Louis Mehlhaff will be in the seventh grade at Georgia Morse
Middle School in Pierre this fall. He likes to read and play
the piano for which he has earned two trophies. He also plays
baritone in band and sings in the Capitol City Children's
Choir. He enjoys sports, video games and annoying his brother.
Louis is the Black Hills Chapter 1st place winner in the Middle
School Division of the 2009 chapter youth essay contest. He has
already been honored at an awards ceremony at Georgia Morse
Middle School on May 22. The president of the Pierre Chapter of
the Germans from Russia Heritage Society presented Louis with a
certificate of achievement on behalf of our Chapter.
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A German Story
It was Christmas, John’s favorite holiday! John knew that by days end he would be exhausted from the daylong celebration he and his whole family would enjoy. The day, as always, would start with Mass. John and his father had arrived early and stoked the stove that had now took on a reddish glow as the coals burned hot and bright, warming the church. John’s oldest brother, Frederick, had arrived with the rest of his family and they were now seated in the family pew near the front of the church dressed in their finest Sunday clothes. John looked around the church and saw that his aunts, uncles and several of his cousins had arrived at church also. They would all join his family at his house for presents, fun games and dinner after Mass.
As they all continued to wait for the service to begin, John’s thought drifted back to home where his mother had already started the Christmas goose. His mouth watered as he thought of the goose with its crisp brown skin, roasting to perfection along with onions and other root vegetables in his mother’s cook stove. John’s mother was one of the best cooks in the village and she had been working overtime baking kuchens, rolls, pefhernuse, angel crisps, gingerbread, and sugar cookies. John remembered how wonderful the house had smelled as she cooled the fresh baked goodies on clean white sheets in nearly every room of the house. John and his family would want for nothing. His mother and aunts would make sure of that. Along with all the goodies his mother had prepared, there would be a baked ham and sausage from his Aunt Hilda’s kitchen, and fresh churned butter and pickles, both sweet and sour. John closed his eyes and listened as the whole church sang his favorite Christmas song, Silent Night.
When the song ended, John opened his eyes, and he felt very cold. He had been dreaming again. Dreaming about the good times in Russia. The long ago time of his childhood life. He now was wide awake and realized he was still in the labor camp far from his old home. Why? He thought to himself, had he stayed behind when his brother Frederick had left for America. He’d had his chance to leave but had turned it down. Now he was doomed. He pulled his thin blanket tightly around him, and thought once more about his old home and family. He hoped he would be remembered by his family. He closed his eyes and died.
Fortunately, for me this story is fiction. My family did not stay in Russia. They came to America and settled in the Eureka, South Dakota area in 1887. I still have family in the Eureka area but as our family grew we have spread out all across the United States from New York to California. I am the youngest member of the Germans From Russia Heritage Society in my hometown of Pierre and have learned much of the information about my ancestors from films we have watched at our club meetings and from the 1937 Eureka Jubilee book.
By Louis Mehlhaff