The harsh demands of a colonist’s existence in the beginning of the colonies produced a tough and firm breed. People of Krasna could exist only through diligence, industriousness, modesty and persistence. An older classification states: Development in Krasna was especially difficult, people there were obstinate, strong willed and independent.

The wide-open space of the steppes left its mark on the character of Krasna people. The steppes made them thoughtful. Overall, the steppes produced hard working, independent people. In Krasna, people not willing to work hard were not accepted.

The Krasna farmer clung to traditions and new things were viewed critically or rejected entirely. His way of life was practical and simple. The sources of his strength were his toughness combined with the will to work, his effectiveness and especially his faith.

There was also a fatalistic attitude to accept devastating events as fate. One can just look at the tremendous changes of the loss of privileges in 1871 and the Russification efforts from 1880 to 1918, as well as the oppression of minorities under Rumanian rule in 1918.

The most prominent characteristic of the Bessarabian Germans in general and the Krasna people in particular was the clinging to the land. Acquiring land was the highest priority for the Krasna farmer until the time of the Resettlement. In 1936, Pastor Schumacher lamented: All that counts here is the land.

Krasna people were extremely industrious; it was almost a passion. Neither agriculture nor trade had regulated work times. During harvest and threshing seasons they rarely got more than 4 hours of sleep.

One positive aspect of the Bessarabian Germans was their hospitality; it is often remarked upon. Each stranger, and especially a national German, was welcomed with open arms and wined and dined. In spite of their hospitality, Krasna people were not very talkative or exuberant.

Pastor Kern ¹⁾ writes: Visitors in Krasna were always surrounded by hospitality, but woe to the lout who wanted to disturb the peace! Thieves and murderers feared Krasna when their prisoner transport stopped there en route to their incarceration in Akkerman. People accused of stealing or murder received a very sound threshing there instead of their rest.

Another assessment of Krasna people is written as a poem:²⁾

Krasna people also had large families. The average German colonist family had 7-8 children before WWI.

The strong faith and church affiliation of the Krasna people has already been discussed elsewhere. These identifying characteristics set them apart in this foreign land and a marriage to a foreigner happened very rarely. If such a “Fremdstämmigen” (mixed marriage) occurred, the couple was looked down upon. Pastor Schumacher notes in his annual report of 1938: The village remained purely Catholic, based on strong tradition, which has advantages and disadvantages. The tradition is visible in the strength of the farm culture, but has its disadvantages, since marriages with other nationals are looked down upon. A Rumanian tax official wanting to marry a Catholic girl or a German teacher a Russian girl, these marriages are not permitted.

Krasna colonists preserved their language, religion, customs and traditions and their German nature until the Resettlement in spite of all the Russification and Rumanization efforts in country. They were still always loyal subjects to the ruler of the land.

Krasna was isolated by the fact that Evangelical Lutheran villages surrounded it. This limited them to their own village, whereas the other colonists had no such restrictions. Over time it limited also their cultural and economic development. They were never the first to embrace new things.

Religious isolation was also a factor why Krasna students rarely went for higher education. Parents did not want to send them off to the “Kaschubs” of nearby Tarutino or Sarata and the closest Catholic schools were in the Odessa region.

Pastor Schumacher about the Krasna farmers:

• They are often strong personalities, self-assured and moderate.
• Community ideas are underdeveloped. There are no meeting rooms, no restaurants or taverns. A farmer produces his own wine, which he shares freely with friends and family.
  Aggressive dogs watch his farm and one has to carry a sturdy stick to keep the hounds at bay.
  When I tried to enlist the help of the teacher to organize a collection in the community he stared at me in disbelief and said I should mind my own business, since he was not willing to have his head bashed in.
  

It is difficult to serve the poor. Whenever I asked for winter aid for the poor, I was told that supporting a lazy lot would be a waste of money.

• Here, people care and collect for themselves as best they can. Voluntary Monday collections in church are modest. A farmer may sell grain at a profit of 30,000 lei in one week, but he would not even consider putting any of it into the collection basket. If a need is identified and a project decided upon, they will pay the cost for it, but not a dime more.
• Krasna is blessed with people of solid faith, who preserve their belief and their traditions. In order to get close to them, one has to respect them, be mild mannered and make an attempt to understand how the people think and feel.
• Krasna people are a moral people and they cling to tradition and custom almost fanatically. They do not respond to pressure, it only intensifies their resistance.
  An unknown author observes ³⁾ The nationally persistent element of the Krasna people is even strengthened by their connection to the Polish families, who joined their trek in 1814…

A word needs to be said about the colonist wife of Krasna. She was a very decisive and important influence in the development and preservation of her own culture and in economic progress. Wilhelm Mutschal, who lived most of his life in the neighboring community of Tarutino, writes: …she does not pursue public ways of life, she works inside of the home as a housewife and an educator of her children, as the observer of good and pious morals and as the guardian of domestic order. She has an important task and her profession is demanding and filled with responsibility. The outside world does not see her achievements within her own four walls. As a rule, the men do not praise her enough.

The native German tongue was a very decisive element in terms of culture, customs and traditions of the colonists. German influenced the entire life of a person, beginning with school to church and family, to social life up to community administration. The German colonies were truly regular islands of German in South Russia. Initially, Russian was not important to the colonists. German was the language they spoke, the language used in the administration and the courts. Later, German remained the spoken language, but Russian was the language of the administrative offices.

The colonists were severed from the language development in their mother country from the beginning and therefore the Bessarabian Germans preserved their language as it was used when they first immigrated to Poland (end of the 18th century). Depending on the county of Germany the German colonists originated from, the dialects differed. Krasna spoke the Palatinate Dialect.
(See also 7.2, Krasna Dialect)
The Krasna dialect remained virtually unchanged, because Krasna as the only Catholic colony among Evangelical Lutheran settlements was naturally isolated.

Among all the other colonies, marriages, etc., brought about a certain mixture of the dialects. People remained faithful to the native language, but gradually foreign words taken from the mixed national populations of the people living there, sneaked in.
See also Krasna Dictionary, 7.2, Krasna Dialect

After the special status of the colonists was rescinded in 1871 and under the rule of Tsar Alexander the Third, who believed in the premise “One Tsar-One Law-One Language”, a gradual Russification of public speech began. Russian became the official language for all phases of life. Krasna people had their different opinions, some, the progressive ones, learned Russian, the others objected to this.

Knowledge of Russian became more and more important for the colonists and some progress was made. Children learned Russian in school, since the language was needed in town, at market and in dealing with officials. The German they spoke at home was a dialect, not the school taught High German. In order to communicate with the outside, they had to speak Russian and the effects of this increased. People who remained in the villages were not much affected by it. Among them, in church and at the community office, German was still in use. The wife and mother was the backbone of the language, she spoke German with her family.

When Bessarabia was annexed to Rumania in 1918, people had to learn Rumanian as the new language of the nation. The Rumanians applied enormous pressure on the Germans about this. The Catholic Church was the patroness of German until the Resettlement. Especially the German national Catholic priests, Schumacher and Kampe, who worked in Krasna and Emmental since the middle of the 1930's, deserve credit for this.

There is not much written about village life in Krasna. There was no local paper. From 1910 to the middle of the 1930's, reports from Krasna were published in German language newspapers in the USA. These reports, the majority of which still exist, give glimpses into the world of Krasna back then. They address positive and negative aspects of village life. They report about weddings and deaths, harvests, exceptional deeds by some, but also about crime and criminal mischief, discord among villagers, etc. One can see that Krasna was a normal village.

On one hand the common fate and the common fight against the obstacles of steppe land life held them together, but there was also rivalry and some feuding. If any outsider interfered, colonists from another village or other national group, the village united and confronted the foreigner as one unit.

There was a well-intertwined network of social connections. The foundation was the family, upon which all else was based. There was a strong bond between the generations. Not every one in the village was friends and not all was good and better than it is today, but one can say that the village community ranked high as the foundation where people supported each other in times of need.
See also 6.4, Community Tasks and Self-Help Organizations

There were no big class differences. Rich and small farmers co-existed side by side as neighbors and among each other. When people got married, though, it mattered; the vernacular had it: “there, the sizes of the haystacks should match”.

One shared food with the poor. A settlement was built for the landless people at the end of the village. On the other hand, people were not extremely social. (See above, “Their Character)

Krasna was not just all about hard work. People also liked to celebrate insofar as the work rhythm allowed it. Church holidays, weddings and other family festivals were big celebrations.
Village life was dictated by the seasonal work in the fields, church holidays, custom and tradition.
See also 5.3, Culture, Habits and Custom

Krasna people were not squeamish and could operate a stick quite well, as can be seen by this example in the Dakota Rundschau dated July 31, 1931: Another incident happened here that makes me sick to my stomach. At sundown, Johannes P. drove home from the field. His neighbor Chrisostemus stood at the farm door and waited for him. He began hitting him with a stick and Johannes fell off his wagon, unconscious, he beat him bloody, black and blue. There is nothing worse than fights among neighbors, which only benefit the attorneys.

The youths spent their evenings on the village street. They played the accordion, games, danced and drank some wine; there was also a lot of tomfoolery and pranks. Much happened there then which would cause a day in court today. People were also ready to use their fists when they had had a bit too much wine or if a girl had more than one admirer.

On November 28, 1930 the Dakota Rundschau reports from Krasna: When a dog is bored, it chases its tail. If the young fellows are not working, they test their strength when they get together. This was the case last Saturday evening. Boys slapped each other around, in fun at first, but then it became serious and as a result of it the son of Mr. Joseph Gedak ended up in the hospital with a bashed in head.

There were also fights with the boys from neighboring villages, especially during military recruitment. There is an amusing tale about such a fight between Bessarabian recruits where Krasna people were involved. ⁴⁾
The Dakota Rundschau reports from Krasna on March 27, 1931: On February 11, the recruits will go to training and Krasna has 28 of them. They were brutal and beat the son of deceased Klemens Ihli so bad that he had to be taken to the hospital in Tarutino.

The Krasna reporter for the Dakota Rundschau frequently critizes the Krasna youth, as he reports on July 3, 1931: Instead of a library here, we have a huge wine tavern and instead of a musical orchestra, three is a wild hollering going on in the streets at night. There is no money for a musical association, but many a father gives his son 100 lei so that he and his buddies can buy an accordion and produce some strange music on Sunday eveningss behind the gardens…

This article refers to the traditional birth year fellowships of the village youths, which existed in Krasna as well as in other villages. They were not formal clubs as such, but they practically had club-like functions. They existed for some time and it is not clear when they first started. They dominated the streets of the German villages for over a century and played an important role for the youths. In school, boys and girls congregated by age groups in the upper and the lower village. Each club met at a fixed location in the village where the youths spent their little amounts of free time to talk, play and have fun. Unfortunately, there was also alcohol involved. The accordion was a must at these occasions. At mustering for the military, these groups dissolved.

Image 92: A Group of Comrades in 1935

The youths of Krasna were obviously a concern in the 1930's. The bishop of Jassy told Father Schumacher: Keep a special eye on the youths of the village. It is said that they are a rough bunch. Bring them around and show them the light.

Father Schumacher wrote later: Working with the German youths was tedious before the home was built. We met in dusty mill shacks, etc. The new home will give us the opportunity for good debates, prayer, theater presentations, festive events, etc.

There was some mingling between the colonies, although the difference in religious confessions was a considerable barrier. People traded with each other, people from other villages were hired, but in terms of weddings, the community stuck together. There were virtually no mixed marriages with Lutherans. A gifted student was sent off to a Catholic high school in Odessa, which was 100 kilometers away, instead of the high school in Tarutino, which was only 10 miles distant.
(See also 5.2, The school in Krasna)
The Lutherans acted the same way, but they had a greater camaraderie among themselves, who were all present in the other colonies aside from Krasna. They were the larger group by far and their villages surrounded Krasna, which led to a certain isolation of Krasna. In practical matters both groups aided each other, for instance when fighting large fires.

In the beginning years there was also a colonist exchange going on, for instance several families moved to Krasna from other colonies in the beginning years.

After World War I, the relationship between Krasna and the protestant neighboring villages relaxed somewhat; people realized that in arguments with the Rumanian government, both factions had to band together as one national group. This held true for all the neighboring villages of Krasna, with the exception of Katzbach. The relationship between these two villages remained tense. There was hardly any contact between these two villages and it is assumed that their animosity dated back to the founding times of the colonies.
See 7.4, The Move to Katzbach by the Evangelical Settlers

Bessarabia was home to a number of nationalities. The Germans, with their population numbered barely 3% and were a minority among the Rumanians, Russians, Ukrainians, Jews, Bulgarians Gargauses and Gypsies. They still had an economic lead because of their typical German virtues (hard work, orderliness and thriftiness).

The relationship between the Germans and other nationalities was more living side by side than living together. Only some of the Bessarabian Germans spoke Russian.

The German colonists lived mostly in their own villages, just like the other national groups in Bessarabia. In the communities, the national groups were among themselves. They mingled only at markets or in the towns. There, Russian was used until 1918 and Rumanian was added in 1918.
Respect for the dependability of the Germans was expressed in that the term “deutschen Wort” (a German word) was used in business transactions. This means that it was a handshake and the expression “a German word” sealed a contract.

The Germans, including the ones in Krasna, had only minimal contact with their Russian, Ukrainian or other national group neighbors, mostly business oriented. The village itself had only a few foreigners. There were barely thirty of them in 1939.
The Russian citizens bore the Germans no ill will, there was no hatred, and all was overall a friendly relationship. The common Russians, Bulgarians and Rumanians looked up to the Germans and considered them their teachers.
See also 2.3, The Changes from the Second Half of the 19th century (1860-1918)

Russians handled mostly the Bessarabian administration and the Justice Department. Russians also liked to work for the Germans, because they knew that they would be well fed, received adequate breaks and got their wages on time.

The Germans trusted the Ukrainians and they often worked for them at harvest time. They admired the Bulgarians, who were well known for their excellent vegetable production and they leased land for their gardens in the Krasna district. Bulgarians also often worked trades, which Krasna did not have: brick layer, roofer, stonemason, tanner and potter.

Rumanians and Moldavians were the largest national group of Bessarabia. They were also the best shepherds.

In short: the Germans co-existed peacefully with a dozen or more members of other nationalities. They traded with each other, learned from each other, cared for each other and respected each other and their ways. When it came to heirs or marriage partners Krasna people usually accepted only Germans of their own confession. This was also a reason why the colonists could preserve their German traditions and customs, their language and religious habits for so many years.

Bessarabia had no Jewish colonies. Jews were mostly salesmen. With very few exceptions, schnaps taverns were in Jewish hands. In the beginning, only Jewish merchants were allowed to remain in the colonies for any length of time, they traveled from village to village and bought eggs from the farmers, other foods, leather and feathers. In Bessarabia, Jews also functioned as private moneylenders. Banks did not exist until 1920.

Krasna had a lively trade with the Jews (sales and purchases of wares of all kinds). They often felt like they were being taken advantage of. This was also a reason why associations were formed in the German villages. There was no anti-semitism; however, there was some resentment of the Jews. Even in 1940 Heinrich Himmler lamented that he did not understand the relatively small aversion against the Jews among the Bessarabian Germans.

The Germans considered themselves loyal subjects of the Russian land where they were citizens. It is also obvious, because most colonists remained in the country when some of their privileges were removed in 1871 by the reform-driven Tsar Alexander II (1855-1881). The Bessarabian Germans were loyal tsarists and good and dependable taxpayers. Later, they were also loyal to the Rumanian state, although it was not easy.

Until World War I, the colonists had virtually no contact to Germany. They only bought industrial goods from Germany. Aside from a few priests, virtually none of them traveled there. Connections with relatives were severed. By the second generation, the family members left behind in Germany barely knew of their relatives who had immigrated.
On the other hand, not many people in Germany were aware of the existence of German settlements on the Black Sea region. People living back then, contemporaries, report of this (reports of soldiers, etc.). Prior to WWI, Germany had little interest in the Russian Germans and the government could have cared less.

During World War I, the full hatred of the Russians against the Germans was unleashed, but in the Germans, it strengthened the feeling of a national belonging, which was even more emphasized when German troops arrived in Bessarabia in 1917/1918. The war caused a severance with the established and accepted ways of life and incorporation into the initially strange state system of Rumania. The language-cultural related conscience of being German increased in the Germans from Bessarabia and became the foundation of their national consciousness. Connections with other German national groups and with Germany were reestablished.

The church influenced and politically neutral farm population became culturally focused on Germany, which was in part because of the forced Rumanization measures.
Most people of Krasna then had a very positive vision of Germany, which they referred to as the “Mutterland” (Mother Land). The young German priest Walter Kampe realized this as well in the summer of 1932, even though he stayed in Bessarabia for a only few weeks. ⁵⁾ On the next day they took us to the Catholic neighboring community of Krasna on a horse-drawn wagon. Our entrance in Krasna looked like a procession of triumph. The word had been spread that Germans were coming. There had been no contact with the German “Reich” in over a century. We were admired like gods and revered. After we were assigned our lodging on individual farms, all gathered in front of the church. We sang our songs, talked of Germany…

The religious division between members of different faiths was the cause that during the 19 century hardly a group conscience of the Germans in Russia crystallized. People were Catholics and Protestants first and then Germans.
The Germans in Bessarabia in 1918 were a part of the Russian German population group in the Odessa realm. They were intertwined with them in all aspects of life. It is one of the reasons why one cannot pinpoint an independent Bessarabian German national group.

The events of World War I, i.e., the general pursuit of the Germans, awakened cohesiveness in the Germans. During WWI and after, the beginnings of national self-organizations are noted. It was a reaction to the Russification measures.

After annexation to Rumania the Bessarabian Germans were separated from the Black Sea Germans and had to get used to an independent existence there. It took the drastic results of the First World War to make changes in their relationship to politics.

From the beginnings of national self-organization after the February Revolution in 1917, the German Peoples’ Council of Bessarabia emerged.

The German Peoples’ Council for Bessarabia emerged from the beginnings of national self-organization after the February Revolution of 1917. Bessarabian associations, clubs, participation in politics and an independent press system resulted. Bessarabian Germans now looked mostly for guidance in other German regions in Rumania, such as Siebenbürgen and worked together with them on a political level.

Krasna farmers traditionally were not much involved in politics. They paid their taxes, served in the military and performed compulsory labor and that was the extent of it. This changed after the Germans became incensed with the Rumanization politics and dissatisfaction with the conservative church oriented leadership within the national group. The effects of the economic crisis at the end of the 1920's and the beginning of the 1930's also changed the attitude of the Germans. From then on, national-socialist groups gained access to the Krasna farmers. Most Bessarabian Germans thought that National Socialism meant a continuation or renewal of their battle to preserve their identity and independence as a national group in a foreign area.
It is also obvious that the traditional non political concept of politics continued on and that regular institutions like the church, chief mayor, etc., still worked relatively autonomously and distant from the major political lines.