The Germans From Russia: Children Of The Steppe Children Of The Prairie

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  • Опубліковано 10 лип 2016
  • Germans From Russia: Children of the Steppe, Children of the Prairie was the story of the agricultural pioneers whose quest for land and peace led them across several continents and shaped them into a distinctive and enduring ethnic group. This documentary was a finalist in the U Siebe International Film Festival, the only American documentary to be invited to participate in the juried competition. It also received a platinum Best of Show Telly Award, and was awarded a Bronze Plaque Award at the Columbus Film and Television Festival.
    This Prairie Public Classic documentary was first aired in 2000.

КОМЕНТАРІ • 453

  • @whiskeytangofoxtrot9942
    @whiskeytangofoxtrot9942 5 років тому +184

    In our village in south Kazakhstan we had a large Volga Germans that been moved from Russia, they was the best non local foreigner neighbors better that Russians! They’ve learned Kazakh language faster and better that anyone else and even now they and only them who can speak our language very clearly even in some older style or manner! I highly respect this Germans even most of them now shifted to Germany but even from Germany they still sending us treating in our language! They left only worm memories about them here those whom are returned to Germany and gone for other states

    • @justicartiberius8782
      @justicartiberius8782 4 роки тому +28

      That's true. Germans are one of the best migrants you can have. They adapt extremely fast to the culture and society of their new country.
      They are very humble migrants that wish to adapt as soon as possible and hate it to make trouble for the nation that has welcomed them.
      And their loyalty belongs to the country they adapted to.
      No matter if it's american countries, european countries or asian countries. They always try to get along with the natives and behave humble as guests should behave. They follow the rules and laws of a country without any rebellious behavior.
      But as a german myself i also have to admit that german tourists, especially if they are drunk (Mallorca for example) can be absolutely annoying and kind of possessive. Never experienced it myself though.

    • @yespls4184
      @yespls4184 3 роки тому +12

      My close German family friend (she was my au pair when I was a child) was born in the Soviet Union (now Kazakhstan). Her family can trace their lineage back to the time of Catherine the Great when they settled the steppe, and in the 1990s they moved to Germany because of the country's immigration program for such people. I've luckily been to Germany a few times, but I really want to visit Kazakhstan.

    • @joshuaammon6335
      @joshuaammon6335 2 роки тому

      Hope you are doing well during this time friend.

    • @valnwk
      @valnwk 2 роки тому +1

      Can you please tell us the name of the village. I love reading about their history and unfortunately I find little of it.

    • @jimmycricket7385
      @jimmycricket7385 2 роки тому

      Why did they leave Kazakhstan?

  • @scottdavis4497
    @scottdavis4497 Рік тому +20

    I’m from small community in eastern Washington and many of the people including myself are descendants of Volga Germans. Mainly Yogodnaya Polyana. I am just learning of this part of my heritage, but remember so much of what I grew in. Many of my childhood friends are also descendants of this village, And the culture that I was raised in to me was just normal, but as I get older I realize how unique it was. The food, lifestyle, dress everything. I am deeply moved and amazed by all of this. The summer kitchen! Still used back home till this day. Thank you for this video

    • @nadinwong9520
      @nadinwong9520 8 місяців тому +2

      ich bin auch Wolga deutsche lebe aber in Deutschland jetzt :)

    • @bigdaddysmooth3
      @bigdaddysmooth3 6 місяців тому

      I live near Puyallup Washington and my great-great grandparents were emigrants that moved from the Volga German Colony of Walter to the village of Odesa Washington state

  • @mishasuki
    @mishasuki 10 місяців тому +4

    I’m 65% German Russian from the Strassburg settlement in Odessa on my father’s side. This is so interesting to me! My grandparents were thrifty, resilient and always made kuchen for holidays!

  • @sandranatali1260
    @sandranatali1260 5 років тому +36

    I remember as a little girl, visiting on Sundays was a big deal. Everyone had such a great time. Spending time and dinner at grandma's, with Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Wonder memories.

  • @marigoldmeadowsfarm7495
    @marigoldmeadowsfarm7495 Рік тому +4

    My sweet gramma was German Russian. I’m thankful they made it to US in 1900. Thank you for a wonderful program.

  • @marypeters8418
    @marypeters8418 4 роки тому +25

    July 26, 2020. I just watched this with my Mennonite mom & dad, my heart sings and is so sensitive to my own history. I happen to be a Canadian born one, my parents born in Chihuahua Mexico, grandparents from the Saskatchewan prairies, great grandparents from the old colony mennonites from Russia. The fortunate ones that left when first given the opportunity to come to Canada. In my trucking career of over 40 years, not a day goes by anywhere in this hemisphere, from Whitehorse in the Yukon south thru any part of Canada, anywhere USA, Mexico and south in my travels to Belize. Each day I have the privilege to share in low German a greeting. I believe if every Mennonite in the world would or could vote according to their convictions and conscience we truly could have a longer lasting kindness in this world. I am so grateful to belong. Isaac Peters

    • @bobam8927
      @bobam8927 2 роки тому +3

      Wird da noch Plattdeutsch gesprochen?

    • @maplebones
      @maplebones 23 дні тому

      How we're you born in Canada ? Did your parents return after moving to Mexico ?

  • @ChocolateBoxCottage
    @ChocolateBoxCottage 4 роки тому +26

    Very interesting. My Mom's side of the family is German from Russia and it is so interesting to learn more about the cultural history. Thank you.

  • @CheburashkaGenovna
    @CheburashkaGenovna 3 роки тому +14

    Growing up in a mennonite family, knowing my grand grandmother born 1894 in Russia, listening to all stories about my ancestors I must say it's a very accurate documentary, especially the emotions and the "worldview" of the Russlandsdeutsche.

  • @dragonflyjilly
    @dragonflyjilly 5 років тому +26

    My great grandparents were German Russians from a town near the Black Sea. They went to Bismarck..

    • @hollygrosshans3529
      @hollygrosshans3529 4 роки тому +3

      I am from Ashley and Bismarck, ND. My grandparents were born in Freidenstahl, Bessarabia (Ukraine). I grew up with all these traditions and the language. My favorite by far was the strudels, homemade sausage and kuchen. Also the “Hochzeit” weddings with polka music. What a happy childhood I had visiting my grandparent’s farm. They still speak German in many communities.

  • @me-xx2gl
    @me-xx2gl 3 роки тому +32

    My mother's family were germans from russia. I read Volga Germans by Sigrid Weidenweber and got a bigger picture of just what went on. Sent the book to my kids. Originally settled in Winnipeg due to US quotas at the time, then several years later, they moved to Lincoln. My mother's rules were never to talk of the "old country". Years later grandma shared some stories and later one cousin had a treasure trove of letters. Interesting that in the mid 1970s my grandmother, quite by chance, was able to make contact with a younger sister who ended up in Siberia. Such richness there of a tough people.

    • @cascadian19
      @cascadian19 Рік тому

      My paternal grandfather's family came to Manitoba the same way. I'm working to trace their history back in Volhynia. So cool to learn about the family's past this way. I even recently met a German with the same last name randomly whose family came from the same area, we could be relatives meeting in Canada by chance!

    • @stacysturdevant3666
      @stacysturdevant3666 7 місяців тому

      My Grandmother was from Lincoln also!

  • @kaseys4145
    @kaseys4145 6 років тому +52

    My great grandparents on both my mother and fathers side are Volga Germans. So proud of my heritage. Thank you for his documentary. Very miss understood culture.

    • @rubengonzales4364
      @rubengonzales4364 5 років тому

      Are German born in America

    • @LoveAsianCulture
      @LoveAsianCulture 5 років тому

      Ruben Gonzales your point?

    • @ronsmith251
      @ronsmith251 3 роки тому

      Ruben Gonzalez, they will own it if they want it

    •  3 роки тому

      @@LoveAsianCulture Why so defensive?

    • @hazelshavenofhope2156
      @hazelshavenofhope2156 Рік тому

      I would say more Unknown than misunderstood.

  • @TheProseRose
    @TheProseRose 4 роки тому +32

    Thank you so much for making this video. I am 75 percent Volga German and my ancestors settled in Alberta and Sakatchewan Canada. This explains so much about my older relatives.

    • @charlottecampbell4327
      @charlottecampbell4327 4 роки тому +4

      My sister married a descendent of Germans from Russia who settled in a prairie area of Saskatchewan.

    • @thricecrazy33
      @thricecrazy33 Рік тому +1

      also volga german, likely we are related. Volga german got alot of farmland in sask and southern alberta.

    • @ldsmusician
      @ldsmusician Рік тому

      1/8th Volga German born in Alberta

  • @elisabethschmidt8065
    @elisabethschmidt8065 4 роки тому +29

    I'm a born German Mennonite, my father says Russians were horrible to Mennonites and then Hitler sent his soldiers to rescue the German Mennonites. This was after Katherine the Great. Weddings were also treated as funerals, still to this day they dress in black for wedding's. Lots of German Mennonite are still stuck in there ancestors experience, to my experience that has kept the Mennonites down on the ground, focused on suffering there past. There is respect for ancestors, but also seeing your father so focused on respecting the past and not the present family has also created a lot of suffering.

    • @Alpheccca
      @Alpheccca 4 роки тому +13

      Lisa Schmitt I’m not positive but most Mennonite Germans that I know had been in Ukraine and were starved along with the Ukrainians by the communist Soviet Union. The Holodomor.

    • @ageofadversity
      @ageofadversity 2 роки тому +1

      There are books by Ingrid Rimland about the Germans in Russia and their rescue by the Germans Hitler sent.

    • @ME-ru5wo
      @ME-ru5wo 2 роки тому

      So Russians were terrible for two centuries? ‘after ‘Catherine the Great’ your daddy lying lmao

    • @user-tm5em4vu7u
      @user-tm5em4vu7u Рік тому

      The Germans who sided with hi-tler were ended or deported to Siberia! Which is normal, for treason!

    • @user-tm5em4vu7u
      @user-tm5em4vu7u Рік тому

      @@Alpheccca that wasn’t the Russians who did it. The holodomor was carried out by the je-wish elite who controlled the ussr, up to 80% of politburo were je-wish!
      Oh and you Northern Europeans who came to OUR land in North American, you genocided 90% of OUR Native American people here, and stole all our land, even now, you still live here!!

  • @Bandit1146
    @Bandit1146 5 років тому +37

    Thank you for this educational, very informative and touching documentary! Germans from along the Volga in Russia also settled in Lipscomb county in the panhandle of Texas. The town still holds a Deutsche Festival each July. The town (of just over 300 people) comes together to make beirox, butterballs and noodles, and kuchen and does an amazing job hosting this annual celebration that combines great food, a small parade, a melodrama, baseball tournament etc. I love learning more about the heritage of the town I grew up in, and the depth of these hard-working people!

    • @woodbutcherjohn
      @woodbutcherjohn 5 років тому +1

      I haven't had bierox, or as my grandmother would call them kraut bierocks, since my grandmother died in 1985. Looks like I have to take a trip to Lipscomb County !

    • @ottomeyer6928
      @ottomeyer6928 2 роки тому

      bless you all

  • @joelynlykke6113
    @joelynlykke6113 4 роки тому +5

    Vielen Dank für diesen tollen Bericht. Hat mich zum Weinen gebracht. Obwohl niemand aus meiner Familie von dort ist. Heimat.... so much more than “homeland”. There is the word Heimatland in German, ( homeland). Heimat is so much more...

  • @troyelhard2684
    @troyelhard2684 4 роки тому +62

    I wouldnt be here in North Dakota if wasn't for the Germans from Russia

    • @johnroddy8756
      @johnroddy8756 4 роки тому +1

      I Would not be alive if not for the wall street crash,grand mother was going to the states to join a convent.Money was lost in the crash by her Brother.The rest is history

    • @screaminpman
      @screaminpman 3 роки тому +4

      I grew up in North Dakota. My mother descended from Germans from Russia from Mandan. My father is Norwegian from Manvel (near Grand Forks). I moved to California when I was 23, but ND will always have a special place in my heart.

    • @kathybishop6623
      @kathybishop6623 2 роки тому +1

      I remember n Dakota and Minnesota very well growing up there this sounds so familiar my father was Norwegian my mother was German and English......

  • @alexreichert1245
    @alexreichert1245 7 років тому +65

    I'd like to add: the film was shot almost 20 years ago, the German settlements in Russia shown there are looking a bit better, there is a lot of renovation. I guess many of the old people in the film have passed away now. I used to know quite a few old Russian Germans and found them to be very nice, kind and caring people. God bless them all.

    • @kyriljordanov2086
      @kyriljordanov2086 6 років тому +6

      Alex Reichert I was wondering how many were even still left in Russia. I know that so many Germans in Romania left for Germany in the 90s so that only elderly Germans are often left now. Not to mention the slaughter and eviction of Germans from CZ, PL, etc after WWII. I've known many Russians throughout my life who had at least a bit of Volga German ancestry, even though they were all Russians, so I wonder if the remaining Germans have been simply absorbed.

    • @LoveAsianCulture
      @LoveAsianCulture 5 років тому +2

      Kyril Jordanov yes I'm one of those people

    • @impalamama7302
      @impalamama7302 3 роки тому

      Had to be before Sept 11 2001....Twin Towers are in Statue of Liberty shots.

  • @vickistopherd8134
    @vickistopherd8134 3 роки тому +4

    I am 72 and all my grandparents were Volga River Germans born in Franck Russia.They settled on farms in eastern Washington.

  • @sandranatali1260
    @sandranatali1260 6 років тому +101

    Both my mother's and my father's families are Volga Germans. They settled in Wisconsin.

    • @LoveAsianCulture
      @LoveAsianCulture 5 років тому +3

      Sandra Natali me too

    • @sharonstuhlmiller1757
      @sharonstuhlmiller1757 4 роки тому +3

      Oh honey your miracle with all the hardships live long & well!

    • @bigredmed
      @bigredmed 3 роки тому +5

      A museum to the Volga Deutsch is in Lincoln, NE.

    • @sandranatali1260
      @sandranatali1260 3 роки тому +4

      One of the sad things I have been faced with is the younger generation of today, are not interested in knowing what our grandparents and other family have gone through when going to America or those left in Russia. I continue to look for relatives. Save information of the Germans from Russia, that someday they'll read, to know their history and learn of their struggles, so that they have the ability to live freedom. That our grandparents left Russia not only for themselves but for future generations.

    • @janepatterson6779
      @janepatterson6779 3 роки тому +2

      @@sandranatali1260
      Sandra..I AGREE 100%.
      Nor do they care about our soldiers who died in past wars for our freedom and by the command of our government.

  • @covenawhite4855
    @covenawhite4855 4 роки тому +10

    Germans from Russia sounds as beautiful as a story book. So happy with their simple life and friendly communities. But they do more hard work and live with more difficult hardship than any Disney book would add. Glad for this video 😀☺😊😃😄😆☺💐

  • @dianeday7995
    @dianeday7995 7 років тому +95

    I enjoyed this video very much. My paternal grandparents were Germans from Russia who became farmers in North Dakota. Thank you for making this available on youtube.

    • @rubengonzales4364
      @rubengonzales4364 5 років тому

      Was immigrants

    • @LoveAsianCulture
      @LoveAsianCulture 5 років тому +3

      Ruben Gonzales LOL yeah, everyone in America are immigrants. Apart from the native Americans who are now mostly dead. Not nice what's happened

    • @michellemigler890
      @michellemigler890 4 роки тому +1

      mine too!

    • @tedhamachi3454
      @tedhamachi3454 4 роки тому

      Ruben Gonzales vh#you and 78

    • @777ttaylor
      @777ttaylor 4 роки тому +1

      Mine too!!!

  • @jameshenderson3238
    @jameshenderson3238 3 роки тому +5

    My maternal grandparents are German Russians from the Volga area and immigrated to the United States in the early 1900's. A most enjoyable and informative video.

  • @rosemarytoews5439
    @rosemarytoews5439 4 роки тому +23

    This really hit home at times. Both my parents were of German Russian Catholic heritage. We had the huge family Sunday visits, strudel, kuchen, german songs, nursery rhymes. My mother (Bachmeier/Ruscheinski/Mueller/Miller, Dressler/Faehnrich)came age 4 from Caramurat, Romania in 1929 through Hamburg To Halifax to Manitoba then in 1939 to Richmond, BC. My dad's parents came from Odessa, UKR, Russia around 1900 through Ellis Island to Mandan, N. Dakota. They had it worse.. stories of soddy homes, babies and children dying of scarlet fever, starvation, bitter cold, extreme religiosity, general harshness of life was very sad. My GF worked for the railroad and met my GM in a saloon where she and her sisters worked. They had 11 children..the first 2 died at 5 and 3, then another brother at 9, full term twins were miscarried when the horses spooked and upturned the buggy, throwing my GM. They followed the railway work in 1918 Saskatchewan with CPRail. My GF was a herbalist as well with old country remedies and wrote a book..I cannot imagine how devastating losing small children to sickness could be...as the saying went..try not to love too much.. I have always appreciated growing up here in the Vancouver area and how easy we have had it compared to our ancestors. Most of my relatives according to Ancestry.ca DNA are in Alsace-Lorraine, and North Dakota. (Stoltz/Immel/Helbing/Leingang/Kaiser)

    • @H8MACHINE1
      @H8MACHINE1 3 роки тому +3

      Auch wenn die deutsche Kultur hier in dieser BRD von der Regierung
      ausgerottet wird bin ich froh, dass es auf dem Rest der Welt noch
      Deutsche gibt und diese wundervolle und wertvolle Kultur nicht sterben
      lassen. Es macht mich glücklich, dass es euch dort gibt

    • @perryelyod4870
      @perryelyod4870 2 роки тому

      The surname Leibel may be familiar to you?

    • @rosemarytoews5439
      @rosemarytoews5439 2 роки тому

      @@perryelyod4870 sorry..no

    • @tpatterson6624
      @tpatterson6624 Рік тому +1

      I crave Kuchen! Miss my grandparents. I recognize the name Bachmeier.

  • @hunbun4837
    @hunbun4837 4 роки тому +19

    I've been working on my family ancestry and this finally explains so much. This saddens me but also brings me peace. Thank you to my family who came here to America. And to my family who chose to stay in Ukraine/Russia, I wish you came with.

    • @VagoniusThicket
      @VagoniusThicket 3 роки тому +4

      Hun Bun A lot of good germans sacrificed everything while farming in foreign lands . In some places they were murdered in masses after both world wars . 😢

    • @christinamorales6887
      @christinamorales6887 3 роки тому

      I have family there too.

  • @dalereinheller1
    @dalereinheller1 3 роки тому +12

    Im from German Russian decent. My great grandparents immigrated from Odessa Russia to North Dakota, then to Canada. I remember my grandparents and mom and dad speaking german when I was a child, but I never learned the language. Maybe because they thought that the low German language was not worth passing along. This was a treat, thanks for posting this.

    • @mishasuki
      @mishasuki 10 місяців тому

      My great grandparents also emigrated from Odessa to North Dakota! But we stopped there and didn’t go to Canada. Mine also spoke German but only around the dinner table with a heavy cloud of cigarette smoke hanging above them! you don’t happen to have any marquarts’ in your family do you? 😊

    • @amelialaplantehorne9182
      @amelialaplantehorne9182 9 місяців тому

      We also have German from Russia in our family that came to North Dakota from Odessa. (Schaff / Zarr).

  • @JanaeLynn
    @JanaeLynn 5 років тому +12

    My grandparents didn't miss the old country. They made a good life in Portland OR. They carved holes in ice for water in Russia while praying wolves didn't attack! My grandma worked very hard in Russia, America was easy street compared.

  • @dancingcolorsVdeRegil
    @dancingcolorsVdeRegil 6 років тому +36

    The strudel makers! The older one sounds exactly like my great grandmother, whose voice I haven't heard since 1968! I love this thank you! All of the info is very good to get..

    • @reelinanrockin
      @reelinanrockin 5 років тому +3

      My grandmother too.
      Exactly.

    • @acmund
      @acmund 5 років тому +3

      My grandma wasn't in this video...but it sure was nice to see her again!

    • @friedabittkau3761
      @friedabittkau3761 5 років тому +1

      The strudel makers !!! She was talking “ Shupfnoodel” on Saturday. Does anybody have the recepie for that ? My Mother used to make them, will truly appreciate it.🙏🏻

    • @tekara
      @tekara 4 роки тому

      @@friedabittkau3761 Here's the best one I've found.
      germanfoods.org/recipes/schupfnudeln/

    • @igorjee
      @igorjee 4 роки тому +1

      @@friedabittkau3761 In Hungarian sufnudli (shoof-noodlee) is the dirt between your toes when you roll them out with your fingers.

  • @peytonwm
    @peytonwm 3 роки тому +17

    On my paternal grandmother’s side is where the Hutterite and Mennonite German ancestry comes from in my family. Each of her grandparents except for her maternal grandmother have roots in Russia, and in fact her paternal grandfather, Paul T Hofer, was born in Neu Hutterthal, Ukraine (now called Derezivka, near Orikhiv) and immigrated to the US a few months later with his family. The Hutterites lived in Czechia, Slovakia, and Romania before making it to their Ukrainian settlements. The Hutterites are actually composed of ancestry from three different Germanic regions: some from Carinthian and Tyrolese Austria (surnames Hofer, Glanzer, Wurtz, Kleinsasser, Waldner), some from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany (Tschetter, Walter, Pullman, Wipf, Mendel/Mandel, Wollman, Stahl) and some previously Mennonite from the Vistula Delta regions of Prussian Poland (Gross, Decker, Entz, Fast). If there’s anyone with this specific background out there, I’d love to see what connections we can make!

  • @t.4999
    @t.4999 3 роки тому +5

    These were the tough breed. Heart touching and inspiring!

  • @gracevandersloot530
    @gracevandersloot530 3 роки тому +15

    My grandma is German but her and her family were born in the Ukraine, and they immigrated to Canada (Alberta) to flee the war. I have wondered why she doesn't say she's Russian-German but I think she just identifies way more with her German heritage (German songs, stories, food, etc). So cool learning about this stuff as a 2nd generation Canadian!! Viele danke für der Video!!

    • @casper6198
      @casper6198 2 роки тому

      Why does your name sounds like Netherlands

    • @bobam8927
      @bobam8927 2 роки тому +1

      Wir haben uns immer als Deutsch bezeichnet.

    • @LovinLnCottage
      @LovinLnCottage 7 місяців тому +1

      My maternal grandparents also were Germans from Lviv area of Ukraine and emigrated to Saskatchewan in 1912 as indentured servants to a grain farmer for 5 years. My family always identified as German though my grandfather had been drafted into the Tsarist Russian Cavalry. My grandparents finally settled in the Twin Cities, Michigan and were naturalized citizens of the USA.

  • @tessapowell8140
    @tessapowell8140 4 роки тому +11

    My maternal great grandparents were from Walter and Frank and settled in Washington State. Their family names were Ils and Walter. The strudel lady so reminds me of my great grandmother. Thanks for putting this on UA-cam!

    • @ghostlyimageoffear6210
      @ghostlyimageoffear6210 4 роки тому

      One strand of my family is also from Walter, to Lincoln, Nebraska and then to Park City, Montana.

    • @joellyons5060
      @joellyons5060 2 роки тому

      My great great grandparents are also from the villages of Walter and Frank. They settled in Lincoln, NE. Their names were Jacob and Anna Reigert.

    • @emmamiller7022
      @emmamiller7022 Рік тому

      Die 2 Ledis was Strudel,
      Schupfnudel ,Knepfle gekocht haben.
      Sprechen den
      GIEICHE DIALEKT WIE
      WIR. AUS BESSARABIEN
      ODESSA. Schwabisch. 💐

    • @larifari7473
      @larifari7473 9 місяців тому

      My grandfather was born in Walter. His family moved to the North Causasus when he was a child and the family was deported to Kasachstan during the WWII. In the 1992 tue wholefamily immigrated to Germany. The name is Kechter.

  • @vickistopherd8134
    @vickistopherd8134 3 роки тому +5

    All of my grandparents were born as Volga River Germans. I am 72 and was raised in eastern WA.

  • @tonycust9247
    @tonycust9247 4 роки тому +13

    Discovered this interesting ethnic movement recently when looking at Ukrainian graves in the nearby cemetery. There was one that stated that the lady came from Rosalienfeld Ua. I realized that was a German name and stumbled onto this story! I think it is now 'Feodorivka' in Kherson Oblast. Also we have some German folk from Bessarabia, but the old immigrants to Australia are passing away!

  • @twinturbo8304
    @twinturbo8304 3 роки тому +6

    We are germans Not nazis. Very proud

  • @cindyjune6490
    @cindyjune6490 4 роки тому +8

    My family the Koop's are part of that Journey, we ended up Kansas, then finally Corn Oklahoma. Our family joined with John Denver's family in Oklahoma in marriage. But the Koop's and Deutschendorf's were together in Russia. So that is how John Denver's family got here. His father did join the military so we can imagine that must have cause a stir. I remember John's father Hank at family reunion's telling us every year John is coming. Finally in the 80s he started showing up. Good times. We miss him.

    • @lisahargreaves3938
      @lisahargreaves3938 3 роки тому

      This is wondful history, i am german decent. I am from new Zealand. U dont know my german ancestry.

    • @cindyjune6490
      @cindyjune6490 3 роки тому

      @@lisahargreaves3938 I have been able to trace mine only because of John. I know nothing about my fathers family.

  • @dinnerwithfranklin2451
    @dinnerwithfranklin2451 4 роки тому +7

    Thank you for this very much. German family from Russia through Dakota to Alberta is my history

    • @maplebones
      @maplebones 23 дні тому

      Is Alberta better than Dakota for immigrants ?

  • @sabrinapittsley2304
    @sabrinapittsley2304 3 роки тому +7

    I love these documentaries on other people’s heritage and cultures. All together make up America.

  • @OllieSang
    @OllieSang 7 років тому +22

    Excellent! This is my heritage, such scope in this story, I never knew. Thanks for the telling.

  • @muncibedduSicilia
    @muncibedduSicilia 7 років тому +10

    I am Sicilian, adopted in the Netherlands, from a Bessarabian born mother. My son asked me about our roots and if we are Russian or German. I love your movie(s)! These are great to teach him about the history of... and the feeling that goes with it. Thank you!

    • @martinpenner920
      @martinpenner920 7 років тому

      ShirleyCurly A
      p

    • @NichtNameee
      @NichtNameee 5 років тому +1

      The world is strange

    • @rubengonzales4364
      @rubengonzales4364 5 років тому

      You are Italian therefore Latin

    • @bobam8927
      @bobam8927 2 роки тому +2

      @@rubengonzales4364 Die Kultur und Sprache ist die Herkunft nicht das Blut oder Land.

  • @paiger5513
    @paiger5513 3 роки тому +6

    I have always felt grateful my paternal grandmothers family left the Volga area when they did to settle in Montana, the ones that stayed behind didn’t fair well.

  • @janesmith9024
    @janesmith9024 4 роки тому +7

    It was lovely to see them cooking together. I have no connections other than speaking German - studied it to age 18 in the UK but even so it is interesting to see why people got to where they did and to see a slightly older film that this is - made about 20 years ago.

  • @agathamartens1059
    @agathamartens1059 4 роки тому +5

    My great-great-great-grandfather was born 11th of May 1837 in Chortitza South Russia and my grandfather's Peter Martins born 25 dec 1910 moved from Canada to Mexico

    • @joelawrence56
      @joelawrence56 3 роки тому

      I also have a great grandmother born Martens...you have a family history?

  • @ronswansonsdog2833
    @ronswansonsdog2833 4 роки тому +6

    My great-grandparents came to ND from Kassel Russia. My grandparents then came to Cali in the 50s. I’m always looking up stuff about being a “German from Russia.”

    • @bobam8927
      @bobam8927 2 роки тому

      was interessiert dich?

  • @constancemiller3753
    @constancemiller3753 3 роки тому +4

    I'm glad this doc. is out there. I spoke to a family friend who tried to explain to her husband how her family weren't Russians or Ukrainian but Germans who spoke German.

  • @jduff59
    @jduff59 3 роки тому +12

    Very important subject, and what I'd give to taste Oma's apple strudel (again) - there was a lot of love in that stuff.

  • @nightcritterz
    @nightcritterz 3 роки тому +5

    My great-grandparents ended up in North Dakota in the early 20's and ended up in Montana... last name Glockhamer. My grandma used to make bierocks, sometimes I still make them..

  • @katherinetutschek4757
    @katherinetutschek4757 3 роки тому +5

    Just found this now. My maternal grandfather was German and grew up on a farm in the Ukraine in the U.S.S.R.. When he was young Stalin confiscated his parents' farm and they had to move to an industrial city to work in a factory. His father was sent to Siberia and died there. My grandfather emigrated to Saskatchewan, Canada after WWII and became a farmer. His brother stayed in Russia. A lot here that reminded me of him. Even the clothes and kitchen drawers and cupboards look exactly like my grandparents' old farm house😊💓

    • @bobam8927
      @bobam8927 2 роки тому

      Ja wir haben auch so einen Küchenschrank (Kicheschonk)gehabt.

  • @MichaelSchwark-yn3jb
    @MichaelSchwark-yn3jb 3 роки тому +5

    What a wonderful documentary!

  • @tcslife3336
    @tcslife3336 3 роки тому +2

    My paternal grandmother's family immigrated from Worms, Russia. My paternal grandfather's family from the Crimea.

  • @hossenfeffer8383
    @hossenfeffer8383 4 роки тому +3

    So glad I found this film! My Ancestry is Volga German and Bukowina German. Learning about all this so late in life.

  • @michaelfiedler1419
    @michaelfiedler1419 6 років тому +10

    I love their lower German which many of these folks speak even today.

  • @jackietucker8942
    @jackietucker8942 6 років тому +19

    I'm SO enjoying these videos. What would be the difference between this group and the Germanic/Holland Dutch Mennonites that came out of Russia. My maternal side came out of the Ukraine. The food, the language, stir up memories of my very early years. I love genealogy, which the family church kept for many generations, ending in the 60's.

    • @leannmkg6797
      @leannmkg6797 6 років тому +3

      While researching my family history, I found that the Germans immigrated to other countries for centuries. There are Germans that immigrated up through norther Europe, into what is now known as the Ukraine, Poland, and Denmark. I have one set of Great Great Grandparents that immigrated to Poland, in order to immigrate to the US. Some of the Nationalities changed because of the wars. I have one Great Grandfather, who was Danish, but census has him from Germany. This was because the area he was from changed from Prussia, to Denmark, to Germany, in a matter of 20 years.

    • @user-dl1xz3mj3i
      @user-dl1xz3mj3i 2 роки тому +1

      @@leannmkg6797
      Poland and Ukraine are located in east and not north..and yes Denmark is north.

  • @Kanadaauswandern
    @Kanadaauswandern 5 років тому +7

    I´m one of them and live in canada for 11 years, but I´d like to move on to Paraguay one day, good Video thanks

    • @igorbrille8222
      @igorbrille8222 4 роки тому +1

      @Monte Christo he is probably a Mennonite and these Germans have big communities in Paraguay.I have been there in the jungle at Colonia Vollendam.They builded villages with names from their Wolga German heritage.Since then I love to meet Germans from the east.

  • @HelenEk7
    @HelenEk7 4 роки тому +3

    What a gem of a documentary! I particularly enjoyed the description of how they build their houses. So interesting.

  • @spitfiredisco3500
    @spitfiredisco3500 7 років тому +30

    this makes my heart smile ☺

  • @williamb-b7440
    @williamb-b7440 Рік тому +1

    i found out my mothers side of the family is Volga German from choritza, this was highly informative and the comments are extremely helpful because my moms great grandparents were settled in Saskatchewan.

  • @johndewey6358
    @johndewey6358 2 роки тому +2

    What an amazing story and the many journeys, suffering and joys that made it all possible.

  • @alexreichert1245
    @alexreichert1245 7 років тому +65

    The film mentions only the German immigration wave from Germanic states under Katherine the Great - which indeed was on the large scale. However, it doesn't mention that the German immigration to Russia was ever present since the Middle Ages. In Moscow there was always the German Region (Nemetskaya Sloboda) the place where Germans used to settle - which was and still is one of the central parts of the city. Petersburg always had a big Russian German population, they preferred to settle on Vasilyevsky Ostrov. The Russian Germans gone under the same privations and sufferings after the Bolshevik catastrophe as the rest of the Russian people. During the Second WW Stalin, afraid of the 5th column cruelly banished the the mayor bulk of St.Petersburg's Germans as well as agricultural German Volga population to Siberia and Kazakhstan, so they stay as far possible from the front line.

    • @whiskeytangofoxtrot9942
      @whiskeytangofoxtrot9942 5 років тому +10

      I’m still know some good German farmers here in Kazakhstan!

    • @kozjevime1
      @kozjevime1 4 роки тому +3

      NAZI FIRST OF ALL WANTED TO CONVERT RUSSIANS IN SLAVE LABOR BUT WERE NOT NEARLY AS CRUEL AS DOMESTIC KHAZARIAN BOLSHEVIKS.

    • @ZekeMan62
      @ZekeMan62 4 роки тому +11

      @@kozjevime1
      All we ever hear about is the Nazis, but the bolsheviks committed far greater attrocities on a much larger scale.
      Why does Steven Spielberg not make a film about this? 🤣
      Instead endless movies and documentaries about the Nazis, over and over and over again.

    • @Alpheccca
      @Alpheccca 4 роки тому +5

      Thanks for that information about immigration from Middle Ages. My paternal grandparents left the Saratov region and came to Manitoba, Canada about 1915. I had done searches for the Reichert name several years ago in the Moscow region, and found a few living there. I assumed they were probably from the Volga settlements but maybe they had arrived much earlier. ☦️

    • @ottomeyer6928
      @ottomeyer6928 4 роки тому +3

      @@ZekeMan62 those germans werent jews thats why!

  • @suzannekathro4958
    @suzannekathro4958 4 роки тому +4

    My aunt was a Volga German. There was a large community in Chicago.

    • @cascadian19
      @cascadian19 Рік тому

      My great grandfather went to Chicago after landing in Halifax from Volhynia. Ended up settling in Manitoba after a short stay in Chicago

  • @lukecarrol1745
    @lukecarrol1745 7 років тому +7

    Thank you for uploading.

  • @krisstewart4787
    @krisstewart4787 4 місяці тому

    My grandfather would have loved this. Both his parents were Volga German. His mother who I had the blessing of growing up with in his home, immigrated from Frank, Russia in 1904. (Lebsack) His paternal grandparents immigrated in 1870’s (Koch anglicized to Cook later). My great grandparents farmed in southern Nebraska (Culbertson). They left in 1940 with all their grown sons for California. I was fortunate to grow up with all of them. I still cook all of my great grandmother’s foods and enjoy talking with other Volga German families about our shared history and culture. I learned tocook, stitch and crochet from her warm hands and still fondly remember those lessons

  • @bajajuan2559
    @bajajuan2559 6 років тому +2

    Great historical video.... thank you !

  • @jurgenkogel9823
    @jurgenkogel9823 3 роки тому +1

    Danke Praire Public!

  • @gregortheclone8913
    @gregortheclone8913 5 років тому +5

    Wow, I am astonished! My greatmother from father side was half german from Basarabia....

  • @violetgruner707
    @violetgruner707 5 років тому +7

    My brother-in-law family were Volga German. His mom never learned Russian nor English when they immigrated to America. Their culture was German, German Lutheran Church, etc. The children in America spoke German at home. All 5 sons served in our military.

    • @ronsmith251
      @ronsmith251 3 роки тому +2

      My grand parents were from Russia n Germany, they spoke German. The oldest brother of my mom was held back 1 grade because he didn't speak English, no more German was spoke, in the house. English only. This is America. My uncle, drove a tank in world war 2, fighting Germans.

    • @luv1another
      @luv1another 3 роки тому

      Same thing happened to my dad. He was held back in kindergarten because he only spoke German.

  • @colliecoform4854
    @colliecoform4854 4 роки тому +4

    It was so refreshing to watch this today, showcasing the ideals of the immigrants to this country. The young today should learn what their ancestors went through, their beliefs and values instead of their protesting and rioting, working to destroy what makes this country great. My great grandmother was German. I enjoyed learning more of the immigrant experience, most of my information has been on the Irish side of the family. I am going to do more research on the German side.

    • @colliecoform4854
      @colliecoform4854 3 роки тому

      @A Tangerine I'm 66 and I seriously doubt that history, when written honestly, will revere these protesters for anything.positive.

  • @andres6868
    @andres6868 4 роки тому +6

    Some Volga Germans went to Argentina as well, where in the late 19th century there was a huge increase in lands taken from Indians and European farmers were badly needed. There are still villages in Santa Fe province and Entre Rios province where the majority today descends from those Volga Germans (though almost of them speak Spanish by now)

  • @kevinh.w.crabbe8748
    @kevinh.w.crabbe8748 3 роки тому +2

    This is good to know for my mom family was mennonite from Winkler Manitoba and last name was Giesbrecht back then so it may be part of our History that way

  • @paulsdancing5429
    @paulsdancing5429 6 років тому +2

    Thank you for very interesting history.

  • @Gabrieleengstrom
    @Gabrieleengstrom 4 роки тому +2

    There is so much to learn, I did not know this one

  • @user-uc5is9zb3w
    @user-uc5is9zb3w Рік тому +1

    My family are Germans who still live in Russia. My ancestors are Volga Germans . There are many of us here.

  • @homerjay2561
    @homerjay2561 Місяць тому

    Thanks so much!!

  • @sarahsuero
    @sarahsuero 4 роки тому +6

    This is meaningful, thank you! I’ve German roots.

  • @mariaklassen6288
    @mariaklassen6288 2 роки тому

    Thanks for your videos, I'm Mennonite my great grandparents lived in Russia and moved to Manitoba Canada from there they moved to Mexico, cuauhtemoc city Mexico 100 years ago. Now the Mennonite s are spread all over the world

  • @me-xx2gl
    @me-xx2gl 3 роки тому +3

    Grebels, rhunzas, and what my grandma called dina kugle, which may be kuchen, a sweet bread with strudel or fruit on top. My grandma traveled from russia to England and then to winnepeg during early pregnancy. I can't imagine.

  • @lieselotte6979
    @lieselotte6979 2 роки тому +1

    I was born in Kasachstan (Taldy - Kurgan) and we are German. 1978 we go back to Germany. My Family lives there 200 years.

  • @frankz4900
    @frankz4900 4 роки тому +3

    What a wonderful video

  • @susankeyes3392
    @susankeyes3392 3 роки тому

    Thank you

  • @imagembaby
    @imagembaby 2 роки тому

    I have ancestors on both sides. This is such a great video, I learned a lot from it. Thank you!

  • @nancyglover9915
    @nancyglover9915 6 років тому

    Thanks.

  • @bursucagrasa2152
    @bursucagrasa2152 4 роки тому

    thank you

  • @rebeccamcardle8071
    @rebeccamcardle8071 10 місяців тому +1

    So much of my family history makes sense now. I have a family bible in German from 1870. I was told of the program from Russia. I have a picture of me as a newborn 5th generation in front of a sod house 1960 north Alberta ..family recipes are very east European. Hudderite and Mennonite Mormon sentiments.

  • @gandyands
    @gandyands 2 роки тому

    I thank you for this video. I am 50% Volga Deutsch. It was very nice to see this resource.

  • @overconfidentcat
    @overconfidentcat 4 роки тому +18

    Descendant of Kansas Volga checking in. Wassup, fam? :D

    • @RealityHijacked
      @RealityHijacked 4 роки тому +2

      Catherine Kansas Volgas representing. What's good, fam?

    • @seanwirtz5951
      @seanwirtz5951 3 роки тому

      North Dakota Black Sea German (only half, dad is but mom's not)

    • @fkpral783
      @fkpral783 3 роки тому

      How do you identify yourself? German? American? Russian? A mix of all those identities?

    • @fkpral783
      @fkpral783 3 роки тому

      Ok interesting. So you consider yourself American but do you have some consideration toward Germany or Russia or do you view those two countries as any other one without any special treatment or sense of belonging?

    • @overconfidentcat
      @overconfidentcat 3 роки тому

      @@fkpral783 I don't consider myself anything but American. I just am American. I was born in America. I've never even left the county, so it would be strange to consider myself part of another county. The only things that I experience are the traditions passed down to me. I have no consideration toward other places I've never been to, only respect.

  • @bursucagrasa2152
    @bursucagrasa2152 4 роки тому +2

    danke fur diese video

  • @rookhoatzin
    @rookhoatzin 4 роки тому +1

    Germans searching for religious freedom moved to Russia. And it worked for a long time but my ancestors, Mennonites, refused to integrate, they spoke German and they kept themselves apart. They moved to the three hills area of Alberta eventually where they live even today, speaking German and keeping themselves apart. My grandfather became a Baptist preacher breaking from the Mennonite ways and moved to Oregon. He was very proud of his heritage though, speaking occasionally of how members of the Janz family rescued hundreds of German Russians as things got bad there. I wish i knew more of that history, this documentary speaks to me of my own history. For fun you might look up the Janz Brothers on youtube, they sung religious songs in German back in the 50's, 60's.

  • @ibold1000
    @ibold1000 3 роки тому +4

    Proud German from Russia. My family settled in Strasburg ND. They spoke about the Feist family, my grandmother was a Feist. I cant remember how she was related to the family they spoke of.

    • @H8MACHINE1
      @H8MACHINE1 3 роки тому +2

      Auch wenn die deutsche Kultur hier in dieser BRD von der Regierung
      ausgerottet wird bin ich froh, dass es auf dem Rest der Welt noch
      Deutsche gibt und diese wundervolle und wertvolle Kultur nicht sterben
      lassen.

    • @drewg7036
      @drewg7036 2 роки тому +1

      Did you see the Feist headstone in this video?

    • @neospoilershow2708
      @neospoilershow2708 Рік тому

      I am related to a Feist, from Straßburg as well but they came later on(late 1800s early 1900s)

  • @lilafeldman8630
    @lilafeldman8630 4 роки тому +4

    This is an awesome documentary! Thank you.

  • @natlenan6743
    @natlenan6743 3 місяці тому

    my ancestors are from Russia but they are German! I didn't know this was a thing. Thanks.

  • @wadde_fakman
    @wadde_fakman Рік тому +1

    My grandpa's mother was a Volga German and his father was an American. They married here in Alberta, Canada. Always lovely to hear about the past and our peoples. If anyone in these comments lives in this region of Russia and is familiar with the Volga Germans, her family was Mennonite. Is that one of the more common denominations among Volga Germans or is it more uncommon? Does it point me towards a specific area/group of villages where the Mennonites primarily were/are or are all denominations spread out pretty evenly among Volga Germans?

    • @larifari7473
      @larifari7473 9 місяців тому

      As far as know from that what my grandfather told, there were not so many mennonites. They lived apart and used a little bit different Dialekt. But I don't know where to locate them exactly.

  • @nelliefarr1540
    @nelliefarr1540 4 роки тому +3

    my grandfather and grandmother were germans fro. germany and formed the german community in phillippi south africa and they were a very hardworking community who farmed with pigs cows poultry and planted the land with vegetables built the german church zions kirche and the school.

  • @thestreamoflife1124
    @thestreamoflife1124 4 роки тому +2

    Excellent 👍👍 presentation. Perhaps you could do one about my people in Transylvania Rumania

  • @reelinanrockin
    @reelinanrockin 5 років тому +17

    I can’t watch this without feeling pride.

  • @crystalm4324
    @crystalm4324 4 роки тому +3

    My Dad’s family traces back through here and further back to Holland in the 1700’s (1640’s or so). They came to Canada through Russia.
    My Mom’s family came through Prussia, what is now Ukraine. Also back to 1700’s.

    • @crystalm4324
      @crystalm4324 3 роки тому +1

      @A Tangerine it actually sits mostly on the same place in maps from the 1800’s as the Ukraine directly does right now. So......I don’t know what to say except - look at the maps!?!?

  • @MrNeumerker
    @MrNeumerker 3 роки тому +2

    I know a Volga german family here in Sweden.

  • @777Author
    @777Author 2 роки тому

    Such a wonderful video! My father came from "Eigenfeld," a Lutheran German village in the Ukraine. I would love to know about that place.

  • @rogergeis181
    @rogergeis181 4 роки тому +2

    My greatgrandparents were from Frank Russia enjoyed the commentary

  • @vantasiaaway
    @vantasiaaway 3 роки тому +1

    Maternal grandparents are Volga Deutsch and migrated from Dreispitz Russia and settled in NE Colorado and farmed sugar beets. We are of the Mueller and Meier clans.

  • @ALEXANDRE-jx4dt
    @ALEXANDRE-jx4dt 3 роки тому +2

    We have a Lot of Deutscherussen here in Southern Brazil

  • @David-jd5lp
    @David-jd5lp 3 роки тому +2

    My relatives homesteaded in Schefield outside of Dickinson.