Dorfbericht
Village Reports

Because of the instability of the times, only some (about 80) reports were completed, mostly from the area between the Bug and the Dnieper rivers (none for the Odessa area nor for the Molotschna area). These reports were apparently lost for many years, and then were brought to the United States and housed in the Library of Congress.

I became aware of these reports at the time of the American Historical Society for Germans from Russia's annual conference which was held in Calgary, 1995 when microfilmed copies of some of the villages were available for review. A full list would be available from the AFHS, as well as photocopies of the individual reports. The introduction provided by Adam Giesinger identified that part or complete reports were available for the following and other villages on microfilm (I do not have the complete list):

• Kronsthal, Mennonite, Chortitza, founded 1809
• Blumengart, Mennonite, Chortitza, founded 1824
• Burwalde, Mennonite, Chortitza, founded 1803
• Neuenburg, Mennonite, Chortitza, founded 1789
• Mariental (formerly Marienfeld), Catholic, east of Jamburg,founded 1873
• Pestshany-Brod, near Pomoshnaya, northeast of Pervomaysk
• Rosenort, Mennonite, Sagradovka, founded 1875
• Luisendorf, Leonopol, and Genovevental, north of Novaya-Odessa - typewritten histories
• Christina (Neu-Sofronowka), Catholic, Voznesensk, founded 1878
• Kronsweide, Mennonite, Chortitza, founded 1789
• Chortitza, Mennonite, Chortitza, founded 1789
• Eichenfeld, Mennonite, Chortitza - only a list of those murdered
• Eichenfeld, Petersdorf, Paulheim, Reinfeld, Gerhardstal, and Mariental - some information
• Rosengart, Mennonite, Chortitza, founded 1824
• Hochfeld, Mennonite, Chortitza, founded 1869
• Alexanderfeld, Mennonite, Sagradovka, founded 1871
• Osterwick, Mennonite, Chortitza, founded 1812
• Ettingerfeld, Josefstal, founded 1871
• Killmannstal, Prischib, founded 1894
• Nikolaital, Mennonite, taken over by Prischib
• Kudaschewka (Hindenburg), northeast of Sofievka, founded 1884
• Katarinowka, Mennonite, founded 1889
• Sterndorf, Volhynian, founded 1924

A recently released book by Richard H. Walth, "Flotsam of World History: The Germans from Russia between Stalin and Hitler" reviews these materials extensively, providing statistical and descriptive summaries of the material they contain. One of the reports (for Kronau) is duplicated in the book (available from Michael Miller mmmiller@badlands.nodak.edu for $26 (US) plus ship/handling).

Associated with this site are translations for two villages, so far: Kronsthal and Osterwick. Additional translations will become available as time permits, and focussing on the Mennonite villages. If others would like to provide electronic copies of translations, I would be prepared to provide the coding necessary to put them onto the internet.

• Kronsthal:
  • Narrative - summary population statistics; brief history of village description of educational opportunities, cultural life, health and welfare, church records, and economy; and summary of "Economic and Political Hardships in the Bolshevik Era" as well as narrative examples of the hardships
  • List of over 130 Marriages - full name of man and woman (including maiden name of woman), marriage year, age at marriage and number of children
  • List of 70 Banished Persons - full name, birth year, date of banishment
  • List of 21 Abducted Persons - full name, birth year, date abducted, age when abducted, and whether the person returned
  • List of 2 Persons who starved to death - full name, birthyear, age at death, and occupation
  • List of 7 Persons who served in the Red Army - full name, birthyear, and dat of entry into military
  • List of 1 Person Murdered - full name, birthdate,
• Osterwick:
  • Narrative - summary population statistics; brief history of village description of educational opportunities, cultural life, health and welfare, church records, and economy; and summary of "Economic and Political Hardships in the Bolshevik Era" as well as narrative examples of the hardships
  • List of over 350 Marriages - full name of man and woman (including maiden name of woman), marriage year, age at marriage and number of children
  • List of 81 Banished Persons - full name, birth year, date of banishment
  • List of 213 Abducted Persons - full name, birth year, date abducted, age when abducted, and whether the person returned
  • List of Church Record Books - birth, baptismal and death records. Unfortunately, this is just a list of the books and a description of their contents, not the contents themselves. I welcome correspondence regarding their possible whereabouts.
  • List of 33 Persons who served in the Red Army - full name, birthyear, and dat of entry into military
  • List of 3 Persons Murdered - full name, birthdate,

Significant credit has to be given to Ann G. Rempel and Dora Epp of Calgary, Alberta who spent many Sundays reviewing the microfilm copies under magnifying glasses, poring through dictionaries, puzzling over gothic script, and reliving some of their own experiences as they read the words recorded by the village officials.

This started out for me as a simple exercise in obtaining genealogical data and ended up being an opportunity to learn to know these two amazing women and hear from them how common and horrific the experiences of World War II were. They have contributed significantly to my perception of Europe in the 1940s. We share these translations in the hopes that they contribute to genealogy and historical understandings for you too. -- Judith Rempel