Family History
“Do it well or not at all”
How Germany, the Depression, and WW2 impacted the Groh Family
“Once a job has just begun,
Never leave till it’s done.
Be it great or be it small.
Do it well or not at all”— Donald Irwin Groh
The sun beat down on my neck as I turned away to wipe the sweat off my forehead, and I heard those words once again coming from my grandfather, Donald Irwin Groh. I looked back to the field and back at all the remaining bales of hay and let out an exasperated sigh… it was going to be a very long day. My Papa, however, is never a man to shy away from work and believed firmly in the words his father told him. An 85-year-old man with blue eyes, grey hair and a slight gut but a work ethic that could rival anyone half his age came up beside me and told me “Come on now, there’s still plenty of work for everyone to do.” With that he took the lead, walking towards the bales of hay — and his shadow made him seem like a giant.
If someone were to ask me what my grandfather was made of, I would answer grit and determination. However, these properties are balanced with kindness and respect. If you went to the Lutheran church he attended, he would know your name and was always willing to lend a helping hand. If you worked for him, you earned his respect as long as the job saw its conclusion. To this day, I am convinced that my grandfather has never failed to see a job to completion — no matter how long it took. My grandfather is inspirational in both his effort and his work ethic.
Donald Groh grew up as a son of a mechanic and one of the seven children. He was born in 1932 in Freistatt, Missouri. Freistatt was a small German-American community that had been founded in the 1860s. Living in a small home with nine people was crowded for my grandfather. The crowding became worse when the economy forced other extended families into the same small house.
When my grandfather was born, times were hard, as America was in the middle of the Great Depression. Living through the depression had an enormous impact on my grandfather. He remembers collecting scrap metal and to this day, he holds on to things that he may need in the future. Growing up he would relate, “If it’s junk, its junk, but you never throw away something that still has a use.”
Following the Great Depression, World War II broke out in Europe. The US joined the Second World War following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Instantly, Japan and Germany became the enemy. My grandfather remembers the head of his German parochial school coming into their class to remove all books written in German and they were no longer taught in German. Although they were German Americans, they no longer spoke German in church, school or in public after December 8, 1941.
When my father was born, my grandfather worked as a mechanic. My grandfather worked long hours and worked his way up through the company to become a salesman. Donald was a skilled salesman and got an opportunity to become a State Farm agent. He took a chance on this venture — working long, tireless hours and it paid off. He grew his agency into one of the largest, most profitable agencies in southwest Missouri. Along the way, he served as an example of hard work and stressed to my dad the importance of hard work and determination. My dad was expected to work hard at school and to work hard at home. The German work ethic has always played a key part in the Groh household.
The little town of Freistatt
The Groh family spans back many generations with a rich history and many interesting stories. This is a family that has faced its fair share of hardships and wars, but always came out on the other side tempered by the experience. My family begins in the USA with a German immigrant drafted into the union army and eventually a family settling in Missouri.
My grandfather survived the depression and World War 2, worked hard to build a business, and became a guardsman for 20 years while serving in some of the ugliest riots in the country. The struggle for a better future for himself and his family has always been a consistent motivator. While The Groh family contains many great stories and great family members, this is the story of Donald Groh and how his life and experiences have impacted my family.
I chose my grandfather because he made the success of my father and my family possible. It was his hard work and expectations that allowed my father to succeed. My father, I believe, is a shining example of what Donald Groh gave this family. My father always comments about something Papa did or stood for that affected his life and helped him become who he is today. For these reasons, I will attempt to dive into my grandfather’s history and our family’s history to uncover what created this man of iron who was able to build a successful business and impart a strong work ethic to his children and grandchildren.
“It was the Groh way”
A Conversation with Donald Groh
Preparing for the interview was nerve-racking, did I have enough questions did they ask questions that mattered. During the drive over to the house, my nerves were shot. I gripped the steering wheel of my car so hard that my knuckles were turning white, the only thought going through my mind was are these questions good enough to portray the person my grandfather is. I parked in front of the house took a deep breath and walked through the door. I was instantly hit by the familiar smells and decoration that I had seen and smelled throughout my childhood. I walked in and sat at the table that I been at a million times and everything was fine, and my mind was no longer running amuck. It was time for the interview.
My grandfather is no shy man, however, when it comes to our family’s history, I only knew the basics about him and even less about the rest of our ancestors. Going into the interview I had some large questions some very specific and other abstract. I anticipated a very basic interview filled with a basic history of our family and then some stories my grandfather was fond of. However, this was not the case; instead, I got the crazy history of how my family came to Missouri and the struggles of a young man.
1. Why did our family immigrate to the United States?
Well, Parker from what I know is that my Great grandfather John Raithel came to the US in 1852. He moved to Chicago and ran a saloon in the city and at the start of the Civil War he enlisted with the Union cavalry. I don’t know the exact reason he moved away but I know he came to the US because it had a lot more opportunities than Germany at that time and he didn’t have to be conscripted into the German army.
2. To what extent did he participate with the Union Cavalry?
That’s a hard question to answer. What we know is that he joined the Cavalry because he had a horse and stayed in for a year or so until he was wounded and sent back home. When he came back home his wife died soon after. After she died, John moved away leaving 7 children to fend for themselves. His wife’s brother upon learning about helped take care of the seven kids he eventually helped them join a Lutheran orphanage.
3. How long have the Groh’s been in Missouri?
Well right after the kids were put into the orphanage one of the oldest your great-great Grandfather decided that rather than staying at the orphanage he would move to the town of Freistatt and work. He was only 12 when he moved down to work. Could you imagine being just 12 and moving away from everything to work in a small town, but he had to do it to survive? Since that day in about I don’t know maybe 1868 I believe the Groh’s have always had one family in Missouri.
4. What is the significance of the town of Freistatt and how were the Groh’s involved?
I guess I kind of answered that one didn’t I. However, Freistatt mattered because it was a stable place that Johann could call home and aloud my father and myself to call home as well, funny now, however, that I live here in Fairview.
5. What was your dad’s job?
My dad was a mechanic in Freistatt and one of the only ones. However, this was in the middle of the depression and in the midwest so not very many people had cars out there. That didn’t mean that there wasn’t work though any job that came up we would take. It was the Groh way. My dad went on to learn how to fix many different things and even gave most of the town electricity until DC came in and forced him to take it down.
6. What kind of father was he?
He was a hard-ass who put us to work but he was my dad. Work was important to him and making sure that we knew how to work and making sure we would work and not be lazy was very important.
7. What did it mean to be a German American during WW2?
Well on December 9, 2019, a couple of the people from town came into the school and started taking every book that was in German. This trend continued throughout the rest of the war. We couldn’t speak German anymore nor would we have any connection to German history.
8. How did your sense of family responsibility shape your future?
Well as a father I felt responsible to make sure my children were ready for work. I worked so that my children could do better that was what was important. This was pretty typical though I mean throughout my childhood in Freistatt family was always important to all thee in the town.
9. How did your father influence your professional career?
Because my father was a mechanic I picked up a few lessons from him and learned how to take care of engines and the sort. It helped me out during my service with the national guard. At first, I was just a mechanic for our artillery but once we were turned into an armor division I became a combat engineer.
10. What major time periods did you live through and which do you believe affected yourself the most?
I lived through quite a few time periods some of the most impactful, however… hmmm, that’s a hard question to answer. Probably the worst time the US went through was The Great Depression. I was alive during it, however, because I was so young the way it impacted me was through lessons taught by my father. The first big event to happen that changed or affected how I lived was probably WW2 due to having the familiarity of the church and school being taken away and having to act for several years that I didn’t have a connection to Germany. The next biggest thing to happen was during the ’60s when I was serving in the Kansas City race riots. I was in the reserves and a member of the military so I didn’t have to much trouble but at the same time, I had a little brother serving over at Vietnam… Do you remember you’re Great Uncle George dontcha? He can be a real headache sometimes, in fact, he was joining the officers’ school to become a pilot. Something you may not know was that at that time if you dropped out of pilot school you weren’t an officer you were instead a private and sent over immediately.
11. Piggybacking on the last question is there a history of military service in the Groh family?
Well, the military has never been our identity but some of our family have served but the most would be right now. Including my self and George but the most recent member of our family who would have served would be your dad.
12. Parents often impart some trait or merit they value on their children. What do you believe was imparted upon you?
Hard work… it’s as simple as that I think that a trait my dad passed on to me was hard work.
13. Do you believe that any part of German heritage remains with the values the Groh family upholds?
Nowadays I would say that German heritage does have a role in how our family operates by no means are we speaking German but we still uphold some of the values. However, during WW2 our German heritage was hidden we were Americans first with no relations to Germany. The other towns around Freistatt did remember the fact that we were a German town and so we were treated like orphans.
14. Are you proud of our Heritage?
Today of course I am! However, back then I was young and followed what I was told I didn’t think of myself as German, I was my dad’s son. I also had more important things in my mind to worry about. A fun story I can tell nowadays, however, is about my mom’s side. My brother John did some digging into her family history and came across information connecting her family to members of Napoleon’s Body Guards. We don’t have any definite evidence but it’s a fun piece of history to tell people about.
15. Was there a shift in the town’s mood during WW2?
Freistatt was a very small town so it was already quiet but when this happened for the next months it became even more so. The weird thing for me was the lack of german books and people speaking it, but as all things as time went by people started to ease up a bit however the town never went back to having german sermons. I haven’t been back there in quite some time however so I guess it may have changed once again.
Sources
Groh, John E. New Light on Freistatt Missouri: The Fritz Groh Waiss and Wiedman Family Legacies Meet. Author House, 2006.
Burnett, Robyn, and Ken Luebbering. German Settlement in Missouri: New Land, Old Ways. Vol. 1. University of Missouri Press, 1996.
Campbell, Joan. Joy in work, German work: The national debate, 1800–1945. Vol. 1009. Princeton University Press, 2014.
Network, Nine. “St. Louis German Americans.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Jan. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3da6cjyvi0.
