In Search of a Home: The Germans from Russia

By Dr. Richard H. Walth Laumann-Verlagsgesellschaft, Dülmen, Germany, 1991, 304 pages, Hardcover, English and German text.
$50.00
Cover of In Search of a Home: The Germans from Russia
Cover of In Search of a Home: The Germans from Russia
The German villages of South Russia distinguished themselves in every respect by a certain prosperity as diligence and thrift were inexorable - a trait registered with all ambitious men. The Russians enriched their proverbial terms with "German punctuality," "German tidiness" and "German reliability". The church spire in a German village was clearly visible from a great distance. (page 94 in book)
And this was then in Siberia: Instead of the solidly constructed farmhouse there was now a small timberhouse with two tiny rooms, but even this "luxury" could only be obtained after a long time of banishment lasting until 1955. (page 96 in book)
Instead of the marble gravestone - now a plain wooden cross from everybody. (page 96 in book)
Early morning exercise in front of the Hoffnungstal Central School (page 127 in book)

The Germans from Russia Heritage Collection is pleased to provide the book, In Search of a Home: The Germans from Russia, by well known author and scholar, Dr. Richard H. Walth. The text is complete with both the English and German languages.

The author was born in a German village near Odessa in 1924. He knows the Germans from Russia and their course of life from his own experiences. His work as a teacher in Germany taught him to explain things not only clearly and interestingly but also objectively and not with the necessary sensitivity for the interests of the natives and other residents. This book will be a source of information and an introduction to a new field of history.

Dr. Udo Arnold, Profesor of History, University of Bonn, Germany states: "Recent political developments have brought about a worldwide interest in Germans from Russia. The author covers this need for information in this book. the great advantage of this work is that it illustrates the history by way of example. Neu Glückstal, a daughter colony of Glückstal, founded north of Odessa, Ukraine in 1860 is taken to explain the history and life of Germans from Russia until now. Neither the teachers' training college which the author attended himself nor the migration from Russia to America and Canada have been forgotten. These are the facts which give this work its "exemplary value from the fate of a whole ethnic group."

Professor Karl Götz comments: "This book illustrates the rotation clearly in text, pictures and documents, which make it an important historical document on the life and work of a group of Germans. The book can be recommended to many readers."

Michael M. Miller, Germans from Russia Bibliographer, NDSU Libraries, Fargo, states in the book's introduction: "Dr. Walth's bilingual book about the Black Sea colony and its teachers' training college of Selz/Prischib/Lutbrandau provides a significant contribution to the literature of the Germans from Russia. Richard Walth's work will have a lasting value for future generations."