[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Migrations of people--Germans to Wohlynia

[marlo]

Jerry, now that you have answered that question, I am wondering how those 
people had money for passage?  Our family came with parents and 3 children, 
I will admit they lied about the ages,  Bertha was really 6 but they said 
she was 2 and Maria was 3 and they said she was only 10 months.  I know that 
was cheaper,  but I still wonder how they had money to buy tickets if things 
were so bad for them there.  Just curious.  My husbands other grandparents 
also emigrated with 3 sons in 1874 from Pommern and were able to buy land 
when they arrived here.  I know land was cheap but they must have brought 
money with them when they came.
How sad we never asked questions at the right time and now all that is lost. 
Margaret
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jerry Frank" <FranklySpeaking at shaw.ca>
To: "marlo" <marlo50 at nwonline.net>; "gpvjem" <gpvjem at sasktel.net>; 
<rlyster at telusplanet.net>
Cc: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 8:02 AM
Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Migrations of people--Germans to Wohlynia


> At 03:47 PM 17/04/2006, marlo wrote:
>>Would you be able to help us understand why my husbands maternal
>>grandparents
>>moved from the area of Lubben Kreis Rummesburg in Pommern to Volhynia in
>>1871 and than left to come to US in 1888?
>>My mother-in-law was born in Volhynia and was only 6 years old when they
>>emigrated and she only said they came to US because they would have been
>>killed if they had stayed there in Volhynia
>>or Russia as she referred to the area?  I
>>don't know what profession her father was but they went directly to 
>>Berrien
>>County MI
>>and became fruit farmers.
>>Any help?    Margaret
>
>
> The Gartzes, Girschewskis, Ottos, Gitersonkes, some Schultzes and others 
> indeed migrated from Rummelsburg to Volhynia and then later to Manitoba 
> and Berrien County, MI.  I have less detailed information about 
> circumstances in that region but I would suggest that the reasons were 
> probably similar to that for those from Russian Poland.  They wanted to 
> better their lot in life and that opportunity appeared to be available in 
> Volhynia.  Other Volhynian Germans not from Pomerania also went to these 
> same places.
>
> There may have been some fear of staying in Russia c.1888 and certainly 
> freedoms were already being eroded but I'm not sure that the fear of death 
> in the 1888 time frame was a strong reason for migrating.  Many Germans 
> continued to remain after that in Volhynia without facing death.  Others 
> first went to Manitoba, didn't like the cold, so they moved on to Berrien 
> County.  Again, the move to North America was motivated first by the 
> eroding freedoms (for example the enforcement of using Russian in the 
> schools instead of German, inability of the Germans to own their land, and 
> conscription into the Russian army) and secondly the opportunities in 
> North America.  They were drawn to the prairies of both Canada and the 
> States by cheap homestead land.  I'm not sure what specifically brought 
> them to Berrien County.
>
>
>
>
> Jerry Frank - Calgary, Alberta
> FranklySpeaking at shaw.ca
>
>
>
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