Headline: A Very Important Private Letter from Russia
Norka, February 15, 1922
To Pastor Kaiser
Weatherford, Oklahoma
Esteemed Pastor:
I received your letter of 6 January of this year with the latest postal delivery and I hasten to answer. Certainly you will feel justifiably disappointed by my response as my letter cannot be as long and detailed as you or I would wish. Not only do I have little time to write (besides my official work, my work with the Aid Committee also keeps me very busy so that I often lack time to deal with correspondence) but also the circumstances under which we live here do not permit me to write freely and in detail. I will try, however, to respond briefly to all your questions.
I shall start off with your personal business, namely your inquiry about your relatives in Neu-Messer. You assume correctly that, as in earlier times, the Minister in Norka also performs Pastoral duties in the Neu-Messer community. The last time I went there was last month. At Easter (on the third day of Easter) I will confirm the children there. Whether I will go there before then I cannot say at this moment. I will however, at my first opportunity, send your letter to Schoolmaster Karl Rusch, who is the son of the former and present Schoolmaster in Huck, so that he may inquire about your relatives and read your letter to them. They will then surely write to you and in this way you will finally receive news of them.
In general I can tell you that the Neu-Messer, as well as the Norka, Frank and Dittel parishes, have been much less affected by the famine than the other parishes. The situation is particularly desperate in Alt-Messer and Grimm; and it is simply terrible on the Wiesenseite. In Samara province many have fallen into cannibalism. The corpses of children are considered to be a delicacy and are often eaten by their own parents. Cases have occurred of travelers passing through the area being attacked, slaughtered and eaten. All the cats and dogs, mice and rats had already been eaten last fall. All the vegetables and fruits had been eaten by then and thus, the people, driven mad with hunger, have turned to cannibalism. You can imagine how great the misery is here.
The situation is generally better in our and neighboring parishes. Very few here still have bread and this bread is not bread at all, but is made of a pumpkin mix and sometimes even Schlagkuchen (oil cakes). If a person here still has potatoes, beets and cabbage, then it is said: "things are still good with them." In Neu-Messer most people harvested at least a few potatoes and beets and their situation, compared with Alt-Messer, can still be called a good one. If they decided to make a sudden impromptu visit to their relatives, they would cry at the sight of the way they live and what they eat. Because of the poor diet they develop diseases like scurvy, rickets, etc. Many people, children in particular, get the so-called "Boese Maeuler" (Noma, cancrum oris), the deterioration of the inside of the mouth. The gums and the palate begin to putrefy. The rot continues to eat away until the person dies of exhaustion and in terrible agony. In Neu-Messer from October 15 through January 10, approximately 140 people have died, among them nearly 100 children from smallpox alone. Typhoid Fever in winter and Cholera in summer are the deadliest killers. In my filial parish of Huck (total population on 1 January 1922, 4,933 souls) from 1 January 1922 to 12 February, 180 people died, of them a good three quarters died of Typhoid Fever. I have been in homes serving Communion to the sick where the whole household was sick with Typhoid Fever, 4, 5 and more sickbeds standing next to each other. Medical assistance is poor. There are few doctors; only 1 physician to 5 or 6 or more villages. There are no medicines. Outpatient clinics are closed for lack of heat (firewood).
From these short remarks you will likely be able to form a rough idea of the situation in our Volga Colonies. I will tell you one thing; everyone who comes here from foreign lands with preconceived notions with regard to events here has said; "the reality of the situation is worse than we had previously supposed."
It is impossible to try and describe all the changes that have occurred in the life and state of our country as you had asked. The pre-war era lies so far behind us that only a very few people here still believe that life could again become as it once was. People who come to Russia from foreign lands seem to me to be like creatures from another world.
In regard to their rights as an ethnic group, the life of Germans here in Russia is tolerable, yes, better than many other places in the world. In the past Russia was more tolerant of other ethnic nationalities, more so than other countries. Before the war we had magnificent schools in which the German language was not only taught but was also the official language of instruction. Throughout the war many things German were repressed; speaking German in public places was prohibited (following the English and French example). However, the anti-German propaganda in the Russian newspapers was usually of foreign origin; the perfidious lies of the English and French newspapers were simply being translated and reprinted here. Despite the propaganda, the majority of the Russian people were free of hate for the Germans. As a matter of principle, the Soviet Union is based on the notion of national and ethnic tolerance. Every government school has the mother tongue of the local population as its language of instruction; in the courts, as well as in all other official offices, everyone may seek justice in their native language.
For about 3 years now, half of the Parsonage has been occupied by the People's Court of Justice. Numerous meetings have been held there and everything was in the German language; the minutes and the entire written proceedings are in German. The so-called sophisticated and cultivated countries of Europe and the Americas should take a lesson from Soviet Russia and learn from this country that is being looked down upon. From this country, which is often portrayed as barbaric, they should learn what true and noble principles really are. National and cultural autonomy of various ethnic groups is not dangerous for a state, but advantageous. We are grateful to the Russian government for ethnic freedom and truly feel like any other citizen of this land. For its part, however, our country should learn from the good things done abroad. Those countries keep their interest in our church's situation. You probably understand that the church has been strongly affected by the general economic misery. Furthermore, the church is in a uncertain legal situation. Our state does not recognize the church in its entirety as an organization. It therefore recognizes no church as a legal entity but only groups of believers to which it allows the use of church buildings and the church inventory for worship purposes. The entire assets of the church are regarded as state assets. The houses of the clergy are being used for government offices. Only a few Pastors and Schoolmasters have been allowed to remain in their homes; and they have to share the premises with some governmental agency, for example the People's Court of Justice.
My brotherly greetings to you.
Yours, F. Wacker
Weatherford, Oklahoma
Esteemed Pastor:
I received your letter of 6 January of this year with the latest postal delivery and I hasten to answer. Certainly you will feel justifiably disappointed by my response as my letter cannot be as long and detailed as you or I would wish. Not only do I have little time to write (besides my official work, my work with the Aid Committee also keeps me very busy so that I often lack time to deal with correspondence) but also the circumstances under which we live here do not permit me to write freely and in detail. I will try, however, to respond briefly to all your questions.
I shall start off with your personal business, namely your inquiry about your relatives in Neu-Messer. You assume correctly that, as in earlier times, the Minister in Norka also performs Pastoral duties in the Neu-Messer community. The last time I went there was last month. At Easter (on the third day of Easter) I will confirm the children there. Whether I will go there before then I cannot say at this moment. I will however, at my first opportunity, send your letter to Schoolmaster Karl Rusch, who is the son of the former and present Schoolmaster in Huck, so that he may inquire about your relatives and read your letter to them. They will then surely write to you and in this way you will finally receive news of them.
In general I can tell you that the Neu-Messer, as well as the Norka, Frank and Dittel parishes, have been much less affected by the famine than the other parishes. The situation is particularly desperate in Alt-Messer and Grimm; and it is simply terrible on the Wiesenseite. In Samara province many have fallen into cannibalism. The corpses of children are considered to be a delicacy and are often eaten by their own parents. Cases have occurred of travelers passing through the area being attacked, slaughtered and eaten. All the cats and dogs, mice and rats had already been eaten last fall. All the vegetables and fruits had been eaten by then and thus, the people, driven mad with hunger, have turned to cannibalism. You can imagine how great the misery is here.
The situation is generally better in our and neighboring parishes. Very few here still have bread and this bread is not bread at all, but is made of a pumpkin mix and sometimes even Schlagkuchen (oil cakes). If a person here still has potatoes, beets and cabbage, then it is said: "things are still good with them." In Neu-Messer most people harvested at least a few potatoes and beets and their situation, compared with Alt-Messer, can still be called a good one. If they decided to make a sudden impromptu visit to their relatives, they would cry at the sight of the way they live and what they eat. Because of the poor diet they develop diseases like scurvy, rickets, etc. Many people, children in particular, get the so-called "Boese Maeuler" (Noma, cancrum oris), the deterioration of the inside of the mouth. The gums and the palate begin to putrefy. The rot continues to eat away until the person dies of exhaustion and in terrible agony. In Neu-Messer from October 15 through January 10, approximately 140 people have died, among them nearly 100 children from smallpox alone. Typhoid Fever in winter and Cholera in summer are the deadliest killers. In my filial parish of Huck (total population on 1 January 1922, 4,933 souls) from 1 January 1922 to 12 February, 180 people died, of them a good three quarters died of Typhoid Fever. I have been in homes serving Communion to the sick where the whole household was sick with Typhoid Fever, 4, 5 and more sickbeds standing next to each other. Medical assistance is poor. There are few doctors; only 1 physician to 5 or 6 or more villages. There are no medicines. Outpatient clinics are closed for lack of heat (firewood).
From these short remarks you will likely be able to form a rough idea of the situation in our Volga Colonies. I will tell you one thing; everyone who comes here from foreign lands with preconceived notions with regard to events here has said; "the reality of the situation is worse than we had previously supposed."
It is impossible to try and describe all the changes that have occurred in the life and state of our country as you had asked. The pre-war era lies so far behind us that only a very few people here still believe that life could again become as it once was. People who come to Russia from foreign lands seem to me to be like creatures from another world.
In regard to their rights as an ethnic group, the life of Germans here in Russia is tolerable, yes, better than many other places in the world. In the past Russia was more tolerant of other ethnic nationalities, more so than other countries. Before the war we had magnificent schools in which the German language was not only taught but was also the official language of instruction. Throughout the war many things German were repressed; speaking German in public places was prohibited (following the English and French example). However, the anti-German propaganda in the Russian newspapers was usually of foreign origin; the perfidious lies of the English and French newspapers were simply being translated and reprinted here. Despite the propaganda, the majority of the Russian people were free of hate for the Germans. As a matter of principle, the Soviet Union is based on the notion of national and ethnic tolerance. Every government school has the mother tongue of the local population as its language of instruction; in the courts, as well as in all other official offices, everyone may seek justice in their native language.
For about 3 years now, half of the Parsonage has been occupied by the People's Court of Justice. Numerous meetings have been held there and everything was in the German language; the minutes and the entire written proceedings are in German. The so-called sophisticated and cultivated countries of Europe and the Americas should take a lesson from Soviet Russia and learn from this country that is being looked down upon. From this country, which is often portrayed as barbaric, they should learn what true and noble principles really are. National and cultural autonomy of various ethnic groups is not dangerous for a state, but advantageous. We are grateful to the Russian government for ethnic freedom and truly feel like any other citizen of this land. For its part, however, our country should learn from the good things done abroad. Those countries keep their interest in our church's situation. You probably understand that the church has been strongly affected by the general economic misery. Furthermore, the church is in a uncertain legal situation. Our state does not recognize the church in its entirety as an organization. It therefore recognizes no church as a legal entity but only groups of believers to which it allows the use of church buildings and the church inventory for worship purposes. The entire assets of the church are regarded as state assets. The houses of the clergy are being used for government offices. Only a few Pastors and Schoolmasters have been allowed to remain in their homes; and they have to share the premises with some governmental agency, for example the People's Court of Justice.
My brotherly greetings to you.
Yours, F. Wacker
Sources
Die Welt-Post, April 20, 1922 page 7.
This translation provided courtesy of Hugh Lichtenwald.
This translation provided courtesy of Hugh Lichtenwald.
Last updated March 6, 2016.