From: Krasna, Bessarabia
1 September 1928

Dear Staats-Anzeiger!

Yesterday evening, a violent storm started blowing and it is still raging all day today, whirling up clouds of dust so that it is impossible to be outdoors. Up to now we still have not had any rain.

The results of the harvest here were very poor. We did not harvest wheat at all. Barley amounted to a little more than what had been sown. We did break even with the amount of Welsh corn and potatoes that were planted.

There will also be very little wine because the grapes are small and wilted. There surely will not be a shortage of wine barrels this fall. I believe that this winter no one will attempt to cut his throat while being drunk, like someone did the previous winter. Luckily a doctor patched up that individual.

Horses, cattle and sheep return hungry from the pasture in the evening and have to be fed with straw at home. Many farmers do not have enough straw to last through the winter. They will have to buy some, which is very expensive.

There is a huge money shortage among the farmers, and yet the arrogance among the women is quite enormous. With many of them there is a shortage of bread in their home, but the addiction to makeup doesn’t seem suffer because of that.

On 28 August, the land surveyor had completed the sectioning of our cattle pasture. Now every landowner knows how many hectares of cattle pasture he was assigned and who the adjacent owner is. If the dear Lord allows me to live long enough then I shall report whatever will happen to the remaining cattle pasture over the next 2 or 3 years.

Now I want to report several deaths, which have occurred since my last report.

On 18 July, the widow Magdalena Harsche, nee Engel died at the age of 58 years.

The widow Marianna Arnold, nee Kahl died on 2 August at the age of 73 years.

The widower Kaspar Mich. [Michael] Wolf passed away on 10 August at the age of 61 years. On 23 August, Maximilian Nik. [Nickolaus] Hein died at the age of 54 years. He left his wife and 5 unmarried children. On 31 August, Gottfried Moldenhauer died at the age of 54 years leaving his wife and 5 unmarried children. The widow Theresia Fenrich, nee Riehl died on 31 August at the age of 73 years. May they all rest in peace and may the perpetual light shine upon them!

Mr. Markus Weber in Slatorum, Siberia, I thank you very much for the greetings you sent me through the Staats-Anzeiger. Your mother and your siblings are still healthy and they send a friendly hello.

Mr. Weber you could inform Michael Maas that his brother Gregor and family are still in good health. His two other brothers have died. At that time I had reported it in the Staats-Anzeiger.

I also thank you very much Mr.Weber for the information regarding my old school colleague Philipp Erner. The news about the death of my dear friend brought me great sadness. He and I were teachers together for three years in Krasna. I express my heartfelt condolences to the surviving grieving dependent, who I do not know by name.

Further, I say hello to my old neighbor Raimund Koch and his wife and children in Canada. Well Raimund, maybe you can forward to me by letter the address of Dionisius Joh. [Johannes] Wingenbach. He should write a letter to me soon.

Whoever among the friends over there wants to find out anything from Krasna should contact me by letter, because many editions of the Staats-Anzeiger get lost. The price for cattle, horses and sheep has dropped tremendously. One now pays 6,000 to 8,000 lei for a milk cow and for a nice horse 2,000 to 3,000 lei.

Our young men and ladies travel to the Dobrudscha where they can earn more money, but unfortunately the trip by train from Krasna to Karamurat costs 1,000 lei. That does not leave them much, especially since the people there can give them work for only two months.

I will report other news items the next time.

In closing, I greet all friends as well as the dear editorship.

Anton Gedak