POV of a Latvian farmer
1917-September-25
The loud sound of hammering mixed with shouting and a lot of footsteps woke me while I struggled to open my eyes. I moved the cloths covering the window opening and saw that they were still continuing with the construction work.
''But what… the sun has barely risen''I said while holding back a yawn.
I yawned audibly while scratching my back and noticed that the rest of my family was waking up as well while my wife and children moved in the bed, covering their ears because of the noise.
''Have they already started again?''my wife said, looking at me tiredly.
''Yes, they have been doing that work for weeks and they have not stopped''I said, sealing the entrance of light into our house again with the cloths.
''No helping it, I will have to start making breakfast. We still have eggs left. Are you going to want some?''my wife asked while cleaning the eyes of one of our children.
''If possible. Today I have to keep moving sacks since today the last cart with the beets is being sent. With that, we should be set for the year. We have to see what the new lord of the lands wants planted in his fields, since it seems he no longer wants to keep planting beets to make sugar''I said, changing into my work clothes while I spoke.
As we were forced to begin the day earlier than I would have liked, I sat down to wait for the food to be ready. My wife managed to put barley porridge on the table, with some bread from yesterday and some hard-boiled eggs that I quickly began to eat while watching my children eat as well.
''Are you going to take Jānis with you to work today?''my wife asked while filling the bowl of the eldest of our children.
''No, yesterday he did well and like I said, it is just moving sacks that are too heavy for him. He was fine for picking the beets, but I do not want something to happen to him just to finish a little earlier''I said after putting the wooden spoon into my mouth, feeling the bland taste of the food. ''Did we run out of salt?''I added after tasting it.
''Yes, we have to buy some. Remember that I had to use a lot of salt to put the vegetables away and make them into pickles. Do you think we can move something to buy a few more jars so we can make use of everything?''my wife asked while moving some glass jars filled with vegetables.
''Difficult, difficult. This year's harvest was paid to us in those papers the new lord of the lands gives us. Many still work in rubles since they do not trust the new currency, so we would have to dip into almost everything we have saved. In case of an emergency, we would have problems buying firewood if the winter is very harsh''I said, scratching my beard.
''Could we not go to the forest and see if we can get some mushrooms and trade them?''my wife insisted.
''That is where the problem begins. With the Russian noble, if you worked a lot he allowed you to enter the forests, but here we have the German noble and from what I understand he does not administer them directly, so if we enter it would be without permission and I do not want to see us in a situation where we end up locked away for taking a noble's property''I said after continuing to spoon up the barley porridge.
''Then try asking. We have to preserve as much food as possible since, as you say, there could be problems getting food with this business of being paid with something we cannot use''my wife replied while approaching me and showing me a large spoonful of the porridge.
''I will try. I will see if the foreman can do something for us… thank you, you are an angel''I said, watching as she refilled my bowl.
I kept eating while thinking about what to do in the following days to bring bread to the table, since the damned problem of distrust toward the new currency was widespread and nobody accepted it or, if they did, they charged a lot, almost three times or more than what the ruble conversion would normally be.
After finishing eating and getting ready to go to work, I heard someone knock on the door.
''You paid this year's land rent, did you not? You did not drink it away''my wife said, frowning and placing her hands on her waist with the spoon in her right hand.
''The rent was temporarily abolished. While the new taxes and fees are standardized, they were temporarily abolished until the land cadastre is finished, so this year we do not have to pay it''I said, looking her in the eyes.
''And how is it that we are still short until the end of the year?''she said, now angrier.
''Because they paid me in the papers, I already told you''I replied, licking my lips when the door was knocked on again.
Listening to the tapping of my wife's foot, I walked to the door and opened it. The first thing I found was someone well dressed, followed by what seemed to be guards.
''Good morning, I hope I am not being a bother''the well-dressed man said with a very marked accent while taking off his hat.
''Good morning''I replied, looking at the guards who carried a revolver at their waist.
''By order of Herzog Karl von Posen, I come to inform you that today officially marks the beginning of classes for all male children aged seven and older. It is mandatory that they attend, so I hope you begin sending him immediately, since otherwise you will face monetary fines and, in the case of continued absences, physical punishments will be applied''the man said with a slight smile while handing me several notebooks with pencils.
''Eh, what?''I said, receiving the things in surprise.
''Yes, indeed. From now on, it is mandatory that all males above the determined age attend school. You will have to choose the language your son must complete besides German, though I believe we are clearly in a completely Latvian community, so your children will be taught German and Latvian all the same… let us see, what else, what else… ah, yes. In consideration of the fact that you are a tenant of these lands, you will be given one of the newly built houses since this one is going to be demolished''the bureaucrat said, looking at some documents.
''Wait… slower. What do you mean they are going to teach German to my children? I do not think that is necessary… And what do you mean they are going to demolish my house?''I said in surprise, breathing a little unevenly.
''As you heard. Your lease contract does not include living on this land, so you are currently living here illegally. This land, like the whole village itself, is going to be demolished to better adjust to the civic needs of the new settlement. Besides, German instruction is mandatory for the children, and in fact it begins today. That said, I cannot keep wasting time. Have a good day and obey the law''the bureaucrat said, quickly taking a step to leave.
''Wait''I said, raising my hand, but they ignored me completely while they went to knock on the neighbor's door.
I remained thoughtful while blinking several times, trying to understand what had happened, and then closed the door.
I ran my hands over my face and stayed looking at my wife, who was staring behind me.
''Great, it seems now we have more problems, since we will not even be able to count on our children's work. What will happen in the next harvest?''my wife said while frowning and continuing to tap her shoe against the floor.
''We will see what we can do once I come back, because otherwise I will be late. Apparently they have to go to that school. You can see where it is to avoid the fine. As soon as they release me I will come back''I said while leaving the notebooks and pencils on the table and kissing her on the cheek before starting to leave.
''Take care… and you, I am going to see what clothes you go outside in''I heard my wife raise her voice.
As I began to walk, I saw that there were many bureaucrats doing the same, accompanied by guards, giving the news to all the residents of the village. We were not a large village, literally barely over 1500 inhabitants, since we had moved there to work the lands of the Russian noble.
But it did not take me long to notice that there was movement toward the place where the Germans had been carrying out their construction work with their workers during the last few months.
I quickly reached the fields and found most of my companions, who were just like me, with more questions than answers, since nobody knew about these new laws.
But first we had to finish the work, because even if the pay was in these papers, if we angered the owner of the lands by refusing to work, he could replace us as easily as he changed his shoes. So all we could do was gather in the warehouse and load the last sacks left from yesterday onto the horse carts so they could go to the place where they processed this harvest and turned it into sugar for many things.
For several hours we began moving the sacks filled with beets onto the carts as they arrived, filling several of them and watching as the cart drivers carried away the fruit of our heavy effort after several months of work.
While I wiped the sweat from myself, they began calling us to give us the month's wages and the last wages we would receive that year, since there would be no more work from the noble until the beginning of spring for plowing the lands. So now it was my turn to see what jobs I could do to avoid scarcity at the table and my wife reminding me of it every day.
''Māris, take your wage, a little extra as a gift from the herzog. 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120. Here you have it''he said, counting the bills in front of me before placing them in my hand.
''What the hell? This is triple what we earn. It is not a little extra… Is it worth less now?''I said, frowning while watching everyone receive their pay.
''No, as far as I understand everything remains the same, I think even better, because from what I heard from someone who works in Riga, a shipment of gold arrived from Russia, so supposedly now there is something backing it, even if only a little''the foreman said, shrugging while continuing to pay the rest of the workers their wages.
With the bills in my pockets I began walking toward my house, but it did not take me long to see a large crowd of people moving toward the buildings in front of our homes.
Entering my house, I found my wife taking out everything we had stored to try to move it.
''Māris, help me. We have to move soon. The demolition of the homes begins today''my wife said, taking out everything she could as quickly as time allowed.
''How, but with so little time. It was supposed to…''I said in surprise.
''Stop wasting time… take your son and go find out where we have to move so we can start moving things. And take this sack, it has the clothes, so do not lose it''she said, taking our youngest son from the bed and handing me a bag.
I took my son in my arms, noticing that the other three who met the requirement were no longer here, so they were surely learning German.
My wife followed me carrying several jars in her arms, and we walked along with several other families who were moving their belongings to the houses.
They were the typical houses I had seen in a German neighborhood in Riga. When I had to travel to deliver the harvest, I had seen these brick buildings that resembled one another, attached side by side.
Following my wife, we reached a two-story house that was for us.
I had barely put my son down when I began to look around and saw there was even a bathroom instead of a latrine. Scratching my head, I heard knocks on the door.
''Excuse me, little time. The father of the family, I suppose?''one of the bureaucrats said, looking exhausted.
''Yes''I nodded.
''Good, you are considered tenant agricultural proprietors. The property title will remain with the herzog, but you will be able to live as if it were your property if you commit to having at least one adult male work the land for the herzog for two decades. The property will be transferred to that person. In case you do not want this, you will have to pay rent for 2 decades and it will pass to your property in the same way''the bureaucrat said, turning his clipboard. ''Place your initial name or whatever you can do''he added.
''I suppose working the land is something I have done all my life, like my parents and grandparents''I replied.
''Sign''he said, showing me a pencil.
I took the pencil he had given me and wrote my name as he had said.
''Good… all ready. By the way, now you must attend afternoon school after your children's classes are finished, since you must learn basic things about agriculture and the use of seeders, tractors and other machines. Your attendance is mandatory since you are now employed full-time by the herzog, so arrange what you can because the agricultural classes begin today… ah, I almost forgot, the state store is already functional. For the moment, we are trying to keep it supplied. You will understand that there is a shortage of many goods, but what can be done is being done''the bureaucrat said, leaving as quickly as he could to go to another house.
''Go quickly… they paid you, did they not? If there is scarcity, that means things will run out. Go quickly''my wife said, pointing me toward the exit.
Taking the money I had in my pocket, I went to the store where there were already people who, like me, were fighting to understand everything.
In the store I found the basics, food, salt, sugar, cloth, flour, boots and preserving jars.
Looking at the prices, they seemed to be a little higher than when I paid in rubles, but now they were paying me almost double, so I could easily afford these things considering they had given me 3 months' wages.
So I did not think about it much and made sure to take a 20-kilo sack of salt, one of flour and a lot of cloth to close holes in the clothes. Paying 60 Baltic marks, I lifted them onto my shoulder and returned home, only for my wife to later send me to spend what was left to fill the pantry.
I had no idea what was happening, but we had to see what would happen, since I had to go to those classes.
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