Irina Nastasă-Matei, Ute Schmidt, Basarabia. Coloniștii germani de la Marea Neagră, traducere din limba germană de Cristina Grossu-Chiriac, Chișinău, Edit. Cartier, 2014
A review of Ute Schmidt’s book, Bessarabia. German colonists at the Black Sea, 2014
Ute Schmidt’s book, Bessarabia. German colonists at the Black Sea, presents the more than 125 years of history (1814-1940) of the German minority from north of the Black Sea. The author explains the origins, the reasons for emigration and the settlement waves of this minority, as well as the relationships with the Russian authorities (Tsarist and Soviet), with the other Bessarabia’s inhabitants (Romanians, Russians, Ukrainians, Jews etc.) and, after 1918, the consequences of being under Romania’s rule and its Romanization politics. The book analyses the structure of the community, organized around the Lutheran Church, and its main characteristics: the emphasis on education and the high literacy rate, while in the same time a rural lifestyle, with agriculture as main occupation. The history of the German minority from north of the Black Sea ends with its expatriation in June 1940 to Poland and its subsequent refuge in Germany in 1945.
Keywords: German minority, colonization, emigration, rural life, local autonomy, minority politics, Bessarabia
