay NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2K 2L2

KRÜGER HEINRICH KRÜGER, b Feb 1880 Friedensruh, Josefowka, Jekaterinoslav, S. Russia. Need info re WESLOWSKI bro AUGUST KARL KRÜGER, descendants and ancestors fr Prussia. Fa JOHANN KRÜGER pos b Danzig area, mar 3rd wife, KATHAR1NA WESLOWSKI, Russia. Edel Mitschke, #9-4135 Rae St., Regina, Sask., Canada S4S 3A5

PFAFFENROTH PHILLIP PFAFFENROTH b 1820-30, wife MARY BAHRMAN b 25 Feb 1830, Jagodnaja; need BAHRMAN ancestors and descendants. CONRAD PFAFFENROTH b 11 June 1855; PETER PFAFFENROTH b 28 Nov 1861, Jagodnaja; need parents, brothers and sisters. Elizabeth Pfaffenroth, 37 Brompton Rd., Great Neck, LI, NY 11020

DÜRR Desire info and names of parents of GP and GM who emigrated from Akkerman, Bessarabia, Russia HESS 1895; Jim Gardner, Box 47, Bay City, OR 97107 KUCH

MAIER Desire info re p of DOROTHEA MAIER b l840Rus, d 1902 Eureka SD, mar 1862 in Rus STROBEL JOHANNES STROBEL b 1839 Glückstal/Odessa Rus, d 1917 Eureka SD; also info re his par JOHANNES & ANNA MARIE (WEBER) STROBEL. Ardella Strobel Bennett Info re HEINRICH BIEBER & MARGARETTA STAUSZ, s JOHANN JACOB BIEBER b 1835 BIEBER Glückstal/Odessa/Rus d 1916 Eureka SD, m 1861 Glückstal CHRISTIANA RITTER b 1842 STAUSZ Glückstal d 1924 Eureka SD, her par GEORG FRIEDRICH RITTER b Würt Ger and ROSINA RITTER BARBARA MEYER b 1815 Glückstal dau of JACOB & ROSINA MEYER, d 1908 Eureka SD. MEYER Ardella Strobel Bennett, 7501 Logan Ave. S., Apt. 1A, Richfield, MN 55423

SURNAME EXCHANGE

The Surname Exchange is designed as a research tool to enable AHSGR members who are researching similar names to engage in correspondence that can be mutually beneficial. It is composed of two parts: Section I, names under research; Section II, names of researchers. Section I is an alphabetical listing of all surnames actively under study, with a corresponding alphabetized numerical Index Key to the names and addresses of researchers in Section II. Both Sections I and II of the Surname Exchange should be used in conjunction with Clues '77.

73 SECTION I ALBRECHT-C27,Z10 GINTER-B75 ALLES - H87 GISICK-Z10 GOODMAN (GUTMAN) - W71 BAER - W70 GRABER - G39 BAHRMAN - P38 GRADWOHL - D39 BAUER - B75 GRAU - G40 BAUMGARTNER - B75 GREENWALD - M69 BECKER - B77, H87, K56, R46, W69 GRENZ - H87 BELTZ - K56 GRIEGER-S121 BENKE - M67 GRIGOLITZ - G39 BENZLER - L45 GRUENEWALD-W69 BISCHEL - L45 BODVIN - R46 HAAR - M66 BORGENS - M69 HARTIG - L45 BOXBERGER - H89 HAUCH - G40 BREITMEIER - B77 HEIDEMAN - M67 BRUNMIER (BRUNMEIER) - R48 HEIT - H88 BUCKENBERGER - B74 HEITZMANN - H87 HEIZENREITER - R47 CONRAD - F29 HEMMINGER - E25 HENSCHEL-S126 DAER - B75 HERRMANN-K57 UAHLINGER-K56, M66 HERT - H87 DAHMER - W69 HIRSCH - D37 DAUER - L45 HOLTZWORTH ( HOLZWARTH) - R48 DAVID - R48 HOPP - B74 DEASER - H88 HORMEL-S123 DECKER-K56, W71 HORST-W71 DEINES-H89, Z10 HUST - B77 DIENER - K57 DOERING - D38 ISHLER - B74 DOLWIG - W70 DREIBART-G40 JANTZEN - K56 JUNG - R48 ECKHART - M69 EISENBARTH - R48 KAHLERT-K57 ENGEL - B74 KAMATSKE - G40 ESSIG - E25 KARCH -S125 ESTERLING - R48 KEENE - D37 KELLER - R48 FEUERSTEIN (FIRESTONE) - H86 KERNER - L45 FIBELKORN-S121 KESSLER-K55 FIENSKI - G39 KINZEL-S126 FOLTZ-S127 KISON - B77 FOOS - H89 KLAM - B77 FRANK - D39 KLETH - B77 FREED (FRIEDT) - W70 KNAUB-D39, F29 FREIER - G39 KOEHLER (KAHLER) - H86 KORB-T11 GABLE - H87 KRAMER - K58 GEMAR –T1l KRAUS-G41, K56 GEORGE -G41 KRAUSE - G40 GERHARDT -S124 KRIEGER-G41 GERKING - R47 KRUG - D39, Z10 GESCHEFSKE-M67 KUBEL-K57 GETTE - H88 KUNDT - G39 74 LAUFER - D37 SCHLEGEL - K56 LAUTENSCHLEGER - P38 SCHLEINING-H86, R48 LEHMAN - L45 SCHMALL-S122 LEHR –D37 SCHMER - R48 LENHARDT - W70 SCHMIDT - H88, K56, W70 LESCH - R46 SCHOCK - B77 LESER-G41 SCHRAG-Z10 LIBSACK - B75 SCHREINER - D39, F29, R48 LIEBSACK - Z9 SCHULTZ (SCHULZ) - S121 LUNG - L45 SCHUTZ - D38 LUTHER - G40 SCHWARTZ - R46 SCHWEITZER - W70 MARKUS - M66 SCHWENKE - G40 MEISNER - Z9 SELLER - B75 MENCHINGER - E25 SIEB (SEIB)-S125 MENSINGER - E25 SIEBERT - K56 MILLER-M66, M67, W71 SITTNER-K58, G41 MOHR (MOORE) - R48, P38 SPLETZER-S123 MOORELAND (MOHRLAND) - D37 STARK - H87 MULLER-Z10 STEBEN - R48 STELSER - G39 NERENBERG-S121 STEINKE--M67 NEUBAUER - G40 STERKEL - H86 STILLER - M67 OBELANDER - B74 STOLLER-T11 OSMAN-S121 STRAUSHEIM - B75 OSTERMILLER-W69 STROH - M69, Z9 STROHSCHEIN (STROHSCHINE) - S126 PANKRATZ - B77 STUMPF-S126 PERLING - B74 PFAFFENROTH-P38 TEPPER - M68 PITSCH - R48 TIEFENBACH - G40 TOESKE - D38 RAGUS -S123 TRAUDT - B76 RADKE - B77 TUFAK - G40 REIBER - R47 UHRICH - M69 REICHEL-Z10 REICHERT - R48 VIETZ - H87 REINFELD - G40 REINHARDT -K57, Z10 REITER - D39, W70 WACKER - M69 RIEDINGER - B74 WAGNER-K55 RIEMLAND - G40 WALIOR-S127 RINDFLEISCH - G40 WEBER-R46, S121 ROGEL - R47 WEINMEISTER - R48 RUDEL - R46 WEISZ-H87 RUMLAND - G40 WEITZEL-R47 RUPPEL-S125 WIEDERSPAN - H87 RUFF - B75, W70 WILDEMAN - M68 SAHIL-K55 WINTERS-D38 SALWASSER - L45 WITOWSKE - G40 SCHADE-G40 WITT-S121 SCHEIDT-S122, S124, Z9 WOLSKE - M68 SCHIEBLE-M67 WUTZKE-S121 SCHIEFNER-Z10 SCHIESLER - H87 YURK - K57 SCHINDLER - H87 ZELMER-S123 75 ZIMBELMAN-T11 ZOELLMER-Z10 ZITTERKOPF - G41 ZUMSTEIN - B76

SECTION II

B74 John & Marta (Ischler) Buckenberger, 1455 Wilshire Terrace, St. Joseph, MI 49085 B75 Mrs. Dan (Alice) Bauer, 2916 Helix St., Spring Valley, CA 92077 B76 Mrs. Mary B. Bennett, 791 Deerfield Rd., Murray, UT 84107 B77 Rudolph & Stella (Pankratz) Breitmeier, Box 517, Harlem, MT 59526

C27 Mrs. Esther (Albrecht) Cole, 3205 Buffalo Rd., Niles, MI 49120

D 37 Susan S. Delashmutt, 927 W. Stowell Rd., Santa Maria, CA 93454 D38 Michael W. Doering, Rt. 1, Box 166, Newton, WI 53063 D39 Mrs, Frank (Elaine) Davison, 1850 Pleasant, Walla Walla, WA 99362 E25 Emil & Virginia (Heyn) Essig, Rt. 1, Bridgman, MI 49106

F29 Larry R. Frank, 1224 N. Clinton, Walla Walla, WA 99362

G39 Dr. Elmer Graber, 52690 Brooktrails Dr., South Bend, IN 46637 G40 Richard & Adeline (Neubauer) Grau, 907 Michigan Ave., St, Joseph, MI 49085 G41 Miss Gayle D. George, 438 Adams St., Denver, CO 80206

H64 Mrs. Sadie I. Hand, 426 Peterson, Ft. Collins, CO 80521 (Address Change) H86 Mrs, Elizabeth (Kahler) Hayes, 3113 So. 109th St., Omaha, NE 68144 H87 Mrs. Delilah (Schindler) Hert, 626 W. 2nd, Hardin, MT 59034 H88 Miss Marcia Y. Heit, 6923 Teller Ct., Arvada, CO 80003 H89 Mrs. Dorothy (Boxberger) Henry, 1928 Rosalie Ridge, Huntsville, AL 35811

K55 Sister Ann Kessler, Mount Marty College, Yankton, SD 57078 K56 Richard & Adele (Schmidt) Kraus, 100 Falmouth Rd. W., Arlington, MA 02174 K57 Mrs. Margaret (Reinhardt) Kade, 912 Niagara Ave., Sheboygan, WI 53081 K58 William Carl Kramer, 1191 White St., Des Plaines, IL 60016

L45 Monte W. Lung, 2734 Oak Rd., #98, Walnut Creek, CA 94596

M66 Edward & Amelia (Dahlinger) Miller, 4045 N. Floyd Ave., Fresno, CA 93711 M67 Miss Frieda Miller, 1750 East Napier, Benton Harbor, MI 49022 M68 Martin & Agnes (Wildeman) Mak, Jr., 3820 Blenheim Rd., St. Joseph, MI 49085 M69 Mrs. Alice (Wacker) Magalis, 14338 State Hwy 49, #78, Grass Valley, CA 95945

P38 Miss Elizabeth Pfaffenroth, 37 Brompton Rd., Great Neck, NY 11020

R46 Andrew & Katherine (Becker) Rudell, 2406 S. State St., St. Joseph, MI 49085 R47 Leiand Louis Reiber, P.O. Box 127, Troy, ID 83871 R48 Harold & Virginia (Schleining) Reichert, P.O. Box-143, Torrington, WY 82240

S103 Mrs. Linda Seefeldt, RR2, Box 128 B., Clark, SD 57225 (Address Change) S121 Adam & Agnes (Grieger) Schultz, 262 So. Benton Center Rd., Benton Harbor, Ml 49022 S122 Mr, & Mrs. Henry Schmall, 4753 Richardson Ave., Bronx, NY 10470 S123 Arthur & Dorothy (Wolske) Spletzer, 5225 Shanghai Rd., Eau Claire, MI 49111 S124 Mrs. Laura (Summers) Strong, 1216 Lynnwood, Ft. Collins, CO 80521 S125 Gerald D. Sieb, 7398 Ave. NE, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2E OR8 S126 Barbara L. Stroschine. 1212 Wisconsin Ave., No. Fond du Lac, WI 54935 S127 Mrs. Yvonne M. Sauer, Rt. 1, Box 206,Vashon Island, WA 98070

76 T11 Mrs. Helen (Gemar) Trebesch, Brady, MT 59416

W69 Jacob & Marie (Becker) Worster, Rt. 2, Box 436, Buchanan, MI 49107 W70 Michael & Elizabeth (Reiter) Wyman, 239 E St. N.W., Ephrata, WA 98823 W71 Mrs, Earl (Vera Miller) Wilson, 710 So. 9th St., Norfolk, NE 68701

Z9 Mrs. Esther (Scheldt) Zimmerer, 812 P St., Lincoln, NE 68508 Z10 Roy & Donita (Gisick) Zoellmer, 116 W. 7th, Ellinwood, KS 67526 PASSENGER LIST Gwen B, Pritzkau :

Date: 6 September 1876 From Norka, Rss. TRAUDT Vessel: Suevia Nicolas, 33 From: Catherinenstadt, Rss. KRÜGER Anna, 23 Melchiot, 40 Anna, 2 mo. OBERT Elisabeth, 38 Peter, 39 Wilhelm,45 HEIMBUCHNER Agnes, 29 Margretha, 43 Georg, 21 Ceclia, 6 Johann,18 Maria, 20 Amelia, 3 Anna, 18 Georg, 10 mo. Dorothea, 2 Conrad,16 Paulina, 11 mo. Ludwig, 14 SCHAFER Johannes, 9 Heinrich, 21 STAB Elisabeth, 7 Barbara, 21 Peter, 27 Catherina, 5 Heinrich, 8 mo. Maria, 56 Mother Jacob, 5 mo. Franz,17 Johann, 21 From: Walther, Rss. Ambrosius, 16 Catherina, 21 Cornilius, 9 SCHOSSLER Rosina, 18 SCHNEIDMANN Jacob,21 Martin, 45 Elizabeth, 20 FALLER Anna, 38 Georg, 21 Sophia, 62 Louisa, 17 BUDERUS Catherina, 12 STAB Christian, 20 Magdalena, 9 Catherina, 20 Johannes, 32 Catherina, 3 Elisabeth, 37 LICHTENBERGER Bertha, 3 SPADING Helfried,21 Sophia, 6 mo. Ludwig, 19 Catherina, 22 Agnes, 24 BARTEL Helfried, 7 mo. Aloisius, 4 Heinrich, 17 Peter, 2'/2 KORTWIG Anna, 11 mo. SCHWINDT Phillip, 21 Alexander 1 mo. Nicolas, 20 Catherina, 21 Anna, 19 Sophia, 20 Johann, 6 mo. Date: 22 November 1876 From: Frank, Rss. From: Norka, Rss. Vessel: Frisia From: Denhoff, Rss. SCHWIEVER WOLF Georg, 21 Conrad, 21 LIND Catherina, 19 Jacob, 21 SEEDER Catherina, 22 URICH Conrad, 21 Jacob, 11 mo. Paul, 21 Catherina, 23 Catherina, 18 Heinrich, 18 From: Kolb Rss. KOCH SCHEINER KOCH Oswald, 20 Melcher, 21 Henrich,21 Elisabeth, 20 Margrelha, 22 Heinrich, 9 mo. MEYER KITTMANN Jacob,21 Heinrich, 21 DOERING Barbara, 22 THIEL Johann, 29 Heinrich, 21 WAGGER SCHNELL Johann,21 Georg, 21 ACHZIG Maria, 22 Justina, 20 Heinrich, 21 Anna, 11 mo. 77

REPP HEIN Anna, 9 Heinrich. 42 David, 20 Catherina, 8 Anna,40 Johann, 7 Peter. 18 RATHKE Elisabeth, 6 Conrad, 15 Erdman,53 Florentina, 4 Catherina, 9 Regina, 52 Jacob, 8 mo. Maria, 8 Jacob, 18 Johann, 16 Date: 31 October 1877 TRAUDT David, 9 Vessel: Herder From; Heinrich, 35 Samuel, 7 Kaminka, Rss. Elisabeth, 32 ERDMAN STRAMEL Heinrich, 5 Johann,30 Anton,59 Margretha, 11 mo. Adelgunde, 22 Christina, 56 Christina, 1 mo. Gottfried, 11 mo. Hanes, 26 Theresia, 25 HEVENNIEDER Johann, 1 mo. Catherina, 16 Gottlieb, 23 Johann Erdman and Anton, 28 Elisabeth. 22 family were from Rosenberg, Rss. Christina, 29 SCHREIBER Susanna,7 Georg, 54 From Feodosia, Rss. Johannes, 4 Georg, 17 Anna, 11 mo. Johannes, 16 FIEDLER URBAN Johannes,52 Euphrosina,50 Michael, 48 Anna,53 Wilhelmina, 24 Anna, 46 Johann,12 Jacob,17 Gottfried, 15 Adam, 15 From; Huck, Rss. Justina, 9 Joseph,14 Michael, 7 PROTZMAN KRAUSE Anna, 7 Phillip, 20 Gottfried, 33 Jacob,25 Margretha, 19 Wilhelmina, 23 Catherina, 23 Catherina, 5 mo. SCHWABAUER FLEISHAUER Joseph, 56 Jacob,21 Johann,26 Elisabeth, 56 Maria, 22 Johann,15 Date: 16 May 1877 Vessel: Friedrich, 6 mo. Steven, 36 Suevia From: Rohrbach, Rss. Eva, 34 RABE Anna, 9 KLEIN Gottfried, 38 Joseph,6 Johann,43 Helena, 35 Jacob,4 Catherina, 43 Gottfried, 17 Adam, 9 mo. Jacob,21 Heinrich, 15 Georg,23 Johann,19 David, 13 Georg, 7 Andreas, 18 Carl, 9 Anna, 9 Heinrich, 8 Johann, 9 Anna, 24 Friedrich, 6 Helena, 5 Georg,3 Peter,2 Elisabeth, 3 Anna, 4 Catherina, 15 Samuel, 10 mo. Joseph, 17 Margretha, 12 Date: 20 Juno 1877 Elisabeth, 4 Vessel: Pommerania INGERTHRON Christina, 4 mo. From: Catherinoslaw, Rss. Joseph,54 Magdalena,52 HUST Georg, 19 Georg, 47 SIEBEL Joseph,16 Elisabeth, 47 Ludwig, 20 Johann,14 Jacob, 20 Charlotta, 21 Barbara, 9 Anna,21 Charlotta, 11 mo. Eva, 18 SCHM1DT URBAN Christian, 12 Paul, 33 Georg, 45 Margretha, 9 Elisabeth, 30 Anna, 34 Barbara, 4 Peter,5 Johann,19 Elisabeth, 2 Carl, 4 Andreas, 13 REICHERT Paul, 11 mo. Georg, 9 Jacob,20 Jacob,8 Heinrich, 21 STIEG Georg, 6 mo. Samuel, 33 Anna, 6 Date; 6 June 1877 Regina, 26 Anna, 4 Vessel: Wieland Regina, 4 MILLER From; Feodosia, Krim, Rss. Anna, 3 Johann, 11 mo. Georg, 24 SCHM1DT Jacob, 1 mo. Anna,23 David, 30 Johann, 11 mo. Wilhelmina, 20 OBERMANN Wilhelmina, 11 mo. Friederich, 39 SCHULMEISTER Anna,38 Barbara, 24 Friederich, 14 78

VOGEL Catherina, 28 STEGMANN Jacob,57 Georg, 24 Catherina, 11 mo. Marianna, 5 6 Magdalena, 35 From: Pfeiffer, Rss. WOLZBORN Marianna, 8 Conrad, 43 Agnese, 6 KEPERLIEN Catherina, 43 Elisabeth, 4 Marian, 5 6 Heinrich, 18 Adam, 11 mo. Johannes, 24 Conrad,8 Magdalena, 1 mo. Magdalena 23 Jacob, 6 mo. Barbara, 17 Ignatz, 11 mo. Georg, 1 mo. From; Huck, Rss. HEIN Catherina, 4 Anton, 21 SCHNEIDER Elisabeth, 21 Heinrich, 44 PIEFER Georg, 1 mo. Peter, 33 Barbara, 43 Catherina, 33 Chrisfoph, 23 STEGMANN Casper,4 Elisabeth, 19 Adam, 60 Adam, 30 Catherina, 16 Margaretha,58 Anna,28 Anna, 9 Heinrich, 37 Adam, 4 Jacob,5 Marianna, 28 Elisabeth, 11 mo. Peter, 23 Jacob,9 Elisabeth, 23 Johann,5 STEGMANN Michael, 3 SIEDNER Mattias, 61 Johannes, 6 Johannes, 71 Marianna, 58 Hans, 7 Adam, 48 Peter, 17 Michael, 11 mo. Johannes, 21 Adam, 33 Peter, 34 Peter,9 Catherine, 30 Elisabeth, 32 Anna, 4 Casper, 5 Johannes, 8 Wilhelm,45 Barbara, 3 Margretha, 11 mo. Johann,6 mo. Rosina, 44 Anna, 17 From: Fischer,Rss. BORGART Georg,14 Johann,52 Catherina, 9 GÜNTHER Eva, 45 Phillip, 7 Wilhelm, 42 Georg,14 Barbara, 4 Maria, 40 Mariane, 16 Catherina, 4 Sophia, 20 Johannes, 24 Elisabeth, 18 Christian, 18 Catherine, 22 Margretha, 14 Anna,13 Elisabeth, 2 mo. Conrad,9 Johann,9 Adam, 20 Johann,8 Maria,8 Elisabeth, 20 Catherina, 3 Anna, 6 Georg, 11 mo. Dorothea, 11 mo. Catherina, 1 mo. KOCH Maria, 60 Mother Johannes, 36 KIESELER Margretha, 34 LANG Jacob,35 Barbara, 8 Georg, 45 Catherina, 34 Margretha, 11 mo. Louise, 45 Jacob, 6 mo. Peter, 60 Georg, 23 Casper, 20 Barbara, 58 Margretha, 20 Mariana, 20 Adam, 19 Maria, 17 Jacob, 17 Adam 19 Date: 7 November 1877 Vessel: Georg, 27 Elisabeth, 8 Pammonia From: Frank, Rss. Christina, 24 Anna, 6 SCHÄFER Child, 11 mo. Christianna, 4 Conrad, 45 Peter, 25 Soloman, 11 mo. Conrad, 21 Elisabeth, 25 Friederich, 9 mo. Jacob,18 Georg, 4 MEYER Adam, 20 Catherine, 17 Elisabeth, 11 mo. Anna, 19 wife Catherina, 16 SCHWABAUER Anna,9 Johannes, 25 From: Palsgor.Rss. Johann, 23 (Died on voyage) Barbara, 25 Anna, 22 SCHOLL Oswald, 11 mo. Anna, 11 mo. C.,52 Nicolas, 43 From: Warrenberg, Rss. Maria, 51 Maria, 42 (Died on voyage) Johann,7 MOLLER Anna, 21 PASTRON Thomas, 22 Jacob,20 SEIDEL From: Pfeifer, Rss. Johann,28 GEBEL Maria. 26 Johann F, 23 SCHONFELD Jacob,45 BERNHARD Anna,44 Paul, 27

79 From Pfeiffer, Rss. Catherina, 4 Johann, 18 Johannes, 11 mo. Jacob,28 KIPPES Elisabeth, 1 mo. Anna,27 Jacob,21 Jacob, 1 mo. Maria, 8 Catherina, 19 wife Gerhard,7 Date: 14 November 1877 Vessel; The following persons were recorded and then a Wieland From: Unterdorf, Rss. ENGEL line was drawn through the names; however, they Joseph,33 were counted in the total of passengers. I don't URICH Catherina, 22 know if they sailed on this ship or what. Same Friederich, 28 Johann,8 ship, date, and they were from Pfeiffer, Rss. also. Julianna, 26 Maria, 6 Maria, 6 Paulina, 4 JACOBS Amatie, 4 Jacob, 3 mo. Georg, 42 Friederich, 11 mo. Magdalena, 40 Nathalie, 1 mo. ROHR Mathias, 20 Jacob,39 Date: 5 May 1880 Vessel: Georg, 13 Catherine, 33 Gellert From; Saratow, Rss, Casper,9 Catherine, 9 Elisabeth, 17 VOIGHT Raimund, 8 Magdalena, 4 Franz,36 Alexander, 6 Barbara, 11 mo, Paulina, 31 Johann,2 Johannes, 27 Hedwig, 3 Rosina, 1 mo. Catherine, 26 Paulina, 9 mo. Casper, 6 mo. UNREIN Georg,6 Date; 24 October 1877 Barbara, 55 Catherina, 4 Vessel: Rio Paul, 20 Christina, 60 From: Hamburg to Paraguay Agnes, 9 Michael, 35 From; Ober-Monjou, Rss. Friederich, 24 Magdalena, 32 Anna,24 Peter,9 KRANEWITTER Alexander, 3 Johann, 6 Adam, 45 Amelia, 2 Georg, 11 mo. Helena, 13 Agnes, 9 mo. Anna,7 The last name of Jacobs has a line through it. Like Amelia, 2 KRANIWITTER it was a mistake or something. I can't figure this Paul, 3 mo. Johann,52 entry out.... Sorry! Margretha, 50 BOOS Lucie, 14 LELL Johann, 9 (Step-son) Johann,9 Johannes, 38 Heinrich, 7 Margretha, 34 BOOS Catherina, 5 Conrad, 36 DECHANT Georg, 11 mo. Catherine, 32 Peter Anton, 34 Johannes, 1 mo. Rosina, 9 Catherina, 31 Mattias, 33 Maria, 4 Anna,8 Anna, 33 Franz,6 Anna,4 RUDEL Paulina, 2 Catherina, 11 mo. Johann,55 Mathilde, 9 mo. Catherina, 54 GOTTING Ferdinand, 16 HERTEL Jacob,26 Anton, 29 Christina, 21 Jacob,47 Elisabeth, 28 Catherina, 36 Benjaman, 4 SPELTER Anna, 22 Johann,3 Franz,21 Georg, 16 (a line through his name) Georg, 27 Gertrude, 21 Peter, 12 Julianne, 24 Johann, 1 mo. Andreas, 9 Soloman, 4 NIERENBERGER Catherina, 11 mo. Georg,3 Johann,21 Johannes, 48 Johann, 2 mo. Elisabeth, 21 Margretha, 44 Johann,24 Johannes, 18 Maria, 22 BOOS Anna, 18 Ferdinand, 2 Gerhard, 20 Georg, 9 Martha, 9 mo. Anton, 18 Johannes, 5 Jacob,21 Barbara, 16 Catherina, 19 DECHANT Elisabeth, 11 mo. Johann, 21 Mattias, 42 HÜBNER Barbara, 40 Nicolas, 32 SEIB Adam, 18 Magdalena, 21 Conrad, 25 Barbara, 18 Rostna, 9 mo. Anna, 24 Johannes, 14 Anna, 9 mo. Elisabeth, 3 LEIKER Nicolas, 21 Margretha, 11 mo. Phillip,59 STRAUMM Christina, 20 Maria, 55 Joseph, 25 Johannes, 32 Agnes, 18 Catherine, 25 Anna, 28 Alexander, 3 Jacob,8

80 STUPPERT Alexander, 7 From :Stahl, Rss. Heinrich, 26 Amelia, 4 KRUTSCH Margretha, 26 Peter, 9 mo. Heinrich, 24 Paulina, 6 mo. Conrad, 31 Anna, 31 Helena, 23 KLAUS Pauline, 8 Gottlieb, llmo. Joseph, 24 Elisabeth, 9 Alexander, 1 mo. Elisabeth, 24 Johann,14 From: Reinwaldt, Rss. David, 3 Date: 6 Febuary 1878 Johann, 9 mo. EIRICH Vessel: Rio Heinrich, 43 RUPP From: Hamburg to Rio de Janeiro Catherina, 40 Gerhard, 35 From: Schultz, Rss. Johann,18 Anna, 32 Heinrich, 16 Elisabeth, 9 RICHTER Carl, 14 Catherina, 7 Jacob,62 Casper, 9 Alexander, 5 Elisabeth, 60 Elisabeth, 6 Anna, 11 mo. Christian, 21 Sophia, 11 mo. Johann, 1 mo. Friederich, 19 Maria, 1 mo. Magdalena.50 Conrad, 35 Joseph, 20 Rigina, 32 DAMER Johann, 74 HAAS Carl, 8 Johann, 19 Jacob H., 35 Casper, 11 mo. Heinrich, 48 Anna, 34 Maria, 6 Catherina, 47 Alexander, 16 From: Schwmdt, Rss. Christian, 16 David, 3 Heinrich, 9 David Jacob, 17 KREMER Johann,6 Jacob,14 Andreas, 58 Jacob, 31 mo. Catherina, 5 3 RESCH Christina, 19 Dorthea,16 Sophia, 8 Alexander, 30 Friederich, 9 Catherine, 20 Peter, 22 Gottlieb, 7 Elisabeth, 22 DEPLER Christian, 28 Johann, 6 mo. Elisabeth, 27 Georg, 35 Gertrude, 35 Elisabeth, 7 Christian, 11 mo. Phiilip, 9 mo. Heinrich, 1 mo.

81 CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE ARTHUR E. FLEGEL, who prepares the genealogy section of the Work Paper and has contributed numerous translations to the journal also serves the Society as Co-Editor of Clues, as an active organizer of Genealogy Committee projects, and as a Society Vice-President. This year he has the formidable position of Chairman for the Eighth International Convention of the AHSGR. ADAM GIESINGER, historian, chemist, and much-published author is a regular contributor to the Work Paper and also serves the Society as a Vice-President. A useful tool for scholars, researchers, and genealogists, his most recent work, "A Key to Microfilm of Captured German Documents," is being prepared by the Society for distribution at this summer's convention. EMMA SCHWABENLAND HAYNES, respected authority on the Germans from Russia who has recently resumed residence in the United States after thirty years in Europe will be a featured speaker at the Society's eighth annual gathering in San Francisco. She will address the convention on "The Deportation of the Soviet Germans." TIMOTHY J. KLOBERDANZ, Editor of the Work Paper's Folklore Forum (and himself a recent Bräutigam), teaches anthropology at North Dakota State University in Fargo where his classes include a course entitled "Germans from Russia." His prize-winning master's thesis, 'The Volga German Catholic Life Cycle" is scheduled for publication by the AHSGR. GWEN B. PRITZKAU, a certified genealogist, research specialist, and librarian has dedicated the-past eight years to researching German names on passenger lists of immigrants from Russia. She has been a regular .contributor to the AHSGR Work Paper for five years. JOHN B. TOEWS, whose three-part series, "Documents on Mennonite Life" concludes with this issue is Head of the Department of History at the University of Calgary. He is the author of several books and his numerous articles have appeared in Medievalia et Humanistica, Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Russland, Catholic Historical Review, Mennonite Life, Mennonite Quarterly Review, Canadian Ethnic Studies, Church History, Mennonitische Geschichtsblaetter, Canadian Journal of History, and other publications, LAWRENCE A, WEIGEL, a regular contributor to the Work Paper, was instrumental in organizing the Volga- German Centennial Association which planned and executed the phenomenally successful celebration of the centennial of the arrival of Germans from Russia to Ellis and Rush Counties in Kansas, which he describes in this issue. In addition Weigel served as a contributing author of the Official Centennial History of the Volga German Settlements in Ellis and Rush Counties and of the script of Exodus to Freedom, a historical pageant in which he also played the role of his own great-great-great grandfather.

NEXT FOLKLORE FORUM Following appropriately enough this issue's forum on marriage customs and beliefs, the Folklore Forum scheduled for publication in the winter Work Paper will deal with beliefs and customs surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, and early childhood. Anecdotes and recollections dealing with mid-wives, child-rearing practices, nursery rhymes, childhood games and amusements, and similar topics will be welcomed. Clear copies of photographs or negatives relating to such topics will also be considered for publication. Please submit all contributions by October 15, 1977 to Professor Timothy J. Kloberdanz, The Department of Anthropology/Sociology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, 58102.

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