Interesting question, Charles. I hope others respond, although many of them are busy at the conference. In Fred Koch's book, The Volga Germans, there is a section on pages 191-192 called "Rivalry and Cooperation". His main point is that in later years adults got along well, but youthful rivalry sometimes got out of control. ". . .commercial relations developed between German and Russian villages and sons accompanied their fathers on inter community trips...". Apparently on market days the taunting sometimes turned into fights. My impression is that relations improved after the Bolsheviks came to power. The raids to seize grain that began in 1918 affected Russian and German farmers alike. On p. 261 Koch describes the Schippekrieg, or Shovel War. Russian and Volga German farmers organized a regional defense force near Kolb on the northwest side of the bergseite. It was soon crushed by a Red Guard unit. I am writing a fictional account of a harvest during those years. I know that Volga German farmers who hired laborers to work for them were branded as Kulaks and sometimes deported. I am wondering if they ever hired people from nearby Russian communities to help at harvest time. Fred Betz Messer and Neu Messer My sense is ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Parcels" <volgager4440@yahoo.com> To: <ger-volga@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 4:36 AM Subject: [GV] Russian/VolgaGerman Relationships > I am curious as to what the relationships were > between the Russians & the Volga Germans before 1900? Were they good, > fair, or just barely tolerable? I believe that before communism kicked in, > they both got along well, but I am really not sure. > > Thanks, > > Charles Parcels > > < Weibert aus Messer > > > > --------------------------------- > Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GER-VOLGA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >