On the map, I'd follow
with my finger the epic story of pioneering which seemed more like
a myth than history. How, two-hundred years ago now, the two Russian
rulers, Catherine the Great and her grandson, invited farmers and
craftsman to settle on the Russian steppes as "special colonists."
Starting in Southern
Germanic provinces, I'd trace the long treks overland and by water
into Eastern Europe, and onto the wilderness of the steppes, of those
German speaking families, and I'd note on the map where these peasant
people, "so far from God but even further from man", founded hundreds
of villages, starting in 1784 along both sides of the Volga River,
and alter, after 1784, in areas ringing the Black Sea, in the place
my grandfather called "seid Russland" --- South Russia.
I'd pinpoint Odessa, and
just to the south, my grandfather's village, and trying to imagine
what life was like there that made my grandfather's generation leave,
retrace the train route many Germans from Russia took crossing Europe
in the latter part of the nineteenth century, moving my finger over
the Atlantic Ocean, wondering how those pioneers felt on board the
steamships, as they left their everything behind for the promise of
America.
On the North American
continent, I'd locate the states where Volga Germans settled, Nebraska,
Colorado, California, Oregon, Montana, and the areas where villagers
from south Russia made claimed their new "helmat", their new homes,
in Kansas, Washington, Canadian provinces and South Dakota. And then,
like feeling a pulse, I'd place my finger on the rectangular shape
of North Dakota on the heart of an area called German Russian triangle,
find McIntosh County and the location of my old hometown with its
several block main street strung between some grain elevators and
the Lutheran church where I came to know my grandparents who -- when
they retired into that town -- moved their two-story clapboard home,
their summer kitchen and several outbuildings in from their farm so
that directly across the street from our home where I grew up, there
stood an exact configuration of their old farmstead.
If
you missed seeing Schmeckfest on Prairie Public Television, you
still have a chance to enjoy this heart-warming (and mouth-watering)
documentary. Order a videotape copy of Schmeckfest for only $29.95.
This wonderful Collectors' Edition includes the full documentary plus
almost 20 minutes of bonus footage not seen on television. Order
online now or call 1-800-359-6900 to order your copies today.
Starting in Southern
Germanic provinces, I'd trace the long treks overland and by water
into Eastern Europe, and onto the wilderness of the steppes, of those
German speaking families, and I'd note on the map where these peasant
people, "so far from God but even further from man", founded hundreds
of villages, starting in 1784 along both sides of the Volga River,
and alter, after 1784, in areas ringing the Black Sea, in the place
my grandfather called "seid Russland" --- South Russia.
On the North American
continent, I'd locate the states where Volga Germans settled, Nebraska,
Colorado, California, Oregon, Montana, and the areas where villagers
from south Russia made claimed their new "helmat", their new homes,
in Kansas, Washington, Canadian provinces and South Dakota. And then,
like feeling a pulse, I'd place my finger on the rectangular shape
of North Dakota on the heart of an area called German Russian triangle,
find McIntosh County and the location of my old hometown with its
several block main street strung between some grain elevators and
the Lutheran church where I came to know my grandparents who -- when
they retired into that town -- moved their two-story clapboard home,
their summer kitchen and several outbuildings in from their farm so
that directly across the street from our home where I grew up, there
stood an exact configuration of their old farmstead.
If
you missed seeing Schmeckfest on Prairie Public Television, you
still have a chance to enjoy this heart-warming (and mouth-watering)
documentary. Order a videotape copy of Schmeckfest for only $29.95.
This wonderful Collectors' Edition includes the full documentary plus
almost 20 minutes of bonus footage not seen on television.