Argentinian Cousins

By Justin Ehresman

 Author’s Note: A special thank you goes to Jorge Bohn in Córdoba, Argentina, for his insights when writing this article.

A young, vast land–the eighth largest in the world– invited them: immigrants from the steppes of Russia, a people pushed from their homeland by broken promises, discrimination, persecution, and eventually exile and murder. The vast majority of Argentina’s Germans from Russia, now numbering approximately 2-2.5 million (or8% of the population), can trace their roots back to the Volga German colonies, and a few of them to the Black Sea Colonies. Who are these German cousins living among the Gauchos in La Pampa, Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, and Entre Ríos regions of Argentina? How do they live, and what remains of their German heritage? These questions and more are what I sought to answer in April 2016 on my fact-finding trip to gather information for my guidebook to settlements of the Germans from Russia.

There are about forty settlements in Argentina that boast exclusively German from Russia roots and another dozen or so that have a significant number of inhabitants with German roots in Russia. There are also another 1-1.5million Argentinian Germans who can trace their roots back to Germany directly, having migrated between 1880 and1921. My partner and I decided to visit a sampling of these communities from across the country, twenty-seven in fact. We drove more than 7,000 kilometers and spent nearly four weeks getting to know this country, meeting its people, and especially seeking out its German from Russia roots. Because they settled in areas that were largely unpopulated and very far from cities and civilization, these settlements and the people were, for the most part, isolated and, in fact, still are today. Of course, they are now connected to the rest of the world through television and the internet. Many of the villages and towns that we visited are still predominately ethnic German with very little apparent mixing with other immigrant groups. Obviously, the same cannot be said for those who have left these communities and now reside in larger communities or cities. Driving into the villages, passing the school or playing field, we were struck by the sudden and rampant appearance of blond hair and blue eyes and light complexion of the playing children in stark contrast to the other villages that we saw, which are made up of mostly Spanish and Italian immigrant descendants. The overall feel of the villages founded by Volga Germans is also different. In most of the German from Russia villages, there is, if one may be so bold as to call it quite simply, order. The streets are straight, the lawns well-manicured, and, except in the most exceptional of cases, we could feel the sense of pride that these people take in their homes and communities. This by no means implies that the other villages in Argentina are not orderly or well-kept, but in general they do tend to be a bit more chaotic and haphazard in their layout. In some of the German from Russia settlements in Argentina, the culture is not only being preserved, but promoted.  Several villages have museums dedicated to their history as well. While Spanish has mostly taken over as the language of day-to-day use, many of the older generations (those over forty years old) have varying commands of the language, from passive understanding to completely fluent and conversational. Few streets bear names in German, but several villages, such as Pueblo San  José near Coronel Suárez, have streets named after or in honor of the places from where the settlers originated, such as Kamenka, Vollmer, Schuck, Hildman, and others. 

Overall, we were surprised to see German decorations and flags hanging in many of the villages we visited. Some villages, however, have not fared as well such as Nieves/Nievas and Monte de la Plata, which are either ghost towns now or have just a handful of families left. Wespoke to an elderly woman in German in the tiny village of Monte de la Plata who explained that most of the families had moved on to larger communities and this village with its one dirt road and deteriorating buildings would soon become extinct  

Knowing that the vast majority of the Germans from Russia who settled in Argentina was drawn there because of the welcoming nature, especially for Catholics, it was not surprising to note that the churches are often the pride of the communities. They are well-kept, beautifully adorned, and oft-frequented. I met Father Juan Frank in Crespo who spoke to me at length about the Volga Germans, his parents among them, who settled the area. Nevertheless, there is a lack of interest among the younger generation in pursuing a career within the Catholic Church. Father Frank, now in his80s, in his words still has “a lot of work to do” before he can think about retiring. Of all the Germans from Russia villages we visited, a few left some lasting impressions: the three “aldeas alemanas ” (German villages) of Santa Trinidad, San José, and Santa María, all along the Avenida Alemanes del Volga

About the Author:

 Justin Ehresman is an avid genealogist, researcher, and traveler. He has visited more than 300 settlements of the Germans from Russia and is currently working on a guidebook to the settlements in addition to a complete history or Neudorf. His own family history led him to Germany, where he lived for eighteen years, and to Alsace in France, where he currently resides.

Source: https://www.academia.edu/37308104/Los_alemanes_de_Rusia_The_Germans_from_Russia_Other_Immigrant_Destinies_in_South_America_Revised_and_Expanded_Article_