52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 30
Prompt – The Old Country
According to Ancestry, 48% of my DNA
is of German Descent. This is not a surprise. My father's first
language was German, all be it a Mennonite German or Plautdietsch
which is a low German dialect. His mother only spoke German. My
mother's first language was also German although I never heard her
speak it. Her mother spoke both German and English.
My father's family was Mennonite and my
mother's family was Lutheran. However their "Old Country" was not Germany as one might presume given their native language. It was Russia!
My Ancestry DNA Story gives this
history of their move from Germany to Russia.
A Royal Invitation
"In 1762 the tide of Russian history took a decided turn when the
German princess, Catherine the Great, became empress of the vast
Russian empire. Ambitious and progressive, Catherine invited
foreigners, particularly German farmers, to help develop the untapped
agricultural potential of Russian land. These foreigners were
promised free land, paid moving expenses, no taxation for 30 years,
and exemption from the otherwise mandatory military service. Germans
were struggling with the devastating effects of the Seven Years’
War, and Russia offered a fresh start.”The soon to be German emigrants were living with continuous wars with resulting change of leadership. The new authorities were showing increasing religious intolerance. There was the new requirement for military service by their new Prussians leaders. The Mennonites refused and were taxed heavily for their refusal. Further they were forbidden any new land ownership for their expanding families. The incentives by Catherine the Great were answers to their prayers. The Mennonites and Lutherans were given considerable autonomy in their new home. Their German Culture was theirs to live in Russia.
The Mennonites settled in what is Southern Ukraine now. They settled along the Chortitza river which is a tributary of the Dneiper River. This Mennonite Colony became known as The Chortitza Colony. My 3rd great - grandfather and my direct ancestors through 5 generations was among the founding members of this colony.
Likewise, The Lutherans were being enticed to the Russia with free land, new opportunities, paid travel, no taxes and the autonomy to live in their German culture, traditions, churches and language. They settled along the Volga River in the area of Saratov. Thus they became known as Volga Germans.
Johann Georg Krikau is my 5th
Great-Grandfather on my maternal side. He was born in Wolfenhausen,
Germany and in 1767 immigrated to the Volga German Colony of
Warenburg. He was a founding member of Lutheran Warenburg Colony.
In the late 17th century my
German ancestors became known as the Germans from Russia. Despite
the initial hardship of starting out they carried on and thrived as Germans for
a century in Russia.
In 1881 Alexander III became Russia's
ruler and he enforced the “Russification” of the German
colonies. They could no longer teach their children in German. Russian was mandatory. Russian became the language of business. Slowly their German culture and their autonomy died.
Upon these conditions my ancestors were
once again on the move. New lands were opening up in United States and
Canada.
My ancestors were lucky enough to get
out of Russia when they did. The Russian Motherland was devastating for
those who chose too stay behind. In 1914 at the beginning of WWI, the Germans
living in Russia were branded traitors and co-conspirators. Some were deported to Siberia
for “crimes against the state”.
1917 brought on the Russian Revolution and its
brand of lawlessness. They terrorized the German-speaking peoples. Murder and displacement was used to rid Russia of the Germans. I have
previously blogged about the circumstances of a famine that was
forced on the German Russians.
In 1941 at the outbreak of WWII between
Germany and Russia, an enforced displacement of all Russian Germans
to Germany was instituted. These Russian Germans never lived in Germany before and their language was not quite the same. They had no land or relatives and went back to homelessness and poverty. They were not allowed to go back to their
homes in Russia to gather belongings. Their homes no longer belonged to them. Often the men between 16 and 60 were separated from the women and sent to work camps in
Siberia. It is estimated that only 70,000 Volga Germans made it to
Germany. Many died of starvation or the elements in their travels to
Germany. The Russian Army caught up with some of the displaced
Germans as they were trying to make their way to Germany and captured
them and put them in cattle cars without supplies for a very long
cold journey to Siberia or Central Asia.
Essentially The Germans from Russia
were displaced, murdered or banished to Siberia or Central Asia. They were not allowed to practice their religion. Their language and
culture went away as they lived apart from other Germans from Russia. The remaining Germans from Russia became Russian. The Old Country of Russia successfully completed the Russification of the remaining Germans that stayed behind. Those that lived through all of this would be forever Russian.
Wendy
