23 June 1921
issue of Die Welt Post
A Letter from the Volga Colony of
Huck
In the following, we bring to our reader a letter from the
Volga Colony of Huck, Russia.
This letter was sent to Mr. Alexander Kindsvater from one of his relatives in
Huck. Mr. Kindsvater is the brother-in-law of Pastor Maul in Lincoln, from whom
we received the letter this day so that we might publish it in order that all
the latest information about the Russian colonies on the Volga
is known. Here are both letters:
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Berlin, 26 May
1921.
My Dear D. F. Maul!
I received a letter by regular mail that I am
forwarding to you with my blessing and the hope that it brings you good fortune
and joy. I am in correspondence with Mr. Philip Kindsvater of Nisland, South Dakota,
Box 153, and have
already sent letters from him to Russia.
Also from John Kindsvater, Belle Fousche, S.D. Box
384, and Mr. John for whom, only a few days ago I sent off a letter to Russia.
You will understand who I am from the letter that we both received from your
brother-in-law. I am Alexander Kindsvater son of Alexander
Egorovitch. I don't know whether or not you
knew my father. Anyway, I am happy that I can bring you joy by sending you
this letter. I fled Russia
in 1918, as the Bolshevik terror began and now from day to day things are
getting worse. Those of my folk who remained behind are poorer and have lost
everything due to the Bolsheviks handiwork. A Pud of
wheat flour already costs 170,000 Rubles, etc. but you have probably already
seen the prices in the papers. It is also not going all that well for me here
in Germany.
Times are hard and It's difficult to find work,
everyone is in need. At least one is lucky to be in a land where order and
regulation rule. My friends Philipp and Johann Kindsvater and Mr. Petre
Brack have helped me to fight my way through and to
them I am very, very thankful.
Whenever you wish, you can send an answer to
your brother-in-law through me.
My address is: Alexander Kindsvater, Berlin,
Dorotheenstr. 24.
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Huck, on the 23rd
of April 1921.
Dear brother-in-law David and sister Elisabetha,
and your children!
After a long wait we finally received your
letter written 29 April 1920
on the 22nd of March, this year. Although this letter is nearly a year old,
it gave us indescribable pleasure and interest to hear of people from
three years ago, about your Schw. David's death,
though it took place in the passage of this year, our joy is so great
that the grief is nothing. You cannot imagine how much joy this death
messenger, your letter, brought to me. As the order from Br. Georg came from the aforementioned letter, it moved us to
tears. Our expressions we wrote to you (at least, for my part, I wrote a
picture of military service) throughout the entire
time, apparently you didn't receive a single letter?
I served two years and 2 months in military
service. At the beginning in Shsan
with a reserve Battalion and later on the Turkish front. I suffered a
lot of misery and distress, but I made it through with God's grace
and fortunate assistance, healthy and unhurt and returned to our homeland. The
revolution has brought many difficulties and to this day without a glimmer of
hope as to a method or way...3 Mos. 26, B, 16,17,26,31,34; 5 Mos. 28, B.
20,26,27,(Kr.) 29,30,31,32,33,41,43,44,48,50,51,52,67; Jur. 15,2; Klagl.
5, B. 2,3,5,8,9,10,12,14,15,18; Mich.2, B. 12 and so on and so forth. (Ed. Note: believed to be Bible verses such
as Moses chap 3, Moses chap 5, "B" & "Jur"
& "Klagl" are unknown but Kr is
probably Corinthians, and Mich = Micah)
My existing family consists of myself and wife
and 8 children; 1, Eugenie 19 yrs.; 2, Bertha, 16 yrs.; 3, Viktor 13 yrs., 4,
Maria 11 yrs.; 5, Lydia 9 yrs.; 6, Amalia, 6 yrs.; 7,
Emilie, 3 yrs. and 8, Immanuel, 1 yr. Also living
with us is Heinrich Scheibel,16 yrs, the son of my
sister Evak. I am teaching him to be a cabinet
maker and now he is no longer needy, but where does he go from here?
All of our children are healthy and strong, but
it's deplorable--no school, no building. I myself have been mobilized as
manager of the Feuer-Assekuranz (fire-safety) (Ph. Jos. Eckardt is an
agent of the same business, we oversee over 16 villages), There's little time
left for the children unless one does not return from the earth in ones
corporeal body.
In general, there have been large changes here
that I won't detail in this letter, only so much: The dead: Wes Kath., Kreicks Wes Lisbeth, her eldest
son Johs.,
also her brother Joh. (schoolmaster
in Armawir), my mother-in-law, Koehlers
Bes. Ernst, Schw.
Eckerdts Johs., Schw. Evlis's daughter Elis. Eurig, Fat Jacob's wife Murrick, Schwaehr Lorenzchen's (possibly esteemed brother-in-law) oldest
son Georg. These are only in the neighborhood, otherwise many others have passed on. -- We
are all -- Praise God, healthy. We are happy we survived, but it does not yet
lie within our power to see a way around: As God wishes! With heartfelt
greetings, yours,
Philipp
and Cath. Kindsvater.
P.S. This time we're attempting to forward this
letter through our friend Alexander Kindsvater, through whom letters come to us
from afar sooner than from your post office.
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My Dear Mr. Kindsvater!
Through my friend Ph. Kindsvater from America,
your address has come to my hand. I ask you to act as a middleman and send the
enclosed letter to my brother-in-law David Maul in America
according to the following address: Rev. D.F. Maul, Lincoln,
Nebr., 935 New
Hampshire, U.S.A. My heart
is full of joy and I wish to first convey my happiness in
writing, and God also will later reward you in public. I knew your father
well, and your mother I have known since 1919. I was once near her in Saratov and spoke with her many times.
u.a. also has read letters
from you and Edchen (Ed. Note: Little Ed) even
lives here in Huck near me since the summer of 1919 and has become an intimate
friend of mine. I, Philipp Kindsvater, 43 years of
age, am the youngest of the Kindsvater brothers who started the weaving mill
and millinery equipment company under the name Brothers Kindsvater. In your
warehouse, in your time in S. were also our machines. An old cousin,
Andres, from the Latrick, used to visit our old folk
often. During the lifetime of our elders much was spoken about the old kinship
with the Dietler Kindsvater. Here, there are still
many Huckers after all, who stem from there. I even
have a book on the life of Andreas Kindsvater, "Lebensbeschreibung
des Andreas Kindsvater." Besides everything else, it is only
important that we are blood friends and wish the young would refresh old
friendships, isn't that right?
Please, my brother-in-law would like to have
your address so that answers can be received directly ,
and he can write to me. Perhaps, with the receipt of this
letter? -- There will be a German Returnee Commission in Moscow, but
such discussions will only stem from solid groundwork produced in Germany.
How do I know this? Certainly, I know that we are from the Rheinpfalz,
but though I have nothing in writing, as, I believe everyone has after 160
years. Perhaps we should form a council? Enough for now.
With heartfelt regards, and high esteem,
your friend
Philipp Kindsvater