From: Krasna, Bessarabia
5 November 1912
Honored Editorship!
In order to write something about the weather, I want to report that we had a frost of minus 1 to minus 4 degrees on the mornings of the 15th, 16th and 17th of October. But during the days, the temperatures were 10 to 12 degrees. Since the 25 October and so far into November, we have had rainy and foggy weather. The winter seeds have grown well because of the ideal weather. The stalks of Welsh corn are still in the fields. Reason being that one could not bring it in because of the rain and the bad road conditions. Most likely it will have to remain until severe frost sets in and the roads will then be useable.
On 10 October, a tragedy occurred in the colony of Beresin and remains unsolved. During the morning of that day, the 9-year-old daughter of Jakob Kimpf went to see her grandmother who lives only a few houses away from the parental home. Up to today, she has not returned home. She disappeared without a trace. Everyone in the village was searching for the child. The police in the neighboring colonies were notified. They tried everything to find a trace of the child but it was in vain. During that time German gypsies traveled through Beresin. They became suspects of kidnapping and selling the child. A fortuneteller insisted that a black man had abducted the child. The police in Krasna checked and questioned this gang of gypsies, but no trace of the child was found. The parents are inconsolable. Because the long evenings of winter are setting in and the readers will have a lot of spare time I want to introduce the golden “ABC” to them. Whoever likes it may learn it by heart. It will not harm anyone.
A
ALLEIN = ALONE
Trust no one but God. Do not build on help from mankind. Only God alone maintains the faith. There is no other belief in this world.
B
BEWAHR = GUARD
Guard your honor. Be aware of infamy. Honor truly is your highest pledge. If only once you are in disgrace then your honor will disappear.
C
CLAFF = CHATTER
Chatter less and listen more. That will earn you a prize and honor. Silence will never cause a misquote. Lots of talk will bring sin and disgrace.
D
DEM = DATIVE OF THE WORD ‘THE’
Stay away from the one in a high position. Value you yourself as inferior so that he will not lead you into misfortune. Do no harm to the smallest. In that way you will always be at peace.
E
ERHEB = ELEVATE
Do not elevate yourself with conceited gallantry when you have received great riches. It should not be of an influence to you to elevate yourself.
F
FROEMMIGKEIT = PIETY
Welcome piety much more than gold. Believe me when money and riches leave you, piety will always be with you.
G
GEDENK = THINK OF/REMEMBER
Always remember the poor when you are blessed by God. Else you will be befallen with that which Christ has said about the rich man.
H
HAT = HAS
If somebody has done a good deed for you then think of it often. You should be heartily sorry if you display ungratefulness.
I
IN = IN
In your youth you should diligently stick to work. Later on work will become difficult upon reaching old age.
K
KEIN = NONE/NO
Do not believe everyone who speaks well of you. Not everything comes from the heart that comes nicely and dearly from the mouth.
L
LASS = LET
Do not let an accident discourage you when fortune disappears. Beginning and end are often not the same, as such may be apparent.
M
MAESSIG = MODERATE, FRUGAL, MODEST
Always be frugal with anger. Do not quarrel because of trivial reasons. Anger will only blind your spirit so that you will not see what is right.
N
NICHT = NOT
Don’t be ashamed I always advise, so that one does not find out what you do not know. Whoever is competent, one holds in esteem. The incompetent no one desires.
O
O = OH/PLEASE
Please notice the one with a complaint for you. As soon as he mentions it, although you don’t believe him nor conform to it, listen to the other’s word.
P
PRACHT = SPLENDOR
You shall greatly avoid splendor and arrogance. They will neither be of use or honor. Both of these, arrogance and splendor have turned many into poor men.
Q
QUAD = (NO TRANSLATION)
Criticize no one through thought or talk. For no human is perfect if you talk about everything according to your feelings. Then one will soon become quiet.
R
RUF = CALL
Call upon God in every need and he will surely be of help. He will help anyone and do him well whoever acts according to his will.
S
SIEH = LOOK
Be on the look out. Be aware! Deception is great. The world is treacherous and very ungodly. If you enjoy being part of that then harm will be your reward.
T
TUE = DO
Do what is right and beneficial. Although not everyone will speak highly of you, you cannot please everyone all the time.
V
VERLASS = DEPEND/RELY
Do not rely on earthly things. Do not put value on temporary riches. Therefore, the man who acts with wisdom will search for the eternal blessing.
Y
YE = EVERY, EACH, THE
Turn more and more to God, so that you will not be ridiculed by your foe. Man will be rewarded according to his actions while living.
Z
ZIER = ADORN/DECORATE
Adorn all your actions with integrity. Toward the end, consider the last advice. Acting before thinking has brought great harm to many a man.
Once I came to a foreign land where there was written on the wall, “Be pious and also silent. Let be whatever doesn’t belong to you.
Be on guard. Do not curse in my house, else you shall leave through the door really quickly. God in heaven may punish us both at the same time.
Talk less but speak the truth. Borrow less and pay in cash. Let everybody be what he is. In that way you will remain who you are.
Do not say all you know. Don’t do everything that you know how to do. Don’t believe everything that you hear. Do not love everything that you see. Live in Christ and die blessed. To acquire that on earth is sufficiently the best.”
People originating from this area in America certainly are eager to know which recruits were inducted into active duty this year. The people are: Rudolf Both, son of Johannes; Johannes Soehn, son of Michael; Romanus Terees (possibly misspelled: Ternes?), son of Rochus; Alexander Gansky, son of Johannes; Korbinian Wagner, son of Simon; Johannes Merschbacher, son of Joseph; Kaspar Trefs, son of Johannes; Zacheus Hermann, son of Gottfried; Michael Staier, son of Michael. In the city of Pinsk, the Catholic Chaplain Kanitsch lost all his rights in a court action and was sentenced to 4 months in prison. He had baptized a child of Russian parents in the Catholic religion.
I am greeting the editorship and all readers of this dear paper.
Respectfully,
Anton Gedak