By John (Johannes) Philipps

Translated from German to English by Alex Herzog

Edited by Stephen M. Herzog, Ph.D.

Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, North Dakota State University Libraries, Fargo, North Dakota, 2006, 103 pages, softcover

The Germans from Russia Heritage Collection is pleased to publish The Germans Under the Tsars, Lenin, and Stalin by John Phlipps. Philipps is the author of these other books:
1) Tragedy of the Soviet Germans (1984, English language)
2) The Germans by the Black Sea Between the Bug and Dnjestr Rivers (2000, English language)
3) Die deutschen Bauern am Schwarzeen Meer (1994, German language)
4) Speyer im Beresaner Tal der Südukraine: 1809/1810 - März 1994 heut Pestschanyi Brod (1996, German language)
5) Stalin's - Genocide (1994, translated from Russian)

"The Germans under the Tsars, Lenin, and Stalin" Review, North Dakota Horizons, Summer 2007

In the "Introduction by the Historical Editor" written by Steven Herzog, Ph.D., he states: "The value of this book, therefore, lies in the perspective of its author, John Philipps. Even though he is not a professional historian, he is admirably conversant in the basic outlines of Russian history. In particular, he leans heavily on the iconic works of Conrad Keller and Dr. Karl Stumpp for discussion of immigration into Russia and the formation of the German colonies. More importantly, as an eyewitness to conditions in German-Russian communities, John Philipps adds texture and detail to the framework that Keller and Stumpp and others have provided. His account, supplemented with an array of photos and maps, adds immediacy to these infamous benchmarks of Soviet history and gives us a sense of how they impacted German communities specifically."

"John Philipps's book provides a unique and important contribution: the bird's-eye view of a historical narrative coupled with the on-the-ground perspective of someone who lived his formative years in a German-Russian community."

About the Author

As German-Russian, John (Johannes) Philipps was born in the Beresan colony of Landau and grew up in a farming family who, however, was already expelled early from their home. He studied agronomy and later worked at the MTS-Waterloo. His youth was overshadowed by poverty and hunger even though he came from a well-to-do farming family. He experienced the deprivation of citizen rights and wrenching deportation of his family, was captured by British troops and finally uprooted without a country, petitioned for emigration to the United States of America. After he had conquered initial difficulties, he arrived finally in New York, in 1952. He moved to California in 1955, where he accepted U.S. citizenship. John Philipps experienced Stalin's destructive politics and after World War II, Philipps came to America where he could build a new home in a new homeland.

In these two schools I received my education. The left photo shows the central School (ten grades) during Soviet times. The right photo shows the girls Gymnasiun, which during Soviet times became a four-year agrotechnicum (agrotechnical college) whose graduates became certified agronomists. As pictured, the building looks neglected and was no longer in use.
The hospital in Landau. Shown as it appears today with a metal roof.	The cinema in Landau, built in 1934.

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