From: Balmas, Bessarabia
24 August 1921

Dear Nordlicht:

Several circumstances here prevented me from writing, but I will try now to catch up on the news to you. Up to six weeks ago, the newspapers arrived here very irregularly; but things have changed much to our joy and the past issues arrived in the order they were printed. There is nothing more frustrating than irregularity in the arrival of news, which is still sadly the case with many New World publications.

The moneys sent by mail were another sad story. The fault was with the bank, the branch Czernowitz-Vienna, not the postal service. The bank employees there probably have trouble with the German names of the money recipients. I went to the postal station of Kainari yesterday to clear up one of these cases and was pleasantly surprised to find favorable changes. All the names were spelled correctly, the postal money orders are properly addressed and money is now easier to get from the post office than the bank. The discrepancies in the exchange rates have to be cleared up. An American bank values the dollar at 40 to 50 Lei; the city bank pays out 70 to 75 Lei. I recently received ten dollars at 450 Lei and couldn’t cash it because it was addressed to Ciro instead of Dirk, so the postman had to send it back. The bank tellers have to make some changes in their handwriting.

Rumor of starvation in South Russia has been proven as a fact, sadly enough. On August 5 between 10 and 11 at night, a horde of Russians descended upon the property of the Raskajetz settler August Bauer, whose farm borders on the Dnjestr River. They claimed the property while the owner himself was absent. He was sick in the hospital at Kischinev. Three Russians appeared suddenly and mistreated his family and hired help. With knives placed on the people’s chest, they were gagged, bound and rolled into rugs, effectively secured against calling for help from the neighbors. The bandits then looted the home carrying away jewelry and other valuables, clothing, linens, boots, etcetera, leaving only heavy objects like furniture behind. Then the family was tortured to reveal the location of their cash moneys. The mother was stabbed with long needles repeatedly. Her face was beaten bloody with a revolver and she was threatened to be shot. So the sons, incapable of bearing the pain of their mother any longer, told where the strongbox was and the thieves made off with a sum close to 100,000 Lei. They left shouting, “We are not afraid of you. We will be back!”

The poor victims took about an hour to free themselves and go for help. Raskajetz does not have many German settlers. Not much could be hoped for in terms of help, especially since the perpetrators had already crossed over the river, which is also the border. On the following day, an investigation revealed that the bandits had crossed the river in small boats, met with one of their ringleaders in Raskajetz, not a German, who has since been arrested. Incidents like this are occurring with alarming frequencies along the River Dnjestr border.

Bachelor Anton Busach and his sister Miss Barbara Busach are leaving for America in the near future to stay with their brother-in-law. A contingent of Emmental bachelors is also slated to leave together with a few families to find a better life in the New World. Before the war, it was much easier to prepare for immigration. Now the paper trail and the many trips to get all the documents together etc. is an endless, thankless endeavor.

Today is a typical day in terms of our summer weather, dry, very little rain, but much heat and drought.

Please send regards to my nephew Peter Januscheitis in Brisbane, North Dakota who is urged to write again after a great summer for hay. Greetings also to my children Ignatz and Amalia Gross. I send regards to the readers of the Nordlicht. Enjoy this feast of the printed word and may the editor and staff keep printing with gusto!

Sincerely,
Romuald Dirk

Letter: Balmas, Bessarabia
25 August 1921

Dear Nordlicht:

First, a heartfelt thank you to my brother, Christian Merk [Merck], for the gift of the year’s subscription to the Nordlicht. At first the paper did not come regularly, but now it comes like clockwork. At our reading circles, we read the Staats-Anzeiger, but I am more fascinated by the Nordlicht, which has a different array of articles and material of interest. I wish you would publish twice a week! Although a fairly young paper, the Nordlicht will hold its own and gain a large readership because it is a noble paper.

The weather is bad for us farmers. Because of the drought we have no winter fodder to speak of and cattle prices are dropping daily. Soon every poor person will be able to afford a cow, but cannot afford to feed it. Bread and hay will be extremely scarce this winter. We are all concerned about health issues as well. There are still a few farmers in Balmas who have bread in storage, and I believe, that they will come to the aid of the starving.

In closing, greetings to all the former Balmas folk now in the New World. We are looking forward to hearing from you via this paper. The family and I are still well and hope the same for all of you!

Sincerely,
Johannes Merk [Merck]