The Russia German

AHSGR, Work Paper No. 6, May 1971

The Pacific Northwesterner
Volume 8
Fall, 1964
Number 4

Inland Empire Russia Germans
By Harm H. Schlomer

(Excerpts)
(Page 55)
In this paper the designation Russia Germans is consistently used. This designation appears to be the most correct. It is careless usage of terms to refer to these people as “Russians” or to use any term that would imply identity with the native people of Russia. In the interests of accuracy we need to remember that the colonists are Germans, and that they struggled against odds to keep their culture and civilization unaffected by their domicile in Russia. All of the first colonists were located on the west bank of the Volga, called the “Bergseite” or hilly side (MY NOTES: The village of Frank is on this side.). In 1765, villages were founded on the eastern shore or plain side (Wiesenseite) (MY NOTES: Brunnentahl is on this side.)….

(Page 56)
The struggle of the Russia Germans to make progress was slow. The first cellar houses were dug out of the hillside called Semlenke or earth house. Then the colonists made their own bricks out of loam mixed with straw four inches thick, one foot wide and eighteen inches long. The homes were built out of these bricks. As the years unfolded the Russia Germans developed wood houses built of lumber, covered with straw first, then wood and tin. Apart from agriculture, the greatest industry on the Volga was the manufacture of grain into flour. The spinning and weaving industries were also developed on the “Bergseite” hilly side of the Volga. There were no bridges across the Volga. Corssings to the capital, Saratov, were made by ship. In the winter the Volga would freeze over solidly so that colonists could drive across it in sleds.

The years of change and progress in the Volga colonies were the result of constant hard work and sacrifice. The Russia Germans developed a materialistic measure of values superimposed upon strong emotional religious traditions. Success was measured by the land one possessed. At the same time the Russia German had an awareness of his past sorrows. Often – when one touches upon the experience of his past sorrows, be becomes filled with emotion…

The Russia German believed that a man was as good as his word. In business dealings, mortgages, notes and liens were not executed. If the buyer was not to be trusted, there was no transaction. He bought when he could make payment in cash. To illustrate this trait of honesty, the following story is told. “A man once bought a horse and agreed on time payments. He had heard that in instances of this sort, the buyer eas supposed to give a note. So he gave his note to him with the remark, ‘You have the horse, you may as well have the note.’ Later the man came to pay, bringing the note with him. ‘Now,’ he said, as he paid the money, ‘you have the money and you may as well have the note also.’” For the Russia German it was a disgrace to ask for credit. Debts were a worry. When he bought he could bargain well. The price he agreed the pay was paid. If a mistake was made in the transaction in his favor he returned what he was not entitled to, often going out of his way to do so.