Letter from Jacob Weidenkeller in Norka
Dear editors: I feel compelled again to send a report to the World-Post because that way I can reach all my friends in America and Canada. Agriculture was probably man's oldest occupation; our ancestors made it through poorly and miserably with bad equipment. We're definitely better off than we were twenty years ago, the only thing missing is traction, the plows are good, the mowing machines help, one after the other. In the course of the first decade after the Revolution very little could be sown and otherwise accomplished in Russia, because one consequence of the war was the ruin of agriculture. The Volga-German Republic had e.g. B. In 1914 1,295,000 dessjatines sowed, (1 dessiatin = 2.7 acres) in 1916 there were 945,000 dessjatines. With the beginning of the war, the sown areas decreased, which decreased even more as a result of the civil war and the years of need. Only in 1924 did the restoration of our agriculture begin. The same can be seen in animal husbandry. While in 1920 only 871,000 Dessjatines were produced, in the year we already reached 1,305,000 Dessjatines. From the numbers we can see that the recovery is going on incredibly quickly. The transformation of agriculture is seen as the main task of the state and everything is provided to achieve this.
Here in Norka, the country has been divided into thirty parts in the last two years. In the group I belong to, there are 290 people who have each received 116 meters of land. Our country is in the Kosakenfeld and on the Norkaerhang, six sotrik to the border, at the Blautina or Ribuscher border. We have already planted corn, but sometimes it was difficult to till the field. We are still unsure how the land will be divided, we have to give 17,500 poods (1 pood = approximately 16.38 kilograms or 36.11 pounds) to the state, which we are happy to do if we can harvest that much ourselves. Since the revolution, new schools and factories have been built here, so some things are to our advantage again.
My brother Heinrich Weidenkeller passed away on August 12 of a stroke at the age of 60 years and 11 months, this is for our sake. Brother Wilhelm Weidenkeller in Lincoln, Nebraska, also to his acquaintances and friends in America and Canada. On September 26th I celebrated my 56th birthday, I went to my old aunt Liesbeth Kneppels, who is already 86 years old, and told her that the Americans are now allowed to enter Russia, so she said to me that she hopes that her Heinrich will be able to come to Norka to visit her.
In the last issue of the Welt-Post, Kissner asked whether Peter Heuser had received the Bible that had been sent to him. He has asked me to publish in the newspaper that he has received the same with thanks. By the way, I am related to Kissner as I am the husband of his wife's aunt's half brother, Annemarie Weidenkeller of Jaschka where the Katharinlies dem Johannes Heusser has his daughter. They say hello to everyone. We greet all Heussers in America and hope to receive a report from Heinrich Heusser, from Harvard, Nebraska, and Wilhelm Weidenkeller. Greetings to C. Mueller and George Helzer in Canada.
Greetings to all readers, Jacob Weidenkeller
Here in Norka, the country has been divided into thirty parts in the last two years. In the group I belong to, there are 290 people who have each received 116 meters of land. Our country is in the Kosakenfeld and on the Norkaerhang, six sotrik to the border, at the Blautina or Ribuscher border. We have already planted corn, but sometimes it was difficult to till the field. We are still unsure how the land will be divided, we have to give 17,500 poods (1 pood = approximately 16.38 kilograms or 36.11 pounds) to the state, which we are happy to do if we can harvest that much ourselves. Since the revolution, new schools and factories have been built here, so some things are to our advantage again.
My brother Heinrich Weidenkeller passed away on August 12 of a stroke at the age of 60 years and 11 months, this is for our sake. Brother Wilhelm Weidenkeller in Lincoln, Nebraska, also to his acquaintances and friends in America and Canada. On September 26th I celebrated my 56th birthday, I went to my old aunt Liesbeth Kneppels, who is already 86 years old, and told her that the Americans are now allowed to enter Russia, so she said to me that she hopes that her Heinrich will be able to come to Norka to visit her.
In the last issue of the Welt-Post, Kissner asked whether Peter Heuser had received the Bible that had been sent to him. He has asked me to publish in the newspaper that he has received the same with thanks. By the way, I am related to Kissner as I am the husband of his wife's aunt's half brother, Annemarie Weidenkeller of Jaschka where the Katharinlies dem Johannes Heusser has his daughter. They say hello to everyone. We greet all Heussers in America and hope to receive a report from Heinrich Heusser, from Harvard, Nebraska, and Wilhelm Weidenkeller. Greetings to C. Mueller and George Helzer in Canada.
Greetings to all readers, Jacob Weidenkeller
Sources
Die Welt-Post und der Staats-Anzeiger, November 14, 1929, page 5.
This translation is provided courtesy of Michelle Monson.
This translation is provided courtesy of Michelle Monson.
Last updated November 25, 2023