The Volga Germans
Subtitle: Krasnoyar (aka Krasnojar), Chicago, everywhere : their stories, their words : a compendium of history and family
By: researched, compiled, edited and published by George Valko.
Edition: Family ed.
Series: cover shown is Volume 1 of 3 volumes
Publisher: G. Valko
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Chicago, IL
Language: eng
Subjects: Russian Germans -- North America.; Russian Germans -- South America.; Germans -- Russia (Federation) -- Volga River Region.
Description: George Valko has assembled a great collection of Volga information under "one roof,"
so to speak. Using a wide variety of sources, which he credits generously, George relates the stories of
those Volga Germans who lived along the Karaman River; emigrated to Chicago, IL and Sheboygan,
WI; those who were deported to Siberia in 1941; and of the survivors who, when the Berlin Wall fell,
became the Aussiedler. Woven into this landscape are the stories of George's ancestors.

The book has plenty of maps, charts and photos along with personal family recollections of life in Russia as well as in the USA and especially Jefferson Park in Chicago. Many of the more interesting remembrances are from Valko's Franz and Veller cousins. Since I grew up in the Mayfair neighborhood [adjacent to Jefferson Park] of Chicago the street names and other identifying landscape mentioned were familiar to me and I could picture reminiscences clearly.

George has spent ten years corresponding with Volga Germans in Germany and Russia. You can read first hand experiences as they were deported from their beloved Volga to the Trudarmee in Siberia. I especially liked the discussion regarding "Beinamen, clan names and nicknames" - how, why and when they were used. The nicknames have always fascinated me because they are used in all ethnic groups to further define the person one is trying to identify.

My criticism with the book is mainly cosmetic. It would be easier reading if there had been more use of white space. For example: spacing between many of the paragraphs; blank pages between the individual chapters and essays. As it is, one section runs into the next which probably only annoys former journalism students like myself.

If you wish to purchase a copy of the Valko book please contact George Valko, 325 W. Belden,
Chicago, IL, 60614, phone 773.477.8619. Check out his website at: http://www.georgevalko.com
330 pages, 8½×11, plastic comb binding, color covers, photos, maps, charts
Notes: English, German, and Russian.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Vol. 2: 1st ed.
Table of contents: value: v. 1. A compendium of history and family; value: v. 2. Franz/Frantz family; value: v. 3. Veller/Feller family; value: The Volga Germans, Krasnoyar, Chicago, Everywhere Volume 1, Their stories, their words A compendium of history and family Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3 Discover your roots, GRHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5 Preface, FROM CATHERINE TO KHRUSHCHEV, Adam Giesinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Printed invitation for Settling the Volga, English language translation by Dr. Horst Oberquelle . . . . . . . 7-10 Printed invitation for Settling the Volga, original document, German language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-14 Krasnoyar Colony description from 1798 census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-16 Krasnoyar Colony family surnames from 1798 census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Krasnoyar Colony charts of selected farm activity from 1798 census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-19 Hesse-Darmstadt to Krasnoyar, leaving July/August, 1766, arriving at Krasnoyar 20July1767 . . . . . . . 20-25 1897 Russian Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 “Kate the Great” email thread, not all German Russians are Volga Germans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27-37 Beginning of the Volga German Emigration to America, Dr. Igor Pleve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38-39 Vsia Rossia, turn of the century Russian ‘Yellow Pages’ / index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Emigration from the Volga to Brazil and Argentina c. 1878, Adam Giesinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41-42 Franz family, Krasnoyar to Argentina, Nestor Franz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43-49 Emigration from Russia to Parana, Brazil 1876-1878, Pastor Wilhelm Fugmann, 1927, translated . . . 50-64 Volga River photos 1997, Marina Chutcheva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Collectivization and Industrialization, Library of Congress/Russian Archives exhibit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Krasnoyar Recollections 1927-1941, Alexander Groh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-82 Wiedergeburt/Rebirth movement, Eric J. Schmaltz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Alexander Groh selected letters, 1941 deportation, trudarmee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84-90 Slaves of the 20th Century, trudarmee recollections, Gottlieb Eirich, 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Deportations of Germans from Saratov 1941, published by AHSGR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92-93 Deportation and trudarmee map, 1941-1956, Heinrich Dill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94-95 Krasnoyar trudarmee victims, partial list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96-97 The Gulag, Library of Congress/Russian Archives exhibit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98-99 Selected letters from Volga Germans, Imherr, Feller, Leinweber, Alexander Groh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100-105 Krasnoyar school and choir group photos, 1938-1940 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106-109 Chicago St. John’s Church school photos, 1938-1940 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110-113 Siberia (3) stories, Alexander Groh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114-121 Deportations, Library of Congress/Russian Archives exhibit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 August, 1941-Deportations, Adam Giesinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Famine 1932-1933, Library of Congress/Russian Archives exhibit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124-125 Maria Franz Raisich letter and photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126-127 Hildegard Franz letter and photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128-131 Adina Franz Chutcheva biography, Marina Chutcheva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132-140 Hildegard Franz letter, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Jacob Franz family, Krasnoyar, Engels, Achinsk, Siberia, notes and photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142-143 Veller family, Krasnoyar to Germany, Margaret Veller Frebel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144-159 Before the Voyage, Veller family memories, Molly Veller Reimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160-163 Your Highway tax dollars at work, I 90 & I 94 split Jefferson Park and Mayfair, George Valko, . . . 164-166 Jacob Veller, letters, emails, photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167-171 The Search for Jacob Veller, George Valko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172-191 NKVD/NKWD, the secret police, Library of Congress/Russian Archives exhibit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192-193 Letter, Friedrich Deckert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194-195 Khakassia region, Siberia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Repression in Russia, three documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199-201 A Big Ship and a Small Boy, Veller family to America 1923, Henry Veller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202-206 German Russian Settlement in the United States c. 1930, Richard Sallet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207-210 Krasnoyar Parish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 German Russian Chicago, Lutheran churches, Jefferson Park and Mayfair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212-220 Memories of the Brotherhood (Brüderschaft), Jefferson Park and Mayfair, Rev. Edward R. Franz . 220-221 Jefferson Park German Russian history, Bernie Molay and Anna Kraus Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222-234 Settlement in Sheboygan, “A Time for Reflection 1892-1992,” Fred Zitzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235-244 The Goldmann Family audio tapes, memories of the Volga Germans at Sheboygan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245-252 Reminiscences (Veller family Chicago/Mayfair), Ruth Johanna Martin Hart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253-255 Reflections on Life (Franz family Chicago/Mayfair), Joanne Eleanor Franz Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . 256-260 Czar Nicholas II, 1918 and DNA, Associated Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Karl & Anna Schweigert, Russia to Germany to Mayfair, George Valko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262-263 Turmoil at the Volga, The Russian Revolution, three documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264-267 Famine 1921-1922, five documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268-273 Karl Franz Letter, recalling Krasnoyar and Kazakhstan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274-275 Wolgadeutsche (4) stories about Krasnoyar, published at Berlin c. 1920s, translated . . . . . . . . . . . . 276-285 Letter, Recollections of Krasnoyar, c. 1920s, Alexander Groh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286-287 Krasnoyar photos, 1975-1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288-289 Verlobungs-und Hochzeitssitten im Wolgagebiet, Von J. Toepfer, 1924, German language . . . . . . . 290-292 Biebel, Missions und Unterstützungskassenfest im Krasnojar, Friedensbote, 1913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293-294 My Veller Grandparents, Montrose Ave., Chicago/Mayfair, Florence Reimer Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . 295-300 Ellis Island Denied, recalling emigration and Chicago/Mayfair 1923-1935, Molly Veller Reimer . . . . 301-303 Beinamen, clan names and nicknames, D. Schmidt, W. Burbach and C. Brill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304-308 The Farm house on Avondale Ave., Chicago/Mayfair 1924-1956, Henry and Chuck Veller . . . . . . . 309-313 United Order of Wolga Germans, Chicago/Mayfair, 18Nov1950, reprinted pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314-326 German Russians today (1995), emigration from Russia and Kazakhstan to Germany, OMRI . . . . . . 327-329 One page history of Germans from Russia, edited from AHSGR, 1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330 MAPS Wiesenseite Volga map, Stumpp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Krasnoyar Colony topographic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Wiesenseite Volga map, Koch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Asovo German Russian district South of Omsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 78 Pfalz 1789 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Entre Rios, Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Volga German Colonies in Paraná, Brazil, 1927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Krasnoyar plat map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70-71, 287 Siberia, Kazakhstan regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78-79, 136 Yenisei river settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Heinrich Dill trudarmee map (see also page 89) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94-95 Fiddichow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Chicago, Jefferson Park, Mayfair neighborhoods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164, 225, 312 Tashkent, Uzbekistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Yenisei River delta, Ladigan Yar, Dudinka, Noralisk, Dixon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Chernogorsk, Minusinsk, Khakassia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188-189, 198 Kirghizia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Chicago, Montrose & Avondale Avenues prior to 1956 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Krasnoyar PHOTOS . . . . . . . . . 75, 105-109, 152, 168-169, 211, 257, 263, 272, 274-275, 277, 288-289, 292