[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Podolia

[Jerry Frank]

Podolia is a province of former Russia located immediately south of 
Volhynia.  It is a region not included in the research efforts of 
those interested in the Black Sea or Bessarabian Germans yet there 
was a significant German population there.  They were rather widely 
scattered throughout the region yet were served by two Lutheran 
Parishes - Niemerow and Dunajewzy.

Church histories indicate that the pastors here were better paid than 
those in Volhynia and other regions.  This is certainly because, as 
the record books indicate, there were several noble families 
associated with the Lutheran Church here who gave their support to 
it.  In addition, a variety of German, French, and Russian soldiers 
and their families can be found in the records.  The major noble 
family in the area which held vast tracks of land was the 
Wittgenstein family.  Field Marshall Wittegenstein was a German who 
served in the Russian army and who was given these lands in return 
for meritous service.

Several families migrated southward from Volhynia to Podolia, either 
passing through on their way to the Black Sea region or settling 
there permanently.  In addition, it appears that some German families 
from the south of Zhitomir and Kiev found it more practical to travel 
to Podolia to be served there rather than travelling within their own 
province.  More of the Germans in Podolia were involved in trades or 
services rather than farming.

Quite a few of the Germans in northern Bessarabia also crossed the 
provincial boundary into Podolia to be married.  This is probably 
because they would otherwise have had to wait for the Bessarabian 
pastor to travel to their region to perform the marriage.

The St. Petersburg records for Podolia have now been extracted and 
can be searched in the "Members Only" section of the SGGEE website.





Jerry Frank - Calgary, Alberta
FranklySpeaking at shaw.ca