Journey to Hamburg and the Departure of the Emigrants

 

By P. Aloys Kappes, Pastor.
(Note: Translated from the German publication “Clemens-Blatt” September 1, 1924, Number 9. The author, a Catholic priest, later returned to Russia and was arrested. Soviet authorities had him shot in November of 1937.)

On August 11th I traveled from Berlin to Hamburg to be helpful to some of our dear Volga-German refugees, who on August 14th will begin their sea journey to Canada.Since the German government’s Heimkehrlager have been closed, our refugees lived in various parts of Germany. Today 18 of these refugees from various districts of Germany are to meet in Hamburg. Today I was to visit again with these poor, cast-off people. I was over-joyed with this visit! I arrived in Hamburg at 1:45 P.M. and went directly from the train-station to the hotel where the refugees were to be taken. They were gathered there in groups when I met them. Renunciations and privations of all kinds flashed from their faces. Worries and doubts about being successful in America also were on their minds.Other worries were if their sea-traveling papers were in order, and if the ship’s surgeon might eject them! I greeted them with these words as I suddenly walked among them:”Jesus Christ be praised.” Their response was: “In Ewigkeit, Jesus, Maria unser Vater ist ja da.” Great was the joy on both sides during this reunion.

These poor ones were delighted that their clergyman came to see them and to be helpful at their departures. All of them when they departed (via ship from Hamburg) did so without added worries upon their limited comprehension. I rejoiced that I was able to help these unfortunates.

I know all too well what they once were, what they suffered and experienced because of their escape and flight. Moreover, several of them even for years were my parishioners and school children. While I enjoyed seeing them and smilingly clasping their hands my heart was bleeding. Had not all who were here stood a round me and kindly looked at me, formerly also had a home in far-off Russia on the Volga strand? Had not all refugees formerly felt satisfied and lucky in the circle of their family? And today? A husband or a wife, a father or a mother; so many of them died during their flight; their bodies fading in graves in the distant Russian steppe. These dear ones here with me are scorned by many as beggars and deportees as they are about to travel to America in search of a new home. Can America replace their old home? Will they now remain true to their faith and trust in Germanism as they and their ancestors had done in the past 160 years in Russia?

Such and similar thoughts occupied my mind during the few moments before their departure. It is unclear to me that and why my heart should bleed; I a son of the Volga, who loves his homeland and his people with his entire soul. It would have been an offense on my part if I had expressed these weighty thoughts to them in their departing hour, thereby making their parting more grievous. Therefore I lovingly made inquiries about their feelings and sought words to comfort them where it was needed. Then in childlike love they all opened their hearts to me and shared their various experiences until it got to be very late in the evening when we parted, wishing each other a “good night”. The next morning at 6:30 all of the refugees in spite of the heavy rain met in the chapel of the St. Raphael Society where I celebrated a high mass for them. At its end I gave a short speech to them, my dear ones, demanding them to always trust God and never be unfaithful to the Catholic church. I told them that God would always protect them. At the very end I gave them my priestly blessing.

After the breakfast I proceeded with my work of doing many things for these refugees, some with the consulate and some with the shipping company, to settle anything that needed it. At 1:30 P.M. all of the emigrants had to gather at a specified place and then go to the Canadian Pacific Shipping Company’s steamship, the Empress of Scotland, which would take them to their destination in Canada. I also accompanied them to the ship, after which came a few more moments of parting. With tears in all of our eyes, everything good was wished for all, and good-byes were said as I parted from my poor, dear Volga-Germans. It all happened in high time because in only one-half hour my train to take me back to Berlin was due to leave. At 4: 15 P.M. I traveled from Hamburg to Berlin with heavy and sad thoughts.

Now again some of our German population had been torn from the Volga area and transferred to Canada. Many were already living in Argentina, and others were scattered and managed to live in all parts of Germany. And those who still lived in Russia had suffered former years of famine and many of them again faced certain starvation. Shall this continue? Shall we Volga-Germans become scattered allover the world? “Oh God in Heaven, You alone know. You are the good Father of all humans, and therefore I now again dedicate to you our Volga-German people.”

Report About the emigration departure of the German Russians

By S. Feist, Board of Directors Member of the “Kath. Fürsorge” (Catholic Social Welfare)
(This article, translated from the original, was published in the German-language publication “Clemens Blatt”, May 1924)

After the Canadian Catholic Church Members Society had successfully arranged for the German refugees’ emigration from the Volga and Black Sea Provinces to Canada and their settlement possibilities amongst the Canadian farmers, it was then their most important duty to assemble and conduct their transport, departure, and the travel route. Among the first duties of the authoritative St. Raphael Society in Hamburg regarding the assembling of the first refugee transport was to place it under our care, namely the Catholic Social Welfare. It accordingly then became our duty to prepare the emigrants for emigration. On March 19th I went to the refugee camp located in Frankfurt on the Oder to get and prepare a full and complete list of the emigrants. Immediately upon getting acquainted, those representing the Catholic Volksverein in Canada, which had the prepared emigration requirements, declared that 76 persons were already listed for emigration; however, with the explicit wish that all concerned organizations might do their utmost to have the families of the emigrants soon follow them to Canada. The transport’s departure was firmly set for March 23rd. To lighten the parting of these emigrant heads of families, a wish was generally expressed that our Diocese Bishop, Cardinal Kessler, might conduct a solemn farewell Mass in the Frankfurt camp. Early in the morning of March 22nd Bishop Kessler and I traveled together to the camp, where we were cheerfully welcomed by the refugees.

The Volga Refugees from Minsk

A Visit in the Refugee camp Frankfurt/Oder

(This article, translated from the original, was published in the German-language publication “Heimkehr”, No. 2, 1923.)

It is well known that a year ago, when the unmercifulness of hunger was felt more every day by the Volga settlers, a mad despair came over the unfortunate inhabitants of the German colonies, more and more Volga settlers left their homes and fled in every direction, trying to escape their ill fate. Some went westwards since they were hoping that their journey to reach Germany would not take them too long. It is still imprinted in everybody’s memory the cruel expectations of most refugees were crushed: they were held back in the forests of Minsk for over half a year. The first refugees to arrive in Germany via White-Russia got here in 1922. So far, the largest transport of about 1000 people (222 men, 295 women and 436 children under the age of 16) reached the homecoming camp Frankfurt on the Oder on December 9, 1922, to find a temporary residence in the barracks which used to house prisoners of war.

The impression the refugees give the visitor is at first unexpectedly good. The children are merrily playing ball on the grounds between the barracks, and the elders are not at all displaying a depressed state of mind, but are readily willing to answer any questions. When one considers the terrible conditions the refugees escaped, then it really doesn’t come as a surprise that they are feeling pretty good in this desolate town of barracks. As our pictures are showing, there is a big diversity in their clothing. Besides the men’s long sheepcoats and the women’s kerchiefs, you see very fashionably dressed folks. When we visited, we were greeted by Dr. Rothermel from the Society of the Volga Germans, a young, Volga-German doctor who devoted his energy to his unfortunate fellow countrymen. Then, Mr. Alexander Bier from Warenburg showed us around the barracks and related, from his own experiences and the lists he compiled what the refugees had gone through.

Beginning of last year, about 7000 Volga-Germans started out to Minsk, some with horse and wagon, some on foot or by train. In Saratov most of them had to go by train since the horses couldn’t go on anymore. The way to White-Russia took several months, therefore it was March/April until the refugees arrived there. A lot of people were dying on the train already, and it got worse when everybody had to leave the train in Minsk. Women, men, children, the healthy and the sick were cramped in lonely houses and sheds without windows, tables, chairs and beds, and it wasn’t long until the sick outnumbered the healthy. The typhoid fever was especially bad. One has to assume that more than half of the refugees died in Minsk.