The Volga Germans in Portland, Oregon

History

The German-Russian "ethnic" group exists in a great variety of guises, as well as in large numbers, all through the American Middle West and in Canada's western provinces.  Although the group is relatively large and has played an important role in the colonization of the prairies of North America, its history is little known or understood among us.  Even the learned historians of western settlement usually dispose of it in a few vague sentences. 

The group is not easily recognizable as such; because it lacks some of the homogeneity that one associates with an ethnic group.   Moreover it is difficult to distinguish from other groups of the same mother tongue who came to America about the same time from other parts of central Europe.  It has also been a singularly silent group, one that has generally preferred anonymity, because its ethnic character brought it hostility and discrimination, especially during the two world wars.  Instead of flaunting its language and its culture and making special efforts to preserve them, a large group has tended to disguise its identity and, consciously or not, has sought rapid assimilation into the English speaking majority.

 Adam Geisinger, "from Catherine to Krushchev"