​Yuletide memories from days of yore

By Michael M. Miller

michael.miller@ndsu.edu

As the holiday season approaches, I wish to extend Yuletide best wishes and a special “Weihnachten” greeting to you and your family. I would like to share with you some Christmas memories from our Germans from Russia community. Please email or send me your Christmas memories.

A Christmas tradition in many Germans from Russia homes was halvah. This Turkish confection is made of pressed sesame seeds and honey. Curt Renz recalls his father selling halvah by the pound in their Herreid, South Dakota, store. Curt also remembers black olives being popular with the “old folks.” He recalls reaching with a cup into a huge wooden barrel filled with brine and olives.

Sue (Kaseman) Balcom, a native of Gackle, North Dakota shares:

Christmas was always spent attending services at Martin Luther Church in Fredonia. Silent Night (Stille Nacht) was always sung in German. We always spent Christmas Day visiting our grandparents. Grandma Kaseman had dried fruits and lots of nuts. She would produce a jar of her effervescent dill pickles. Grandma Meidinger had frosted honey cookies, homemade caramels and fruit. My mother told me once after I said I didn’t want to take an orange home, to never say no to my grandmother’s offer again. There were not a lot of presents. We were poor, inasmuch as we just didn’t have as much stuff as others, but we never noticed.

Jerry Richter, Jamestown, North Dakota, writes:

“My sisters and I would wear out pages of the Sears wish book, hoping Santa would bring us our heart desires. We usually got one item. The proverbial shirt, blouse, and hankie…and always a book from Dad. There was always fresh fruit, oranges, apples and bananas. Also, for the children was a big bag of mixed nuts.

Gerald Wagner, a current St. Paul, Minnesota resident, remembers growing up in North Dakota. He comments:

Our Christmas was very simple with our parents, brothers and sisters, as we did not travel or have visitors because at Christmas, we were usually snowbound. We were nearly two miles of hilly section line trail to the nearest graded road so horses and bobsled were needed. We were seven miles south of Fredonia, North Dakota, in 1937, as the crow flies. We had canned meats, both pork and chicken, smoked hams, bacon and homemade sausage my father made. We had plenty of potatoes and home-baked bread. Everything was grown. We had no radio, telephone or newspaper. We played many board games and cards for entertainment.

Gilbert Schauer, of Longview, Washington, writes the following:

I went to the Glückstal Church near Napoleon and Tappen, North Dakota. What I remember most is it always seemed the roads were blocked. So my older brothers and my dad had to hook up a team of horses on what was the bobsled. We always had bells on the reins of the horses. As we would be nearing the church, there would be several other families, Mertzes, Langs, Reuers, and Zimmermans. There was hay in the sled, we were covered up with what was called a lap rope that was made out of Dad’s horse hides. It was -30 below. I told that story to my girls, Tauni and Terri. Their response was, ‘Dad that was living.’”

Fr. Leonard Eckroth, a native of Mandan, North Dakota, writes:

As a Catholic, we would follow the day of fasting before the feast. On Christmas Day in our home, we ate fish or a German dish like rahmnoodla. As a family, we went to confession before Christmas. Our dad put the first ornament on the tree, starting with the star on the top. Us juniors put the tinsel on after the older brothers and sisters hung the lights and other decorations. My mother did a lot of baking like fruitcakes, cookies and special German-Swiss bread. Our folks and older siblings attended midnight Mass while us youngsters were in bed, though we wanted to play with our Christmas gifts.

Brother Placid Gross, native of Napoleon, North Dakota, shares his memories:

The whole family of 13 children and my parents went to church for midnight Mass at St. Anthony Church, 14 miles south of Napoleon. The church was decorated with a great big Christmas tree and a large manger scene. The choir had practiced, so the music was fresh and loud. Then Christmas Day and many days following, there were many visits back and forth with the relatives and all the special food.”

Kim Joachim Kraushar remembers:

My most vivid memory of Grandmother Beata (Bauer) Joachim at Cresbard, South Dakota, was rolling out cookie dough on the tabletop of their beautiful, solid oak dining room table. She was always wearing a dress with a small flowery print and an apron. She was rolling out pastry dough for her perfect rhubarb pies, the custardy kind made with eggs and nutmeg, not that sweet, gelatinous, fake red filling. A special Christmas memory is the smell of her small Pfeffernüsse cookies. The way she made these little miracles is a mystery to me. At my young elementary age, I had no idea where that flavor came from. So spicy, peppery, warm on the tongue, even if the cookie was cold. Finally, I learned about the cloves, nutmeg and black pepper and then learned how to make them myself.

Cindy Mitzel Longtin, Fargo, writes:

We didn’t put up a Christmas tree, mother had a large oleander tree in the living room that was decorated with snap-on candles, strings of cranberries and popcorn. We would light three candles at a time for daily evening prayers and then Christkindl came. Belznikel (St. Nicholas) usually wore a fur cap and long fur coat, rarely speaking to hide the person’s identity. Christkindl wore a beautiful dress with a white veil attached to a hat or crown over her head, with many flowing broad multiple colors of ribbons. Our parents would offer homemade chokecherry wine, cold meats, breads and kuchen to Belznikel, Christkindl, and the singers before they were on their way to the next home.

Mary Ebach, from Rugby, North Dakota, shares the following:

We would eat a meatless meal, usually dried fish, since we could only eat meat on Christmas Eve, open our presents and get ready to go to midnight Mass. After Mass, we went home with a meal of ham our mother had made, wrapped in dough to keep it moist and then baked, her vinegar and oil potato salad, goladetz, head cheese and kucha. Our mother passed around some homemade brewed Schnapps. Those fantastic memories are as vivid and happy as if it were yesterday and we are grateful we came from a family that built those memories.

Editor’s note: 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 ndsu.edu/grhc. You may also contact Michael directly at michael.miller@ndsu.edu or 701-231-8416.