Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans From Russia

w-s.s> Mennovllla Mennonlte Church

Vol. 9, No. 3 Fall 1986 TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF INTRODUCTION TO THE SEVENTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ...... 1

THE CONVENTION IS CALLED TO ORDER ...... 2

THE MEMORIAL SERVICE ...... 4 Glowrine H. Austin

WE'RE EIGHTEEN! LET'S CELEBRATE OUR ACHIEVEMENTS ...... 8 Ruth M. Amen CHAPTER PRESIDENTS MEETING ...... 12

CONVENTIONS ARE WORK ...... 13 CONVENTIONS ARE FUN ...... 14

THIRTEENTH ANNUAL APPRECIATION LUNCHEON OF THE INTERNATIONAL AHSGR FOUNDATION ...... 15 THE BAZAAR AND AUCTION NETTED $8,714.77 ...... 18

THE IMMORTAL BOND OF FAMILY ...... 19 Douglas Hale

MEET THE SCHWINDT FAMILY ...... 25

"FLY THE MAPLE LEAF" PROJECT ...... 33 Ron Neuman

"LET HIM STEP TO THE MUSIC WHICH HE HEARS" THE PAST AND PRESENT DUTCH HOP TRADITION ...... 34 Marilyn Hehr Fletcher

THOSE WHO WERE BORN IN RUSSIA ...... 37

THE TOTAL GROUP IS PICTURED ...... 38

OUR LIFE MEMBERS ...... 40

THE OKLAHOMA CONNECTION OF THE GERMANS FROM RUSSIA ...... 41 Ray D. Lau

WEIHNACHTSFEIER ...... 46 THE FELLOWSHIP BREAKFAST ...... 49

NUMEROUS DISHES WITH SIX INGREDIENTS ...... 50 Continued on inside back cover

Published by American Historical Society of Germans From Russia 631 D Street • Lincoln, Nebraska 68502-1199 • Phone 402-474-3363

Edited by: Ruth M. Amen

© Copyright 1986 by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. All rights reserved, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia

Every gathering of AHSGR members is special and so it is here in Oklahoma City. Members of the Central Oklahoma Chapter have planned a week of activities that should make all of us glad we came to this 17th international convention. The past year has been one of growth and accomplishments. The chapel has been completed and furnishings have been placed in the summer kitchen and country store. Our members continue to remember us with contributions of materials as well as their funds. They help us build the Heritage Center and add to the Archives. We are pleased to say that many of our newer members are young. They have a keen interest in learning about their heritage and want to have a part in recording the history of our people. We are pleased to have some of them in attendance at this convention. This convention is a time of celebration. Our accomplishments in 18 years are many and we are rightfully proud.

Seventeenth International Convention Oklahoma City, Oklahoma July 14-20, 1986 THE SEVENTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION IS CALLED TO ORDER

Early in the week of July 14,1986, board meetings, tours and a get-together for chapter presidents filled the days along with the opportunities to visit with the old friends and get acquainted with new ones. A highlight was the typical Oklahoma Barbecue after which conventionites were seated at tables according to ancestral village. There had been a special slide presentation by Ron Neuman of Edmonton and a "Demonstration and Tasting Party" on how pioneer women prepared dishes from only 6 ingredients. On Thursday morning at 8:30 A.M. the time had come for the total group of 700 to gather for a formal "call to order "by President Selma T. Hieb, better known to all of us as Sally. There followed the singing of some of our old favorites in German along with special greetings and a Memorial Service prior to the keynote address by Ruth Amen.

Cherrie Hampton, soprano, appropriately sang President Selma T. Hieb calls the convention to “Oklahoma" accompanied by Glenda Beloncik. order. Chris Neuman of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada brought in the Maple leaf as the audience sang 0 Canada!

Larry Metzler, Jr. brought in the Stars and Stripes as the audience sang America the Beautiful.

MEMORIAL SERVICES Glowrine H. Austin It is the practice of AHSGR to spend a few moments of the opening session in remembrance of those who have finished their earthly journey. Even though they are no longer with us, their spirit surrounds us. Today we pause to reflect on those members who have contributed so much to make this organization flourish and grow. We thank God for the memories we share and the effort they gave us. When you attend the Foundation luncheon today, you will find listed in your program the names of those persons who have left us this past year. Perhaps one of them is someone you met and visited with at a previous convention. Perhaps one sat at your table on Village Night. Or perhaps you corresponded with one through information found in Clues. We are a very large extended family, and we lose a bit of ourselves with each member who departs in death. In addition, we think of those ancestors who made the difficult decision to leave family, friends, and homeland and come to a strange and unknown land. Personally, I think of two sets of grandparents and my father. Each of you has one or more that you especially remember. We have benefited from the choice they made. First, they have given us the opportunity to live and prosper in freedom. Secondly, they have given us the wonderful heritage that brings us together today. Now in silent reflection let us remember these people whom we honor and love. Please join me in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, to whom we give all praise and glory, we thank you for these lives that have touched us and are so much a part of us. Keep them always alive in our memory. Constantly help us to realize that we are your children. With the psalmist we pray, "Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Thus when our time on earth is done, may we join you and those we love in that eternal home you have prepared for us. In the redemptive name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

It isn't often that AHSGH has a century-old member give the invocation. John Fucks honored us thus. Glowrine H. Austin Welcome to Oklahoma Senator Tim Leonard

We welcome all of you here from every state, from Canada, from Germany, and from any other countries represented here. We are very proud that you chose Oklahoma and Oklahoma City for your convention of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. We are very proud of our German heritage in Oklahoma, as all of you are proud of your heritage in the individual state in which you live. We have over 180 thousand citizens of Oklahoma with German heritage. I live in the Panhandle of Oklahoma, the northwestern part of the state. All of that rural agricultural area is almost all settled by people of German ancestry. My grandfather came from rural northeastern Nebraska. I am proud of Oklahoma. Let me tell you just briefly a little about Oklahoma, the similarities in the founding of this state and what your ancestors did. Oklahoma was basically founded by the Indians who were forced out of their homelands in Southeastern United States into the Oklahoma Indian Territory. The rest of Oklahoma was formed by the Great Run ninety-six years ago, by people who loaded their belongings and families, onto wagons and horses. On a given day, when the gun sounded, they ran across the border into Oklahoma and claimed their homestead and their new home. So we have a lot of similarities with what your ancestors did in making their new homes in Russia, then migrating and making their new homes in this country. We are proud of that ancestry, as you are. I have had a great belief that knowing about our past helps us chart the course for the future. And I think that what you have done with the founding of this society is keeping alive the heritage of people like Mr. Fuchs, his sacrifices and his dream, the dreams of your ancestors, when they came to this great country. I think we owe that to them. I have great appreciation for what they did, their contributions to this country, this state, and whatever state you are from. I have great appreciation for the contributions each of you has made following in their footsteps, and I have great hope for the contributions that your children and your grandchildren will make to your state and your country. We welcome you to Oklahoma. We are proud of our state; we our proud of our city; we are proud of you; we are proud of those of you who have contributed and settled here. We hope that you will come back often. We hope you have a good time here, making good friends here. I want to close with a little saying that has always stuck in my mind. "It is good to make new friends, it is good to see the old; the first are like the silver, the latter like the gold." Thank you very much.

Place these dates on your calendar now.

Eighteenth International Convention July 20- 26, 1987 Portland, Oregon Greetings From Oklahoma City Edmond Cook On behalf of the citizens of Oklahoma City, it is my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to those attending the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia convention July 14-20, 1986, at the Hilton Inn West. It is an honor to have you in Oklahoma City, and I am sure you will have a most successful convention. We hope while you are here you will have an opportunity to visit the many attractions our city has to offer. We believe you will find Oklahoma City a most enjoyable place to visit. We're proud of our city, and we will do everything possible to make sure that you enjoy your stay.

Edmond Cook at left extended a warm welcome to The Consul General’s greetings were read by Oklahoma City. Christina Faris.

Greetings from the Consul General of Germany Peter Maier-Oswald As Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany, I have the honor and pleasure to send my greetings to the 17th International Convention of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. Centuries ago, Germans were called to settle into what was at the time the Russian Empire. Through the fate of history, many of their descendants have found a new home in the United States of America. I am happy to see that there are still many ties to the land of their forefathers and that German culture is still cherished in spite of the fact that all have become good Americans. Thus, you also formed part of the larger frame work of German-American relations, which we strive to improve in the interest of the well being of our peoples. I wish you all the best for your convention. Welcome to the 17th International Convention Marianne Wheeler

The foremost concern in our planning for this convention was to blend as many customs and traditions of our heritage as was possible, thereby etching a bit deeper into our collective memory the heritage of our forefathers and preserving it more fully for future generations. We want not to forget how our grandmothers prepared food, how our homes were made, the sounds of our music and how we danced when we were happy, how terribly difficult life has been for our people and how we grieved when we were sad, what clothes we wore, the importance of our religion, the integral role of the family in our lives, the sound of the German language, the paths they took that led them here. We hope that you enjoyed our food tasting party. We hope that you have gleaned ideas for future chapter meetings, and that you understand another chapter better. We hope that you understand the role of the Germans from Russia in building Oklahoma, We tried to help you learn some additional techniques to use in researching your family history, because as we each delve into our own history we are able to build a collective body of knowledge of considerable size. We have planned many activities for youth so that, in the future, we might have a group eager to carry on the work of this society. I want you to know that the youngest person registered for this convention is three years old and the oldest person is one hundred, I sincerely hope that by now you have met a relative who is new to you, or renewed a childhood friendship. You have sampled our Oklahoma hospitality and been exposed to our local color with an excursion of our fair city yesterday. You have listened to the life story of Mr. and Mrs. Schwindt and marveled at the resilience of our German brothers who stayed behind in what is now USSR. Together we have made the Oklahoma Historical Society more aware of the presence of Germans from Russia in Oklahoma and created more interest in our heritage within this state. In the following days I want you to make sure to visit our photo and art exhibit in the registration area entitled "Folk Architecture of the Southern Plains," sponsored in part by a grant from the Oklahoma Foundation for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Enjoy our upcoming genealogy and folklore symposium. Please come and spend lots of money at the auction tonight. Our Friday luncheon speaker, Dr. Hale, one of our local heroes and a leading historian of this region, was the first person to document the history of Germans in Oklahoma. We feel sure you will enjoy his presentation. We knew we couldn't do anything about the heat, so we tried to get your mind thinking about cooler times of year. Thus we invite you to enjoy our pageant on Friday night, our "Christmas in July," and the memories it brings of an old time German Christmas. Presented completely in German, this musical production will be given at Herrick Auditorium on the SNU campus. We have offered everyone the opportunity to learn the dances of our grandparents and hear the same music they did. We hope that the Saturday banquet and the dance will provide some entertainment for you to relax before you return to your homes. Finally, please join with us Sunday morning in worship at the ecumenical service. No effort in building this convention will be too great if you go home saying, "I am glad I came to Oklahoma City."

Editor's Note: Credit must be given Delbert D. Amen who was convention co-chairman. Usually in the background, he was an enormous help in all the planning. WE'RE EIGHTEEN! LETS CELEBRATE OUR ACHIEVEMENTS! The Keynote Address Ruth M. Amen, Executive Director

Dear Members of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia: I'm sure many of you were among the millions who spent more than several hours in front of your television during the recent Fourth of July weekend. I have been told that our Canadian friends also watched some Of the ceremonies. It was an exciting time, of course, but it must have reminded all of us that our parents and grandparents were among those immigrants who came to the new world. They came from Russia across land and sea with what they had on their backs. Sometimes they carried a small chest with food. They ventured forth fearlessly to settle unknown territory even as their forefathers who had settled in Russia- Some went to Canada and the United States. Others, often unexpectedly, found themselves in South America — in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. Today it is estimated that there are at least 4 million Germans from Russia in the Americas, Those who withstood the trip gave us the legacy and challenge to tell their story. It took 100 years from the time our ancestors started to came to the New World for us to bring about the organization of AHSGR. There were reasons. Let us remember that our forefathers were busily engaged in building their new homes and communities and making it possible for their children to have advantages they never enjoyed. Let it also be said that they never forgot the families and friends they left behind in Russia. When the terrible famines came they responded with help to feed them. When others wanted to come to the Americas, they sent the funds to make it possible. There were times when they didn't want to talk about the hard times in Russia and the pain of leaving their homes there. And sometimes they and their children were hesitant about admitting they were Germans from Russia because neither country was popular. But they were achievers and we owe it to them to continue the tradition. Have we done so as a society? I think we have and I believe firmly that our parents would be proud of us today. Eighteen is a wonderful age! As individuals, when we turned 18, it meant taking on new responsibilities and privileges. We were told at secondary school commencement ceremonies that life was just beginning. So as young people we went to work or on to learn a trade or attend college. At last we were on our own. But we always had the past to lean upon. Those near and dear to us were there to "back us up" when the need arose. So it is with AHSGR. We have 18 years of achievements as the foundation for the many years that lie ahead. At 18 we really are not very old. Certainly not in terms of our expectations that many generations will be benefiting from the legacy we—the AHSGR—will leave them. For some of us much has happened in those 18 years. I remember well my first meeting in early 1969. AHSGR had just been formally organized on October 6, 1968 and incorporated in December of that year. It may be dangerous to name names but I'm going to risk it. We met on Sunday afternoon in Denver and present at that meeting were Delores Schwartz and her mother, Katherine Giebelhaus, from Lincoln. They had sat up on the train all Saturday night to come to this meeting and they sat up all of Sunday night to get back to Lincoln by Monday morning. The three of us were charged with the responsibility of going home to organize the first chapter of AHSGR. We did it! And now we have 57 chapters in Canada and the United States. One will be chartered at this convention. Anyone who has ever worked at organizing a chapter will tell you THAT'S AN ACHIEVEMENT. In those early years the Board of Directors met every month under the leadership of David J. Miller of Greeley, Colorado. I remember leaving Lincoln with Ed Schwartzkopf one Sunday at 2 A.M. to drive to Windsor Gardens in Denver. We ran into a blinding snow storm about 200 miles on our way but we continued on to make it to that meeting. David held AHSGR together during those early years, IF ANY ONE MAN is to be credited with being the Founder of AHSGR it is he. Those first five years when he served as president put down a firm foundation on which to build, WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT! In the late summer of 1973 two cars went to Greeley to pick up the files and membership records and move them to Lincoln. We even made arrangements to move the address-o-graph (which must weigh a ton) which Jake Lebsack had obtained for free. It will interest you to know that we still use that old address-o-graph to address the envelopes for your Journals, Clues, Newsletters, etc. Our office was in a small bungalow which the Lincoln Chapter had rented to establish a small museum. We cleared out the back bedroom which measured 8 feet by 10 feet, moved in two old desks, both donations, and a typewriter, and used the closet for supplies. Our staff were all volunteers. From here we had two more moves to old houses acquiring more space as our membership grew and as staff was hired. What is the picture today? We have a beautiful headquarters building which was dedicated in 1983 which houses all our offices, our archives and library, and our genealogical records. On the lower level there is a large book store, a board room, space for supplies and a vault to house and assure protection for microfilms and rare items. On this level too, is a microfilm camera and a microfilm reader/printer which you may see and use in the genealogy workshop at this convention. Let me add that this building and its contents are all paid for. We don't owe anyone a cent. IS IT AN ACHIEVEMENT to move from an 8' X 10' room to the headquarters building I've described in ten years? I believe it is. Two items already mentioned merit, further notice. Our library has grown to more than 3,500 volumes. It is certainly the largest in this hemisphere on all groups of Germans from Russia. We are indebted to Emma Schwabenland Haynes for whom the library is named for acquiring many of the rare items we possess. We are happy about the fact that Emma was presented a plaque that has imprinted on it "The Emma Schwabenland Haynes Archives" at the 1983 convention. The plaque is now mounted on the wall of the library. We are now a library member of the On-Line Computer Library Center (known as OCLC) an international network of hundreds of libraries. Any one of these libraries can check on the computer to see if we have a certain book and then request it through inter-library loan, either by mail or on the computer. We can do the same. Our librarians check our computer each morning to pick up requests for books and learn whether books on loan have been mailed back to us. We do not place rare books in the mail. Instead, we copy them in part or entirely and send out those copies. How was the library built? It all started at the Greeley Public Library. The first book we acquired was given the designation GR-1; the second was GR-2; the third was GR-3. A card catalogue helped the librarians there keep track of every acquisition. Esther Fromm was the member librarian in Greeley and we will always be in her debt. When we moved the books to our new building in early 1983 we began the task of cataloguing the books according to the Library of Congress system. This is an ongoing project for new materials arrive almost daily. Some are purchases and some are contributions, many of which are family histories. It has taken many people, most of them members of AHSGR, to build this splendid collection which tells the history of all groups of Germans from Russia. When we consider the beginnings to what our library is today with its books, periodicals, tapes, recordings, and microfilms, we must say WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT! Also mentioned earlier was the genealogy department. Gerda Walker and Arthur Flegel got us started in devising the forms on which our members submit family group records. Later the collection of obituaries was begun. Literally dozens and dozens of our members have been involved in clipping these from old publications like Der Kirchenbote and mounting them on 5" X 8" cards. Now we are also collecting obituaries being published today for, if we don't save them now, we may never have them. You will see the many drawers of files of all these materials in the Genealogy Consulting Workshop. A conservative estimate is that we now possess 80,000 old obituaries and 60,000 family record cards. IS THAT AN ACHIEVEMENT? Certainly our members who are tracing their family history would say so. It should be added that our genealogy services encompass much more than the two items discussed here. Our surname exchange, which is just one part of Clues,- our genealogical journal, had over 2,000 researchers listed in the last issue. More than 4,700 surnames are being researched. For many of our members preserving the history of Germans from Russia is the foremost goal of AHSGR. We have been doing this since the beginning, first through the publication of 25 Work Papers and, since 1978, through the Journal. The articles our members have read in these publications told of the folklore, their music, their dialects, and their experiences through the past two centuries. Do you know another ethnic group which has published its history as we have? There are some who have colorful festivals and celebrations but I know of no group that has set about writing the history of its people as has the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. WE SHOULD BE PROUD OF THIS ACHIEVEMENT ALSO. And what about the Heritage Center? If you haven't visited it, you must come to Lincoln. Be prepared for the surprise of your lifetime. Remember that we started in an 8' X 10' room surrounded by the small 4 room museum, arranged by the Lincoln Chapter. Today, in addition to the headquarters building we have: 1. A 5 room house furnished as our Russian-German homes were in the early 1900's. 2. A house with the collectables that have been donated by members and friends from all over the society. 3. A summer kitchen which our volunteer members built. Yes, it is furnished with appropriate furniture. 4. A donated barn which houses "Katy Kuh," the cow that was donated by the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter. 5. A country store which is being furnished from the house of collectables. 6. A beautiful chapel with stained glass windows. Permit me to tell you about those stained glass windows. Very unexpectedly, I received a telephone call one morning from Maria Kaiser MacTavish of Englishtown, New Jersey. I had never met her but we had become good friends via the telephone. Maria said, "Ruth, you are going to have stained glass windows in the chapel, aren't you?" I explained that we didn't have funds for this but there would be a nice decorative glass. Maria replied, "You must have stained glass windows. Find out what they cost." I talked with Jake Sinner who supervises all our building. The cost would be $3,000.00 for each of the six windows. Maria called again to check on the cost and told me she wanted one in memory of her husband. Before I could report this, she called back in a few minutes and said, "I want two. I want one window in memory of my parents," Somehow the Golden Wheat Chapter heard the news and said they wanted a stained glass window with their name inscribed on it. Then my brother Rudy said, "Esther and I want the one opposite Golden Wheat because they were so good to us when the convention met in Wichita. Then we heard from Carolyn Krieger who wanted a window in memory of her husband Chester Krieger who had served on the first board of AHSGR. We had one more window. When the Nebraska Panhandle Chapter sent the foundation a $2,000.00 contribution, I wrote to thank them and commend them on their splendid cooperation over the years. I suggested that they might be interested in the last stained glass window. By return mail they said, "Yes." In no time at all they sent in another $1,000.00 to complete payment. When the Board of Directors met later, Arthur Flegel indicated the Golden Gate Chapter would have liked a window. So we put stained glass in the main entrance doors of the chapel. Finally, the door at the front of the chapel was also of stained glass, a memorial to a member whose daughters donated all the furnishings of the family home when their mother died. AHSGR members are extremely generous as the foregoing illustrates. The building program throughout has been under the expert supervision of Jake Sinner. We have an ambitious goal and Jake is equal to all that requires. Our hope is to develop the entire square block. Some of us will see it happen. We can say WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT IT HAS BEEN to accomplish so much in 18 years! How did it happen? It happened because more than 5,000 members gave of themselves and their resources. It happened because we wanted to honor our parents and grandparents. It happened because the International Foundation of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia was organized in 1974 by Mrs. Alice Amen Heinz. It was the vehicle by which we raised the funds to purchase land and build buildings. There is much more to do and it will take more members and more chapters. We should have more of both. I've said it before. We could double our membership overnight if every member would enroll one more. And while we are discussing memberships, did you know that we have 578 life memberships. Do you know another organization where more than 10% are life members? THAT'S ANOTHER ACHIEVEMENT TO CELEBRATE. I hope we'll enroll even more during this week. Another program which has held us together has been our conventions. Look at the cover of your program. This is our 17th international convention. And we won't be 18 until October. HOW'S THAT FOR AN ACHIEVEMENT? At our first convention in 1970 we had less than 80 registered. Last year we had over 1,000. The total for this year isn't complete. There have been times when board

10 members said, shouldn't we meet every two years? Then they decided not to interfere when we had a good thing going. And what has the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia done for Germans from Russia? We are a respected people in our communities. No longer do we hear "dirty Rooshians." Whatever our people do, they do it well. They are doctors and nurses, lawyers, professors, and university presidents. They have served in prestigious governmental positions. They are authors. They serve as judges, are active in the arts as painters and musicians. THEY ARE ACHIEVERS whether they build buildings, or clean them, whether they raise crops, build cars, or work in the mills or on the railroad. Let me say in closing. Much remains to be done. We must not sit back and rest on our laurels. Let's carry forward the record of achievements of our parents and forefathers and those who are responsible for the beginnings of this society and the achievements of our first 18 years. It's the responsibility of everyone in this room to take home this message to those who could not attend this splendid convention. Let's begin by doubling our numbers who will say with us "I'm a German from Russia and proud of it." As for me I'm also proud to be a member of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. I know you are too. Or you wouldn't be here this morning.

Ruth M. Amen, Executive Director

11 CHAPTER PRESIDENTS MEETING

Twenty-two chapter presidents convened at 1:30 P.M. on July 15, 1986 to discuss their relationship to the international society. Nine additional chapter representatives were present as well as a goodly number of interested listeners. Ruth M. Amen, Executive Director of AHSGR, presided and after reading the letter which had called the group together, requested that the discussion be on a positive note. Chapter programs were discussed and ideas exchanged. The following suggestions were made: 1. All programs should relate to the history and heritage of Germans from Russia. 2. The Newsletter has many program ideas used by other chapters. 3. Use speakers who have toured Russia. 4. There are some excellent films available from headquarters. Among them are: And When They Shall Ask Last Glimpses of Home Pioneering in the Dakota Territory Silent movie — Norka Silent move — Biel film — Villages on the Wiesenseite 5. Mollie Krug made her own pictorial review of those who settled in the Post Rock area. This can be done for all areas which were settled by Germans from Russia. 6. Chapters were advised to vary their programs. Too many sessions on genealogy, for example, can make them lose interest. Chapters are always interested in fund raising projects. A number of ideas were offered: 1. Dinners, such as "broda" (roast beef and potatoes) suppers and soup suppers are popular. 2. Garage sales and special bake sales at meetings. Some chapters have made more than $500 in this way, 3. Selling tickets for a drawing always brings a profit. 4. A number of chapters have an Oktoberfest. Al Reiber of the Nebraska Panhandle Chapter told of renting a hall and pre-selling tickets. Young people get involved and they've realized a gross of $5,000. 5. Ed Rau of Central California Chapter described their annual event which involves making and selling runza, noodles and grebel. Added to their boutique they have raised more than $18,000. 6. Mollie Krug told of chapters auctions to raise money for special projects. Further discussion centered on the relationship between chapters and international. We need to keep reminding those who wish a cheaper membership that we are first-of-all a historical society. It was suggested that we seek national publicity to locate people of our heritage in areas where we have no chapters. The strong tie between chapters and international was deemed necessary.

12 CONVENTIONS ARE FUN BUT LOTS OF WORK

Someone had to see to it that a sign told everyone AHSGR was in Oklahoma City.

Marianne Wheeler as convention chairman kept events on schedule.

Selma T. Hieb, the President, hadn't a minute to spare.

Bruce Harms, the chapter president also served as troubleshooter.

13 IT WAS FUN FOR YOUTH

Ed Schwartzkopf enthralled them with tales of what their grandparents and great-grandparents did for fun. We wonder if Larry Metzler got his stilts home to Fresno.

They participated in an art contest.

Larry Metzler's drawing of an engine took first place and was awarded a prize at the banquet by Glowrine Austin.

14 THIRTEENTH ANNUAL APPRECIATION LUNCHEON OF THE INTERNATIONAL AHSGR FOUNDATION

Report of the International Foundation of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia Martha Issinghoff During the past year as president of the Foundation I have tried to better acquaint myself with the functions and purpose for which the Foundation was created. Many of us are prone to lump the Foundation and AHSGR into one. This is easily done, since the Foundation is too often considered the money making arm or extension of AHSGR. Actually the Foundation is a distinct and separate corporation. The Foundation is 12 years old and today we are honoring our first Foundation President and Trustees. In 1974, a foresighted member, Mrs. Theodore E. (Alice) Heinz, saw the need of a separate tax exempt corporation, a corporation that would help AHSGR realize its goals. She brought her idea to the Board of Directors. As is so often the case, the idea was not readily accepted by all the board. Alice realized that the membership dues would never be able to pay for the operational expenses and achieve the goals that AHSGR hoped to attain. Even though her idea was not met with enthusiasm, she continued her investigation with her local bank in Greeley, Colorado. On learning that a $2.00 deposit would open a savings account, she immediately deposited the two dollars, in the name of AHSGR's Foundation. From that lean beginning, the Foundation has grown into the overwhelming tax exempt corporation of today. The Headquarters building as well as the other buildings at the Heritage Center have been funded by the Foundation. Alice Heinz's health does not permit her to be with us today, but we want her to know how grateful we are to her for pursuing her idea of a Foundation. Alice was salute and thank you! The Foundation funds began to grow through the efforts of the general membership. But it was the contribution of a store building, Air Products Chemical stocks and recently a duplex and a car, that has brought and continues to realize much needed revenue for the Foundation. We are grateful to Esther and Rudy Amen for these contributions. We would like to recognize them at this time. We thank them for their continued generosity and support on behalf of our Foundation. We are grateful to our members and to all the chapters who respond and support our needs. We are fully aware that not everyone can make a large contribution, but we also know that tiny drops of water will eventually fill a bucket. There are many unsung heroes in our society. For instance, our Board Members freely give of their time and talent and pay all their expenses when attending board meetings. We thank each and every one of you for your support. It has helped us to achieve some of our goals. However proud and grateful we may be of our accomplishments, we should consider Oliver Wendell Holmes, when he said, "I find the great thing is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving." This applies to us in many ways. We have accomplished many things, but where do we go from here? We welcome your opinions and ideas. Ideas that will help us to evaluate where we should direct our future. Words alone however accomplish very little, but mix words with action and we move forward.

Editor's Note: During the Foundation meeting John Gross, Chairman of the Fund Raising Committee, introduced the establishment of an Endowment Fund. Contributions were solicited with the total collected amounting to $2,552.00.

15 SUMMARY OF ASSETS June 21, 1986 Checking Account Balance $ 22,175.76 Gift Annuity Fund 6,652.54 Stock - Value on June 21, 1986 73,617.00 1,852 shares Air Products and Chemical (39 3/4) C.D. #8628 - 8.10% 21,239.77 Purchased 9-27-85 C.D. #888792 - 8.05% 20,813.10 Purchased 10-24-85 Real Estate Valued at Purchase Price 133,814.21 Headquarters Building 492,400.00 Summer Kitchen 6,000.00 Country Store 7,000.00 Chapel 60,000.00 Barn 1,500.00 Store Building at 201 F Street 63,500.00 Metal Warehouse at 201 F Street 16,000.00

Total $924,712.38

TOTAL FOUNDATION CONTRIBUTIONS May 26, 1985 to June 21, 1986

1985 Auction and Bazaar $ 5,286.73 Quilt Project 3,038.33 Lincoln Chapter Quilts 1.267.00 Heritage Center 11,926.10 Immigrant Plaques 2,100.00 Chapel 5,627.00 Church Pews 2,050.00 1,227.00 Organ Fund 1,000.00 Stained Glass Windows 600.00 Pledge Payments 3,889.50 Memorials 25.00 601.00 Furnishings and Equipment 114.83 155,00 Birthday Club Archives Genealogy Total Contributions $38,907.49

OTHER RECEIPTS May 26, 1985 to June 21, 1986

Dividends $ 1,305.66 Translations 773.13 Rental Receipts 22,825.00 Payments on 209-211 F Street 4,377.61 $29,281.40

16 CHAPTER CASH CONTRIBUTIONS TO FOUNDATION

Since Since

May 25, 1985 June 21, 1986

Arizona Sahuaro 100.00 Arizona Sun 1,622.00 Big Bend 845.00 Blue Mountain 25.00 2.068.00 Calgary 344.00 Center of the Nation 840.00 Central California 6,003.00 55.00 Central Oklahoma 2,455.41 Central Washington 2,245.00 Colorado Hi Plains 100.00 Colorado West 3,800.00 1,000.00 Columbia Basin 8,475.00 100.00 Denver Metropolitan 5,198.65 143.10 Flint, Michigan 460.50 Golden Empire-Bakersfield 1,510.00 11,743,50 Golden Gate 380.92 Golden Spread 1,080,00 8,970.50 825.00 Golden Wheat 250.00 1,197.00 Greater Detroit 1,000.00 3,800.00 Greater Seattle 50.00 575.00 Greater Sheboygan 40.00 155.00 Greater Spokane 100.00 100.00 Heart of America 200.00 Heritage Seekers of S.W. Kansas 1,927.00 46,824.30 Homestead 1,100.00 Lincoln, Nebraska 965.00 Lodi, California 200.00 955.00 1,000.00 Melon Valley 12,250.00 100.00 Mid-Nebraska 1,408.00 Nation's Capital Area 225.00 Nebraska Panhandle 18,534.00 North Star of Minnesota 575.00 4,777.57 Northeast Kansas 100.00 Northern Colorado 250.00 7,050.00 Northern Illinois 295.50 Olympic Peninsula 1,775.00 Oregon 500.00 1,030.00 100.00 Platte Valley of Nebraska 1,450.00 4,905.00 Post Rock 2,550.00 Regina & District 25.00 1,415.00 Sacramento Valley 510.00 601.00 Saginaw Valley 2,080.00 Southeastern Wisconsin 922.00 Southeastern Wyoming 100.00 1,025.00 Southern California 100.00 Southwest Michigan Southwest Nebraska Sunflower Utah

Total Contributions $ 12,465.10 $173,075.85 17 THE BAZAAR AND AUCTION AND QUILT RAFFLE NETTED THE FOUNDATION A TOTAL OF $8,714.77

The quilt was made by Mrs. Mary Jacobs of Lincoln and quilted by the Lincoln Chapter Quitters.

Ruth and her young friends really had fun at the auction. There was a large variety of handwork donated,

Conventionites looked over the items to decide how Also donated for the raffle were a white baby quilt by they would bid on the needlepoint picture donated by Selma T. Hieb and a wheat sculpture donated by Betty Harsh. Betty had a beauty for the raffle, as well. Martha Issinghoff. 18 THE IMMORTAL BOND OF FAMILY Douglas Hale

Are families more trouble than they are worth? Many Americans seem to have come to this conclusion. The United States has the highest divorce rate in the world. Half of the young married people can expect to end their first marriage in divorce. More men and women are living alone than ever before—about one fourth of all households. Children no longer seem so important. Only 43 percent of American mothers polled in 1980 believed that almost all married couples ought to have children. The single-parent family has become so pervasive that by 1990, one half of all Americans will spend part of their childhood living with only one parent. Illegitimacy rates have climbed. Children living with a mother who has never married increased fourfold between 1970 and 1982, from 527,000 to 2.8 million. Older people no longer have an important role in the family. Only 40 percent of Americans polled in 1984 believed that elderly parents should move in with their children when they can no longer take care of themselves. Two thirds of Americans believe that the institution of marriage is weaker than it was ten years ago.' In the words of the late Margaret Mead, "All over the United States, families are in trouble,"2 But I would bet that the Germans from Russia are bucking this trend, though I have not seen any figures on it. If they are like other European ethnic groups in America, their families tend to be more stable, adaptive, and resilient than the general run of the population.3 Today, moreover, I see all around me evidence that your old emphasis on the family as the basic social, cultural, and economic unit is still very strong. Even among you highly assimilated Americans of German-Russian extraction, the institution of the family seems to have attained a kind of sanctity, which is, I believe, one of the reasons why your organization is so successful. Most of you belong to the AHSGR because you are passionately interested in your family: its original homeland in Germany; its epic exodus to Russia; its immigration to America; its struggle to survive on the Great Plains; and its generation of suffering and tragedy during the first half of this century. I know I am dealing today with a people who go to great lengths to cultivate, maintain, and strengthen family ties—from the past, in the present, and into the future. Why do you do this? I am convinced that you spend so much time, effort, and yes, trouble, on your family because you perceive that the family is the most tangible demonstration of immortality that we have: people die; but families go on and on, across the generations and through the centuries. I believe that we all clutch at this manifestation of immortality; some of us actually grasp it. Some of you feel perhaps as close to your Aunt Pauline, who died at Norka, or Hoffnungstal, or Frank, or wherever, a hundred and fifty years ago, as you do to your presently living relatives. I am impressed, moreover, at what obstacles you have surmounted in maintaining your family ties, or in some cases tracing your family's history through three tumultuous centuries. I know it hasn't been easy. The Germans from Russia wandered all over the place; most of them lived way out in the country, far from the great cosmopolitan cities with international connections. Most of your families were poor, and some were illiterate. It is hard to establish contact when there are few records, a paucity of letters, and limited communication. But most of you have done it, against daunting, almost insuperable odds. What impresses me most is how many of you kept in touch with family members in Russia for the past seventy years. Everything, it seems, militates against your being able to maintain the bonds of love and mutual caring and sharing. But most of you have done it. You probably regard it as the most normal and natural thing in the world; I consider it remarkable that the Germans from Russia in America were able to reach out to their brothers and sisters abroad through the most calamitous and destructive epoch in history. Think of the odds against you. In the first place, the governments under which you and your relatives overseas live are declared enemies to each other. With the USA and USSR superpower adversaries, it would be easier for the Germans still in Russia to forget about their cousins in America, and the Americans of German-Russian descent to ignore their inconvenient relatives in the Soviet Union. Then, of course, you live half way around the world from these Soviet Germans. They can't get out to see you, and in most cases you can't get in to see them. Moreover, you and your Soviet cousins live in markedly different cultures: they in a regimented environment dominated by Communist slogans, collective farms, or state factories deep in Siberia or Central Asia; you in high-tech, shopping mall, individualistic Middle America. Finally, consider the social and political cataclysms

19 of the twentieth century that have cut you off repeatedly from your people in the Soviet Union: the First World War; the Russian Revolution; the Civil War; the great famines of the interwar period; and the deportation of a million and a half of your kinsmen from western Russia to the depths of inner Asia during the course of the Second World War. Your people have been decimated, uprooted, scattered, and largely assimilated. But many of you have clung to the immortal bond of family anyway. How have you been able to perpetuate family ties through all this disruption and destruction? This question repeatedly flashed through my mind as I recently read a series of sixty-four letters exchanged by members of the Meisinger family between 1914 and today. The American Meisingers I know live in Oklahoma. The Soviet Meisingers originally came from Issenburg, Hessen, to Russia in 1768. They lived in Messer, on the Hill Side of the Volga, until they were banished along with all the other Volga Germans to Siberia and Central Asia in 1941. Today's generation of Meisingers have never seen each other except in pictures; they live some twelve thousand miles apart. Yet their letters come and go. They remain together in spirit, though separated by half a world and seventy years. Let me tell you a little of their story, though it may seem quite ordinary and unexceptional to you. To me it seems remarkable. Fred Meisinger, as a young man of twenty-six, immigrated to the United States in 1913, to join his brother already here. He brought over his wife Amalie and his baby daughter from Messer, and his brother went back over to get married, intending to return to America with his bride. Fred left behind in Messer, then a town of about five thousand inhabitants, Papa, Mama, three brothers, and a sister. He settled first in Connecticut, where he worked in a munitions factory through the First World War, In 1920 he moved his little family to eastern Colorado in order to escape the "unwholesome air" of the munitions plant and to take advantage of the jobs available in the flourishing sugar beet industry near Greeley, Colorado. For several years, Fred and his family lived in a tar paper shack and toiled as contract labor, hoeing, thinning, and topping beets in the fields along the Platte River. It was no paradise, but the Meisingers were happy.5 Back home in Russia things were fine—at first. But then the Great War against Germany and Austria came along, snapping up Brother Alexander into the Russian Army and ending forever his plans to return to the United States. Plagued by incompetence and mismanagement, the Tsar's armies lunged from defeat to disaster, and his government chose to persecute the German colonists, the "enemies in our midst," as a scapegoat. Thousands of these colonists were exiled from their homes; the German language was proscribed; Russian mobs raged against anything German. Along with its sister colonies, the little town of Messer was gripped in a paroxysm of despair and anxiety. Then hard on the heels of the disastrous war came the Bolshevik Revolution. The new Communist government seized the land of the Volga farmers and confiscated their grain and livestock. This was followed by the great Civil War, which turned much of the Volga region into a bloody battleground during the spring of 1921. The upshot of all this disruption and destruction was a massive famine in 1921 and 1922, in which 166,000 Volga Germans died of starvation." It was at this unhappy juncture that Fred Meisinger reestablished contact with his family at Messer after eight years of broken communication. Brother Alexander wrote him during the summer of 1922: Our whole village has not planted what you alone have planted this year.... The poverty is so great that I cannot describe it. ... Please ... send me and my wife a pair of shoes and pants... for we are naked.7 My dear ones, I must inform you that Mama died on August 13 of typhus, ... If she had not had to suffer through the great hunger of last winter, then she would be alive today . . .. The great sickness is with us again, with typhus and fever. And we will have famine again this winter because the harvest has not turned out, and there was too little planted. The people are so weak here again this summer, . . . Dear Brother, if I only had the twentieth part of what you have harvested! But I have nothing, ... I am no longer able to write you because a letter costs a million rubles to mail." In Colorado, the recipient of this tragic news was struggling himself. The high prices for sugar beets that prevailed during the war suddenly collapsed, from $11.63 per ton in 1920 to $6.35 per ton in 1921.9 But by dint of prudent planning and hard work, Fred and a partner were able to rent a 320-acre farm in the Greeley area from a bank. By 1925, the Meisingers had four children and a comfortable farm home. In the meantime, they sent money, clothing, seed, and anything else they could spare back to Russia.

20 Slowly conditions began to improve in the old country. After the disastrous failure of the policy of requisition and confiscation during the Civil War, the Soviet government inaugurated a New Economic Policy in 1921. This permitted the demoralized peasants to regain some control over their land and hire workers if they needed them. As a result, productivity gradually revived in the German villages along to Volga.10 But all was not well at home in Messer. Brother Karl died of typhus in 1925, leaving to Papa the care and feeding of Karl's widow and children.11 Papa was already sixty-three years old, racked with arthritis, and so weakened by the long years of privation that he could no longer work. "You know," he wrote his son in America, "from my youth on I have never been afraid, except now in my old age, when all I need is a little to eat. But we don't have a chance here."12 "You cannot imagine what it is like when there is no harvest and no income."^ The old man was borne down by his new responsibilities. Fred consequently dug into his meager savings and periodically sent the family all he could spare. They were grateful. His father wrote, "The twenty dollars you sent came as a great blessing, for... I can't do anything any more, and we have no one else to turn to."14 Then the situation in Russia got worse instead of better, as Stalin ruthlessly forced through the collectivization of agriculture during the early thirties. The government compelled the peasantry to turn over their land and livestock to collective farms. Those who resisted were branded "class enemies" and were deported to labor camps. As a consequence, another famine rivaling that of the previous decade struck in 1932 and 1933. By 1938, the population of the German colonies on the Volga -was less than half of what it had been prior to World War I. Stalin casually remarked to Churchill at Yalta that collectivization had cost him ten million lives.15 The Meisingers at Messer were now in desperate straights. As Sister Emilie wrote in 1930; The most terrible part is the hunger. ... I cannot describe what it is like with us now. It is unspeakable . . .. People don't have so much as a loaf of bread.16 I would like to eat just a little piece of bread, but there is none.17 Under the pounding of fate, hardship, privation, and despair, old Papa died at age sixty-nine. During the last month of his illness, all he had to eat were a few potatoes that he could nibble in bed.'8 The Meisinger family was forced into a collective farm, but conditions did not improve very much. Brother Heinrich wrote in 1931: "We boil our thistles and brew a corn meal mush sometimes. Yesterday my wife was at Doenhof and got some wheat flour to feed the baby. We look to the fall in hopes that things will get better."19 Fred, trying to make a living at farming on the edge of the Dustbowl in Depression America, was besieged by entreaties for help from several members of the family in Russia. He continued to send money whenever he could; sometimes it got through; sometimes it did not. He also tried to help his sister-in-law, who was starving.30 In gratitude, she wrote, My children and I and Brother Karl's boy have often said that if we could just eat one more egg again, we would think we were at a feast.21 In a long letter, Sister Emilie also expressed her thanks; I used the ten dollars you sent to buy wheat flour, the cheapest supplies of all. ... It was such a joy to me that I can't describe it to you. When I came into the store my eyes opened wide. I saw things that I had never seen before. I would have liked to have taken some of everything, but... I only bought Hour so that my husband, my children, and I could assuage our hunger. Dear Brother, if you had seen the joy among our chidren when I came home! I wish you could have been there to see that. For two days now we have feasted like angels. I baked krepel and fed them on that . . .. My children speak of you often—every day.22 In the late thirties, as war clouds loomed on the horizon, Stalin relaxed his pressure on the peasants a bit, and the German colonies on the Volga returned to a semblance of normality. In order to increase the birth rate to compensate for Russia's huge population losses, the government instituted a system of generous subsidies toward the support of mothers with large families.” Consequently, Brother Heinrich could write almost cheerfully in 1937 that "My wife has received 2000 rubles from the state toward our support, since we have seven children, . . . For this reason, things are going well for us."2" Out in Colorado, however, things were not going so well. To be sure, Fred had improved his economic status considerably. While hundreds of thousands of American farmers were losing their land in the Depression, Fred was able through careful management to buy his own farm of eighty acres in 1935.

21 This was no consolation for the loss of his beloved wife, however. She died in 1937. That this blow almost prostrated him is revealed in the letters of condolence he received from the family back in Messer. These were the last words he would hear from them for twenty-five years. By the late thirties it had become dangerous for Soviet citizens to cultivate a foreign correspondence; then the war came, and all communication was disrupted. During the Second World War, Fred's son Harold fought against Nazi Germany as a member of the U. S. Air Force, while his Soviet cousins served with the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War against Hitler. Brother Alexander lost two sons, and Sister Emilie one boy in the struggle. Despite this considerable evidence of patriotic sacrifice, the Soviet government deported the Meisingers to Asiatic Russia along with all the other Volga Germans in the fall of 1941. For fourteen years, these expellees lived as virtual prisoners in closed settlements, cut off from the. Outside world. At last, in 1955, the government allowed them to leave their internment camps, but on condition that they not return to their old homes on the Volga. Most remained near their places of internment, sometimes thousands of miles from their native villages.26 Fred’s brothers and sister "were all mixed up and scattered out across the whole country,"27 from Omsk, to Kazakhstan, to central Siberia. Now it required a train trip of two full days when they wanted to visit each other. Thus, when Fred tried to make contact with his family at Messer after the war, his letter was returned marked "Addressee Unknown."28 It required sixteen more years of effort before he could find his people again. In the meantime, he had remarried, raised his children, continued to prosper on the Platte, retired from farming, and become an old man. Then miraculously, Fred succeeded in making contact with the Soviet Meisingers in 1962. Sister Emilie's family was living as pioneer settlers in the Altai Mountains, some 1600 miles east of their old home on the Volga. The family was overjoyed to reestablish connections, and a flood of letters and photographs followed. As Sister Emilie described it, "Dear Brother, it was such a joy for me to take your letter into my hands. ... I wept so for joy that I could not even read your letter. Then my husband said, "Stop crying long enough to read the letter,' and then cry.'"39 Ever the survivor, Emilie seemed reconciled and at peace with the new home that destiny (in the form of Soviet wartime deportation policy) had given her. "Our home is in Siberia," she explained, But things are going well for us, and we like it better than the old home. It is right good land, and the people are good to us.90 This is rich black land with great orchards, and there is plenty of it now. Everything grows here. ... I can go right out my door and up the hill and gather as much as I want to, spending a kopek. As long as one is not lazy! . . . There is no one who has gone back. They all like it here better.'^ As far as the bitter memory of the deportations of 1941 was concerned, Emilie shrugged it off: "It was wartime, after all," she wrote.32 By the early sixties, Fred's brothers had retired and were enjoying a rising standard of living and an abundance of food after the privations of their youth. Brother Heinrich proudly asserted that "We have built ourselves a big new house of five rooms. We have bought ourselves a car, so when we want to go anywhere, we go in our car. So we don't lack for anything."33 All he wanted, he wrote, was "Peace and Friendship with the Whole World," echoing a Soviet slogan,34 Fred's nieces and nephews in the Soviet Union had become carpenters, miners, tractor drivers, or workers on collective farms. They had largely assimilated the Russian culture that surrounded them, and most knew the Russian language better than their own German. A number of them had married Russians with apparent success, though one niece complained that "My life is bad, with a husband who likes to drink vodka so much and then becomes senseless afterwards. "135 For four years the Meisingers of Colorado shared with their Soviet family the news of children and grandchildren, congratulated each other on anniversaries, birthdays, and weddings, complained about in-laws, and consoled one another over the accumulating disabilities of age. But when old Fred entered upon his last long illness. He could write no more. Anxiously, Brother Heimrich inquired from Alma Ata: Dear Brother and Sister-in-Law Sarah, I have not received a letter from you in a whole year, why that is, I don't know. I don't even know if you are still living.... You are already eighty years old, dearest Brother, and I am more and more concerned that you are no longer alive.3*" Indeed, the lamp was going out. Within a few months old Fred was dead. He passed away in the 22

1 From left: Rev. Fred Schumacher, who gave the invo- cation; Dr. Douglas Hale, speaker; and, Prof. Hay Lau, who presided at the luncheon.

spring of 1967, and his wife died the following year. The long and fragile connection with the old country was broken.37 But then, thirteen years later, there came a distant gleam from Alma Ata. Brother Heinrich's son dispatched a tentative note of inquiry to Fred's old address in Colorado. Like small-town postmasters are wont to do, the man there forwarded the letter on to family, and they in turn relayed it to Oklahoma, where Fred's grandson picked up the torch. Now a whole new cycle of nurturing the family ties has begun. Letters and photographs pass frequently between East and West, and a new generation of Meisingers is gradually becoming aware of its rare heritage and the people who went to so much trouble to keep the family together in spirit, Potentates and principalities perish. People die. But families go on and on. That is, after all, why we are here today: to partake of that intimation of immortality that the long unbroken succession of generations conveys. And how striking it is, in a world divided by two adversarial superpowers who threaten each other's destruction, to reflect upon the fact that you have relatives in Alma Ata, Omsk, or Karaganda, and those people have family in Portland, Lincoln, in Wichita. Maybe this is what Sister Emilie meant when she once wrote old Fred, "God makes all men brothers.""

Notes 1. Esther Wattenberg, "The Fate of Baby Boomers and their Children," Social Work, XXXI (1986), 21-22; "The Family in America," Public Opinion, VIII (1986}, 25, 29; G. William Sheek, A Nation for Families: Family Life Education in Public Schools (n.p.; American Home Economics Association, 1984), 7; George Masnich and Mary Jo Bane. The Nation's Families, 1960-1990 (Boston: Auburn House, 1980), 1. 2. Margaret Mead, "Can the American Family Survive?" in James M. Henslin, ed., Marriage and Family in a Changing Society (New York: Free Press, 1980), 534. 3. Charles H, Mindl and Robert W. Habenstein, Ethnic Families in America: Patterns and Variations (2nd ed., New York; Elsevier, 1981). 431; interview with Donald N. Brown, Department of Sociology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, June 17, 1986.

23 4. Alexander to Fred Meisinger, New Archangel Village, Omsk Province, USSR, September 30,1962. This letter, as well as others quoted herein, is presently in the possession of Michael R. Meisinger, Ponca City, Oklahoma. 5. Alexander to Fred Meisinger, New Archangel Village, Omsk Province, USSR, June 15, 1962; Naturalization Petition No. 1168, Weld County, Colorado, District Court; interview with Raymond H, Meisinger, Perkins, Oklahoma, June 15, 1986. 6. Fred C. Koch, The Volga Germans in Russia and the Americas, from 1763 to the Present (University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977), 239-247, 253-269; Adam Giesinger, From Catherine to Khrushchev: The Story a/Russia's Germans (Winnipeg, Can.: the author, 1974), 247-251, 257-261. 7. Alexander to Fred Meisinger, Messer, Volga German Autonomous Republic [hereinafter cited as VGAR], USSR. August 14, 1922. 8. Alexander to Fred Meisinger, Messer, VGAR, USSR, August 30, 1922. 9. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States (2 vols., Washington: GPO, 1975), I, 516. 10. Giesinger, From Catherine to Khrushchev, 275-284; Koch, Volga Germans, 270-272; Donald W. Treadgold, Twentieth Century Russia (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1959), 196-202, 11. Friedrich to Fred Meisinger, Messer, VGAR, USSR, August 13, 1925. 12. Friedrich to Fred Meisinger, Messer, VGAR, USSR, March 11, 1928. 13. Friedrich to Fred Meisinger, Messer, VGAR, USSR, June 24, 1928. 14. Ibid. 15. Koch, Volga Germans, 272-282; Treadgold, Russia, 267-272; Giesinger, From Catherine to Khrushchev, 285-289. 16. Emilie Becker to Fred Meisinger, Messer, VGAR, USSR, February 9, 1930. 17. Emilie Becker to Fred Meisinger, Messer, VGAR, USSR, April 28, 1931. 18. Ibid. 19. Heinrich to Fred Meisinger, Messer, VGAR, USSR, June 7, 1931. 20. Annakatrinka Schreiner to Amalie and Fred Meisinger, n.p. February 11, 1933. 21. Annakatrina Schreiner to Amalie and Fred Meisinger, Messer, VGAR, USSR, October 22, 1933. 22. Emilie Becker to Fred Meisinger, Messer, VGAR, July 13, 1932. 23. Treadgold, Russia, 289-294; Koch, Volga Germans, 282-283; Basil Dmytryshyn, USSR: A Concise History (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1965), 175-176. 24. Heinrich to Fred Meisinger, Messer, VGAR, USSR, March 28, 1937. 25. Emilie Becker to Fred Meisinger, Old Konilova Village, Altai Province, USSR, March 20,1962; Alexander to Fred Meisinger, New Archangel Village, Omsk Province, June 15, 1962. 26. Koch, Volga Germans, 288-291. 27. Waldemar to Michael Meisinger, Alma Ata, Kazakh SSR, USSR, November 8, 1981. 28. Fred to Heinrich Meisinger, La Salle, Colorado, May 2, 1946. 29. Emilie Becker to Fred Meisinger, Old Konilova Village, Altai Province, USSR, March 20, 1962. 30. Ibid. 31. Emilie Becker to Fred Meisinger, Old Konilova Village, Altai Province, USSR, January 28, 1963, 32. Emilie Becker to Fred Meisinger, Old Konilova Village, Altai Province, USSR, November 12, 1962, 33. Heinrich to Fred Meisinger, Severka Village, Altai Province, USSR, received June 25, 1962. 34. Heinrich to Fred Meisinger, Severka Village, Altai Province, USSR, August 11, 1963. 35. Erna to Fred Meisinger, Severka Village, Altai Province, USSR, September 12, 1962, 36. Heinrich to Fred Meisinger, Alma Ata, Kazakh SSR. USSR, October 16, 1966. 37. Michael to Waldemar Meisinger, Ponca City, Oklahoma, September 9, 1981; Meisinger Family Record; Interview with Raymond H. Meisinger, Perkins, Oklahoma, June 15, 1986. 38. Emilie Becker to Fred Meisinger, Old Konilova Village, Altai Province, USSR, March 20, 1962.

24 MEET THE SCHWINDT FAMILY Jo Ann Kuhr*

When Mrs. Emma Schwabenland Haynes was living in Germany, she became acquainted with a number of German refugees from the Soviet Union. From them she learned of the many hardships they had faced when deported to Siberia during World War II. At the Eighth International Convention of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, held in San Francisco in the summer of 1977, Mrs. Haynes spoke on "The Deportation of the Soviet Germans." Among the stories she related, was the very poignant story of Lydia and Alexander, a young couple married only one week before they were deported with their individual families to Siberia. She continued their story from the time of deportation, their lives in separate labor camps, and their eventual reunion in 1946. In January of 1979, AHSGR received a letter from an Alexander Schwindt of West Germany. He had been born in the Volga village of Morgentau. With his wife and two of their three children, he had been able to emigrate from the Soviet Union and had arrived in West Germany in 1975. The third son was allowed to emigrate at a, later date. This was the Alexander of Mrs. Haynes' convention speech. (This speech was printed in the AHSGR Work Paper No. 24, Fall, 1977.) Mr. Schwindt was trying to find his relatives, who had immigrated to the United States before World War I, and he applied to our office for help. Within a few years—and with the help of some of our members—we were able to locate some of the members of his family. He then carried on a correspondence with these distant relatives. It was with great joy that we received a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Schwindt in May of this year announcing their intention to attend our convention in Oklahoma City! Mr. Schwindt indicated his willingness to address the group at the convention and was immediately added to the program. The following is a condensation of his remarks during his speech, his answers to the questions that followed, information acquired during private conversations, and information from his correspondence with AHSGH headquarters. Anyone wishing to listen to Mr. Schwindt's speech (in German with an English translation) may do so by ordering tape number GFH 86-2 from TRIAD, 210 South Musselman, Toulon, Illinois 61483. I only regret that I cannot speak English. Unfortunately, I must speak German. I can also speak Russian, but most of you cannot. Therefore I will speak in German. I wish I knew what would interest you. Then I could tell you what you want to hear. And I could tell you a lot. I was born in 1923. Questions about the expropriation, about what was taken away from the rich people in the German villages, how the people were exiled to Siberia (where half of them perished), and then afterwards, the collectivization, where everything was turned over to the kolkhoz, such questions I can answer. We lived through it all. I experienced the collectivization, how it was organized and carried out, and I remember it well. Life in the kolkhoz itself I remember, because I was in the kolkhoz with Father and Mother. I experienced everything as it was along the Volga until 1941. Then in 1941 we were exiled to Siberia. In August 1941 an edict was issued by the government in Moscow that all Germans still living m Russia—but especially in the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic—were to be resettled in Siberia as quickly as possible. They suspected that there were many among the German population who would collaborate with Hitler. In case Hitler came close, they could then fight for Hitler. We learned from the older people that the plan to resettle the Volga Germans in Siberia had already been made by Czar Nicholas II. But because the Revolution came, and the Communists wanted more justice, they let the Germans stay and founded the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The knowledge that at one time the Germans were to be sent away remained in the memory of the Russians. The land and the villages of the Germans were all nicer than the land and villages of the Russians. Therefore, they wanted to get rid of the Germans. They were able to do so in the war with Germany. Then they could carry out what Czar Nicholas II had planned earlier.

*Jo Ann Kuhr served as translator-interpreter for Mr. and Mrs. Schwindt. This article is from the tape made during the meeting.

25 I had finished the seventh grade in my village of Morgentau. In 1938 I began an apprenticeship in a cheese factory. When I saw that one couldn't learn anything there except how to make cheese and butter (I was intelligent and had always learned well), then I thought, if I am going to learn anything, then science. And there was nothing there other than microbiology. There was no money in our family for education. We were six children in the family. I was the oldest. My father, his two brothers, and my grandfather were arrested 1937-38. If there was any money, it was my salary. But I left my cheese factory in Wiesenmueller along the Volga; I left and by chance came to a relative working in a school. He was the director in the adult education department. He saw to it that I, as a sixteen-year-old, was made a teacher. So at the age of sixteen I began as a teacher in Lydia's village, Koppental. But no one knew I was only sixteen. I had begun to shave at an early age and looked eighteen or nineteen years old. I also kept secret the fact that I had no pass. I worked there one year as a teacher. There I met Lydia. It was true that I had been a good student, and that is why I got the job of teaching through a relative. I could teach reading and writing to the children in the first and third grades. That I could do. But when we, the teachers, got together and had discussions over pedagogy, methodology, or about some pedagogical expert like Kaminsk, then I didn't have the foggiest idea about it. It was a disgrace to me, that I wanted to take part in the discussion and couldn't, because I didn't know anything. Then I decided, if I was going to work as a teacher, I had to go to college. So I left and went to the Pedagogical Institute and later the Pedagogical College in Uralsk, and there the war caught up with me.

Lydia and Alexander Schwindt with Jo Ann Kuhr at right.

I had not been home to my or Lydia's village for two years. At the beginning of the war, I was the only German called into the War Commission. When they told me I was to go to pilot school in September, I knew that wherever I went, it could be that I would never see my family again. I had the intention that if I became a pilot, I would either fly to Germany or the Russians would shoot me down, so I wouldn't come back either way. I pestered them long enough that they let me go home and see all my relatives again. It was by chance that I was there when the edict was issued. I was just visiting Lydia when the edict was issued that all Germans were to be moved from the Volga area to Siberia. The edict was issued on August 28, and I wouldn't be eighteen until September 1. I could not marry officially before I was eighteen. So we had to wait until September 1, then we could get married. You realize, of course, that I would not have gotten married at eighteen if things had been normal. That was out of the question anyway, because I still had a year of schooling left. But this was different. When the edict was issued, I imagined all the places they could send us to in Siberia: Omsk, Tomsk, Barnaul, and Middle Asia. Then I thought, if we didn't know anything, one person wouldn't be

26 able to find the other. I thought if we were anyplace else, that would be all right, but not with the Russians. If I couldn't produce a paper showing we were married and with a big seal on it, then it wouldn't work. So I thought, if she is my wife, I will have the document. Then I can convince the Russians that I have to find her. But if I didn't have it, then they would say, "You can find all the girls you want." Then my wife would be lost. It also happened that I couldn't travel with her during the resettlement, because at home I still had my mother with five younger children and no father. Mother was ill and 75 kilometers from where I was. So we were married on September 1, and each of us received a marriage certificate. Now, wherever we were in Siberia, she could prove that she had a husband somewhere in the world, or I a wife. We both now had the right to demand to find each other. I traveled with her bicycle about 75 km through the Volga Republic, Maybe some of you know that there is a path, a broad road, from Saratov to Astrakhan. It had once been a cattle trail. I rode home by bicycle for 75 km on this road. There was a guard posted at each village. They didn't let anyone through without a pass. Wherever the edict caught a person, there he had to stay. There were many cases where the family lived in one village, and the mother was on a visit in a different village. She was then transported to Siberia alone, and the family was sent to another village. They could not go back and forth. I, however, was younger and could speak Russian well (all those standing guard were Russians), and I got through the entire 75 km until just before our village. When I got there, a guard pointed a rifle at me and said, "Stop!" I was able to convince him that I only wanted into that village. The soldier was kind enough to say, "If this is where you want, then go on," So I came to our village, came home, and on the 4th and 5th of September our entire village was evacuated. Everything was loaded onto the cattle, the oxen, the camels, and the two cars that were still in the village. The people were then taken to the train station one after the other. All ready for transport. The Germans were taken to Siberia and dispersed there so badly that only two or three families could be in one village. Family groups had to be in three or four villages, so that they could not find each other again. The edict was issued on August 28, 1941. By September 6-7, everyone was gone. Thus the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was dissolved. Everything that bore a German name was gone. No one would have believed that during time of war. When Russia was so weak against its opponent, they could venture to load so many railroad cars with people and be underway 19, 20, up to 25 days to Siberia. But they did it. They took the Germans away. And there they began to decline. When we first came to Siberia, to the small, Russian villages where we settled, starvation began immediately. We had no food, no clothing, because we all had had to leave as we were. One could take along one box 1 meter 60 cm long, 60 cm wide and high, and that was all. I was there myself going from house to house and writing down what remained and telling what could be taken along. They couldn't take anything else. They could take food along as much as wanted and could prepare in a hurry, but not for long. When we got to Siberia, there was so little, that clothing was exchanged for food. But the clothing did not last long, and in a short time people began to starve to death. I knew from our own village a young, strong man who starved to death there. He went from village to village and wanted to exchange clothing. He was caught in a storm, was snowed in, starved, and froze to death. And so on. Many, many. I came to the Krasnoyarsk Krai [Territory], and she came to the Novosibirsk Oblast [Region], Right away I began to search for her, wrote letters everywhere, even to Novosibirsk. But the answer always came back that there wasn't such a person there. If she came there, they would let me know. A month later I heard from a fellow student in Uralsk that she was in Novosibirsk. When we had been there three months, all males from 17 years of age to 60, even older than 60, were gotten together and taken to a camp which had formerly been a prison. And the families with the children had to stay behind. Before I was sent to the labor camp, Lydia wanted to come to me in Krasnoyarsk. But when she found out that all the men had been taken away, she stayed in Novosibirsk, and I was sent to the camp. I did meet her accidentally on the way to the camp. She came to the train station in Novosibirsk as I was traveling through. I then went on to the labor camp and remained there until 1946. She then joined me in 1946. And then another life began.

27 Once the men were all away, then in August 1942 they took all families where the mothers did not want to leave the children and sent them with the children north to the ice, to catch fish. They put them up in adobe huts and some tents—at 45-50 degrees below zero Centigrade. My own mother told me they would get up in the morning and find the blankets covered with snow. They would lift up the blankets and find here a dead person; they’re a dead one. My own grandmother died in this fashion. These were the women who had small children only and didn't want to leave the children alone. They were sent north of Norilsk. All other women, whose children were more than three years old, had to go away and leave the children in homes in the Russian villages quite without supervision. The mothers were sent to work camps like the men. The children left alone slowly starved to death. Some did survive, however, and were eventually reunited with their families. Many of these children were placed in Russian homes with Russian families or were placed in Russian orphanages. They were then given Russian names and identities and lost all German identity. Many were never found again. And so it went until the end of the war. At the end of the war, we expected to be set free, but that was not so. They then sent us from those camps much farther east into colder regions of Siberia until 1956. In 1956 the command posts were closed. We had had to register there each month that we were still there. No one was permitted to leave the village or city. We had no passes, only small pieces of paper without the right to leave the city. That was eliminated in 1956. Then we were told the Germans were free again, could go wherever they wanted—but not back to their home village. When we received the passes, they demanded we sign a statement saying that we renounced the homeland, and that we would never return to the homes along the Volga. Then we received our passes. Whoever did not sign, received no pass. The desire then grew among the Germans to go somewhere, anywhere, to a warmer region—but not to the Volga. So it began. Many of you now know that there are almost one million Germans now living in Kazakhstan, in South Kazakhstan, where it is warmer. And then in Kirgizia, one must say in Middle Asia in general, there are many Germans. The greatest number are in South Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Uzbekistan; in the cities of Alma Alta, Tashkent, and Frunze. Most of the Germans still living in Russia are there. In addition there are many Germans, Volga Germans, in Siberia, Krasnodar Krai [in the North Caucasus], Novosibirsk Oblast, and the villages in the Omsk Region. Those were old German villages from 1907-1908. There, however, there are few. The most are in warmer areas—Kirgizia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan. It is hard to believe here in America—and even harder to believe in Germany—that there are still 1.9 million Germans living in the Soviet Union. We know that for a fact. But when one imagines how many died during the war and starved to death, then it is impossible. But you can believe it; I was in labor camps from 1942 to 1947. In the year 1943 the average rate of death was fourteen men per day, day after day, throughout the year. I knew these numbers because I had to work with them. I knew how many people there were in the camp. We arrived in three trains of fifty cars. We calculated that there were 2 1/2 thousand men on each train. Of all those, no more than one-third came out of the forced-labor camps. Two-thirds died there. Now, how are the Germans thought of in the economy? The Germans appear to be respected by all other people. They do the best and most difficult work. Almost all involved in technology are Germans. Machines are all for the German villages. Wherever there are large construction projects, there are Germans. Many of those involved in construction of houses in cities are Germans. However, there is no longer a German school. Maybe you have heard perhaps through the newspapers or the radio how much Russia is doing for the Germans. Maybe they have a German-language program on the radio for 15 minutes or 30 minutes at one place twice a week, in another three times a week. The three German newspapers are in reality no German newspapers. They are translations from Pravda; there are small monthly or weekly publications. Die rote Pfanne appears every week. But there is a lack of German language, as many complain, and there is nothing to further the German language. The Germans in Russia do not live badly—as compared to other ethnic groups. In Russia there is the saying that one can throw a German wherever one wants to, he will land on his feet. Just

28 as we say about cats. That is what the Russians and the other ethnic groups say about the Germans. And whoever has read Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago knows that he used the very same expression. And now that we are in Germany, the local Germans often ask us why we wanted to come to Germany if life wasn't bad in the Soviet Union. Many cannot understand that a person can hold so strongly to his heritage, to his language, to his history, that he can change his place of residence and start a new life. It is so with the Germans living in Germany, that many do not say they are Germans. They say they are Europeans. It was so with us in Russia: we were Germans. Among other ethnic groups we raised our hands and said, "I am German!" We stood by this with all the work and all the suffering. And now we come to Germany, and the Germans in Germany—they are Europeans. The older Germans say they are German, but the young ones say, "Why should I say I am German?" Among those of our people who now immigrate to Germany, I believe there are very few who would say, "I am coming to Germany only because things are so good here." That is the truth. In Germany life is so good, that it simply can't be better. If one looks simply at it materialistically. To have everything one wants, that is good. But no one knew that in Russia, that it was so good in Germany. No one expected to come here and be given anything. Everyone figured he would come here and begin again in a new place. But he had so much courage, he would survive. He would thus maintain his German heritage, the German language, and never have to see in his own family that his children were married into another ethnic group. Then he would not be able to speak his German language in his own family any longer. That is what most of the Germans in Russia want. Personally, I can say simply that we did not have it bad over there. We were not lower class, but always-middle class. Always lived better than the others. In the whole system, in industry where I worked, I had freedom. I could do much that I wanted to. To be sure, everything was approved by the authorities. I had to concede much that was otherwise not allowed. But I can say quite openly, that I came to Germany because I was afraid that in Russia the German language would be lost completely. In Russia, when we asked why we couldn't have a school, because we wanted to learn and maintain the German language, then we were answered that there were only Russians in Russia. From the beginning it was always said that there was only Russian and we could now learn Russian. Then I answered, "Why? Let the others learn Russian. When we see that nothing is spoken but Russian, then the Germans will also learn Russian." No. In Russia, whenever anything difficult has to be done, the Germans have to do it first. Then come the others and do it, too. I answered; I would rather go to Germany. They said there were atomic bombs there, and everything would be destroyed. Then I said I would rather be destroyed with the Germans—but only then when the Germans were destroyed. However, if I am in Russia, then I would be destroyed first, then all the others. That is why I preferred to go to Germany. I believe you now understand why the Germans still living in the Soviet Union wants to emigrate. If things were freer in Russia, emigration, perhaps 20-30 percent would remain. Those are the ones who have married so much with the Russians that they have no other choice. I have an uncle who has eleven children. Half of them are married to Russians. He only asks to visit Germany. They won't let him. He can't even talk about coming over for good. Such people would stay there. All others would emigrate. So is the feeling among the Germans in Russia. It is just that they cannot-say it openly. If it were possible, that whoever wanted could travel, then the Russians would find out how many that would be. It is demoralizing, as you can imagine, how things are for the Germans in Russia, how much work they have to do. It is almost a law, only a simple law developed naturally, that now, after the war, it is expected of the German worker by the authorities that he has to do double the work of the others, then he gets what a Russian or another gets. They simply say, "The Germans have to work!" How we left Russia is a long story, but I can tell you. We began in 1967. There "was a movement in Russia to request the reestablishment of the Volga Republic. The people wanted to go back to the Volga area, or at least have a German Republic with German schools and everything. The government rejected the proposal. After that we tried to get to a German country. It was more dangerous to say we wanted to go to West Germany. Then we were told, "You are a fascist." So we began by requesting to go to the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). They are also Communists, so we thought the Russians wouldn't have anything against it. We only wanted to be with Germans, if communist or not. Nothing doing. The German Democratic Republic gave us permission, we could come, but the Russians said, "You don't have any business there." 29 Now, when they rejected our application to move to the German Democratic Republic, then we were encouraged and had reason to say we wanted to go to the fascist Germany—but to Germany! We made application after application, but they were turned down again and again. Our application to go to the German Democratic Republic was turned down in 1972, and then we applied for the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). We were finally granted permission to emigrate in 1975. This was only because we were all grown, five adults. Our daughter had been a student at the university for four years. One son was a teacher. The other son was a truck driver, but an adult. We were all determined to fight until we got out, even if they put us in prison. In 1954 we had moved from Eastern Siberia to Altai Krai. We were able to afford the move because I had an occupation (truck driver), which paid well, and we had money. In 1959 it was better, and we moved to Frunze, Kirgizia. In 1969 we sold our house in Frunze for 8 1/2 thousand rubles and moved to Estonia, because we thought it would be easier to get into East Germany from there. We were there a month and returned to Frunze with 6 1/2 thousand rubles. We were able to buy a house there for that amount. We improved on the house and sold it before our trip to West Germany for II thousand rubles. However, we were allowed to take out only 90 rubles each. After presenting our request to emigrate and go to the Federal Republic of Germany in order to return to the homeland of our ancestors, our oldest son was released from his position as a sports teacher. Next was our daughter's turn. She was the chairman of the student circle for foreign relations. She was removed from this post with the threat that she could be released from the Polytechnical Institute completely, if she didn't give up the intention of emigrating. I myself worked as a truck driver and was the vice-chairman of the union committee, from which I was immediately released. In spite of all that, the whole family became more active with the movement for emigration and stood in the front ranks of this movement. The first request was denied. Our family was constantly shadowed and under surveillance. Our son received no more work. He was interrogated many times and threatened with prison. In 1975 I registered a complaint against the KGB with the Minister for State Security, after which I was again summoned and interrogated—but not a word was said about my complaint. On May 29, 1975, we were summoned and informed that our request had been approved, with the exception of one son who had married in the meantime. We were told to leave the city [Frunze] on June 5, 1975, and if we didn't make it, then our request would be considered rejected. On June 7, 1975, we were to cross the border, which we did. A year later we could also welcome our son with his wife and child. Many relatives and friends have remained in the Soviet Union, but our complete family is now in Germany, and we are content.

Editor's Note: Following the convention, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Schwindt spent two weeks with. Mr. and Mrs. William Wunsch in Ft. Morgan, Colorado. During that time they went to Sterling, Greeley, and Windsor, Colorado as well as Goring and Scottsbluff, Nebraska visiting with AHSGH members who could visit with them about their life in Russia, particularly in the village of Morganthau. Before leaving Ft. Morgan, Mr. Schwindt drew a large, beautiful map of Morganthau noting the location of all those who lived there. This map will be available from AHSGH for $4.00 to members and $5.00 to non-members. The article which follows is reprinted by permission from the Ft. Morgan, Colorado Times of August 5, 1986.

30

Out Of Russia Alexander and Lydia Schwindt discuss the years they spent Russia 11 years ago, are living in West Germany and visited in Russian concentration camps. The two, liberated from with a Port Morgan family recently. (Times Photo By Leslie Bernard) German Couple Enjoys 11th Year Of Freedom After Siberian Labor By LESLIE BERNARD Siberia. Times Staff Writer Alexander and Lydia did not see through an interpreter retold some When Alexander Schwindt was each other for five years. of their experiences during World 18 and his wife Lydia was 19, they The Schwindt’s, separated by War II. married in Russia. The next day, 1,000 kilometers, could not The Schwindt’s because they were German, communicate with the exception of now live in nervous Russians, sensing a link censored letters. The couple Stuttgardt, West between the Germans and Hitler, recently spent two weeks with the Germany. And are corraled all the German-Russians Bill Wunsch family in Fort Morgan celebrating their 11th year of into concentration camps in and freedom, since leaving Russia in 1975 after years of trying to pursuade the Russian government to let them exit the country. clung tenaciously to their German "I was a German. I didn't want heritage. to live and die a Russian. I never Alexander estimated almost considered myself a good Russian 600,000 Germans, living in Russia citizen," said Alexander. were resettled in Siberia because Alexander and Lydia and many the war broke out, and Russians families like them lived in Russia thought they might collaborate before the outbreak of the Second with the Germans. World War but It was a scene not unlike the resettlement of the Japanese in the United States. However, conditions, according to both Alexander and Lydia were more deplorable. In their small village, Morgentau, the first signs of trou- ble appeared when 43 of the most articulate and intelligent men "disappeared." They included Alexander's father and

31 two uncles plus the village pastor. some clothes came complete with The Schwindt’s settled in West They were never heard from bloodstains. Germany. They thought about again. Shoes were made from tires or America; however, they didn't Next, the families were re- as Lydia did it, from wood with want to attempt to break a settled. All 2,023 people in felt fastened on against the terrific language barrier and West Alexander's entire village were left cold. Germany suited them fine. in various work camps in Siberia. "You were tired of living," she "It was the logical place to go," No more than three families from said. "Sometimes you wished you he said. The Schwindt’s left behind the original village were allowed could have died." relatives in Russia. They still write in the same camp, according to "We would have liked to have although communication is still Alexander. died. But we couldn't," Alexander censored. Alexander added that The couple married and then agreed. recently Gorbachev stated that no was separated in temperatures in On pure faith the two survived. more of the Germans in Russia Siberia that stayed during the By 1956 they were out of the wish to leave the country. winter at a steady 50 degrees camps and Alexander went back to "That's a downright lie," below zero centigrade. In the truck driving. However, he was Alexander declared. The vast summer some crops were grown restless. Alexander, who was a majority would get out if they and temperatures were more teacher, was also a dissident. He could and leave many of the favorable. was careful how much he said, German towns empty, he believes. "It was terrible, I can't really however, since one slip meant he The Wunsches met the describe it,'* Alexander said. In could wind up in a worse place. Schwindt’s at an international the concentration camps both They both longed to leave convention of Germans from Alexander and Lydia labored for at Russia. Three children and seven Russia and invited them to stay least 12 hours a day, seven days a years later after years of pestering with them for a two-week vacation week. the government the family landed which ended Monday. Food was just above starvation in West Germany. "We'd apply * 'We love it,” Alexander said fare. The Schwindt’s entered their and get turned down.,” he said. of the United States. "It's camps in 1941. By 1947 "But we kept trying." unbelievable." Alexander estimated that two- In 1975 five families were let Another interesting aspect is thirds of those in the camps had out of the country, and the that the Wunsches and Schwindt’s died from starvation or starvation- Schwindt's were one of those discovered they are related. related diseases. families. After that regulations Bill Wunsches and Alexander's Clothes were rags. Sometimes became more strict and they great-great-grandmothers were there were uniforms to wear. Some "didn't let anyone else out," sisters. soldiers may have already worn Alexander said. them, however, and Alexander remembers

32 A Report on "Fly the Maple Leaf" Project Ron Neuman Ladies and gentlemen, I am Ron Neuman of the Edmonton and District Chapter, and I am privileged to speak to you today, and to make a presentation. We have just heard our previous speaker talk of the importance of family, and it is our hope that this presentation will strengthen the ties within our AHSGR family. The suggestion was made to the 3 Canadian members of the International Board of Directors of the AHSGR at the Board meeting in Lincoln in the fall of 1985 that it would be appropriate to have the Canadian flag flying beside the American flag in front of the AHSGR headquarters building. A project was discussed late in 1985 by the Edmonton and District Chapter — a project known as the "Fly the Maple Leaf" project. The objective was to collect $1900.00 in Canadian funds and donate these funds to the AHSGR Foundation to be used for the purchase and installation of a flagpole identical to the existing flagpole that flies the flag of the United States. This project received the approval of the three Canadian members of the International Board—Dr. Adam Giesinger of Winnipeg, George Gette of Regina, and Ron Neuman of Edmonton. Letters were sent to all Canadian members of the AHSGR inviting them to participate in the project. The response was very gratifying, and the project is a success. Special credit must go to Ruby Hunt of the Edmonton and District Chapter, who handled all of the correspondence and banking for the project, to George Gette, who was the project coordinator in Regina, and to the Edmonton and District Chapter, who handled all project expenses, as well as a donation from their fund raising activities. I should mention that Jake Sinner never doubted the success of the project. He has already ordered the flagpole. With great pleasure I now present this donation to the AHSGR Foundation on behalf of all Canadian members of the AHSGR in memory of our parents and grandparents who came to Canada from Russia. My son Chris will present the Maple Leaf to our International President, Sally Hieb.

The Maple Leaf and Stars and Stripes fly side-by-side at international headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska.

33 "Let Him Step to the Music Which He Hears" THE PAST AND PRESENT DUTCH HOP TRADITION Marilyn Hehr Fletcher The Dutch Hop is alive, it's our own, and nobody else can claim it. Generations of musicians have preserved our musical heritage in living form. We are more fortunate that most; some societies can come up with costumes typical of their heritage and have small groups who specialize in folk dances for the occasional festival or performance. The music usually comes from recordings, and is quite perfect, but lacks spontaneity and warm communication. We can take pride that the German-Russian Dutch Hop is not a performance, nor is it history. It's social, contemporary, and very much now. In every society, music and dance play an important part in depicting the temperament, mood, and environment of its people. It is natural to associate music and dance form with ethnic groups. The Dutch Hop is part of our cultural identity. It makes a statement about a people who are high-spirited, resilient, and whose wedding celebrations were truly "high times." Many marriages, many hochzeits, many children, many hopes. In some ways, we all hear the beat of a different drummer. The philosopher and poet Henry David Thoreau said: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, Perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." I'm always tempted to add: "and the German Russians step to Hochzeit music." We have children still growing up with the Dutch Hop. This is no passing fad, but an institution. Perhaps only regional now, but considering influences of modern society and technology which affect our lives and tastes from day to day, it is a minor miracle that the Dutch Hop is still around. We have very stubborn Germans who insist on stepping to their own drummer—never mind the rest of the world. Probably many of you know far more about the Hochzeit customs than I do. You may have had firsthand experiences that some of us can only read about, or have heard of from our families. Nearly all the traditions are gone now, except for the shot at the door, the "dusch", and pinning money on the newlyweds as payment for a dance. Dutch Hop weddings themselves are fewer, but there are German-Russian communities that have never let go the music and dance, and I'm here to remind you that the chain of tradition has not yet been broken. All German-Russians may be Germans, but all Germans are not German-Russians. These are never interchangeable terms. By the same token, all Dutch Hops may be polkas, but all polkas are not Dutch Hops. Just as we are the result of a special genealogy, so is our Dutch Hop. I used to wonder why our music didn't even sound like German polka music, since I'd taken for granted that the polka had originated in Germany long ago. But the Germans take no credit for the polka, which is Slavic. Our ancestors had been in Russia for some generations by the time the polka had arrived in Germany. Our people didn't bring the polka from their German homelands, because it didn't exist there until long after the main migrations to the Volga and Black Sea. Before they adopted the polka, the Germans did have the "Hopser" or "Rutscher." The French renamed it the Galopade, and the English shortened it to "Galop." This simple German dance, along with the waltz, was popular in the early colonies in Russia. The traditional story of how the polka came into being has been told many times, with a few variations here and there. About 1830, a Frenchman observed Anna Slezakova, a Czech peasant girl of Elbesteinitz, Bohemia dancing a brisk, carefree dance step. He was so fascinated by this dance form that he soon introduced it to others. It caught on in Prague, then Paris, and eventually spread to other European countries. It jumped the Atlantic, and by the middle 1800's was popular nearly everywhere. English newspapers of 1843 at first discouraged the polka craze and described it as a "hybrid confusion of Scotch lilt, Irish jig and bohemian waltz, which needs only to be seen once to be avoided forever." A year later, on May 11, 1844, the editors of the same Illustrated London News claimed that after abandoning the heel and toe step, and any stamping or kicking, that "La Polka as now danced in London was elegant, graceful, and fascinating in the extreme."

34 The dance was first called the "nimra," but soon became the polka. It is believed that Anna's original polka step was the hop, 1-2-3. When done this way, it's now most often called the Polish polka. Every nationality was to give its own flavor to the polka music and step. In the U.S., regional variations were more evident in earlier years, probably due to the immigrant groups retaining their own styles. In the 1920's, the Germans and Poles in the "thumb" area of Michigan loved to polka, and emphasized it with a hard step that didn't always come at the exact time with the music. Around the 1940's, some dancers in northern Texas and Oklahoma would put a click or stamp of the heel in the place of a hop. Today, even in areas where ethnic populations were once heavily concentrated, any hop or stomp has usually been dropped—leaving the 1-2-3, or step-close-step that has become the most common polka seen today. Our German colonies in Russia had the polka, but it stands to reason that different tunes would emerge from thousands of colonies scattered over a vast area. German-Russian polkas all seem to have a common bond in being very fast paced and jolly, and created for a "high-time." The German-Russian community in northern Colorado has clung to this particular bounce-step, called Dutch Hop; long after it has faded elsewhere. So many active local musicians just won't give up the traditional Volga German style of music, which explains why the Dutch Hop thrives. You can polka to a Dutch Hop—and really enjoy it, but to Dutch Hop to most polkas is restraining, just not quite right, sort of "out of sync." The music really makes the Dutch Hop.

Adolph Lesser with the accordion and Johnny Stehly, playing a dulcimer he built, illustrate some of the points made in Marilyn Fletcher's address.

Marilyn Olen, a Denver dance instructor, has mastered the Dutch Hop. She has taught the polka for years, with and without a hop, and was at one time the polka queen of Cleveland, Ohio. Marilyn had never seen the Dutch Hop before moving to Colorado. She and other dance experts claim that it isn't done in Europe. Until I explained, Marilyn admitted that she had no clue as to the origin of the local Dutch Hop. A dance instructor and performer from Germany saw the step for the first time in Denver. She insisted on learning, and then commented, "Why would anyone want to just polka if you could learn the Dutch Hop? It's so much easier on your body."

35 The standard 1-2-3 polka has a dancer on tiptoe, and if he is really quick, there's time to add a hop, skip, or kick. All this action, if springy enough, can almost be mistaken for the Dutch Hop by the observer. But if you are the dancer doing a Dutch Hop with a partner who polkas or polka hops, you're aware that there are three steps to your two. At first, most people believe the Dutch Hoppers have added an extra step to the polka. Considering the tempo of our music, it's good that we have more sense. It's just a matter of putting more "oomph" into shifting weight from foot to foot. Dutch Hoppers don't hop, trop, or gallop—they just stroll. There is no 1-2-3 or step- close-step which puts the balance forward. Rather than a hop, there's just a bounce given to the two natural steps of a walk, with balance centered on the rear heel. Describing the Dutch Hop dance as a stroll may seem too mild, but there are folks who enjoy it just that way, and it's a pleasure to see. The beauty of the Dutch Hop is that such a balanced basic form gives the dancer freedom to develop his own individual style according to mood, energy level, imagination, or even physical limitations. If you Dutch Hop, you'll vary the closed position with a side-by-side open position. Beyond that, anything is possible and correct. Some stamp, kick, incorporate lots of figures, break apart awhile, or occasionally throw in a 1-2-3 step or a glide. Some have a very subtle bounce; others give it more rise. That bounce may be just in the knee, with upper body receiving the motion. It can be all over, and there are those who even seem to work in the bounce rhythm from the shoulders and arms, and so get along nearly flatfooted. You really can't associate Dutch Hop with good dancers, implying technique or training. It's good people and the right music, and how they relate to each other. How can there be just an average Dutch Hopper, once he gets that beat? Any demonstration of the Dutch Hop can only show how that particular couple responds to the music. In that respect, there are some outstanding dancers. There's no doubt that some get such a kick from the music and happy atmosphere that they put more gusto into the dance, and have great fun with making the most of it. All's right in the world of Dutch Hop. Whatever mode you're in, as far as stepping to the music, which you hear, you'll likely be smiling. Those from Nebraska, Kansas, and Dakota and other places who know this bounce step may call it by another name. What I've described is what is common along the Front Range in Colorado, which was settled by both Volga and Black Sea Germans. Although folklorists recognize the Dutch Hop as the Old World music and dance of our people, the general public usually doesn't realize it exists, or why. "Dutch Hop" has nothing to do with our being German, but everything to do with our being German-Russian. * * * * * * There are some good people I'd like to thank for either encouraging my interest in the Dutch Hop, or contributing to research: Vyts Beliajus, formerly of Lithuania, now of Denver, and foremost authority of international folkdance—for publishing an article on the Dutch Hop in VILTIS magazine. Lawrence Weigel, of Hays, Kansas—for all his help, recordings, and encouragement. Tim Kloberdanz, formerly of Colorado, now of Fargo, North Dakota—for his enthusiasm and for prompting me to give up dancing long enough to write and talk about it. Joseph Fairfield, of Bridgeport, Nebraska—for sharing his video recording of a 1984 Dutch Hop wedding dance in Gering, and for providing his musical score of "The Russian Fiddler" for publication. Mary Mills, of Denver, for collecting and sharing newspaper articles regarding the polka. Lucille Nelson, of Walla Walla, Washington for her input and information. Barry Fletcher, who finally learned the Dutch Hop, so I wouldn't have to keep bouncing around the kitchen practicing with the family cat for a partner. That cat learned to run for cover whenever he heard Dutch Hop music. Our Central Oklahoma convention hosts—for making it possible for us to meet and hear Adolph Lesser, whose knowledge and experience in the realm of our musical heritage bridges the distance from the Volga to Oklahoma City, 1986. Adolph Lesser, of Greeley, Colorado, —for giving all my questions his immediate attention over the past two years; sometimes taking time to educate me from the bandstand, and for welcoming my interest in the past, present and future of the German-Russian musical tradition.

36

700 ATTENDED

39

THE OKLAHOMA CONNECTION OF THE GERMANS FROM RUSSIA Ray D. Lau

Introduction I have long been fascinated by the Jacob Riis photographs of Ellis Island at the turn of the century. I wonder what happened to all those people, where they went, what they did, what they achieved; I do know the destiny of some. They were Germans from Russia who came to Oklahoma. My grandfather came to the United States from Russian Poland in 1902. Still in his twenties, he had already served four years in the Czar's army when he, his wife, and their one-year-old daughter left the village of Swiniary not far from Warsaw and arrived in New York City may weeks later. From there, they traveled first by train and then by wagon to Washita County, Oklahoma. Stories from that trek awakened my first interest in learning more about all those courageous people who came from Russia. I like to think of the immigrant experience in America as a beautiful tapestry. Some of its richest, most vibrant colors come from the threads of contributions made by the Germans from Russia, and some of the finest details in that tapestry are woven from the experiences of those who came to Oklahoma. It is to these latter details that I turn my attention. I have chosen "The Oklahoma Connection" as the title of my address. My purpose is two-fold. I want to trace the migrations of Germans from Russia into and out of Oklahoma. Secondly, I want to share with you some resources useful in researching this group. Part One: Migration Patterns Oklahoma is unique among the forty-eight contiguous states in that it was formed from land remaining after the creation of its adjacent neighbors. Map One shows this relationship. The delay in opening Oklahoma to settlement resulted from the federal government's policy of Indian removal. The years 1830 to 1842 saw the relocation of the Five Civilized Tribes—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole—from the Southeastern United States to the Indian Territory, which comprised of what is now Oklahoma excluding the Panhandle. Following the Civil War, Congress forced these tribes to give up their western lands because they had supported the South, The policy of relocating other tribes to the Indian Territory continued through the 1880's. Among the Plains Indians brought to present-day Oklahoma were the Cheyenne’s and Arapahoe’s who were given a reservation in the west-central part of Indian Territory. As early as 1880 Mennonite missionaries were ministering to these Indians at the Darlington Agency located in present-day Canadian County. Other missions established by Mennonites were Cantonment near present-day Canton in Blaine County and Shelly southwest of present-day Corn. Within a few years, some of the missionaries would recruit their fellow Mennonites in Kansas to homestead in Oklahoma. In the meantime, lands bordering Indian Territory filled rapidly with settlers. Soon there was no free or inexpensive land available. By 1889, for example, farmland in Kansas was selling for $20 an acre, a price beyond the resources of most young farmers just getting started. "Boomers" urged the government to open the fertile lands in Indian Territory to white settlement. Eventually, the government yielded and bought three million acres from the Creek and Seminole tribes. Authorities declared approximately two million of the acres as the Unassigned Lands and opened them for settlement with a run on April 22, 1889. In their haste, Congress neglected to set up a government for the area, and it was not until nearly thirteen months later that the Oklahoma Territory was officially organized! Following the opening of the Unassigned Lands and lasting through 1906, twelve additional land openings brought a continuous flow of settlers, including Germans from Russia, into Oklahoma Territory. Five of these openings are significant in the settlement of the state because of the large tracts of land made available: the Unassigned Lands, opened by run in 1889; the Panhandle, available for settlement in 1890; the Cheyenne- Arapaho Lands, opened by run in 1892; the Cherokee Outlet, opened by run in 1893; and the Comanche, Kiowa and Apache Lands, opened by lottery in 1901. Map Two gives the location of these areas. An examination of these openings is appropriate. Among the fifty thousand participants in the Run of 1889 were two groups of Germans from Russia. Twelve Mennonite families homesteaded north of El Reno in order to be near the Darlington Agency just to the west. In 1891, this group founded the first Mennonite church in Oklahoma at Mennoville.

41 A second group of Germans, Lutherans originally from the village of Annette in the Russian province of Volhynia, established a community near Marena west of present-day Stillwater. The pioneers came to Oklahoma by way of Harvey County, Kansas. They founded one of the first Lutheran congregations in the state. The opening of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Lands in 1892 brought to Oklahoma its largest influx of Germans from Russia. Hundreds of Mennonites who had immigrated from Russia to Harvey, Marion, and Reno counties, Kansas, as early as 1874, streamed into west-central Oklahoma. They were soon joined by other Mennonites coming directly from colonies in the Molochna and Crimean regions, as well as from Russian Poland and central Asia, Their legacy continues to this day with Mennonite churches thriving in the cities of Clinton, Cordell, Corn, and Weatherford and in the rural Herald Mennonite Church near Bessie. It was also at this time that an important expansion of Evangelical Volga Germans living near Lehigh, Kansas, took place in a southerly direction. Colonists originally from Messer took up homesteads at Okeene, and people formerly from Shcherbakovka located near Hitchcock in present-day Blaine County.

Ray D. Lau

Not all southerly expansion of Evangelical Germans originated from Kansas. Colonists with ancestral ties to Norka, Frank, and Kolb had been living in Adams and Clay counties, Nebraska, since the late 1870's. By 1894, they had formed a cohesive settlement southwest of Weatherford and founded the Zion Congregational Church. Present-day Custer and Washita counties drew numerous Russian-born German-speaking Lutherans. Among them were twelve families from colonies such as Neu-Straube near Saratov in the Volga region. This group was instrumental in founding the Peace American Lutheran Church in 1893, which remains today one of the largest rural congregations in the state. Located on Highway 183 near Bessie, the building is an impressive structure rising on the windswept plains of west-central Oklahoma. Complementing these Lutherans were another group of families from the villages of Kamenka and Krasnadolia in the Russian province of Podolia (Podolski). Relatives of these people settled in Cheyenne County, Kansas, and McLean County, North Dakota.

42 A third and larger group of Lutherans, mainly from the Bessarabian villages of Beresina and Mathildendorf, also settled in Custer and Washita Counties. They established the Zion Lutheran Church, popularly known as the "Rock Church" located southwest of present-day Clinton. Still another group of Lutherans—this time from the villages of Beinoff, Gabin, Navaschadeli, Sade, Swiniary, and Wioniczin, located near Warsaw in Russian-Poland— came to Washita County at the turn of the century. Later, several of these families joined the Mennonite Brethren Church near Bessie. Unlike Kansas, Oklahoma was not the recipient of large numbers of Russian-born, German-speaking Catholics; however, Cheyenne-Arapaho lands did see one Catholic settlement established at Okeene with immigrants mainly from the Volga village of Semenovka. The opening of the Cherokee Outlet in northwest Oklahoma on September 16,1893, was the largest land run in the state's history, and Germans from Russia were amongst those seeking land. Mennonites from Harvey, McPherson, and Marion counties, Kansas, homesteaded throughout the area. Others came from York County, Nebraska, in search of farmland; and by 1910, hundreds of Russian-born Mennonites were also living in the region. The results of Mennonite activity in the Cherokee Outlet are impressive from the new campus of the Oklahoma Bible Academy in Enid to one of the largest Mennonite Bretheren churches in North America, located at Fairview. Evangelical Volga Germans from the colonies of Messer, Kutter, and Moor settled at Ingersoll in present-day Alfalfa County. Several of these settlers previously lived in Barton and Rush counties, Kansas. Lutherans from the Volga colonies of Shcherbakovka and Stephan came to Woodward County by way of Lehigh, Kansas. They were joined by others from Bessarabia. Much religious diversity existed among the Germans from Russia in Ellis and Woodward counties, including Congregationalists from Strassburg of the Volga region and Seventh-Day Adventists from Eigenheim, Bessarabia. Similarly, Ellis County became the home of colonists from the Volga villages of Dreispitz, Holstein, Shcherbakovka, and Stephan. These colonists, too, reflected diverse religious backgrounds, including Baptists, Congregationalists, Lutherans, and Seventh-Day Adventists. "No Man's Land," otherwise known as the Oklahoma Panhandle, became part of Oklahoma Territory on May 2,1890, but it was not until a decade later that a surge of homesteading occurred. A sturdy, self-sufficient, resilient people were needed to settle this region, and hundreds of Germans from Russia succeeded admirably. Mennonite Brethren from Buhler, Kansas, took up homesteads near Hooker in present-day Texas County. Nearby, Krimmer Mennonite Brethren—who had been living at Inman, Kansas, since 1874—formed a community. These people had ancestral ties to the Crimea. In addition, Mennonites from Buhler and Inman, Kansas, settled near present-day Turpin in Beaver County. Lutherans, too, are representative of Russian-born Germans coming to the Oklahoma Panhandle. Again, one sees the Volga colonies of Dreispitz, Shcherbakovka, and Stephan represented by settlers coming to Texas County. Land belonging to the Comanche, Kiowa and Apache tribes was opened to settlement by lottery between June 9 and August 6,1901. This area in southwest Oklahoma drew several hundred Russian-born Germans. In 1894, the Mennonite Brethren established the Post Oak Indian Mission near Indiahoma in present-day Comanche County. It was, however, present-day Kiowa County that drew the largest number of Germans from Russia with the Gotebo vicinity having the greatest concentration of this ethnic group. From 1890, the year following the first land opening, through 1910, three years after statehood, Oklahoma's population increased dramatically and included a sizeable number of Germans from Russia. As Table One indicates, Oklahoma's population continued to grow until 1930. During the decade that followed, however, adverse economic conditions nationwide, combined with a severe water shortage that turned Oklahoma into a "Dust Bowl," forced many of the state's farmers to leave. It can be assumed that Germans from Russia were among those affected since many of the counties that suffered permanent population losses were those with high concentrations of this ethnic group.

43 Where did they go? Readers of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath might conclude that they all went to California. While it is true that many of the state's Russian-born Germans did go there, they also went to other states. I personally have relatives who went to Washington, Nebraska, New Jersey, Michigan, Texas, Colorado and Wisconsin. It took Oklahoma forty years to recover its population losses. Finally, in 1970, the state's population exceeded the 1930 figures. The 1980 census revealed that Oklahoma's population increased at a faster rate than the national average. However, given the current economic status of agriculture and the oil industry, it remains to be seen if Oklahoma's population will continue to grow or if the state will witness another population decline. What does all this demographic information regarding immigration and settlement, population increases and decreases mean? It suggests, I think, the probability that many Germans from Russia living throughout the United States and Canada have an "Oklahoma connection," It is with this connection in mind that I want to share with you some of the resources available for researching this group. Part Two: Research Sources My comments here will deal with a booklet entitled, A Bibliography of Materials Pertaining to the Germans from Russia available at the conference and from the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the AHSGR. This item is the result of the collaborative effort of a ten-person committee. Many hours of work went into this project, and I would like to mention the individuals who contributed much time and expertise—Freddie Baker, Betty Brown, Margaret Crawley, Betty Geis, Bruce Harms, Ray Lau, Betty May, JoAnn Vogt, Dava Woodard and Marianne Wheeler who originated the idea, chaired the committee and prepared the final compilation. The bibliography, reflecting the genealogical and/or historical interests of the various committee members, is a union list in that it identifies the various libraries in which the materials are located. Although the list does not attempt to include every library in the state, a wide variety of institutions are represented including public and university libraries, as well as the holdings of the State Historical Society and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. In addition, the pertinent holdings of the prestigious Western History Collection of the University of Oklahoma are included. The work is divided into seven sections, the first being an alphabetical listing, by county, of resources available for research at the local level. Genealogists will be especially interested in the numerous county histories cited. Some of them are complemented with separately published, detailed surname indexes. The names and addresses of local genealogical societies are given, along with the titles of their journals. County naturalization records, marriage records, cemetery inventories, mortuary records, etc. are often published in these journals. In addition, the names and addresses of libraries located in the respective counties are also included. The next section deals with Oklahoma-related publications of a general nature. Among the fine books dealing with the history of our state is Oklahoma: a Bicentennial History, by Drs. H. Wayne and Anne Hodges Morgan, The authors provide us with a readable, thematic overview of the state's history. It is a pleasure to see a book on Oklahoma history mention the Germans from Russia. Geographical sources are essential to genealogists and others researching at the state level. Of first importance is John W. Morris' Historical Atlas of Oklahoma. It provides a wealth of geographical information including maps of land openings, boundary changes, institutions, counties, etc. Oklahoma Placenames, by George Shirk is also a useful guide, especially for locating information about towns no longer in existence, their name changes, and name origins, This section is followed by a listing of materials of a general nature dealing with immigrant and pioneer experiences in America. Numerous articles are cited from the Great Plains Quarterly, a regional journal devoted to the study of this area. The fourth section lists bibliographies arranged by author. One title of special note is American Newspapers, 1821-1936; a Union List of Files Available in the United States and Canada, by Winifred Gregory. Arrangement is geographical by state or province, then by town. As the title implies, this is a comprehensive listing of extant newspapers. Many towns may no longer exist, but their early-day newspapers may have survived and may be on file in some library or archival institution. For example, consider the town of Ingersoll, located in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma. By consulting this work, one learns that three newspapers published in Ingersoll between 1901-1914 are on file in the Newspaper Library of the State Historical Society here in Oklahoma City.

44 The fifth section of the bibliography lists books about Germans from Russia. Many of the titles recorded are available in the AHSGR library. I do want to point out Douglas Hale's The Germans from Russia in Oklahoma, which offers an excellent overview of this ethnic group in our state. One can only regret that this book has gone out of print. Considerable research has been done by Mennonites regarding their heritage. This activity is reflected in a separate section listing forty titles including two doctoral dissertations. Lloyd C. Penner's The Mennonites on the Washita-River; the Culmination of Four Centuries of Migrations is an excellent example of a scholarly, yet readable work dealing with the Mennonites who came to Washita and Custer counties, Oklahoma. The final section is called, as one might expect, "Miscellaneous." This section lists a useful tool for genealogists: William Filby's three-volume Passenger and Immigration Lists Index. It is hoped that this bibliography will find wide use among those seeking to learn about their Oklahoma connection. The committee that prepared the bibliography realizes that there will be an ongoing need to correct, revise and update such a work. It is also our hope that it may serve as a model for other states and provinces to develop similar bibliographies of Germans from Russia in their respective domains. Conclusion Two weeks ago, I was in New York City during the centennial rededication of the Statue of Liberty. The occasion not only made me proud to be an American, but it also heightened my awareness and appreciation of the important role that the foreign-born have had in the development of our country. The Lady of Liberty Island has greeted her share of Germans from Russia since 1886. Those immigrants, along with countless others who came to our shores through other ports, have contributed much to America's diversity, drive, character, and resilience. The concept of the American "melting pot" may still be valid. But in the 1980's and beyond, I believe that it is important that we retain and preserve those special spices of specific cultures that make our American melting pot richer for all of us. We should not allow the stew to become tasteless and bland. The Germans from Russia are part of those special spices. May we never lose that connection with our heritage.

Dr. Lee Carter was the banquet speaker. His manuscript titled "The Great American West—Dream Versus Reality" has apparently been lost in the mail. We regret that it has not reached us as this Journal goes to press. His address will appear in the Winter Issue of the Journal.

45 An Old Time German Christmas

The animals at the manger. 46 WEIHNACHTSFEIER

We were treated to Christmas in July with "An Old Time German Christmas" pageant directed by Dr. Sylvia Schmidt. The presentation was in conjunction with the Southern Nazarene University of Oklahoma City. The music was lovely and the scenes breath-taking.

The Three Wise Men.

Mary and Joseph with the Babe in the manger.

47

The children gather and learn about the Beiznickel,

The Beiznickel.

Belznickel, A Poem as you hurriedly stepped inside to quiet the children's screaming. Masked god of our ancient past, "Pray" you told the little ones giving peanuts to the pious friend of the frightened children, and spankings to the rest. when will you forgive us and return? Sometimes the old folks speak of how you magically appeared on frozen Christmas Eves. A crumpled hat, a mask of cloth. a hefty coat and gloves disguised your secret form. The door would open wide Timothy J, Kloberdanz who have tried to forget their earth-kissed heritage. How many snows have melted Surely you peek in the window since you rapped upon a kitchen door and see the aluminum tree, with your wooden paddle? electric wreath and plastic mistletoe. Perhaps you still come by, Beiznickel with the precious human eyes, pausing near each home forgive my people who have forgotten yet are afraid to enter. and left you standing in the cold. —Afraid you will remind those

48 THE FELLOWSHIP BREAKFAST

Elsie Whittington enrolled Ed Ran, Central California Chapter President.

Rudy Amen was on had to sign up new life members.

Ed Schwartzkopf is experienced at getting new lifers.

Mary Froscheiser, Membership Chairman welcomed all new members and awarded certificates to those who have paid up life memberships since the last convention.

49 NUMEROUS DISHES WITH SIX INGREDIENTS Pioneer cooking was done on the spot and attracted the attention of a room full of tasters. Mrs. Elda Martens was the cook.

There were plenty of males to learn a lesson or two.

Rolling pins are a necessity. Then cut to serving size.

50

51 THE BARBECUE-OKLAHOMA STYLE

There was food a-plenty. Some of the Portland gang.

The pans were never empty. Red and blue bandanas were tickets of admission.

Of course there were desserts. Good visiting too!

52

The lines kept coming. And coming! And coming!

A group of Kansans waited patiently. There was appropriate music too.

Table space ran out. But sitting on the floor was just as good.

53 VILLAGE NIGHT

Mennonite villages. More Mennonite villages.

Franzosen. Rosenberg.

Donhof Volhynian Mennonite Villages.

Walter. Kamenka.

54

Beideck. Balzer.

Wisenseite Evangelical villages. Dreispitz.

Messer. Ukrainian Volhynia.

Kautz and Dietel. Frank.

55 GRATITUDE: THE MEMORY OF THE HEART Msgr. Joseph Stremel Lord, it is good for us to be at the ecumenical service in Oklahoma City, on this 20th day of July 1986! You and I are present at the seventeenth international convention of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia because David J. Miller from Greeley, Colorado, was blessed with a "sense of history;" he with Lydia, his wife, and the founding fathers of the AHSGR recognized that the ancestral history of the Germans who immigrated into Russia, in the 1760's, should be both written and preserved for future generations. We are grateful for their motivation, their time and talents, and for giving of their means to write a history and to preserve the folklore, the music and the genealogies for future generations. Today we pay tribute to all board members, past and present, for their unstinting services, fidelity and loyalty. My sister, Martha Issinghoff, informed me that a goodly number of the current board members have served us faithfully and well since 1968. For everything there is a reason and a season. We need clouds to welcome the sunshine, the night to enjoy the day, the winter to appreciate the summer, and this ecumenical service to acknowledge the presence of God, to adore, praise and thank Him for all that he has done for us, is now doing for us, and hopefully will do for us in the future. A story is told of a little lady who came to a bishop and said, "I have never had an experience of God. Never has God touched me. I have never really encountered the Lord," she said, "Why should I," she asked, "give thanks or be grateful to him?" The bishop replied, "My dear, when you leave here, I want you to feel the sunlight on your back. I want you to hear the birds in the trees singing to you. I want you to take your doorknob in your hand and really feel it. And when you cook your food, smell it. And when you eat it, taste it. When you finish your day, close your eyes and listen, listen to the night parade to all the things that have happened to you during the day. Listen to the reaction, and come back to see me in a couple of weeks." When she returned, she was a new person. She described her profound encounter with God. And in the bishop's presence, she gave thanks and praise to the Lord. Most of us have been abundantly blessed again and again both spiritually and materially. We are still a nation "under God" and our motto is "in God we trust. "As Christians it is very becoming for us to give thanks to the Lord our God. America has just harvested another large wheat crop. The United States with its multiple resources and technological advancement is by far the richest nation in the world. The worth of a nation, however, it has been said, must not be judged on what it has but what it does with what it has. "America will be judged," said Walter P. Ruether, "by the measure of social and moral responsibility we demonstrate in converting our material wealth into human values and reflect our great technological progress in terms of human progress, human happiness, human dignity, and the expansion of opportunity for the maximum fulfillment of all our people." As a nation under God and so richly blessed, we the people who believe in God, have the serious responsibility to become a blessing for the poor, the lonely, the sick, the aged, the disadvantaged, the orphaned, the alienated, the refugees, the victims of war, the unemployed and all who are waiting to receive merciful forgiveness and the love of Christ through us. Our active or inactive concern for these people is indicative of our gratitude, a word which someone defined as "The memory of the heart." Our gratitude to God is our willingness to share not only material goods but also our time, abilities and talents. May we never be guilty of saying to the needy, without helping them, "Goodbye and good luck, keep warm and well fed." Faith that does nothing in practice, Scripture informs us, is thoroughly lifeless. St. Paul exhorts us with these words: "In every circumstance give thanks." When the traffic light turns red and we are in a hurry, we can thank the Lord who gives us a few moments to be alone with Him. The young person can be thankful that he has all the experiences of life before him. He who is old can be thankful that he has attained judgment and understanding and has learned to be careful about problems associated with old age. He who is in good health can be thankful for a treasurer greater than gold. He who is ill or physically disabled can be grateful for the loving care of family and friends and for the opportunity for being an inspiring example of patience and fortitude. He who has riches of gold and silver can be thankful that life's bounty has given him the privilege and joy of sharing with those less fortunate.

56 He who is without worldly wealth can be thankful that the truly great treasurers of life are free, kindness, friendship, love and appreciation. He who lives in a free country like we do can be thankful that his opportunities are many and that his chance of success is not hampered by regimentation or slavery. He who worships, as we do this morning, can be thankful that he lives in a nation where he may adore God according to the dictates of his conscience. Gratitude is the gateway to graciousness, the pathway to politeness, the threshold of thoughtfulness and the cornerstone of courtesy. Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joys, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. "An attitude of gratitude," said William Arthur Ward, "is a never-ending prayer." Today, tomorrow, and every day let us give thanks to the Lord our God! Yes, it is right to give him thanks and praise. And to this, all of God's children say Amen, Amen, Amen! God love you!

Participants in the Ecumenical Service from left: Bruce Harms, Prof. Melvin Unruh, and lieu. Rudy Sauter and Msgr. Joseph A. Stremel, M.S., who gave the meditation.

The Ecumenical Service on Sunday morning closed with everyone singing "Gott mit euch bis wir uns wiederseh'n!

57 WHERE NEXT?

Oregon members say, "Come to Portland, the city of roses.”

Marianne Wheeler passes the convention lantern to the Oregon Chapter President, Harold Beck, at the final banquet.

Our newest chapter — Oregon Cascade will help host the convention. Martha Issinghoff, Chapter Organization Chairman, presented their charter to Joanna Deines of Portland for delivery.

58 REPORTS TO THE SEVENTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

Report of the Executive Director Ruth M. Amen

Headquarters is a busy place. We open at 7:30 A.M. and close at 5:00 P.M. on Monday through Friday. On Saturdays our hours are 8:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Presently we have 5 full time staff members working 40 hours per week plus 3 part time people who work from 15 to 30 hours per week. We are short-staffed due to the demands on our services. That I consider a good problem to have for it denotes growth in the society. However, since taking on the editing of the Journal we are falling behind in responding to correspondence and the handling of other services our member’s request. We beg your indulgence and also ask that you allow more time when writing for information. We are pleased to say that we have received many letters expressing pleasure with the Journal. As already told, all our paid memberships are on the computer. We are also keeping inventory current in this way. Headquarters would be hard up without our faithful volunteers. We rely heavily on them for tours, for buildings repairs, for bringing needed materials from our warehouse, taking materials to our printer, mowing and cleaning up the grounds, and keeping the building in excellent condition. We have at least 2-3 receptionists and 6-8 men who show up every day to do those tasks. Although much of the program, its speakers and presentations were suggested by the hosts, this convention has been a major job at headquarters as is the case with every convention. There has been close communication with the co-chairmen and local planning committee. All the programs are laid out at headquarters and prepared for the printer. Ordering materials and getting them shipped involved the preparation of approximately 100 cartons being sent here to the Hilton Hotel. As is always the case, it is a pleasure to see the program unfold and all facets of the schedule go so smoothly.

Report of the International Secretary Elaine Wilcox

The Board of Directors of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia has met four times in the past year. At the post convention meeting on July 14, 1985, in Yakima, Washington, six new members were welcomed, and the following officers were elected, President, Selma T. Hieb; Vice President, Reuben Goertz; Secretary, Elaine Wilcox; Treasurer, Henry Grenemeier. Ruth M. Amen was rehired as Executive Director. The next meeting of the Board of Directors was held at the National Headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska, on October 18 and 19, 1985. New members joining the board at this meeting were Jake Sinner and Dr. Harley Stucky. On April 4 and 5, 1986, the Board of Directors met in Yankton, South Dakota. While there, the Board was privileged to be escorted on a tour of historic sites by the Vice President and to participate in the Schmeckfest at the Freeman Junior College in Freeman, South Dakota. The final meeting of the Board of Directors was held prior to this convention on July 14 and 15, at the Hilton Hotel, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Discussions and decisions of all these meetings concentrated on the multitude of methods available to preserve the history of our people. How best to make use of the efforts and finances provided by the membership in formulating guidelines for this preservation is a major concern of all Board members. To this end, the Board has requested the reactivation of the Long Range Planning Committee to include seven Chapter Presidents. The members of the Board of Directors consider it a privilege to serve as your representatives and do so at their own expense. Your opinions and comments are always welcomed as valuable suggestions in the undertaking of the preservation of our heritage for future generations.

59 Genealogy Committee Report Delbert D. Amen and Margaret Zimmerman Freeman In the past year the genealogy committee, comprised of Arthur Flegel, Elaine Frank Davison, Brent Mai, Ron Neumann, Curt. Renz, Anthony Schwann, Gerda Walker, and co-chaired by Delbert Amen and Margaret Zimmerman Freeman, has sought to support the Genealogy Staff at Headquarters in Lincoln with their extensive efforts to serve our society. The American Historical Society of Germans from Russia is indeed fortunate to have such a capable staff in Lincoln. Curt. Renz has continued to coordinate the mounting of obituaries, which are an aid to many of our researchers. The society is grateful to all of the volunteers across the United States and Canada who help with mounting and filing obituaries. This effort is a very important part of the work of this committee. We have been able to continue the genealogical chairman's breakfast during convention week. This is an excellent way for chapters to share ideas for involving their members in genealogical pursuits. This genealogical chairman's meeting is followed by the village coordinators' meeting which again is another opportunity to share procedures and successes in research in ancestral villages. These meetings are held on the same morning and are becoming an effective avenue for extending the program of our society. From the work accomplished during the Yakima Convention last year, the committee completed a usable draft of a "Genealogical Checklist for Researching Germans from Russia." This has been sent to or given to the genealogical chairman in each chapter and is also available from Jo Ann Kuhr at headquarters. An afternoon of simultaneous presentations, including a hands-on computer workshop, was tried this year. This we hope will be helpful to those of us involved in research on our unique Germans from Russia. This program was in addition to the Genealogy Symposium. Procedures are being established to encourage cooperation among the committees of our own society, with the overlapping functions existing among the Genealogy Committee, the Linguistics and Oral History Committee, and the Historical Research and Bibliography Committee. We must learn about the availability of all information, including dialects that would be helpful in research, and use our manpower and womanpower to assist each other in collecting information for our society. The society continues to search out the names and addresses for repositories of materials in the United States, Canada, Europe and South America, particularly for the Germans who traveled East before coming to the New World or returning to Europe. We hope to benefit from and complement the research already in process and completed. This past year members of the committee have worked on research aids to benefit our society members, Arthur Flegel has finished translating and had printed at his own expense a book on Leipzig, Bessarabia, previously available only in German. Rosemary Larson and Margaret Freeman spent a day in the Archives at the congregational Church Seminary in New Brighton, Minnesota, copying obituaries from Der Kirchenbote. These have already been mounted by Art Flegel and the Golden Gate Chapter and placed in the obituary files. Curt. Renz has finished an alphabetized list of surnames with Revision List numbers for those German villages in the Grossliebental, Glueckstal, Kutschugan and Beresan Districts of South Russia as found in Karl Stumpp's The Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1768 to 1862, from pages 564 to 808. Marianne Wheeler has finished a bibliography of materials pertaining to the Germans from Russia in Oklahoma. Brent Mai has contributed copied maps of the Volga from the Library of Congress to be used in conjunction with the Stumpp maps to give greater detail. Margaret Freeman and her husband, Robert Freeman, have finished an index to Dr. Adam Giesinger's book, From Catherine to Khrushchev. Ron Neuman is in the process of redrawing the map of eastern Europe with contributions from Art Flegel and Adam Giesinger. Delbert Amen has completed two books: an index to obituaries from the Ouster County Republican, in Weatherford, Oklahoma, 1900-1909, and an index to Washita County Cemeteries. Some committee’s members are also working to compile an all-inclusive Gazetteer of the German Villages in Russia. Each of these research aids is or will be available from Lincoln.

60 Linguistics and Oral History Committee Report Dona Reeves-Marquardt

Seven years have passed since 1979 and our convention in Seattle when Dr. Charles L. Gebhardt, chair of the Linguistics Committee, asked our members to turn on their cassette recorders and to record the German "Wenker" sentences as students from Leningrad University had done among our ancestors in Russia in 1924. These sentences form the base of the German Deutscher Sprachatlas, a monumental archive of linguistic and dialect information which continues, both in published and in audio format, today. It is an achievement, which documents the German language in its most indigenous form, wherever it is spoken in the world. These forty sentences with their peculiar expressions and their odd syntax have served linguistics scholars well in revealing the formations marking our particular national, regional, and even village origins. They reveal, in short, that which makes us individual, integral, and valuable. They aid in identifying those speech characteristics which distinguish us from the homogenous, uniform whole. Seven years have passed. We are still far from acquiring enough German cassette tapes in German from our members or from other Germans from Russia in America to assist scholars in devising a comprehensive review of our peoples' dialects. Our time, however, is running out. It is not a project, which can be ongoing for another twenty years, because the number of our people who speak German diminishes each year. Think back, if you will, to 1979, and recall how many of your family members are no longer with us. Did they speak German? Do you speak German? Will our dialects disappear because no one bothered to record them in any form? Our young people have accepted the cassette tape recorder as an essential part of their lives. Cassette recorder manufacturers have made it amazingly simple to wear one of these miniature devices at our side, in our ears, as we work, as we study, as we jog or walk. Our committee encourages you to turn on the "record" button as you come together with friends, perhaps over "Kuchen," perhaps as you page through a family photograph album. The German may be "broken" or it may be mixed with a good bit of English; that is of little importance. Our immediate task is to collect German texts. . before they disappear forever. A few of our members have responded to our plea; we thank them most heartily for their support and their effort. Our guidelines are simple, non-rigid, and merely motivational. We do need some background information about the speakers as well as their permission to use the tapes for educational and research purposes. Forms are available from headquarters or from committee members. Ours is a project, which can be advanced best by volunteers on the chapter level. As an example, the Edmonton & District Chapter funded and collected 60 tapes and synopses from the Provincial Archives of Alberta, sending them to be consolidated with the holdings in our AHSGR archives. Efforts on the chapter level need not be that ambitious, however, perhaps a volunteer from an ongoing oral history project, or the genealogy committee, or a folklore committee can identify or record our German speakers while completing other tasks. We must also assure that these cassettes, or copies of them, are sent to our archives in Lincoln, creating a central depository for researchers in the future. It is also the responsibility of this committee to seek out and to collect publications pertaining to the German dialects of our people. Although a number of respected scholars are researching dialect usage among Germans from Russia in America, their projects are, for the most part, long-range, requiring years of thought while coordinating the field work of many students. Often articles of a less weighty nature escape our notice, yet might help us fill in some of the questions we have about the meaning and structure of our language. We ask you, our members, to send us copies of articles you may find in your local newspapers, newsletters, and magazines that relate to our German dialects. For those of you attending this convention, helping this committee achieve its goals is as simple as dropping by room 404 in this hotel during free hours; we have equipment ready to record your very special German stories and the Wenker sentences. You will gain the unlimited gratitude not only of this committee, but of our members twenty years from now. In another seven years, it may be too late. The Linguistics and Oral History Committee is composed of Dona Reeves-Marquardt, Chairman, Margaret A. Freeman, Reuben Goertz, Timothy J. Kloberdanz, Lewis R. Marquardt, Leona Pfeifer, and Paul Schach,

61 Library Committee Report Gerda S. Walker The Library Committee for the year July 1985 to July 1986 consisted of Mrs. Ruth Freehling, Dr. Adam Giesinger, Mr. Ron Neuman, Mrs., Marie Olson, and Mrs. Gerda Walker, Chairman. The Committee's first order of business was to define its duties under the newly revised bylaws adopted October 18, 1985, which were:

1. Oversee the care of the AHSGR Library and Archives. Under this item we found that our Director and staff have given thought to the safeguarding of our library holdings and that there is insurance against loss. The library staff is to be commended for their interest and concern in the care of the material in their charge. The archive facilities will soon be inadequate to take care of the fast-growing collection of historical and genealogical material and thought should be given to its future needs. Urgently needed at present is a permanent card file cabinet and stand to take care of the author/subject index cards. Mrs. Marie Olson, a former librarian, recommends an oak filing cabinet and stand, large enough to take care of our expanding files for some years. Such a filing unit would cost about $500.00. 2. Our second duty is to oversee and advise on the placement of AHSGR publications in schools, colleges and university libraries. It is our policy not to send our quarterly publications to colleges, universities or other historical societies unless they are members of AHSGR. It would become a costly item to send our material even to those institutions which have a special interest in the Germans from Russia, It is therefore recommended that chapters and individual members consider giving either an AHSGR membership to their local library or college or donating Journals and Clues to them which members may no longer use. 3. The Third Library Committees duty reads: Be alert and advise Headquarters and the Board of Directors of pertinent material that should be included in the AHSGR Library and Archives. Our collection of books, articles, periodicals, maps, pictures and clippings has grown to an impressive total, but there is still a great amount of valuable material in foreign archives, which we need to have copied or microfilmed or purchase. Dr. Adam Giesinger, our widely respected historian, volunteered to update and expand our acquisitions list. He is recommending that we obtain copies of microfilmed periodicals, which were printed in Russia, as well as copies of rare books and articles no longer available for purchase. We owe Dr. Giesinger a debt of gratitude for his painstaking work in this regard. The library acquisition list also includes suggestions from other historians and researchers on materials, which would be of value, such as the recommendations of Dr. Dona R. Marquardt, chairman of the Linguistics Committee, for several books, which would be of help in the study of our dialects. Consideration was also given to the suggestion by Dr. Alexander Dupper that we should add to our collection of research of our people found in the Russian language as well as other languages such as French, Swedish, Swiss and Spanish. In view of the fact that the collection and preservation of our history is the main purpose of our society, and that the library material is the heart and soul of our organization, we call upon all our members to assist us in any way they can; to continue to send in books and items of historical significance, or to send monetary donations earmarked for the Emma S. Haynes library. Perhaps your chapter can underwrite the purchase of a certain book or newspaper microfilm or donate material such as the Edmonton, Canada Chapter who purchased over 60 tape interviews of German/Russian settlers. Individuals, too, can take part in helping us make our library an important center for the research of our history and culture.

62 The Building Committee Report Jake Sinner

The Building Committee composed of Ruth M. Amen, Ralph Giebelhaus, Henry Grenemeier and Jake Sinner; chairman has the following accomplishments to report to the convention: 1. The General Store has been completed and is now being furnished with appropriate equipment, shelving, etc. The rear of the store is being used as a temporary shoe shop. 2. A flagpole has been ordered to be erected next to the American flagpole. It is being readied for the Canadian flag. 3. The chapel is complete, with the exception of some minor wiring. Pews are in place and the chancel has been furnished with the materials we received several years ago from the church in Globeville, Colorado. 4. The summer kitchen is complete with furnishings. 5. The site for the blacksmith shop is prepared for erecting this building. Temporarily it will be used for a tool house. 6. We have taken steps to vacate the 10' by 50' alley east of the store. This land will make it possible for us to enlarge the blacksmith shop. 7. The north wall of our museum at 1139 South 7th which is furnished as a home at the turn of the century had to be repaired due to water getting between the masonry wall and interior wall. We removed 2/3 of the north wall, constructed new footings, re-laid the brick and back plaster. The entire house was then repainted. 8. One of our volunteers, John Kaufman, has planted a small garden of vegetables and flowers, as well as "schwadze Be’en." 9. Volunteers care for the lawns, trees, and shrubs as well as making any necessary repairs on the entire Heritage Center. 10. As property becomes available within the bounds of the proposed Heritage Center, we will negotiate its purchase by the Foundation. Other buildings will be constructed as land becomes available.

Public Relations Committee Report Larry W. Metzler

The 1986 Public Relations Committee of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, meeting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, reports as follows: During the year the committee has continued to pursue the efforts of creating an exhibit, which could be used by local chapters and at various types of conventions and gatherings. This display would advertise multi-aspects of AHSGR. Such material is desperately needed and has been requested on numerous occasions. Our efforts will continue in this direction during the coming year. We have also returned to the practice of distributing news releases to the local newspapers concerning members of the Board of Directors who attend conventions. At this convention news releases have been sent to thirty-four newspapers throughout the United States and Canada. We hope such local hometown coverage will help enhance the image of our organization. We are well aware that television is one of the finest media forms of advertisement today. We currently have undertaken efforts to pursue the possibility to taking the story of our heritage to this medium. This process is long and complicated. Many ethnic groups have portrayed their story through film and now we too need to make others aware of our ethnic heritage and contributions. The committee eagerly seeks your thoughts and ideas so that the story of AHSGR becomes known throughout Canada and the United States.

63 Membership Report Mary Froscheiser Convention Time! What an exciting time it is! This is my opportunity to thank the chapters and their membership chairmen for their efforts in promoting membership in AHSGR. The need for continuous growth in our membership is important. Many of you members are giving memberships as gifts to members of families and friends. It is up to all of us to seek these opportunities. Our AHSGR has a lot to offer so be enthusiastic about asking others to enroll. The Heritage Center should be a must on your vacation plans. STOP and VISIT. Seeing what has been accomplished will make you proud to say you are a member of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. A comparison of membership totals: June 30, 1986 5,370 June 1, 1985 5,266 (5,734 on December 31, 1985) June 8, 1984 5,545 June 1, 1983 5,243 A comparison of membership groupings: 6-8-84 6-1-85 6 30-86 New Members 738*** 491* - 581** Life Members 453 514 577 $10 Student (for '85 only) 15 $25 Supporting (for '84 only) $50 Contributing $100 Sustaining $25 Renewals ($20 for '84) Exchange

5,545 5,266 5,370 ** 85 of these are returnees *** 90 of these are returnees * 56 of these are returnees

97 10 1 4,242 4 7 1 4,233 5 4,201 K

Non-Renewals: 6-1-85 6-30-86 In Chapter Areas Outside Chapter Areas 6-8-84 928 670 987 1.160 848 789 232 178 198

5 States leading in new memberships: 6-1-85 1. California 76 6-30-86 2. Washington 66 1. California 87 68 3. Colorado 65 2. Washington 56 53 4. Oregon 49 3. Colorado 42 5. Kansas 36 4. Oregon 5. Nebraska

64 Life Memberships by Chapters: Lodi, California — 4 Melon Valley Arizona Sun — 6 — 1 Mid-Nebraska — 2 Nation's Arizona Sahuaro — 2 Capital Area — 9 Nebraska Big Bend — 5 Panhandle — 7 North Central Blue Mountain — 8 Washington North Star of Calgary — 4 Minnesota — Northeast Kansas — Center of the Nation — 1 2 Northern Colorado — 20 Northern Central California — 19 Illinois — 15 Oklahoma Harvesters Central Oklahoma — 4 — 0 Olympic Peninsula — 9 Central Washington — 12 Oregon — 38 Oregon Cascade — 2 Colorado Hi Plains — 5 Platte Valley of Nebraska -Post Colorado West — 0 Rock - 10 Rainier — 5 Columbia Basin — 2 Regina & District — 5 Sacramento Denver-Metro — 24 Valley — 10 Saginaw Valley — 21 Edmonton & District — 0 South Central Michigan — Flint, Michigan — 7 Southeast Wisconsin — 5 Southeast Golden Empire-Bakersfield — 3 Wyoming — 3 Southern California Golden Gate - 22 — 26 Southwest Michigan — 3 Golden Spread — 8 Southwest Nebraska — 3 Sunflower Golden Wheat - 20 — 8 Non-Chapter Areas — 64 Total Greater Detroit — 5 - 577 Greater Seattle — 20 Greater Sheboygan — 11 Greater Spokane — 4 Heart of America — 5 Heritage Seekers of Southwest Kansas Homestead — 1 Kansas City Area — 5 Lincoln, Nebraska — 88

MEMBERSHIPS BY STATES, PROVINCES AND COUNTRIES June 30, 1986 Alabama 6 Michigan 254 South Dakota Alaska 11 Minnesota 177 Tennessee Alberta 94 Mississippi 1 Texas Arizona 70 Missouri 43 Utah Arkansas 8 Montana 81 Virginia British Columbia 45 Nebraska 547 Washington California 933 Nevada 12 West Virginia Colorado 539 Newfoundland New 1 Wisconsin Connecticut 3 Hampshire New 2 Wyoming Delaware 1 Jersey New Mexico 14 Washington D.C. Florida 23 New York North 15 Argentina Georgia 8 Carolina North 27 Australia Hawaii 7 Dakota Nova Scotia 7 West Germany Idaho 43 Ohio 43 Brazil Illinois 148 Oklahoma 1 France Indiana 17 Ontario Oregon 21 Israel Iowa 42 Pennsylvania Puerto 142 Japan Kansas 449 Rico Rhode Island 15 Old Mexico Kentucky 2 Saskatchewan South 333 Spain Louisiana 1 Carolina 7 Switzerland Maine 1 1 Venezuela Manitoba 11 1 Virgin Islands Maryland 20 71 Massachusetts 8 6 Total

65 Folklore Committee Report Timothy J. Kloberdanz Besides soliciting and collecting folklore, one of the main tasks of this committee is to disseminate information about the traditions of the Germans from Russia. A primary way we make collected folklore available to the members of our society is via the AHSGR Journal, especially the "Folklore Forum." During the past year, two installments of the "Folklore Forum" appeared that focused on German-Russian folk narratives. Other articles that recently appeared in our Journal relating to folklore include pieces about folk songs, social customs, women's roles, childhood recollections, folk dress (Filzstiefel), and a Black Sea German story about a werewolf. The next topic of the "Folklore Forum" will be on weather lore. We are particularly interested in obtaining examples of German-Russian beliefs, customs, and folk expressions pertaining to the weather. A special letter was sent to the president of each AHSGR chapter last may, requesting that weather lore be collected from members at the local level. Contributions should be received by December 31, in order to be printed in the Spring 1987 "Folklore Forum." We also have received two sizable collections of proverbs and rhymes that were used by people from the colony of Frank, Russia (courtesy of Rachel Amen of Loveland, Colorado, and Marie Krieger of Portland, Oregon). If we receive more specific material along this line we plan to publish a special article on "Frankera Folklore." Additional contributions should be sent to AHSGR headquarters. This convention has always been a particularly rich one for folklore enthusiasts, with presentations on foodways, Christmas customs, folk dance, folk music, folk architecture, and traditional toys and games. On behalf of other members of this committee, I would like to thank the participants in the 1986 Folklore Symposium who kindly shared their expertise with us: Am Henderson of Norman, Oklahoma; Marilyn Hehr Fletcher of Lakewood, Colorado; and Adolph Lesser of Greeley, Colorado. Special thanks also are due George Gette of Regina, Saskatchewan, who chaired the symposium in my absence.

Chapter Organization and Liaison Committee Report Martha Issinghoff The Chapter Organization and Liaison Committee includes Marian Meisinger, Washington; John J. Kisner, Kansas; Elaine Wilcox, Michigan; Arthur E. Flegel, California; and, Martha Issinghoff as chairman. Each of our committee members has been active in helping to organize new chapters and to help solve problems with established chapters within the confines of their state and neighboring states. Much as we would like to, lack of money hinders our ability to visit all our chapters. The last few years we have encouraged the presidents within each state or area to meet and discuss programs, finances and problems that may confront our chapters. Good active leadership, periodic executive board meetings are the key to a successful, active and healthy chapter. It is also necessary that chapters work together on fund raising projects, not only for the monetary results but also because it brings about a cohesiveness within the chapters that is not possible to attain any other way. Good programs are important, but working together can be fun and allows people to know one another better. Some of our states or areas have had statewide meetings or get-togethers to celebrate anniversaries of chapters, or simply to bring AHSGR closer to home. Many of our members are unable to attend the conventions and they never really get to see the overall picture of our society in action. In regard to chapter organization, we have a few areas that may develop into chapters. Some are in California, Idaho and Oklahoma. Enid, Oklahoma is almost ready to be chartered. Some of its members were actively involved in preparing for this convention, so they were unable to meet all the requirements in time to be chartered. The Oregon Cascade Chapter in Eugene, Oregon is the only chapter that has met all the requirements and will receive their charter at the Fellowship Breakfast.

66 Historical Research Report Rosemary W. Larson

The purpose of our committee is to seek out books and publications on the life of Germans while living in Russia or as pioneers in the Americas and obtain these for our archives and to collect the materials and objects that illustrate this heritage. This includes the religious and civil aspects of their lives which are obtained from church and civil vital records located in archives, historical societies, courthouses, and churches. The members of this committee are Alex Dupper of Lodi, CA; Irma Eichhorn of San Jose, CA; Isadore Appelhanz of Topeka, KS; Brent Mai of Washington, D.C.; Lawrence Weigel of Hays, KS; George Gette of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada; and Rosemary W. Larson, Minneapolis MN as Chairman. This report is to let you know what we have been doing the past year—the committee as well as the membership. Brent Mai has located a set of maps of the Volga area in Russia in the Library of Congress Geography and Map division, in Washington D.C. There are also maps of other areas of the present day Soviet Union. The maps of the Volga area were commissioned by the Russian Red Army in 1923 and cartiographed between 1924 and 1938. They were printed in 1941 in Moscow. The location of the church, town square, cemetery, flourmills, etc. of the Volga villages are detailed. Also located are many of the little butters, which are translated by the Russian mapmakers as "summer farming villages." JoAnn Kuhr, genealogist at the AHSGR Heritage Center, has a copy of the complete index to the villages covered by these maps. Lawrence Weigel is involved in many aspects of recording the history of the Volga Germans of Ellis County, Kansas. He was interviewed for a thesis called "Ellis County, Kansas Catholic Volga German Oral History: Relating Ethnic Considerations in Education" by Karla Kay Owings and Phyllis Stramel. This was a partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master's degree in Education at Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS in the summer of 1985. The purpose of the historical study was to gain an insight into the development of the educational process of the Catholic Volga German people during the years 1765 to 1985. This was accomplished through an intensive interview of Lawrence Weigel, a second-generation descendant of Volga Germans who came to Ellis County from Russia in 1876. The research is an attempt to identify the social, ethnic, and religious impacts on the education of the Volga German immigrants during the period beginning in Russia, early education in the United States by the schulmeister, and the adoption of the American school system to allow for inclusion of the ethnic and religious influence. Lawrence is a member of the Volga German Singers of Ellis County, Kansas. This all male singing group has recorded on tape fourteen German favorite songs at the St. Fidelis Church known as the Cathedral of the Plains in Victoria, KS. This church celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of the dedication of this magnificent structure on May 25, 1986. Another huge undertaking by Lawrence is the publication of a book titled, Folk Songs From the Volga—100 Favorites with music and words as sung in German with English translation. It is a monumental work that is the result of 40 years of research. These songs were handed down through the years by oral tradition. The songs relate events and happenings of long ago. They acquainted the youth with the history and geography of our people. These songs preserve the purity of the German language of long ago and are not diluted by the various German dialects. The songs add much to the strong faith in God, which is so characteristic of our people. Gerda Walker has been indexing the Dakota Freie Presse the past few years. This is a German language newspaper published n Yankton, South Dakota and New Ulm, Minnesota for many years. It was widely read in the homes of unsere leute wherever they settled. This index has just been completed and will be available soon. She has also indexed fifteen years of the North Dakota Herald, a Catholic newspaper published in Dickinson and Bismarck, North Dakota. Gerda has begun to index Die Welt Post, a newspaper published in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. This German language newspaper was also widely read by our people. She has completed five years of this paper. Isadore Appelhanz has been researching the early newspapers especially of Western Kansas at the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka. He has been successful in finding and has made copies of Volga Germans writing to their relatives in the United States telling of their plight during the famine of 1922-23. These are sad stories telling of the starvation and a plea for help. In his research

67 Mr. Appelhanz has found articles of the trip that Bishop Kessler of the Tiraspol Catholic Diocese in Russia made to the United States in 1922 obtaining help for the starving Volga Germans. He visited various parishes in areas where the Volga German settlements were located in the United States requesting their aid. Mr. Appelhanz has also made lists of Volga Germans who applied for U.S. citizenship in Shawnee County, Kansas. He has sent material to AHSGR Headquarters about the arrival of Volga German immigrants in Topeka who stayed or moved on west, gleaned from these early newspapers. Alex Dupper has completed the translation from the Russian into English of the paper "Ethnographical Studies of German Settlements in the USSR" by Viktor Mazimovitch Zhirmunskii. Mr. Zhirmunskii personally visited almost every region containing German settlements in the Soviet Union. There are five chapters to the manuscript and the first installment has appeared in the latest AUSGH Journal, Volume 9 No. 2. Subsequent issues of the journal will carry Mr. Dupper's translation of all five chapters. George Gette has done research about the beginnings of Catholic colonization in Canada. Franz J. Lange was president of the Catholic Settlement Society with headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Lange with the help of the Benedictine priests was successful through advertising in German language newspapers in the United States and especially in Russia to colonize Saskatchewan beginning in the early 1900's. Mi-. Gette has found the records of Mr. Lange in Saskatchewan and will try to find what is contained in them. One of the librarians at the public library in Regina is cataloguing the settlements of the Germans from Russia in Saskatchewan. A chapter member is collecting obituaries in the Regina area. Irma Eichhorn in June of 1985 contributed a large number of photocopies of the very important Volga German periodical, Unsere Wirtschaft. This is a publication which her Father, Reverend Jacob Eichhorn, received from the Volga area. Irma has made many contributions to AHSGR through the years and is preparing another shipment of materials, including photocopies of rare classical books pertaining to our people. Just completed by Father Blaine Burkey, OFMCap, librarian for Thomas More Prep-Marian High, Hays, KS, was the Jacob Schmidt Family Stammbuch. Mr. Schmidt was a schoolteacher in Russia as well as in the United States. Jacob Schmidt's family can trace their ancestry back to a specific place in the Rhineland in Germany, which many Volga German descendants are not able to do. The editor has departed from the normal numbering of pages to using numbers in the margins next to the text to clarify certain points. The shape of the book is the same size and looks the same as the original book Jacob Schmidt used to record family information. Besides the family information he has a long list of godchildren and confirmation sponsorships in Russia of himself and his wife that is of interest to family researchers. Ruth Freehling is seeking a prized work, a manuscript on Volhynian history titled Earth, Wind and Sea, written in German by Theodore and Arnold Biberdorf. It is about the travels of two brothers from Volhynia. Ruth is collecting materials on Volhynia for the Society since her heritage is from this region. Kris Larson has typed over 300 obituary file cards for AHSGR collected by Leona Pfeifer of Hays, KS. Having the youth of our AHSGR Society participate in projects of this kind acquaints them with their heritage. During the past year I wrote the history for the St. Mary's Parish Centennial that was celebrated June 8, 1986 at Ellis, KS. A committee of four women helped to collect photographs of the early parishioners while I did the writing, compilation, and layout work for the historical portion of the publication. In addition, my husband copied and took many pictures to make the whole project present a good pictorial history of the parish. St. Mary's Catholic Church and Parochial School is the parish I attended in my early years. The first settlers in Ellis were the Irish who came when the Kansas Pacific Railway was being built through the West, Ellis was the midway point between Kansas City and Denver and was selected as the site for the machine shops since this location had an abundant supply of water for the steam powered locomotives. In the late 1870's some Volga German families moved to Ellis from the eastern part of the country where they had settled in villages and on farms. Beginning in 1887 Austrian Germans from the crown land of Bukowina began to arrive. They homesteaded around Ellis mainly to the west where land was yet available. By 1910 the majority of settlers were German speaking

68 of various dialects in the Ellis community. Copies of the St. Mary's Centennial publication have been donated by me to the Heritage Center Library in Lincoln. At the present time I am continuing the compilation of a 100-year family register of St. Mary's Parish that was begun by Frank Windholz of Victoria, KS who has done many parish registers in Ellis County. In addition to the parish records, which began in 1893, I am using the early Federal census records, State census records, public cemetery records, county records, and early newspapers on microfilm to complete the family register. I am also seeking information on the immigrant houses where German-speaking people, especially of our heritage, stayed upon arrival in the United States. These places of first arrival were set up by various religious faiths to accommodate the immediate needs of the new arrivals. If anyone has information on the immigrant places, please let me hear from you.

Long Range Planning Committee Report

David J. Miller

President Sally Hieb, fellow members of AHSGR and the Foundation: My assignment is to condense a report of 38 pages in 2 minutes. The Ad Hoc Long Range Planning Committee was created by the Board of Directors of AHSGR. It consists of the present and past presidents of AHSGR and the Foundation, plus Jake Sinner and six chapter presidents. Sally asked me to chair the committee. I asked each of the members to write me his or her long range plans. The responses cover 38 pages. These letters are the committee report. Each letter stresses membership. I expected AHSGR membership to exceed 20,000 by 1980 and 50,000 by 1990. Since a membership includes husband, and wife and children under 16, we estimate that we have 15,000 persons. To maintain the present services to members we need to double the memberships. The simplest suggestion is for each member to enroll a new member each year. On behalf of the Long Range Planning Committee I challenge each of you to sign up a new member.

GENEALOGY SESSIONS In addition to the traditional "Genealogy Symposium" usually held at the conventions, this year, special "mini-workshops" covering various aspects of genealogical research were also held. Simultaneous presentations were made in three different rooms at three different time-slots on Wednesday afternoon. Those attending could choose the topics of most interest to them. Their choices included: "How to Begin," by Brent A. Mai; "Special Problems of Advanced Researchers," by Arthur E. Flegel; "Interpreting Maps for Genealogical Research," by Ron Neuman; "An LDS Update," by Curt. Renz; "How to Publish Your Family History," by Margaret Freeman; and "How to Use the Genealogy Workshop Here and in Lincoln," by Jo Ann Kuhr. In addition, Gerda Walker, Delbert Amen, and Greg Amen conducted an on-going program of "Genealogy and the Computer, A Hands-on Experience." The texts of the first four presentations listed above will appear in the 1986 Clues, Part 2.

69 Translations Committee Report Arthur E. Flegel The Translations Committee with its host of volunteer helpers continues to provide a very meaningful service for our AHSGR Membership. The committee is comprised of members, Ann Smith of Chicago, Illinois; Leona Pfeifer of Hays, Kansas; Alexander Dupper of Lodi, California; and, Arthur E. Flegel of Menio Park, California as well as co-opted members, Gerda Walker of Denver, Colorado and Dona Reeves-Marquardt of Buda, Texas. In addition, the following peoples are listed as having made available their individual expertise as volunteer translators: Mrs. Charles Armstrong, Chapman, KS; Cynthia Doell, Lincoln, NE; Ruth Freehling, Racine, WI; Marina Gerk, Kelowna, B.C.; Adalbert Goertz, Waynesboro, PA; Arthur Hartwig, East Peoria, IL; Ralph Koprince, Grand Forks, ND; Robert Meininger, Lincoln, NE; Justina Nelson, Grand Junction, CO; Frieda Nickel, Wichita, KS; Ludmila O'Donnell, Portland, OR; Gunthild Heigh-Partridge, East Wenatchee, WA; Henry Robertus, Riverside, CA; Stuart Scheffel, Goleta, CA; John Schmidt, N. Newton, KS; Hildegard Schwabauer, Lincoln, NE; Ann C. Sherwin, Raleigh, NC; Herman Wildermuth, Yucca Valley, CA; and, Inge Worth, Lincoln, NE, Mary Lynn Tuck at AHSGR Headquarters is the co-coordinator for the Translations Committee. She receives the material at Headquarters, distributes it among the translators and returns the completed work to the owners. Over 40 individual items, some brief but many quite lengthy, have been submitted for translation during the period of time from July 1985 to July 1986. Nearly all of these have been completed and returned to the persons requesting the translations. In addition, the following members translated articles for the Journal: Sally Hieb, Jo Ann Kuhr, Inge Worth and Hildegard Schwabauer, one article each; Alexander Dupper and Arthur Flegel, two articles each, while Lawrence Weigel provided translations of song texts. Alexander Dupper also translated the remaining four chapters of the Zhirmunskii manuscript of which Chapter One appeared in the Summer 1986 Journal. Requests have been made for additional major translations of detailed historical materials to make the valuable content more readily available to our members who cannot read the original German. At the present time, the book entitled Die Deutschen Kolonien an der Unteren Wolga by Gottlieb Beratz and printed in 1915 at Saratov on the Volga is being seriously considered for this effort. This will be a monumental undertaking and the Committee hereby extends an invitation and would be most grateful for any additional volunteers who may feel qualified to assist in this task to make themselves known.

Editorial Committee Report Adam Giesinger The main function of this committee is to edit the books the society publishes. Because we have not published a new book this year, my report will be brief. We have had a manuscript ready for publication for some months, but have not, up to this time, had the funds available for its publication. The manuscript is a translation of the reminiscences of Pastor David Weigum, to which we have given the title, My Home on the Crimean Steppe. Efforts are under way to raise the funds to publish it this fall.

70 Report of the AHSGR Foundation Nominating Committee Joanna Deines, Chairman

The following slate of candidates was elected to serve a three-year term as trustees: Mr. George Gette Mr. John Gress Mr. John Kisner Mr. Edward Schwartzkopf Mrs. Elsie Whittington

Elected to serve as officers for 1986-1987 were: President — Mrs. Martha Stremel Issinghoff President-Elect — Mr., Ralph L. Giebelhaus Vice-President — Mrs. Elsie I. Whittington Secretary — Dr. Solomon Schneider Treasurer — Mr. Jake Sinner

Report of the AHSGR Nominating Committee Reuben Goertz, Chairman The following slate of candidates was elected to serve as directors.

To serve a second three-year term. Not eligible for re-election: Mr. Delbert D. Amen Mr. John J. Kisner Mrs. Marian Meisinger Mrs. Dona Reeves-Marquardt Mr. Curt. Renz To serve a first three-year term. Eligible for re-election: Mrs. Joanna Deines Mrs. Selma T. Hieb Dr. Lewis R. Marquardt Mr. Jake Sinner Mrs. Elsie I. Whittington Elected to fill Ann Smith's unexpired term was Mr. Robert Smith. He will be eligible for two full three-year terms. ******

Elected to serve as officers for 1986-1987 were: President — Mrs. Selma T. Hieb Vice-President — Dr. Lewis R. Marquardt Secretary — Mrs. Elaine Wilcox Treasurer — Mr. John Kisner

71 Resolutions Committee Report Larry W. Metzler The 1986 Resolutions Committee of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, meeting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is composed of the following members: Ms. Nancy Holland^ Lincoln, Nebraska; Dr. Harley Stucky, North Newton, Kansas; and myself, Dr. Larry Metzler, Fresno, California. The efforts of dedicated individuals and groups have always been essential to the success of this Society. Once again, a memorable convention has been the result of the work and devotion of many persons. Through resolutions we attempt to recognize some of those who have made outstanding contributions toward the realizations of our dreams and aspirations. Whereas through the devoted efforts of the Executive Director, Miss Ruth M. Amen, the dedicated Headquarters staff and the numerous volunteers, the Society has continued to grow and prosper and to meet the needs of its members, be it resolved that our special thanks be extended to them. Whereas the many dedicated individuals like Jake Sinner who build and maintain the Heritage Center, and those who add to the Archives both in Lincoln and throughout the Society, and contributors like Rudy and Esther Amen, Maria MacTavish, and many others who make generous gifts to support the ongoing work of the Society and the preservation of our precious heritage, be it resolved that we recognize and applaud their efforts. Whereas the AHSGR International Board of Directors under the capable leadership of Selma T. Hieb and the AHSGR Foundation Board of Trustees under the able direction of Martha Issinghoff work with tireless and unremunerated efforts to insure the smooth and efficient operation of our organization and the achievement of our goals, be it resolved that we recognize their efforts and express appreciation for all they do for unser Leute. We particularly express our thanks to retiring members of the Board: Dr. Alexander Dupper, Mr. Reuben Goertz, Mrs., Martha Issinghoff and Mrs. Gerda Walker for their faithful service to the Society. Whereas the officials and residents of Oklahoma City have accorded us cordial hospitality, be it resolved that we express appreciation for the fine facilities and warm cooperation which has made our convention stay more pleasurable. Whereas the Hotel Hilton through its efficient staff has been most cooperative in working with those who planned this convention, and has assisted us in many ways in developing our program and providing for our comfort and enjoyment, be it resolved that we express our gratitude individually and collectively. Whereas our knowledge of the experiences and customs of the Germans from Russia has been increased through the contributions of various speakers and performers at this convention, be it resolved that we express our appreciation to them. Special thanks are extended to the Oral History Department of the Oklahoma State Historical Society, to Dr. Sylvia Schmidt of Southern Nazarene University who directed the pageant, and to Alexander and Lydia Schwindt who traveled great distances to share this time with us. Whereas the success of any convention is based upon the conscientious efforts of its chairpersons, we salute Marianne Wheeler and Delbert Amen for their hours of hard work and attention to detail which have resulted in a highly organized and successful convention. We also applaud our hosts, the Central Oklahoma Chapter, and their neighboring chapters, Golden Spread of Shattuck and Oklahoma Harvesters of Alva for their contributions to an unforgettable event. Last but foremost we wish to thank all those in attendance from the very young participating in youth activities to one-hundred-year-old Mr. Fuchs who led us in prayer. Through your attendance at this gathering, your gifts of money, materials, and time, our lives have been enriched with fellowship and this organization and convention have been an inspiration to us all. The sacrifices and commonalities of our forebears have united us and today we prosper because of their efforts. May our efforts at this convention in Oklahoma City help to preserve their legacy so that we may be ever mindful of who we are, where we are, and what we have accomplished because of them.

72 PHOTO ALBUM

Geo. Repp entertained at the banquet. The Norman Folk Dancers added to our enjoyment.

The meeting room was always filled to capacity. AHSGR members really attend their conventions.

David J. Miller, Martha Issinghoff, Jake Sinner, Building Committee General Counsel Foundation President Chairman

73

The Book Store was a busy place. Family group records were available in the Consulting Workshop.

Registration continued throughout the week.

Gerda S. Walker, Dr. Lee Carter, Library Chairman Banquet Speaker

74

75 IN MEMORIAM

Anna Kraus Smith

November 6. 1923-July 4, 1986 It saddened all of us to hear of the death of Anna K. Smith, a member of the AHSGR Board of Directors and the International Foundation Board of Trustees. She was a life member and a true supporter of our society. Anna and her husband Robert were instrumental in the organization and growth of the Northern Illinois Chapter, Surviving Anna Smith besides her husband are a son Bruce H., a daughter Janice E. Schmidt and son Kevin R., in addition to two grandchildren, Adam H. and Emily Ann Schmidt. Used at the funeral services was this "Parable of Immortality."

I

am

standing

upon the sea

shore. A ship at

my side spreads her

white sails to the morn- ing breeze and starts for

the blue ocean. She is an ob-

ject of beauty and strength, and

I stand and watch, until at last she

hangs like a speck of white cloud just

where the sea and sky come together. Some-

one at my side says aloud, "There she goes." Goes where ? Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just

as large in mast and hull and spar, and just as able to bear her had of living freight to the place of desti- nation as she was when she left my side. Her dimini- shed size is in me, not in her, and just at the moment when we say. There she goes," other eyes are watching her coming, and other voices are ready to take up the glad shout "Here she comes!"

Author Unknown

76 THE BARBECUE-OKLAHOMA STYLE 52

VILLAGE NIGHT ...... 54

56 GRATITUDE: THE MEMORY OF THE HEART Msgr. Joseph Stremel

WHERE NEXT? 58

REPORTS TO THE SEVENTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION 59

Executive Director — Ruth M. Amen International Secretary — Elaine Wilcox. Genealogy Committee — Delbert D. Amen and Margaret Zimmerman Freeman Linguistics and Oral History Committee — Dona Reeves-Marquardt Library Committee — Gerda S. Walker Building Committee — Jake Sinner Public Relations Committee — Larry W. Metzler Membership Committee — Mary Froscheiser Folklore Committee — Timothy J. Kloberdanz Chapter Organization and Liaison Committee. — Martha Issinghoff Historical Research Committee — Rosemary W. Larson Long Range Planning Committee — David J. Miller Translations Committee — Arthur E. Flegel Editorial Committee — Adam Giesinger AHSGR Foundation Nominating Committee — Joanna Deines AHSGR Nominating Committee — Reuben Goertz Resolutions Committee — Larry W, Metzler

PHOTO ALBUM 73

IN MEMORIAM: ANNA KRAUS SMITH 76

On the cover: The Zion Congregational Church was located southwest of Weatherford, Oklahoma in Washita County. It was in 1894 when the first Volga Germans settled in western Oklahoma and they met in homes until 1903 when they constructed their first church building. Some of those attending were the Adler, Amen, Bott, Brehm, Kaiser, Kinsvater, Kissler, Koch, Repp, Rosenoff, Sauer, Traudt, Hoersch, Klein, Ruff, Hammelmann, Demler, Scheer, Reiman, Eversz, Weber, Hamburger, Berger, Sawatzky, Schpansky and Willman families. The Mennoville Mennonite Church was located between El Reno and Okarche, Oklahoma in Canadian County. They first met in late 1890 or 1891 in their homes and constructed their first building in 1893. Some of those attending the Mennoville Church were Bergman, Voth, Penner and Sprunger families. The Zion Lutheran Church was located a few miles southwest of Clinton, Washita County, Oklahoma. The church was built in the late 1890's by German settlers from Bessarabia. The church was constructed with rock held together with a mixture of mud and straw and most people referred to it as the "Rock Church." Some of those attending the Rock Church were the Kempf, Busch, Reinschmiedt, Radke, Ratke, Jantz, Reseler, Jalineck, Littke, Kolb, Durkson, Schultz, Brietling, Schrum, Schwartz, Keople, Roeszler, Wolf, Besinger, Aden, Belter, Cornelius, and Stehr families. The Ebenezer Baptist Church is located near Shattuck, Woodward County, Oklahoma and was organized in April 1904 by Germans from Russia, some from Shavagofta and some from Dreispitz on the Volga. Some of those attending the Ebenzer Church were the Abel, Arnbrister, Ehrlich, Fritzler, Schibbelhut, Epp, Longhofer, Klien, Hefle, Wunsch, Batt, Becker, Birkel, Deal, Ehrhorn, Ensminger, Feil, Gunther, Heer, Heinze, Herber, Kelln, Kline, Koch, Kraft, Kretz, Kronbitter, Kuchenbacker, Laubhan, Littau, Meier, Melzer, Pshigoda, Robert, Rosner, Schaefer, Schick, Schoenhals, Schwab, Socolofsky, Steinle, Stohr, Stranski, Sturtz, Zabel and Zimmer families.