On March 15, 1909, 8-year-old David sailed into New York Harbor with his mother and siblings on the S.S. Roon. They were singular in their destination: Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The travel-weary family anxiously anticipated reuniting with their father who had arrived a year earlier to prepare the way for them. Sophie, David's mother, had a relative (Christian Wiegand) who had immigrated to Sheboygan and invited the family to do the same. It was a welcoming community of German-Russian expatriates.
Such adventure for a young boy! Such trauma. The excitement of the voyage must have given way to seasickness, bad food, diarrhea, the long darkness and stench of steerage, the death of at least one sibling, and the sights and sounds of a language unknown to him. Decisions were made which resulted in David not being listed with his parents on the 1910 U.S. Federal Census.
According to Anastasia Yurk, the wife of David's son Ivan, he lived with either his uncle or his grandfather when he returned home to Rheinwald (the town of his birth). He grew to manhood surrounded by his extended relatives and eventually had his own family.
Whether he was influenced by freedoms he read about through letters from his assimilating family in America, or whether it was just David's nature, he spoke out about injustices in his community. Such non-conformity was unwelcome, and on January 16, 1938, he was convicted and exiled to a labor camp in Magadan. This was a bustling port city north of North Korea and over 5k lonely miles from home. Forced labor during WWII doesn't leave much to the imagination.
David was confined there for 10 years, yet for an unknown reason, couldn't come home for 17. By this time Yulia and the children no longer knew him. It is unknown by his descendants if his confinement and separation damaged him emotionally and-or physically. Yulia wouldn't accept him back, so he returned to a city about a hundred miles north of Vladivostok, Arsenyev. (Findagrave doesn't have the city in the system yet.) He kindly sent parcels of fish to his family every now and then.
The family tells the story of how, once he was free, he received a package. They assume it was from his parents in the U.S. Yet, David knew the KGB would suspect or accuse him of some fictional treachery if he accepted the package, so he rejected it. So fine was the line someone from a labor camp had to walk.
His death date is currently unknown. David was released from Magadan in 1948, yet he's not in his mother's obituary in 1957. In 1989 he was exonerated of his "crime," but he probably already died. Many people were acquitted after their deaths or even 50-60 years later.
Other than the joys he had with his family, life seemed to hand David a series of losses. His descendants compassionately remember his isolation and honor him with this memorial.
MOTHER: Sophie Wiegand
FATHER: Phillip Yurk
WIFE: Yulia "Julia", b. Latvia
CHILDREN
1. Ivan Yurk
m. Anastasia
2. Maria Yurk
SOURCES:
1. Please use genealogy integrity and credit Elena Yurk as the source of all photos.
2. Information sources: great-granddaughter Elena Yurk, Ekaterina Yurk whose ancestors also lived in Reivald. She lives in Altai, Russia.
3. Article about the labor camp: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44936736
Such adventure for a young boy! Such trauma. The excitement of the voyage must have given way to seasickness, bad food, diarrhea, the long darkness and stench of steerage, the death of at least one sibling, and the sights and sounds of a language unknown to him. Decisions were made which resulted in David not being listed with his parents on the 1910 U.S. Federal Census.
According to Anastasia Yurk, the wife of David's son Ivan, he lived with either his uncle or his grandfather when he returned home to Rheinwald (the town of his birth). He grew to manhood surrounded by his extended relatives and eventually had his own family.
Whether he was influenced by freedoms he read about through letters from his assimilating family in America, or whether it was just David's nature, he spoke out about injustices in his community. Such non-conformity was unwelcome, and on January 16, 1938, he was convicted and exiled to a labor camp in Magadan. This was a bustling port city north of North Korea and over 5k lonely miles from home. Forced labor during WWII doesn't leave much to the imagination.
David was confined there for 10 years, yet for an unknown reason, couldn't come home for 17. By this time Yulia and the children no longer knew him. It is unknown by his descendants if his confinement and separation damaged him emotionally and-or physically. Yulia wouldn't accept him back, so he returned to a city about a hundred miles north of Vladivostok, Arsenyev. (Findagrave doesn't have the city in the system yet.) He kindly sent parcels of fish to his family every now and then.
The family tells the story of how, once he was free, he received a package. They assume it was from his parents in the U.S. Yet, David knew the KGB would suspect or accuse him of some fictional treachery if he accepted the package, so he rejected it. So fine was the line someone from a labor camp had to walk.
His death date is currently unknown. David was released from Magadan in 1948, yet he's not in his mother's obituary in 1957. In 1989 he was exonerated of his "crime," but he probably already died. Many people were acquitted after their deaths or even 50-60 years later.
Other than the joys he had with his family, life seemed to hand David a series of losses. His descendants compassionately remember his isolation and honor him with this memorial.
MOTHER: Sophie Wiegand
FATHER: Phillip Yurk
WIFE: Yulia "Julia", b. Latvia
CHILDREN
1. Ivan Yurk
m. Anastasia
2. Maria Yurk
SOURCES:
1. Please use genealogy integrity and credit Elena Yurk as the source of all photos.
2. Information sources: great-granddaughter Elena Yurk, Ekaterina Yurk whose ancestors also lived in Reivald. She lives in Altai, Russia.
3. Article about the labor camp: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44936736
On March 15, 1909, 8-year-old David sailed into New York Harbor with his mother and siblings on the S.S. Roon. They were singular in their destination: Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The travel-weary family anxiously anticipated reuniting with their father who had arrived a year earlier to prepare the way for them. Sophie, David's mother, had a relative (Christian Wiegand) who had immigrated to Sheboygan and invited the family to do the same. It was a welcoming community of German-Russian expatriates.
Such adventure for a young boy! Such trauma. The excitement of the voyage must have given way to seasickness, bad food, diarrhea, the long darkness and stench of steerage, the death of at least one sibling, and the sights and sounds of a language unknown to him. Decisions were made which resulted in David not being listed with his parents on the 1910 U.S. Federal Census.
According to Anastasia Yurk, the wife of David's son Ivan, he lived with either his uncle or his grandfather when he returned home to Rheinwald (the town of his birth). He grew to manhood surrounded by his extended relatives and eventually had his own family.
Whether he was influenced by freedoms he read about through letters from his assimilating family in America, or whether it was just David's nature, he spoke out about injustices in his community. Such non-conformity was unwelcome, and on January 16, 1938, he was convicted and exiled to a labor camp in Magadan. This was a bustling port city north of North Korea and over 5k lonely miles from home. Forced labor during WWII doesn't leave much to the imagination.
David was confined there for 10 years, yet for an unknown reason, couldn't come home for 17. By this time Yulia and the children no longer knew him. It is unknown by his descendants if his confinement and separation damaged him emotionally and-or physically. Yulia wouldn't accept him back, so he returned to a city about a hundred miles north of Vladivostok, Arsenyev. (Findagrave doesn't have the city in the system yet.) He kindly sent parcels of fish to his family every now and then.
The family tells the story of how, once he was free, he received a package. They assume it was from his parents in the U.S. Yet, David knew the KGB would suspect or accuse him of some fictional treachery if he accepted the package, so he rejected it. So fine was the line someone from a labor camp had to walk.
His death date is currently unknown. David was released from Magadan in 1948, yet he's not in his mother's obituary in 1957. In 1989 he was exonerated of his "crime," but he probably already died. Many people were acquitted after their deaths or even 50-60 years later.
Other than the joys he had with his family, life seemed to hand David a series of losses. His descendants compassionately remember his isolation and honor him with this memorial.
MOTHER: Sophie Wiegand
FATHER: Phillip Yurk
WIFE: Yulia "Julia", b. Latvia
CHILDREN
1. Ivan Yurk
m. Anastasia
2. Maria Yurk
SOURCES:
1. Please use genealogy integrity and credit Elena Yurk as the source of all photos.
2. Information sources: great-granddaughter Elena Yurk, Ekaterina Yurk whose ancestors also lived in Reivald. She lives in Altai, Russia.
3. Article about the labor camp: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44936736
Such adventure for a young boy! Such trauma. The excitement of the voyage must have given way to seasickness, bad food, diarrhea, the long darkness and stench of steerage, the death of at least one sibling, and the sights and sounds of a language unknown to him. Decisions were made which resulted in David not being listed with his parents on the 1910 U.S. Federal Census.
According to Anastasia Yurk, the wife of David's son Ivan, he lived with either his uncle or his grandfather when he returned home to Rheinwald (the town of his birth). He grew to manhood surrounded by his extended relatives and eventually had his own family.
Whether he was influenced by freedoms he read about through letters from his assimilating family in America, or whether it was just David's nature, he spoke out about injustices in his community. Such non-conformity was unwelcome, and on January 16, 1938, he was convicted and exiled to a labor camp in Magadan. This was a bustling port city north of North Korea and over 5k lonely miles from home. Forced labor during WWII doesn't leave much to the imagination.
David was confined there for 10 years, yet for an unknown reason, couldn't come home for 17. By this time Yulia and the children no longer knew him. It is unknown by his descendants if his confinement and separation damaged him emotionally and-or physically. Yulia wouldn't accept him back, so he returned to a city about a hundred miles north of Vladivostok, Arsenyev. (Findagrave doesn't have the city in the system yet.) He kindly sent parcels of fish to his family every now and then.
The family tells the story of how, once he was free, he received a package. They assume it was from his parents in the U.S. Yet, David knew the KGB would suspect or accuse him of some fictional treachery if he accepted the package, so he rejected it. So fine was the line someone from a labor camp had to walk.
His death date is currently unknown. David was released from Magadan in 1948, yet he's not in his mother's obituary in 1957. In 1989 he was exonerated of his "crime," but he probably already died. Many people were acquitted after their deaths or even 50-60 years later.
Other than the joys he had with his family, life seemed to hand David a series of losses. His descendants compassionately remember his isolation and honor him with this memorial.
MOTHER: Sophie Wiegand
FATHER: Phillip Yurk
WIFE: Yulia "Julia", b. Latvia
CHILDREN
1. Ivan Yurk
m. Anastasia
2. Maria Yurk
SOURCES:
1. Please use genealogy integrity and credit Elena Yurk as the source of all photos.
2. Information sources: great-granddaughter Elena Yurk, Ekaterina Yurk whose ancestors also lived in Reivald. She lives in Altai, Russia.
3. Article about the labor camp: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44936736
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