Russians from Germany featured in New Fiction

English translation published by CMU Press

I read two recently published works of fiction about Germans from Russia. Both authors had signings at Winnipeg’s McNally Robinson’s book store. NIGHTBERRIES by Elina Penner is a translation (by Bradley Schmidt.) The second, LIKE A RIVER DIVIDES THE EARTH, was a compilation of five short stories by Dora Dueck. The books, like their authors, were wildly different in tone and style, albeit they both explored the impact of leaving Russia and integrating into modern Germany after the Soviet collapse in the early nineties. Both authors would consider themselves ‘Mennonite.’ 

Published by Freehand Books

I’m fascinated by the topic because some of my mom’s family got ‘trapped’ under the Soviet’s strict population control throughout the 20th century. While my mom’s ethnic German family was German Baptist, not Mennonite, they experienced similar restrictions regarding cultural and religious practices.

While I was visiting Zhytomyr, twenty years ago,  I found that some of my relatives had Russified their names. In a letter from one of my mom's cousins in the secret police archives, dated February 1, 1958. she signed it, as 'Olga Andrynova Ristovaya' living in Chelybinsk.   She was hoping to clear her husband's name under Khruschev's thaw, so that (translation of her words), "...I need a letter to confirm his rehabilitation so our family can look to the eyes of Soviet people with a clean conscience."  

With Uri,  my translator, in the Zhytomyr archives.
What's Uri doing now? 

By the early nineties, as USSR was falling apart, other cousins of my mom, exiled to Arkhangelsk, were only too eager to leave Russia and established contact with us here in Canada. Their enthusiasm was, honestly, overwhelming. The Germany of their dreams was often leery of these newcomers and my almost ninety-year-old mother, after forty years here in Canada, could no longer give practical support for their needs or wants.  Sadly, we've lost touch.  I hope that they're thriving in Germany but these two books made me aware of the many challenges.

Both authors explore the awkwardness of not belonging, of lost time and of dashed expectations. Elina Penner is a modern writer and her style is rather raw and sometimes even bizarre. Dora Dueck is a thoughtful and slower-paced writer.  Mennonite writers with disparaging styles. 

I found it fascinating to read these two books back-to-back. Recommended for those curious about the Germans from Russia in current times, still weighed down by their difficult pasts. Fiction, yes, but inspired by real people and events. 

The compost pile of memories suppressed under Russian politics continue to nurture today’s voices.