About the book:
In 1813 Czar Alexander I invited German settlers to make their home on the Black Sea as colonists. Within five to six generations, these immigrants, most of them coming from Prussia and Southwestern Germany, established a prosperous, organized community. They lived among Moldovans, Russians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Jews and other groups in peaceful neighborhoods as a small minority in a colorful variety of ethnic and religious communities. In 1918 the region came under Romanian rule. The resettlement of the Germans in autumn 1940 signified the end of a full 125-year settlement history.
The book describes the origin and form of settlement of the Germans in Bessarabia, their local autonomy and their rural culture steeped in Protestant ethics as well as the coexistence with other nationalities. The author closes with observations about today’s Bessarabia that in part belongs to the Republic of Moldova and to Ukraine.
List of Donors
“When I read the book in German, I knew instantly that this book should be in the personal library of all who are interested in the long and fateful history of the Bessarabian Germans. It is, without question, the authoritative history of the Germans in Bessarabia. Now this powerful translation by James Gessele will make the book widely available to North American readers.”
--- Allyn Brosz of Washington, D.C.
“With Ute Schmidt’s Bessarabia: German Colonists on the Black Sea we have been given an immense source of information, a reference book for any historical, economic, cultural, spiritual and social question of this group of Germans from Russia. The author follows the Bessarabian Germans from their origin, the beginning and development in Bessarabia, to their tragic scattering in 1940 and beyond. The different points are not only reported and documented but also aptly illustrated with many unique pictures, maps and graphs. It is a delight to read. An extensive bibliography and list of people and places complete this most studious work. This book is well written and of great benefit to anybody interested in Bessarabian Germans.”
--- Dr. Elvire Necker-Eberhardt, Calgary, Alberta
“Bessarabia: German Colonists on the Black Sea is the book of the decade. In one volume, carefully and beautifully translated into English, it opens new windows to life in South Russia from early settlement to the present day. This is a book that will put the history and contributions of the Germans from Russia on the global map.
In this volume there is new information about agricultural practices, animal husbandry, vine culture, social structures, inter-ethnic communications with many other nationalities, textile and farm equipment manufacturing, early establishment of orphan funds - that eventually evolved into the colonists’ own banking system - and much more. Also included is poignant detail about the flight to short-lived freedom, supplemented with never-before-seen color photos from the Nazi archives. While Bessarabia: German Colonists on the Black Sea is regional in title, anyone with roots to Russia will benefit from this well researched volume containing sources rarely used in books currently available in English.”
--- Carol Just, St. Louis Park, MN
“Through bountiful illustrations, well-grounded historical scholarship and clear writing, Ute Schmidt tells the sometimes heroic, sometimes tragic story of German people who came to live in a part of the Russian Empire known as Bessarabia. This book is remarkable for the detail it provides on a wide range of topics including village life, trade, cities, schools, religion, politics, diverse ethnic neighbors and the vicissitudes of dealing with changing borders and governments. English-language readers will find James Gessele’s expert translation of Ute Schmidt’s German text a pleasure to read.”
--- Dr. Nancy Herzog, Boulder, CO
“The Germans in what was once known as Bessarabia (and for the most part is today known as Moldova) constitute an important contingent of Germans in the Black Sea region. This book by Ute Schmidt is a masterful and comprehensive record of the history of the Bessarabian Germans, and this excellent translation by James Gessele now brings this history to English speakers.
As a translator of a variety of books and articles on the history and status of Germans from Russia, I consider this book among the very best – a beautifully illustrated and a comprehensive record on the Bessarabian Germans in particular, and Black Sea Germans in general. For the few survivors of the 1940 evacuation and the numerous descendants now living in Germany and the Americas this is an invaluable and readable record, and it is bound to serve as a useful reference."
--- Alex Herzog, Boulder, CO
About the translator:
James T. Gessele, Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a native of Mercer, North Dakota. His great-grandparents immigrated from Bessarabia and the Black Sea Region to North Dakota. Gessele received his Bachelor of Arts degree in German Studies and Biology from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, and an M.A.T. degree in German from Stanford University. He taught high school German as a foreign language for several years in Minnesota. Gessele worked four years teaching English at the Viktoriaschule (academic high school) in Essen, Germany. He then took up a career in civil engineering in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Retiring in 2000, Gessele has devoted his free time to family heritage, recording of local history, and German to English translation of books relating to the Bessarabian Germans. He has authored a historical sketch of his hometown lake resort, co-authored, Memories: Mercer, North Dakota, 100 Years, 1905-2005. He served on the Board of Directors, Germans from Russia Heritage Society and as the Society's lead editor of "Heritage Review". Gessele translated the memoir of a Soviet German, Though My Soul More Bent, published by GRHS in 2003.
n 2011, the hardcover book, Bessarabia: German Colonists on the Black Sea, authored by Ute Schmidt, translated German to English by James T. Gessele, was published by GRHC. In 2014, Gessele translated the GRHC published book, Another World: From the Life of Germans in Bessarabia, Sketches & Poems.
In 2016, Gessele translated the hardcover book German to English, Sunflowers & Thistles: Bessarabian Germans Speak Out, authored by Elvire Bisle-Fandrich published by GRHC.
