Family Photos and Stories

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Passing Down the Memories: A Folklore Sharing Project / by the Lincoln Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, May 2000.

Passing Down the Memories of Our Churches: A Folklore Sharing Project / by the Lincoln Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, March 2003.

Salter, Peter (2018, November 11). "When Sauerkraut Became Liberty Cabbage." Lincoln Journal Star.

"A century ago, Lincoln was a haven for German immigrants and Germans from Russia and other German speakers, with the city claiming its population to be about 50 percent of German extraction, said historian Jim McKee."

Museum preserves Germans from Russia cultural heritage (2014, Spring). Living Well, 6-7.

"In the heart of the South Salt Creek neighborhood across from Cooper Park sits the Germans from Russia Museum. The somewhat-overlooked Lincoln landmark hosts the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, an international organization dedicated to the discovery, collection, preservation and dissemination of information related to the history, cultural heritage and genealogy of Germanic settlers in the Russian Empire and their descendants."

Christensen, Madeline (2014, April 3). "Germans from Russia Museum looks to discover, preserve history of immigrants." Daily Nebraskan.

"The AHSGR headquarters and museum not only contain the largest collection of Volga German documentation and literature in the country but also displays donated collections of Russian uniforms, furniture and other antiques passed down through generations."

Anderson, Rebecca J. (2013). "Grandma Gabel, she brought Ralph": Midwifery and the Lincoln, Nebraska, Department of Health in the early twentieth century. Nebraska History, 94(4), 158-175.

"By the early twentieth century most American births were attended by physicians, but Lincoln's Germans from Russia preferred their traditional midwives. Unable to persuade women to switch to physicians, the local health department instead provided medical training for midwives--an example of a public health agency attempting to work within the value system of a community" (Nebraska History v. 94, no. 4 table of contents).

Katherine Krum in the Beet Fields

Susan Stoehr submitted this photo of her mother, Katherine Krum, in the beet field in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Her mother was from the Kukkus colony. Katherine is probably around 16 years old and the photo was taken around 1920.

The Lincoln Chapter first presented Folklore of the Germans from Russia: A Pageant at the Second Annual International Convention of the AHSGR on June 18, 1971. Its purpose was to record some of the history and folklore of Germans from Russia and was mentioned in an article in the Lincoln Sunday Journal and Star. The program booklet included such things as hymns, prayers, verses, and New Year wishes; and the cover design was based on the commemorative plates that were presented on June 17, 1970, by the Lincoln Chapter to all who were in attendance at the First International Convention. The pageant was presented at the Annual Convention for a second time in 1975. It was also presented at Everett Junior High School, in Lincoln, on April 23, 1972, and in McCook on May 6, 1972, for the Third Annual German Heritage Days. Much to the surprise of the cast members upon their arrival in McCook on May 5, it was discovered they had been listed in the McCook paper as having a float in the next day's parade. A float was quickly put together that depicted a family scene with a cook stove, wash tub, and mother cutting a large, round, freshly baked loaf of bread to feed the children.

Germans from Russia Phrases

This list was originally published in the North Star Chapter of Minnesota newsletter in 2004 or 2005. It was compiled by Gwen Schock Cowherd from Ron Vossler's "Dakota Kraut."

Kansch du a bissel Deutsch verzhle? - Can you speak a little German?

"Gott ist die Liebe" - "God is the Loved One" - deathbed song of the Black Sea Germans

Sehnsucht - a deep longing for something that is beyond reach

Ay, Jammer and Elend - oh, sorrow and misery

Hohlweg - lonely prairie paths which I earlier days connected the farmsteads

Die juengsht - the youngest of a large Black Sea German family

Grottla - crawling things like snakes and lizards

Gott im Himmel - God in Heaven

Yah, Kinder, kumm end ess - come children and eat

Waschspritz - tool to grind meat into sausage casings

"Es bist sat" - eat until you are full

iggled - feeling like shudders going up your back

Das Schwarze Meer - The Black Sea

Bakschuessel - large round baking pan

Hoena schlachta - chicken butchering

Baschtan - vine patch (melons, cucumbers)

Luftmensch - illustrate the gulf between certainty and dreaminess

Yah unkraut vergeht nicht - weeds don't die

Es steht im Bibel - it says in the Bible

Hanno yo, du hash es recht gsagt - You sure got that right

fahr a bissel um die Stadt - driving around town on a Saturday evening

Komm geh wir los - Germanic equivalent of "let's blow this pop stand"

Pass auf, oder du kriegsch es noch ein mal - watch out or you'll get more where that came from

Da ham in Russland - back in Russia

Du hash recht - you are right

Vorne, whooieee; hinter, pfooiesse - no matter how good you look on the surface, you can't escape the realities; the stink of life

Shamt dich numma - have you no shame

eina von unsera Leuta - one of his own people

Hocha dich anna - sit down

Tief-tauchers - toilet swimmers

Arbuse-arsches - watermelon butts

verdammta Schtetlers - damned city slickers

Besser dich, oder du bleibst so - improve yourself, or you'll stay that way

Ganz verruckt - questionable sanity

Oh mein Kreuz tut weh - Oh, my back really hurts