Famine in the Volga region of the 1920s through the eyes of German colonists

Abstract

Based on the analysis of the letters from German colonists to the German-language newspaper Die Welt-Post, published in Lincoln in the United States, the article brings to light the colonists’ perception of socio-economic and political events in the Volga colonies in the early 1920s. The study of letters made it possible to show the scale of the tragedy and the attitude of Germans to what was happening. The author identifies several problems that worried them: deficit of foodstuff or clothing which was compensated for by selling or exchanging their belongings. In addition, they experienced a certain information vacuum which they wanted to fill through books, magazines and newspapers received from relatives and friends.