Page 7, Die Welt-Post, Thursday, December 27, 1923
Letters from Russia
Kutter Colony, 28 October, 1923
To: Preacher Heinrich Hagelganz, Portland, Oregon
God's peace and affectionate greetings to you, dear children:
We are healthy and wish the same for you. We send you the happy news that we received your letter of 2 August on 2 September with great joy. It made us happy that you were still alive and getting ready to go on a short vacation to the seashore which is only 125 miles away from you.
In your letter you spoke of the 390 Clothing Bales that you had read about which did not get to Kutter but were distributed in Moscow with Mr. Volz's permission. Three bundles went missing, one for Kutter, one for Norka and the third for Frank. Your representative told this to Jacob Hinkel. We got nothing, the things were lost to us. I estimate the value of the items at not less than 15,000 Rubel. As far as I can tell the clothing items were of good value. Currently here a pair of "Halbschuhe" (low cut or oxford style as opposed to high tops---translator) costs 1,500 Rubel. Everything here is expensive, even the cost of labor is high. To weave an Arschin of cloth one must pay 11 Rubel 6 Kopecks; Wheat Flour costs 400 Rubel the Pud. For 2 pair of Felt Boots we paid 5,800 Rubel. We bought wood for burning for 300 Rubel a Faden (6' X 6' stack--translator) and with it and also with Flour we are supplied for the winter.
We received the $10.00 you sent in October. The deceased brother Adam Ikes' son Jacob picked up the money for us and has performed many valuable services for us. This brother Jacob Ikes exchanged the money with another good brother in Saratov and got 9,000 Rubel for us. We bespeak to you our heartfelt thanks for this timely gift.
The family of Gottfried Hagelganz sends you affectionate greetings. The are unable to write themselves because postage is so expensive and things are not going so well with them. Recently the cost of sending a letter in the mail went up to 70 Rubel. That's the way it is with everything. To everybody's disappointment the harvest turned out badly again. The fodder shortage has forced us to get rid of our Cow and God alone knows whether we will be able to get another one this summer. Today a Cow costs 20,000 Rubel. We would not be able to make it through were it not for your assistance, you dear children in America, you who are so richly blessed by God and have constantly offered us a helping hand.
Dear son: Be so good as to tell Konrad Boehm's children that their mother has not received the money that they sent her in February. She cannot help herself because she is penniless and sends a request for them to send her money again.
Dear children: I, your mother, sincerely thank you for your support. However I have a request. Be so good as to send us a picture of your 3 youngest children. I would very much like to see them. But if you are all in the picture, so much the better; the 3 eldest children must already be full grown by now. You are all affectionately greeted by me with a special greeting.
Dear son: I want to give you another glimpse at at the depth of our shortages: this letter, for example, was written a week ago but I did not have an envelope to mail it in. Fehde has already made me some but he is running short of glue. When you write again, send along some envelopes and write your address on them. Things are so bad that we are forced to ask you for further assistance. You know that we are very short of clothing. If it is possible for you, send us some more money so that we can buy the most necessary items and be a thousand times thanked for it by me, your mother and grandmother. God will repay you a thousandfold.
With affectionate greetings from our house to your house, we remain your loving parents,
Heinrich and Margreta Kroell
Translation courtesy of Hugh Lichtenwald