Notes:

The Germans from Russia Heritage Collection is pleased to present Ida Bender's important work The Dark Abyss of Exile: A Story of Survival which she originally authored in the German language. Her cousin, Carl Anderson, helped write this book with assistance from Laurel Anderson and William Wiest who completed the German to English translation.

Ida Bender relates her story of deportation and exile to Siberia at the beginning of World War II in 1941. She and her family lived in the lower Volga region of the Soviet Union, along with 400,000 other ethnic Germans. These people were descendants of 18th Century settlers invited by Czarina Catherina II from western Europe to convert barren Russian steppes into productive farmland. Bender and fellow ethnic Germans were subjected to inhumane conditions in Soviet concentration camps. Many persons perished from starvation, freezing, and brutal treatment. Ida Bender, who also describes acts of kindness by some Russians, expresses the hope her book will help replace hatred with understanding between peoples. The book includes photographs and sketches depicting Volga German village scenes and life in the forced labor camps.

Ida Bender writes in the Foreword: "I wanted my children to have a happy, peaceful life, while they still were young. I wanted to spare them the difficulties I had experienced. They had inherited the stigma of being damned, exiled Germans. Even as children, they were considered second-class citizens, scoffed and cursed. They were persecuted because of their ethnicity. I took it as my assignment to explain to them why they were in that position, while at the same time I did not want to stir up hate in their hearts. I wanted them not to be ashamed of their parents or their people."

"Later, one of my grandchildren asked me why we Germans in the Soviet Union were treated as second-class citizens. I told all my grandchildren they deserved to have human dignity, which had been taken away by the Soviet government. I taught them war should not be a part of life, that one person should not be violent toward another, that one people should not be violent to another people. That is what I wish for all people on earth, and to that end I have recorded my experiences for those who follow me."

Ida Bender shares a compelling story of her life. She writes: "We had been loyal citizens for two centuries, had given our all to make the land productive, had believed in the idea of a perfect society when the Communists took over. The only path left for us was a struggle for survival, trying to keep our family together and out of harm's way."

Family/Spouse: Christian Gross. Christian was born on 7 Nov 1903 in Ashley, Mcintosh County, North Dakota, USA; died on 7 Mar 1995 in Ashley, McIntosh County, North Dakota, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Gladys L. Gross was born on 10 Jul 1926 in North Dakota, USA; died on 7 Jun 1994 in Aberdeen, Brown County, South Dakota, USA.
2. Leonard Gross was born on 17 Jan 1934; died on 9 Mar 2006.

Notes:

BIOGRAPHY:
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/nd/county/mcintosh/bios-1.htm#B8
GEORGE BENDER

George Bender was born in Marienberg, South Russia, on January 26 th , 1879. When a boy of ten years, he came with his parents, Philip and Rosa Bender, and his brothers and sisters, to this country. They came to Eureka by train, there George?s father purchased a team of oxen and brought his family and their belongings to McIntosh County. This was in 1889.

He lived with his folks and helped them break and till the soil and eager to establish a home for himself, he filed an a homestead 9 miles southwest of Ashley in 1900. The same year he was married to Philephenia Reub. She was born in Kassel, South Russia, and had come to this country with her parents George and Christine Reub who had settled in McPherson County in 1887. The Benders first home was made of sod and stone and built by themselves. They had no money but owned four horses, four cattle and a plow, which was valued at about $300.00. The first years of their married life was an experience not to be forgotten, poor crops, no grain to sell, no sale for butter and eggs. This made it necessary to find work elsewhere in order to supply the family with food. However, better times came and there were fields of waving grain which were harvested and granaries were full, some to be sold and some for seed for the next year. In 1905 Mr. Bender bought a farm one mile south of Ashley and moved his family there, where they still live.

Mr. and Mrs. Bender were parents of fourteen children, thirteen of whom are living. They are: Philip of Wishek; John of Ashley; Ida, married to Chris Grosz of Ashley; Edward of Lehr; Benjamin of Long Lake, S. D.; William and Julius of Ashley; Marie, a married daughter living in Aberdeen; Frieda, another married daughter, living at Leola, S. D.; and Christian, Theodore, Otto and Anna, who are still unmarried and live at home.

Mrs. Bender, age 57, passed away at a hospital at Omaha, Nebraska, on January 1 st , 1938, following an operation to which she submitted the preceding day. Funeral services took place at the Zion Lutheran Church, Rev. J. C. Jung officiating. The body was interred in the Lutheran Cemetery south of Ashley.

Mr. Bender with his family has acquired about 1500 acres of farm land and today has a well equipped farm. Mr. Bender is a prominent resident in the community and he and his family are members of the Lutheran Church.

Georg married Philippina Rüb about 1900. Philippina (daughter of Georg Rüb Rueb and Christina Dörr) was born on 23 Jun 1879 in Kassel, Odessa, Ukrayina; died on 1 Jan 1938 in Nebraska, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Philipp married Rosina Jesser about 1873 in Bergdorf, Odessa, Ukrayina. Rosina (daughter of Karl Friedrich Jesser and Rosina Obenauer) was born on 20 Jan 1855 in Odessa, Ukrayina; died on 17 Sep 1913 in LaMoure County, North Dakota, USA; was buried in Ashley Lutheran Cemetery, Ashley, McIntosh County, North Dakota, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Georg married Christina Dörr on 28 Jan 1876 in Odessa, Ukrayina. Christina (daughter of Johannes Jakob Dörr and Anna Katharina Maier) was born on 10 Oct 1857 in Kassel, Odessa, Ukrayina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Georg married Christina Vögele on 19 Nov 1840 in Glückstal, Odessa, Ukrayina. Christina was born on 16 Mar 1820 in Glückstal, Odessa, Ukrayina; died on 26 Apr 1869 in Odessa, Ukrayina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Karl married Rosina Obenauer. Rosina was born in 1814; died in 1867. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jakob married Christina Maier. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Johannes married Anna Katharina Maier. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]