![]() In 1919, as a result of the autonomy granted by the Soviet Government, there was a remarkable cultural revival among the German peasants on the Volga and we cherished great hopes for their further development. Of course their houses were well-built, neat and clean, and it is possible that under the Stalin regime these hard-working peasants have been regarded as kulaks and “liquidated.” Their thoroughbred cattle were remarkable. These were once the pride of the German Volga Republic having attained a higher level of agriculture than any neighbouring district. Migrating from the German speaking lands of Western Europe in the mid 1760s, these colonists settled along the Volga River near the frontier town of Saratov. I notice that your Correspondent does not mention the nine Mennonite villages. At that time the Volga Republic was one of the few districts of Russia where Soviet democracy was a reality. and voluntarily sent additional 63,000 poods of wheat for the starving children of Moscow. of the grain quota demanded by the Government our German peasants gave 100 per cent. The Volga Germans ), Russian:, romanized: povolzhskiye nemtsy) are ethnic Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River. ![]() While the neighbouring province of Samara supplied 5 per cent. I may say that in those difficult years, when the villages of the German peasants were threatened by Koltchak and Denikin, they proved to be the most loyal citizens of Soviet Russia. These groups are not included in the Center's definition of 'Volga German' as they migrated from different parts of Germany at different times and under different legal conditions from the. These groups include the Mennonites who arrived the late 1840s and 1850s and the ethnic Germans who settled further north near Samara in the 1850s in what are typically called the Samara Colonies. Sir, – As one of the initiators of the Autonomous Republic, of the Volga Germans in 1918 and head of its Education Department in 1919 I have read with great interest the article of your correspondent in The Times of November 25. There are two groups of ethnic Germans who settled among the extant Volga German colonies in later years. Source: Letters to the Editor, The Times, November 30 1936, p. Peter Petroff November 1936 The Volga Germans
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