This obituary card, courtesy of Norma Holzmann, documents the death of Alejandro Holzmann, born in 1893 in Josefstal.

Rightly or wrongly, my documentation courtesy of draft records, state that he was actually born January 28, 1894.  So who is correct?  We’d have the have the actual Church record to check.

Alejandro was the son of Kristof Holzmann and Anna Margareta Schmidt.  The draft record states that the family went to “America” in 1904.  They eventually settled in Pueblo San José, Buenos Aires, Argentina, close to Coronel Suarez.

Also in this town, was his brother Alois Holzmann, who was confirmed in 1905 according to Church records from San José:

Alois was born April 8, 1883, also in Josefstal.  What happened to him? Perhaps someone will let us know. There were other families from Josefstal who also settled there…I will be documenting those over the coming months.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!