Norka a German colony in Russia War
Photo of John Benner taken in a Russian Army uniform in 1905. John Benner's wife, Katherine Fink, was from Norka colony.
Military Service
by Joanne Krieger
"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." II Timothy 2:4
One of the promises in the Manifesto of 1763, by Catherine The Great, was the exemption from military duty. Our German ancestors in Germany had recently survived the "Seven Years War." In fact for the last thirty years Germany had been ravaged by senseless wars. Catherine, the German born Empress of Russia knew and understood the problems confronting the Germans. She decided to invite them to come to Russia to develop the vast wastelands and to bring stability to the undeveloped region. The promise of exemption from military service was one of the reasons our German ancestors moved to Russia. After about a hundred years, in 1874, this provision was forgotten. Upon reaching the age of twenty-one, a young man was required to be a soldier in the Russian army. This included our German ancestors who as citizens of Russia obediently fulfilled their duty with respect for the tsar, according to the bible verse in II Timothy.
Some of the boys eagerly looked forward to the time when they could become a soldier. When the army marched through their village, the children were delighted to watch the trained horses prance to music while the soldiers, in full uniform, arrogantly strutted by. I wonder how many young boys admired the soldier's polished boots as they looked down on their own bare feet. Occasionally, if a crowd had gathered, the soldiers would perform precise movements as the onlookers cheered! Heinrich Krieger, born 1885, told how much he enjoyed watching the horses. He said, "The horses were dancing to music right on the street." The older folks, however, did not want to acknowledge the beauty and excitement of these occasions because they felt betrayed. Not only was Catherine's promise of exemption from army duty broken, now the younger boys seemed overly fond of the idea of being a soldier. This bitterness, felt by the older generation, plus rumors of war caused many of our relatives to leave for America.
As a boy approached enlistment age, his enthusiasm waned. He now understood the army was not just parades, prancing horses, a uniform and shiny boots. Training would take him far from his familiar village, perhaps leaving a wife and small children behind.
Wilhelm Krieger, born 1886, said this about his experience in the army. "We traveled to large cities, far away, for training. During our free time, we could go to the town only if an officer went with us." When asked if being a German in the Russian army caused problems, he replied, "No, my officer was German and so were most of the men in my company." In addition to battle training, Wilhelm was a baker. The wages a Russian soldier received around 1907 were equivalent to 75 cents a month. No wonder the parents felt angry. Their sons, capable, dependable farm workers, were enlisted in the army with wages that could not support themselves or those at home.
1914 photograph Conrad Brill taken in Norka
Russian soldiers were well trained but not properly equipped. World War 1 was the first war in which the soldiers of the chief nations involved wore steel helmets. Russia, however, was an exception. The soldiers went to battle wearing cloth caps with visors, which looked nice but gave no protection against bullets or flying pieces of shrapnel. The weapons and equipment had not been modernized since the RussoJapanese War of 1904-1905 but the brave enthusiasm of the Russian infantrymen proved to be Russia's best weapon.
Heinrich Krieger came to America in 1903 at the age of 18. Wilhelm Krieger, his wife and four children arrived in America in 1913. Heinrich and Wilhelm were the brothers of my husband's grandfather, Melchior Krieger.
The army enlistment document of my maternal grandfather, Johann Georg Eusel states: assigned to the 259th regiment of reservists in 1907; may transfer to 2nd class reserve in 1916; transfer to voluntary soldier, militiaman, in 1924. My grandfather, his wife and children left Russia in 1912.
My Dad, Johannes Green, was also in the Russian army. I remember him telling about his travels to Turkey, Persia and other locations. He must have been in the reserves because he also managed the family store in the village. He eventually became an officer in the Russian army (White army). This promotion nearly cost him his life. In 1921 the Bolsheviks (Red army) rode into the village and fired shots at him. He jumped into a ditch, pretending to have been shot. The Bolshevik soldiers rode away thinking they had killed him. A short time later, my Dad (age 38 and single), his parents and younger brothers and sister left Russia leaving everything behind except for the clothes they were wearing, the family bible and as much worthless money as they could sew into their clothes.
Facts About Russian Imperial Army Service
Below is information on Russian Imperial Army service from forwarding Marcus Sherwood-Jenkins that was posted on the Ger-Volga discussion list:
Service periods - standing army (as per Russian army regulations to 1913):
Infantry and foot artillery - 3 years followed by 15 yrs in reserve Other branches - 4 years followed by 13 years in reserve.
The "5 years" could arise as the period of service with the colours was taken from the 14th January following the date when the annual contingent joined up (Oct/Nov the previous year) so a four year man would actually serve 4 years and 3 months.
The reserves were divided into 1st and 2nd class depending on how recent their service with the colours - details of all this I have if of interest.
Service period - volnopredyelayushchiesya (short term volunteers) If certain educational criteria met could enlist in this class (mainly used for supply of reserve officers) Join between 28th June and 14th July and serve 18 months-2 yrs with the colours and then 16 yrs in reserve.
Service period - Okhotniki -("other volunteers")
Comprised: men of over 18 who wish to join before conscription age, men previously excused service if still under 30, men permitted to postpone service on account of family reasons. All serve according to regular service periods unless qualified as per short term.. But have the advantage of choosing their arm of service.
Daghestan horse regt. And Turkomen horse Division were a class of their own - all voluntary service, they were paid a higher rate but bring their own horse on joining and provide their own food and forage.
Cossacks:
Provided own clothing and arms (except rifle and lance) & equipt & horse. Service commenced on completion of their 20th year and lasted 18 yrs. (various classes of service/reserve etc)
Based on the above if your enquirers Grandfather was on a "5 year term" he would not have been with the Cossacks but a regular cavalry orhorse artillery regt. Most likely.
Recruiting:
The "internal empire" - mostly Russian popn. Was divided into 208 uyezdi upon which the recruiting was based. Each of these was then divided into several recruiting sub-divisions(prizivniye uchastki). The 208 uyezdi correspond in number to the 208 infantry regiments of the active army but the recruiting system was only partly territorial. (regt. Received roughly 30% from their territorial district, 15-25 % from subsidiary districts, 45-55% from other Russian populated recruiting districts) No more than 25% of recruits for any one unit could be of non-Russian origin. Therefore if the man in question was an infantryman of "german" origin or his area was predominantly non-russian he could well have been recruited into a regt. Nominallyassociated with another area.
Subsidiary recruiting districts (those with non-Russian or scanty popn. Baltic states Poland Western frontier region Certain parts of Volga region (Volga germans) Parts of Caucasia.
Jewish recruits: distributed throughout army but not allowed in the Guards. (converts were of course)
Rifles, Cavalry, horse artillery, engineers, guard and grenadiers were recruited from the whole empire.
Annual intake:
Must have completed 20th year (i.e. between 21 and 22)
Takes place 14th Oct - 14th Nov (after harvest) but to suit local conditions could occur 28th Sept. - 28th Nov. Carried out by recruiting committees: Uyezdni committee and gubernski committee. (So recruiting records reside at Uyezd and Guberniya level)