Die Welt-Post, Thursday, January 12, 1922, Page 5
News of Great Interest from the Largest of the Volga Villages, Alt-Norka
To Mrs. Georg Repp, Portland, Oregon
Norka, 10 November 1921
Highly Esteemed Mrs. Repp:
On behalf of your husband Mr. G. George Repp, I write to you these lines, whose contents, it is the wish of Mr. Repp, that they be made known to the entire Aid Society for the Volga Colonists.
On the 7th of this month Mr. Repp came here to Norka and organized a Committee consisting of the following people:
1. Pastor Friedrich Wacker, chairman. 2. Schoolmaster Alexander Leonhardt. 3. Recorder Konrad Weidenkelller, secretary 4. Friedrich Gartmann, chairman of the local village council 5. Johann Sauer, vice-chairman of the local village council 6. Teacher Johannes Lehl 7. Jakob Schlidt, 2 Reihe, Unterdorf 8. Melchior Traudt, 2 Reihe, Unterdorf 9. Konrad Spady, 2 Reihe, Unterdorf 10. Peter Haeusser, 4 Reihe, Unterdorf 11. Jakob Wacker, 5 Reihe, Oberdorf 12. Philip Weizel, Oberdorf 13. Adam Voegler, 8 Reihe, Unterdorf. The Committee found it necessary to increase its numbers with 3 additional members since instead of the planned Food Kitchens, 3 are to be maintained. Some of the members are burdened and stressed by their occupations but their continued membership on the Committee is absolutely necessary. Those who were additionally selected are:
Georg Schlanning, 8 Reihe, Oberdorf
Heinrich Jost, 6 Reihe Mitteldorf
Georg Hoelzer, Unterdorf
The Food Kitchens made ready:
No. 1: In the stone School in Oberdorf, accounting for 200 children.
No. 2: In the Bake House of "des Ksterats" (the Sexton's Council or the Coastal Council), accounting for 100 children.
No. 3: In the stone School in Unterdorf, accounting for 200 children.
The maintenance of the Kitchens and the supply of the same with fire and water was taken on by the Village Council (Soviet) in accordance with the contract between the American Administration and the Soviet Government. Products for approximately 6 weeks have already arrived so that the Kitchens can be opened the day after tomorrow. It remains now to complete the difficult and responsible task of assembling a list of children (to be fed). With the general emergency which prevails no, it is a terribly difficult task to get right. There are over 2,000 children here. That's a lot. I can tell you that only 500 children still living with their parents get enough to eat. Three quarters of the children are suffering. The task remaining before the Committee of writing out a list of the needy children was done conscientiously and with exactness. House by house, serious examinations were made. Even if one had only Pumpkins and Beets, never mind Potatoes and Grain, then they were removed from the list. Here in Norka only a few of all the families still eat pure bread (unadulterated); no one here even talks about "Kuchen" (white bread). Most of those who can still bake at all, eat bread made of Grain Flour with an admixture of Bran, Pumpkin and "Schlagkuchen" (Pressed Oil Cakes) which is ground up and mixed into the flour. But even this food, for most, will not last until the new harvest. With this fact in mind, it is understandable that many parents and children with hearts beating with fear and dread ask themselves; "are we among the chosen ones who are to receive the beautiful American Cocoa and the sweet Rice Mash. Nine-Tenths of the children under 4 to 5 years of age have never seen any Sugar or Rice let alone eaten any. What disappointment there will be when the list of those fortunate children who will receive all those wondrous things is published. There will be tears, but also some harsh and unfair words will be spoken about the Committee because everyone believes themselves needier than the others. Yesterday, late in the evening, the list was finished and already in the earliest of morning hours people have come to me complaining about being neglected. A few seconds ago I was called away from my writing of these lines. It was a 12 year old boy. He asked if he and his 8 year old little brother had been chosen. Sadly, I had to tell him that only one of them had been chosen. A painful twitching came over his face and tears shot from his eyes. How hard it is to see tears which one cannot wipe away! And they are Children's Tears! Oh, if you dear people and brothers in the faith knew how heavy the emergency is that today presses our Volga Germans here, you would not rest until aid has silenced the emergency. Some of you got to know the emergency of the early 90's here and at that time left the homeland and went to far off America. You have now become enriched there. But you know the pain of hunger. And nevertheless, I say to you because I have often heard it of eyewitnesses: The emergency of the 90's was child's-play in comparison to the current emergency. Later I will make a comparison.
A serious question was the selection of suitable cooks. Although the cooks do not receive wages, only a double portion (of food) for their hard work, and even though this is admittedly very little, many candidates urged themselves on us, nearly twice as many as the necessary number of cooks. How many heartbeats were skipped by the unfortunate women before this question was decided! One even went to a card reader (fortune teller) to see if she could lift the veil of the future. Another, interested in the position, became increasingly sick from anxiety. And many will have called silently upon The Helper in all emergencies. This question was also decided last night and it also caused tears, tears of joy among those selected and painful tears among those who failed (to be selected).
As an example of how vain and fleeting all human fortune is, I offer one of the cooks. The Widow of a Landowner and Mills who had led a life of luxury surrounded by an entire crowd of servants. Today this woman is happy, that for a piece of bread and a bowl of Rice Mash, she can be a cook in a Poor Kitchen. "Vanitatum vanitas!" (latin-All is Vanity). Sol. 1, 2, etc. Therefore; "make a friend of the unfair Mammon" etc. Luk. 16, 9.
I will strive to write my American friends twice a month.
God's Greetings, your F. Wacker, Pastor
(Note of the Editor: Pastor Wacker is head of the Reformed Church in the Colony of Norka)
This translation provided courtesy of Hugh Lichtenwald.