My ancestors proudly owned their land - and so do I.
Our ancestors used their willpower and smarts to reach their
objectives in Russia. They all made their start on the same
platform, with a homestead of about 60 desjatines (65 hectares) of
land, a building lot, a handful of tools, some livestock and a good
hold on the Bible. With these they stepped forward. Many stories
have been written or passed on by family and the stories are all
about the same. The accounts give a good record of what happened to
our family and what became of their lifestyle and culture.
Our ancestors who came to Russia brought their traditions and
customs with them. This enabled them to live a unified life. They
came for the land, and they received land - lots of it. The
ownership of land was the asset that secured one's position in life.
Then it was a great help to have a large family. One hand washes the
other, but in the end it all had to be shared.
My ancestor Heinrich Opp moved from Gluckstal, Kherson Province to
Teplitz, Bessarabia in 1837 - 20 years after Teplitz was
established. Heinrich was a Blacksmith and in his trade he made
wagons and repaired various kinds of farm equipment. He soon was in
charge of the community workshop that made and repaired equipment
needed for farming. He worked in this capacity for five years, by
which time he had saved enough money to buy a homestead in 1842.
This was a good move - he then farmed in the summer and was a wagon
maker in the winter. His income and position were secure. Although
he died young in 1849 at the age of 39, he had set up his son to
be self-sufficient by teaching them the trade of wagon-making as
well as farming. The family's success at the trade continued, but
the farmland was divided by inheritance. When the homestead was
purchased in 1842, it was already of reduced size - not a full 60
desjatines. By the time it was my Dad's turn to inherit land, his
share was down to three
gwand (plots) that totaled 6.75 hectares.
My Zacher ancestor also was a latecomer to Teplitz. He purchased a
full homestead - both houselot and farming acreage - but this family
also was not able to hold the homestead together. By the time my
grandfather Simon Zacher inherited land, his farm (including what my
grandmother brought into the marriage) totaled 28 hectares.
My ancestor Gerber was able to double his land holdings through
smart moves, including purchasing land in eastern Russia. But the
land that he owned in eastern Russia was lost to the Bolsheviks, and
his land holdings in Teplitz were divided among his many
descendants who ended up with small parcels. Some ended up with no
land at all. This was typical of most families in Teplitz - our
population was growing but the land was not.
By 1940 Teptliz had only 12 families who owned full-sized
homesteads. The rest had been depleted through the heritage mode.
Over the years, things got very tight in Teplitz. A way out for some
folks was to work at a trade. That worked for a while until too many
people flooded into the same trade. Other people found relief by
renting out their small pieces of land. These small pieces did not
justify keeping horses and equipment, but were rented out on a 50/50
harvest take. Farmers who rented several of these small plots could
then improve their own position by working a total amount of acreage
that could be competitive. This type of cooperation was helpful all
around.
Our traditional way of life in time gave way to progress. Industry
was very slow in developing, and for a long time this held
down employment opportunities. But eventually we could no longer
hold on to our antiquated system. Poverty started to set in and so
did the effects of inbreeding. Some folks gathered their courage and
moved on to America. Others waited until time made a change in
direction for them. For 126 years in Bessarabia we managed to
protect our family and culture. We lived peacefully, focused on
doing well to provide for our future. All of that came to an abrupt
end in 1940. Our hard work and good will came to disappointment. It
is difficult to describe the sad feelings of those of us who were
ripped away from our adopted homeland that had given us life, had
cared for us, and that we so dearly loved.
As we left, we paid respect to the graves of our ancestors. Along
the road we said good-bye many times to newly dug graves. Eventually
we arrived back in the land of our ancestors. While we were homeless
as we left Bessarabia, we were not poor - we carried on in the
strength of the spirit of our ancestors. What a great feeling it was
when we could once again feel part of life. I can still feel on my
shoulders the hands of my ancestors pushing me on. In their hard
work for success in their new life in South Russia, they had
been thinking of us, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Now it is our responsibility to think of them as we lead our
children on to a good life - a life where you work for what you get
and you are thankful in God's name.
My ancestors believed that owning land was essential to prosperity.
By owning land they were able to feed and bring up their families. I
agree with that philosophy. Of the inheritance my family once owned
on paper, nothing is left except the spirit - the ideal. I find
myself fortunate to own a 60 x 130 foot lot with a building on it.
As a former refugee kid, that is huge. Owning our home has enabled
Helgard and I to bring up our family, give them a home, feed them,
and provide a solid foundation for their future. In God's name, I
cannot ask for more. Come time, even though my grave will not
be next to my ancestors, I will be next to them in my eternal life.
Every prayer they prayed was a step closer to being united with God
and to have peace. My thanks go out to them.
May you all rest in peace.
Estate Sharing
As far back as our memory takes us, the father was the head of the
family and the mother was the caregiver. The children obeyed their
parents with utmost respect. That was what our ancestors knew best,
and in Russia they survived by it. To have a large family was a
blessing, and in the strength of the family our ancestors
succeeded in establishing a strong foundation. Even though in the
beginning their life in South Russia was bitter and disappointing
for many reasons, they didn't quit. Piece by piece they shaped the
land into their home. My mother's mind was sharp to the day she died
at age 90. Her love for her parents and for Bessarabia was with her
to the end. Over the years she told us many stories about her life
in Teplitz. They expressed such deep feelings that we remember these
stories to this very day.
From their arrival in Russia, our ancestors planned for the future,
both for themselves and for their children. They always considered
how to move ahead in the best way. As land was divided through
inheritance, the plots became smaller and smaller. One way out was
for the sons to learn a trade, but since our people were farmers and
valued the land, even working in a trade was not always looked on as
the answer. When it was time for the older children to marry, the
parents always looked for suitable spouses that would bring land
into the marriage. They wanted their children's marriages to be as
"economical" as possible - that the marriage would give their
children a better advantage economically. The youngest son then was
given the
Hof where the parents could stay on in their
ausgeding (retirement). The parents often retained the
upper hand in the household, even after the youngest son brought
home a wife. This was the position of the parents - to guide their
children through life.This system was in use in old Germany, long
before our people went to Russia. It remained the custom for many
generations in Russia. As time went on, the custom shifted. "Times
change," and time changes things.
I will now tell the story of two families, Zacher and Opp, and how
they sent their children away to married life. My Zacher
grandparents had three daughters - each rejected the idea of getting
married to a farmer. In this they had their parent's consent and
support. The youngest daughter, however, did eventually marry a man
with lots of land - and servants. My mom married a tradesman with
very little financial backing but who did have a good reputation,
who was honest and hard working. Mom's other sister was not
interested in a farmer nor in a blacksmith - she never married.
My grandma Opp was a widow with three boys and two girls. She had
very little money, but her good name in town was like money in the
bank. The Opp boys worked in the wagon-making trade and also did
roof framing. The latter occupation was not always paid in cash but
rather in bartering goods and services the Opp's needed. One
important barter resulted in obtaining a team and wagon for hauling
goods or for transportation. On that system my dad built a home and
shop. He did end up taking out a small loan, but it was an amount he
could manage.
When my dad's older sister married, she received linen, bedding and
some furnishings that helped her to set up house - this was a dowry
befitting a low-income family girl. Dad's other sister wasn't
interested in marrying a farmer either - her mother knew the
feeling. Not finding the right man, she started a business sewing
bedding.
When Mom and Dad got married, Dad was "set for life" as far as
housing was concerned. This was a better beginning than many. My
mother contributed the following to her marriage: 1 dairy cow, 5
sheep, 12 chickens, 6 geese, 6 ducks, 2 piglets, dishes and cutlery,
linen, bedding, a sofa and lots of good advice. More things came
into their possession as goods were left behind when somebody died.
Nothing was set aside because it was not modern or up-to-date. When
you have little, everything fits in and looks good. That to us was
the good old times.
Savings & Thrift
Every parent in Bessarabia worked and saved toward their
children's well being. A primary consideration for the family was to
provide a good start for the children. Goods and property changed
hands, but not always for cash. Often livestock was given in order
to produce and reproduce in order to sustain the life of the family.
A look at the livestock my mother brought to her marriage
exemplifies the trend. The livestock was meant to reproduce and also
produce goods that could provide food, clothing, bedding and income.
Every animal played a large part in our existence.
The sheep in Bessarabia were an important source of wool for
clothing, milk for nourishing cheese, and meat for food. Chickens
supplied food, ducks and geese supplied both feathers and meat. If
ducks and geese were kept for more than a year, their feathers were
plucked in between winters, the same as you shear a sheep. A growing
family always needed feathers for bedding, and this required
collecting a lot of feathers year in and year out. To this day we
still have feathers collected by my grandma Zacher in Teplitz. They
have been cleaned over the years and are still in use today in small
pillows. Beside yielding feathers, the geese were also force-fed to
fatten them up, and then their meat was smoked. This was a great
delicacy.
In those times, a woman was kept busy all year 'round to keep the
chain going. She collected eggs from her birds to have them hatched
come brooding time. This was done without a mechanical hatching
apparatus. When the time was right, my mother prepared for the
nesting time. She set up a place in the attic where there would be
privacy and quiet - and no chance for quitting. There she placed the
birds - hen, goose or duck - and the eggs onto the nest she had
set up. She catered to them carefully until the chicks were hatched.
This type of attention is typical of all the things that were needed
to sustain life.
With good management a housewife was able to cash in her surplus
products from her livestock. The milkman came daily to the door
collecting milk. The egg buyer came on a weekly basis to collect
eggs - often they would purchase extra chickens also. Dealers came
around to buy all varieties of feathers, wool, hair (mainly
hog-hair), scrap metal, and so on. Nothing was wasted. We used the
wings from geese and ducks for a
Federwisch (whiskbroom) - these were so handy, one could
find them in every corner of the house and shop. The money a
housewife earned from selling surplus items was used to
purchase mercantile goods such as thread, needles, buttons, etc. But
not cosmetics - such things were unheard of. A woman's red cheeks
came naturally. And they had little time to spend doing their hair -
they combed it in an old-fashioned knot at the back of the head.
Over the years, our every-day look came to be more and more like the
Russians. But come Sundays, we looked transformed in our
German-style outfits.
Alfred Opp
Edited by Connie Dahlke
____________________
Alfred Opp is the author of "Pawns on the World Stage" - the memoirs
of his childhood in Teplitz, Bessarabia and the experiences of his
family in war-torn Europe (Poland during 1941-1945 before they fled
to East Germany in 1945, then the reconstruction of West Germany
1945-1955).