From: Krasna, Bessarabia
30 October 1920

Honored Editorship!

Summer and fall are gone. The swallows and quails have already departed in order to avoid winter. We have not had any rain since July. There was a frost every night since the middle of October. During the last few nights the thermometer indicated 6 to 14 degrees below zero. Other than that there is no important news to report from here.

On the 10 November, every man born in the year 1899 will be drafted into the military service. They are Adam Winter, son of Joseph; Anton Wingenbach, son of Johannes; Maximilian Engel, son of Simon; Peter Winter, son of Kaspar; Adam Bachmeier, son of Georg; Rochus Koch, son of Sebastian; Zelestinus Koch, son of Michael; Michael Hermann, son of Zachaeus; Anton Kuss, son of Franz; Barnabas Hartmann, son of Johannes; Philipp Leinz, son of Adam; Karl Ternes, son of Martin; Bernhard Dirk, son of Peter; Michael Wingenbach, son of Albertus; Heinrich Hintz, son of Wendelin; Lazarus Bogolofsky, son of Joseph; Reinhold Schaefer, son of Johannes; Isidor Ritz, son of Valentin; Ludwig Gross, son of Johannes; Rochus Mueller, son of Martin; Nikolaus Huletvitsch, son of Peter; Peter Seifert, son of Leopold; Karl Steinert, son of Georg; Erasmus Bonjakofsky, son of Klemens; Erasmus Becker, son of Sebastian; Anton Winter, son of Dionysius; Justinus Ruscheinsky, son of Georg; Nikolaus Harsche, son of Philipp.

Oh, you poor heroes,
You have to move into the field now,
Gone is the nice time
When we see you every day.
The butchers hurry with the hatchet,
Go to it, soldiers, have a look
A hog is strung up at the neighbor lady’s place,
At the butcher shop there is work for you too.
With luck he has landed a good deal.
The fattened hog he intends to butcher today.
Don’t you want to help him make the sausage?
Pick up the hatchets! Let them chop!
Beat the bones and make them crack! Hurry up and begin!
Everybody get at it! Hatchets chop! Bones crack!
Hick, Hack, Knack!
Work for us is a pleasure! Master butcher stay in bed!
Before you awake, the sausage will be made.
Whatever work it takes, it will end up in your hands.
In just one night the entire task is completed.
Of course you may not listen in,
Else the sausages cannot be retrieved from the chimney.
Although we only had 8 days left,
What lay in our hearts we always have accomplished.
For that we are now receiving praise.

Up until today the following people were married here among us in Krasna.

Joseph, son of Peter Volk married Angela, daughter of Peter Kuss;
Karl, son of Peter Plotzki married Theofila, daughter of Peter Dirk;
Maximilian, son of Johannes Dirk married Zelestina, daughter of Peter Leinz;
Alexander, son of Johannes Mehr married Sophia, daughter of Joseph Wagner;
Wendelin, son of Klemens Bonjagowsky married Helena, daughter of Christof Nagel;
Maximilian, son of Anton Soehn married Mariana, daughter of Konrad Volk;
Johannes, son of Michael Hintz married Mariana, daughter of Joseph Ruehl.

The following people died during the month of October:
On the 20th, the widow Lizzia Kuss, nee Marte, died at 60 years old. Her husband had died in the year 1918. On the same day Rufina Volk, nee Koch also died. She was 23 years old and left her young husband and a 2 months old child. Joseph Haag died on 23 October at the age of 65. The 2-year-old daughter Katharina of Melchior Soehn was playing in the street and was run over by a wagon driven by Filomona Volk. The child died 2 hours after the accident.

I am forwarding herewith a nice greeting to Mr. Joseph Hittel in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada from his Uncle Michael Ritz. He asks to please send him the Staats-Anzeiger for one year. He works alone in the shop because of the high cost of living. He has not as yet received any reply to his two letters.

Michael Anton Volk in Raleigh, North Dakota is being asked to please give a sign of life.

A greeting goes to all readers and the editorship.

Respectfully,
Anton Gedak

From: Krasna, Bessarabia
1 November 1920

Honored Mr. Editor!

Through my nephew Michael M. Erker in Wisconsin, I have received the newspaper and I was very happy about it. That is why I want to send a small report from here right away.

Here in Krasna many weddings are being celebrated. I was at two of them and they were a lot of fun. One of the weddings was at my brother Christoph’s whose oldest daughter was married to Wendelin Bonogofski, son of Clemens.

The weather has been dry all fall so that very little winter seed was sown. Right now we have hard frost, so that in the morning the window panes are covered with ice flowers.

This is to inform Cyrillus Haag that his father died in October.

Our health conditions are satisfactory.

A wagon was stolen from Martin Ternes.

A few days ago a young girl drove a wagon. Children were playing along the road; one of them was run over and died immediately. The parents were seeking help from the doctor but it was in vain.

I was very happy about August Nagel’s report and hope to hear from him often. I have lots of friends in America, but they are all lazy in corresponding. Since the correspondence is not going well, the Staats-Anzeiger is the only connection between the old and the new homeland. I thank my dear nephew Michael Erker for sending the newspaper.

I would like to know where Uncle Johannes lives now.

With respect to all readers and the editorship,

Viktor Nagel

From: Krasna, Bessarabia
1 November 1920

Worthy Staats-Anzeiger!

Unfortunately I might not receive the Staats-Anzeiger in the future since my subscription has expired and I don’t know if someone over there has continued to pay for me. (*Editor: We informed your brother in Elardee, Sask., Canada.)

For 3 ½ years I was away from my wife and child to take part in the war. I was not at the front lines but worked in the shop in which the cars were repaired. Naturally, we had to also be in the theater of operation. When in 1915 Austria retreated we followed them. There it happened between Sdolbunow and Lutzk, where five of us had just put up our forge and were working, when suddenly a canonball landed among us and immediately killed five of our comrades. I was unconscious for a while. When I came to, I noticed that I was also wounded. During the winter the wound healed.

Now everything is expensive and no one helps the poor. Everyone just looks out for themselves.

I am sending a greeting to the editorship and all the readers.

Respectfully,
J. Boot

From: Krasna, Bessarabia
4 November 1920

Worthy Staats-Anzeiger!

Our father had been seriously ill for two months and passed away on 24 October 1920. This is to inform my brother Cyrillus and other friends. Our mother yearns to hear something from Cyrillus, and herewith he is asked urgently to give a sign of life.

Two days after father’s funeral another misfortune happened. Our brothers’ and sisters’ children, who were all here for the funeral, were playing in the courtyard and in the street. The horses in front of a wagon became skittish and the 1½-year-old girl of our brother-in-law Melchior Soehn was run over and died immediately.

The Welsh corn has been harvested. It has not rained yet and we are expecting a meager year. The weather right now is very cold.

It is a pity that not all the letters to America are going through. We have already written quite a number but they don’t seem to have arrived there.

With a greeting to the editorship and all readers of the paper.

Respectfully,
Isidor Haag

From: Raleigh, North Dakota
30 November 1920

Worthy Staats-Anzeiger!

I am waiting with longings for every issue of the Staats-Anzeiger to find a report from my nephew Michael Koch in Krasna, Bessarabia. My father-in-law had paid for the Staats-Anzeiger for him, and he also sent him pictures, but he has not received an answer. (*Editor: Yes, the paper is sent to him regularly.)

Do you over there have so much work with the wine barrels that you don’t get around to writing? Then please send us a barrel sometime. We would be grateful to you.

How is my comrade Johannes Schlick doing? Write sometime if you still know Low German, or did the Bolshevists make you stop?

I am greeting all friends here and there.

Daniel A. Dirk