Did any volga germans assimilate with russians?

Question by Becca W: did any volga germans assimilate with russians? Did any of them live around the penza oblast?

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Answer by Vio17
The Germans of the Volga River region used to live in rather tight communities when they first settled in Russia in 1760s. The considerable assimilation with the Russians took place after the Volga Germans were relocated to Siberia and other regions in the 1940s.

They definitely preferred to preserve their language and culture by staying in the community and finding a husband/wife from the own kind, but occasional marriages with the Russians (or Poles, or any other nationalities living in that region) would still occur.

Penza oblast’ is quite close to the original German settlement, so you would expect quite a few Germans living there in the past as well as at present. In fact, 5 out of 8 “national-cultural autonomies” registered in Penza oblast’ at the moment are German ones.

Hope your genealogical research will be successful!

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