Book Review

Neu-Glueckstal in the Area of Odessa: A Typical Village of the Germans from Russia

by Richard H. Walth.

This book is printed in two languages, German and English. The first half of the book is the German version of the text and the second half is the English translation. Many of the tables and lists are in German only with information on the meaning of key words in English. Including the index it is 398 pages long.

Neu-Glueckstal in the Area of Odessa is a combining of two of Richard H. Walth’s previous, out of print books, one which is, In Search of a Home: The Germans From Russia which contains most if not all the same Genealogical material and lists of family names, almost all of which originated using Stumpp’s work as a reference. I was able to buy In Search of a Home used for $15 in like new condition from Amazon.com.

The information in this book on who Karl Stumpp is and when, why and how Karl Stumpp collected his data was quite interesting. The family lists are from those families who lived in Neu-Glueckstal, mostly with birth dates between 1900 and 1940. As far as I can tell very few of these Walth’s migrated to the USA. The line of Walth’s I have been researching came from the mother colony, Glueckstal. If your ancestors came from Neu-Glueckstal it is likely that that you will find their name listed in the book

The book will tell you what life has been like in the German-Russian colonies, why the German people migrated here and why many of the families chose to migrate elsewhere.  I am sure other readers will agree with me that although some of the hardships that the early settler’s went through in the Dakota’s were difficult to endure they don’t even begin to compare to what those who stayed behind endured under the rule of the USSR, during the two world wars and after. This is by far the most fascinating part of the book. It should be of interest to anyone interested in what happened to the Germans who did not migrate.

It is available from the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, NDSU Libraries, Fargo, ND www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/grhc/order/general/walth3.html the cost is $38 plus $4 postage

Before deciding to buy Neu-Glueckstal in the Area of Odessa I would recommend that you first borrow it at your local library through ILL to see if you think it is worth parting with $42.

As the husband of a Walth, that justifies my buying it as a gift to my wife who is now showing an interest in learning more about her family history.