[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Christmas Customs of Volhynians

[ehaas3]

I would guess that the garlands made from small strips of paper and pasted 
together with homemade paste were one of the decorations.  We also had 
strung popcorn. . . how they did it I sure don't know as I have tried and it 
breaks apart, but I remember it on our trees.

Eleanor Haas

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <GVLESS at aol.com>
To: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 1:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Christmas Customs of Volhynians


> My husband's mother always had goose for Christmas and stuffed with a
> delicious fruit and bread dressing that he recalls tasted so good.  His 
> sisters
> tried for years after his parents died to try to resurrect the recipe  for 
> such a
> dressing but could not bring up the right taste or texture to  whatever 
> they
> put together.  I would assume this was something my husband's  mother's
> remembers her parents doing when living in Heimtal, Volhynia.   When we 
> visited the
> area in 1993 we noted geese were always prominent in the  village as well 
> as
> many kinds of fruit trees.  So will have to assume this  was important to 
> what
> the family of long ago may have had at the holiday  time.  But do not know 
> for
> sure of course since our ancestors no longer are  with us.  Does anyone
> really know just what type of food was served in  those ancestral years?
>
> Did our Volhynian ancestors even had a decorated tree of any  sort?  My
> husband says it was his responsibility as a youth when living on  a farm 
> in
> Nebraska to scout the pasture area for just the right kind of tree  that 
> looked like
> an evergreen so he could cut it down at holiday time and bring  it home 
> for
> decorating with mostly homemade ornaments.  But what they were  I no 
> longer have
> any idea.  Were some that reminded the family of their  former home in
> Volhynia, or not?  Were any food items made in those years  taken from 
> their time
> they lived in Russia Poland?  I guess I am looking  for insight to those 
> very
> early years in the family history, not particularly  what they may have
> eventually done when in America.  I am sure some of the  traditions were 
> carry-overs
> and some were developed as they absorbed their new  life here.  My husband 
> said
> he remembered well when a small child singing  with his brothers and 
> sisters
> Silent Night in German at the Christmas program in  their Lutheran church 
> in
> Nebraska.  Because of his strong German  heritage I chose as a special 
> number
> at his Memorial Service in 2003 Silent  Night being sung in German.  It 
> was a
> special treat to hear once again that  song in the old language of our
> forefathers.  Of course, no one there at  the time knew the language any 
> more but I
> was determined to help the newer  generations have some idea of the German
> language of long ago.
>
> My husband's mother always made as a special treat for us when we came to
> visit whether at holiday time or not of her recipe of "coffeekuchen".  It 
> was
> one thing she could still do even in her older years for us.  I have 
> German
> background thru my Volga Deutsch grandparents as well as thru my 
> grandparents
> that came over from Germany itself.  But they were gone before  I could 
> really
> appreciate my heritage or know much about it.  So am anxious  to hear what
> others are willing to share on this list serv what they recall from  their 
> family
> traditions - and of course, if any show a direct connection to the 
> Volhynian
> and Polish homelands.  Thank you for doing so as writing the  family 
> history
> does need more than just statistical data.
>
> Sincerely,
> Virginia Less
>
>
>
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