Preservings $20 Issue No. 30, 2010

~ A Journal of the D. F. Plett Historical Research Foundation Inc. Preservings $20 Issue No. 30, 2010 “A people who have not the pride to record their own history will not long have the virtues to make their history worth recording; and no people who are indifferent to their past need hope to make their future great.” — Jan Gleysteen In this Issue .................................................... 2 Feature Articles .............................................. 4 Research Notes ............................................. 90 Table of Contents ........................................... 2 Articles ......................................................... 23 Book Reviews .............................................. 94 Editorial .......................................................... 3 Around the World ......................................... 57 Letters .......................................................... 97 News............................................................... 3 Family and Village Histories ........................ 64 List of Contributers ...................................... 99 In this Issue Preservings 2010 Table of Contents Many of the cultural and religious sensibilities we recog- nize as distinctive for Russian Mennonites come to us from Editorial .................................................................................................. 3 the Polish-Prussian period of Anabaptist history. This issue of News....................................................................................................... 3 Preservings features a number of articles that explore that history. Peter Klassen a long time student of the Polish-Prussian Feature artiCles: MennOnites in Prussia experience leads the feature section with his thoughts on Let the Past Live!, by Peter Klassen ...................................................... 4 the Polish period of Anabaptism, a period he feels has been Polish and Prussian Mennonites: An Enduring Legacy, sorely neglected by scholars. Preservings co-editor, John J. by John J. Friesen ................................................................................. 12 Friesen reflects on Klassen’s work with his own thoughts on the theological importance of the Polish-Prussian period and The Teutonic Knights, by Dan Stone ................................................... 19 the legacy of that experience among Russian Mennonites to artiCles this day. Dan Stone, a now retired historian of Poland from Cheese Factories of the East Reserve, Part II by Ron Friesen ............ 23 the University of Winnipeg adds to our understanding of the context of Mennonites in the Vistula Delta with his overview of The Move to Mexico: The Sale of Three Villages, the Teutonic Knights who conquered the area in the centuries by Bruce Wiebe .................................................................................... 35 before Mennonites arrived. In our family history section Walter Horndean, by Arnie Neufeld ................................................................ 46 Epp shares his odyssey of looking for his Prussian heritage and Mennonite Neighbours on the West Reserve, showcases some of the maps that he uncovered in his quest. by John J. Friesen ................................................................................. 51 A second focus of this issue is the East and West Reserves of Manitoba. Ron Friesen completes his overview of the cheese arOund the MennOnite WOrld factories of the East Reserve by looking at the cooperative Connecting the Mennonites in Latin America, period that began in the 1930s. The West Reserve is featured by Kennert Giesbrecht ......................................................................... 57 in three articles: Arnie Neufeld’s recollections and history of Mennonites in Siberia, by Hans Werner ............................................. 60 Horndean and John J. Friesen’s article on the non-Mennonites of the West Reserve both deal with the ‘edges’ of West Reserve FaMily histOry life. Bruce Wiebe offers us the first detailed look at how the sale Maps of the Vistula Delta, by Walter Epp ............................................ 64 of West Reserve lands took place after the move to Mexico by Childbirth in a small sample of Mennonite Families, the Old Colony people. Blumenort, Gnadenthal and Hamburg by Katherine Martens ........................................................................... 68 illustrate the complexity of selling the land when an entire community decides to leave at the same time. Mennonite Funeral Practices, by Roland Sawatzky ............................. 72 Two reports of travels are striking in how they illustrate Bergthal Gemeinde lists (Russia) Part II, by Tim Janzen .................... 77 the widely dispersed, but similarity of Low German peoples. Cornelius A. Ens, by Alvin Ens ........................................................... 87 Put together Kennert Giesbrecht and Waldfried Klassen’s adventure driving from Steinbach to Paraguay and visiting researCh nOtes Low German people on the way and my experience of talk- The Manitoba Hochfeld Waisanamt Records, by Bruce Wiebe ........... 90 ing Low German with people who live in the vast steppes of Siberia show us the importance of language in creating and From the Outside In by Helen Khodchenko ........................................ 94 sustaining a community. BOOk revieWs In addition to Walter Epp’s story of looking for his roots in Prussia our family history section explores both ends of life. Mary Neufeld, A Prairie Pilgrim: Wilhelm H. Falk, by Adolf Ens...... 94 Katherine Martens tells of the experiences of giving birth, Rod Janzen and Max Stanton, The Hutterites in North America, while Roland Sawatzky paints a picture of Mennonite practices by John J. Friesen ................................................................................. 95 surrounding death. The second and final installment of Tim Ralph Friesen, Between Earth and Sky: Steinbach, The First Janzen’s work on the Bergthal Colony genealogical records, Fifty Years, by Hans Werner ................................................................. 96 and the biography of the multi-faceted Cornelius Ens from Helmut Huebert, Mennonites in the Cities of Imperial Russia. Saskatchewan complete this issue’s foray into the vagaries of Vols 1 and 2, by Lawrence Klippenstein. ............................................. 97 family life. A report from a visiting graduate student who is Ukrainian, letters but studies Mennonites in Manitoba, Bruce Wiebe’s interesting Letters .................................................................................................. 97 report on the Waisanamt Records in Mexico, and our usual Our Cover: The photo on the cover of this issue is that of an book reviews, news and letters make this what we think will arcaded house built by Mennonites, in the village of Lubieszewo, the be an engaging and interesting issue. former Ladekop, Poland. It was taken by Elfrieda Toews while on a tour of the Vistula Delta. Hans Werner, co-editor Preservings, a journal of the D.F. Plett Historical Research Foundation, Inc., is published annually. Co-editors are Hans Werner 1.204.786.9352 [email protected] and John J. Friesen, 1.204.488.8128, [email protected]. The annual subscription fee is $20.00, and cheques should be made out to the D. F. Plett Historical Research Foundation, and mailed to Hans Werner, D. F. Plett Historical Research Foundation, Inc., University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9. Reader responses are welcome. Please send manuscripts, articles, and/ or photographs to the above address at the University of Winnipeg. Our mission is to inform our readers about Mennonite history, and in particular to promote a respectful understanding and appreciation of the contribution made by the so-called conservatives. 2 - Preservings No. 30, 2010 by John J. Friesen Editorial co-editor A serious issue facing Mennonites in Mexico is lack of drugs began in 2006, almost 30,000 Mexicans have died in security due to the drug trade. In December 2006, after consid- drug related violence. erable pressure from President George W. Bush, the Mexican As the federal forces have caught, executed or brought to President Felipe Calderon agreed to step up his government’s trial some of the drug lords, another aspect of the war has efforts to reduce the flow of drugs from Mexico into the United intensified, namely, between drug cartels who are fighting for States, and to reduce the flow of guns and cash into Mexico control of turf. In cases where drug lords have been captured from the US. This decision resulted in a war on drugs, which or executed, neighbouring drug lords have tried to gain control has caused widespread violence, engulfing, in particular, of their territory, or minor players have seized the opportunity northern Mexico. to expand their influence and income. The character of the Mexican war on drugs has been primar- Large sections of the Mexican society have become des- ily shaped by the United States’ long standing war on drugs, perately poor, especially after the NAFTA agreement forced carried on both within and beyond its borders. This American many small farmers off their land, and into unemployment. The war has been brutally violent, has cost many lives, has sapped lure of money is one of the reasons why the drug people are the country of huge financial resources, and resulted in hun- able to find virtually endless recruits among

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