Stanley R. Rall Collection

Collection

Identifier: GRHC SC 026

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Stanley R. Rall Collection consists of one original letter and photocopies of letters from Rev. Eugen Bachmann to his cousin Jacob Rall of Ashley, North Dakota; a photocopy of a funeral photograph with information about the cause of death; biographical information on Bachmann; and a book on the Arnold family. The collection has been organized into four series: Correspondence, Photograph, Family History, and Book.

The Correspondence Series contains four letters by Rev. Eugen Bachmann to the Rall family of Ashley, ND. The dates of the letters are 1927, 1987 and 1988. The letter from 1927 is the original and the other letters are copies, dating to the 1980s. All of the letters are in German. The 1927 letter has been translated by Stanley Rall. The 1927 letter and its envelope were laminated before their donation to the GRHC. Some of the copied letters contain family history information. Also present in the series is a note and maps from Stanley Rall. The maps provide locations for Bergdorf and Friedenstal (Trigrad/Trekhgrady).

The Photograph Series is comprised of two photocopies of the Karl Arnold family funeral. Members of the family died after Bolsheviks poisoned their wooden casket of wheat flour sent from the Jakob Rall family of Ashley, North Dakota. There are also photocopies of two envelopes and an accompanying letter from Stanley Rall.

The Family History Series consists an obituary and biography for Eugen Bachmann and a short history of Bachmann’s Lutheran church in Russia. Pages and excerpts are all photocopies.

The Book Series has one book. The book was written by Stanley R. Rall and relates to Arnold family history, 1700-2010. The book, or binder, has some history, many family group sheets and photocopies of family photographs.

Dates

1927 - 1988

Creator

Rall, Stanley R. (Person)

Access

Access to the physical collection is available upon request. Request must be made at least three (3) business days prior to ndsu.grhc@ndsu.edu.

Copyright

Copyrights to items in this collection remain with original copyright holders or are in the public domain.

Biography

Eugen Karl Bachmann was born on March 2, 1904 in Worms near Odessa. His parents were Johannes Bachmann and his second wife Fredericka/Frederike Arnold. Eugen Bachmann’s father, Johannes Bachmann was a teacher and sexton in a Bergdorf, Glueckstal district parish.

Eugen graduated from a Lutheran seminary in Leningrad studying under Bishop Malmgren. Arrested in 1934, Backmann spent five years working as a chemist in a forced labor camp in the Komi Republic in the northwestern part of the European Russia, now part of the Barents Region. From 1942 to 1950, he served in the “workers’ army.” In 1954, he received permission to move to Tselinograd.

Rev. Eugen Bachmann was only registered Lutheran pastor in Soviet Russia from 1955 through 1971. Soviet officials in Kazakhstan restricted Bachmann to one small prayer chapel in Akmolinsk (Zelinograd/ Tselinograd) They did not allow outward signs such as a cross-symbol or bell only later allowing a Latin cross on pulpit and altar. When he retired in 1972, Eugen and his second wife Berta Steblau Bachmann moved to West Germany. He died 1 October 1993.

Jacob Rall, donor Stanley Rall’s grandfather, was married to Fredericka Bachmann’s sister Magdalena Arnold. Jacob was born 18 Mar 1857 in south Russia, and died 2 May 1926 in McIntosh County, North Dakota. Jacob and Magdalena came to the United States in 1884. They lived a short time in South Dakota and in 1885 settled near Ashley, McIntosh County, North Dakota.

Fredericka and Magdalena’s father was Karl Arnold. The Arnolds lived in Bergdorf, Glueckstal district. A photocopy of a photo shows three caskets in the Karl Arnold family funeral. Stanley Rall noted they died in 1918 “at the dinner table from poisoned flour delivered by the Bolsheviks.” Jacob Rall had sent the wheat from North Dakota.

[Biographical information from Soviet Lutheranism after the Second World War, by Edgar C Dunn, German Lutherans in the Soviet Union by Kathleen Matchett, Ashley anniversary books and other sources.]

Extent

4 Folders

Language of Materials

English

German

Additional Description

Summary

The collection contains one original letter and photocopies of letters from Rev. Eugen Bachmann to his cousin Jacob Rall of Ashley, North Dakota; a photocopy of a funeral photograph with information about the cause of death; biographical information on Bachmann; and a book on the Arnold family.

Arrangement

The collection has been organized into four series: Correspondence, Photograph, Family History, and Book.

Separated Materials

In 2011, Stanly Rall donated a book of Arnold family history. This item has been separated from the rest of the collection. It has been cataloged and placed within the GRHC Library.