From: Karamurat, Dobrudscha
20 January 1920
Dear Friends!
The harvest here was very good last year, but in the previous year 1918, we had a bad harvest. One had to pay up to 100 lei for 20 kilos of Welsh corn. On 9 October 1918, Petrus married Celästina P. Söhn.
Now we also want to write something to you about the horrible war. On 22 October 1916, we had to flee from our village. We were gone until 26 October. On that day we returned. When we drove out of the village, the artillery rounds were already flying from below and above across our village, so that windows and doors were shaking. Everyone fled out of the upper village and we fled to the side towards the sea. That was our luck. At 5 o’clock in the evening on 23 October, we were taken prisoner near Gargalik by a Bulgarian patrol with exposed swords. We were no longer thinking about eating or sleeping.
From the farm, we still received 3 small calves, 3 small foals and one 2-year-old. That was it. It was very difficult.
The front was located 3 kilometers away from the village near the Welchenberg and remained there for 6 weeks. Day and night they were shooting continuously. Our land is totally churned up from the digging of the trenches and the artillery shells. Many bones of the dead are lying around the field.
Our children returned home healthy and in good condition. Joseph arrived on 7 May, Aloisius on 29 June and Petrus on 2 August 1918.
Wendelin Tuchscherer and Ferdinand A. Giesse died in the war.
From the terrible contagious disease during the war the following people died:
Dominik Hersch, Joseph Müller, Joseph Bartsch and his son Hironimus, Wendelin K. Ternes, Ludwinus M. Söhn, Wilibald Ruscheinsky, Philipp J. Schöfer, Johannes M. Trescher, Karl J. Bachmeier. About Kaspar Furch and Johannes M. Götz one does not know if they are dead or still alive.
The following people died at home during the war: The brothers Anton and Martin Fenrich, Franz Schnell and his wife and their son Alfons and daughter Elisabetha, Arabella Heidrich, the old man Mathias Ternes, Magdalena Löb, Ignatz Laubert, Ignatz Tuchscherer, Magdalena Ruscht, Jakob Heidrich and his wife, Mathias Söhn, Cäcilia Ruscheinsky, Anton J. Arnold. These were all adults. In addition many, many children died. Most of them died from fear and sorrow.
Mathias Ruscheinsky
Above letter was mailed to us by Mr. Raphael Ruscheinsky in Brisbane, North Dakota for publication in Der Staats-Anzeiger.