The Neu Samara settlement lies in a steppe area which had
been originally settled only by nomadic tribes. The rivers Ural and
Samara formed roughly the border between
bashkir and kazakh settlement area. Till the end of 18
century the river of Ural was also the border of the Russian empire.
This
border
was endangered by the nomads constantly, so that only Cossacks
(descendants of fled Russian farmers) settled on the river of
Ural.
Then a big part of the kazakh area came under
the Russian control .
The land was settled outgoing by the river of Samara to the north of
this river by Russian colonists. The Bashkirs have used it before
only as a pasture for their herds. Russian
businessmen and large landowners bought it from them very cheap .
The Bashkirs were pushed
thus in the direction of north-east in the today's Bashkir
autonomous republic. The territory where the Neu Samara settlement is
located
was probably bought so late from the Bashkirs, because it lies so
far to the north. Single settlements on the northern bank of the Tock
have remained. In any case, when the German colonists
came here, the land was possessed by Russians.
The Mennonite population in Russia has strongly increased in the course
of the 19th century. The Mennonites have the custom that the
property was inherited undivided to one son. Thus there were already
after few generations many families without land; these had to go away
and found new settlements. When Molotschna was
founded, a part of the ground was not distributed to the colonists.
Then it was leased and the money was used particularly for the purchase
of new land.
One of these new settlements is Neu Samara colony. In 1890 the
Gnadenfeld and Halbstadt municipalities in Molotschna have bought
20,388
Desjatins for approx. 34 roubles per Desj.
from the
businessmen Ivan Pleshanov from Samara and Fedor Krassikov from
Buzuluk. (one can look at details in this document).
Shortly before the Mennonite settlement here, a water mill was built on
the Tock, near the later mill. She belonged to Pleschanow, the manager
was Johann Wall, a Mennonite. It is to be supposed that by his
mediation the contact between Pleschanow and the municipalities took
place. The negotiations were led by Abraham Löwen, Wilhelm Derksen
and Nachtigall. The land had never been worked before, it was bought
quite propably as a pure speculation object to sell it later.
A part of the
purchase sum
was lent by the Don Agrarian Bank, and should be paid back till
1933. Because also after the admission of the credit enough money did
not exist, so-called Freikäufer were also settled. These had to
pay a part of the purchase price, 1,120 roubles, immediately. Other
Colonists should come from families without land. They did not need to
pay 560 roubles of the purchase price. Both groups had to pay the
remaining amount in installments to the Gnadenfeld and Halbstadt
municipalities, to the same conditions like this at the bank:
Freikäufer 120 roubles per year from the January 1st 1891,
the
landless
78 roubles and 38 kopeyks, but only after 10 free years.
The interest rate amounted to 7.5%. There were 60 Freikäufer and
about 350 landless families.
Freikäufer
got 80 Desjatins, the landless Persons 40 Desjatins. 1400
Desjatins should not be distributed - they were leased and were used
to the construction of a mill in Pleschanowo. Because in the first time
no tenants have been found, this land was used in 1892 for the
foundation of the village Kuterlja.
As first ones the Freikäufer should be settled, probably with for
facilitating the settlement of other poorer colonists: 18
families in Kamenez, 22 in Pleschanowo and 20 in Krassikowo. During the
years 1891-1892 the remaining villages were founded: Kaltan, Lugowsk,
Podolsk, Donskoj, Dolinsk, Jugowka, Klinok, Kuterlja. On land
bought from businessman Bogomasow village Bogomasowo was established.
In
addition, land was acquired from the Russian village Nowo-Nickoljsk
where Ischalka was established.
Besides the Colonists rich large landowners came to Neu Samara:
Klassen and Reimer, for example. Heinrich Reimer owned, e.g., 5,931
Desjatins, the property of his
sister
Anna, administered
by him, had a size of 724 Desjatins. Because he
could not work on everything himself, he has leased in 1908 the
property
of Anna to the colonists in Annenskoje. The estate owners have bought
their land mainly from Slobotchikov.
At that time the new settlement belonged to Samara Gouverment,
Buzuluk Ujesd. Therefore, it is also called Neu Samara, in contrast
to Alt Samara, the colony which was established already in
1859. In 1934 Buzuluk Ujesd came to the Orenburg Oblast established at
that time.
In 1877 a railroad had been built between Samara and Orenburg. The
colonists traveled by rail in small groups till Sorotschinsk, from
there they went on the brought horse's carriage to the new place of
residence. Agricultural devices, livestock and food were also brought.
Who came to which village, was already decided in Molotschna by drawing
lots. Close relatives have been thereby distributed to different
villages.
Many of the settler were poor and had brought little capital. The
first years were hard, because the colonists had to
acquire the devices necessary for the farming and the livestock only
bit by
bit. Therefore, many agricultural products which one could also consume
himself as for example butter, were sold at the market. The
colonists
lived first in fast established earth's huts. Later more stable houses
were built. The build-up of the settlement was also hindered by
periodical drought
times: in 1906 for example the harvest was lesser then the seed. The
people also got help of the mother colony, e.g., after the
mentioned harvest failure. Many also got money of their relatives in
Molotschna. The colonists helped themself by common using
of agricultural devices and draft horses. The
Freikäufer had more money and, therefore, could base their
farms
faster. The other had to borrow seeds and also flour.
However, bit by bit the colonists gained prosperity till 1914: the
earth's huts were removed for right houses, mills were built, in every
village there was a school and in 1911 a hospital was built in
Pleschanowo. In 1917 3,670 inhabitants lived
in Neu Samara on 35,695 Desjatins and there were 9 estates.
When in 1914 the First World War began many young men from Neu
Samara had
to serve in the Russian army forming hospital units. During the war
Austrian
prisoners of war were accommodated in Neu Samara. Some of these have
been buried on the cemeteries of the villages. After the
revolution in 1917 the troops mutinied and fled in the land inside, the
Mennonites could also come home. After the October revolution it
came to a civil war between the Bolsheviks, the "Reds", and their
opponents
the "White". So the Mennonites in Neu Samara have got between the
fronts. Both parties exchanged their bad horses for the good horses of
the colonists. Many were drafted by one of the parties and were forced
to
the service in the weapon, what contradicts the Mennonite
belief. In autumn, 1919 the Soviets could strengthen their power
position
in the area of Neu Samara and expel the white. The colonists in Neu
Samara had to prepare willy nilly for the Soviet rule. Because there
were fears that the traditional life-style of the Mennonites would be
suppressed, on suggestion of Cornelius
F. Klassen one has decided to
join to the at that time newly established Bashkir republic. Probably
the people thought on Bashkir living on the northern bank of
Tock,
which at that time were austerely religious Muslims
and korservative people. In addition, out of consideration for the
still
ongoing war the Sovietgouvernment has let a little bit more freedom to
the Bashkirs.
However, they had miscalculated with the connection with the Bashkirs:
the administrative unit to which Neu Samara now belonged -
Tock-Suranskij
canton - moved her whole administration to Pleschanowo and
surrounding villages. The Neu Samarians had strongly to suffer from
that: they must accommmodate the employees of the administration in
their
houses, they had to perform haulage services etc. After the difficult
time
in winter 1919-20 the people had sent
envoys to Moscow and had reached the transfer of the administration.
Because in 1920 within the scope of the so-called war communism the
grain was taken away from farmers, so that not even seed was left,
there was in 1921-22 in the whole country big hunger. In Neu
Samara
there was a big food lack too. To get food, young men went to Siberia
to
exchange
dresses for bread, then many have fallen ill on typhoid
and have no more returned. By hunger weakened many villagers
fall ill on typhoid and malaria. Only after long negotiations
international relief organizations might come into Russia. Then the
Mennonites in Neu Samara have got help of the AMR agency (American
Mennonite relief).
Because the government realised that it could go on so no more, more
freedom was let to the farmers within the scope of the new economic
policy. In 1922 the farmers have got some sowing grain and the
situation
returned to normal bit by bit. Many Mennonites had no trust in the
Sovietgovernment and have used this opportunity to emigrate. Between
1923 and 1928 about 700 persons only from Neu Samara moved to
Canada. Then in 1926 only 3,071 mennonite inhabitants lived in Neu
Samara.
From 1922 to 1929 the farmers could live again as before the
revolution. However, the estate owners, storekeepers and mill owners
had
been mostly already expropriated before and had to flee. There was
during this time also already religious pursuit by the
atheistic government. Thus the religion lessons were forbidden in the
schools and the ministers were pressed.
Then in 1929-1930 , like everywhere in Russia, also in Neu Samara
the agriculture was collectivated. All had to bring their land, their
livestock
and their tools into the collective economy. The a little richer
farmers were stamped as Kulaks and were sent for the hard labor to
Siberia. First all villages of Neu Samara were in one kolkhoz
(abbreviation for Kollektivnoye Khosyaistvo - collective economy) which
had his center in Donskoj. Later 3 to 4 villages formed a group and in
1934 kolkhozes were established in every village. At the beginning
there was passive opposition by the farmers against the
collectivization, so that, e.g., next year there wasn't enough
feed
to bring the horses through the winter. Then in 1931-1932 the cows
had to be used for working in the fields. However, positively is to be
marked that in
this
time also the first tractors came to Neu Samara. Then in addition the
MTS (machines tractors station) was estableshed in Jakob
Wittenberg's former house in Donskoj. In 1933/34 the road to
Sorotschinsk was piled
up: it was flattened and covered with gravelly sand from the
Tock.
In 1931 was a break in the religious life of Neu Samarians: on the 6th
of January, 1931 the worship houses in Donskoj and Pleschanow were
closed.
In the end of 1932 the worship house in Lugowsk was also closed. When
in 1937-1938 in the whole country came a wave of terror, in
particular
persons were concerned by it in Neu Samara, which had been involved in
the religious area.
The Russia-Germans have especially strongly suffered from the war
broken
out on the 22nd of June, 1941 between Germany and the Soviet Union.
After the outbreak of war all
German settlements to the west and on the Volga were dissolved, as far
as it the Soviets could work, and were
"evacuated", i.e. the inhabitants were sent to Siberia and Kazakhstan.
Also both Mennonite settlements on the Volga, Alexandertal (Alt
Samara) and Am Trakt, were dissolved. However, Neu Samara settlement
could further exist as, as far as I see it, the most western Mennonite
settlement in Sovietunion at all.
The situations for inhabitants of Neu Samara wasn't much lighter:
bit by bit almost the whole adult population had to do hard labor in
the Trudarmy (labor army). On the 20th March, 1942 all men at the
age of 17 to 55 years were mobilized. Some have been sent to Molotow
(today Perm)
Oblast in the North Ural to fell wood. Because they got barely food,
most of these men have
died of hunger and exhaustion. Then on the 6th
November, 1942 all boys were called up from 15 years and the been left
men, on the 12th of November, 1942 women at the age of 16 to 50
years. The men have come mainly to Chelyabinsk to work in the coal
pits. Most women came to Orsk (about 500 kms to the east,
still in the Orenburg Oblast) and had to work in factories moved
there. Some women have been also sent to Dombarowka. In the villages
remained
only
the children, old people and management employees, such as kolkhozes
chairpersons, brigadiers, mechanic etc. to work on the farms. 13-14
year-old had to do heavy work .
Also after the war the people might not return immediately home,
because till the middle of the 50-s all Russia Germans were under the
Kommandatur and therefore there were restrictions of the trip freedom.
But also afterwards many have no more returned, because many young
people have married there and have found a new home. Therefore
this generation was absent in the villages after the war, there have
only those remained which at that time were too young for the
Trudarmee.
After the war there was still hunger in the villages, because
many food from the villages had to be sent for the urban population. In
addition, the relatives in the Trudarmy still had to be cosupplied.The
farmers had to deliver also certain
deliveries in agricultural products like eggs, which they had generated
on their small private land, in addition, mandatory loans had to be
paid to the state. In 1950 there was a good harvest in Neu Samara, a
part of it could be sold, so that people again got some money and could
afford clothes. In the course of the 50-s the material situation was
further improved, until no more compulsory deliveries had to be
performed. In these years there was further mechanization in the
agriculture, many young people, women too, have
been trained to tractor driver.
But the people were still poor and lived very simply. There was
electricity already in the 50-s, but very weakly. The tractor
motors were used as an impulse for generators. At night the
electricity
was
switched off to save fuel. If in the kolkhozes electricity was needed,
e.g.,
for milking installations, the private households were disadvanteged.
In 1960 a
dam was built on the Tock near Krassikowo for a power station. This
station supplied Krassikowo, Lugowsk and Podolsk with electricity.
But
also in other villages better generators were built. Then in the end
all villages in Neu Samara were connected to the general electricity
net.
Because there was only quite weak electricity at the beginning, the
private household had almost no
electrical appliances except light bulbs. The first
refrigerators came to Neu Samara in the end of the 60-s beginning of
the
70-s. Generally for the people in Neu Samara the
70-s and 80-s were materially probably the best of all since the
beginning of
the settlement. Many could afford a car and in every household there
were
several bicycles. This also is connected with the fact that the Germans
are very diligent and could gain on 0.25 hectares of land, remained to
them, surpluses, which they sold at the market. Money was earned above
all with the breeding by piglets and Arctic foxes and beekeeping.
On the 1st January, 1967 the Krasnogvardeyskiy Rayon was formed, to
which Neu Samara belong since then (before Neu Samara belonged
for a while to the Sorochinsk Rayon). Rayon center became
Pleschanowo. Pleschanowo and the nearby Donskoj have strongly grown
since then, because many non-German have moved there too. But also
other villages have grown, e.g., Podolsk and Lugowsk have grown
together almost to one village. Most villages have got additional
streets.
As in other Mennonite settlements in Russia too, in Neu Samara
Plautdietsch was spoken as a colloquial language, a Low German dialect
of West Prussian origin. Tough the school lessons were led completely
in Russian since the end of the 1930-s, however, most families use
further Plautdietsch up to their migration to Germany (later also in
Germany). Many children couldn't speak Russian till going to
school. Many old customs and traditions were still continued.
Especially after the transfer of the rayon center it came to a strong
move of Russian-speaking persons to Neu Samara. Then a certain
russification of Pleschanowo and Donskoj was connected with this.
When in the end of the 80-s the emmigration to Germany became easier,
the Germans from Neu
Samara have also emigrated. The first ones have come already in 1988 to
Germany, then in 1989 there was a bigger number of the emigrants.
Although at the beginning many have struggled against emigration,
nevertheless, about 95 percent of the German inhabitants
of Neu Samara have gone to Germany to this day. Then Tartars,
Russians, Mordvinians and Bashkirs moved to their place
and
into their houses.
Neu Samara has stopped to exist therefore as a German settlement, after
100 years of existence.
