According to the edict of the tsar from 1813, the colonists were exempt from military service. They were instructed only to provide room and board for troops passing through in times of war and to perform several compulsory duties. A statement to this effect is also contained in the colonist law of 1854.

Fourteen years after arriving in Krasna, the colonists got a good taste of this rule during the Russian Turkish wars of 1828/1829. A manifest from Tsar Nikolaus I, dated April 14, 1828, declared war on Turkey. In order to assist the army of 130,000 men all colonists of South Russia were ordered to keep a certain number of wagons ready around the clock for transport duty. They were to provide room and board, large amounts of feed, and to perform other duties, etc. These were a hardship for the colonists at just the time when there was a bit of economic progress.

Old documents also describe the burdens the Bessarabian colonists had to bear:

• E. Ruscheinsky reports for Krasna, that the Turkish war demanded provisions of quarters and supplies.
• According to the Katzbach chronicle many people suffered when the troops marched through by having to provide quarters, make deliveries and provide horses and carts/wagons.
• The community chronicle of Alt-Posttal reports that the passage of the Russian troops caused much damage to the colonists in the form of making deliveries, providing quarters and horses and carts/wagons.

The war burdens were especially hard during the Crimean War 1853-1856. Entire regiments were quartered in the German villages. The German colonists had to provide horses, oxen, wagons and drivers, called “Pogonzi,” as well as groceries and animal feed. As recognition for the service, the tsar publicly honored more than 50 mayors and colonists. A coachman from Krasna was one of the honoraries as E. Ruscheinsky reports: ¹⁾)
After the secreatary had finished, the chief mayor called Karl D. forth and pinned a medal to his chest. It was a decoration for brave defense of a wagon column carrying supplies during the Crimean War. The entire event was outlined and also detailed in brief in the document, which was also read. (German colonists were not required to supply soldiers in the Crimean War).
In the edict of 1813, the tsar promised the colonists freedom from military service (recruitment) for all time. This eternity came to a halt after roughly 60 years. Tsar Alexander II issued a manifest dated January 13, 1874, which introduced mandatory military duty during the restructuring of the military system. From then on, colonist sons were also recruited into the Russian army. This breech of contract of the Russian government caused consternation in the German communities. Many prefered to leave rather than serve in the military. This military duty caused a hardship for the farmers, who depended on having the sons help with the farm work. The situation was softened a bit, when it became clear that not all men from one age group could be taken. There was also a sytem in effect where a person could buy out the military requirement. (See below).

Soon after 1874 the first colonists were conscripted. Acccording to the branch of service, the duty lasted 4-5 years, sometimes even longer. Duty in the tsarist army was hard, especially when the recruit did not have much money to better his clothing and his food. If the barracks were located in the Far East, the short annual leave was not enough to allow the colonists a visit home and many colonists could not go home during their years in service.

Education certificates shortened the military service. People with a high school diploma served for four years, people with higher education even less. Most of the well-to-do farmers made use of these offers, and it is also true for Krasna.

Recruitments took place annually. The Russian army did not require all of the eligible recruits and there were several exemptions made. Only sons and sons of old and sickly parents were exempt. People who were not exempt took part in a lottery system. Each picked a ticket from a drum. All participants with the numbers one to whatever number of recruits were needed were chosen. People with higher numbers did not have to serve. Later, the lottery system was done away with and all the young man of a certain birth year were chosen. Klöstitz, a neighboring village of Krasna, was the recruitment center for all the colonies of the Bessarabian Germans. This remained the case until World War I. Two books give an excellent insight on the subject:

• Mammel, Arnold, Das Bild der Heimat: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Kolonie Klöstitz in Bessarabien, 1964 (Picture of the Homeland, History of the Colony of Klöstitz in Bessarabia, 1964), page 80.
• Becker, Jakob, Wie’s daheim war. Der Schicksalsweg der Bessarabiendeutschen 1950 (How it Was back Home. The Fate of the Bessarabian Germans, 1950), page 102

Colonist sons first had to serve in the Russian-Turkish War 1877-1878. It can be assumed that people from Krasna also served, but their names are not known.
Back home, the colonists were required to transport troops and supplies. E. Ruscheinsky writes: The Russian-Turkish war of 1877 brought hardship to the colonists; they had to provide quarters and supplies. Additionally, each community supplied a medical corps, called the “Barmherziger Brüder” (Brethren of Mercy), to care for the sick and wounded.

Krasna people participated in the Russian Japanese War of 1904/1905. We know the names of the fallen. ²⁾ They are Anton Bugolowsky, Christian Löb, Klemens Müller, Zachäus Schlick, and Josef Volk. They died in Manchuria or other far distant places. Quarters or compulsory labor was not demanded from the Bessarabian villages.

During World War I 1914-1918, the Germans were again called to war. At its beginning, from July 30 to August17, the entire reserve was conscripted. Gradually other men followed, up to age 43. One can assume that between 200 and 300 men were involved. In the beginning the colonist sons served mostly on the Western Front.

Image 61: Magnus & Johann Steinke 1907

Image 62: Ed. Löb 1915 as a Russian Soldier

After the first defeats in 1914, accusations were circulated that the Russian Germans were at fault. Many Russian Germans were removed from the Western Front, which faced Austria and Germany, to the Turkish Front on the Caucasus. A total of 900 Bessarabian Germans died in that war. Several people from Krasna died, too, or were imprisoned.
See 7.11, War Dead and Missing in Action from Krasna

There is a letter which describes the situation of the people from Krasna: ³⁾ Dear children! We received your letter and are glad to hear that you are well. You inquire about your brothers and uncles and whether they already arrived in the war theater…Yes, they all have gone to war. In Krasna, they already recruited men four times and very few are left. Your uncle Romanus Gedak has been under fire four times already, but survived so far. He was not so lucky the last time. In bitter cold, they were lying prone behind earth mounds and he froze his feet. He is in the hospital and the doctor thinks he will lose his toes…it’s a shame! Your uncle, Raphael Volk was conscripted while he was ill. He was also under fire already. Currently he is hospitalized in Moscow. Your brother is also a soldier and in Odessa. They will all go to the front by January 22. As far as we know, no one from Krasna has died, yet, but many are wounded. Joseph Speicher son of Nikolaus and Peter Söhn, son of Hevau are prisoners in Austria.

During the war, the German communities were heavily burdened. They had to transport food, war materiel or military almost daily. The population had to build roads and perform other labor. The communities had to transport the workers and supply the work implements; one requisition came after the other.

Toward the end of World War I, when the first German troops came to Bessarabia, grain had to be brought to Kilia to supply the German military.

Right after the annexation of Bessarabia to Rumania, the able colonist sons were conscripted into the Rumanian Army. The mustering of the recruits now took place in Tarutino.

Image 63: Krasna Recruits at Conscription

In a way, service in the Rumanian military was easier than in the Russian army. People remained closer to home and they did not have to go to Siberia. There was more vacation time. On the other hand, the lack of Rumanian language skills made it tough on them, as they were made fun of. The service lasted usually two years.

From the end of the 1920's on, there was a new rule. For instance, the soldier had to supply his own horse and uniform. The soldiers had more liberties, but still had to cover a large part of the costs for himself and his horse. Krasna people made use of this service. It was expensive, but the time of service was considerably shorter than all regular branches of the military required. Several months before their duty began, these soldiers, called “Skimbash” or in Rumanian “Schimbas”, meaning civil defense soldier, had to present a good looking duty horse for inspection and approval.

Image 64: Krasna Schimbasi of 1938

Since 1934, there was a mandatory three-year pre-military training for 18-year-old youths. They had to report to duty on Sunday morning. When they turned twenty, they became recruits. The actual conscription into the military took place when they turned 21. Military service lasted from 3 months to 3 years, depending on the branch of service.

In 1939, when tensions mounted in the Soviet Union, more and more young people were recruited. More and more horses and wagons were requisitioned from the farmers.
Until shortly before the Resettlement, a number of Krasna people served in the Rumanian army. When Bessarabia was evacuated by the Rumanian military (end of June 1940), they had to march with the Rumanian units across the Pruth into Rumania. See 2.4, Belonging to Rumania and the Soviet Union (1918-1940) Some of them did not catch up with the resettlement transport of the Bessarabian Germans into Germany until they reached Galatz.

After the Resettlement, most of the Krasna recruits were conscripted into the German Army (Wehrmacht). Some of them were already fetched from the resettlement camp at Tuschin Wald and they went, more or less willingly. Right after the settlement in Danzig, West Prussia, all conscripts were taken and actively deployed on all fronts during World War II.
The camps in Saxony already provided military-like training for young men, who were there recruited for service in the SS.
From 1943 on, older men had to take over the home defense in the so-called Volkssturm (Peoples' Storm Troops). Many Krasna people fell in World War II, many were captured.
See also 7.11, War Dead and Missing in Action of Krasna