From Lorraine McQuade’s book on the Fleck Family genealogy.

The history of our German ancestors migration to Russia in 1804-1809 is well documented by passport lists, emigration papers and the official census lists in Russia and in the German cities, on both banks of the Rhine River in France and Germany official visa and records. And their are several excellent histories written by Professor Joseph Height and by Rev. P. Conrad Keller. Briefly this is why the emigration took place:

The portion of the Rhine valley that our ancestors came from was held first by the Germans, then the French, then the Germans and back and forth. After each war the conquering army claimed the land for its country. The people kept their German language and customs etc but were given the nationality of the conquering country. During the time after Napoleon conquered this land, the area known as Alsace France was virtually a "foreign" province of France. It suffered its full share of trouble, unrest, fear and turmoil during the French revolution. The people saw their churches, monasteries suppressed, priests exiled and imprisoned, their property confiscated, nationalized or plain requisitioned and often their sons were drafted into Napoleon's army to fight their German cousins. They saw family members guillotined, especially if they were "Grafs (Dukes) etc. Seventy thousand Alsatians fled to the right bank of the Rhine River that was in the German hands. Their belongings, lands, and money was confiscated and they were declared "cowards and traitor, to the Republic of France". For seven years they lived in poverty, eking out a poor living on the right bank.

Finally in 1799 they were allowed to return, the government did not think it necessary to make any amends for the injustice it had perpetrated on them, nor did they undertake to rehabilitate these poor people. While most of the refugees of money-means were able to recover part of their possessions and lands the poor peasants round it impossible to go to court and regain their small plots of land. Those who took over the land did not want to give it up and were not made to do so. The poor peasant had to eke out a living as day laborers, sharecroppers or farm hand,. They were forced to pay high taxes to help pay for the cost of the war, they had high costs for registry and legal taxes; they were forced to pay the taxes in arrears for the years they were gone from the land; they had new taxes on salt and wine; they had high fines for collecting wood from the communal forests to which they had a traditional right; and they were subjected to increased contributions to the government.

Into this bleak winter in 1803 came the Russian recruiters. Their campaign to get colonists for their open prairies (steppes) was well organized. The Russian agents were commissioned to enroll would-be colonists and provide them with transportation to their destination on the Black Sea. The agents would slip across the Rhine from Germany into the village taverns and recruit the emigrants. At those meetings they were able to distribute copies of the "Rights and Privileges" granted by Czar Alexander. The only restriction was that the emigrant must be "capable agriculturists, and artisans in order that they might serve as models for the still underdeveloped economy of Russia". Single men were not to be admitted unless they accompanied their parents, married uncles or aunts, or married brothers or sisters.

The principal points of the manifesto were as follows:

1.                Complete religious freedom.

2.                Exemption from taxes and other burdens for the first 10 years

3.             After ten years, the colonist would be treated like any other subject of the Empire, with the exception that they will not be required to billet troops, save those en route to the battle field.

4.           The colonists are exempt from military service and also civil service. Each one, however, is free to enter the service of the Imperial Grown, but this will not exempt him from the payment of his debts to the crown.

5.             To get established every settler will receive an advance loan which he must repay in the ten years following the decade of exemption.

6.             Every family is permitted to bring its movable property duty- free, plus commodities for sale not to exceed 300 rubles in value.

7.                Craftsmen are permitted to join guild, and associations, each one may carry on trade and commerce throughout the empire without hindrance.

8.             Through the magnanimity of His Imperial Majesty all serfdom has been abolished in the provinces of Imperial Russia.

9.             Every family will receive from the Crown a grant of 30 dessiatin (2.7 acres) of productive land for its use. In addition to the Police dues, each family will pay an annual ground tax of 15-20 kopecks per dessiatin after the period of the 10 years exemption has expired.

10. Any sett1er who desires to leave the Imperial realm of Russia and return to his native land must first pay his Crown debts, p1u3 the taxes for the three years use of the land.

The migration agencies were to organize the trig raflt3 into groups or 20 to 30 families and to appoint a leader within each group. The necessary transportation facilities by wagon or boat, were to be provided at the collecting point of Ulm on the Danube River.

The Czar's invitation received a prompt and lively respon3e especially in the Wurttemberg, Baden, Landau, Wingen, the Rhine Palatinate and In the Northern cantons of the A1sace regions.

In the first year 2,800 arrived. The influx was much greater than the Duc De Richelieu had expected, arid winter quarters for the families, were hard to find. There was much poor planning, mis-management, and general inefficiency. The inexperience, lack of for-sight and i11 advised makeshift arrangements created all kinds of hardships among the disheartened immigrants and eventually led to tragic disasters.

In 1804 the number of colonists had risen to 5000 (814 families). Unfortunately most arrived in Russia too late in the year to enable them to set up even temporary wattle-huts for shelter. Many had to be sheltered in the army barracks at Ovidiopolis, (a town near the mouth of the Dniester River.) That winter 366 people died of dysentery by Christmas time. By February 21 another 750 lay ill of fever and in a few days, had also died.

Conditions improved and by the time of the 1808 and 1809 emigration of the Colonists settlement was smoothly implemented. Back in Alsace, in March of 1808 the mayor of the town of Selz vas strict1y forbidden to transport or issue passports or the needed testimonials attesting to the status and the character of the persons taking their departure to Russia. The Customs officials and border guards were told to keep stricter watch on the Rhine and the boatmen were forbidden to transport the émigré, across the river. These measures proved futile and the people so1d their goods and property in secret. Many became victims of greedy specu1ators. By the end or the summer of 1808 oven 1000 people had left the Weissenburg district and the exodus had only begun. In the parish of Selz and Lauterburg several villages had from 30 to 40 families leaving as emigrants to Russia. On the basis of the German and Russian records, in the years of 1808 and 1809 more than 1500 German and families numbering over 5000 made their way to South Russia.

The Russian government had originally set aside 9,000 acres or crown land but there was such a huge wave of colonists that they bought 96,000 more acres from two Russian Noblemen and curtailed an additional 20 000 acres from two Russian villages (Majaki and or Grobbliebental. The steadily mounting wave of emigrants could not be settled in the Liebental colony so the Czar opened up four more areas for settlement, the Kutschurgan in 1908 and the Beresan in 1809, the Gluckstal in 18O8 and the Beressain colonies in 1814. Because Our ancestors came from the Beresan region our history from that enclave will be related now. There were seven Catholic villages and four Lutheran villages in that area. The Liebental enclave was settled with seven Lutheran and four Catholic villages. The vii1age names were the same as the villages in the Alsace and Rhine regions that the villagers emigrated from. This practice was again followed when the emigration to the North American Continent occurred in the late 1880’s. The names Landau, Selz, Marienthal, Strasbourg, Karlsruhe, Katharinental, Rastadt, Speier were used in the U.S. and In Canada.

The Colony of Landau.

The Colony of Landau was located in the Provence of Cherson,110 miles from the City of Cherson and 33 miles west of the town of Nlkalaiev. The name was chosen by the pioneer colonist Franz Kaiser who had emigrated from the Landau district of the Rhine Palatinate. It was located on the left bank of the Bersan River and originally was laid out for 100 families. It was designated as the administrative center of the Beresan district. It ran north and south, with the main street on the left side of the river and was interrupted by three ponds extending into it from the east. In the upper colony it was interrupted by the Valley of Wells and in the lower section by the Lochbaum Valley. The first settlers found 12 wells of good drinking water. Their first task was to provide themselves with some kind of temporary shelter. On some of the sites they did find a few dilapidated huts abandoned by shepherds or gypsies. They improvised huts made of reeds and mud. In their native homeland, they had built homes of Lumber, brick and stone but the materials were not available - In fact one of the colonists wrote back that there were no tree within 90 miles of the village. It became necessary to build homes in the Russian style of adobe (the semeljanka). A few Cossaok soldiers were sent to show the colonists how to construct that type of home.

 

These were not sod-houses,(as we had supposed them to be) for at that time they did not have any breaking plow capable of turning over a wide, uniform swath of earth. It was constructed of sun-dried clay blocks similar to those built in the Biblical time, by the children of Israel in the land or Egypt. It was a slow, back-breaking job. First the top soil was removed and the clay underneath was mixed with straw and water worked up by knead1ng with bare feet to form the mass, placed Into wooden molds to make long thick slabs that were left to dry in the sum. They were mounted like rows of bricks, later plastered with a loam mixture both inside and out and later were given a coat of white- wash. They were built on the grassy steppes but did not have windows or door's

due to the lack of wood. In late August a caravan from Liebenthal came with 1umber from Odessa. Each household received on1y 19 pieces of wood. Two long po1es on each end or the dwelling supported the horizontal ridge pole. A number of poles were used to form the rafters and then covered with a thatch of reeds or of brush and bramble which was then covered with a thick layer of sod. Then the crude door and two windows were put into place. They were small and dingy (measuring maybe 12 by 16 feet) divided into two rooms. The floor was a natural layer of hard-packed clay soil. To keep the dust down, the floor was sprinkled with fresh grass.

The large cook and bake stove was made of wicker-work which was covered with a thick layer of clay. It was used to heat both rooms and had a large fire box which was fed with straw, hay, reeds, weeds and dried manure. Furniture was a sack of straw or hay for a bed and to sit upon or maybe a block of clay to sit upon and a blanket spread upon the floor for a table. Later on when more lumber became available, the carpenters and cabinet makers made crude but sturdy beds, benches, table, and chairs. Some artisans made woven baskets, hampers and clothes chests off the liman reeds from the river.

The settlers constructed shelter, for the livestock and when the herds became too big for the shelters, built long houses which sheltered both the family and the livestock. To prevent loss of livestock to the wolves and the raids of horse thieves and cattle rustlers they hired fu11 time herdsmen. They were well paid, a half a ruble per herd, plus one ruble for each new-born calf. A herdsman of Marianthal made 1,7000 rubles a year by 1817. That was more the combined salaries of the mayor, village secretary and the village priest.

As to be expected the colonists life was often rude and rough. There were frequent fights and quarrels, even with a mayor and priest there were incidents or brawling and fighting. This behavior was not accepted nor was it left unpunished. The village authorities did not hesitate to use the Russian rod to enforce the law and maintain order.

The unhealthy overcrowded conditions of the sod homes and the lack of medical care caused a high incidence of sickness and death. The records show that by 1811 for the six villages there were 34 homes with widows. Their husbands had died during the first three years of the settlement. The average age of the colonist who died was only 33 years. And infant mortality was abnormally high Many of the pioneers could not take the hardships and cold of the frontier life and some 50 families fled or "escaped" back to their native towns in Germany and the Alsace.

Rev. Keller described the homes in his book written in 19Of thusly: The homes were mostly built along one plan: they were usually 8 faden long, 4 faden wide of one story; one and a half faden high. There were usually two rooms a kitchen and an antechamber. The front of the house faces the street. The roof was made most1y with reeds but of late, roof tiles and sheet meta1 are being used. The barn and farm builldings are usually behind the house, but sometimes under the same roof. A threshing yard is fenced with a stone wall.

In the early years there was usually a fruit garden but by now have disappeared instead they plant only potatoes and other vegetables. In the Beresan Valley the ground is a good black soil and very rich. The main occupation of the people is agriculture and cattle raising. The climate is quite agreeab1e.  

The people are healthy or median height usually with long trunks and short legs There are some who are quite tall. The language is closer to Alsatian than the Rhine palatinate. There are about ten people who are now over 80 years of age. The people are quite industrious, but in no great hurry. Before the settlers arrived there were 12 wells.  Today there are only two still in use.

Stones of good quality abound on all sides of the colony. When the colonists first arrived the valley was filled with shrubs and tall grass and reeds. There were many animals, particularly wolves, The senior citizens, also state that the Beresan River used to be filled with fish and much higher.

In the deeds of 1811, it was recorded that there was a scarcity of water for the cattle, suggesting that the Beresan River was already drying up. In the area of the Russian Valley, there is a Russian yard which part of a foundation can still be seem. It was an earth hut built near another, surrounded by a stone wall. In those hut lived a Russian family, probably the Saporogians; they had large herd of sheep. (A sheep hut stood there for many years) One of the inhabitants, Michael Hobhaut, a big, strong fellow, with long fingers, worked for old Jakob Wanner until he died; He received the name "Hobhaut in the following manner: The hide of a sheep had disappeared. While it was being searched for, (but with no success) Michael appeard and saId “Ich habe die haute" (I have the hide). Since he did not speak German very well be said “hob haut". Subsequently, he became known as Michael Hobhaut. in the Russian yard, there were also two women of very heavy stature. They worked for the physician, Anton Dukart. The others of the Russian yard have moved away as the Germans settled there~.

By the year 1904 the settlement of Landau had 245 homes and 2457 peop1e. One Catholic church, one Russian Church, two Catholic parish schools, one Russian church school, one central school, a girl's Junior high school, a hospital, an Old Folk's home, drugstore, orphan's bank, two doctors, a veterinarian, a post-office and telegraph station, one superintendent, a Justice of the Peace and a lawyer.

The community land of the colony was 9228 dessjatinen, privately owned and community land of 65,000 dezsjatinen. Good land for cultivation rents for 12 to 20 rub1es per dessjatlnern. In Landau there were three families who owned more than 120 dessjatinen and nine families who owned 6o dessjatinen each. There were 22 land owners (60 house and yard lot owner-a and 238 people who did not own land. One hundred Russian hired men and women, about 10 Jewish families and one gypsy kinship whose ancestor was Gypsy Wanka.

These were two steam-driven flour mills, 3 blacksmiths, 3 carpenters, 1 blacksmith, 3 potters, 3 tailors (Jews), 1 shoemaker (Gypsy), 1 butcher, 1 horse dealer, 1 bale shop, 1 co-operative store, 1 wine cellar, 6 booths, 1 tavern and one warehouse for farm equipment. Also one Inn.

There were two markets in Landau from which the community received 865 revenue annually. The freight costs to Nikolajev, where the colonists sent their products, was 8 to 12 kopecks per "pud."

The industrious German settlers prospered in Russia and soon were buying land in

addition to the original land given to them by the Russian Crown. This did not make them appreciated by the Russian peasant for they were not given land to settle by the Czar. Those emigrants were "given" land and money to get started and the Russian citizen had to work to buy his land from the Russian nobility or Russian military generals who had been given land in appreciation for their fighting for the Crown. 

The German was Also sometimes arrogant, appearing superior, better educated etc. In fact, they looked down upon the Russian  as been uneducated lazy barbarians. By the late 1870's both religious dissention and persecution was being felt by the German Colonists. Russian Nationalism was being felt by the Russians. They were no longer grateful to the Germans for teaching them how to farm the steppes and raise their cattle. They coveted the good life, the education and prosperity the Germans enjoyed.

Russian magistrates no longer prosecuted the thieves who stole nor “appropriated" the cattle household items, and other property of the German - Russians. The families began to feel the loss of their sons as they were conscripted into the Russian army to fight first the Turks them the Japanese. The schools were forced to teach the children in Russian and the Catholic religious leaders were being persecuted. Soon the priests especially the traveling monks and friars who were able to gather more information and see was happening were counseling the people that they should be planning on sending their families to safer 1ands.

At that same time, the American prairies were being opened for farming and settlement. The railroads sent representatives to the Russian colonies. They advertised free land, plus the opportunities to buy additional land for their sons at little cost. The Russian-Germans sent scouts to both North and South America. They came back with the reports that said that they had found the prairie states of the Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, and the Midwest to be much like the steppes of Russia.

Again the families sold off their possessions, obtained passports and left to settle a new land. They followed the same practices of building sod homes using dried manure for fuel, settling in areas where others who speak the German 1anguage (for they had not given up the German language in the entire time they lived In Russia) naming their towns and villages after the Vi11ages names in Russia and Germany, and France.

Reverend Father P. Conrad Keller was a member of the Authors of the Imperial New Russian University and an Honorary Member of the Society of Klemens of the Tiraspo Diocese wrote the following about our ancestors:

 

When Nicholas I died, his son Alexander IT became ruler of Russia.  His liberalism gave birth to a change and to reform that gave rise to a radical nationalist movement which had a slogan "Russia for the Russians'. Twenty-five million serfs (slaves) were freed from their masters in 1861, making them free peasants and they of course wanted free land too.

A harsh anti-German sentiment, promoted mainly by the National Party Slovophiles grew to large proportions in all of Russia. The Slovophiles disliked all foreigners in Russia and their hatred included the German Colonists. To generate a hatred toward the German colonist, they accused them of all manner of treasonable activities. The Slovophiles claimed that the government had appealed to the Germans for aid but the colonists had refused. As a matter or truth, the German when requested, served with the Russian troops fighting in the Crimean War with Turkey, quartered the troops marching through the area, by evacuating wounded, caring for them In hospitals set up in the German villages; by transporting troops, ammunition, and other supplies. For their efforts, the infected so1diers brought back Cholera and Typhus into the villages and that exacted heavy death to11s.

The German colonists were also accused by the Siovophiles of buying Russian land in order to establish a German state within the Russian borders. Even though all the charges were absurd, they were printed in the Russian papers and had the force to aroused the public against the colonists. Czar Alexander was not anti-German but he could not ignore public opinion so he approved the Zemstvo Legislation of 1864. Prior to this legislation, local affairs for Russian had been managed by the bureaucrats appointed by the crown assisted by the local nobility. Local affairs would be under the jurisdiction of assemblies. The townspeople and peasants had a part, but the nobility still played a major role. 

In 1871 a decree was issued abolishing the directorship of the Black Sea Colonies and the Volga Villages, they were incorporated into the zestvo system of local ~government. There was no mistaking that the colonists had lost their special political status and reduced them to the level of the Russian Peasant. They were dismayed, angry and worried. Many colonists began immediately to make plans to leave Russia and In the fall of 1872, four groups of Black Sea colonists numbering 175 men, women and children sold their belongings and led the migration out of Russia. Others soon followed and many planned to leave as soon as possible. Immigrants in large numbers left for North and South America until the outbreak of WW I halted further immigration. 

It is estimated that 300,000 or more Germans left Russia, more than three times the number that had emigrated to Russia.

The Communist revolution of 1917 declared that all the land was the property of the people. This was a bitter blow to the hard working German farmers who had for over 100 years eked out an existence from the soil and were unwilling to turn over their harvest to the workers columns that swept through the countryside. They took over 5.7 million tons of wheat from the colonies. The colonies formed home-guard units but they were ill equipped to be a match for the Red Army whenever they staged a raid. In the autumn of 1919 a strong Bolshevik force entered the town of Karlsruhe on a plundering expedition. All the inhabitants fled except the home guard who attempted to guard the property. The Bolsheviks took 108 prisoners. They made them bath, limed them up and after a few short bursts of the machine guns, killed them all. Among the dead were the Ihli (Ehli) family: Edelbert, Franz, Johannes, Theobald and Thomas. 

It is no small wonder that in 1939, when Hitler offered the Germans in Russia an opportunity to return to Germany, that so many left. After 130 years, more than 100% of the Colonists elected to return to Germany. But they were not allowed to remain in Germany after WW II. The Yalta Conference Agreement between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin in February of 1945 said that the Allies would return all Russian citizens, regardless of their desires. Against their will and at gunpoint, they were herded into freight cars and shipped back to Russia where they were not allowed to return to their vi11ages, because of their German ties and beliefs. They were shipped onto Siberia and forced into the Russian labor camps. Some of the hardships, the starvation and suffering, can be read about in Dr. Alexander Solzhenitskyn's book "GULAG ARCHIPELAGO".