In His Hands: Journey from Bessarabia to America

By Edith R. Grosshans Gruebele Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, North Dakota State University Libraries, Fargo, ND, 2002, 116 pages, Softcover.
$35.00
Cover of In His Hands: Journey from Bessarabia to America
Cover of In His Hands: Journey from Bessarabia to America
Edith R. Grosshans Gruebele, Lodi, California.
Edith, Jacob, Werner and Marie Grosshans, Herscheid, Germany, 1945.
Grandmother Marie Wieland in Kazakhstan.
Neu Elft Steppenbrunnen well in the Steppe.
Church in Kulm, Bessarabia.
Lichtental school.

The Germans from Russia Heritage Collection is pleased to provide this important publication authored by Edith R. Grosshans Gruebele, Lodi, California, In His Hands: Journey from Bessarabia to America.

The book shares the life of Edith R. Grosshans Gruebele who was born in Friedenstal, Bessarabia in 1938. The story includes the following sections: 1) Leaving My Birthplace 1940 and Life in Camp Usti, Sudentenland 1940-1941; 2) Resettled and Life in Poland 1941; 3) Fleeing from the Russians 1945; 4) Life in Germany including WWII in Herscheid, 1945-1956 and Markgroeningen 1946-1952; 5) Immigrating to the United States of America 1952 including Journey Across the Big Ocean, Arrival in Lodi and the Gruebele Family.

The author includes these Appendix to the book: A) My Grandfather's Recollections; B) Memories of My Grandfather; C) Excerpt from the book in German language, Friedentstal in Bessarabia by Friederich Ernst; and D) thirty-seven recent photographs of Bessarabian villages: Alt-Elft, Friedentstal, Kulm, Lichtental, Neu-Elft, Paris, Sarata, Taurtino, and Teplitz.

Denise Gruebele Vermeltfoort, daughter and friend of the author, writes in her Forward: "As I read this story of my Mother's life, In His Hands, it is clear that the one constant in her life was God. God led my mother through difficult times. As you read this book, you will see God's hand, leading the Grosshans family through life on a rural farm in Bessarabia, through the horrors of wars, immigrating to a new country, and rebuilding a life to pass onto generations to come. Life in Bessarabia was full of love, friendship, community, and wealth. As I began to put pen to paper I was struck with the sense of how little I really know my Mother".