Elvera Reuer’s Publicity Archives . 01
Aberdeen American News . Aberdeen, South Dakota . 11 20 83
Remembering . . . Fear of Fleeing Oppression
by Cindy Eikamp
Elvera Ziebart Reuer is an American citizen by choice, not chance, and she's proud of it—she wouldn't trade it for anything, "I wanted to become a citizen. I wanted to vote."
Elvera, now of Aberdeen, hasn't always lived in a free country. She spent five years fleeing Russian armies and three years in a refugee camp hoping to come to America. Elvera was 10 years old when her family's nightmare began—it ended nine years later when she, her mother, a brother and sister arrived in the United States.
Before World War II the Ziebarts lived in the Rumanian-held territory of Bessarabia, now south Russia. Decades earlier her German ancestors and thousands of other Germans accepted an invitation from the Russians to settle the area. But in 1940 they were no longer wanted, and as World War II progressed they Hitler enticed them to returm to Germany.
For thousands of Bessarabian Germans there was really no choice. They could have stayed in Bessarabia but Elvera said that would have meant the Russians "would have taken the men to Siberia, molested the girls. It was Siberia or Germany."
Hitler had offered the Germans farms in Germany, a new beginning. So Elvera, her mother, three brothers and three sisters, along with an estimated 93,000 other displaced Germans of Bessarabia fled the advancing Russian Army. Hitler's promises were just promises: There was no farm land waiting for them in Germany. Instead there were refugee camps. For the next few years the Ziebarts were basically transients. Elvera spent 1940 to 1942 in refugee camps that she calls "inhuman."
From 1942 to 1945 she was on a farm in West Prussia and although the family lived under constant Nazi dictatorship, conditions were a little better. But once again they had to flee the advancing Russian armies and for nine months in 1945 they lived in a wagon and "traveled like gypsies."
The last three years of her life in Germany she, her mother, a sister, and a brother shared a one-room apartment, waiting to come to America.
For more than 30 years Elvera could not talk about those years. It's still difficult for her to remember and speak of her former life. There was no privacy and little food for the thousands of refugees who survived on potato soup and bread.
"My experiences with the Russians were horrible. They were animalistic."
Three times one of her brothers was taken away in a "black truck" for speaking against Hitler. Another brother was stabbed in the hand when he tried to stop a Russian from beating a woman. One brother risked danger when he knocked out a German guard who was mistreating a Jewish man—that brother shared the food he was bringing Elvera and her mother who were in a refugee camp with the Jew who was trying to find food for his family.
"My memories of Germany aren't very nice. If it hadn't been for my mom and God (we would have) never made it to this country. The Lord was with us all the time."
"There were thousands of refugees. We were not the only ones. I was one of the few that made it . . . so many were shot by Russians, so many sent to Siberia."
Elvera sometimes wonders why her family was spared. She thinks maybe it was so she could tell their story. About three years ago Elvera was ready to start talking about her war experiences and she began writing her book The Last Bridge, which includes the difficult experiences of her family.
Elvera and her family got out of Germany because a relative in South Dakota was willing to sponsor them: On December 28, 1949, Elvera, her mother and a brother and sister stepped on American soil.
It was an emotional experience when they saw the Statue of Liberty. She recalls the words spoken that day by a family member: "Thank you, Lord, for finally giving us peace." There were tears in her eyes as she recalled that moment when they were "so excited to be free."
But it was also what Elvera termed a scary time for the family. They couldn't speak English and they had no idea what the $100 bill was that her brother had. They knew it was money, but not how much or how far it would go to cover their new beginning in America.
They traveled from New York to South Dakota by train. Since they couldn't speak or read English they used sign language to communicate. After years of eating only potato soup and bread, they unknowingly ordered mashed potatoes, potato salad and baked potatoes for their first meal on the train. Her brother had ordered by pointing to items on the menu, having no idea what they would be getting.
It wasn't easy learning a new language as an adult, but her younger cousins were anxious to teach her and soap operas on the radio also helped. Elvera says her husband, an American-born German, also helped her a great deal with English. "He still does," she said.
Elvera never got a chance to have a formal education. She has an eighth grade education but only spent about five and a half years in school. The Reuers' five children all have some post-secondary education.
America means many things to Elvera. It was here she had her first banana, her first grapefruit. It was in America that she no longer had to run to a basement or shelter when planes flew over.
She has been back to Germany to visit her family many times. (She is the only one to stay in America.) "I like to go back to visit but I don't want to live there. I love this country, South Dakota. I am so grateful I got the opportunity to come to this country and live here in peace." [ END ]
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