From: Krasna, Bessarabia
5 July 1920
Esteemed Editorship!
We almost had lost all hope, then at last, after a three week long wait the dear newspaper appeared again; namely, the Editions #84 and 89. (*Editor: I do not know the reason or whose fault it is, but we can’t do anything about it, because everything is not yet functioning as it should. All editions are dispatched on time from here to all readers.)
Recently I was in the chancellery to inquire about the Staats-Anzeiger, which is when the honorable Mr. Secretary happened to tear one of my newspapers in half and used it for a tobacco container. (*Editor: A whole lot becomes clear with that.) You cannot say anything, else you will not get any at all. (*Editor: But if complaints were submitted to the highest level in post office management, then it certainly should be possible to curtail such vandalism!) Today silence is the best answer. Hopefully in the end everything will be in order.
One could write about a lot of news, but it is not permitted. For the time being we are allowed to only write about hay and straw. There are heavenly splendors and earthly bliss: faith, hope, love – and the nicest: silence!
Just now we experience the nice time when the young storks clatter their beaks on the ridges of the roofs and enjoy the fresh air. Nowadays the farmers are happy in the fields with their machines. These clatter and rattle while being pulled by horses through the grain fields. All the while the farmhands stack the sheaves in rows of heaps. It is a sheer delight to admire these nicely formed rows. The farmer is in a cheerful mood. He whistles and sings his favorite song with a clear and distinct sound which, comparable to the warble of a lark, rises up to the Creator of heaven and earth: Come on down from heaven above all you angels. Help us praise Lord Jesus, for this is your duly function.
If the dear Lord protects us from heavy lasting rains, then we hope to be finished with threshing by the middle of August. Winter wheat is average. Barley and oats are good. The Welsh corn is very nice and the vineyards are very good. Some of them were severely damaged by hail. Some farmers estimate that they have lost one third of the vintage.
We had a violent thunderstorm during the last days of June that spread over our neighboring colony. Two horses belonging to a man from Klöstitz (name unknown) were struck and killed by lightning in the field. (*Editor: It is probably Mr. Johannes Wagner, as Mr. Eduard Hörth reported from Klöstitz.) Lightening also killed 2 horses that were pulling a reaper. They belonged to a man from Paris by the name of Elke. Further, a Bulgarian from Tschimlek lost his horse to lightning while pulling a wagon. Fortunately no human lives were lost.
In Edition #84, I read a report by Mr. Joseph Menges from Elardee, Sask., Canada dated 9 April. Its contents pertaining to a list, which was submitted by Phillip Söhn from Krasna, Bessarabia, stated that Gottlieb Meehr, the son of Gregor, and Dionisius Fleckenstein, son of Peter were killed in the war. Excuse me please, Mr. Menges, but your brother-in-law Ph. [Phillip] Söhn is on the wrong track. He probably got the news from an old woman or a fortuneteller. I denounce the correspondence. The above persons mentioned as killed in action are still among the living and are vigorous and healthy.
Monika Fischer, nee Scholkofsky, in Prospy, Alta, Canada has asked me for information. I assume that she reads the Staats-Anzeiger. (*Editor: That’s correct. Her husband Joseph Fischer is a registered reader.) She had asked me to send word if her father Heinrich and her mother Rosalia together with their children are still alive. Yes, indeed, they are all in good health and ask for information about where their other two daughters are residing.
Joseph Kopp in Fox Valley, Sask., Canada, your Aunt Magdalena Bonakofsky asks for information by letter of the whereabouts of the children who were left behind by the deceased Markus and Veronika Kuss.
B. Lenz in Brisbane, North Dakota: I received your letter dated 22 May. Your parents Daniel and Theresia Gross are healthy. Brother Ferdinand was killed in the war. During the night of January 3, 1917, your brother-in-law Wendelin Kunz fell into an 18ft. ditch and died instantly. Up until today, we have not received any news from his wife or his brothers Leo and Lorenz. They were living in the Caucasus in the recent past. I do not know if they are still alive or not. Along with this report I am writing you everything in detail in a letter.
I am asking all my friends and acquaintances in North Dakota and Canada to order the Staats-Anzeiger. I will answer your questions through the Staats-Anzeiger, because I can- not respond to every letter addressed to me. That would keep me busy with writing every day all day long and my vineyards would perish in weeds. But I would like to keep it cultivated. I love to drink a glass of red wine!
I greet Cyrillus Haag in Emmons County, North Dakota. (*Editor: Currently in Stillwater, Minnesota.) He is a good correspondent and should report more often. Perhaps he could write me something about my brother-in-law Adam.
I greet the reverend editorship and the readers of the newspaper.
With deep respect,
Anton Gedak
Source: Der Staats-Anzeiger, 27 August 1920
From: Larga, Bessarabia
27 July 1920
Worthy Staats-Anzeiger!
I am reporting in a hurry that the harvesting here has come to an end and the farmers are busy with threshing in unbearable heat. The searing heat has been with us for 3 weeks already. At noon one cannot walk barefoot on the ground. The melon patches and late seedlings have suffered great damage. Should this heat continue for another 8 days, then there will be nothing green left in the field. It is an exceptionally hot time of the year. This is how God sends one torment after the other.
Bolshevism has hardened the people, and the Bolshevists have hid like buffaloes. They do not feel anything with their thick skins and they are happy whenever they can seize someone else’s property.
The municipal secretary Mr. Wladimir Kosakow was married on 19 July. The wedding celebration took place in Emmental. He married Felizia, the daughter of the Emmentaler settler Karl Mueller. Mr. Kosakow is Russian but prior to the wedding he converted to the Catholic faith. My family and I had also been invited to attend this baptizing and wedding ceremony. But I regret that I could not attend because of some business matter. My wife Franziska and my daughter Theresia however did attend. They told me that it was a joyous time.
See original copy for text not translated due to unimportant reports.
Wolves have established themselves here. They feel so much at home here that during daylight, they attack people in the fields and devour them. Five werst (about 3.3 miles) outside of Larga a farmer from Tschamina had gone to the field with his young daughter to set up sheaves of harvested grain. The farmer then sent the girl to the other end of the field to fetch something. People from afar observed that the wolves were tearing at something among them. They alerted the farmer but by the time he arrived there, the wolves had already torn apart and devoured the girl. Very shocking!
I am informing Mr. Johannes Mosser….. (Note: remainder of the name/text missing) that his sister has not shown up yet to pick up the letter from him, even though he had told her about it.
I greet my children Ignatz and Amalia Gross, my nephew Januschaitis and all readers of the paper.
Respectfully,
Romuald Dirk