​German Russian scholars of note

By Michael M. Miller

michael.miller@ndsu.edu

I would like to recognize some of the scholarly Germans from Russia from Canada and USA shared on the GRHC website. There are additional names not included here. If you have suggestions of other names, please contact me.

Monsignor George Aberle (1891-1981), Hague, North Dakota, was born in the Catholic Kutschurgan District villages (today near Odesa, Ukraine). He authored “Pioneers and Their Sons: One Hundred Sixty-Five Family Stories and Steppes to the Prairies” (1980).

Dr. Armand Bauer (1924-1999), native of Zeeland, North Dakota, a soil scientist, edited the journal Heritage Review of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society (GRHS). He was a translator for the book, “Russian-German Settlements in the United States” (1974).

Sharon Chmielarz was born and raised in Mobridge, South Dakota She taught German and English. Sharon is a poet with 13 books of poetry and three children’s picture books. In 2021, she was awarded South Dakota Poet of Merit.

Arthur E. Flegel (1917-2018), native of Bentley, North Dakota, was instrumental in creating the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR) in 1968, serving as president from 1981-1984. He compiled the impressive GRHC published book, “Extended Relationships of Kulm, Leipzig, Tarutino Communities in Bessarabia, Russia” (2005).

Dr. Adam Giesinger (1909-1995), was born in a sod house near Holdfast, Saskatchewan. Adam authored “From Catherine to Khrushchev: The Story of Russia’s Germans” (1974) and “The Way It Was: A Family History and Autobiography” (1992). He was president of AHSGR from 1978 until 1981.

Peter Goldade, grew up at Selz, North Dakota. He was employed for 34 years by US aerospace firm Collins-Rockwell International. He is author of “The Goldade Family History with Memories of the Village of Selz and Russia” (2003), “The Jundt Family History” (2005), “The Migler Family History” (2006), “Life Under Tyranny” (2020), and “Our Relatives: The Persecuted” (2006).

Emma Schwabenland Haynes (1907-1984) was born in Portland, Oregon. She completed a groundbreaking study, “History of the Volga German Relief Society,” in 1941. Emma served as translator and interpreter at the Nuremberg War Crime Trials.

Dr. Joseph S. Height (1909-1979), was a native of Tramping Lake, Saskatchewan. He was professor of German at Franklin College in Indiana (1960-1975). He is author of the well-known books, “Homesteaders on the Steppe” (1975), “Paradise on the Steppe” (1972), “Memories of the Black Sea Germans” (1979), and “Folksongs of Our Forefathers in Russia, America and Canada = Lieder der Schwarzmeer Deutschen” (1978). The Joseph S. Height Collection was established at the Germans from Russia Heritage Society.

Dr. Sidney Heitman (1924-1993) was a noted professor of history at Colorado State University. In 1975, he established the Colorado State University Germans from Russia in Colorado Study Project. The Sidney Heitman Collection was established in 1993 at CSU.

Dr. Timothy Kloberdanz, native of Sterling, Colorado., is an anthropologist, author, folklorist and editor. He is professor emeritus at NDSU (1976-2019). Kloberdanz authored these books: “Thunder on the Steppe: Volga German Folklife in a Changing Russia” (1993) and “One Day on the River Red: A Novella” (2018). He is co-author of “Sundogs and Sunflowers: Folklore and Folk Art of the Northern Great Plains” (2010).

Debra Marquart, native of Napoleon, North Dakota, is a Distinguished Professor of English, Iowa State University, Ames. She is a former Poet Laureate of Iowa. Debra is author of seven books, including her best-selling memoir, “The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere” (2006).

Dr. Dona Reeves-Marquardt, Austin, Texas, is Professor Emerita, Texas State University. Dona and her husband, Lewis, were scriptwriters for three documentaries of Prairie Public’s award-winning Germans from Russia Documentary Series. Dona has translated major works including “Germans in the Land of the Volga” (1989). Her authored books include “German Culture in Texas” (1980), “Retrospect and retrieval: the German element in review” (1978) and “Texas Country: The Changing Rural Scene” (1986).

Dr. Lewis Marquardt (1936-2020), native of Linton, North Dakota., taught humanities at Arizona State University and art history at Texas State University. After graduating from Minot State University in music, his first teaching positions were at Miller and Webster, South Dakota. He served one term in the South Dakota State House of Representatives (1969-1970). He was president of AHSGR. In 2019, Dona and Lew received the Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Homer Rudolf (1939-2018), native of Wishek, North Dakota, was Professor Emeritus of Music, University of Richmond, Virginia. Homer was coordinator of the Glückstal Colonies Research Association (2010-2014) and the editor of two major GCRA published books, “The Glückstalers in New Russia and North America: A Bicentennial Collection of History, Genealogy and Folklore” (2004) and “The Glückstalers in New Russia, the Soviet Union, and North America” (2008). He was the scriptwriter for the 2005 award-winning Prairie Public documentary, “A Soulful Sound: Music of the Germans from Russia.”

Ronald Vossler, native of Wishek, North Dakota, is an author, freelance writer and scriptwriter. He received the GRHS Joseph S. Height Literary Award. Ron is the author of these GRHC published books: “Dakota Kraut: A Memoir” (2003), “The Old God Still Lives: Ethnic Germans in Czarist and Soviet Ukraine Write Their American Relatives, 1915-1924” (2005), “We’ll Meet Again in Heaven: Germans in the Soviet Union Write Their American Relatives, 1925-1937” (2001) and “Why I Never Called Death a River, and Other voices from the Valley of Hope: A Prairie Album” (2003).

Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner (1942-2025), native of Aberdeen, South Dakota., was an American author and historian, becoming one of the first persons in the United States to earn a doctorate degree in Women’s Studies. She authored “Daughters of Dakota” (1989-1993), a book series about pioneer women.

For more information about donating family histories and photographs, or how to financially support the GRHC, contact Jeremy Kopp, at jeremy.kopp@ndsu.edu or 701-231-6596; mail to: NDSU Libraries, Dept. 2080, PO Box 6050, Fargo, N.D. 58108-6050; or go to www.ndsu.edu/grhc or contact Michael directly via michael.miller@ndsu.edu or 701-231-8416.