7.6 Exodus and departures from Krasna

The Bessarabian German families had many children and there was soon a shortage of farmland in the 24 mother colonies because of the increase of population. This was also the case in Krasna.

As seen in 4.3, Landowners and Landless People in Krasna, the number of the landless people increased steadily. In 1870, Krasna had 352 men owning land and 285 men without land. The economic situation without land was difficult and people had to move away in increasing numbers. There were two major destinations:

• To the Danube/Black Sea region and to the Siberia/Caucasus region
• To locations overseas.

Eduard Ruscheinsky writes ¹⁾ Over the past 125 years many families departed into all directions.
Adding the different numbers given by Eduard Ruscheinsky, there are 209 families, who left Krasna. Considering an average of 5 people per family, this adds up to 1,050 people. (See list of departed families at the end of this segment)

The reason for the move was always a shortage of land. In 1925 and 1929 the bad harvest was another reason. Many promised themselves a better fortune at the new home and some returned to Krasna in disappointment.
It can be assumed that almost all of the Krasna families had, or still have, relatives in one or more of the above-mentioned areas.
In order to illuminate these migration movements in detail and to describe the new homelands of the emigrants a much more intensive research would be required.

There were three destinations for the emigrants of Krasna:

1. To the Dobrudscha ( area to the right of the lower Danube river).
   People in Krasna had heard that across the Danube in the then Turkish Dobrudscha enough land was still available. In February of 1876 four Krasna farmers crossed the frozen Danube and went to Malcoci to have an audience with Pasha Soleiman Bey in Tulcea. They were Karl Müller (son of Christian), Karl Ternes, August Söhn and Sebastian Kreis. By introduction of the mayor of Malkotsch the four Krasna citizens were received by the Pasha and allowed to state their concerns. The Pasha agreed to let the German colonists immigrate with the stipulation not to settle in the northern part (for fear the Germans would be working with the Russians). All other villages of the Dobrudscha were available to them and as much land as they could farm. The four Krasna farmers returned with this news. Based on their positive reports, 30 Krasna families left in May of 1876 ²⁾ and moved with all of their belongings to the Tartar village of Kara-Murat. ³⁾ Seven families remained in Karamurat, the others settled in German settlements already existing in the Dobrudscha.
   When the news came to Krasna that the emigrants had found favorable settlement conditions, more families left between 1878 and 1880 and joined them. The story is told by Florian Müller. ⁴⁾
2. Foundation of the daughter colony of Emmental.
   Usable farm land around Krasna and the area continued to get scarce so Krasna settlers searched for an escape even into the more distant places of Bessarabia. According to notes of Adam Seifert from Emmental‚ after several decades, 36 families left Krasna for the east in search of suitable land. They settled near Wolontirowka on the Patruka, also called Patrakas or Schalier, in the Konetemir (Kantemer) valley as lessors. They called their settlement “Marienfeld.” Its founding took place around 1866. ⁵⁾ For various reasons, this area seemed unsuitable and they canceled their leases. Some returned to Krasna in disappointment. Twenty-five families moved north into a valley on the left shore of the little river of Botna near Kainari (Bender district). This was the birth of the daughter colony of Krasna, called Emmental. ⁶⁾ Over a span of several years other land-seeking families of Krasna moved to Emmental.
3. Emigration to Siberia and the Caucasus
   In 1907 several Krasna families moved to Siberia. In an article by Karl Stumpp, entitled Die deutschen Russen in Nord-Sibirien und Mittelasien (The German Russians in northern Siberia and Asia Minor), the families Maas and Riehl of Krasna are mentioned.

In 1908 several Krasna families moved to the Caucasus.

Around the same time (1871), when the Russian government rescinded the privileges of the colonists (See also 2.3, The Changes from the second Half of the 19th Century (1860-1918)), the USA and Canada had interesting offers for people wanting to settle there in the newly established provinces of the west.
Due to land shortages and especially because of the introduction of mandatory military service in Russia in 1874, many colonist from Bessarabia left for North and South America in 1874. (mostly to North and South Dakota, Canada, Argentina and Brazil) More immigrations to America followed in the 1880's and 1990's. Among all of these groups were settlers from Krasna, but there is no detailed information. Boarding lists of ships and other documents show Krasna names. ⁷⁾

In contrast, there is well documented information pertaining to the emigrants of Krasna after 1900.

• Between 1909 and 1914, a total of 567 people emigrated from Krasna to America (USA and Canada) and founded the villages of Krassna and Strassburg there.
• In Rumanian times the poor harvests of 1924/1925 were the reason for another immigration wave. After the division of the large estates east of Krasna as part of the Rumanian land reform took place and land purchases were limited, many Krasna people saw themselves forced to emigrate.

The German language newspapers in the USA (Dakota-Rundschau, Der Staats-Anzeiger) report several times about emigration from Krasna between 1925 and 1930. These articles contain the names of many families, report about the difficulties prior to their immigration, mention travel dates and other information.
In 1925 a group of 25 families immmigrated to Brazil. In 1929 a second group followed them there. In the same year, families immigrated also to Canada.

After the Second World War, more Krasna villagers immigrated to the USA and Canada.

Compiled by Ted Becker in the USA and Rosemary (Ternes) Mack in Canada, based upon existing documents. (There is no guarantee for completeness or correctness in individual cases. Even after the Resettlement of 1940 former Krasna villagers immigrated to North and South America. These are not listed here.)