[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Germans drafted in Russian army

[Beth Burke]

I remember once when my mother referred to her father as a "draft dodger."
That was back when genealogy wasn't one of my interests, much less a
passion.  Knowing that my grandparents paid a Russian soldier to cross a
river at night, which was the start of their immigration journey, and now
hearing from many of you that there were other "dodgers", confirms one
thing.  We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to those "artful dodgers"
because what we have today is thanks to them!  Thanks Oma and Opa....

Beth Burke - Verona, Wisconsin
Researching:  Friedrich, Lieske, Pinkowski, Hammermeister, Glor, Zellmer,
Dietz and a slew of others

-----Original Message-----
From: ger-poland-volhynia-bounces at eclipse.sggee.org
[mailto:ger-poland-volhynia-bounces at eclipse.sggee.org] On Behalf Of
Earl.Schultz
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 12:20 AM
To: ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org
Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Germans drafted in Russian army

 I am likely a Canadian citizen today partly because of the Russian draft.
I pieced together this chain of events from several family sources.

My uncle Bill Schultz was born in New Jersey but shortly after birth the
family moved back to Poland to look after aging parents.  Bill grew up and
was drafted into the Russian army in the mid 1920s and did his time.  He did
not realize that as a US citizen he could have refused the draft.  After
getting out of the army, Bill decided to emigrate to the US where many of
our relatives had gone before.  However, because he had served in the
Russian Army he was denied entry to the US, even though he was (or maybe had
been) a US citizen.  He then chose Canada, liked it and invited his brothers
to join him.  My father was one of the brothers and had just turned 20 in
1928.  He wanted to avoid the draft so he high-tailed it to Canada to join
his brother.  Hence, I'm Canadian instead of American.

My maternal grandfather Emil Leichnitz also served in the Russian Army
around 1900.  I would love to be able to get access to his military records.

Earl


------------------------------------------------------

  My great grandfather emigrated from Volhynia in about 1896, taking a
  ship in May of that year.  I'm not 100% sure where he was living but
  my grandmother was born in the village of Michailoska in Kreiz
  Zhitomir in 1894.  According to family stories, he was about to be  
  drafted into an army and so left for America to escape this draft.   
  I'm curious if Germans were subject to a draft (and what army?) while
  living in Volhynia around that time.  Anyone know?


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