In 1762
Catherine the Great ascended the throne of the Russian Empire. She
decided to populate the lower Volga region with dependable, permanent
settlers, and to bring stability to this lawless, undeveloped wasteland.
She issued a manifest stipulating free transportation from the German port of
Hamburg and Luebeck to a final destination, free living allowance, advancement
of money for ten years without interest, and to provide housing, livestock,
and tools. Also granted was freedom of religion, immunity from the
quartering of soldiers, freedom from military service, a long period from
taxes, 30 destinies of land for each family (about 80 acres), and the right to
institute market days and annual fairs. The Russians recruited colonists
through their own agents and founded colonies known as crown colonies.
Most of the German colonists came from west, middle Germany, the Rhine
region. The specific town our ancestors came from is not known at this
time.
The Ruff and
Herdt side of the family came from the colony named Rosenberg on the southeast
side of the Volga, and our mother, from the Ruff side of the family, came from a
colony named Neu Norka about five miles from Rosenberg.
The children
stared elementary school at the age of seven, and they graduated at the age of
fourteen. The school year started in October and ended on Easter.
Religion, reading, writing, and arithmetic were taught in this order.
The classrooms were equipped with wooden benches. Sometimes these
benches had backrests with writing arms attached. They were taught the
languages in Russian and High-German.
Most of the
weddings took place in the late fall and winter. After a serious
courtship and after the parties reached an understanding, the young man
obtained the father's approval. Then two relatives or friends would
approach the girl's father, and after some customary verbal feinting and
sparing, the girl was asked and a wedding date was set. The wedding
celebration differed from village to village depending on the influence of the
Brotherhood and how deep it ran in the village. For some it was a
subdued family affair in the man's home; for others the dancing, toasting,
singing, and snacking would last for three days.
Reading the
Bible and visiting were the most popular past times. And abundant labor
supply allowed a man to retire at an early age (late forties). These
seniors would gather in small groups at various homes for afternoon
discussions, debate, dissolving current problems, and to catch up on the
latest gossip. Long winter evenings were passed by younger adults in the
same way. The men would gather in one room, smoking their pipes, serving
refreshments of suess holz tea (licorice root) and kuche (made with flour and
fruit and sugar crumb topping). The women would gather in another room
or house and visit in the same way, eating sunflower seeds and keeping their
hands busy with needle work. Cards were not unknown, but there were not
well accepted. The Russians had prohibited the Volga Germans from
brewing beer or wine, so the most common alcoholic drink was vodka. It
was taken straight in a small sparkling glass accompanied with a small cut of
red or liver sausage.
The Germans
of these times paid no taxes when their towns were founded. However,
after thirty years, the German settlers had to pay the same taxes as their
counterparts. The tax was levied against each male. A family with
six males paid six times the taxes as a family with one male. Another
problem was that much of the land was suitable for only certain crops, and
some land was a great distance from the village. All the land was
redistributed every ten years by drawing lots based on an equal amount of land
for each male. The home site was located in the village and measured 150
feet wide by 300 feet deep. It contained the house across the front,
summer kitchen, a small granary, a horse and cow barn, an open front equipment
shed, a root cellar, a garden, and, on occasion, an ice cellar. The
compound was enclosed by high fences across the front with a wide gate.
Clay bricks were used for most buildings because of its abundance. The
floors in the houses were mostly hard packed dirt covered with fine white sand
to absorb the mud. This sand was changed about once a week. The
sand was found about thirty feet down under the clay. The roofs were
thrashed rye straw.
A large
variety of crops were grown for the colonist's own consumption. Winter
wheat was grown as a cash crop along with tobacco. Barley and oats were
produced as fodder. Rye, millet, hemp, flax, sunflowers, potatoes,
cabbage, watermelon, sugar beets, apples, cherries, pears, along with dairy
and beef cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, oxen, chickens, ducks, and geese were
raised. The hard work started with the seeding of the wheat from the
later part of March to the middle of April, and was followed by the planting
of oats, potatoes, sugar beets, sunflower, tobacco, barley, millet, hemp, and
flax. The next job was preparing for the winter fuel supply.
Manure bricks were utilized for cooking and heating because of the lack of
trees. Putting up wild hay started with normal weather in May. The
heaviest work of the year was during the harvest starting in mid-July to late
August. Everyone participated. The first crop was rye, then wheat
and the other grains. They were cut with a scythe, tied in bundles, and
hauled to the thrashing site. Thrashing was accomplished with the use of
horses and thrashing stones. The grain was sacked and hauled to the
granary. Rye and winter wheat were seeded during September.
September was also a time of harvesting sunflowers. They were cut, and
the heads dried. The seeds were pounded out with a paddle and then
cleaned, sacked, and taken to the mill to be processed into cooking oil.
Potato digging came next, followed by the harvest of sugar beets.
The beets
were dug, washed, scraped, and cooked. Then they were run through a
wooden press to extract the juice which was to be used as a sweetener.
Watermelons, small and semi-ripe, were also put in small barrels and
allowed to ferment. Tea was made from licorice roots, which were
gathered from the wild. The last crop to be harvested was the
cabbage. The heads were sliced and packed in small barrels for
fermenting to make sauerkraut. Potatoes and sauerkraut made up the
portion of the colonist's diets. Soon after the first frost and before
the first snowfall, four or five days were devoted to slaughtering hogs, beef,
and sheep. The meat was smoked and made into sausage. They
salted and preserved it for the coming year. Chickens, ducks, and geese
were butchered as needed. Geese and ducks were also valued for their
feathers. About this time of the year, after the slaughtering was over,
Kerb or Harvest festival took place. The Pastors and Brotherhood
disapproved of this celebration.
The woman of
the household was the foundation on which the social and economical structure
was built. Her day started before sunrise with the milking of two or
more cows. This had to be accomplished before the cowherd came by her
house to take the cattle to the communal pasture. Then followed the
swineherd who took the hogs to graze in a separate pasture. In the
evening the livestock was returned to their homes. Saturday was always
her bake day. She baked the weeks supply of bread, pastries in a masonry
oven. Monday was wash day. She would boil the clothes in home made
soap, then carry them to the creek for final washing and rinsing. She
used a paddle to beat the clothes on a platform about waist level. Most
families used the communal water well because the wells on their land were too
salty for drinking.
Agriculture
was the primary trade of 97% of the Volga Germans, but this was not the case
when these people left Germany. Every man had to farm in Germany, and
along with farming, they also had to know other trades. In order to make
a strong community, a man had to know trades such as wheelwright,
blacksmithing, woodworking, shoemaking, and others. These crafts were
practiced during the long winters and passed on from craftsman to
craftsman. It also made the village self-sufficient. The largest
export was flour made from wheat raised by the colonists. Sunflower seed
oil and tobacco were also important cash crops. Sarpinka, a fine gingham
material woven from dyed cotton yarn, was widespread. Nearly every home
on the Volga had a loom and engaged in the manufacture of textile.
Although weaving cloth was important, it was never a commercial undertaking.
In 1871 the
Russian government revoked the military service law. They were to allow
ten years before they would draft the first Germans into the army, but the
first German was drafted in 1874. The term of service was cut from
twenty-five years to sixteen years, and then later it was cut to five years.
1900
TO
THE PRESENT
by
Richard McGregor
The following are examples of the information
received by the author while serving as village coordinator for Rosenberg. Translated material is given as
much as possible in its own words.
Lidia Ade, the daughter of Heinrich Kuxhausen, and
Lidia Schutz, born Striker, are former residents of Rosenberg and provided the following in response to a
questionnaire sent by the author. The answers were collated by Alexander Dite, a
German Russian, though not himself from Rosenberg. All three emigrated in 1989-1990 from the Soviet Union to
Paderborn, Germany. Mr. Dite writes in good German: "But it's still very difficult for us here in
Germany where they now
call us "Russians"... ."
There were very cold winters with a lot of snow.
The temperature fell to -35 degrees C (-24 degrees F). Summers though were very hot, up to
36 degrees C (97 degrees F). The summer was mostly dry. 1921 and 1932 were very dry
years, and many people died of hunger. In the last 20 years [from 1970? The response is unclear--Ed.] the
climate has totally altered-when in winter there is now rain, and very often it is
foggy.
Among the cereals cultivated were wheat, rye,
oats, corn, and barley. Of fruits and vegetables there were potatoes, cabbage, onion, garlic, apples and
pumpkins. The region was famous for its watermelons. Animals kept included cows, sheep,
pigs, poultry, geese, even little rabbits.
There was one mill for grain, owned by Kiselman, and one for sunflower, owned by Meier.
Standard household implements included a
kettle, casseroles, and buckets made of zinc sheet (only rarely of wood). Furniture included tables,
chairs, wooden beds, and [a] cupboard. The cupboard from the Kuxhausen family house still stands
in the collective farm office. Meals consisted of cabbage and broth Riebelsuppe (noodle soup), and Grebel (biscuits).
In the morning, potatoes and black bread, with steppe tea which was drunk from a bowl with a
wooden spoon. In the evening, cake, bread,
watermelon honey, and tea--sometimes also sausage and bacon. But all of that only until 1929. Later
there was seldom even that on the table.
The schoolmaster until 1929 was Herr
Stirz. Later the church was forbidden, and then Herr Stirz had to work as a bookkeeper. There was one
school with 5 grades. By 1941 there were 10 grades--a middle school. In each grade there
were 15-20 children.
Until 1917, the richest people were Herd(t), Herber, Strikker [sic], Kiselman, Romich, and
Seiwert [Seifert?-auth.]. After the revolution the most important communists were Schneider, the
brothers Manweiler, and David, son of Ann-Liese ---- (surname forgotten). These people had the
power of judgment over the inhabitants, took away their goods, and shot the believers. Rich people
were called kulaks and were resettled.
In 1941 the Rosenbergers were resettled in different areas as follows: Tyumen, Omsk, Sverdlovsk
[Ekaterinburgl, Novosibirsk, and many to Kazakhstan and Chelyabinsk. They were resettled
in their family groups as they had lived in their houses, so that ... only up to 2 or 3 families from Rosenberg were together in a village in Siberia or
Kazakhstan.
AHSGR Journal/Spring 1992
MEMORIES OF
ROSENBERG
From a letter by Robert Kriger in
Krasnoturinsk, Russia to Marvin Ziegler, Scottsbluff, Nebraska
September
1990
There is no church or cemetery there now [Rosenberg], it is all ruined and grown over with
grass. Only one street of houses is left standing, and not all of those, many houses were destroyed. Only
our street has a few houses left. Through our street
the railroad goes. Where the [ ] hospital was, there is the train station, otherwise nothing else.
From a letter by Paul Meier, Bachstelzenweg 3,
W-89~0 Kempten, Germany, to Richard McGregor
January 10,
1991
I can still remember the beginning of September 1941, all we Germans on the Volga were
forced to leave our homeland. Property and everything was lost and [we were] removed to Siberia. I was 17
years old and already much is forgotten, but the beauty of our village Rosenberg I will never forget.
The streets and [side] streets were all straight, much greenery, many trees, orchards, [all] kept in
order and tidy.
In 1962 I once passed through on an express train. The train went through without stopping, so I
had only the time of its passage through the village to look. It was indeed only like a dream. In brief,
the village had no resemblance [to what it had
been]. The beauty, the greenery, the trees, orchards, even our houses were all gone. The houses, roofs
... were no longer [no longer existed].
From letters written by Heinrich Manweiler to
Richard McGregor during 1990
About February the villagers would obtain ice from the river to store in the yards until summer. After
they had opened a slot in the ice across the river, five or six men with ice bars would position
themselves along the slot. They would simultaneously stab the ice and break off slabs of ice three to four
feet wide. Then they wrapped a chain around one end of the ice slab and a team of horses pulled it
onto the riverbank. There it was broken into smaller pieces, according to the
households' needs. They towed or slid it home with their own horses, where they broke it up and stored it for the summer. Father
said that in one day the whole congregation would have their ice home.
From letters by Susan Martin of Winnipeg and from
a taped conversation with Alexander Martin of Hemel Hempstead, England
Some of the young peoples' pastimes included "swimming the Volga" and "racing camels pulling
troikas" up the river. There was community singing. The women did crochet work. Cossack dancers and
singers visited the village quite regularly. The
villagers traded with the Tartars on the east side of the Volga--they were crafty
horsemen.
Grain was harvested by groups of people. At the turn of the century everything was done by hand.
Most of the produce was channeled through Saratov, but some may have gone directly to
Moscow. After the Communists came to power there was a program of new building and a
reorganization of the system of agriculture. However much was produced was then taken from
the colonists, and they were left with very little to live on.
My father's family farmed 340 acres of land, having acquired the additional acres
over the original government grant by purchase from neighbors who no longer wanted to farm. There was a
comfortable home in the village with a summer kitchen house, barns, and an orchard of apple and cherry
trees. They raised wheat and rye, watermelons, and sunflowers which were processed for their oil, as
well as garden vegetables. I can still remember the wagonloads of watermelons which were hauled in
to the summer kitchen, to be split open, the middle scooped out and pressed through sieves, and the
liquid cooked the clock around, until it became a
lovely syrup, to be stored for the long winter months ahead. The stickiness and messiness of the
process left a lasting impression on me, but so did the delicacy of the "honich kuche," or coffee cake,
on which it became the topping.
AHSGR Journal/Spring 1992
SCHMUNK and
SCHAFFER (sp) GENEALOGY
Rosenberg
and Alexandertal, Russia
Submitted
by Florence Schmunk Bauder 1/16/02
Bauder’s
& Camp Emerald Forest, 26000 Pittsburg Rd., St. Helens, OR 97051
(503)
397-4226 Fax (503) 397-4999
e-mail [email protected]
Web: edmc.net/emerald
My Father HEINRICH SCHMUNK
Born Rosenberg, Russia 1883, died Portland 1955 at age 71.
My Father’s Father was
FREDRICH “FRITZ” SCHMUNK
His Uncles were Heinrich
and George (in Russian Service),
His Aunts Manick,
Katherine Elizabeth (married Jacob Steir ), and Anna Lisa.
Jacob Steer’s brother Henry married My Mother’s sister, Lydia
Schaffer.
My Father said that Adam Dallinger’s Mother was one of his Father’s
sisters. Adam Dallinger (Winnipeg, Canada) was my Father’s 1st or
2nd Cousin. Also, he said an older sister married a “Norger”.
My Father’s Grandfather
was JOHANN FREDRICH SCHMUNK
(Johann George, may have been a brother)
Heinrich’s father’s
full name was JOHANN FREDRICH SCHMUNK and his Mother was ANNA GEIST (Schmunk,
Hilderman, Foss, Deitz, Born) from Kraft, Russia. They were 21 Yrs. old when
they were married.
Heinrich also had uncles
called Blackie and Henry.
My Father’s Father died when he was 6 weeks old. His Mother Anna lived with
her in-laws, the Schmunks until my Father was 1 yr. Old. His Grandmother
Schmunk loved him, and my Father visited her when he was confirmed, and also
once after his marriage to my Mother Katherine Margaret Schafer in 1906.
His Schmunk grandparents raised him until he was 7 years old, then he was with
his Uncle Henry until he was 15, in the same home. His Uncle Henry had wanted
to marry his Mother Anna, but she wouldn’t marry him. As an orphan, my
Father could have gone to college in Omade Rosenberg, but his Uncle Henry
would not let him. In fact, he kept my Father’s inheritance.
My Father had land he lost when his Uncle Henry failed and refused to send him
the price when he left Russia. Also, this older Aunt wanted his house and
promised to pay after he left Russia, but did not send any money.
When my parents were in Argentina, my Father worked with a Mr. Neiman in
farming partnership. My Father had an accident 6 months after arriving in
Argentina and was in the hospital for 3 months. When he got out, he asked Mr.
Neiman for some money, but he refused. He wired for money from my Uncle Fred
Schaffer in Kansas and was sent $500 immediately. Mr. Neiman gave him 1 goose.
When he got to Herington, KS, he purchased a house across the street from the
Schaffers, who lent money for it. My parents paid all of the money back, but
my Uncle would not take 1 penny of interest. My Father worked for the Railroad
for 10 years, then moved to Portland. Despite the fact that he had a paper of
transfer to the Railroad, he would not go there because he was German and not
a citizen yet, though he probably could have gotten on. It was World War I. He
did carpenter work in several places, worked for Doernbecker Furniture Co.
then for Schmitt Bros. Steel Co. When he suffered a heart attack, he worked
for my brother Fred in the houses he was building.
His Mother Anna Geist Schmunk married Hilderman who was a former Cavalry
Soldier. – my father was not welcome. Within a year his half-sister Julia
was born. Other children were born and some died, then Hilderman died.
My father’s
Uncle Henry was mean to him, one day in the field knocking him over with a pitchfork.
His Godfather saw this from his adjacent field and took my Father to his home,
and from that time he lived and worked for “Paul’s Heinrich”, his
Godfather. He worked 3 years for his Godfather who was an official, and it was
through him that he got Government work as a Chauffer.
They called my Father “Andrewshka”. The Doctors told my Father about my
Mother, who worked
as a Nurse.
Heinrich’s
mother stayed single for a time, then married Foss. She had several children,
some died. Then
his mother moved south to Linia, met and married Mr. Deitz, a widower with two
children – Jake and Elizabeth Deitz.
My Father’s mother
persuaded her daughter Julia, at 17, to marry Jake so she would stay in the
family, and they all came to America, to Odessa, Washington first, then in
1908 they moved to Oregon
I used to correspond with
My Father’s Cousin, Adam Dallinger, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 1965,
following Adam’s death, as well as my Father’s, my Mother received a
letter from “Mrs. K. Dallinger and Family” from WPG 4 Manitoba.
Very close to us in NE
Portland lived the Herman Schmunk family. We were forever receiving and
rerouting their mail, but I never met them.
SCHAFFER
GENEALOGY
My Mother’s name was
KATHERINE MARGARET SCHAFFER SCHMUNK
My Mother’s Grandmother
as KATHERINE LICHTENWALT (?)
My Mother’s Mother was
KATHERINE MEIER SCHAFFER whose Brothers were:
- John Meier
- John Jacob Meier
- Andrew Meier
- The Meiers manufactured
and sold Fanning Machines to separate Wheat from Chaff to both Russians and
Germans.
- My Mother’s Father was
FREDRICH SCHAFFER whose Brothers were:
- George Schaffer
- Dick Schaffer
- and sister, Julia Schaffer
- KATHERINE MEIER AND
FREDRICH SCHAFFER’S CHILDREN WERE:
- Fred Schaffer (2nd wife Eva Walter, Oberdorf,Russia)
Vancouver, WA
- Henry Schaffer (He was killed in Russian War.)
- Lydia (Henry Stier brother to Jacob Stier who married Katherine
Elizabeth Schmunk,
my Father’s Aunt, killed in Russian War, Lydia
starved)
- Son, last name Stier ? returned to Alexandertal (?)
Note: My Parents and
Siblings
- KATHERINE MARGARET (HENRY SCHMUNK)
- Katherine born and died 1907 Buenes Aires, Argentina
- Henry, Jr. (Marie Langenbach) b. 1908 Herington, KS; d. Tacoma, WA
- Anne (Henry Classen) b. 1910 Herington, KS; Salem, OR.
- Fred (Arpa Pfaff) b. 1912 Herington, KS; d.1976 Ptld., OR
- Carl b.1914 Herington, KS; d.Lyle, WA
- Mary died as infant 1916 Herington, KS
- Walter Eric (Doris Fox) b. 1918 Herington, KS; d. Ptld., OR
- Mary (Don Lucich) b. 1920 Ptld., OR; Oregon City, OR
- Robert (Ella Mueller) b. 1923; d. Portland, OR
- Florence Elizabeth (Rudy Bauder, Sr.) b. 1927 Ptld.; St.Helens, OR
- Harold Paul (Beverly Holland) b. 1929 Ptld.; d. Ptld., OR
- Annie (Alex Meier, sent to Siberia)
- Mollie (Alex Kaufman) Scottsbluff, Large Family Several Twins
- Alex (wife Fannie) Kansas City, Kansas
- MY MOTHER WAS KATHERINE
MARGARET SCHAFFER (SCHMUNK)
Alexandertal, Russia b. August 18, 1886; d. July 16, 1970 in Portland, OR
My Father and Mother were
married in 1906 in Russia. My Mother described her wedding in detail, even to
her wedding party, being carried in flower-decked, belled and ribboned
horse-drawn Troyka to her Groom in Rosenberg. She expressed a dislike,
however, for the extended celebration, and was relieved at its conclusion. My
Father could speak Russian, as could my Uncle Fred Schaffer, who worked at
Kamyschin as a stevedore on the Volga River loading grain, etc.
My parents left Russia and
remained in Buenos Aires, Argentina for 1 ½ years. My Father had a very
serious farming accident, which held him near death, at this same time losing
their first baby in death. When my Father recovered, after being in the
hospital for 3 months, they came up to the US and settled in Herington, KS. My
Uncle Alex Schaffer lived in Kansas City. It was while they lived there that
both of my parents were converted to the Baptist Faith under Pastor Seifert
and baptized by Pastor Pankratz (?).
My Great Uncle Casper
Meier, who was blind, on one occasion was collecting for the sale of their
Fanning Mills. In this city, he was staying overnight in a house. During the
night, he heard someone enter where he slept. He feined sleep. He could feel
someone cutting off the pocket where he kept the money. He did not move. In
the morning he went on his way home, not mentioning this to anyone, lest he be
killed by the robber.
As I pumped my parents for
stories of their life in Russia, I relived with Mama going the distance from
their home to tend their Garden and Orchard, dipping and pouring the water
from the Llavlia River for their garden. My brother Fred was the family
jokster, and we would often chuckle as he told the exaggerated heroic stories
of the adventures of Volchuk, the Schaffer dog! And, when the Cossacks Dancers
came to Portland’s Civic Theatre, I wept as I watched them perform the
dramatic Sabre Dance, described by Daddy, and I tightened as I remembered his
tales of whipping the horses to run faster when his carriage was heading up a
hill, in order to discourage highwaymen from robbing his passengers.
I had saved my money to
take my Father back to Russia, but, when I was nearing 21, he said, “No,
Honey, I do not want to go back, for it would not be the same!” So, I sent
them back by compartment to Uncle Alex’ Family in KC and Aunt Molly’s to
visit in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
One of these days, I may
see my wish come true by a visit to Alexandertal and Rosenberg after all!
[Note: a fuller version of
these family groups is available from the Village Co-ordinator or from
Florence herself]
