In 1941, the Black Sea port of Odessa had been surrounded by German troops for several weeks, and on this date, the city’s Russian troops evacuated.
The region figures heavily in North Dakota history. In the early 1900s, thousands of German Russians immigrated to the U.S., with large numbers settling in North Dakota. But it all began much earlier, with German-born Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia, issued a manifesto to her native Germany offering free land, financial help and freedom from military service for Germans who came to Russia to develop the land.
Hundreds of thousands of Germans answered the call. For many, the journey to Russia was difficult, and even disastrous. Much of the journey took place on overcrowded boats navigating dangerous rivers. They faced storms, passport checks, heat, rain, insects, hunger, treacherous river rapids and, above all, disease, from which many died.
Despite the difficulties, the Germans immigrants had created thriving colonies by the end of the 1800s. In the meantime, however, Russia and Germany had become enemies. Catherine the Great was dead, and the lives of Germans living in Russia were increasingly threatened.
When the Germans in Russia were forced to enter the military to fight against their native Germany, a new mass migration began – this time to the United States, with a large number settling in central and southwestern North Dakota.
The choice to stay or go wasn’t an easy one. Germans had created thriving farms and businesses in separate communities that allowed them to retain their culture and language. Even as they became more and more threatened, many were reluctant to leave. By the 1920s, the ones who stayed behind were considered enemies of the state, and their lives became a living hell.
Michael Miller, a Germans from Russia bibliographer, communicated with a number of Germans who remained behind. In one letter, Lena Dyck wrote, “1929 to 1930 was a difficult time for us. Stalin gained power after Lenin’s death. There were terrible conditions, people were deported, everything was left behind. Whoever had a good economical farm was evacuated. We were also on this list, although my sister could not go; dad was also sick, no mercy. At night during a cold winter, about 1,930 (of us) were put on cattle trains destined for the far cold north, deep into the woods. I, with other children, was allowed to go back, but where to? I earned my living with strangers, was not allowed to attend school as an enemy.”
Another who remained in Russia was Johann Schauer. In a 1993 letter to relatives, he wrote, “Until the beginning of the Second World War we lived in Neudorf, Odessa. I was drafted into the Red Russia Army. (I) was wounded…and was two years in a POW camp in Germany. After that they made me a (Russian) translator in the German Army, and I was always close to the front… then I became a soldier in the German Army and fought to the end of the war… I had to fight against the Russians in Russia.”
When Johann tried to find his parents after the war, they were no longer in Odessa. In 1944, they had been allowed to leave their farm but had to leave everything behind except what would fit into their horse-drawn wagon. They made it to Poland, but the following year, the Russians sent them to a Siberian slave-labor camp, the tragic fate of thousands of German Russians. Johann found them there, but he ended up getting arrested and jailed for five years for having served in the German army.
In 1988, Johann and his family were finally able to move to Germany, but ironically, they were unwelcome. Johann wrote, “From 1945 to 1988, we were always the German fascists (in Russia), but now in Germany? Here we are the Russians among the Germans. Many of our children (can’t) speak German, (because the) German language was not allowed in Russia after the war.”
For many years, Germans from Russia weren’t allowed to communicate with Americans, but as that ban has lifted, more and more German Russians are connecting with distant family members here in North Dakota.
In view of our continuing loss of population, it is tempting to imagine what would happen if our long-lost relatives began a third mass migration… sauerkraut, anyone? Kuchen? Knoephla?
Dakota Datebook by Merry Helm
