German community began after the reforms of Alexander II. In 1871, he repealed the open-door immigration policy of his ancestors. The resulting disaffection motivated many Russian Germans, especially members of traditionally dissenting churches, to migrate to the United States and Canada, while many Catholics chose Brazil and Argentina. The Russian Civil War of 1919 hit the Selz people especially hard when during early August the farmers attempted a three-day stand against General Grigori Kotovski’s Bolshevist cavalry regiment and finally lost. The Bolsheviks took revenge by massacring 111 men and women of Selz. During the time of the Great Terror of 1937/1938 the population was reduced by 15 percent. This great loss caused the government to keep the results of a 1939 census secret. During early August of 1941 the German air force staged air attacks on Selz, Kandel and Baden, two people lost their lives. Explosive and fire bombs destroyed homes and stables. In two villages, livestock also became victims of the air attacks. The residents hid in cellars and camps for several days, until on Sunday, August 10, Romanian soldiers and a mounted officer arrived from the South and marched first into Kandel, then into the other villages, and declared their sovereign rule over the settlements. They were followed immediately by an SS-unit arriving on foot. Within two weeks, the SS identified all leaders of the collectives, leaders of village councils, village activists, as well as children from mixed German-Jewish families and executed them in secrecy. From 1942 on, the villages came under political administration by Police Commissariat 23. The villagers restored their churches as much as possible, and religious services held by Catholic military clergy from Romania were permitted, but only under military supervision. Once again, the language of commerce was German, and school instruction was conducted with the help of textbooks imported from Germany. A March 12, 1944 announcement ordered the population to prepare for “administrative resettlement.” The people of Kandel, initially heading toward Franzfeld, were the first to leave. The Selz people's turn came only six days later. Because the authorities had abandoned the Selz residents, they wandered around for days until some men discovered a ferry near Mayaki. After two thirds of the people and wagons had reached the western side successfully, a Soviet artillery grenade hit the ferry and sank people and horses. 76 other wagons and 450 Selz residents were captured and sentenced