Peter Jacob Wedel lived with his wife, Katharina (Nickel)
Wedel and family in Lilewa, Volyn Gubernia, Russia. The couple had 9 children altogether: Susanna,
born 1873; Heinrich, born 1875; Helena, born 1876; Eva, born 1878; Maria, born
1881; Carolina, born 1881; Anna, born 1885; Elisabeth, born 1887; and Agnetha,
born 1890. Heinrich, Eva, Maria,
Karolina, and Anna, all died in childhood.
Susanna married Andreas Jacob Ratzlaff in February,
1895. Andreas’ parents had left for USA
in 1893. At the time they were married,
Andreas had returned home from military duty in the forest brigade at Racyn
Camp, far to the south. He only came home
to Lilewa temporarily as he remained on the roster of reservists.
Helena, married Johann Andreas Nachtigal around the year
1900. Johann was born in Lilewa in 1878
and his parents were Andreas and Susanna (Schmidt) Nachtigal. [note: This Susanna Schmidt is likely closely
related to Schmidts marked on Jake Unruh’s Leeleva map. Lilewa is an alternate spelling for Leeleva.] At this time we do not know anything more
about Johann’s parents or siblings.
In May, 1907, the Peter Jacob Wedel family left Russia for
USA. However, second daughter Helena
with her husband Johann Andreas Nachtigal, did not come along. Traveling with the Wedels were the Andreas
Jacob Ratzlaff family (Andreas, Susanna, and 6 children), and the Benjamin
Cornelius Unruh family (Benjamin, wife Eva [Boese] and 5 children), boarded the
SS Weimar in Bremerhaven, Germany, for passage to the United States (2 of
Benjamin Unruh’s other children remained behind temporarily in Bremerhaven at the
time). This group probably would have
left Lilewa village in Volhynia sometime in April of 1907. [note: Benjamin Unruh’s mother was a sister
to Peter Jacob Wedel. Eva (Boese’s)
half-sister was married to Andreas Ratzlaff’s older brother.]
Figure 1.
SS Weimar Traveling Group. Those people
framed in Green came to USA in 1907.
Note Johann Andreas Nachtigal shaded in yellow.
Missing from this list of 21 people were the above-mentioned
Helena (Wedel) and her husband Johann Andreas Nachtigal. The couple had been married around the year
1900 and had 3 children: Wilhelm, who died in infancy; Maria, born about 1901;
and Heinrich Johann, born 1902. At some
point in the very early 20th Century, Johann Andreas Nachtigal was
called away to serve his time with the forestry brigade. We do not know exactly when, nor do we know
at which camp he served. But this left
Helena, along with the 2 children, Maria and Heinrich, home in Lilewa without a
husband and father. And then in 1903
Helena passed away, leaving the 2 young children under the care of their
grandparents, Peter and Katharina (Nickel) Wedel. Thus, the members of the Peter Jacob Wedel
family traveling to USA included parents Peter and Katharina, 2 daughters
Elisabeth and Agnetha, and 2 grandchildren Maria and Heinrich. The total number of people in the group
aboard the SS Weimar was 21.
We don’t know for sure what happened next for Johann Andreas
Nachtigal. When the Wedels left Russia
in 1907, Maria (Ratzlaff) Penner, Andreas Ratzlaff’s oldest daughter, says
Johann Andreas Nachtigal was still serving his time in the forestry
brigade. Maria was only 9 years old at
this time so maybe she didn’t know the whole story. However, Jake Unruh says Johann remarried and
the two young children, Maria and Heinrich, were to be raised by their
grandparents, Peter and Katharina (Nickel) Wedel.
Johann Andreas Nachtigal, remaining behind in Russia in the
forestry brigade, probably had very little contact with the Peter Wedel family or
his own 2 children after this point. In
fact, Wedel relatives in USA lost track of Johann and in time did not know what
happened to him. The 2 young children,
Maria and Heinrich Nachtigal, grew up in the home of their Wedel
grandparents. Heinrich went on to marry
Amelia, a daughter of the above-mentioned Benjamin C Unruh (This was Amelia’s
second marriage, she and Heinrich did not have any children).
We do have evidence, however, that Andreas Ratzlaff had
contact with Johann. A receipt in the
form of a postcard survives showing that Andreas Ratzlaff in 1922 sent food to
Johann Nachtigal. The food was sent via
an organization called American Mennonite Relief. At this time, Johann Nachtigal was living in
Pordenau village, Molotschna Mennonite Colony, in South Russia, with a wife and
3 young children. We do not know how
Johann ended up in Pordenau but we know this is the husband of Helena (Wedel)
due to the fact that he is listed as Andreas Ratzlaff’s brother-in-law on the
receipt postcard (Schwager) – this is
a positive identification.
Figure 2.
Food Remittance receipt, Andreas Ratzlaff to Johann Andreas Nachtigal, 10
February 1922
The early 1920s were a time of great hardship in
Ukraine. The Russian Revolution had
occurred in 1917; the Civil War raged throughout 1917-22; the famine of 1921-22
reduced Ukraine’s population to starvation.
In addition, anti-government partisans freely roamed the countryside
committing atrocious crimes while at the same time the Bolshevik government’s
first wave of collectivization had begun.
Farmers’ equipment and livestock was forcibly taken from them and people
were kicked out of their own homes. Many
Germans, labeled as enemies of the state (kulaks),
were forcibly deported to Siberia. This
was an unbelievably cruel twist for those Mennonites who remained behind in
Russia.
We don’t know how Johann Andreas Nachtigal ended up in
Pordenau, Molotschna, but a map of the village from the late 1920s places him
in the village. Pordenau was located
toward the extreme southeast corner of the colony. He is labeled as owning a farmyard towards
the southeast side of the village.
Figure 3.
Pordenau Village, Molotschna Mennonite Colony, Russia, late 1920s.
The 1920s would have been a brutal decade for German
Mennonites remaining in Ukraine but things only got worse in the 1930s. Collectivization continued, the Great Famine
occurred (1932-3) induced upon the land by Stalin’s policies, and the whole
decade was beset by purges, arrests, and deportations. Anyone who was rumored to be an enemy of the state
or of the collective was arrested and sent to labor camps in the east. People disappeared literally every night,
shipped out to the Gulags in Siberia or Kazakhstan. Citizens were encouraged to turn in those who
kept food for themselves or spoke ill of the government. Neighbors turned in neighbors; friends
reported friends; children even turned on their parents.
Stalin paid extra attention to the ethnic Germans living
throughout Volhynia, South Ukraine, and the Volga delta area. Toward the late 1930s, as Word War II
approached, many Germans in western Ukraine were deported east to Siberia or
Kazakhstan. A large deportation occurred
in 1936 and another, after the German advance developed into Ukraine, in 1941 (the
German offensive into Ukraine began in 1941).
The Soviets deported about three-quarters of a million ethnic Germans to
the east during this time.
As the Nazis took control of Ukraine in the early 1940s,
they were well aware that many ethnically German people lived in these
Soviet-controlled areas and they were already taking steps to move this
population to lands they considered part of Germany. The Warthegau, an area surrounding the Polish
city of Posen (Polish: Poznań), was traditionally Polish but had been
controlled by Germany for long periods of time throughout history, was being
prepared by the Nazis to accept re-settlers.
By 1939, the local Polish population was being deported out of this area
to make room for Germans from Ukraine.
In the early 1940s the Nazis instigated the evacuation of
ethnic Germans from Ukraine. Around
320,000 ethnic Germans were brought into the area known as the Warthegau,
including some who were still living in the Mennonite villages in the
Molotschna Colony. These ethnic Germans
were processed through Einwanderungszentralstelle (EWZ) headquarters in the
Polish city of Łódź. They were brought
from Ukraine in wagon trains, temporarily housed in re-settlement camps, and
then settled in various areas of the Warthegau on farms from which Polish
owners had been previously evicted.
And it turns out that Johann Andreas Nachtigal was among
those Molotschna Germans processed through the EWZ headquarters in 1944. Those processed for entry into the Warthegau
by the Nazis were vigorously examined for health and documented for proper
German ethnicity.
According to his card, Johann Andreas Nachtigal was born 25
September 1878 in Lilewa and had been a resident of Pordenau (Molotschna). He was 100% German. He had 4 children, 3 of whom survived. He endured malaria in 1925 and typhus in
1933. At the time, he was 5’5” tall and
weighed 124 lbs. He was married to his
current wife in 1935 and he didn’t work anymore since he was 65 years old. He suffered from seizures although none had
occurred for several years. He had moved
to Pordenau in 1906 and been a farmer with 16 hectares of land. He had owned 3 horses, 1 milk cow, 2 pigs,
and 2 sheep. In 1930 he became employed
as some sort of guard or attendant by the collective and after 1932 he had been
retired as “krank” – he was probably
considered an invalid. On his card are
listed his parents’ names as well as his children: Johann, Susanna, and
Ekaterina. Susanna and Ekaterina are
both listed with the surname Dürksen, so they must have each married Dürksen
men. But all three children are listed
as “verschleppt” – taken – probably
deported to Siberia or Kazakhstan in the 1941 deportation of the Germans. [Very few able-bodied German men escaped this
deportation. Johann Andreas himself probably
was not deported due to the fact that he was an invalid.]
Figure 4.
Johann Andreas Nachtigal, April 1944
During this process at the EWZ center, families were kept
together so it’s possible to group people based upon the identification numbers
on their processing cards. Immediately
following Johann is his wife, Eva (Engbrecht), who was born 2 December
1888. The couple was married in
1935. Eva was apparently Johann’s 3rd
wife since on the 1922 food Relief card, Johann is listed with 3 children. Eva and Johann are each listed on one
another’s cards as dependents of one another and did not have children together. Eva is listed as a housewife from 1920 and
had 3 children (all verschleppt or
deceased) from a previous marriage.
Immediately after Eva is listed Aganeta (Dörksen)
Nachtigal, born 22 November 1912, in Halbstadt (Molotschna). She had most recently been a resident of
Pordenau (Molotschna) and had been married in 1930. She had 3 children: Johann, born 1932,
Katherina, born 1936, and Jakob, born 1941.
She had most recently been employed as a landworker by the
collective. Her husband, Johann
Nachtigal, who had been a blacksmith, was verschleppt
as of 1941. The card of her husband,
Johann Nachtigal, follows hers and it indicates that his parents were Johann
Nachtigal and Karolina (Wedler) (Wedel??).
So now we know that Johann Andreas Nachtigal’s second wife was named
Karolina (Wedler). But it appears as if all
of Johann and Karolina’s children were deported by the Soviets prior to 1944;
none of them were processed into the Warthegau by the Nazis.
This group, Johann Andreas Nachtigal, his wife Eva (Engbrecht),
his daughter-in-law Aganeta, and his 3 grandchildren, Johann, Katharina, and
Jakob, were all marked for transfer into the Warthegau region. They were temporarily housed at the Lankenau
(Polish: Łankowice) re-settlement camp from 27 April 1944 and were marked to
settle in the Exin (Polish: Kcynia) area of Altburgund County, Warthegau. Keep in mind that the Nazis who were
processing this re-settlement kept racial considerations at the very fore of
the process and they cataloged the re-settlers according to the “purity” of
each one’s “German-ness”. They grouped
the re-settlers into 4 different groups; group number 1 being the most German
and most able to integrate into current German society; to group 4 who were
folks not fit at all to blend into German society. Aganeta was
deemed a group 2, Johann must have been right on the line as he has both 2 and
3 marked on his card, and Eva is marked a group 3. It is unknown how this designation affected
the group’s position in re-settling.
The group was re-settled in the Warthegau in the Spring of 1944, perhaps shortly before the D-Day invasion of June, 1944. The Nazis had suffered a decisive defeat by the Soviets at Stalingrad in the Winter of 1943 and by Summer 1944 the Soviets had re-taken all of Ukraine. Therefore, the Warthegau was by Autumn 1944 in danger of being overrun by the Red Army. Many Germans in these Polish areas fled to western regions and some of the Mennonites were able to make their way to the Netherlands. However, as one of his stipulations at the Conference of Yalta, February 1945, Stalin required that all residents of USSR that had been moved to Germany must be returned. Stalin wanted them all back and Churchill and Roosevelt complied. Somewhat more than 200,000 ethnic Germans were thereby repatriated into the USSR at the end of the war. Of the 75,000 or so who were permitted to stay in Western Europe, about 30,000 left for America. Of the 200,000 who were returned to USSR, the vast majority were deported to Siberia or Kazakhstan, while a small minority were mercifully executed almost immediately.
It's impossible to tell what ultimately happened to Johann Andreas Nachtigal. I've checked MCC records and with the Red Cross. I've interviewed other people who were on the Trek with the Pordenau group and no one remembers this Nachtigal Family. The Nazis were not sympathetic to disabled people. Johann, with his disabilities, was probably not welcomed by the Nazis upon arrival in the Warthegau and he may have met a quick end. Was his family returned to the USSR?
Appendix 1:
Nachtigals in the Low German Volhynian community.
The Nachtigal family is one that seems to have stuck
particularly close to the Ratzlaffs and Wedels in late 19th Century
Volhynia. Nachtigal is the German
equivalent of Nightengale and should be used to identify the members of the
family before they came to America. All
of the Volhynian Nachtigals seem to descend from 2 original Volhynian Nachtigal
families: 1) the sons and grandsons of Martin Jeorgen Nachtigal (born 1718,
West Prussia), and 2) the sons of Johann Nachtigal, birthdate unknown. At this time we do not know anything further
about this Johann Nachtigal. His widow
and son are listed on an 1819 census of the village of Karolswalde. We do not know for sure the names of any
descendants.
Martin Jeorgen Nachtigal lived in Jeziorka, West Prussia,
and his 2 sons, Johann and Peter, came to Antonovka in Volhynia, in the first
years of the 19th Century. On
the 1816 census of Antonovka we find that Johann had 5 sons and Peter had 2
sons. Probably all Antonovka, Dosidorf
(Zabara), and Lilewa Nachtigals descend from these 2 brothers.
Unfortunately, we cannot identify the lineage of the subject
of the above study, Johann Andreas Nachtigal (b1878). His father, Andreas Jacob Nachtigal, was
baptized in 1874, and his grandfather, Jacob Nachtigal, was likely born around
mid-century. Unfortunately, we cannot
tie this Jacob Nachtigal to either of the sons of Martin Jeorgen Nachtigal at
this time but it’s likely he was a grandson to either Johann Martin Nachtigal or
Peter Martin Nachtigal.
Using Andreas
Ratzlaff as a starting point, we can see how the Volhynian Ratzlaffs, Wedels,
and Nachtigals were tied together in many different ways.
Andreas Ratzlaff’s aunt, Eva (Foth) married Benjamin Andreas
Nachtigal. This Benjamin was a grandson
to the above-mentioned Johann Martin Nachtigal.
Andreas Ratzlaff’s sister, Eva (Ratzlaff) married Johann
Carl Nachtigal. This Johann was a great
grandson to the above-mentioned Peter Martin Nachtigal. Johann Carl Nachtigal was a 2nd
cousin once-removed to Benjamin Andreas Nachtigal. Johann Carl Nachtigal died in 1904, before
the family had emigrated to USA.
2 of Andreas Ratzlaff’s Wedel sisters-in-law, Maria and
Elisabeth, married 2 Nachtigal brothers, Andrew and Abraham, both sons of Johann
David Nachtigal. John David was a 1st
cousin to Johann Carl and a 2nd cousin once-removed to Benjamin
Andreas.
Andreas Ratzlaff had a niece who married another son of Johann
David Nachtigal. Anna (Ratzlaff),
daughter of Bernard Ratzlaff, Andreas Ratzlaff’s younger brother, married
Friedrich Nachtigal, son of John David Nachtigal and younger brother to Andrew
and Abraham Nachtigal. A daughter of
this Friedrich Nachtigal (Eleanor) would later also marry a grandson to Andreas
Ratzlaff’s oldest brother Henry (Rolan Ratzloff).
Finally, Andreas Ratzlaff’s step-grandson, David Penner, would
marry Bertha Nightengale, a daughter of the above-mentioned Andrew and Maria
(Wedel).
It should be noted that all these Nachtigals were able to
make their way out of Russia except for Johann Andreas Nachtigal (b1878) and
Benjamin Johann Nachtigal (b1887).
Appendix 2: EWZ and medical cards
Following are scans of EWZ and medical cards for Johann
Andreas Nachtigal, wife Eva (Engbrecht), and Aganeta (Dörksen). For each of these 3 adults there are 2 EWZ
cards that appear to offer identical information. For Johann Johann Nachtigal we have only a
medical card indicating that he is verschleppt.
For the older children, Johann and Katharine, we have medical cards
only, and for the youngest, Jakob, we have only a marker indicating his name,
birthdate, and head of household.
In addition to the information discussed above, the cards
contain details that are of secondary importance. On the front side of the EWZ cards are listed
name, home village, occupation, religion, marriage date, birth date, birth
village, current country, level of physical fitness, number of living children,
naturalization status, percentage German ethnicity, list of dependents,
education level; years completed, specialized training, and particular skills
or knowledge. The second side lists past
and present employment, and, if the person owned a farm, how much land the
person farmed and how much livestock they owned. In the bottom right-hand corner is
information regarding destination: resettlement camp, resettlement area,
resettlement date.
The medical examination card lists the person’s name, date
of examination, birth date, birth village, last residence, marriage date,
children, religion, occupation, notes about health, cleanliness level, years
for particular illnesses, height, weight, type of build, fitness level,
posture, fitness of heart, lungs, body, limbs, other conspicuous items about
the person’s body, and a medical summary: physically, mentally, and life
outlook. Then an occupational summary:
job capability, what type of labor the person might be fit for. The second side of the medical exam card
shows a small family tree, lists the person’s parents and children, and shows a
photo of the person. Beside the photo
are listed special notes.
For Johann Andreas Nachtigal, then, are listed the following
details:
EWZ Card
Side (a)
1, 2) ID
Numbers: 727855; 1300088
6) Name:
Nachtigall, Johann
10) Home
Village: Pordenau, Tschenrigowka, Saporoshje
11) Occupation:
retired
12) Religion:
Mennonite
14) Marriage
Year: 1835
15) Birth
Date, village: 25 September 1878, Liljewa (Lilewa)
16) Current
Country: UdSSR (USSR)
17) Able
to Work: No, retired
Number of
Living Children: 4 total, 3 living
18) Naturalization
Status: naturalized
Percentage
German Ethnicity: 100%
19) List
of Dependents: Eva Nachtigal, wife, born 1888, ID#727856; 1300089
20) Education
Level; none
21) Years
Completed: [blank]
22) Specialized
or Professional Training: [blank]
23) Particular
Skills or Knowledge:
Side (b)
24) Past
and Present Employment: Farmer 1906-30; Collective custodian 1930-32; Disabled
after 1932
25)
Information about Previous Employment: Farmed 16 hectares, grew vegetables
Livestock
Owned: 3 horses, 1 cow, 2 pigs, 2 sheep
26)
Performance Appraisals: [blank]
27)
Desired Occupation: retired
28) Resettlement
Proposed for: [blank]
29)
[blank]
30) Resettlement
Camp: Lankenau
Resettlement
Area: Exine
Resettlement
Date: 27 April 1944
Examination
Card
Side (a)
Name:
Nachtigall, Johann
Date of
Examination: 27 April 1944
Birth
Date: 25 September 1878 (typo, says 1978 but means 1878)
Birth
Village: Liljewa (Lilewa)
Last
Residence: Lankenau Re-Settlement Camp
Marriage
Date: 1935
Children:
4; 3 living
Religion:
Mennonite
Occupation:
retired
Notes
About Health: 1930 (illness), 1925 malaria
Cleanliness
Level: clean
Years for
Specific Illnesses: (illness) as a child; Typhus 1933
Height:
165cm (5ft 5in)
Weight: 56kg
(123lb)
Type of
Build: slim
Fitness
Level: doesn’t move well
Posture:
stooped
Fitness
of Heart, Lungs, Body, Limbs: 65 years old
Other
Conspicuous Items about the person’s body: old (basically, he’s over the hill)
Summary:
Physical:
fair
Mental:
unremarkable
Life Outlook:
Occupational
Summary: job capability: None; he’s over the hill
Side (b)
Family
Tree: indicates he’s had 2 wives
Parents:
Andreas and Susanna Schmidt
Children:
Johann (exiled); Susanna Durksen, Ekatherina Durksen
Photo:
Special
Notes: Scattered instances when he suffered an epileptic fit with blackness
before his eyes without seizures or unconsciousness. Except for minor impairment regarding memory
retention and a slight irritability there is no mental anomaly with regards to
epileptic change of personality. In my
opinion this is a matter of a resolved epilepsy as it is not possible to
clarify the patient's etiology since he has been seizure-free for 20 yrs,
mentally unremarkable, no blood-relatives are in this country and children. Since the couple makes a well-ordered
impression one can desist from ...
decision.
Eva’s particular skills: housework; ability to work is
limited, she is verbraucht too
Aganeta has had 5 years of school, and her husband ist
verschleppt in 1941. She can doo all
housework and can speak and read German language. She is fit to work on the land or as a
housewife
