Our Tribute To Herbert Enns MHSO CHARTER MEMBER MHSO Treasurer 1965 -1974 Ontario Vice President 1977 -1981 At the age of 12 years, Herbert Enns emigrated from Russia to Canada in 1924 Mennonite with his parents, sister and brother. Except for ten months in 1925 he resided in Waterloo. He became a charter History member of the Waterloo-Kitchener United Mennonite Church in 1931, and became active in the choir and in the Christian Education program of the congregation . In 1965 when Dr. J.W. Fretz, president THE of College, founded the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario, NEWSLETTER Herbert Enns became a charter member. He was elected Treasurer and served in OF THE that capacity from 1965 - 1974. Herbert subscribed fully to the purpose MENNONITE of the Society to encourage and support research and publication of Ontario HISTORICAL Mennonite history and thus acquaint mem- bers and inquirers with the Mennonite mosaic found in the province of Ontario. SOCIETY OF ONTARIO The Society's first publication, an informational booklet on Herbert Enns (1912-1999) and in Ontario written by Dr. Fretz. was Marie (Warkentin) Enns (1912-1992) printed in 1967. As a craftsman in the graphic arts ing Mennonites in Russia. Herbert gave valuable guidance in the He attended our November l Oth meet- VOLUME XVIII preparation of this popular booklet. ing program "Remembering the Arrival When Volume I of Mennonites in of Mennonite Refugeesfrom Russia in July NUMBER 1 Canada, written by Dr. Frank Epp was 1924 ". published in 1974 by the Joint Committee Herbert was one of that group of of provincial Mennonite Historical refugees . Their family was billeted at the JUNE 2000 Societies in Canada, Herbert Enns served farm home of Walter Snider, son of Bishop as treasurer for the project. Jonas Snider, north of Waterloo. Herbert Herbert served on our Newsletter had maintained a contact with members of ISSN 1192-5515 Committee until 1998 . He translated that family who provided his family's first letters/articles written in German regard- residence in Canada .

Unimagined Tragedy: Sudden Hope The Background to the Erb Street meeting of 1924

by Leonard Friesen

I begin with diary entries from the 23rd simply waiting for the executioner to and 24th of October 1919, written in the come. Those who are not sunk in apathy village of Khortitsa, which was the oldest are thinking of escape. But we have been Mennonite village in the former Russian notified that anyone caught three steps empire. I want to begin in this manner from his house will be shot without warn- because I believe that they powerfully ing. Actually, there are so many armed rid- describe the mood and circumstances that ers around that any attempt to escape were unfolding for almost all Mennonites would mean certain death. Besides, there in the empire at this time: are the families to consider. And where October 23: "We feel as if we have could one go? The only safe escape would been condemned to death and are now be across the border to another country"' October 24: "There has been a terrible sons became agriculturalists . (I also think further worked against Mennonites, whose massacre. It was rumored several days ago that this points at a significant difference Germanicized culture hid their Dutch ori- but we didn't believe it. Today the rumor with the history of Ontario, or Swiss gins . Restrictions on Mennonite land pur- was definitely confirmed. The village of Mennonites, and helps account for some chases were in place within the Russian Eichenfeld-Dubovka - only twenty miles of the dynamics and differences when they empire by 1914, despite Mennonite pleas north of here - no longer exists as of the first meet each other.) of complete loyalty to the Tsar and the eighteenth of October. Many of the people grain producers fatherland . here had relatives and friends there. benefitted from the landless in their own But the worst was yet to come. The On the evening of the 17th, mounted midst who developed thriving implement four years that followed the Revolutions bands suddenly surrounded the village in and milling industries. In fact, by 1860, of 1917 and the resulting Civil War were a carefully organized, surprise raid. They the vast majority of Mennonites were an especially dark time. For reasons of attacked all the farmsteads simultaneously, landless, and most of these had not pure physical geography, these once quiet so that the inhabitants could not warn each become wealthy in industry or commerce. Mennonite settlements suddenly found other. They proceeded to cut down in cold A stormy decade followed, as the landless themselves at the crossroads of national blood all the villagers over fifteen. Eighty- appealed to St. Petersburg. Eventually a armies and fierce local peasant move- four people lost their lives." compromise was achieved, whereby rich ments. The situation was chaotic in the and poor Mennonites jointly founded new extreme, as political control in many of So it was with the people that we know "daughter" settlements for the previously their settlements changed upwards to as Russian Mennonites. More than a landless. twenty times in a four year span - some- 100,000 strong in 1917, they had first The middle decades of the nineteenth times only days apart - and each new mas- entered the Russian empire more than a century also saw a major religious divi- ter became increasingly desperate, hundred years earlier during the reign of sion, as some Mennonites were influenced demanding, and bloody. Catherine the Great. In doing so, they had by German , and from this the Imagine a world in which your loyalty managed to escape the swirl of events that Mennonite Brethren movement was born. is utterly required of you by the Imperial had seen Prussia take over their previous Finally, Mennonites were effected by Russian state, the Provisional refuge in Poland. Under the cirCUm- military reforms which threatened their Government, the newly formed Ukrainian stances, Catherine's invitation policy had exemption on grounds of . state, the German army, the White loyalist been too good to turn down. Eventually (in 1874) a compromise was army, a gigantic regional peasant move- It allowed for Mennonite settlement in reached, but not before a third of the ment, and a fledgling Bolshevik govern- a vast prairie just north of the Black Sea. empire's Mennonites had emigrated to ment? And not all in turn, but all at once? The land was barely populated, and the North America. No wonder the Mennonites felt as though under governed nature of the Russian Their success in overcoming each of this was the end for them on this earth. empire meant that they could freely estab- these crises resulted in a period of stabili- Sadly, as the diary entry from the outset lish their settlements. The first years were ty, if not prosperity, for Mennonites in the suggests, for countless thousands it was difficult ones, and these Mennonites soon last quarter of the nineteenth century. the end, as massacres in 1918 and 1919 learned that they needed to adjust to their Their influence went well beyond their were followed by a typhus epidemic in new horneland. Yet, in time, they pros- settlements, as was evident in the wide- 1920, and widespread starvation in 1921 . pered, though historians have disagreed as spread use of Mennonite-manufactured How does one respond to this tragedy? to why. The generous terms of settlement implements among the region's peasants . Like Job's so-called friends, many have were clearly a factor, though even peasants At the same time, Mennonites adopted been tempted to say that Mennonites in this region before 1830 had more land many local customs, especially in the somehow deserved their fate as payment than they could possibly work. introduction of Paskha, borshch, and other for their supposed sins before the revolu- Instead, their success was more likely food dishes . tion. And while this might make sense in found in the diversity of their communi- isolated cases, it is utterly unable to ties. Many Mennonites who arrived from Life Overturned : Mennonites and account for the scale of what transpired Poland had not been farmers, but artisans the Soviet Era among these Mennonites. Instead, it is and shopkeepers. Not all wanted to farm If the crises of the mid-nineteenth more accurate to see these as tragedies that now. At the same time, the government century emerged from within Mennonite were empire-wide in scale, if not continent- did not permit Mennonites to divide their settlements, the same cannot be said for wide, in which Mennonites played but a holdings among all heirs. Instead, only one the period after 1900, when Mennonites small part. child received the land; the rest became found themselves under siege from all Mennonites who survived these terrible landless, and had to look elsewhere for sides. First, Russian nobles and adminis- years were keenly aware that life under the other livelihoods. Thus, Mennonite trators became captive to a nationalist new Soviet regime was going to be match- villages were more diverse than were ideology that made them suspicious of all lessly different from before. The giant neighbouring peasant villages where all "outsiders" . The emergence of Germany estates and industrial enterprises were now

Ontario Mennonite History is published semi-annually by the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario, Conrad Grebel College, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G6, and distributed to all members of the Society. It is distributed free of charge to public libraries and school libraries in Ontario, upon request. Editor: Brent Bauman Editorial Committee: Linda Huebert Hecht, Lorraine Roth, Sam Steiner, Marlene Epp Financial assistance from the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Culture is gratefully acknowledged . Inquiries, articles, book notices or news items should be directed to the Editor, Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario c/o Conrad Grebel College, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G6 TEL. (519) 885-0220, FAX (519) 885-0014 Pa ge 3 gone, and even relatively modest village 1920, agreement was reached on the for- Then, as things sometimes happen, the holdings, where most Mennonites lived, mation of a Central Committee. This made Meighen government was defeated in the were severely reduced. Furthermore, the it possible for all Mennonites to coordinate election of 1921, and replaced by the new regime was clearly suspicious, if not relief action among Mennonites, and in Liberal government of William Lyon downright hostile, to organized religion. this way, MCC was born. Mackenzie King. His connection to the Faced with a desperate recent past, and The opening of the door for immigra- Waterloo County Mennonites was direct, an uncertain future, many Russian tion was a much more difficult problem to positive, and strong . Less than a year later Mennonites now sought a way out. overcome, as the Canadian government the immigration ban directed against Already in 1919 they had formed a so- had only recently declared that no immi- Mennonites was rescinded, and less than called Study Commission, which was grant from Central and Eastern Europe a year after that, on the 22nd of June intended to travel abroad where it could would be permitted to settle in Canada. 1923, the first group of 738 Russian inform Mennonites in Europe and North So that there could be no doubt, a 1919 Mennonites departed from Khortitsa en America of their desperate plight, secure Order-in-Council amended the route to Canada, and the homes that material aid for their sick and the starving, Immigration Act of Canada to explicitly awaited them there. Amazingly, and and explore possibilities for emigration. deny Mennonites entry into this country, against all odds from just a few years To their delight, these delegates discov- along with and Doukhobors . previous, an encounter at Erb Street was ered upon their arrival that Mennonites in The reason given is that they were deemed about to happen . North America were not uninformed by to be undesirable, owing to their peculiar these developments. These North customs, habits, modes of living, and American Mennonites were, in fact, a methods of holding property, and because NOTE: unique lot: they had already participated of their probable inability to become readi- The selections from the diaries are taken in the 1874 migration of Mennonites ly assimilated to assume the duties and from Dietrich Neufeld, A Russian Dance from the Russian empire, and been moved responsibilities of Canadian citizenship ofDeath, Revolution and Civil War in the by it; in addition, many of them had within a reasonable time after entry. Ukraine, trans. & and ed. By Al Reimer recently come to see their faith as having With the Canadian door closed, it (Winnipeg : Hyperion Press, 1977), a greater connection, and responsibility, seemed that the desperate hope of Russian pp. 43-44. to the larger world; to the extent that a Mennonites who had survived the horrors religious division had occurred within of 1917-1920 would now be dashed. It The text on the exclusion of Mennonites their own midst in the late 1880s. Still was at just this time that S.F. Coffman is taken from Frank H. Epp, Mennonites for others, progressive or conservative, and T.M . Reesor of the Ontario Mennonite in Canada, 1786-1920, The History of a the plea for help required a response for churches joined in the delegations that Separate People (Toronto: Macmillan, which there was but one option . traveled to Ottawa to petition on behalf 1974), p.407 . Soon remarkable possibilities presented of their co-religionists . At first, even this themselves, and were seized upon. seemed to be to no avail, as the At a general meeting of all American Conservative government of Arthur Leonard Friesen Mennonite relief organizations in July of Meighen offered little hope. Wilfrid Laurier University

Introduction To 1924 Ontario Mennonites First Contact With Mennonite Refugees From Russia by Lorna L.Bergey and Linda Huebert Hecht

The Government of Canada's approval portation arrangements of Mennonite of 1300 refugees on local Mennonite to admit Mennonite refugees was contin- refugees from Russia to their destination farms in 1924 . gent on three conditions: in Canada. Ira Bauman from the Erb St. On July 21 st, 1923 the first trainload of Mennonite Church, Waterloo headed a 1) that the admitted Mennonite Refugees Mennonite refugees from Russia arrived in committee which was responsible for a would be given shelter and support by Rosthern, Saskatchewan . A Rosthern vast number of details including arranging their co-religionists in Canada ; reception committee had been organized the meeting of refugee families with their 2) that the immigrants would be placed to arrange for the billeting of the immi- host family, one of which took place here on the land as farmers ; grants in various districts in the west. on this site in Waterloo in 1924. Noah 3) that none of the immigrants would In 1924 a second contract was made Bearinger of the Old Order Mennonite become a public charge. with the CPR and over 5000 immigrants community in Elmira had been delegated were brought to Canada. Most of them by the CPR to meet the immigrants at the Thus, it became evident that the fate planned to go to the western provinces but train which arrived in Waterloo on of the Mennonite refugees in Russia accommodations there were stretched to Saturday, July 19th, 1924. now rested with Mennonites in Canada. the limit and the Mennonites in Ontario Upon arrival at the Erb St. Mennonite Rising to the occasion, the Canadian being sympathetic with the plight of the Church he assisted in the registration of Mennonite Board of Colonization was set refugees agreed to be involved in the the new arrivals as interpreter, asking the up in Rosthern, Saskatchewan in 1922. resettlement of Mennonite refugees from name of the family and the number of The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) sig- Russia. A Billeting Committee set up in children in the family. In response to the nified its willingness to contract trans- Ontario was responsible for the placement question regarding the number of children Page 4

Winfield Fretz, commented, "The Swiss Mennonites in Ontario and the Mennonites from Russia of Dutch German descent were brought together under try- ing conditions . They had never met before this occassion. However in true Mennonite fashion they made the best of the situation and the melding together of two cultures was begun." It was observed by a writer in the 1998 January issue of the Mennonite Historical Journal "that stories give meaning to historical events for posterity". We are grateful that stories of this great event in Ontario Mennonite History can still be shared by members of various refugee and host families . In an article written for the 50th anniversary of these events Barbara Smucker wrote, and I quote: Erb Street Mennonite Church as it looked in 1902 . Note horse sheds at back and side . "Events in history become more vivid, ifthose who take part them, in his family, one immigrant answered in area Mennonites it was reported that in German "NEIN" [none] . ( Bearinger's everyone was billeted by midnight. relate their personal experiences. " interpretation of the immigrant's answer Accommodation was stretched to the limit. was that there were nine children in his As an example, in the rural Blenheim She also says there : family). Mennonite congregation of 15 households, Bauman and Bearinger had been eleven households provided billets to "Each oftheir stories is a separate successful in arranging billets for 600 Russian Mennonite refugee families, some drama." (P. 17) people as requested "to provide temporary for a few weeks, others up to a year. accommodation until the refugees could There is a memory of a supply depot Some of these stories are taken from the be accommodated in the west". But on established in every Mennonite communi- letters, interviews and writings of people July 19th, 825 people stepped off the train ty where donations of clothing, bedding, involved in these events. Some of the down at the corner of Caroline Street and miscellaneous household supplies stories are by persons present at that time and Erb St. Waterloo. All were in need were available to any refugee immigrant or their relatives, while others are by those of accommodation. family. The donors included community who are interested in this part of our history. They walked to the Erb St. Mennonite people of various faiths . We hope these stories will perhaps jog Church where their prospective hosts Years later at a Mennonite Historical your memory and your interest and that awaited them. To the credit of the Waterloo Society meeting, our president, Dr. J. you will share them with others .

Henry P Hiebert by Vic Hiebert

After seven years of war my father The cattle boxcars of the train in which country trip they were intrigued and sur- Henry P. Hiebert married my Mother they rode had first to be cleaned. There prised at the landscape and what they saw Suzanne Dueck in Alexanderkrone, were no toilet facilities. The men rode sep- of the new world, like a man milking a Molutschna South Russia, now Ukraine. A arate from the women and children in cow, unheard of in the old country, that teacher by profession he obtained the posi- another car. The boat trip took about a was only a woman's domain! tion of village secretary for the central month and my mother and father were In the horse shed at the rear of the Erb government. As the famine tried their very both troubled with seasickness. Thank Street Mennonite Church names were existence, and the political scene became goodness for a cousin Mary (Dyck) called of families, but not the Hieberts . doubtful, they wanted to get out of Russia Friesen who helped by taking care of Who would want a couple with a toddler and decided to emigrate to Canada. Our Agnes who, with her little tin cup went and a baby? Finally near the end their grandparents, and most of our aunts and about begging for milk! name rang out; "Henry and Susan with uncles, declined the opportunity thinking Leaving with the first group by train two children ." Indeed Moses Baer from better times were ahead. As village secre- from their village and on the first ship New Dundee had been instructed by his tary Dad had to put together a list of peo- crossing the ocean, then onto a train from two teenaged daughters to bring back a ple wanting to emigrate, for the men that Montreal to Waterloo, they arrived just family with babies! So he went about ask- worked there, so he put himself and his past the station at Erb St., West on July ing "Who is Henry with two children?" wife onto that list. 19th, 1924. On that first Canadian cross And while they were sitting there with Page 5 their little belongings they came and pre- sented themselves as Moses and Adeline Baer. Now, it was homeward bound in the 1923 model "T" (or was it a ?) to the farm just west of New Dundee and upstairs to the bedroom of their new abode for Mom, Dad, Agnes and Elizabeth - plus Henry Jr. yet to be born. As my father said,"So we were welcome there, and I tell you those people wel- comed us to their homes. They welcomed us to their hearts. They were real good ." Life with the Baers ; Moses, Adeline, daughters Leah 19 and Elsie 17, and son Josiah 14, was a shared style, inside Mother helped with the household chores including cooking. They liked her Russian Mennonite dishes and baking, especially "zwie-bach". Dad started work on Monday morning harvesting hay and all the other farm work for $10 a month and The house owned by Warren and Margaretha Bean where the Hiebert_lamilr lived in 1925. at times he was loaned out to neighbouring farmers. In the home, meals were shared at the curly auburn hair and wanted to adopt her. in the bush and that made mother fearful . same table. Their private life in the To attend church they sometimes bor- The problem was solved when father upstairs bedroom was crowded, especially rowed the Baer's horse and buggy. The obtained a hired hand position at the near- when Henry arrived. Also it was cold in language was not a great problem as by Warren Bean farm. A year later they the unheated room and often mother the Baers spoke a " Dutch" moved to Essex County, about a mile from would go downstairs to warm her hands at German dialect which was similar to the Jack Miner's farm. It was at this time the kitchen stove. At the time of my broth- what the German Lutherans in Russia that dad's brother in Kitchener arranged ers birth they wanted him to be named spoke, not too hard to understand . for a job in the Rubber Machinery Shop after Moses! This opportunity would have In a couple of weeks dad was speaking of The Dominion Tire Company (now been a fine gesture of gratitude but they ! Uniroyal) as a machinist, a job he held for postponed the opportunity until Adeline After a number of months they moved over 30 years and had stabilizing effect on was born and gave her the name of Mrs. across the road to a vacant house. family life. But before he started that job Baer. The Baers loved Elizabeth with her Although it had more room it was located he was satisfied that he had completed the 5 years on a farm that he had promised the government. During the years that the three were growing up they were often invited to the Baers for holidays . When Agnes was about 14, Baers needed help and so she worked there for about 2 years being a mothers helper. The work included milk- ing, and running the cream separator. It was a good relationship, she called Mrs. Baer "oma". During this time she attended the local Mennonite Church at Blenheim and got to know some of the neighbours with whom she is still friends. Over the ensuing years we were invited to wed- dings, funerals and various family tests of the Baers, Hallmans, Sniders and Beans and of course the case was reciprocal . An almost weekly occurrence was meeting some of the family at the Kitchener Market where they sold apples and vegetables . And we are enriched, because that visiting continues even to this day. Thank you, Mennonites of Ontario.

Vic Hiebert Waterloo, Ont. The Hiebert and Dyck Families. Back row: Susan Hiebert and Susan Dyck . Set onel Row: Henry Hiebertand Jacob Dick. Front Row: Agnes Hiebert, Henry Hiebert Jr. Elizabeth Hiebert and Frieda Dick. Herbert Enns by Ruth Klassen

We have often talked about our dif- The person extending the welcome ficulties in coming to a new land. was the recently retired Bishop of On reflection we now know it must the congregation, Bishop Jonas have been very difficult for the local Snider. Sometime later he and Mrs. people who hosted this huge group . Snider were to become our hosts. We had been told we would be host- and to us children, they soon ed for one week, possibly two. This became Grandma and Grandpa stretched into one or two months, Snider. Awonderful couple indeed. half a year, even a year. This was really something. In the coming months the Sniders sometimes dropped us off at the The day after we arrived was street car line at Central Street in Sunday and our hosts were up early Waterloo, so we could attend preparing to go to church . "Mia German services, sing chorales and geh'n in die Kerch" our hosts told hear the organ at St. Johns Lutheran my family . We were glad to go to Church . then on the corner where church. But where? Where was the the Waterloo Post office is now." church" I will share some excerpts from a letter When we left the church yard Tante Michi wrote to her sister Agatha in I would like to thank Herb for his many Saturday night it seemed to us we Russia . Altester and Agatha Enns and their articles and contributions to the Mennonite had driven a great distance into the family eventually emigrated to Winnipeg . Historical Society over the years. I will country before arriving at our host's Years later Bishop Enns was awarded the share reflections of a twelve year old farm. Now again it seemed its if we Order of Canada. in Ottawa . Herbert in a new land, and from letters by were driving a very long distance, his mother, Marie Enns, my Tante Michi. but suddenly we were back on the We like it were we live. Our family of Herb writes: church yard and those horse sheds five, and the Herman Enns family of - it was the same church and our four, share the kitchen facilities . Anna, "It was a hot day, we had arrived at hosts were members here. my sister-in-law and I are away much Erb and Caroline street and walked of the time. This week for four days I to the church. We assembled near the The church service began. We Sang picked beans, half for the owner and horse sheds where attempts were German hymns, not chorals, but we half for us. I believe I have picked for made to make us as comfortable as could sing along . An elderly man us alone, no less than 100 lbs. Living possible. Clothes had been gathered entered the pulpit and began speak quarters, fuel and for the most part and those who needed some were to in German -'well Pennsylvania- food. is supplied to us. Our hosts are invited into the church. The young Dutch." In his speech of welcome very friendly and helpful. They will people didn't dare go into the church . he used only a few English words ask are you in need of potatoes, lard. Another committee had made sand- and the immigrants present could eggs and if we say we need these, they wiches which were served to us, understand what was being said . bring them to us immediately. We had never seen sandwiches However, the remainder of the ser- arrived the beds before and thought, they were quite vice was in English. When we here. something. were ready for us, with blankets . pillows and sheets . There was a nice Near midnight we still had not been metal stove for cooking, a frying placed in a home, We thought pan, six cups, six plates, knives and nobody wanted our family of five. forks and spoons. We even have a Since I have heard this feeling from sofa and rocking chair. We were three different people. My mother speechless, unable to express our said we were the last to leave the feelings. It raised our emotions to church, the Neufeld girls thought the point of breaking, as we realized they were the last to leave the yard how concerned our hosts were in and another family had the same supplying everything in such detail . feeling. All were very lonesome and quite relieved when finally someone The children are now in school, our came and took them . three. Herman's two and Walter Sniders three, eight children from Tante Michi's comments had been, one farm. We are getting along fine. "You see they wanted somebody who would help on the farm. not Greetings from your everlasting sister, just children, you know, extra chil- Maria dren. Families with young people Ruth Klassen, had been placed immediately, they . Ontario Waterloo, were the workers. Bishop Jonas Snider

Page 7 Lorna L. (Shantz) Bergey by Lorna L. Bergey

Feeding the pet lamb in the farmyard of W alter St ntz. Left" I Anne Shantz: right: Lorna Shantz ; c, itre front: Hans Friesen, son of the refugee family from Russia billeted with the Shaw,. family in lYL4.

I have a vivid memory of that day in guests came the news that our guests ins, Johann about coping with hunger the middle of summer 75 years years ago would stay with us for several months, pangs during the famine, the doctor when my parents were busily engaged not several weeks as previously planned. learned that when Johan was on board the preparing to host a Mennonite family They would not proceed to Manitoba until ship coming to Canada he was so hungry from Soviet Russia. I was told that we early spring . Upon receiving that informa- that when he came to the diningroom and were having company from Russia who tion my parents began to revamp our per- sat down to a table where half of the would stay in our home for several weeks. sonal living quarters to provide our guest guests were seasick and could not partake Up to this time in my life I was accus- family with a separate living unit of three of any food, Johann ate their portions of tomed to having guests from rooms: a kitchen, a livingroom and a bed- food as well, with the result, his stomach Pennsylvania stay in our home for a few room. was not able to accommodate his appetite. days. Naturally then my next question He was confined to bed for a time, until was "Why is the company from Russia At this point our personal life was he slowly regained his strength . going to stay with us for several weeks?" invaded and I felt displaced in our own I was told about a war and a terrible home. Our household now consisted of: As already stated I had only a younger famine which left people without hope for a Pennsylvania German Mennonite family sister at this time. We played together as the future . This news stirred my childish of four; my parents, my younger sister harmoniously as is possible when a sympathies deeply. and myself; a Russian Mennonite family younger child finds herself dominated by of three; a father and mother with their an older sister. However in this extended Finally the day dawned when our little son: plus our 16 year old hired man family situation we both for the first time expected guests, The Johan Friesen who had just emigrated from Ireland. became subjected to male domination and family, arrived at our house. Their little boisterousness in our play which was boy was called Hansli . My curiosity was Both the immigrants from Russia and quite distasteful to both of us at times. immediately aroused by the shirt worn by the immigrant from Ireland spoke of not This experience no doubt prepared us for the father of the family. It resembled the having enough food to eat in their home- the rigours of family life when our three cut of my father's nightshirt, and 1 land. Such a state of affairs was beyond brothers appeared on the scene. thought if he was wearing that article of the comprehension of a child born and clothing during the day, why didn't he raised in a Pennsylvania German home in Bergey . L Lorna tuck his shirt tail in? Their luggage - the Ontario where there was always plenty of . Ontario Kitchener, woven basket trunks intrigued me. The food available. kerchief worn by the woman was not unlike those worn by my mother and both Johann the father was ill upon arrival of my grandmothers at times. Likewise and within a week he became very ill. the use of tobacco by the man did not Our family doctor was called to the house, disturb me as my grandfather was a and my father had to serve as interpreter moderate smoker. With the arrival of our for the patient and doctor. While question- Greta (Snider) Hunsberger by Brent Bauman

This story involves Greta Hunsberger. Gate quite well in their two dialects of quietly waiting for it to pass, Greta never But in 1924 she was a ten year old girl German, but Jake wanted so much to found out why they did that, known as Greta Snider, Her parents and expand his vocabulary in the dominant lan- Their guests also dressed differently, grandparents both hosted families who guage of his new home, He was a quick the men wore caps unlike those of the men arrived on that Saturday afternoon in July student, although Greta says he never quite in the Waterloo area, When they went out of 1924 at their home congregation - Erb got the knack of saying her name properly, in public she remembers they stood out Street Mennonite Church, Her grandpar- The Enns' stayed with the Sniders for from those around them because of the cut ents had built a new house and barn across maybe a year, until moving to Bricker Ave. of their clothes, But she points out that she the road so the doddy house at Greta's in Waterloo, Up to this point in her life, and her family did too because of their home was empty and furnished for their Greta's exposure to people from different Mennonite clothing and bonnets, guests, the Herman Enns family, Herman's countries had been very limited, but during But for all these differences the chil- brother Peter, and his family, were hosted their time together the young girl got to dren played as all children do, and any by grandfather Jonas Snider, know the two Enns families as fine. honest . barriers between them fell away in their In Herman's family there was a boy, hard working people, She saw different cus- joyous times together, Jake, and a girl, Agnes . Greta remembers toms, and tasted different foods, She had Because they were both Mennonites, twelve year old Jake the first night he was never tasted anything like borsch before - she feels a common bond was easier to there, He wanted Greta to teach him what there was nothing like it in their cookbooks, achieve, And that their arrival into the everything in the house was called in She would notice every time there was community was a benefit as they brought English, Every piece offurniture, every a thunderstorm the mother would gather skills and ambitions to start over again in a dish and ornament, They could communi- her children around her, and they would sit new land,

Nancy (Martin) Bauman

first came to Canada they lived with an Nancy and Helena, Old Order family on a farm near St, Nancy and Helena shared the highs and Jacobs . But the hosts were not prepared lows of each others lives: celebrating with for their visitors to stay so long, and things one another as they married and had fami- did not go well. lies of their own; grieved the loss of par All this changed when they moved in ents; and later they also grieved with each with the Martins. Though my grandparents other as they both became widows, had four children of their own, with anoth- Three years ago Nancy passed away er baby (that would become my mother) suddenly. and now Helena suffers from on the way, they made room for five more terminal cancer (she died Apri121 . 2000), people in their home in St, Jacobs. It was Although they were born half a world in these close quarters that Nancy and apart, the tragedies of this world brought Helena became good friends, them together, and for seven decades their It was eventually found out that the friendship lasted through all the joys and Warkentins had a fourth child, a girl, trials that life had to offer, whom had died in Russia during the chaos Their life long friendship is but one of the Revolution, The details of her death result of the kindness shown to strangers a were never fully explained to the host three quarter century ago, family, who could only try to understand Brent Bauman hardships the Warkentins had gone the Drayton, Ontario through before their arrival in the Martin's home, I want to end with Barbara Smacker's Father John found work at the Smitty \,an ~ , II,irrirt i Bauman and Helena Warkentin concluding words in her article for the 1m a bridge near Shoe Factory in town, and the family was ctured around 1960 at Nanc 50th anniversary (They Found a Home farm in Floradatc. eventually able to rent a house of their in Canada, in Waterloo Historical Society My second story is about Nancy Bauman own, Two years later, Lavina Weber, an Vol . 62, 1974, pp, 16-25,), where she says: and Helena Cress, They first met when elderly neighbour of the Martins died. She they were both six years old. and Helena had named Levi the executor of her estate, "Man, more dramas remain in the and her family moved into Nancy's house, and so he was able to arrange for the photograph albums, family histories, No one knew that when my grandparents . Warkentins to buy the house, and memories of people living in the Levi and Sussanah Martin, were asked to The two families remained neighbours Kitchener-Waterloo area today, host a Russian Mennonite Family that a until the Martins bought a farm near They are treasures which theirfami- life long friendship would result, Floradale in 1938, But they remained in lie.s,should retain and bass on lo This was not the first host family for contact through regular letters and visits, succeeding generations, " (P,25) the Warkentin's since coming from Russia, including Maria's children spending sum- When John and Mary Warkentin and their mer vacations on my Aunt Mary's farm, Linda Huebert Heclit three ~:hildrcn : John. Maria and Helena, The bond grew strong, especially between Waterloo, Ontario Page 9 Our Legacy: The Melding of Two Cultures By Sam Steiner

After the 1924 immigration, it was not later Andrew Steckly, who came from a Mennonites, many of whom already lived long before most our people went separate more conservative Mennonite in the city, were becoming more ways. The cultural differences were too background, expressed appreciation for "English" and less German . The cultural great. Today we can look back with getting to know the Russian Mennonites and language markers that had helped to nostalgia and good humour about the in the camps. He felt they were more divide us in 1924 were becoming less many wayward assumptions and misun- "worldly-wise" because of their experi- important . derstandings that took place 75 years ago. ences: and found these relationships to be But some of the misunderstandings were enriching. And we took some tentative steps in hurtful, i .e. S .F. Coffman wedding - broadening our cooperative efforts in (no wedding ring or veil allowed), and After the war, many of the Swiss the church . For some of us this finally sometimes we were not kind in talking Mennonites continued to work together resulted in the creation of the Mennonite about one another. It was clear that for a with all branches of Mennonites in the Conference of Eastern Canada, the first number of years, with some exceptions, post-war relief efforts. C. J . Rempel, a Mennonite area conference in North we could not easily live together or widely known and very "ecumenical" America that brought together our cultural worship together. Mennonite Brethren layperson headed up streams (together with Mennonites who the MCC office in Kitchener. His energy don't share these streams) . Even in the old The event that started the change - and vision was yet another factor that Inter-Mennonite Conference days, the that began to bring cohesion to us was helped us work together. Some of our Mennonite Brethren missions committee imposed from the political world. World young people traveled to Europe to help was always represented in discussions War II made it clear to Mennonites in with relief work. In those roles they about ncw home mission ventures. Canada that we needed a unified voice in became familiar with leaders like C.F. speaking to government . We actually Klassen or Peter & Elfrieda Dyck, or Our differences are not all erased ; weren't able to achieve total unity in this, Harold Bender. That "other" Mennonite indeed we celebrate our different histories especially between Ontario Mennonites culture was becoming less "strange" and and memories . But our shared experiences and those in the West, but within Ontario part of our own story as well . Harvey here in Ontario since 1924 have strength- we did pretty well. Taves, who followed C.J. Rempel in the ened each of us in our pilgrimage in MCC position in Ontario, also had a God's kingdom. Elven Shantz, who was long time strong inter-Mennonite outlook, and secretary of the Conference of Historic worked well in all our communities. , later recalled that Sam Steiner initially the Ontario Swiss Mennonites Finally, I'd like to suggest there were Conrad Grebel College weren't interested in a program of three other factors that were important for alternative service. They were still mostly our increasing comfort with one another farmers and assumed, as in World War 1, and each other's cultures and history. Resources Available at Mennonite that they would be deferred for agri- These 1 would call urbanization, Archives at Conrad Grebel College cultural work, or that their historic education and missions . exemption from military service would be There are over seventy oral histories honored. The folks who came from Many Swiss Mennonites, but not all, on file including : Herhert Enns, Russia in 1924 cautioned this should not became more interested in high school Nicholas Fel7de rau and Henry Hiebert. be assumed . They had served in a kind of education after World War 11. They were alternative service in World War I in taking jobs in the city, moving to the city, Past Issues of Ontario Mennonite History Russia and wanted to be pro-active in and preparing for professional jobs that with Articles on This Topic: approaching the government for this sort demanded more education . All of us started Volume X, Number 2, September 1992 of arrangement. I believe the leadership Mennonite high schools after the war. Volume XII, Number 2, September 1994 of persons like Jacob H. Janzen were Often because of distance we attended each Volume XIV, Number I, March 1996 crucial in developing a unified position, other's schools . For a time in the 1950s and Volume XVI, Number 2, October 1998 as much as was possible, with Mennonites early 1960s a significant percentage of the Volume XV11, Number 2, October 1999 across Canada. students at Rockway Mennonite School, for example, came from the Mennonite Another factor that helped our two Brethren community. Life long friendships cultures to meld were the men who were formed in those relationships. actually served in the alternative service work camps . Particularly those who As the Swiss Mennonites were moving served in Northern Ontario were unified to town, they were also leaving behind in their belief that the work itself was of some of the distinctives that had marked little consequence, and all were frustrated their distinctive nonconformity. The by the experience. But the experience of acculturated Swiss Mennonites no longer men from various backgrounds and reli- dressed plain, and many women stopped gious assumptions working together was wearing the prayer veiling. At the same to have long term effect. Some 40 years time the new generation of Russian Book Review

From the Inside Out: The Rural Worlds ofMennonite Diarists, 1863-1929 edited by Royden Loewen.

(Winnipeg : University twenty-one excerpts from Mennonite style and extracts as much from this dis- of Manitoba Press, 1999) diaries of late 19th and early 20th century parate collection of diaries as can be 350 pages, Paper $24.95. Manitoba and Ontario (with a few excep- drained. The Manitoba and Ontario tions) and is illuminated by a lengthy Mennonite communities had similarities, Reviewed by Sam Steiner introduction together with background yet were very diverse. The Manitoba biographical information at the beginning community of first or second-generation of each diary excerpt. Both the Manitoba immigrants was homogeneous. German Among the most fascinating and Kleine Gemeinde and Ontario and very rural. Second, third or fourth personal items that come into a Mennonite Pennsylvania German diarists remained generation Waterloo County, Ontario archive are diaries. Aside from personal part of primarily rural communities during Mennonites were further along the path correspondence, few documents reflect so the years referred to in these diaries. to assimilation with the larger English well the life and thought of -average- community around them. This makes members of the community. But of course Seven diary excerpts in the book come some comparisons difficult. In addition, the problem with correspondence is that from Ontario Pennsylvania German Loewen deliberately chose a diverse the donor usually has only the letters Mennonite diaries . These include Ezra collection of diarists from within each received from a variety of family members Burkholder (1876), Moses Weber (1865), community - thus an individual diarist and acquaintances, so that only half of the Moses S . Bowman (1890), Elias Eby must serve as a snapshot for a larger "conversation" is available to the (1874), Ephraim Cressman (1890), Laura whole. The overall unity of the diary texts researcher. Shantz (1918) and Ishmael Martin (1929). occasionally feels weakened Another Ontario-related diary is that of as a result . The diary, however, is a conversation Pennsylvanian Levi Jung who in 1863 with oneself - intended to preserve visited Ontario representing the Evan- The second strength/limitation is the thoughts, encounters and events for later gelical Mennonites who were in fellowship "average-ness" of the writers. The read- personal reflection. In that sense diaries with the "New Mennonites" led by Daniel ability of the diaries varies considerably. are "complete." With the exception of Hoch in the Vineland area. The final Each reader will have his/her personal some literary diaries, they were not written Ontario diary is that of Margaretha Jansen favorites that will make you wish you with public exposure in mind. so on occa- (1874) . whose family lived with the family could read the whole diary from which the sion they are very candid and reflect the of Mennonite businessman Jacob Y. Shantz excerpt was taken. My personal favorites immediate, daily rhythm of life and in Berlin, Ontario in parts of 1873/74. were the diaries of Margaretha Jansen, events. Some of the twelve Kleine Gemeinde Elias Eby, Klaas Reimer, Levi Jung and diaries make reference to Ontario as part Peter DUCCk. These especially reflected on Royden Loewen holds the Chair of of their migration narratives. church life. and tended to have somewhat Mennonite Studies at the University of longer entries. Winnipeg, edits the Journal ofMennonite For the 21 st century reader these diary Studies and currently serves as president excerpts reveal, in Loewen's words, Royden Loewen undertook an ambi- of the Mennonite Historical Society of "the nature of social relationships in rural tious task that hasn't often been tried by Canada. His own family background as society. . . They mirror the preoccupation Mennonite academics - examining the well as his research interest has been in of household members with work routines, commonalities of two very different the Kleine Gemeinde Community of food procurement, crop selection, market- Mennonite cultures that did not extensively Russian Mennonites who immigrated to ing procedures, weather patterns, and interact until well into the 20th century. Canada and the United States in the 1870s. seasonal change . (They] also outline the He has broken some new ground here, social boundaries of the rural community, hopefully his work in this area will In the course of his research in defined by kinship ties. village and district ContInue . Manitoba and in later post-doctoral studies politics, and congregational life." on "Pennsylvania German" Mennonites in Waterloo County, Ontario he was amazed This observation is true, and indicates at the number of diaries that survived into both the strengths and weaknesses of this Sinn Steiner is the Librarian and Archivist the late 20th century. This volume contains collection . Loewen writes in an engaging at Conrad Grebel College in Waterloo. Page I I

Book Review

Plucked up by the Roots: The Story of Henry Wieler, born in Russia, 1915 - The Orphan from Ukraine. by Leonard Freeman

After about a year in Canada, Henry's former housekeeper and people from the uncle and family began homesteading in church keep in touch. The story would not the community of Reesor, near Hearst, be so sad if Freeman had emphasized how PLUCKED UP Ontario. Henry joined them for a while, Henry grew and prospered after he was but after a miserable winter he returned to transplanted. THE ROOTS the Sauders farm in southern Ontario. THE STORY OF HENRY WIELER Although Henry was never adopted, he For those not accustomed to detailed BORN IN RUSSIA 1915 was raised as the son of Menno and family histories, Plucked Up by the Roots Amelia Sauder and became a part of their may be difficult to follow at times . faith community. He was baptized and "Swiss" Mennonites have tended to do joined the Waterloo-Markham Conference their history genealogically and Freeman Mennonites. Henry lived with the Sauders follows this pattern by giving so many until their death when he took over their details about Henry's cousins that it can be farm east of Elmira. He never married, but confusing. He does provide a good list of considers himself the grandfather of his these people in the appendix . The map in housekeepers' grandchildren . the appendix is also very helpful.

Many of Henry's relatives who The story of Henry Wieler is important rphanBom Ukraine remained in Russia died of starvation or because it connects two very different were deported to concentration camps. Mennonite traditions. Freeman has written Henry's sister and her family suffered this book about the experiences of dreadfully during the Stalin years and Mennonites in Russia for the "Swiss" afterward. Henry tried to help them as best Mennonites of the Elmira area. Those of he could . More information has become us who have known Henry Wieler only as available since the break-up of the Soviet a very tall man with an unusual last name, Privately published, Union and some of Henry's relatives have now can connect someone we know with Elmira ON, 1998. moved to Germany. the history of Mennonites in Russia. 120 pages, $9.95. Hopefully this story can promote under- This is a sad story ; Freeman describes standing and empathy for Mennonites Reviewed by Barbara Draper Henry as a boy who was "plucked up by from a different tradition. the roots" and who never finds a true home again. I believe that the torn roots Henry Wieler was a child during the refer to a loss of family connection, but Barbara Draper is Assistant Moderator days of the Russian Revolution and the the implication is that Henry never truly fit of the Mennonite Church of Eastern political turmoil and famine which fol- into the "Swiss" Mennonite community Canada. She lives with her family lowed it. He was born into a well-to-do where he was transplanted . Freeman in Elmira, Ontario . family which lost almost everything when emphasizes that Henry has always been the Bolsheviks gained power. His mother lonely and far from his relatives. It may be died during a typhoid epidemic and his that Henry always felt himself an outsider father was killed later that same year so because he didn't have the family connec- Henry and his sister were cared for by the tions of the Mennonites around him and extended family. In 1924, nine-year-old because he was raised by the eccentric Henry travelled with his uncle's family to Menno Sauder, but his "Swiss" faith com- Waterloo, Ontario where they were taken munity has always considered Henry a into the homes of "Swiss" Mennonites. part of themselves . As an old man, no Henry went to live with Menno and longer able to do everything for himself, Amelia Sauder. Henry is cared for by the children of his Page 12 People and Projects

AMISH HISTORY PROJECT Margaret Sherk, R.R. #1, The Bookshop at Pandora Press . Located Orland Gingerieh has been asked by the Elora, Ontario. NOB ISO; at 33 Kent Avenue in Kitchener near the Institute for Anabaptist and Mennonite phone: (519) 846-5197 ; MCC offices, it specializes in books Studies at Conrad Grebel College to "res- email: [email protected] relating to the Mennonite and Anabaptist cue" stories and information on the Amish Deadline for registration is July 20. community. Pandora Press which publish- of Ontario for the Oral es several new books on Anabaptist History Project. Gingerieh will tape inter- FAMILY HERITAGE WORKSHOPS Mennonite history and theology each year views and summarize them in writing for Photographic Memory Historical has also moved into the same building . the project. He was the last ordained bish- Perspectives of Waterloo is presenting a -from The Record op in the Western Ontario Mennonite series of one day workshops to show people Conference and is the author of a history how to preserve their family history. Topics HAWKESVILLE CELEBRATES book on the Amish. -from Grebel release include: uncovering your family's heritage, ANNIVERSARY caring for heirlooms, how to conduct inter- Hawkesville Mennonite Church celebrated SHERK FAMILY REUNION views, how to do archival research, writing its _50th anniversary on May 7, 2000. Areunion of the descendants of Joseph and presenting family histories. Current pastor Don Penner was joined by Sherk, one of the first immigrants to Dates are October 21 and November 18 three former pastors - Paul Martin, David Canada from Pennsylvania in 1800, will in Kitchener[Waterloo . October 28 in Garber and Simeon Hurst - in sharing be held at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate Cambridge and November 25 in Guelph . messages about Hawkesville's journey on August 18 - 20. Planned by the Sherk Register by calling (519) 747-5139 . from being a daughter congregation of the Family Association of North America it The cost is $15.00 which includes GST St. Jacobs and Elmira churches to becom- will include seminars on Sherk genealogy, and a reference book. ing a distinct mature congregation of their bus trips to local landmarks and an auc- own . The building was full to capacity tion. A Sunday worship service and picnic NEW BOOK STORE OPENS for the morning service and the afternoon is planned for the Doon Pioneer Tower. Arnold Snyder of Pandora Press service of celebration and rededication. Registration is available from: has opened a new book store called -from Elmira Independent

Book Notes

Peter Rempel . Mennonite Migration to Mennonitischen Ostwanderungen in 16., Mennonite community he is able to Order Russia, 1788-1828, edited by Alfred H. 18. and 19. Jahrhundert, and will be a present an unique view of of Old . Redekopp and Richard D. Thiessen much used source for those interested in history, daily life and religious beliefs (Winnipeg, Man. : Manitoba Mennonite Russian Mennonite genealogy. Historical Society, 2000), xviii, 249 pp. Ted Regehr. Peace Order and Good Politics $35 .00 + $5.00 postage & handling . Marlene Epp. Women Without Men: Government: Mennonites and This volume is a recent publication of the Mennonite Refugees of the Second in Canada (Winnipeg: CMBC Genealogy Committee of the Manitoba World War (Toronto : University of Publications. 2000), 130 pp. 510.00. Mennonite Historical Society and is the Toronto Press, 2000), 275 pp. $55.00 This book studies the history of their first in their Russian Mennonite cloth, $ 21 .95 paper. Mennonites in politics and evaluates is Genealogy Series. The author, Peter This book does an indepth study of contributions to Canada . This book Rempel, lives in Moscow. Russia and is Mennonite women's experiences during from the transcipts of the 1999 J .J . Mennonite a researcher who has worked through a World War II as they fled the wartorn Thiessen Lectures at Canadian number of documents related to Soviet Union. The author uses interviews College. The author is a professor Mennonite history. Many of these docu- and research to tell previously untold sto- of Canadian history at the University ments, including those published in the ries, such as the widespread experience of Saskatchewan and is the author of above mentioned publication, are held in of rape and the church's handling of Mennonites in Canada, Volume 3. the St. Petersburg Historical Library. The female refugees . documents in Rempel's book pertain to Carl Hiebert. Us Little People: the first four decades of the immigration " Isaac R . Horst. A Separate People: An Mennonite Children (Boston Mills of Mennonites from Prussia to Russia, Insider's View of Old Order Mennonite Press. 1999), 120 pp. $29.95 . and include census lists, settlement lists Customs and Traditions . (Kitchener : This is a volume of Heibert's photo- and visa applications. The documents in Herald Press, 2000), 272 pp., $20.79. graph's of Old Order and David Martin this publication are similar to those pub- This well known local writer has compiled Mennonite children . It is supplemented lished in the appendix of B .H. Unruh's many of his columns from the Mennonite by brief essays by these children to book, Die niederliindisch- Reporter to form the foundation of this reveal their particular views of life niederdeutschen Hintergriinde der new book. As a member of the Old Order and the world around them .