About the book:
Title: The Volga Germans
Series: The Volga Flows Forever, Book Two
Author: Sigrid Weidenweber
Category: Historical Fiction
Book Format: E-Book
The Volga Germans
The Meiningers had set out for Russia seeking to improve their lives, to escape the political and religious turmoil often surrounding their otherwise picturesque German homes and villages. They dreamed of the faraway place awaiting them. They colored the soil beneath the vast steppe rich and black in their minds ready to be tilled. And there would be a neat little house ready to receive them. In their wildest dreams, they could not have imagined what actually awaited their arrival. There were no houses, no fields nothing but grass as far as the eye could see. It was almost evening; they were hungry, wet and cold and felt like orphaned children.
These German immigrants and their descendants civilized this bleak Russian frontier, converted the harsh steppe into fields of waving grain dotted with wind-driven flour mills, and in this isolated place, developed a culture that was uniquely their own. They survived savage attacks of marauding tribes, the unpredictable often harsh climate, and the vagaries of tsarist edicts. Sigrid tells the fascinating story of these remarkable people in The Volga Germans.
The Volga Germans is the second volume in Sigrid Weidenweber’s trilogy The Volga Flows Forever. Catherine, the first volume, brings to life the fascinating historical character of Catherine the Great who invited her native countrymen to settle the Russian frontier. In the final volume, From Gulag to Freedom, she follows the Volga Germans through the hardships of collectivization and deportation during the Soviet years to finally immigrate to the San Joaquin Valley of Central California.
About the Author: Born in Germany in 1941, Sigrid Weidenwber remembers the horrific aftermath of fascism. At the end of the war, she found herself living under communism. After the Berlin Wall was built, she managed to escape the repressive environment with the help of friends and a French passport. To this day she does not speak French.
She holds degrees in medical technology, psychology and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Concordia University of Portland, Oregon for her trilogy “The Volga Flows Forever.” In her trilogy she brings to life Catherine the Great in her multiple roles as monarch, woman, lover, mother, grandmother and head of the general staff of the army, in Volume one. The following two historical volumes deal with the Volga Germans brought to Russia by Catherine’s edict.
Three years ago she moved to Santa Rosa Valley, California from Portland Oregon. She has passionately embraced California together with her family that also resides here.
Visit the author’s website.
My Review:
The Volga Germans by Sigrid Weidenweber is a great historical fiction. She has definitely researched the time, area and people to weave an authentic tale in this book. It is the second book in a trilogy. While a reader would have a more in depth understanding of the people and times by reading the the first book, it is not necessary to understand what’s going on in the second book.
The Volga Germans tells the tale of immigrants who moved to Russia upon the invitation by Catherine the Great. It follows their migration and settling along the Volga River and surrounding areas. There are many hardships as the people fight the extreme weather and the resentment of the local people. As the Germans flourish, even against the odds, the native people resent them for the industrious efforts and the perceived wealth of these farmers. There is much persecution, but they grow to love the land in spite of it all.
The story is told in a way that teaches the reader about the trials and triumphs in an area of the world that hasn’t had much light shone on it. While there are many pages to the book, it is worth the read. This is a book that I would recommend, but not as a light read.
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