Review of the book "Marienberg: Fate of a Village"

The story of the Germans who stayed in Russia

By Dianne Ladd, Bakersfield, California

Family historians and genealogists will discover this book most

interesting and helpful. The introduction tells the history of Marienberg,

founded in 1861. The majority of Marienberg's first colonists came from

the villages of Glueckstal, Bergdorf, Neudorf and Kassel.

Following the historic narrative, the authors have written a brief family

genealogical history outlining the family pedigrees

household-by-household. The Berlin Document Center records were used to

make this inhabitant's listing for the colony of Marienberg. Each family

listing is primarily derived from the EWZ-Central Immigration Office

Records. Every German immigrant in the 1940's had to document his or her

German lineage before being reinstated as a German citizen. Some records,

as filed by each individual, are more complete than others; however, the

authors have attempted to complete each family pedigree using other

available sources.

Researchers of the Glueckstal colonists will find these family records

very valuable, when tracing family members who remained in Russia. Many of

us researching our families may not recognize the need to complete the

records of our distant cousins who remained in Russia. However, many of

these families have descendants who have immigrated to Germany, during the

past ten years and are now searching for their relatives in North

America. The Marienberg book completes the link between Russia and North

America for many of these families.

The third portion of the book has reprinted letters written to various

German-language newspapers in North America. Each Marienberg letter has

also been translated into English. A personal, historic insight into the

life and times of Marienberg and its neighboring colonies unfolds as the

letters are read in chronological order. These personal narratives can

inspire, devastate, captivate and inform the reader.

Not only are the letters an excellent source whereby daily-life in the

Russian villages is retold, but they are also of genealogical

significance. For example, on pages 151-152, there is a letter dated 13

February 1922. It first tells of the devastating famine gripping the

villagers and goes on to "praise the fortunate dead. I will list them

"The correspondent, Jakob Ahl, then lists many of those who died within

the last several years, including individuals from several villages, not

only Marienberg.

The family genealogical information, as accurate as it can be in a

personal letter, may be all that is available to us at this time. Hence,

the Marienberg book does oftentimes offer new and undocumented data and

insight into the life and times of our distant and not-so-distant cousins

who remained in Southern Russia.

"Marienberg: Fate of a Village" ("Marienberg: Schicksal eines Dorfes"), by

Johann Bollinger and Janice Huber Stangl, edited by Harold

M. Ehrman. Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, North Dakota State

University Libraries, 2000. 400 pages, English and German languages in one

volume. Softcover $35, hardcover $55.

To order, make check or money order payable to NDSU Library. Shipping and

handling: $4 in U.S., $5 in Canada, $6 elsewhere. All orders must be in

U.S. dollars. Include name, address and daytime phone number. Write

to: Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, Marienberg Book, NDSU

Libraries, PO Box 5599, Fargo, ND 58105-5599; or call 701-231-8416; or go

the Web site, http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/gerrus/books/bollinger.html