Jeff Fuhrman is an independent writer and international tax director. He has degrees in Russian and Law, and more than 30 years of experience working with the countries of the former Soviet Union. He lives in Cherokee with his husband and their dog Harambe. He encourages readers to listen to Sergiy Sysuev’s song “With Ukraine in My Heart” while reading this essay.

Twelve years ago, I had the privilege of taking my mother to see where her grandparents lived in Europe in the 1800s. Back then it was an untamed territory on the southern edge of the Russian Empire. After it was conquered, the Russian Emperors invited people later known as “Black Sea Germans” to populate and farm the lands. 

My mom’s family migrated from Prussia to the new lands (now part of Ukraine and Transdnestria, north of Odesa) and brought their religion and way of life with them. They farmed sunflowers, wheat, and grapes—the same crops you see today in the Dakotas, where they emigrated to, bravely, in the 1870s. St. Paul’s (Lutheran) Cathedral in Odesa is still standing.