to diseases (including plague and cholera) was two times higher than the birth rate. Only in the 1930s did the colonists manage to gradually regain their lives. In 1843, the population of Helendorf was 609 people, and in 1926 2,157 people (but by this time the natives of Elenendorf had founded two more colonies – Georgsfeld [936 inhabitants] and Traubenfeld [393 inhabitants]). They also moved to other subsidiary colonies, formed at the beginning of the 20th century. In October 1941, during the forced eviction of German colonists from Transcaucasia, the number of Germans living in Elenendorf and subject to eviction was 2,675 people. Economic activities By 1875, the colonists had fully paid the government credit (2000 rubles per family), which they received in 1818 for the relocation and arrangement of the farm. By this time, the colonists' main occupation was the cultivation of grapes and the production of spirits – various varieties of vintage and table wine, cognac, and champagne. The products produced in Elenendorf were sold by the local firms Brothers Hummel, Brothers Forehrer and Concordia not only in Russia – in particular in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also in Europe. Crafts were also developed. By 1908, the colony numbered eight workshops for the production of horse carts (also supplied to the Russian army), six for barrels, nine forges, nine carpentry and six carpentry workshops, four sewing masters, four painters and four stoves, three locksmith workshops, and one shoe master. Social development The Schwabs who settled in the Russian Empire were Lutherans but belonged to the Pietistic movement, which, in fact, was one of the reasons for their resettlement to the Caucasus. In 1832 a pastor arrived from Hannover to the colony, and before that, from the time of the founding of Elenendorf, divine services, the sacraments, and rituals were conducted by a local teacher. In 1857 the stone church of St. John was built and consecrated in the village. In the 1930s, two newspapers were published in the German language, and . Due to the fact that there was also a teacher among the arrivals, the children of the colonists had the opportunity to study reading, writing, and arithmetic, and later geography and history. In 1823 the first school was built, in which children were educated in two classes. As the population grew, the school expanded, and the number of subjects offered expanded. From the 1890s, it