Finishing the research

Summer has come, and in a flurry of activity, I have found little time to post, although I have continued to absorb information from many sources.

I finally have been able to finish from Catherine to Krushchev. While the book flowed easily through narrative, I admit the geneology and emigration records effectively blockaded my efforts to trace Germans from Russia Settlements in America. However, within the narrative I found that life at the turn of the 20th Century had not changed much in the 1920's and 30's, when my great-grandparents had emigrated from Russia, save the advent of railroads and a few modern vehicles in larger cities. Rural Russia still relied on wagons and oxen or horses as the main transportation, and the housing had remained unchanged up until the Revolution. This is important for several reasons. First it explains why the few remaining villages have 20's-50's style buildings, when they were forced to completely rebuild towns and villages that had been destoyed during the ethnic cleansing. Also, there are few modern buildings, as until the 50's, Russia did experience some growth, but severely dropped off during the Cold War Era, when the small towns were virtually ignored. Second, it makes my research easier to visualize. Although their description of the main house said that it was constructed of wood, their summer house was reported to be of a building style similar to adobe, or very similar to the Volga House I visited at the Ellis County Museum in Hays. Third, it also explains why Aunt Martha, only 12 when she left Russia, was so enamored with the Mennoite Settlement Museum in Hillsboro, Ks. To her, it simply looked like home. Although I was young, I remember her face and tone of voice clearly when she spoke of her mother and some of the things she did when she was a child. I only wish I could remember the stories.

My next goal will be to finish Stalin's biography, even though the material is at best repugnant. It seems that while the Germans in Russia were painted with a large target, his scope of assasinations, repression, and imprisonment weren't limited to the Germans. It is difficult to read the accounts of cruelty, but I must perservere to understand the society from whence my ancestors came.

Getting it all together

Obviously my thoughts are starting to calm down, and writing on the blog has organized them into a semblance of order. Last night was one of the first nights that I slept without waking up to write down a new idea or thought about the outline or plot.

But what has also made the tornado turn into a fierce wind driving me forward is that I finally quit relying on manila envelopes, paperclips and thin notebooks designed to hold an invoice rather than the entire history of my family.

Last night, on a short visit to the local office supply, I solved the problem, and created two binders that make it extremely easy to access the page or section I want, along with protecting individual maps, photos, and documents.

Although this post may seem a little mundane, the easy reference access is just as important as character analysis and even writing an outline. Plus, when a museum director calls me next time to find out why Jacob Meier was not listed on the Dresden's passenger list, I will be able to flip easily to the page in his journal where he describes begging the captain for crew's quarters, and not keep her waiting while I embarrassingly searched my mess of papers.

The biggest piece of the puzzle so far

I started this blog out of a need to process and organize my thoughts while compiling the historical documents, researching and analyzing the social structure, and evaluating the character and actions of Jacob Meier, Jr. However, this epiphany didn't come at the same time as the decision to write the story, so I will be posting a mix of old and new discoveries until I have caught up, so to speak.

Although I thought I had a plethora, with diaries and stories of family members, deeds; all I had from Jacob was an abbreviated journal. From that, and interviews with Jacob's daughter Ella, and some of his grandchildren, I found the things I had been hoping for in a lead character. Strength, cunning, the ability to think under pressure, a strong marriage, determination, and the ability for self sacrifice. I also had the hunch that he was against the communist/socialist revolution, as he had made the decision to leave Russia, but to what extent? I also felt there was more missing from the narrative, something that may make it vivid in my mind, and help the plot and dialouge and words of the story flow from my mind.

A few weeks after I began researching, an interview with Cousin Larry finally convinced me to write to Cousin Tim. I'll be honest, I wasn't as familiar with Tim, having only met him when I was a small child, but I took a leap of faith that the reception would be welcome. I shouldn't have been so surprised that he was helpful and sent me the translated journal of Jacob Meier; after all, he was family. What he sent was amazing, and overwhelming, and I was beside myself, as when I read all the entries, I was overjoyed. As I wrote in a letter to my family, only choirs of angels could have described how I felt as I read and re-read the journal entries. I found not only was I right, but that he also described his fears, his love for his family and God, his shortfalls and determination. This journal was written when he was an old man, so I'm sure the family thought some entries seemed a little senile, until I explained that many journals I have read are not in chronological order, that some of the seemingly paranoid passages about communism weren't attributible to senility but to the psychological damage inflicted by soviet government of the time. Put in historical context, this journal is quite lucid, and gives an account the correlates well with other family member's recollections.

That night, I was so emotionally and mentally exhausted, I could hardly sleep. This journal is key to understanding Jacob Meier, and I had hit the proverbial motherlode. Even now, I still delight in the discovery, and keep finding new intrigues every time I read it.

A New Flame

I was elated today to receive my membership to Germans From Russia Historical Society, as the thick envelope enticed me with a gluttony of knowledge so rich, it almost made me faint with intellectual hunger. This particular historical society is based in Bismark, North Dakota, and was recommended to me by the director of the Marion Museum in Marion, KS. She also recommended the other society, but tomorrow and following days I will be anticipating another feast.

This hunger and passion and burning desire for knowledge is nothing I have ever experienced outside Love or God, which may be one and the same. The closest I ever imagined anyone feeling this way was Moses before the burning bush, but even he may have been overwhelmed by the fire in his heart, hotter and more demanding of mind and spirit than the amazing flame before him.

The fire is contagious, and I can see it create sparks of passion in others to help me find what I am looking for; to quench and satiate my appetite, until another unanswered question fuels the fire to a roaring inferno again.

So with delight, I quickly studied the entire packet of information, finding two small tidbits of info about the Meiers, but little to no info about the town of Fransozen or Grimm where the Meiers called home. But, I also learned that this particular society focuses on the catholics and sutterites that left for America in the 1800's, and settled on the northern plains of the United States. However, I won't discredit it as a source of useful information, as their geneological library may have more of what I am looking for in terms of family history.

The one disquieting thing in the packet was the youth brochure. It seemed all so-matter-of-fact when it was describing how the Russian Government under the Bolsheviks and Stalin managed to renenge on all the promises made to the Volga and other Germans, and forced them to flee in fear. Many escaped, but anyone that foolishly stayed behind in the hopes that the political targeting of German settlements would get better once the government was in power found themselves at one of three ends: first, a slow death by starvation, a quick death by the hand of a soldier or criminal leader in the area, or forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to a concentration/work camp where they were worked to the death. Very few Volga Germans survived this attempt of eradication by the Russian government. So on that cheery note, the brochure reminded the Youth to take pride in their heritage, and find out more! Yes, disturbing, isn't it?