Alexander Herbel b. 15 May 1926 & Ottilie Steinle b. 7 Sep 1926 from Dreispitz Don Herbel of Lawrence, Kansas, sends this account of his family in a letter of 3 Sep 1998.
"My grandfather, David Herbel, came to this country from Dreispitz in 1910 along with hissister and brother. He sent for my grandmother and their son in 1912. The brother returned toRussia after only a short time in the U. S. They exchanged letters with the family in Dreispitzfrom that time up through the thirties and then lost all contact with the family members whoremained in Russia. (I recently found these old letters and am in the process of having themtranslated. They describe some good times and some quite terrible. Many of the letters from theearly thirties are asking my grandfather for money to help fight off starvation. I also foundreceipts for dollars that he had changed to rubbles and sent to various family members inDresiptiz.)
"In 1991 Laurin Wilhelm sent ma a copy of an ad that my cousin Alexander Herbel had placedin an AHSGR newsletter searching for his relatives in America. I immediately responded with aletter and information that might help verify a relationship. As it turned out Alexander was theson of my grandfather's brother Alexander. We have been corresponding since that time,exchanging family information and pictures. ---
"Alexander was born in 1926 in Dreispitz. He attended German school through seven gradesand began technical school. In Sep 1941 he and his family were deported by the communists toa place near the city of Omsk in Siberia. His father and older brother were both placed in thework army and forced to work in the Forests. In Sep 1942 they were again deported toSalechard on the Ob River where it enters the Arctic. There he bagan working in shipbuildingand in 1945 he was promoted to supervisor. In 1943 his father returned from the work army butwas so weak and ill that he could not work and died in 1956. In 1948 he married Ottilie Steinlealso from Dreispitz. They have three children, two girls and one son. In 1960 he was promotedto chief of the shipbuilding works and in 1962 he returned to school and finished grades 5through 10 in Russian night schools. In 1968 he was promoted to Director of management andworked in that position until he retired in March 1990.
"Following his retirement he and his wife and his son and his wife moved to Laichingen,Germany. Since that time his son who is a physician has obtained his German license topractice medicine and he and his son have just moved into a new home near Stuttgart, that theyrecently built themselves. His daughters, one who is a teacher and one who is a lawyer, still livein Russia.----
"My wife and I are looking forward to the day that we can visit these long lost members of theHerbel family. Perhaps in the year 2000 when my wife retires we will be able to make such atrip."
Glenn Mueller wrote Alexnder Herbel, inquiring about his Klein family, and received a letter on19 Dec 1991 which he had translated from the German. It included this information:
"Friedrich Klein and Anna Elisabeth Socolovsky were our neighbors. We were often togetheras children. My wife, Otillie, daughter of Jakob Steinle, was born 7 Sep 1926. I can rememberwell how it was when the old Friedrich Klein died, because as a young boy I carried his cross tothe cemetery. But I no longer remember when his wife Anna died. Their children were: Amalia -She died in 1987. Friedrich - He died in 1981 or earlier in Engels of cancer. David - He starvedto death in 1933; Gottfried - he is still living in Dreispita (in 1991) I recognized him immediatelyon the photo with wife Natalya and brother Friedrich.
"In 1941, when the war with Germany began, the Russians deported all Germans to Siberia inthe north and to Kazakhstan in the south. The people from Dreispitz went to Siberia in the areaof Tymen. There all men who were older than 16 years were sent to the Workers' Army, where70 starved to death. They all worked in the forest. There was very much snow and cold, as coldas 45 degrees below celsius. My father, Gottfried Klein, and Gottfried's brother Friedrich were allthere. In 1942 the Communists moved my family again, this time to the north, to the citySalekhard. You will find on the map the River Ob and way at the top, on the Polar Sea, is thiscity. There we lived 48 years. There the cold was 50 degrees or even 55 degrees below zero,and snow as high as the houses. --- Gottfried Klein with his wife Natalya and Amalia Klein withfamily also lived there. Gottfried and his wife had no children, but she had a son from a previousmarriage. However he died about 2 years ago. (1989). Gottfried Klein and his wife returned toDreispitz about 1957. But they are now old and their health is weak. My brother-in-law was inDreispitz 4 years ago [1987] and talked with Gottfried. He learned, that Gottfried had nomedicine; everything is lacking in Russia; there is also nothing to eat there. In Dreispitz therewere failed harvests in 1921/22 and 1931/1933; then many people starved to death, especiallythe men. Two sons of Amalia, David and Alexander still live in Salekhard. Their daughtersLydia and Maria live in the Moravian Republic. ---
"Dreispitz is a village with about 200-300 inhabitants. Almost only Germans lived there up to1941, only 1 - 2 % Russian. From 1941 to 1957, there were only Russians. In 1958, I went toDreispitz on a visit. My aunt had also been living there since 1958. But then much had beendestroyed. The wooden houses were burned down. The others were torn down and moved tothe city, Kamyshin. Now everything has been rebuilt again. I don't know anything about thedaughter Khutor (Baronfke). Near Dreispitz was only one Khutor, Brunnental, which is still there. There Gottfried Klein lived from 1957-1962. Now he lives in the village. --- When we weredeported, I was only 15 years old.
(signed) Alexander Herbel