Rohrbach Surnames
Surname: Kassan
Nicolas Krassan, also spelled Krusan and Krasan, emigrated to Rohrbach, Beresan District, South Russia in 1809 from Edenkoben, Landau, Rhine Pfalz. He was 33 years of age. With him was his wife Eva, 29 and three children, Christiana, 9, Heinrich, 5, and Abram, one.The picture below is of Nicolas' descendants. The men wear the typical colonial dress for German colonists, the German cap and knee high boots. Some descendants eventually emigrated to Canada and settled in Alberta Province. The family married into the Hedwig family.
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Surname:Klundt and Reichert
Johann Klundt emigrated to Rohrbach c. 1809 from Landau, Rhine Pfalz. He was accompanied by his wife Eva, 51 and two sons, Heinrich, 20, and Michael, 13.
Andreas Reichert, 29, emigrated from Weingarten/ Ravens berg/Wurttemberg with his wife Eva, 27, a son Jacob, age unknown and Johann who was four.
On the left, Johann Reichert (son of Andreas, the original settler of Rohrbach) and his second wife Margarete Woehl. On the right, Andreas Reichert (Johann’s eldest son) and his wife, Katherine Klein. See the explanation below provided by Irene Keiper Alexander.
Irene writes:
There is some doubt about the identity of the people in the photos above. Eva Hilton, granddaughter of Jacob Reichert and Eva Peter, had a copy of the photo on the left and stated that it was “Grandpa and Grandma Reichert”. It did not have the writing on the bottom.
Later I received both the above photos via Judy Foreman who obtained them from Janet Hornbacher Rath. Those pictures were evidently scanned or copied in their cardboard frames, with the writing on the bottom. At that time, I was told that the two couples were likely Johann Reichert and Margarete Woehl on the left, and Johann’s eldest son, Andreas Reichert and his wife Katherine Klein on the right.
Even later, while researching the Peter book, I again received the photo on the left – this time from Joyce Reichert Binder, great granddaughter of Heinrich and Magdalena Reichert. This photo did not have the writing on the bottom, and was identified on the back as John Reichert. Below that was written, “Grand Pa Reichert” and under that was written “Christina”. There was some discussion that the woman looks quite a bit younger than the man.
Johann’s first wife Christina was about the same age as him, while his second wife Margarete was about 17 years his junior. Based on this fact and the fact that I know the Hutchings Railroad Photo Car operated in Nebraska, I would surmise that the photo on the left is of Johann and Margarete, taken after their immigration to Sutton, Nebraska.
You may contact Irene Keiper Alexander at icalex@gpcom.net for more information about the Reichert family. You may also contact Keith"Dale"Reichert at kdreic@msn.com for Reichert family information. Dale writes:"I would be glad to help where I could. I have information on the Rohrbach line of Reicherts. I also have some on Neudorf with the Raile, Eberhardt, and Schlepp families."
Stalin's Purges in the 1930's: The Story of Willhelm Klundt.
From 1935 – 1937 the relocation and outright murder of the rural German population of Russia and other Soviet citizens reached a fevered pitch. The assassination of a well-known communist leader in Leningrad served as the excuse for Stalin's wholesale arrests and executions. This in spite of the fact that there is strong evidence that it was Stalin himself who had this leader assassinated. The new purges were targeted at political leaders both within and outside the Communist Party, intellectuals, teachers, pastors, and technocrats. The atrocities were not confined to the German Russian population. Claiming that he had discovered a plot to assassinate him, Stalin directed his attention to many of his former political enemies, many who had been loyal to Lenin. He purged the ranks of the Army and the officers corps. This included Field marshals, theater commanders, and nearly 1800 high-level officers. Once again, they were accused of being “enemies of the people.” Stalin’s goal was to invoke absolute terror in the Russian population, founded on the premise that this would create absolute obedience and conformity to the demands of his regime.
A specific example of the impact of these purges on German Russian families is illustrated by the story of Willhelm Klundt, a resident of Rohrbach. He was born there in 1886. His parents were Heinrich and Katherine Reichert Klundt. Willhelm was married to Pauline Schock. The Klundts had acquired considerable land and wealth through hard work and sound farm management. Willhelm was considered a kulak. When the time came for the “Entekulakisiert”, (the second round up of the kulaks, the first had occurred in the 1920's), a Ukrainian friend named Smertny, who was also the local administrator for the new system told Klundt, “you are on the pressure – emigrants – list, make your farm small, sell everything you can and just move away.” The farm was of considerable size, so Wilhelm brought his parents to Gueldendorf near Odessa and relocated his wife and three daughters to his sister’s home in Wasserowka, about 30 km from Brauncutter, Poland . Then he began to dispose of his property. He sold some of the property outright and also gave some to his daughters. During the period 1930 to 1937 he concealed his identity, thereby avoiding placement as a laborer on a collective farm. He traveled around Russia, according to his relatives, even going to Moscow. When he was at “home” he lived with his daughter and son-in-law, Emma and Gustav Knell. During the day he worked as a livestock broker, buying and selling cows, horses and pigs. At night he would return to his son-in-law’s home and to avoid detection by Communist authorities, he had constructed a small cave underneath the Russian oven in the yard. These were large brick ovens that stood some distance from the home to avoid the potential for fire. But even his secret cave did not help. His neighbors eventually denounced him. On April 9, 1937, Willhelm was arrested and tried. On August 10, he was placed before a firing squad and shot to death. Because he had harbored his father-in-law, “an enemy of the people,” Gustav Knell was arrested, tried, and executed on November 22, 1937. Willhelm’s story was repeated many times over throughout the Soviet, “Workers Paradise.”[1]
[1] This material was found in family records provided by Keith Dale Reichert, relative of Willhelm Klundt.
Some of the Klundts and Reicherts emigrated to the US and settled in Sutton, Nebraska. Dale Reichert writes; "My father, Peter Reichert, was born in Rohrbach. His father, Jacob Reichert, brought his family to St Francis in 1901. My father's great grandfather was Johann Reichert [1811 Rohrbach-1904 Sutton], who brought his second wife and family to Sutton with one of those early groups that came from 1873-75. Johann's father was Andreas Reichert who was with the first families that started Rohrbach in 1809. I do want to mention that we ( Dale and Jim Griess) both share the name Ridinger in our great grandparents. You with a Jacob Ridinger as a great grandparent, and me with my great grandmother being Eva Ridinger Reichert. Her parents were George Peter and Anna M. Zimbelmann Ridinger. You mentioned Jacob Ridinger being a son or grandson of Georg Ridinger. My great grandmother Eva Ridinger was born in 1838 in Rohrbach. In those families at that time one generation could turn up the same names again in the next generation." From Sutton the families spread out in the US. Some family members also emigrated to Argentina. Irene Keiper Alexander and Dale Reichert, who share a common great grandfather have done extensive genealogical work on the Reichert family tree.
The Location of German Russian Villages in the Black Sea Region
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