Marvin, Thanks for sharing that. German POWs were used to harvest sugar beets up here in Michigan, too. Looks like the first VGs in Russia did not grow sugar beets for many decades; according to Wikipedia, sugar beet refineries began to appear in France and German states as the Napoleanic Wars ended. The Volga colonies had been in existence a half century by then. The topic would make an interesting study. Bill P. On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 9:26 PM, Marven C Weitzel <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm 78, and I still have scars on my leg from topping sugar beets in West > Nebraska and Wyoming. I began thinning beets with my grandfather when I > was 8 years old. My dad work in both the Great Western sugar factory in > Gering, Neb. and the Holly sugar factory in Torrington. May dad also was > the hired man for Ted Nanbera, a Japanese farmer, about a mile from our > home in the "Rooshin Town" sector of Gering. I remember the German > prisoners who were brought to the farm help with the beet harvest, > usually in very cold weather. At about age 10 or 11, I had no problem > communicating with the prisoners, but my wouldn't talk them. When I > asked why, he said they spoke hoch Deutsh, in dialect he didn't > understand. It took me about 50 years to realize that he wouldn't speak > to them because he didn't want to associate with potential Nazis. Many > of the German\Russian farmers did prepare meals for the prisoners in the > Scottsbluff-Gering area. > My grandfather died in 1954 while I was in the Marines. He and I worked > together in the beet, bean, potatoes and grain fields, but I don't recall > him mentining anything about sugar beets in the Norka area. Dad was born > in Melow on der Havel in 1913, just before they came to the U.S. Grandpa > would be 123 if he were still living. Dad was killed in an industrial > accident in Portland, Ore., in 1971 at age 57. > > Marven Weitzel > > On Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:51:48 -0500 "Cliff" <[email protected]> writes: > > Hoy hoy! > > > > A fine sunny day of 38F from Kakabekastan, Canada near Lake > > Superior. > > (and 14 inches of snow on ground) > > > > Our Huber gang from Bangert did not mention sugar beets to my > > recollection, > > but did refer to sunflowers seeds and sunflower oil plants in > > Bangert, c1890. > > > > Our Huber grandparents, settled on land east of Winnipeg at Lydiatt, > > (aka > > Eugenfeld, and St Ouens) brought watermelon seeds among others. > > > > regards > > > > Cliff Huber > > > > Volga ancestral families from 1766 to 1900: Huber, Heinz, Otto, > > Steinhauer, > > Wagonleiter, Pineckenstein > > > > ps - All the best, Paul. > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ____________________________________________________________ > Groupon.com Official Site > 1 huge daily deal on the best stuff to do in your city. Try it today! > http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4d7ad9f0db28c19f7fcst02duc > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >