Source: Das Nordlicht, 2 December 1926 · 📰

From: Karamurat, Rumania 1 November 1926

Anton Ternes of Karamurat, son of Michael Ternes, completed law school in Switzerland and became engaged to a Miss from Graz (Austria).

Old Michael was once one of the biggest landowners among the German farmers of the Dobrudscha, but he distributed all his land among his children.

The little village of Horoslar was recently a target for immigration. A fellow named Fritz, who allegedly visited a Pasha so and so in Turkey, really incited the folks here by describing Turkey to them as the new Eldorado. He promised to lead the people to the new Paradise in person because of his excellent connections.

Many personal items and farm implements were sold off hurriedly as the folks prepared their exodus. Fritz then led the would-be immigrants to the Turkish consulate in Konstanza to get their passports in order. There, he took several hundred Lei from each applicant as a processing fee, and bade them a French farewell. Meaning, he left them there and disappeared.

So they returned home, richer on experience, but poorer by several hundred Lei. The small sum the swindler made off with could be chalked up to experience, but the losses taken from the sales of the personal and farming items were much higher. An unscrupulous crook cared less about that as long as he got the several hundred Lei he filched from the innocents.

Another fishy deal seems to be going on. According to a letter received a while back, a local man, Joseph Roesler, was notified his son of the same name fell in the war. A former fellow soldier from the son’s unit was admitted to the hospital after being shot in the head. He apparently died there as the parents received a death certificate from that hospital.

However, another returning soldier insisted having seen Joseph Roesler alive shortly before the peace treaty was signed. The old man dared to hope that his son was still alive in spite of the death certificate. Rumors like that always fan parents’ hope against hope that their son is still alive and would some day return.

So, a short while ago, a letter addressed to Joseph Roesler arrived from Germany in which the son wrote he and a Ferdinand Jaus from Kogealac had escaped from a Turkish prison in Asia Minor. After a regular odyssey through the Caucasian Mountains and other parts of Russia, he finally ended up in Germany where he is currently in hiding. He can be contacted through the friend whose address is on the letter. He has no clothing and no means to return home. He is asking the father for 20,000 Lei to make his way home

The old man was ready to leave for Germany at once, but Pastor Scheiner of Konstanza talked him out of it. He assured the agitated father that it had to be some kind of swindle which he would try to expose.

J. R.