About 50 km east of Hannover is a small village called Wesendorf. It is home to a large population of Germans who emigrated from the former Soviet Union after its collapse in the late '80's. My family is one of them. My cousins Eduard and Lyddia, aunt Amalia, and numerous off-spring from them - children and grandchildren. They are descendants from my dad's brother Fridolin, who was re-located after the war near the city of Sverdlovsk (now Ekaterinburg) in the Ural mountains. When we go into town, its not unusual for Eduard to point at some stranger in the street and exclaim "see that lady over there? She's a distant cousin of your father's." How I would like to meet them all and get their stories. I feel like I almost need to live there to understand.
When these people came to Germany, the German government offered some assistance, particularly job training and language skills. The village is now a typically clean German town, the largest industry being the Volkswagen factory in nearby Wolfsburg. The people have done well for themselves. Eduard and Lyddia live in a small community of new homes which they built themselves, the architecture not totally German, a little bit Russian.
On my last visit, the occasion of Eduard's 60th birthday, I wanted to meet with Fridolin's wife Amalia. Unfortunately, she was laid up in the hospital. I will need to make a return trip very soon, while she is still with us.
Further to the south, near Karlsruhe, lives the other part of the Russian side, from my dad's other brother Eduard, who spent his time in a prison near Moscow, and was eventually executed just prior to his release. He apparently knew too much to be allowed to be freed. His wife died a few years ago, but his daughter Lilly is still alive. I met her at Eduard's celebration, for the second time. She is the keeper of family records, and I vowed to come see her in the near future. She has two sons and a daughter, and a few grandchildren.
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