en:krasna:j-07-05-00

7.5 Fluctuations among the Krasna colonists

In the beginning there was much movement going on among the settlers.

There was not enough land for the families, in the beginning Krasna already had more families than farms. Families who did not receive a farm moved on as soon as an opportunity arose to obtain a farm in another colony. Others stayed and struggled as day laborers.
According to statistics from 1825 ¹⁾, there were also settlers who were not capable farmers and they were transferred.
Some had to move out because the farmer had died or became unable to work.

Many questions remain unanswered. What happened to the single immigrants, who received no farm? Did they remain or move on? We also do not know what happened to the families who did not get a farm? It is known that families moved away or arrived. The different annual lists show an up and down among the existing Krasna families.

There were larger moves, as well. The largest exodus of families from Krasna took place in 1824/1825 when 19 families moved to Katzbach. (See previous text)

The census of 1835/1850 names 20 families who left Krasna between 1835 and 1850, most of them around 1840. ²⁾ There are no reasons given. In some cases it may have been landless people. In other cases one can assume that there were reasons making it difficult to work the farm or reasons which prevented it, for instance sickness or death as well as incompetence of the owner, or that colonist life in Krasna was too hard on them.

According to regulations from the Welfare Committee, farmers who were negligent in the operation of their farm were strictly dealt with. Punishment ranged from arrest to fines, public labor, or lashes with whips.

In those times even dilgent farmers who had no grown children and could not afford to hire help did not meet their obligations as prescribed by the Welfare Committee, did not meet the requirements. These people considered themselves lucky if they could sell the farm, initially against so-called “Prestationen” (which means burdens, such as taxes, providing transportation or performing compulsory labor). Rumor has it that half a farm was given away for a pair of shoes. Many of them left poor and some of them returned to the former homeland where they were not received with open arms.

During the plague of 1830 entire families died out. The cholera, which broke out in Krasna in 1831 also claimed many human lives. Cholera and typhoid also appeared again in later years. These epidemics always demanded their tribute in human lives. It freed up some farms and these were taken by landless people after a public announcement was made.

From Krasna itself and the Bessarabian neighbor colonies:
The communities were always in contact with each other. When needed and a possibility existed, they absorbed excess populations. This is also documented in several community reports from 1848 and is also true for Krasna. In the first thirty years there are people documented who arrived from Borodino and Alt-Elft.
From the colonies of Cherson Gouvernement (Odessa region):
As the census of 1850 bears out, more than 25 families came to Krasna ³⁾
(See also 7.3, Immigrant Families of Krasna)
in the 1840's, from the Odessa region, where German colonists were settled between 1804-1809.
The colonies in the Odessa region, which were founded ten years earlier than Krasna soon were overpopulated. These families were permitted to settle on vacant farms in the Bessarabian colonies. There are some documents about these “Triwwischen” (other people), as the arrivals from the Cherson Area from beyond the Dnjestr were called, for instance Ihli, Braun and Nagel.
Stragglers from Germany:
Another document confirms that immigrant Joseph Groß from Alsace, who came to Odessa in 1832 was accepted as a Krasna colonist in 1836.

The new farmers had to take over the Prestationen (See above) of the farm. Instead of swearing an oath, they had to sign a statement, which reads: I, the undersigned, a colonist of the colony of…swear herewith under God to the best of my knowledge and conscience that I will be faithful to the High Crown of Russia, fulfill all existing laws and regulations timely and faithfully, and shall conduct myself as an honest colonist and promise to fullfill all obligations pertaining to the farm I have purchased in a timely fashion.. Such an agreement of Krasna settler Gebhard Braun exists.

During the second half of the 20th century a large number of people moved away because of land shortages.
See also 7.6, Exodus and Departures from Krasna.

¹⁾

Rempel, Hans: Deutsche Bauernleistung am Schwarzen Meer: Bevölkerung und Wirtschaft 1825 (German Farmers’ Achievements on the Black Sea: Population and Commerce 1825), published in Leipzig 1942

²⁾

The Chronicle of Friedenstal, (a neighboring colony of Krasna) shows that new settlers arrived there in 1842. It is possible that people from Krasna were among them, at least some of the names are familiar. Krasna people may have also moved to neighboring colonies.

³⁾

From the colonies of Baden, Franzfeld, Glückstal, Josephstal, Kleinliebental, Landau, Speier und Sulz, which are all located east of the Dnjestr river.