From: Krasna, Bessarabia, Rumania
3 February 1928

Dear Staats-Anzeiger!

My old neighbor Rochus Ternes in Raleigh, North Dakota is herewith informed that I have received his letter. My wife Anna Maria is still alive and well. We thank you very much for the greeting you have sent and we return the greeting.

The inheritance of 6,000 lei to the children of the deceased Ludwig Koch is secured in the orphans’ treasury. I could write you a lot about the land of your father and grandfather, but it would take up too much space and the subject matter should also not be published in the paper. In regard to that I can give information by letter to those people who reimburse me for the postage through the Staats-Anzeiger.

Furthermore, I say hello to my old friends Ladislaus and Astheria [Asteria] Bachmeier who reside near Shields, North Dakota. They should be informed that Johannes and Jakob Bachmeier have died years ago. At the time, I had written about that in the Staats-Anzeiger.

Your brother-in-law Heinrich Winter and his wife (your sister) Margaretha and their children, as well as the children of your deceased brothers are still in good health. Your old stepfather Johannes Winter is also still lively and healthy. I also greet your in-laws Georg and Marianna Wingenbach, as well as your brother-in-law Anselmus Wingenbach.

My neighbor Klemens Ihli along with his wife Appollonia and their children are also still healthy and send their greetings to their friends over there and ask them to please order the Staats-Anzeiger for them.

As I was writing these lines, my old neighbor Sebastian Koch came to visit me complaining that his brother Reimund Koch in Elardee, Saskatchewan, Canada had accused him in a letter of not writing anymore. That is not so, because he has already written to him many times. He certainly is not at fault if the letters do not reach their destination. We also receive only 1/10th of your letters.

From the Bank of Bessarabia in Tarutino, I have received 1,751 lei that you had sent through the Staats-Anzeiger, and on the same day I sent your mother-in-law in Emmental 875 lei. Your mother thanks you very much for the nice present and sends her sincere greetings. A personal letter for you did leave with today’s mail. Your brother Sebastian would be very grateful if you would subscribe to the Staats-Anzeiger for him.

The Krasna community recently decided at a public meeting to ask the government to install a railroad station close to Krasna. As far as I know, the government agrees to build the railroad station under the condition that Krasna will contribute 1,600,000 lei for the construction. The community decided to pay the designated amount. The source of the money supposedly is to be obtained from the land. The station is supposed to be built behind the big stone bridge about 1½ kilometers away from the village.

In addition, the community decided to survey the remainder of the cattle pasture. A surveyor was hired on the spot. For his work he will receive 50 lei for every hectare (2.5 acres). That would amount to about 60,000 lei. However, he will be paid that amount after completion of his work. How we will get along without a pasture for the cattle, I don’t know.

So, whoever owns 60 desjatin (1 desjatin = 2.5 acres) land will receive a cut of 12 desjatin grazing land. If 2 or 3 farmers combine their portions then they could sustain 35 to 40 head of cattle on their surveyed and assigned pasture. But what will happen to the smaller farms and the people without land? They couldn’t even afford a milk cow for themselves. They caused their problem themselves.

The average farmer during the summer used to have 2 horses, 2 cows and 4 to 5 sheep grazing on the public pasture, but he had to pay taxes for every hectare. However, the one without land had about 4 head of cattle, 8 to 10 sheep and 50 to 60 geese on the cattle pasture without paying 1 bani (1 lei = 100 bani) of tax. Years ago, the farmers had decided that people without land would be allowed to put cattle in the pasture only after paying 25 lei per head of cattle. That rule lasted a few years, but now they refuse to pay the set amount. They claim that the pasture is for everybody and no one has the right to impose a fee on to the ones without any land. Now the pasture will be proportioned on the amount of land owned and the ones without land are left empty handed.

To sum it up, there is a big to-do going on in our village, filled with arguments and confusion.

I greet the following friends: Michael Volk, August Nagel, Joseph Dirk, Rochus Ternes, Peter Loeb, Lorenz Loeb, Maximilian Leinz, John P. Meier in Selz, North Dakota, John Volk near Strasburg, Michael Nagel, Zachaeus Kahl, Ladislaus Bachmeier, Simon Riehl, Melchior Gedak, Philipp Nagel, Joseph M. Kopp, the widow Johanna Soehn, Reimund Koch, Joachim Koch and Joseph Foeth in Brazil. Hopefully, they all will write soon.

Mr. Foeth, I received your letter on 25 January. Unfortunately, I was only able to read the upper half. The other half must have gotten wet and was unreadable. I will soon write to you.

The health conditions among the people are not satisfactory. Many people are sick in the village.

With a greeting, Anton Gedak