Dakota Memories Oral History Project collecting stories; Germans-from-Russia stories airing on public radio

By Daily News Staff

Minot Daily News, Minot, North Dakota, April 6, 2007, pages C1-2

Making, sharing area histories

This summer, interviewers and videographers from the Dakota Memories Oral History Project will visit the Rugby and Devils Lake area. To become a potential narrator or to help fund a trip, contact the Germans-from-Russia Heritage Collection at 231-6596. For more information, visit (www.ndsu.edu/grhc).

Emil E. Schaffer, Gackle, reminisces about playing in the large windowsills inside his grandparents adobe brick house as part of one of the oral history project's "landmark walks".

The privately funded project is sponsored by the Germans-from-Russia Heritage Collection at North Dakota State University Libraries, Fargo.

Public interest in documenting and preserving German-Russian ethnic identity inspired the development of the oral history project to document family relationships and childhood memories of second- and third-generation Germans from Russia. Childhood memories like those of Christina (Aberle) Long's from Berlin, N.D., are part of this project.

Memories

During her interview, Long talked about a Christmas gathering in the 1930s when she was 4 years old. She remembers sitting on a bench with her siblings waiting for Christmas goodies, but not waiting for Santa Claus. She remembers that Santa Claus was not as significant as a feared person known as Belznickel, someone who dressed in chains and took away the naughty children.

Long recalls hearing Belznickel moaning and screaming in the next room while Krist Kindel the Christ Child was handing out gifts. The Krist Kindel gave Long a Swifts-brand lard pail full of candy, nuts and one chocolate marshmallow cookie. The cookie impressed Long and she could not wait to eat it, but she was afraid of the noisy Belznickel. When Krist Kindels donkey approached her pail, Long accidentally let the donkey eat her cookie.

Long's story is a reminder that Belznickel and Krist Kindel have been a significant part of the German-Russian Christmas celebration for many years.

Interviewers and videographers from the project tailor each interview to the special interests and talents of each narrator. During the interview, some narrators take a walk in a cemetery or near a landmark. They may also incorporate activities such as playing the accordion, singing German folk songs, baking kuchen or driving old farm equipment.

Narratives are available online at (www.prairiepublic.org).

Radio series

The oral history project, in cooperation with Prairie Public and the North Dakota Humanities Council, is airing a radio series titled Growing Up German Russian: A Radio Series. The series contains clips from interviews collected during the first and second field seasons.

Dakota Datebook, hosted by Merrill Piepkorn, airs periodically throughout the day on Prairie Public Radio. According to the Web site, the Germans-from-Russia segments have been airing Mondays and Fridays for the past month.

Broadcasts can be heard on 90.5 FM in Bismarck, 89.9 FM in Dickinson, 91.9 FM in Fargo, 89.3 FM in Grand Forks, 91.5 FM in Jamestown, 88.9 FM in Minot and 89.5 FM in Williston.

Following Growing Up German Russian: A Radio Series, Prairie Public, in cooperation with the oral history project, will air another radio series titled Voices of the Heartland. This series will focus on adult memories of life on the northern plains.

Jessica Clark, recipient of the Germans-from-Russia History doctoral fellowship, coordinates the oral history project with Michael Miller, director of the Germans-from-Russia Heritage Collection. Since Clark and her staff began collecting interviews in 2005, the oral history project has compiled approximately 150 interviews.