AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF GERMANS FROM RUSSIA (AHSGR) COLLECTION RECORD American Volga Relief Society, Lincoln Nebraska Records: 1921-1926 and no date; mostly 1921-1925 Lincoln NE; McCook NE; and Portland OR Size: 2.1MB [to be microfilmed] HISTORICAL NOTE Russia experienced mass starvation from 1920-1924 and the years 1921-1922 saw the largest number of deaths. The cause of the starvation was the Lenin government policy of forced grain requisition carried out as part of the kulak (wealthy private farmers) extermination campaign. The ethnic Germans living along both banks of the Volga River in the Saratov and Samara provinces of Russia had resisted the grain requisition. As a punitive measure, Lenin ordered that the Volga area settlements be completely stripped of all grain and that mass executions be carried out. Over 30% of the Volga German population was deliberately starved before Lenin allowed international famine relief organizations into the area. The relief was reluctantly allowed after the Lenin government began to fear that food shortages among the military and city workers (who were considered the back-bone of the Bolshevik Revolution) would lead to mass rebellion. As the Volga region, along with the Ukraine, was the main bread basket of the area, Lenin (who was pragmatic and willing to improvise policy as circumstances dictated and unforeseen events arose) recognized the need to save the Volga German population (which was extraordinarily adept at farming) to help ensure a successful harvest, feed the military and city workers, and thus save the Revolution. After the relief project was completed, the government continued to persecute the Volga German population, and starvation continued until the end of 1924. In 1921 George Repp of Portland, Oregon, organized the Volga Relief Society (VRS) which solicited funds from the Volga German communities in America for the relief of relatives in Russia. John Miller became the president of the Portland VRS when Repp traveled to Russia to work with the American Relief Association as the representative for the VRS. A separate organization with similar goals, the Central States Volga Relief Society (CSVRS) arose at the same time in Lincoln Nebraska. On November 4, 1922, the two organizations consolidated to form the American Volga Relief Society (AVRS). The first president of AVRS was Dr. H.P. Wekesser of Lincoln. The VRS and AVRS operated through the American Relief Administration (ARA) headed by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. The CSVRS chose Jacob Volz of York, Nebraska, as its representative in Russia to personally oversee the operation in the Volga area. The main areas of operation in Russia were the Saratov and Samara provinces of the future Volga German Republic, the Samara-Koshki German settlement area, and the German settlements in the Siberian Omsk area. In 1924, operations were also conducted in Germany, mainly in the form of donations to orphanages and missions. The AVRS officially disbanded in 1926, although private relief efforts continued into the 1930s. Many records of the Lincoln AVRS were entrusted to Hattie Plum Williams, a professor at the University of Nebraska, because she was known as the foremost scholarly researcher of the Volga German ethnic group in Lincoln, Nebraska. When Dr. Williams’ Page 1 of 244 papers were donated to the Nebraska State Historical Society (NSHS) in 1961 as manuscript collection 1872, the AVRS materials went with them. In January of 1996, the NSHS decided to move the AVRS materials, describe them more fully, and film them as a separate collection. SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE This AHSGR material relates to the starvation of the Volga German colonists in Russia, and the efforts of the AVRS to supply food and other aid to the region. Although the collection contains items spanning the dates 1921 to 1938, the bulk of the materials are dated 1921-1925, the most intensive years of the famine. Many of the records are written in German, and contain materials of the following varieties: letters written by Volga German village leaders recording population statistics before the Revolution and after the famine in 1923; lists of donors with amounts donated; receipts for food or clothing packages and cash; ARA and AVRS office correspondence, including newsletters; correspondence of Jacob Volz; letters of appeal for donations from Germany; CSVRS subscription coupons; bank statements and other miscellaneous items relating to the AVRS and the Volga German communities of Lincoln and McCook, Nebraska, and Portland, Oregon. The material also includes documentation of the efforts to provide food to the needy in Germany after the ARA (and therefore AVRS) removed all representatives in the Soviet Union in 1924. The Germany food support was implemented through the German Red Cross. The material is organized in two sets: Collection 1 and Collection 2. Collection 1 contains material for all the series and sub-series of the Index. The Index for Collection 2 uses the same index structure but only a subset of the index listings was necessary to describe the Collection 2 material. A Table of Contents is located at the end of the material. INDEX for SERIES DESCRIPTION Series I: Correspondence, from CVRS/AVRS. Series contains letters primarily from President Dr. HP Wekesser (1921 through December 1922 until his death 15 December 1922) to various correspondents, arranged chronologically. HJ. Amen assumed role of President in 1923. Sub-series A: Correspondence to Dr. Wekesser, 1921 – through Dec 1921 Sub-series B: Jan 1922 – through Dec 1922 (contains one letter from CJ Stroh, Secretary, after death of Dr. Wekesser) Sub-series C: Jan 1923 – through Dec 1923, organized by originator and then chronologically Sub-series D: Jan 1924 – through Dec 1924, organized by originator and then chronologically Series II: Correspondence, American Volga Relief Society Office. Divided into three sub-series, arranged chronologically: Sub-series A: Correspondence sent from the ARA to the CSRS/AVRS Sub-series B: Correspondence sent to the AVRS regarding various aspects of the relief operation, arranged chronologically Folder 1: 1921 correspondence Folder 2: 1922 correspondence Page 2 of 244 Sub-series C: Correspondence sent to the AVRS from Germany Series III: Correspondence, Jacob Volz. Series contains letters from Jacob Volz arranged chronologically Series IV: Correspondence, Rev. Jacob Wagner. Series contains reports and letters from Rev. Wagner arranged chronologically. Series V: Description of bales of clothing shipped to colonies by AVRS: Series contains the bale number, village the bale is to go to and its weight - arranged chronologically Series VI: Portland VRS Financial and other correspondence, arranged chronologically Series VII: Lincoln & Russia AVRS Financial data & various bills, arranged chronologically Series VIII: Railway bills Series IX: Minutes of meetings or Press Releases, arranged chronologically Series X: Newspaper articles, arranged chronologically (if possible) Series XI: Policies Series XII: CVRS/AVRS Odds & Ends – items that are in the files with no obvious topics Series XIII: Correspondence in German script and text. Arranged by year, then chronologically. Folder 1: no date or no recognizable date Folder 2: 1921 Folder 3: 1922 Folder 4: 1923 Folder 5: 1924 Series XIV: Additional correspondence, arranged chronologically, to and from the CVRS/AVRS. Where possible, the letter the correspondence is replying to is included immediately after the CVRS/AVRS letter as page two. This series should be used in conjunction with other related series in the collection that have correspondence separated into separate topics. Folder 1: January 1922 through October 1922 Folder 2: November 1922 through December 1922 Folder 3: January 1923 Folder 4: February & March 1923 Folder 5: April, May, June & July 1923 Folder 6: August, September & October 1923 Folder 7: November 1923 Folder 8: December 1923 Folder 9: January 1924 Folder 10: February 1924 Folder 11: March 1924 Folder 12: April 1924 Page 3 of 244 Folder 13: May 1924 Folder 14: June, July, August, September, October, November 1924 Folder 15, ARA Commemoration Report Series XV: Photocopies of the contents of a scrapbook from the Portland VRS. Identified as AHSGR library item GR 1480, it is part of the AHSGR permanent collection but not circulated due to its poor condition. Scrapbook contains correspondence and other materials from August 1921 through June 1926. This includes copies of several ARA reports and reports from Herbert Hoover to the President of the United States about the efforts and success of the agency. There are also multiple reports by George Repp while serving on the ARA staff in Russia as the representative for the VRS and AVRS. The material includes numerous copies of attacks on the VRS by the California Post and the Dakota Freie Presse with rebuttals of the accusations. ARA Press Releases and reports from Russia are included, also VRS reports containing letters from various villages. The material is primarily in letter size format but there are numerous legal and 11x17 size items. The index has been prepared as the material exists in the scrapbook which is mainly in chronological order except for the order of items in envelopes in the front and rear covers. Series XVI: Assorted records from additional small file boxes in AHSGR vault. Folder 1: Multiple topics, including lists of household numbers with names of persons material was provided to in villages Folder 2: Kukkus related material