Story of the Caucasus Germans - Tom Marsden's Portfolio

Descendants of Goygol Germans seek an ancestor's former house. Sep, 2018.

This series was inspired by a visit to the town of Goygol in western Azerbaijan in 2017. Goygol began life as Helenendorf in April 1819 and was founded by a group of pious German migrants fleeing poverty and persecution in their native Württemberg. These Germans established over a dozen colonies altogether in eastern Georgia and western Azerbaijan which generally flourished due to their expertise in wine and cheese making. Tragically, however, in the autumn of 1941, following the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union, the Caucasus Germans (numbering about 46,000) were all deported to Central Asia.

Given that in 2019 Goygol was about to mark the 200th anniversary since its founding and I was extremely curious as to the fate of its former German residents, I decided to follow in their footsteps from the South Caucasus to Kazakhstan and southwest Germany. The goal was to track down survivors and descendants, hear their stories and make photos as I went.

A descendant of Goygol Germans locates the house her father grew up in. Sep, 2018.

View from the train shortly after departing Almaty in southeast Kazakhstan. Jun, 2018.

Men play chess in a teahouse in Goygol. Sep, 2018.

Yunis Hajiyev was the last remaining resident of German heritage in the Azerbaijani town of Shamkir, founded as the German colony of Annenfeld in 1819. Jul, 2018.

A German-built house in the Azerbaijani town of Shamkir. Jul, 2018.

Werner Bekker, photographed at home in Ridder, northeast Kazakhstan, who spent his early years in Annenfeld (now Shamkir) in Azerbaijan. Jun, 2018.

A street scene in Astana, Kazakhstan. Many Caucasus Germans were deported to villages not far from here. Jun, 2018.

One of the last German residents of Zhuravyovka, a village near Astana. Many Azerbaijani Germans were moved to here, however this man named Henrikh hailed from the Russian Volga region. Mar, 2019.

Lida Ostroverkhova, whose grandfather was deported from Georgia to the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan, where I met her. Jun, 2018.

Sarzhal, a village near Semey (formerly Semipalatinsk) and only a few kilometres from a notorious Soviet nuclear test site. Lida's grandfather and family were deported here. Jun, 2018.

A view of the former German colony of Waldheim in southeast Georgia. Dec, 2018.

Tina Heine pictured at home in Tbilisi, Georgia, from where she and her family were deported to Semiyarsk in Kazakhstan before returning years later. May, 2019.

Victor Raitenbach, born in Goygol, Azerbaijan, celebrates his 85th birthday with fellow German residents of Pavlodar, northeast Kazakhstan. Mar, 2019.

A street scene in Reutlingen, southwest Germany. Many of the original German settlers to the Caucasus came from towns such as this in the Baden-Württemberg region. Nov, 2018.

Young people pass time by the Danube in Ulm, Germany, from where the first German settlers set sail for the Caucasus. Nov, 2018.

Angelika Hummel, who grew up in Goygol (founded by the Germans as Helenendorf and later renamed Khanlar by the Soviets), pictured at home in Karlsruhe, Germany. Nov, 2018.