Josefstal – Skripalovo Russia

Posted By egerk on January 13, 2012

  With all of there priests shot by 1937, and all of their Churches forbidden to operate, all that was left for the socialists in the USSR was to tear down the churches.

Soviet officials must have asked for permission to tear down the Church in Josefstal, by the content of this document.  That it was deplorable condition may or may not be correct….after all…you could be shot if you have any public inklings toward religion and even it’s temples.

But no matter.  Soviet officials documented the final days of the Catholic Church in Josefstal. Originally built in 1904 with the help of parish priest Alois Oks (Shot in Novosibirsk also in 1937), the Church was torn down as was requested.

Here is the translation of the document from the Josefstal “Secret” archives.  (GAVO Fond 2659) (Thanks to Hugh Lichtenwald for the accurate translation)

To: The Josefstal German Soviet, Canton Erlenbach.

Excerpt Nr. 52 of the minutes of the meeting of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the  Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Volga Germans, June 25, 1937.

Discussed: The request of the Erlenbach Canton Executive Committee concerning the demolition of the church building in Josefstal.

Decided: Considering the fact that the existing church building in the village of Josefstal, which according to records of the State Building Control, is “demormiert” (untranslatable word) and is quickly becoming so rundown that it will not be able to be used for cultural purposes by the village, it is permitted that the Erlenbach Canton Executive Committee dismantle (literally, clear away) the existing church building of the village of Josefstal and use the building materials for the construction of a cinema in the upper part of the village (“im Dorfe Oberdorf.”).

The Erlenbach KVK (Canton Executive Committee) is obligated to use the building materials for cultural purposes for the village of Josefstal.

Chairman: A. Welsch

Secretary: Schlegel

Correct: Director of the Allg.Abtl. (probably Allgemeine Abteilung–general/overall, Section/Department) of the Central Executive Committee of the ASSRdWD (Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Volga Germans).

A. Nuss

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Posted By egerk on December 13, 2011

The above photograph, taken in or near Josefstal, is of persons unknown…only that the individuals were residents of Josefstal.

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Posted By egerk on December 13, 2011

This photograph was taken in Josefstal, probably around 1920.  On the left is Margareta (Stremel) Gerk, wife of Michael Gerk.  The girl on the right is unknown.

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Posted By egerk on December 5, 2011

This photograph was taken circa 1917 in the Volga German village of Josefstal.  The family consists of the Johan Georg Gerk family. Standing in the upper right hand side is Paul Gerk, who would escape from Russia and travel to Canada in 1924.

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Posted By egerk on November 2, 2011

I’ve made a few updates to the census, correcting some of my translations of last names.  Please note that I’ve compared many of the names to the names from other villages, to attempt to translate them correctly.

This census is found at: GAVO Fond 299, Opis 1, Delo 375

Enjoy!

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Posted By egerk on September 26, 2011

What is GAVO and what is the Josefstal Fond?  GAVO is the Russian acronym for the Volgograd State Archives in Russia.  A Fond is a Russian word for a File series.

In this case, Fond 270 is the Josefstal Fond.  Originally part of the archives in Engels, the Josefstal Fond was moved to the State archives in Volgograd.

It is a Fond I have been privileged to consult extensively.  I am putting the Russian version up here for those who might be interested.  An English translation is soon to follow.

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Tags: Archives, Fond 270, Josefstal, Volgograd

Posted By egerk on September 2, 2011

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Posted By egerk on August 11, 2011

Josefstal was made part of a large collective farm under Soviet rule.  Collective farms consisted of a number of villages that banded together.

Those collective farms often published newspapers filled with Soviet propaganda, and little “real” news.

This specific newspaper, was published by the Erlenbach Communist Party committee.  It is dated 16 January 1938.

Many thanks to Alexander Spack for posting this online.

I’ve converted it to a pdf file for easier viewing.

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Posted By egerk on June 21, 2011

Vladimir Kakorin has done a great job of documenting through photography, scores of Volga German villages. He travels out on a regular basis, taking great photographs of history.

His complete archive of photo shoots can be found here.

In June of this year he documented the remains of Josefstal.

The photographs are wonderful!  On my frequent visits, I missed the grave of Joseph Winter…which Vladimir found!  Well done!!

Thank you Vladimir!

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Posted By egerk on April 8, 2011

The Famine of the 1930′s was a famine that was constantly denied by the government of the USSR.  While families in the West received letter after letter begging for money because of looming starvation, Soviet Officials denied anything was wrong.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, and with the opening of the archives, slowly but surely, documents have been published that were never intended to see the light of day.

This is such a document.

Entitled  Secret summary of data collected by March 20 th , 1933 prepared by the Secret Operations department of the territorial representative of OGPU [Joint  Main Political Directorate] of the USSR for Lower Volga region [of the Russian Federation] regarding food shortages. Original document. March 28 th , 1933. Provided by the Central Archive of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.  (Fond 2, Record Series 11, File 56, Pages 125 – 132, 136 – 137.)

It details some of the reports being compiled of the famine.  For Josefstal, interestingly, named “Iosif-Stal” (as if the village was named after Josef Stalin- funny but not true) it (top of page 7) reports that during the months February and March 1933, there were 20 deaths from starvation registered in the village. Most of them were the villagers who “had returned to join the collective farm (again)”.  The bodies reportedly layed around without being buried for several days. (Former villagers tell me it was because no one had the strength to bury them).

This is the first “official” acknowledgement of the famine, and that Josefstal villagers were dying.

Of course, the famine raged in many areas of Russia, and various Russian archives have put relevant documents online where you can view them here.

(Thanks to Tanja Schell and my wife Marina for translation)

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