[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Christmas Customs of Volhynians

[rlyster at telusplanet.net]

I thought of one more thing to share from my mother's story:

In the same village of Milashev, there also lived Ukranian families.  For the 
Christian Christmas of Dec.24 the Ukranian's came to sing their carols and 
were invited in to share some of the german baking.

14 days later the German families sang at the homes of the Ukranians.  They 
carried candles behind paper cutouts. (the Ukrainian's did the same but 
their's were fancier)  Then the Germans were invited in to a table laden with 
all kinds of food...embroidered table cloth, sausage, baking.  My mother 
remembers that when the Ukranians made their sausage casing (pig intestine 
turned inside out), they didn't scrap the lining off so it was still on the 
outside of the sausage....she was a very fussy eater so didn't eat it but 
brought it home....her father said "I don't care about the outside or how it 
looks, but it tastes very good!"

Both my parents remember their trees decorated with paper chains, fruit like 
apples tied from the stem, perhaps some wrapped candies and candles...with 
great care so not to have a fire.  Sometimes hazelnuts were also tied and hung 
on!

Rita Lyster


Quoting GVLESS at aol.com:

> 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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