Headline: American Relief Administration Praises American Volga Relief Society Representatives
When our vice-president, Mr. John Rohrig was recently in New York, in order to assist with our last clothing shipment, he met with leading officials of the American Relief Administration who expressed their complete satisfaction with our work. Mr. Page said there was hardly any other relief organization with whom they would rather work than with the A.V.R.S. He also said that there is no relief organization, neither in America nor in possibly any other country, that has rendered more direct assistance for the German Colonies on both sides of the Volga, than the American Volga Relief Society.
What Mr. Page painfully touched upon was that there are nevertheless some people, despite the self-sacrificing work in this relief effort, who always find fault and throw criticism at everything. He had heard that one such person had tried to attack the character and work of our two representatives, Mr. George Repp of Portland, Oregon, and Pastor J. Wagner of Lincoln. In this regard, Mr. Page contacted the leading officials of the American Relief Administration in Russia and received the following letters in reply.
Here are the letters:
American Relief Administration
42 Broadway, New York
February 21, 1923
American Volga Relief Society
126 S. 11th St.
Lincoln, Nebraska
Dir Sirs: You will find a letter enclosed which arrived here from Russia and which reports about the distribution of food by the Volga Relief Society.
Respectfully,
Frank C. Page, Secretary
Saratov, Russia, January 11, 1923
Historical Division, The Director in Moscow, Russia
Dear Sir:
In answer to your letter of 19 December, No. 496, concerning the distribution of food during the time that Mr. George Repp was here, I have to say that we cannot give you an accurate accounting for the food that was distributed by Mr. Repp and Pastor Wagner. We know however that both Mr. Repp and Pastor Wagner distributed a great deal of food for the American Volga Relief Society on the Wiesenseite. Besides this, the National Lutheran Council focused its entire relief work on the Wiesenseite of the Volga and together with these two men, distributed much food and clothing in the German Colonies.
We agree to the fact that the harvest on the Bergseite was somewhat better than that on the Weisenseite, but we should also point out that the "in kind" tax was much greater on the Bergseite than on the Wiesenseite. Thus one must conclude that the population on the Bergseite was more hard pressed.
In the Balzer Canton there are presently 16 thousand orphans and a similarly substantial number of widows because this area was the most heavily affected by bloody butchery during the Revolution. The relief effort of the German Red Cross is very small. As far as we know they distribute only 1,000 rations per month, exclusively on the Wiesenseite, in the Rayons of Tonkorshurowski and Pokrowsk.
We have no information about the complaints, only letters from individual persons on the Wiesenseite complaining about the lack of food.
Faithfully yours,
John. P. Gregg
District Overseer
Moscow, Russia, January 24, 1923
What Mr. Page painfully touched upon was that there are nevertheless some people, despite the self-sacrificing work in this relief effort, who always find fault and throw criticism at everything. He had heard that one such person had tried to attack the character and work of our two representatives, Mr. George Repp of Portland, Oregon, and Pastor J. Wagner of Lincoln. In this regard, Mr. Page contacted the leading officials of the American Relief Administration in Russia and received the following letters in reply.
Here are the letters:
American Relief Administration
42 Broadway, New York
February 21, 1923
American Volga Relief Society
126 S. 11th St.
Lincoln, Nebraska
Dir Sirs: You will find a letter enclosed which arrived here from Russia and which reports about the distribution of food by the Volga Relief Society.
Respectfully,
Frank C. Page, Secretary
Saratov, Russia, January 11, 1923
Historical Division, The Director in Moscow, Russia
Dear Sir:
In answer to your letter of 19 December, No. 496, concerning the distribution of food during the time that Mr. George Repp was here, I have to say that we cannot give you an accurate accounting for the food that was distributed by Mr. Repp and Pastor Wagner. We know however that both Mr. Repp and Pastor Wagner distributed a great deal of food for the American Volga Relief Society on the Wiesenseite. Besides this, the National Lutheran Council focused its entire relief work on the Wiesenseite of the Volga and together with these two men, distributed much food and clothing in the German Colonies.
We agree to the fact that the harvest on the Bergseite was somewhat better than that on the Weisenseite, but we should also point out that the "in kind" tax was much greater on the Bergseite than on the Wiesenseite. Thus one must conclude that the population on the Bergseite was more hard pressed.
In the Balzer Canton there are presently 16 thousand orphans and a similarly substantial number of widows because this area was the most heavily affected by bloody butchery during the Revolution. The relief effort of the German Red Cross is very small. As far as we know they distribute only 1,000 rations per month, exclusively on the Wiesenseite, in the Rayons of Tonkorshurowski and Pokrowsk.
We have no information about the complaints, only letters from individual persons on the Wiesenseite complaining about the lack of food.
Faithfully yours,
John. P. Gregg
District Overseer
Moscow, Russia, January 24, 1923
Sources
Die Welt-Post, March 15, 1923, page 5.
This translation provided courtesy of Hugh Lichtenwald.
This translation provided courtesy of Hugh Lichtenwald.
Last updated March 6, 2016.