In a message dated 11/9/10 1:00:44 AM, [email protected] writes: > In the Fall 2010 AHSGR Journal, in the article "The Germans of the Volga > Region - 'Sons of > Israle in Eqypt'?", by Dr. Elena V. Ananyan, who is a professor at > Volzhsky Institute of > Humanities, a branch of Volgograd State University, she says: > > "It should be mentioned that according to the Proclomation of 1763 > privilges for emigrants > were granted for five to thirty years (with the exception of unlimited > ones), after that period > that status of German colonists should have become equal to the status of > Russian citizens." > > According to Dr. Anayan, hat sounds like they were considered citizens to > me. > > Gary Martens > ======== What should have happened and what actually happened may have been two different things. Based on what my relatives who were born in Beideck, deported to Siberia in 1941, and who have since moved to Germany told me, the Volga Germans were never considered citizens equal to Russian citizens. For example, because the passports that were issued to them when they were born were stamped "German," there were many educational institutions that they were not allowed to attend and some jobs that they were not allowed to hold. They were considered Russian subjects and expected to obey all of the Russian laws, but they did not have all of the privileges that Russian citizens had. Ruth Schultz Ruth