-being the Journal of the Flemish Mennonite Historical Society Inc. Preservings $20.00 No. 24, December, 2004

“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 Colony - Bicentennial 1804-2004

The Molotschna Colony was founded by 193 Danziger Old Flem- ish Mennonite families from the delta in Polish-Prussia, who arrived at the Chortitza (Old) Colony on the River in Fall of 1803. In the Spring of 1804 the first nine villages were laid out along the banks of the Molotschna River some 100 km. to the southeast. Another 165 families came that same Fall with eight new villages laid out in 1805. Much like the 19th century settlers of the American-midwest, the Molotschna pioneers traversed the 1000 miles of primitive roads and trails in covered wagon trains carry- ing their possessions and herding livestock. The journey took an aver- age of five to seven weeks. The Molotschna Colony consisted of 120,000 desjatien (320,000 acres) of land lying to the east of the Molotschna River which flowed from The former Mädchen Schule or Mennonite girls’ school in Halbstadt, Molotschna, was built in 1909. In 1910 it was north to south into the . “A upgraded to a full secondary school for girls with five grades. In 2000 the building was acquired by “Friends of the number of shallow streams crossed Mennonite Centre, ” and remodelled as a centre for the distribution of humanitarian aid, medical services, the colony, the larger ones flowing adult and childrens’ education and religious training. Photo by Johannes Dyck, - courtesy of Walter westward towards the Molochnaia Unger, Toronto. See Preservings, No. 18, page 64. (Milk) River, so named because in flood its cloudy waters resembled milk,” Urry, heads in the Molochnaia listed their previous pro- gional officials who deserve our gratitude for None But Saints (Winnipeg, 1989), page 83. When fession as `farmer.’” Urry, page 91. By compari- their vision and hard work. The Flemish Menno- the settlers arrived on the Molotschna hills (es- son, many of the early pioneers at Chortitza were nite Historical Society Inc. is proud to present carpment) along the west bank of the river they skilled artisans and craftsmen. Although the this special issue of Preservings featuring the made their first acquaintance with their new Chortitza (Old) Colony, would surpass it in terms history of the Molotschna Colony in honour of neighbours, the Nogaier, a nomadic and warlike of manufacturing and commercial enterprise, the its 200th anniversary. The Editor - D. F. Plett. people. A panoramic view of miles of waving Molotschna Colony was the most successful grasses, as tall as a man, greeted the settlers from agricultural settlement in Imperial Russia and fre- their vantage point on the heights. “The Nogai quently visited and cited as a model by Govern- Inside This Issue would burn off the tall grasses to enrich the soils ment administrators and bureaucrats. By 1861 and to provide fresh pasturage for their animals. the population had grown to 20,828. At its peak Feature Articles ...... 3-44 Often the entire steppe horizon would be engulfed in 1918 the Molotschna Colony consisted of 57 President’s Report ...... 45 in flames and heavy black clouds would obscure villages and several estates with a population of the sky,” Urry, page 84. The colonists quickly 30,000 . Editorial ...... 46-50 built earth huts for themselves and their livestock On June 6, 2004, the Molotschna Mennonite Letters ...... 53-55 to be followed within a few years by more sub- Bi-centennial was celebrated in Halbstadt News ...... 56-67 stantial buildings constructed of brick. (Moloschansk), Ukraine, in conjunction with an “These new immigrants included a number academic conference held in , Zaporozhe Articles ...... 68-125 of progressive farmers and businessmen with and Dnjepropetrowsk on June 2-7. These events Material Culture ...... 126-132 considerable capital, equipment and livestock,” were organized by the International Mennonite Urry, page 57. “In 1808 61 percent of household Memorialization Committee and local and re- Book Reviews ...... 133-139 church at Gnadenthal, Colony. Seats 1,000. Dedication ceremony was held June 2001. Photo - Cornie Enns, Km. 14, Cuauthemoc, Mexico.

Kleine Gemeinde church at Schönfeld (Campo 106), Swift Colony, Mexico. Seats 800-1,000 and is the largest Mennonite church in Mexico. Photo - Cornie Enns, Km. 14, Cuauthemoc, Mexico.

Ältester Abram Klassen, age 67, and wife, nee Judith Bergen, Campo 65, Nordthal, Nord Colony, Cuauhtemoc, Mexico. The Klassens have 16 chil- dren including Heinrich also a servant of the Word. Bishop Klassen is the successor to Ält. Pe- ter Peters (1930-2000) (see Pres., No. 21, page 107). Photo - Bernd Längin, Karlsburg, Ger- many. The photo is on the front cover of Jack Thiessen’s new Mennonite Low Germany Dic- tionary (see page 133 for a book review). We salute the Klassens for being faithful to the call of Christ and the countless hours they dedicate in their service of the Master. May bless them Interior of the Kleine Gemeinde church at Gnadenthal. Photo - Cornie Enns, Km. 14, Cuauthemoc, richly in their ministry. Mexico.

Sunday morning at the Old Colony Mennonite Church, , South Russia, circa 1910. Painting by Henry Pauls, A Sunday Afternoon Paintings by Henry Pauls (Waterloo, 1991), Plate 19.

2 - Preservings No. 24,23, December 20042003 Introduction: Molotschna Colony - Battle for the Introduction. steppes based on the traditional teachings of the of hand by colonial administrators seemingly op- The Flemish Mennonite migration to Russia Flemish faith was seemingly frustrated at every erating under the simplistic view that the Flemish resulted from a convergence of various factors. turn by the forces of modernization in the form of and Friesians (and/or traditionalists and Mennonites in Prussia had been under a relatively accelerated material progress and/or the injection modernizationists), each with their longstandnig benign and tolerant Polish rule since the first of outside religious influences. The resulting cul- ethnic and social traditions and cherished religious Anabaptist refugees escaping persecution in tural and religious conflict - the battle for the faith teachings dating to their pre- roots, and Brabant had arrived in the Vistula - imposed itself upon every unfolding develop- could be thrown together and amalgamated over- Delta in the . In 1772 Poland was parti- ment in the Molotschna Colony in the ensuing night. tioned and the Danzig-Elbing area fell under the century. rule of Brandenburg-Prussia, a militaristic regime In Imperial Russia, for the first time, the Men- Molotschna, 1804. which restricted the religious freedoms of the nonites were responsible for their own regional Almost surprisingly, the situation in the Mennonites. Freedom from was governance. This resulted in a new challenge to Molotschna Colony would turn out to be much granted begrudgingly and, even then, only upon the Flemish teaching of the sovereignty of the more turbulent and strife-ridden than the “old” payment of an annual fee coupled with a prohibi- Gemeinde as well as the fundamental that Chortitza Colony. The Molotschna Colony “....was tion against purchasing more land for their grow- every aspect of society was to be based on New settled under the direction of a Mennonite civil ing numbers. Testament teaching including the underlying authority, apparently elected or appointed in At the same time Catharina the Great, Em- premise of a grass-roots democratic process. “Un- Khortitza before the new settlers moved to the site press of Imperial Russia, invited the Mennonites der Polish and Prussian rule the Ältesten, that is, of the colony.” The first Vorsteher or district mayor to settle in the provinces north of the , the religious leaders, had been the acknowledged was Klaas Wiens, “....a competent administrator newly acquired by conquest from Turkey. In con- heads of the Mennonite community and spokes- and later a successful landowner and entrepre- trast to the Hohenzollern regime in Prussia, the persons before the government....The Russian neur,” Urry, page 74. Romanow Czars freely offered perpetual exemp- government through the Fürsorgekomitee, which The organization of the Flemish Mennonite tion from military service as well as other privi- was responsible to the Department of the Interior, Gemeinde in the Molotschna was completed on leges regarding schools and the practice of their worked through the civil administration,” John February 25, 1805, with the election of Jakob . Friesen, “Mennonite Churches 1789-1850,” in Enns (1763-1818), Tiegenhagen, as the first One of the central themes in the emigration of Friesen, Mennonites in Russia (Winnipeg, 1989), Ältester. Although Enns was a capable person the Flemish Mennonites from the Vistula delta to page 58. Thus “From the very beginning the eccle- and a competent administrator, he was autocratic southern Russia was the perceived opportunity siastical and civil powers were in conflict,” Goertz, by nature and insensitive to the traditional ways to reconstruct a pure community in a new physi- The Molotschna Settlement (Winnipeg, 1993), and teachings of the people he was elected to cal environment far removed from the polluting page 63. lead. influences in the old Homeland such as the pres- These principles had already been tested in Although the Molotschna pioneers were al- sures of assimilation, Germanization and the in- Chortitza when the delegates Jakob Höppner most exclusively of the Danziger Old Flemish creasing inroads of aggressive religious cultures (1746-1826) and Johann Bartsch (1757-1821), confession, they came from several regional par- such as . The Danziger Old Flemish in who were appointed by the Russian administra- ishes in the Vistula delta, each with their own his- the Vistula Delta had valiantly and steadfastly tion and did not have any elected status within tory and traditions. To gather these diverse fac- fought the battle for the integrity of the Gemeinde their own community, refused to abdicate their tions and to blend them into a smoothly function- (“Kampf um die Gemeinde”). But many promi- authority to the Flemish Gemeinde when it finally ing Gemeinde would have been an immense chal- nent church leaders such as Ältester Peter Epp completed its organizational process in 1794. The lenge under the best of circumstances. Soon Enns (1725-89), Danzig, and his son-in-law, Prediger issue was resolved in favour of the congregation was locked into a bitter battle with Klaas Wiens Ohm Klaas Reimer(1770-1837), Neunhuben, when the colonial administrator Samuel Contenius (b. 1767), Altona, the district mayor, whom he saw the Mennonite community in Prussia as be- investigated the situation and charged Höppner excommunicated. ing doomed and led the way to regroup the faith- with various improprieties. Bartsch admitted his In his paper, “Prussian Emigrants 1788-1840,” ful in Russia. error, apologized and was reaccepted into the Henry Schapansky, Edmonton, divides the immi- With the emigration of the Chortitza “Old” Gemeinde with love and forgiveness. After the grants into two groups: pre - and post - Napole- Colony Mennonites in 1788 followed by the turbulent early years, the situation in the two onic Wars. Those who immigrated before were Molotschna settlers in 1803, the Danziger Old churches - the majority Flemish and minority mainly Danziger Old Flemish who hoped to re- Flemish community was successfully transplanted Frisian - in the Chortitza settlement became rela- constitute their communities in Russia based on to the Ukrainian steppes. Here they continued the tively peaceful and harmonious. Both had stable the old traditions and mores. Those immigrating process of denominalization and leadership and schools were under the control of confessionalization eventually developing many the church. The ecclesiastical leadership contin- of the Christo-centric traits, customs and tradi- ued to have considerable voice relative to the civil Attention: Readers responses, critical or oth- tions which we associate with the Flemish Rus- authorities (see John Friesen, page 52). erwise, are welcome. The editor can be con- sian Mennonites of the modern day. The strategy tacted at 1(204)346-9884 residence, mail Box of withdrawal with a regrouping in a new envi- A Third Option. 1960, Steinbach, Manitoba, Manitoba, ronment is known as “Retreat and Retrench”, and A group of new immigrants at Chortitza in the , R5G 1N5. Website - hshs.mb.ca - e- has frequently been resoundingly successful in winter of 1804-5 seemingly hit upon an obvious mail: “[email protected]”. preservings the faithful remnant over the centu- solution for the cultural and social battles which Please remember we are now the Flemish ries. they saw ominously looming ahead for the Mennonite Historical Society Inc. (FMHS) Molotschna, namely, for the conservers and/or and all cheques and payments for member- Civil vs. Church Authority. traditionalists to purchase a block of land to estab- ships and subscriptions to Preservings should Preservings As it turned out, however, the struggle to build lish their own colony so that like-minded people be changed accordingly. is pub- a renewed “pure” fellowship on the Russian could settle together. The concept was rejected out lished annually.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 3 after the were already more as- self to Separatist-Pietist religious culture while on Dream. But how ironic it would be if, in the pro- similated, Germanized and influenced by Separat- a trip to Hernhut in 1827. I agree with the view cess, they have helped to destroy it!” ist-Pietist religious culture. Many were Friesians that Cornies simply acted too dictatorially for his and Gronigen Old Flemish thereby bringing into conduct to be fully explained by the image of a Editorial. the colony a whole new set of values and beliefs. rational, basically non-religious reformer. Recog- In the editorial I develop the idea of the “Kampf It has been said, for example, that Gnadenfeld, nizing that he was - at least in part - also driven by um die Gemeinde” and the role that the ceaseless settled mainly by Gronigen Old Flemish from a Separatist-Pietist agenda certainly helps under- struggle has played in the history of the conserva- Brandenburg Prussia, was the trojan horse of the stand his draconian actions. Dr. Staples is cur- tive and traditionalist Mennonites over the past Flemish Mennonites in the Molotschna Colony, rently working on a biography of five centuries. becoming a hotbed of aggressive religious and his article provides valuable revision to the aggitation. historical record. Articles. In his paper, “The Pioneer Molotschna From the standpoint of Flemish Mennonite The articles section opens with Professor John Gemeinde, 1805,” Professor Adolf Ens, Cana- tradition going back 300 years to the Reforma- Staples evaluation of the 1860s landlessness cri- dian Mennonite University, describes some of the tion, the opposition to Cornies was based on sis. Brüdergemeinde apologists have interpreted difficulties of the organization of the pioneer Flem- biblically-grounded principles such as grassroots this event as another manifestation of the ish Gemeinde in the Molotschna and subsequent democracy and the supremacy of the Gospel and corruptedness of traditional Flemish Mennonite events up to the founding of the Kleine Gemeinde church over secular authority. Physical punish- culture. Not so argues, Dr. Staples, citing evi- in 1812-16. Professor James Urry considers the ments implemented by church brethren to en- dence that the crisis was brought on by wider ministry of Kleine Gemeinde theologian Heinrich force the dictates of the church or civil authority events such as the Crimean War and the emancipa- Balzer (1800-46), Tiege. Professor Urry concludes were never acceptable. Community leadership as tion of the serfs in 1861. that “....although Balzer exhorted his readers to opposed to autocratic rule was paramount. It was Professor Leland Harder’s biography of `cling firmly to fundamentals’ and to firmly unite charged “...that Cornies had deliberately eroded Ältester Johann Harder (1811-75), Blumstein, tells in love, because `firmness protects [against] de- the fundamental guarantee of the story of this important mediator between war- cline,’ his appeal to continuity and maintenance contained in the Charter of Privileges granted to ring factions in the Molotschna during the 1860s. was based upon a critique of the modern world the Mennonites in 1804.” Certainly, Wiens and From the perspective of Ältester Harder we see through an understanding of recent developments Neufeld were not the only ones who objected to the resolution of the “barley” dispute, the in ideas and their application to human affairs. Cornies despotic rule. Professor Harvey L. Dyck “Halbstadt church building” dispute, the seces- Balzer was thus an informed, intellectual conser- reports that the “....moderate Khortitza church sion of the Brüdergemeinde, and the resolution of vative by choice, rather than a conservative hold- leader, David Epp, confided similar sentiments the “landless” dispute. ing onto perceived traditions out of ignorance or to his diary in the late 1830s and early 1840s,” Ever since their secession in 1860, stubborn narrow mindedness.” (Harvey L. Dyck, 14). Brüdergemeinde historians and apologists have In this instance, the “Kampf um die Gemeinde” clung tenaciously to the founding myth that “indi- Johann Cornies (1789-1848). entailed serious for leaders. The vidual Christian spirits within the corrupted and It has been said that the story of the Russian chronicles of Heinrich Neufeld and “Farewell fallen Kirchengemeinden spontaneously gathered Mennonites is the story of Johann Cornies, and Address” and letters of Heinrich Wiens (1800- to , resulting in severe persecution and vice-versa. In his renown work, None But Saints, 72), document the viewpoint of the Flemish con- leaving no alternative but separation from the Professor James Urry has described Johann servatives. Preservings is pleased to publish these Babylonian whore and the founding of separatist Cornies (1789-1849) as a modernizationist, the significant primary source documents. congregations consisting only of the elect.” In his great “prophet of progress” who became the re- Source: Harvey L. Dyck, “Russian Servator and article, “The Secession of the Brüdergemeinde, forming agent whereby the Mennonites were trans- Mennonite Hero: Light and Shadow in Images of 1860,” Henry Schapansky thoroughly debunks formed from being rule-bound traditionalists. In Johann Cornies,” in JMS, 1984, 9-41. the aforesaid myth and provides the actual histori- the end, “progress” triumphed over the forces of America Civil Religion. cal narrative which roots the secession in immi- the old “closed order” with the Mennonites turn- The faith and life section in this issue again gration patterns, kinship networks and the influ- ing into capitalists and commercial farmers. Johann examines the question of American civil religion. ences of various outside religious groups and ideo- Cornies, Urry writes, had “....turned his skills and In the past century a new convergence of religion logues from Germany. fortune to the benefit of the community and was to and secular power has taken place in the U.S.A. The biographies of Ältester Gerhard Plett, be in the forefront of the economic and social resulting in a more transparent alliance of state Hierschau, Nikolai Reimer and Tamara Klassen transformation in the three decades after 1820” and church. The study of the concept has gained continue the account of the Molotschna Menno- (page 109). new significance with the George W. Bush White The regime implemented by Cornies included House controlled and influenced as it is - at least the obligation of the village Schulze or mayor to to some extent - by the Evangelical Fundamen- Preservings - Subscription physically whip fellow brethren if they did not talist Right and definitely by certain of its ideas The subscription fee for Preservings is meet the wishes of the Agricultural Society in their such as those affecting middle-east policy. Pro- $20.00 annually. farming operations. The power was so far reach- fessor J. Denny Weaver addressed this issue in If you are paid up for 2004 you are paying ing that even the Bishop was to be flogged if he his article “American Civil Religion, Christ-cen- for the current issue. breached these rules or protested their implemen- tered and September 11,” published in Given the state of the editor’s health, future tation. Cornies openly overthrew duly elected of- Preservings, No. 20, pages 40-45. Weaver issues cannot be guaranteed. ficials and replaced them with puppets, eager to do “...used the Kleine Gemeinde, Bergthaler, and If you do not wish to receive the 2005 is- his bidding. The deposition of Jakob Wiens in Old Colony writers to remind the Mennonite sue, please let us know. 1842 and the exile of Heinrich Wiens in 1847 peace church to resist the temptation to follow If you want to support Preservings and en- were clearly intended to intimidate and break the the many voices calling us to violence in response courage the editor and/or his successors to back of the Flemish “Reine” Gemeinde once and to September 11,” (page 44). continue publishing, please send $20.00 and for all. We are fortunate in this issue to have an in- we will do the best we can to try to keep Cornies, in Urry’s view was not a particularly sightful article by Dr. Robert Lindor of Preservings in publication. religious person, and tolerated various religious State University on “American Civil Religion and The membership fee for the Flemish Men- beliefs of the different Mennonite congregations the New Religious Right.” Dr. Lindor concludes nonite Historical Society Inc. is $20.00. This as long as they did not interfere with his reforms. with the thought provoking question, “For more is a separate fee and has nothing to do with In his Preservings article, Professor John Staples than thirty years now, adherents of the New Reli- the subscription for Preservings. has reported that Johann Cornies converted him- gious Right have been trying to save the American

4 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 The Molotschna Colony 1875 Source: James Urry, None but Saints, page 225.

nites under Sovietization, exile and Stalin’s GUlag, say, Henry Schapansky carefully examines this (Zonists) had gained a stunning victory in the War and the eventual return to the Zaporozhe area of important work evaluating its contextual premises of the Lambs in the Dutch Netherlands in the 1660s, small numbers of Mennonites. and commenting on its major components. Cer- they suffered an equalling devastating setback in tainly every reader of Preservings is encouraged the Molotschna in the 1840s. Material Culture. to obtain and read this important work which for In fact, it could be said that with these defeats The material culture section features an article the first time treats the Flemish Mennonites in the the Molotschna was permanently lost to the forces by Gerhard Wiens (see Pres., No. 23, pages 131- Dutch Netherlands in the 17th century with the of traditionalism. But the conservatives in the 2) on nicknames of the Molotschna dignity and respect they deserve. Chortitza “old” Colony did learn their lessons well. villages. On a more serious note, Walter Klaassen The book section of this issue of Preservings When Russification and freedom from military describes the translations which were used contains a readers’ feast of reviews including books service became an issue in the 1870s, they already by Mennonites in Reformation times. Of particu- by Royden Loewen, David G. Rempel, Jack instinctively knew that the only escape was emi- lar interest is the article by Christian Neff on the Thiessen and Brad Gregory to name only a few. gration: to retreat and retrench. In 1875-80 a small Biestkens Bible used extensively by the Flemish Enjoy. but dedicated Old Colonist remnant immigrated to Mennonites in Holland and Danzig. Manitoba where they took root and have blos- Conclusion. somed and grown to become one of the most sig- Books. The battle for the faith (“Kampf um die nificant components of the The work of Samme Zijlstra, Om de ware Gemeinde”) was foundational to the history of the diaspora. gemeente en de oude gronden: Geschiedenis van Molotschna Colony. The story has rarely - if ever History belongs to the people and every com- de doperson in de Nederlanden 1531-1675 ranks - been recounted from the perspective of the tradi- munity is entitled to have its story told from their among the most important Mennonite books to be tionalist majority. The conservatives in the own perspective. In this special issue of published in the past several decades. It is seri- Molotschna suffered a crushing blow at the hands Preservings the descendants of the Molotschna ously revisionistic, rewriting much of the Dutch of Johann Cornies with the deposition of Ältester conservatives, for the first time, hear the voices of history upon which most Russian Mennonite his- Jakob Warkentin in 1842 and the exile of Ältester their ancestors articulating their vision of the com- tory books are anchored. In his book review es- Heinrich Wiens in 1847. Where the conservatives munity of the saints.

Publication Statement. “Preservings” is the journal of the Flemish Mennonite Historical Society Inc. (FMHS), Box 1960, Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada, R5G 1N5, published annually, a project of Mennonite orthodoxy. Editor Delbert F. Plett, phone 1(204)-346-9884, e-mail “[email protected]”. Web sites: “www.hshs.mb.ca” and “www.mts.net/~delplett”. Please send manuscripts, articles and/or photographs to FMHS c/o Box 1960, Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada, R5G 1N6. The annual membership fee is $20.00. To be eligible for membership, individuals must be in agreement with the goals, objects and vision of the FMHS. Annual subscription fee for Preservings is $20.00, and is NOT included in the membership fee. Individual issues are $20.00 plus $4.00 postage and handling. . The editorial viewpoint of Preservings is conservative and orthodox with respect to the Russian Mennonite story and the settlers of the East and West Reserve, Manitoba, Canada. Our mission is to inform our readers of the history and faith of the Flemish Mennonites and their diaspora around the world. The views and opinions expressed in the editorials, commentaries, various articles and letters published in Preservings are those of the editor and/or individual writers alone and do not reflect those of the FMHS, its board of directors and/or membership. Copyright remains with the writers and artists. Registration # 1524399.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 5 Polish - Prussian Emigrants to Russia 1788-1840 A Survey of the background of the Prussian Emigrants 1788 to 1840 relative to the Divisions in the Russian Mennonite Community and particularly in the Molotschna Colony. By Henry Schapansky, 108-5020 Riverbend Road, Edmonton, , T6H 5J8, 1993, reprinted from Plett, ed., Leaders of the Kleine Gemeinde (Steinbach, 1993), pages 25-30.

Introduction: Terminology. the idea of integration and assimilation into Russian proach of the non-traditionalist group naturally ex- In a paper published in 1989, Dr. John Friesen society. They later had an aggressive approach to tended to their writing, and the works of Peter M. has categorized the Russian Mennonites of 1820- work among non-Mennonites, and were Friesen, Franz Isaac, Bernhard Fast, etc., only paint a 1850 as ideologically “progressive” or “conserva- generally disposed to learn Russian and work with very negative picture of the traditionalist group. tive” (conservers) (Note 1). In the progressive divi- Russian officials. Bernhard Harder (1832-1884), The majority traditionalist group suffered great sion, we find most members of the Ohrloff, Halbstadt, a minister of the Ohrloff Gemeinde wrote losses in 19th century Russia. Perhaps the most sig- Alexanderwohl and Rudnerweide Gemeinden. In several patriotic poems including poems praising the nificant one was the loss of the strongest “conserver” the conservative group, we find the majority of the Tzar. Johann Cornies (1789-1848), Ohrloff, well- sections through emigration to America in the 1870s. Molotschna Mennonites, and almost all of the Old known head of the Agricultural Society, worked Weakening of the traditionalist beliefs with the gradual Colony or Chortitza Mennonites, including the closely with the Russian government, and was, inci- accumulation of wealth and increasing material pros- Bergthaler Gemeinde. dentally, a member of the Ohrloff Gemeinde. perity, together with one concession after another, I do not like the term “progressive” and “conser- Heinrich (1788-1868), a Gebietschreiber discredited the traditionalist group in the eyes of the vative” as they can have a prejudicial connotation. In of the Old Colony, and a one time colleague of Cornies, progressive group. my view, the Russian Mennonites of 1820-1850, as became fluent in Russian and had many friends in Yet, another reason the traditionalist group has in previous and subsequent periods, were again faced the Russian gentry. Coincidentally, both Cornies and not had a favourable press is that, by now, we are all with the major issue of their relationship with the Hesse were widely disliked and very unpopular in non-traditionalists and fairly well integrated into our society around them. The traditionalist view, held by the Old Colony and among many of the Molotschna respective societies. To a great extent, we have lost the majority group, was that worldliness was an evil, Mennonites (Note 3). They were both authoritarian touch with our traditionalist ancestors, so that very and that integration and assimilation in the society and had no respect for the democratic nature of the few writers even today examine seriously the beliefs around them involved a surrender of the fundamen- traditionalist Mennonite community. Hesse, in par- and attitudes of the traditionalist group. tal religious beliefs (and to a much lesser degree of ticular, was critical of the Old Colony Oberschulz their cultural beliefs) on which their lives were based. Jacob Bartsch for his democratic ways, Reasons for the Division. This view has been held by almost all the Flem- “Rechtspflege”, and stated “Ein Jeder will sich lieber An interesting question and the focus of this es- ish Mennonite groups from 1550 to 1750 and was seine echte Freiheit wahren, als dass er Dienst nimmt say is how and why the Russian Mennonites came an integral part of true , involving sim- . . .” It should be remembered that Hesse was of to be divided into traditionalist and non-traditionalist plicity, humility, honest and plain dealing and piety. Lutheran background and fled to Russian in 1808 to groupings, and how this split may have paralleled the Worldliness and true Christianity were thought to be escape by the French. He married into a West Prussian experience. There are several a priori incompatible, and this view has survived well into Mennonite family, but did not share many of the possibilities. One idea is that the immigrant Menno- the twentieth century. In this context, seemingly petty traditionalist Mennonite beliefs. Curiously nites were already divided into these groupings be- disputes involving style of dress and the decoration untraditional was his fervent Russian nationalism fore they arrived in Russia. Another is that this split of wagons have philosophical and religious signifi- and his attitude during the Crimean War: “Konnte arose from the Flemish-Frisian division which had cance. Needless to say, in matters such as education nur bis unsere Kavallerie zum Einhauen kommen! . occurred shortly after the founding of the Anabaptist and politics, much stronger and more well defined . . Ich mochte doch wissen, was eure spitzigen movement and which solidified in in guidelines had developed. The traditionalists, there- Democraten in der Stadt zu meinen Versen sage the 1600s and 1700s. Yet a further possibility is that fore, regarded education as necessary, but too much wurden.” the split may have arisen from the differences be- education and sophistication as likely to lead to as- From the non-traditionalist group was to arise the tween rural and city Mennonites in West Prussia, or similation and to a disregard for their fundamental Brüdergemeinde. The division of the Russian Men- from differences between the Delta and Valley Anabaptist beliefs. The holding of government of- nonites into Kirchliche and Brüdergemeinde was to (Vistula) Mennonites. fices and involvement in political affairs was also an have devastating and long lasting effects on the Rus- For all these possibilities, there is some evidence evil to be avoided. sian Mennonites. that each contributed to the division of the Russian During the 1700s, some relaxation in the atti- John Friesen categorizes yet a third ideological Mennonites. That this split began to take place very tude towards the world developed among the Men- group, the Kleine Gemeinde (KG). Although the early in the period of Russian settlement and was nonite merchants and tradesmen of Danzig and KG was indeed independent in almost every respect solidified with the founding of the Brüdergemeinde Elbing. This was to lead to a complete split in the from the other churches in Russia, and at times sup- in the 1860s leads us to seriously examine the West Danzig and Elbing congregations after 1800, and ported the Ohrloff Gemeinde, I believe nevertheless, Prussian origin of this division. after this period, despite the apparent leadership of that they were only a branch of the traditionalist group. We have some knowledge of the origins of the the urbane and sophisticated city Mennonites in They differed only in the firmness to which they held Mennonites who emigrated to Russia before 1815 questions of academic interest, the real leadership in to the idea of no compromise with the world. The (Note 5). The vast majority of these immigrants came spiritual matters passed to the “land” and emigrant majority of the traditionalist group did reluctantly from the Danziger Old Flemish denomination and Mennonites, who were mainly of the Danziger Old admit some form of compromise, in practical situa- mainly from the central Gross-Werder Flemish Flemish (Note 2). After a time, the Russian Menno- tions, and in various contexts. Gemeinden of Tiegenhagen, Rosenort, Ladekopp, nites no longer really regarded the Prussian Men- Fürstenwerder (Bärwald), and Heubuden, from the nonites as true Mennonites, particularly after the The Traditionalists. Flemish Elbing-Ellerwald Gemeinde, and from the emigration of the more conservative (and mainly The traditionalist group has not fared well in the Flemish Danzig Gemeinde (mostly from the subdi- “land”) Mennonites, to America as well as to Rus- literature (unjustly so in my opinion). Several obvi- vision known as the Danzig “Land Gemeinde”). sia in the 19th century. ous reasons for this come to mind. They of course Only a very few of these immigrants came from the did not leave much behind in the way of written Frisian Gemeinden of Orlofferfeld, Thiensdorf, Non-traditionalists. material. And the Russian bureaucracy would natu- Tragheimersweide, Montau and Danzig. In the Old In Russia too, the breaking away of the tradi- rally favour the assimilationists, and did in fact, inter- Colony there was an identifiable Frisian group com- tional Mennonite beliefs also developed somewhat fere in the organization of the traditionalist group, posed mainly of Lithuanian Frisian Mennonites, and parallel to the West Prussian experience. The Rus- removing leaders, and dividing and weakening its a group from the Tragheimersweide Gemeinde. Other sian non-traditionalists had no particular qualms with jurisdiction. The proselytizing and aggressive ap- than these groups, all the other Frisian immigrants

6 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 can be viewed as isolated cases. Our information on Many of the leaders of the Brüdergemeinde, in- and his influence was therefore limited. David Epp the individuals and groups who emigrated after 1815 cluding Johann Klassen, were from families who became embroiled in a conflict with the Hoeppner is much less precise, although the information avail- came to Russia after 1815, as were leaders of other group, although details of this conflict are sketchy. able suggests that the majority of these Mennonites peculiar groups, including Nicholas (Klaas) Epp who Jacob Hoeppner and some of his colleagues appear were now from Frisian Gemeinden. lead a group into to await the second to have taken a “progressive” non-traditionalist ap- coming of Christ. proach to settlement, which was opposed by the Influence of time of Emigration. One has the impression that most of the non- Lehrdienst. In later years, the Hoeppner group was Although each of the above divisions in the West traditionalists were from Frisian backgrounds. It is portrayed as a heroic group, whereas the Lehrdienst Prussian Mennonites contributed in some way to the clear from data available that many Frisian Menno- was portrayed as backwards and regressive (Note division of the Russian Mennonites described above, nites immigrated to Russia after 1815. Those that 10). one very key factor seems to have been largely ig- came before 1815 seem to have integrated quite well The early spiritual leaders in the Molotschna did nored by historians. And that is the enormous impact into the traditionalist group. Many members of the not have this background and were therefore more on the thinking of all Western Europeans, West Prus- Bergthaler Gemeinde, a conservative traditionalist complacent and less concerned with the safeguard- sian Mennonites included, of the Napoleonic era and group came from the Frisian Gemeinde of ing of the Mennonite heritage. In fact, the first Ältester war period (and of course of the ideas of the French Kronsweide in the Old Colony. of the Molotschna church, Jacob Enns (1763-1818), Revolution). In West Prussia, however, the melding of Frisian Tiegenhagen, came from the Heubuden Gemeinde, The majority of the traditionalists had already and Flemish churches, especially after the war, had one of the strictest of the “land” Gemeinden. It was immigrated to Russia before the devastating years an accelerating influence on the assimilation of the because Klaas Reimer and others felt the Molotschna 1806-1807. The had immi- Mennonites. If we take the Danzig Flemish Gemeinde Lehrdienst did not provide the leadership required grated to Russia even before the outbreak of the for instance, which totally united with the Frisian that a rupture occurred. French Revolution. In southern Russia, they were Gemeinde at Neugarten after the war, we see that it almost totally isolated from the European wars and was the bequest of the widow Flugge (Elisabeth References the revolutionary ideas of the period. Ekker, formerly Mrs. Bestvater) which led to the Epp, D.H. 1910. Heinrich Hesse und seine Zeit. The Mennonites left behind, on the other hand, establishment of a paid ministry at Danzig, and coin- Botschafter, Russia (published by Echo Verlag, were totally affected by the wars. We need only look cidentally to the complete break of the Danzig Land Manitoba, 1952). in the West Prussian church books to observe the Gemeinde from the City Gemeinde (The Bestvaters Goertz, A. 1976. Research Notes, the Marriage tremendous increase in death in 1807 (due to illness, were previously members of the Frisian Gemeinde). Records of Montau in Prussia. Mennonite Quarterly malnourishment and not necessarily direct casual- At the same time, a very large percentage of Danzig Review, 240-250. ties) (Note 5). The effects of the war on the Flemish Frisian and Orlofferfelde Gemeinden were of middle Hesse, Heinrich 1993, “Autobiography,” in Der Danzig Gemeinde are documented in Hermann G. class or of wealthy status as documented in the cen- Bote, Jan. 27 to Mar. 3. Mannhardt’s work (Note 6). The Heubuden sus list of 1776 and in Hermann G. Mannhardt. The Penner, H. 1978. Die Ost and West preussischen Gemeinde, for instance, cancelled the annual baptis- Frisian Gemeinden generally were much more non- Mennoniten. Weierhof. mal services in 1807 (usually an important event in traditionalist than the Flemish Gemeinden, through- the church year). The West Prussian Mennonites out the 18th century although this view is perhaps Endnotes: The Prussian Emigrants 1788-1840: were profoundly shaken by the war. During and not yet fully accepted. Of the Delta Mennonites, a Note 1: Friesen, “Mennonite Churches and Religious Devel- after the war, we see an increased rate of assimilation review of the census list of 1776 shows that Frisian opments in Russia 1789-1850,” in Friesen, ed., Mennonites into Prussian and German society. It follows without Mennonites, although a minority, were much in Russia: Essays in Honour of Gerhard Lohrentz (Winnipeg, a great deal of additional comment that the Menno- wealthier on a per capita basis than their Flemish Man.: CMBC Publication, 1989), 43-74. Note 2: Although Mannhardt depicts the history of the nites who immigrated to Russia after 1815 were in neighbours (in cases where the record keeper thought Danzig congregation in the 1700s and 1800s in very posi- many respects very different than pre-war immi- there could be some doubt as to the church affiliation tive terms, the factual detail presented nevertheless presents grants. he put “ORL.” after the village). The various a picture of a continuous decline in Mennonite standards, In addition, of course, most of the strongly tradi- Bauernverzeichnissen collected by Dr. Horst Penner from the inability to attract its young men into service and tionalist Mennonites had already left West Prussia likewise reveals a larger portion to be land-holding the creation of a paid ministry, to the final acceptance of the prior to 1806. They went to Russia in the expectation Frisians than would be expected from their numbers military service. At the same time the Danzig Mennonites did and hope of preserving their beliefs and culture. in the total Mennonite population (Note 8). become very wealthy in this period. Those that remained in Prussia may have been more Note 3: Hermann Hesse, in his autobiography, was very con- comfortable with the thought of integration into Prus- Conclusion. temptuous of his Old Colony colleagues, particularly of those in the ministry. Hesse later also had a falling out with Cornies. sian society. Although it is unwise to make extensive gener- See Men. Life, April 1969, pages 66-68. Two of the three non-traditionalist Gemeinden alizations, it is nevertheless clear to me that the split Note 4: See the discussion in B.H. Unruh, D. Plett and H. immigrated en masse to Russia in the years 1819 to into traditionalist and non-traditionalist groups in Schapansky (references). 1821, namely the Rudnerweide Gemeinde and the Russia received its major impetus from the immi- Note 5: The death toll was very high in all the Gross Werder Alexanderwohl Gemeinde. It is interesting that both grants who came to Russia after 1815 and that a large Gemeinden, but the highest mortality rate may have been in of these were basically Frisian Gemeinden. The percentage of these were from Frisian backgrounds. the Thiensdorf and Heubuden Gemeinden. Other disruption Rudnerweide Gemeinde derived its name from a If this analysis is correct, that the Mennonites in the social fabric of the Mennonite life in West Prussia can village of the Tragheimersweide Gemeinde, which who settled in Russia before 1815 had a common be seen in the Tragheimersweide church books, where there was Frisian, but a number of the members of this cultural and spiritual background which would tend are several instances of the birth of children occurring before the marriage of the parents. Whether this is due to poor record Gemeinde were also from other Frisian Gemeinden, to unite rather than divide them, we need to discover keeping or to irregularities in relationships is undetermined, notably from the Frisian Gemeinde of Montau. The how the KG came to be formed and why this split but is due nevertheless to the war. Alexanderwohl Gemeinde was composed of mem- came about before the later immigrations after 1815. Note 6: Mannhardt, H. G., Die Danziger Mennonitengemeinde bers of the Przechowko (Wintersdorf) Gemeinde In my view, it is a question of leadership. Some (Danzig, 1919). who were classified as “Old Flemish” and regarded of the leaders of the KG, notably Klaas Reimer and Note 7: See for instance the research of Dr. A. Goertz on the as a particular group, but who socially and ideologi- Kornelius Janzen had come from the Danzig Land subject. cally were very close to their Frisian neighbours. Gemeinde (the Neunhuben Gemeinde) and had seen Note 8: The identification by surnames is a good guide, some Most of the surnames in this Gemeinde (except pos- the signs of changes in the traditionalist beliefs at first surnames were predominantly Frisian, some predominantly sibly Ratzlaff and Pankratz) are found extensively in hand in the city Gemeinde. They were, therefore, Flemish, and some mixed. Note 9: Indeed, we need only take Klaas Reimer’s own ac- all the other Frisian Gemeinden. It is also interesting more disposed to defend the traditionalist view and count at face value; see Klaas Reimer, “Ein Kleines Aufsatz,” that these two Gemeinden were Valley as opposed to to be alert for signs of changes (Note 9). Of the in Plett, ed., Leaders, Part Two, Chapter Two, pages 124-130. Delta Mennonites. There is considerable evidence Chortitzer leadership, David Epp also came from the Note 10: See my comments regarding the Jakob Höppner that Valley Mennonites were much more Germanified Danzig region, and seems to have adopted a similar affair in Preservings, No. 20, pages 26-27. than their Delta counterparts (Note 7). position to Klaas Reimer, although he died in 1802, Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 7 The Pioneer Molotschna Gemeinde, 1805 “The Founding of the Molotschna Mennonite Flemish Gemeinde in 1805 and Its Development up to the Formation of the Kleine Gemeinde, 1812,” by Dr. Adolf Ens, Professor of History, Canadian Mennonite University, 800 Schaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3P OM4, 1992, reprinted from Plett, ed., Leaders of the Kleine Gemeinde (Steinbach, 1993), pages 31-40.

Introduction. in Molotschna brought with them much more it, Wiens lasted only one term as Oberschulz, The literature on the founding events of the capital than had the earlier group (Note 9). To- being succeeded in 1806 by Johann Klassen, church in the second Mennonite settlement in gether with the better support system which the Rosenort, another wealthy entrepreneur (Note Russia is as sparse as it is for the first. Founded Russian government now had in place for needy 17). on the Molochnaia River 1804-1840 and popu- families and the benefit of the experience of the Unlike Chortitza, where the congregation was larly known as the Molotschna Colony, this Chortitza settlers, this made the pioneer period in organized en route in Dubrovno, a civil adminis- settlement’s growth and many of its develop- Molotschna much easier and shorter. By 1807 a tration was in place in Molotschna before the ments were much more rapid than those of visitor to the settlement noted that very few houses church was founded (Note 18). This gave Chortitza. In part this divergence arises from ini- were still unfinished and a decade later the same Oberschulz and Gebietsamt a kind of precedence tial differences. visitor reported Molotschna economically far over church leadership because they were re- ahead of Chortitza (Note 10). quired to be responsible for everything initially. Beginnings of Chortitza and Molotschna On 10 April 1804 the 193 newly arrived fami- Compared. Founding of Colony and Church. lies met in the church at Chortitza to elect their Neither the 1788 nor the 1803 emigration was The immigrant families who arrived in 1803 first ministers. Chosen were 36-year old tailor planned or organized by the church Jakob Enns (1768-1818) from in Prussia. Rather, smaller or larger Siemensdorferfeld, and two farmers, groups of families and individuals David Huebert (age 30) mentioned decided to leave, generally with some above, and Abraham Wiebe (age 40) encouragement and guidance from from Königsdorf, all three Amt the church leadership (Note 1). In Marienburg (Note 19). Enz and some cases poor families were as- Hiebert had earlier been elected sisted financially by the Prussian Beisitzer in the civil administration Gemeinden to make their emigration (Note 20). They were ordained by possible (Note 2). Johann Wiebe, Ältester of the Flem- In the absence of direct involve- ish congregation in Chortitza (Note ment of the church there was no for- 21). Abraham Wiebe, who settled in mal leadership of the two emigra- Münsterberg 20 June 1804 (Note tion movements. The 228 families 22), and David Huebert became the leaving for New Russia in 1787- first two resident ministers in 1789 to some extent acknowledged Molotschna. In the spring of 1805 Jacob Hoeppner and Johann Bartsch The Ohrloff worship house as it appeared in 1910. Photo credit -P. M. another five ministers were elected: as leaders, but their status even as Friesen, Mennonite Brotherhood, page 890. The building constructed in Jacob Vogt, Johann Vriesen (Note “delegates” in 1786 was unclear 1810 was torn down and rebuilt in 1839. It was built in the tradition of the 23), Heinrich Enß, Cornels Jantzen (Note 3). Their role in decision-mak- first Flemish Mennonite churches (or houses of , as they were known) (Note 24) and Johann Penner (Note ing during the actual immigration in Prussia with two stories and balconies. A two story extension was later 25). Two ordained ministers arrived was even less well defined, account- added, which served as the entrance, opposite the raised council or platform in Chortitza from Danzig in Novem- where the pulpit was situated. See Rudy Friesen, Into the Past, page 275. ing at least partly for their shameful ber 1804: the retired 76-year old treatment by the settlers. The 342 families arriv- spent the winter in Chortitza where they elected Cornelius Epp (1728-1805), and Klaas Reimer ing in Russia during 1803-04 did not have even 37-year old Klaas Wiens from Herrenhagen, Amt (1770-1837), brother and son-in-law, respec- this kind of leadership (Note 4). Since the Marienburg, as their first Oberschulz (Note 11). tively, of the late Ältester Peter Epp (1725-1789) Privilegium obtained by the Chortitza church Still relatively youthful, Wiens was well-to-do of Danzig. Reimer settled in Petershagen 5 June from Czar Paul I in 1800 covered them as well, and considered a prudent, far-seeing person, al- 1805 (Note 26). there was no need for advance delegates. Land though strongly self-willed (Note 12). Elected as Early in 1805 the organization of the church inspection trips to the Molochnaia region were his assistants (Beisitzer) were Jakob Enz and was completed by holding Ältester elections. undertaken from Chortitza where most of the David Hiebert (Note 13). Hiebert, who settled in Molotschna settlers voted on 25 February in newcomers spent their first winter (Note 5). These the village of Lindenau on 15 September 1804 Lindenau and new arrivals in Chortitza on 5 immigrants were, in a sense, merely a continua- (Note 14), helped Wiens in establishing nine vil- March (Note 27). Candidates were the three min- tion of the earlier migrations to Chortitza. lages in 1804 and another eight the following isters elected in 1804 and Klaas Reimer (Note No minister accompanied the first settlers in year, following the pattern established in Chortitza 28). The latter had been elected minister in Danzig either migration. Later historians found this re- (Note 15). on 1 February 1801 and was thus the senior of markable in the 1788 movement (Note 6) but Economically aggressive, Wiens took two the four (Note 29). However, Enns was chosen seemed unwilling to believe that it was also the homesteads in the village of Altona and rapidly by majority vote and ordained by Johann Wiebe case fifteen years later (Note 7). Nevertheless, expanded his own economic base. At the same of Chortitza on 23 April 1805 (Note 30). On 18 organizing the church in Molotschna was less time he energetically worked for the economic July 1805 he settled in the village of Tiegenhagen, difficult than it had been in Chortitza primarily and cultural improvement of the settlement, ea- Molotschna and began his leadership of the large because an established sister congregation was ger to follow suggestions of the government. congregation of some 350 families scattered over now much closer and because all of the early For example, when Contenius hoped that the seventeen villages (Note 31). immigrants here were Flemish so that the Frisian- Mennonites would introduce silk culture, Wiens The first beer brewery and the first church Flemish division was not a factor here (Note 8). was not only the first to plant mulberry trees in building were erected in 1809, the latter with By far the most significant difference between his own garden but also persuaded the village of funds donated by Czar Alexander I. The follow- the two settlements lay in the socio-economic Altona to set aside a tract of land for this purpose ing year a second church building and a water status of the immigrants. On average the settlers (Note 16). In spite of this, or perhaps because of mill were added (Note 32). Other “useful indus-

8 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 trial plants” reported in 1848 included a distill- ing to the Gospel” and was more than willing to of its elder Jacob de Veer. Fortunately, the rural ery, three vinegar breweries, two dye works, and allow the Gebietsamt (colony administration) to part of the congregation had been granted the a cloth factory (Note 33). With only two church bring offenders to justice and administer punish- status of “Quartier” in 1792, giving it virtual in- buildings (in Ohrloff and Petershagen) for the ment (Note 40). On several occasions he also dependence from the congregation in the city ex- eighteen villages founded by 1806, most church appealed to the Chortitza church leadership for cept for the tie through a common Ältester who services continued to be held in homes or other help in dealing with issues (Note 41). This is not officiated at the ordinances (baptism, commun- buildings. surprising, since Enns began his leadership with ion, election and of ministers) (Note virtually no prior experience as a minister and 42). The leading minister of this rural congrega- Early Tensions in Church and Colony. headed a large team of ministerial colleagues all tion was Cornelius Epp, Maria Reimer’s uncle Before the church was fully or- whose home the Reimers shared. ganized, serious strife erupted in the Here Claas Reimer was elected min- colony. Oberschulz Klaas Wiens and ister in 1801 (Note 43). his Beisitzer, the newly elected min- The low level of moral life, the ister David Huebert, quarreled over inconsistent and unscriptural church some lumber. An appeal was sent to discipline, and the governmental re- Ältester Johann Wiebe of Chortitza strictions on Mennonite land acqui- in the winter of 1804-05 to help settle sition, combined with Ältester Peter the matter. The ministers Klaas Epp’s frequent admonition to his Reimer and Jacob Enns, still in children to go to Russia, finally per- Chortitza, and a Jacob Dyk accom- suaded Reimer in 1804 to emigrate. panied Wiebe on this reconciliation A group of twenty-eight adults, trip (Note 34). In spite of protracted many of them inter-related, joined discussions Wiebe was unable to get him and Maria (Note 44). Appar- Huebert, judged the guilty party, to ently most did not share his zeal for concede. He and Reimer then per- reform, since none seem to have suaded Wiens, though innocent, to joined his secession group during give in for the sake of reconciliation the next seven years, even though as (Note 35). The Ohrloff church as it appears today, view from the rear. The building is many as twelve of them settled with As a result of this process and its currently used as a home for the severely mentally handicapped. Photo him in the village of Petershagen outcome it was difficult for Wiens to credit - Diese Steine, page 254. (Note 45). look with confidence to the church Reimer did find a kindred spirit leaders for guidance in solving dis- in Petershagen. It was his colleague, putes justly, and accounts at least in the youthful (b. 1780) Cornelius part for his frequent clashes with Janzen from Münsterberg, Prussia, Gemeinde and Ältester and for the elected minister in 1805 (Note 46). pattern this set for the civil govern- Serious about upright moral living, ment in its relation with the church these two criticized not so much the (Note 36). Reimer was deeply dis- Gebietsamt and its punishments as appointed that Huebert, a minister, the church ethos which made such would not give in, that Ältester punishment necessary (Note 47). Wiebe inadequately confronted Ältester Enns and minister David Huebert, that disputes like this oc- Huebert, however, not only con- curred at all among Christians, and doned corporal punishment by the that in the midst of such unsettled civil government but advocated and strife elections for Ältester were practised it themselves (Note 48). held. It re-enforced his aversion to On one occasion Reimer and a wit- settling in Molotschna (Note 37). For ness confronted Enns at his home: Enns it meant that his leadership of “Is it true, Ohm Jakob, that you have the church began with serious ten- thrashed your hired man?” “Go to sion among himself, his civic coun- The Lichtenau church - interior view, showing detail of the council and side the barn and ask him,” replied Enns. terpart in the colony, and two of the balcony. Photo credit - Quiring and Bartel, In the Fullness of Time, page 76. They did so, and “Toms,” who was senior ministers in the church. a member of Enns’ congregation, Enns entered his term as Ältester with good of whom, except Reimer, were complete begin- responded: “Yes, but I richly deserved it” (Note intentions but very little experience and appeared ners. 49). to be unequal to the task. Reimer considered him Those immigrants who had undertaken the This probably reflects the widespread accep- “too rash,” (Note 38). Later historians were harsher move to Russia in hopes of effecting some re- tance of corporal punishment as discipline for adult in their description: David Epp characterized him form in church life found Enns’ style of leader- members. Nevertheless, when Enns presented this as having “mehr Herrschertalent als Hirtensinn” ship difficult to accept. This included some of his issue at a brotherhood meeting and allowed Reimer (more talent for ruling than pastoral giftedness) colleagues, especially the most senior active min- and Janzen to respond to it from the viewpoint of while P. M. Friesen thought he was perhaps “en- ister, Klaas Reimer. Christian , members began to take tirely devoid of God’s life-giving Spirit -- and an sides and the rift became public. Reimer and Janzen exceedingly violent character” (Note 39). Faced Emergence of the Kleine Gemeinde (KG). then began to hold separate worship services in with a very large and rapidly growing church While still in Prussia, Reimer had admired Petershagen, and by request in Münsterberg, with- whose members came from many different com- the theology and piety of Ältester Peter Epp of out the elder’s consent. This naturally angered munities and several congregations in Prussia, Danzig, whose daughter Maria he married nine Enns, but the final separation came over an even Enns needed to create a sense of unity and a set years after Epp’s death. He then moved to more serious concern. When the Ältester offici- of common expectations in ethics and church Neunhuben from Petershagen but found himself ated at communion services in Ohrloff and life. He quickly discovered that “a number of in increasing disagreement with the largely ur- Petershagen while he himself was in a state of members were not serious about living accord- ban Danzig congregation and the lax leadership unreconciled conflict with minister Huebert, Reimer

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 9 gave up on the Große Gemeinde. He grant members transferring in from left, even though “to leave the various communities in Prussia. To Gemeinde when there is as yet no transform that mixed multitude into hint of refuge in another is not within an ideal “pure” church was not real- human power....What other choice is istic and Enns felt himself bound by there for a Lehrer [minister] who his office to deal realistically. The seeks to save his from eternal events clearly show that he was not punishment?” (Note 50). A group of the man to achieve an acceptable eighteen families left the church. This compromise. Reimer’s only hope of was in 1812, the same year that the achieving his ideal was by separa- elder’s harassment drove the former tion. That was inherent in the situa- Oberschulz Klaas Wiens out of the tion from the outset. Yet, once colony to found his own estate at achieved, he remained ambivalent Steinbach. about the separation. He and his KG wanted official recognition from the The Lichtenau church - June 2004. View from the west. Several additions The Dynamics of Separation. were added in Soviet times including a one-story addition in front. The very church from which they had The new Gemeinde would not be building has recently been used as a warehouse. The building is deteriorat- separated themselves. properly constituted until it had an ing and the western wall is starting to crumble. Photo credit - Adina Reger. The clashes between Enns and Ältester of its own. Reimer and Reimer had been so persistent and Janzen and their small group patiently worked at various historical precedents (Note 54). Reimer bitter that the basic issue probably could not have this during the next four years. For Enns to have did not arrange for a successor during his tenure been clearly articulated by them. In an exchange ordained an elder for them would have meant tacit as elder. When the KG wanted to choose a new of letters in 1838 their successors, Bernhard Fast admission that Reimer was right and he wrong, elder in 1837 after Reimer’s death the issue clearly and Abraham Friesen, did so. In response to the and would have split his Gemeinde. Ältester Wiebe had not gone away and they appealed to Ältester KG request that the Fast lead the election of an of Chortitza could not have done so without break- Bernhard Fast of the Ohrloff congregation for elder for them and “thereby establish a formally ing the traditional solidarity of the larger Flemish assistance in the election (Note 55). organized Gemeinde” among them, Fast re- church. The four Prussian Flemish Aeltesten, Ältester Enns on his part also did not know sponded: “We have recently understood from you whom Reimer apparently contacted over the head how to react to a division in the congregation. yourselves that in your mind you are not striving of Enns with the help of former Oberschulz Klaas Mennonite history in Poland-Prussia-Danzig and to undergird our church order and to help us Wiens, withheld approval and urged Reimer’s in Russia offered no precedent to follow. Indeed, confirm it” (Note 59). He invited them to join group to have patience (Note 51). the inherited Flemish-Frisian division was rap- one of the established congregations and together Unexpected help came from the small Frisian idly disappearing here as it already had earlier in build the Gemeinde. With KG members living congregation in Schönwiese. Apparently acting the Netherlands. Sometimes alone, sometimes interspersed throughout the Molotschna villages, independently, Heinrich Jantzen, Ältester there together with his Chortitza colleague Johann a separate congregation did not make sense un- since June 1797, served communion in Wiebe, Enns threatened with ministerial elections less the separation were complete. Petershagen to 40 members on 13 March 1815, to replace Reimer and Janzen, exile to , The response of Friesen and colleagues for- baptized three of their candidates in Schönwiese and refusal to recognize bap- mally protests “that you should in some way later that year and again served communion in tisms performed by Reimer (Note 56). have understood from us that we are not commit- Petershagen 21 May 1816 (Note 52). According The Gebietsamt considered the two ministers ted to assist you in the regulation of your to Reimer, Jantzen also officiated at his election defrocked, refusing them exemption from statu- Gemeinden and in the establishment of the same” as Ältester in 1815 but not at his ordination. tory labour and harassing them in other ways (Note (Sixty). But the letter then goes on to paint such Whether this was solely because of the strong 55). This the small congregation suffered will- a dismal picture of the “uncleanliness and dis- opposition to such a move by the Flemish elders ingly and saw to it that their members never had to grace [that] lies hidden in the official Gemeinden” Wiebe and Enns, or because Jantzen was himself be disciplined by the civic authorities (Note 58). and expresses such a “violent sense of indigna- not ordained by an Ältester, is not clear (Note tion and antipathy towards all the human ordi- 53). In the end, the separatist group convinced Concluding Observations. nances of these formal Gemeinden,” as to make itself by 1816 that election was more important The early years of the Molotschna settlement one wonder why they would want recognition than ordination and justified a non-traditional reflect sharply the tension between the Anabaptist from such bodies. Yet, the letter concludes by ordination by a minister instead of an Ältester concept of the pure church and the Russian real- saying that while they will now conduct the elec- through an appeal to unusual circumstances and ity of a Volkskirche in which all adults in the tion themselves, they will approach Fast once community were also part of the church. The more regarding the ordination. dilemma was heightened by the privilege of self- government thrust on the Mennonite community Endnotes: The Pioneer Gemeinde. by the Russian government. This meant that lay Note 1: See Adolf Ens, “The Tie That Binds: Prussian and members of the church served as civil adminis- Russian Mennonites (1788-1794),” Journal of Mennonite trators with magisterial powers exceeding in some Studies, 1990, 34-51, for Prussian church involvement in cases those of church officials. On the other hand, the movement to Chortitza. On the migration to Molotschna see “Streiflichter auf die ersten Gemeindebildungen an der it meant that when church discipline yielded cer- Molotschna,” Unser Blatt 1 (May 1926): 171. tain offenders to the “secular arm” it was not to Note 2: N.N., “Kurzer Beitrag zur Geschichte der Molotschnaer the jurisdiction of “outsiders,” but to fellow mem- Mennoniten,” Christlicher Familienkalender, 1900, 103. bers of the same congregation. Note 3: Assessment of their status ranges from Heinrich Klaas Reimer pursued the ideal of a pure Heese: “....zwei bevollmachtigte der Mennoniten,” The Lichtenau church as it appeared in the 1920s. church governed according to the Rule of Christ (“Kurzgefaßte geschichtliche Übersicht der Gründung und Side entrance. Photo credit - Quiring and Bartel, in Matthew 18. He left the “dissolute Babel” in des Bestehens der Kolonien des Chortitzer In the Fullness of Time, page 76. The original Danzig in hopes of restoring an evangelical con- Mennonitenbezirkes,” Unterhaltungsblatt für deutsche Lichtenau church was built in 1826 as the first gregation in Russia. When Jakob Enns was or- Ansiedler im südlichen Rußland, 1851, Nr. 8-10; reprinted in worship house of the newly organized Flemish M. Woltner, Die Gemeindeberichte von 1848 der deutschen dained as Ältester of the whole Molotschna Siedlungen am Schwarzen Meer (Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1941), 4) “Reine” Gemeinde, also known as the Grosse church, he shouldered the enormous burden of Gemeinde. The structure was replaced with a new to Brons: “reisten auf eigene Hand und auf rußische Kosten.” moulding into one Gemeinde all of the immi- (A. Brons, Ursprung, Entwickelung und Schicksale der building in 1860.

10 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 altevangelischen Taufgesinnten oder Mennoniten in kurzen by Klaas Reimer, is highly unlikely. Note 37: Plett, The Golden Years, 164. Editor’s note: At this Zügen übersichtlich dargestellt (Norden: Dietrich Soltau, Note 22: Unruh, 316, fam. 4. time, Reimer - together with several associates - was negoti- zweite Auflage, 1891), 284.) In between are Peter M. Friesen, Note 23: Unruh, 339, #65, and 306, #3, identifies him as from ating for the purchase of the 1,000,000 ruble Volenko estate Die Alt=Evangelische Mennonitische Brüderschaft in Krebsfelde, settling in the village of Muntau. D. Epp, on behalf of 162 families. Rußland (1789-1910) (Halbstadt: Raduga, 1911), 72: “Hundertjahrsfeier,” 76, and Peter M. Friesen, 703, note that Note 38: Ibid. “....beglaubigt durch eine Vollmacht mit Unterschrift von 60 he was one of four ministers opposing Ältester Bernhard Fast Note 39: D. Epp, “Jahrhundertsfeier;” Peter M. Friesen, 75 mennonitschen Männern,” and Jacob Quiring, Die Mundart in the 1822-24 division. Editor’s note: Johann Friesen (Engl. transl., 92). See also Görz, 56; Braun, “Kleine Chronik,” von Chortitza in Süd=Rußland (München: Druckerei (1763-1830) of Muntau and later Rosenort, Molotschna, was 67. Studentenhaus München Universität, 1927), . the brother-in-law to Klaas Reimer and the founder of a large Note 40: Isaak, 91. Note 4: “Die ersten Anfänge der Kolonie Ohrloff,” Unser Blatt, Kleine Gemeinde dynasty. His son Johann Friesen (1808- Note 41: Klaas Reimer, “A Short Exposition,” in Plett, ed., The 1 (August 1926), 270; Woltner, 88. 72), Neukirch, was the third Ältester of the congregation. Golden Years, 168, 171. Note 5: Franz Harder, “Die Auswanderung aus der Danziger Note 24: Arrived Petershagen 5 June 1805 from Münsterberg, Note 42: Harder, 106. Mennoniten-Gemeinde nach Rußland,” Mitteilungen des Amt Tiegenhof. Unruh, 321, #13; 350, #68. Note 43: Klaas and Maria Reimer had in fact purchased a half Sippenverbandes der Danziger Mennoniten-Familien Epp - Note 25: Jakob Wienß reports this election in his 11 April share in the Wirtschaft of her uncle Ohm Cornelius Epp in Kauenhowen - Zimmermann 3 (1937): 104. 1805 letter. Namensverzeichniss (1835), 22, also lists Franz Neunhuben, Prussia. Note 6: E.g., Peter M. Friesen, 73; C. Henry Smith, Story of the Wiensz as a minister in the Petershagen ocngregation since Note 44: Over half of the immigration group were related to Mennonites, 5th ed., revised by Cornelius Krahn (Newton: 1805. each other. Klaas Reimer and Johann Regier were married to Faith and Life Press, 1981), . Note 26: Plett, The Golden Years, 163; Peter M. Friesen, 106. the daughters of Peter Epp, formerly Ältester of the Danzig Note 7: Smith, 259, says that the Molotschna settlers Unruh, 321, #4. Gemeinde in Prussia. The first wife of Peter Classen (born 1749) “brought their ministers with them.” Peter M. Friesen, 703, Note 27: Enns, 14. was Sara Epp, also a daughter of Peter Epp. Cornelius Epp (1728- thinks that the first Ältester, Jakob Enns, was elected as min- Note 28: Wienß, 1805 letter. 1805) was the uncle of these sisters and the protege and former ister in Prussia. A. Braun, Mennonitisches Lexikon, I: 593, Note 29: Peter M. Friesen, 106. partner of Klaas Reimer. Peter Classen Jr. (born 1775), Catharina Mennonite Encyclopedia, II: 225, and H. Görz, Die Note 30: Enns, 14, clearly refers to the tailor from Classen (born 1777) - married to Franz Wiens, and Magdalena Molotschnaer Ansiedlung: Entstehung, Entwicklung und Siemensdorferfeld, even though he never gives his full name; Classen (born 1778) - married to Abraham Enz, were the chil- Untergang (Steinbach: Echo Verlag, 1950/51), 56, report this the first time it is “Is.E.” and after that always “I.E.” (which in dren of Peter Classen and his second wife Sara Wölke (born as fact. John Friesen, “Mennonite Churches and Religious Gothic print is identical to “J.E.”). Unruh’s identification 1762). Cornelius Wölke was the brother to Catharina Wölke. Developments in Russia 1789-1850,” in John Friesen, ed., (348, #36) of Jakob Enns, Hochzeit, Danzig, b. 1763, as be- Gertrude Regier (born 1775) who married Peter Classen Jr. was Mennonites in Russia 1788-1988 (Winnipeg: CMBC Publi- coming Ältester is almost certainly in error, though Urry, 76, the daughter of Michael Regier (born 1747). cations, 1989), 56, assumes that prior to the election of an n. 34, and A. Braun, Mennonitisches Lexikon, I:593, Menno- Note 45: Plett, The Golden Years, 152-56. Editor’s note: It is Ältester, worship services were led “by Lehrer [ministers] nite Encyclopedia, II: 225, accept it. Harder, “Die assumed that Reimer was supported by his brother-in-law who had been ordained in the Danzig and West Prussian Auswanderung,” Mitteilungen 3 (December 1937): 190, and Regier since several of Regier’s children were later involved churches.” In fact, no ministers from Prussia came to Heinrich H. Schroeder, Rußlanddeutsche Friesen (Döllstädt: in the KG. However, according to Henry Schapansky, Regier Molotschna until after the ordination of an elder. Selbstverlag, 1936), 86, make no mention of this Jakob Enns settled in Kronsgarten. Note 8: Görz, p. 54; D[avid H.] Epp, “Hundertjahrsfeier der becoming a minister. There is certainly nothing in Reimer’s Note 46: See above, n. 21. Editor’s note: The Janzen family Lichtenauer Gemeinde und Kirche am 31. Oktober 1926,” autobiography to suggest that he and Ältester Enns came also originated in the village of Petershagen where Klaas Unser Blatt, 2 (December 1926): 75. from the same congregation. Reimer was born and raised. Klaas Reimer’s mother, Aganetha Note 9: Peter M. Friesen, 101; Görz, 9. Note 31: Enns, 14. Unruh, 323, #15, gives the date as 23 Epp (believed to have been a sister to Ältester Peter Epp, Note 10: Peter M. Friesen, 152, 154. August 1805. Smith, 272, erroneously assumes that “they Danzig), married for the second time to Abraham Janzen Note 11: Woltner, 99; In official correspondence he is ad- founded independent congregational units from the start, (1747-1822), uncle of Cornelius (b. 1780) and one of the dressed as “Gebiethsvorsteher.” Samuel Contenius, , either by villages or groups of villages.” Isaak, 91, emphati- wealthiest settlers in Petershagen. 26 March 1804 to Claas Wiensz, Peter J. Braun Archive, file cally states that they “vereinigten sich . . . zu einer Note 47: Isaak, 91. 89-1-4(1804), microfilm, Mennonite Heritage Centre Ar- Kirchengemeinde.” Cf. Jakob Wienß, 1805 letter: “die ganze Note 48: Reimer, “A Short Exposition,” 125-7. chives. Benjamin H. Unruh, Die niederländisch- Molotschnaer Gemeinde.” Note 49: Braun, “Kleine Chronik,” 69. niederdeutschen Hintergründe der mennonitischen Note 32: Woltner, 92; Isaac, 91. Note 50: Plett, The Golden Years, 170-71; Peter M. Friesen, Ostwanderungen in 16., 18., und 19., Jahrhundert Note 33: Woltner, 92. 107. (Karlsruhe: By the author, 1955), 317, Fam. 3. Note 34: Plett, The Golden Years, 163. Peter M. Friesen, 107, Note 51: Plett, The Golden Years, 173. Reimer, “A Short Expo- Note 12: Abraham Braun, “Kleine Chronik der Mennoniten n. 2, misleads the reader with his comment that Wiebe and sition,” Part Two, Chapter Two, 133. an der Molotschna seit ihrer Ansiedlung bis in mein 80. Jahr,” Dyk were co-elders of the Chortitza church. Dyck was only Note 52: Cornelius Hildebrand, handwritten notes in Namens- Mennonitisches Jahrbuch, 1907, 67. The Brauns were next elected minister a year later (21 January 1806) and not or- Verzeichniss der in Deutschland, Ost= und Westpreußen, door neighbours of Wiens in Altona. dained as Ältester until 1812. (Letter, Jakob Wienß, Chortitz, Galizien, Polen und Rußland befindlichen Mennoniten- Note 13: Correspondance in MHCA, Peter J. Braun Archive, 4 February 1806 to Johann Kauenhowen, Der Bote, 4 May Gemeinden, sowie ihrer Aeltesten, Lehrer und Vorsteher 89-1-4 (1804). 1938, 5; Peter M. Friesen, 700). Plett, Vol. VI, Part Two, Chap- (Danzig: Edwin Groening, 1857), 78. Original in Mennonite Note 14: Unruh, 312, fam. 15. ter Two, n. 14, page 149, suggests that Jacob Dueck was not Heritage Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Note 15: Woltner, 88; Unruh, 312, Fam. 15; Franz Isaak, Die the later Chortitza elder but the father of the future KG min- Note 53: Peter M. Friesen, 75, 108; Reimer Feb 1819 letter to Molotschnaer Mennoniten (Halbstadt: H.J. Braun, 1908), 12. ister Heinrich Wiebe, who settled in the village of Ohrloff. Aelt. J. Fast (Plett, Vol. VI, Part Two, Chapter Three). Reimer’s Note 16: Braun, “Kleine Chronik,” 67-68. Note 35: Plett, The Golden Years, 163. It is difficult to assess assumption that Jantzen was ordained by the visiting minis- Note 17: Isaak, 87. Huebert’s role in the difficult early years of the church. As the ter Cornelius Warkentin of Prussia in 1794 (Peter M. Friesen, Note 18: Contenius, 26 March 1804 to Wiens, refers to in- only settler in the 21-family village of Lindenau who was 108) is likely wrong, as Jantzen was apparently not elected as structions he gave to the Gebietsamt on 18 September 1803. wealthy enough not to require government assistance minister until January 1797 (Hildebrand, 67). Note 19: Letter, Jakob Wienß, Chortitz, to Johann (Woltner, 99), he was a prominent member of the community. Note 54: Reimer, “A Short Exposition,” 133. Kauenhowen, Danzig, 11 April 1805, in Der Bote, 5 January Church services and brotherhood meetings were regularly Note 55: Peter M. Friesen, 111-12. 1938, 4; also in Mitteilungen, 6/3 (1940): 69; Jakob Enns, held at his home (Reimer, “A Short Exposition”, page 127), Note 56: Reimer, “A Short Exposition,” 137; Peter M. Friesen, “Kleine Lebensskize,” Mennonitische Rundschau, 9 Decem- and in the 1818 visit of Alexander I to the Molotschna colony, 108; Plett, The Golden Years, 171. 173. ber 1908, 14; Unruh, 323, Fam. 15; 312, #15; 316, #4; Delbert his family hosted the Czar for a meal (“Ein hoher Besuch,” Note 57: Plett, The Golden Years, 172. Plett, The Golden Years: The Mennonite Kleine Gemeinde in Christlicher Familienkalender, 1900, 112-13). Reimer op- Note 58: Braun, “Kleine Chronik,” 69; “Kurzer Beitrag,” 110. Russia (1812-1849) (Steinbach, 1985), 169. posed him on issues of corporal punishment and subscrib- Note 59: Peter M. Friesen, 111; Abraham Friesen, “A Simple Namenverzeichniss der Aeltesten, Lehrer, und Diakonen der ing funds for the Napoleonic war effort, but seems to have got Declaration, 1845,” Part Three, Chapter Five, 291-193. Fast Taufgesinnten Mennonitischen Gemeinden in Ost=und along with him well on a personal basis (“A Short Exposi- had himself experienced a split of the Grosse Gemeinde in West=Preuszen, Litthauen, Polen und den new angesiedelten tion,” 126). In the 1822-24 split he was one of four ministers 1824 and witnessed the Flemish Ältester Jakob Dyck of Kolonien in Ruszland (Elbing, Agathon Verlag, 1835), 24. opposing Ältester Bernhard Fast (Epp, “Hundertjahrsfeier”; Chortitza ordain an elder for the breakaway faction. Had this Note 20: It is not clear whether they resigned their office Peter M. Friesen, 703). been a “permissable” split because Fast was ordained by a when they were installed as ministers. Hiebert, as noted Note 36: Braun, “Kleine Chronik,” 68. Wiens eventually Frisian, or because the group separating from the elder was so above, seems to have assisted Oberschulz Wiens in founding (1812) withdrew from the community, selling everything he large, or because the Gemeinden in Prussia and Chortitza the first villages. could not take with him, and settling on a private estate, were largely in sympathy with the dissidents? Note 21: The suggestion of James Urry, None But Saints: The Steinbach, so far outside of the colony that it seemed at the Note 60: Plett ms. VI; Friesen, 24; Peter M. Friesen, 112, calls Transformation of Mennonite Life in Russia 1789-1889 time almost “ausser Rußlands Grenzen.” Mennonitisches it a “gelungene Antwort,” while chastising Fast for his short- (Winnipeg: Hyperion Press, 1989), 76, that they were ordained Lexikon, IV: 241. sightedness.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 11 Ohm Heinrich Balzer 1800-46, Tiege “Ohm Heinrich Balzer (1800-46), Tiege, Kleine Gemeinde minister and conservative Mennonite Philosopher: A Biography and Interpretation,” by Dr. James Urry, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand, reprinted from Plett, ed., Leaders of the Kleine Gemeinde (Steinbach, 1993), pages 295-304. Introduction. parents in Grossweide but around 1822 he moved joined the small group known as the KG. His Heinrich Balzer was undoubtedly one of the to Tiege, an established Flemish village in the departure must have caused some debate as his outstanding “thinkers” of the 19th century Kleine south west of . The reason for this father remained a minister in the Frisian congre- Gemeinde (KG), a religious movement whose move appears connected to his marriage to Hel- gation and at least three new ministers were elected importance as the guardian of conservative ena, widow of Franz Martin Klassen (b. 1773), that year to the congregation. Long after the event thought in the first half century of the Russian who had presumably inherited her husband’s his actions were cited as precedence for other Mennonite experience has been revealed only property, Wirtschaft No. 5 (Note 10). At the time ordained ministers wishing to join other congre- recently (Note 1). But very little is known about widow Klassen was probably aged about 23, a gations (Note 13). Balzer’s life and the wider context of his ideas. little older than Heinrich. Whether or not she The reason for this extremely radical course The KG which emigrated to ob- already had children or whether she and Heinrich of action, as articulated by Balzer himself in po- viously prized his writings, circulating them in subsequently had children is unclear. But ems and addresses, was a matter of conscience. manuscript and publishing some as separate tracts Heinrich’s move to Tiege took him away from Balzer was concerned with the direction life was or in religious journals (Note 2). But other Men- the new Frisian settlements and close to the area taking in the Mennonite colonies and the failure nonites neglected his work until Robert dominated by the Flemish congregation centred of the congregations, including his own, to up- Friedmann discovered and published Balzer’s in the adjacent village of Ohrloff. By this date hold basic principles of the faith. It also should remarkable exposition “Faith and Reason” (Note Ohrloff was emerging as a dynamic centre in the be remembered that the early years of the 1830s 3). Friedmann, however, was a scholar of early Molochna, site of the first worship house built in witnessed great changes and tensions in the Rus- , unversed in the complexities of 1809, the home of the first post-elementary school sian Mennonite world. Alternatives to govern- Russian Mennonite history and he failed to en- in 1822, and also of the Cornies family whose ment policy seemed to indicate an end to emigra- lighten his readers as to Balzer’s identity or to most famous member, Johann (1789-1848), was tion, economic difficulties were apparent, and place his writings in the broader context of Rus- to have a profound impact on Mennonite life worse, drought and famine stalked the land (Note sian Mennonite religious thought. The pioneer- over the next quarter of a century. 14). There were also calls for reform to the ing researches and writings of Delbert F. Plett Some time, probably, in the latter half of the economy, to the system of local administration have at last provided us with more detail on the 1820s Heinrich was elected a minister. In be- and schooling. These reforms were part of a wider KG, its membership, aims, ideas, writings and coming a minister Heinrich joined a family tradi- set of changes which were to result, after a pe- history (Note 4). In the process, more light has tion. Not only was his father a minister, but riod of considerable struggle, in Johann Cornies’ been shed on Heinrich Balzer, his family con- through his mother he was connected to a line of control of the colony (Note 15). nections and his ideas. These new sources help ministers and elders in the Frisian congregations Balzer appears to have undergone a crisis of to confirm Friedmann’s percipience in recognising in Prussia. Two Ewerts (Hans and Jakob) served conscience sometime in 1832 and entered into that Balzer was drawing on a long tradition of as elders of the congregation in the 18th century correspondence with a minister, later an impor- Anabaptist thought as well as on more recent (1750-76 and 1788-1800) and either Frantz tant elder of the KG, Abraham Friesen (1782- ideas and concepts and reinforce his opinion that Goerz (1779-1834), the first elder in Russia who 1849) (Note 16). Friesen lived in the next village Balzer truly contributed to a “philosophy of came from the same area of Prussia, or his wife, of Ohrloff and thus was Balzer’s neighbour; like Mennonitism” (Note 5). Maria (nee Goerz 1781-?), who emigrated with Balzer he was an important “thinker’” in matters the Balzer family and also initially settled in of faith, writing a number of important religious Heinrich Balzer’s Life. Grossweide, may have been distantly related to statements. In 1818 Friesen had abandoned his Heinrich Balzer was born in 1800, probably Heinrich junior’s mother’s first husband, Jacob position as a deacon in the Orhloff Flemish con- in Schweingrube, in the Stuhm district of West Goerz (1748-1795) (Note 11). Such kinship links gregation to join the KG (Note 17). But it was Prussia, the son of Heinrich Balzer senior (1773- among members of the ministry were not un- the circulation of a booklet suggesting radical 1842) by his wife, Anna Goerz (nee Ewert) common in Prussia and Russia. reform for all European Mennonites that appears (1768-1812) (Note 6). His father apparently came While probably elected and ordained into his to have been the catalyst for Balzer to leave his from Montau, another area of Mennonite settle- father’s Frisian congregation, Balzer’s moved to congregation and join the KG. ment in Prussia and had moved to the Stuhm area Tiege and the territory of the local Flemish con- The booklet in question was written by a following his first marriage. Heinrich Balzer jun- gregation. Sometime after his move he appar- South German of Mennonite descent, Abraham ior was one of possibly 15 children, seven full ently transferred his membership to that of the Hunzinger (1792-1859), who was a district court brothers and sisters, three of whom died in child- Ohrloff congregation. While such transfers were actuary in government service in Hesse- hood, and possible eight by his father’s later probably still rare in both Prussia and Russia, Darmstadt. Hunzinger dedicated his text to the marriage to another Anna Ewert in 1815. In 1800 especially for ministers, except in cases of dis- ruler of the neighbouring state of Baden which Heinrich senior was elected a minister of the agreements between individuals or in a had been created during the Napoleonic period. Stuhm Lowlands or Schweingrube (later congregation, there are reasons to believe that Baden had adopted a liberal constitution that, in Tragheimwerder) Frisian congregation (Note 7) this move may well have been peaceful and ac- the tradition of the Enlightenment, attempted to and young Heinrich was baptised with his elder ceptable to both congregations. After the seces- rationalize religious belief by eliminating the old brother David (1799-1844) in 1816. In 1819 he sion of the “large Flemish Reine” Gemeinde in differences between established confessional emigrated with his family and other members of 1824, there was a period of intense interaction in the kingdom. In the same spirit, their congregation to the Molochnaia colony in between the Ohrloff and the new immigrant con- Hunzinger’s booklet called for little more than New Russia. His father, as an elected minister in gregations, especially in religious matters (Note the total reform on rational principles of Menno- Prussia, here became one of the leading minis- 12). Balzer’s shift therefore reflected not only his nite faith and practice to meet the challenge of the ters of the new Frisian congregation based in the change in residence, but also a spirit of reconcili- modern world and thus “improve” the Menno- village of Rudnerweide (Note 8). Heinrich se- ation between some of the leaders of the Ohrloff nites. His proposals included the abandonment nior settled in Grossweide, a newly established congregation and those of the new arrivals. of outmoded practices: rules against marriage with village in the New Plan (Neuplaner/Nieplona) outsiders, the use of the ban, non-involvement area in the eastern part of the colony (Note 9). Joining the Kleine Gemeinde. with civil government and objections to military Heinrich junior probably first settled with his In 1833 Balzer left his congregation and service. He also suggested broad reforms to edu-

12 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 cation with a recommendation that higher educa- and “finally the military and service in war.” through which one can easily be overwhelmed tion be encouraged and a salaried, professionally Balzer’s call to his fellow ministers was to “cling and deceived and accept base metal of little worth trained ministry be established (Note 18). firmly to the fundamentals of our fellowship and instead of gold and silver.” He also warned against According to a letter addressed to Johann do not risk any departure from them.” being “tossed to and fro by the winds of all man- Cornies from the head of the Russian It is perhaps significant that Balzer addressed ner of foreign teaching” (Note 26) and exhorted government’s Guardian’s Committee for foreign his epistle to the three leading “reform” congre- Mennonites to be “on guard in the selection of colonists in south Russia dated January 12 1832, gations in Molochnaia, leaving aside the Large one’s reading material, particularly if the book is Andrei Fadeev, Hunzinger’s booklet had been “Reine” Flemish Congregation which, like the nicely made up, and makes a strong appeal to forwarded by Russian officials in St Petersburg KG, was noted for its conservatism (Note 19). both the converted and the unconverted, be it true to the religious leaders of the Mennonite congre- As Balzer’s epistle and other writings all include or false” (Note 27). These writings seem to hint gations by “Imperial decree.” Fadeev noted that appeals to conservatism, and stress the continu- that Balzer believed he had been once lead astray the “`government’s intentions are that some of ity and conservation of faith and practice, it is not by such literature and an interest in worldly af- our Mennonites might also wish to accept some surprising that only the KG appeared to offer fairs (Note 28). The contribution of his earlier of the suggestions [in Hunzinger’s booklet], es- separation from the “world” combined with a knowledge of philosophical approaches to the pecially for the school system. I find that several clearly articulated set of ideas associated with the problems of faith is reflected in his writing and of them are very useful for our Mennonites also maintenance of well established ways (Note 22). statements on human nature, thought and faith according to my insights [Fadeev’s emphasis]” Many, if not most, Russian Mennonites were at which are quite distinctive in comparison with He stressed that the “august religious leaders this time deeply conservative and suspicious of the writings of the 19th century Mennonites should not miss this opportunity” to improve the innovations. The Large “Reine” Flemish Con- which are currently available for study. His ser- life of the colonists especially in terms of im- gregation, which included the majority of colo- mons reveal an extremely logical manner of proving the educational system through the es- nists, supported such sentiments. But such con- thought and a clear presentation of ideas. He also tablishment of a central school (Note 19). At this servatism, unlike that of the KG, was not deeply seems to have relied heavily on the Bible as the period Cornies did not possess the power he grounded in the established Mennonite principles source of his ideas. Unlike many KG ministers would later gain under Russian authority, and he of faith. Their members were conservative be- of Flemish background, he does not seem to have also did not have a copy of the booklet to which cause, like most rural people, they were suspi- made much use of the books of the Mennonite Fadeev referred. So he immediately ordered a cious of any change, but few could articulate the tradition, those 16th and 17th century writings of copy from a bookseller in Leipzig through a bases of their conservatism. In time, many proved Mennonites, including Menno, whose interpre- Mennonite contact in Danzig (Note 20). quite willing to accept change if it was to their tations of the Bible, of life and faith were lov- The suggestions in Hunzinger’s book, and personal or financial advantage, with barely a ingly cherished, quoted and promoted in the KG no doubt the backing they received from govern- thought as to its consistency with Mennonite community. ment officials, acted as a catalyst for Balzer’s teachings or principles of faith. What is remark- separation from his congregation and his return able about Balzer’s and much other KG writing, Balzer’s views on human nature and faith. to basic Mennonite values through joining the is its clarity of vision and appeal to the basic Balzer’s major work known as “Faith and KG. The proposals for rational reform contained foundations of Mennonite faith. But in Balzer’s Reason”, whose full title is Understanding and in Hunzinger’s book appear to have “awakened” case there are distinctive features to his approach reason, simple opinions regarding the differ- in Balzer “a particular inspiration and impulse.... which probably reflect his broad intellectual ex- ences between understanding and reason, dis- which I [was] unable to extinguish.” In an epistle perience before he joined the KG. cussed according to the teachings of the Gospel, (Note 21) to the elders of the Ohrloff Flemish, was produced at the time he joined the KG. It is Alexanderwohl Gröningen Old Flemish and Balzer’s intellectual background. a major philosophical statement and obviously Frisian Rudnerwiede congregations, Balzer de- While it is obvious from his writings that was intended to be circulated among those in the scribed how he was “shocked” by the booklet Balzer was skilled in articulating his thoughts in colonies, KG and non-KG, interested in religious and that it constituted “a departure and turning High German, it is unclear whether this was a ideas and concerned with the direction of Men- away from our beloved God” to the “ruination of result of his early schooling or later self-educa- nonite life. all flesh.” The threat of reform was that its fol- tion. There are reasons to believe it was a conse- Human life Balzer argued, had a “threefold lowers were tempted away from the true path of quence of both. Balzer had emigrated to Russia character” (Note 29). Firstly there was the mortal faith. Balzer acknowledges how Hunzinger’s as a young adult and although his childhood must flesh, the physical life subject to the trials of this “....booklet was the key to much which I had not have been disturbed by the Napoleonic invasions earthly existence and, like all living creatures, previously perceived and which I had unknow- of Prussia, he may well have received a good ultimately death. Secondly there was “the life of ingly promoted myself. Because this pitiable man basic education in the new, “reformed” Prussian the soul or [rather] of the senses,” a “psychic or so clearly demonstrated that he is obviously very schools (Note 23). The Tiege-Ohrloff area of sensual life” which “through thinking [reason- distant from the right way, we all naturally con- Molochnaia was also a centre of intellectual life ing] . . . governs and directs the physical life by fess that he is on the dangerous road of error . . . in the colony. It was the centre of the most liberal way of the five senses.” Again this is an aspect of We, nearly all of us, find ourselves on this false and progressive congregational community, the existence humans shared with other creatures course, and Hunzinger is a concern to us merely Ohrloff Flemish congregation, whose members “with this great difference that the bountiful Cre- because he has progressed such a good distance provided many of the leaders in the colony-com- ator has endowed the human soul with reason, ahead of us.” munity. It also contained the offices of Cornies’ the natural light by which man can reasonably The problem was that in the name of doing Agricultural Union, the first high school in the consider the affairs of this world, judge his own good and by attempting to improve life, reform- colony and a private lending library (Note 24). actions, and make a good and rational choice ers became “worldly minded and finally entirely Balzer was a friend of Cornies and was later between right and wrong.” The third characteris- worldly.” Balzer warned his fellow religious lead- remembered as a “knowledgeable preacher” and tic Balzer called “the mental or spiritual life” was ers that a “surreptitious transformation from as a “liberal and intelligent” man (Note 25). So also a gift from God. This was God’s special gift Christendom to the world” was occurring in their any education that Balzer had received in Prussia to humankind and to them alone. But it was a congregational communities through “great was no doubt enhanced by his involvement in precious gift which, through Adam and Eve’s wealth,” a “disposition unto worldly knowledge the religious and intellectual activities of Menno- disobedience, had been placed at risk: “it was [i.e. higher education],” and a taste for fashion, nites in and around his home village. through the fall of man that his understanding theatre and display. All this ultimately would lead After joining the KG, however, Balzer warned was darkened.” Reason, in humankind’s fall, was to the abandonment of basic Mennonite prin- against the dangers of higher education and the not lost, but “corrupted in body, soul and mind.” ciples just as Hunzinger had openly advocated: reading of “alien books published by other con- However, through an acceptance of Christ involvement in “big business”, civil government fessions.” Such books were “false coinage and “a simple obedience” to the Gospel, “this

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 13 aspect of human life was redeemable”: “The true reason, although his own, was built upon, and knowledge, or the `reason of the heart’ [Verstand thoroughly integrated into, a well established des Herzens] is revealed thought the inspiration Mennonite view of the world which Robert of the Holy Spirit to those who genuinely repent Friedmann called “the doctrine of two worlds” from their sins, deny them [ihnen absterben], (Note 32). Its roots lay in ancient thought, could and conduct their lives in accordance with the be justified by Biblical reference, the teachings word of Christ . . . Out of grace the Father of of the Early Church and was particularly favoured Light will give them the right wisdom and un- by Anabaptist and later Mennonite writers. derstanding . . . [;] the more a man opens his A close consideration of Balzer’s terms re- heart to the working of the Spirit of God, the veals a number of dualisms, binary oppositions, more the mind will be illuminated and inspired . which connect his view on human nature with . . [I]n a reborn and faithful heart, animated by these other teachings. In terms of his basic view the inspiration of the Holy Spirit alone, this rea- of human nature and “thought,” the following son must be subordinated to the faith, and brought opposites appear in his writings: under its obedience [Kindschaft des Verstandes].” understanding reason Understanding was opposed to reason. The heart mind/head clearly indicated that understand- soul/spirit flesh/senses ing, “or knowledge of the heart illuminated spiritual light natural light through the Holy Spirit,” could be “grasped only illuminatedknowledge darkness thought faith.” It was not to be confused with innocence learning reason and should be recognised as superior to truth fiction reason. “Natural” reason, “restricted exclusively Peter Balzer (1827-1902) immigrated to America In terms of the nature of the two worlds this to activities of this world.” had to be “tamed” for in 1874 as part of the Alexanderwohl Gemeinde, corresponded to a well-established set of oppo- a person to achieve . settling in McPherson County, near Inman, Kan- sitions in Mennonite thought which Balzer also sas. He was the younger half-brother of Heinrich Balzer acknowledged that reason could be mentions in his writings: Balzer (1800-46), Tiege. Peter belonged to the “developed to a high degree” through “secular Hoffnungsau Gemeinde and served as a senior non-worldly community worldly community learning,” but this only tempted people away from minister. In 1902 his son Johann Balzer (1851- nonconformity conformity salvation because whatever goes beyond its con- 1930) went on an extended trip back to Russia. purity corruption cepts and judgements, reason puts to doubt.” Photo courtesy of great-grandson Harold Balzer, non-resistance/peace violence/war Reason had been greatly enhanced by “worldly Box 59, Buhler, Kansas, 67522. For a photo of salvation damnation scholarship” in “universities and schools of higher Peter Balzer and his first wife Anna Ewert, see In terms of human action this implied to Balzer a learning” and the development of science which Saints and Sinners, page 73. number of further oppositions: tempted people to search into the mysteries of simplicity complexity nature” through methods of “observation, analy- Mennonite’s reading books and newspapers, obedience disobedience sis, experimentation, and logical deduction.” But had “produced a desire for a better, that is a submission domination such developments of the faculties of reason threat- more refined education for their children.” But humbleness pride ened true understanding. Worse, developed rea- in planning to improve “the school system” brotherly love/selflessnesshate/selfishness son promoted “pride, conceit, and complacency” Mennonites had to be: “....on the alert lest the In terms of the proper pursuits of a committed and led to “conformity with this world.” But by young flowers of our church become biased Christian this contrast in actions then involved accepting Christ and the teachings of the Gospel, against our principles which later on would make another set of oppositions: instead of the philosophical teachings of reason, it difficult for them loyally to follow our tenets. farming commerce understanding will soon spread from man’s heart In particular one should be on guard not to ex- husbandman businessman to all his actions and make him fit to carry on a pand the necessary instruction beyond such sub- self-sustenance accumulated wealth divine (or sanctified) life in simplicity and truth” jects as reading, writing, arithmetic, singing and plainness ostentation (Note 30). anything else useful and handy for the simple material poverty material wealth Balzer then went on to condemn contempo- practice of a husbandman. Whatever belongs to spiritual wealth spiritual poverty rary Mennonite life in Russia and to warn of higher learning brings forth nothing but soph- Thus Balzer’s theological position, if it may future consequences if there was not a return to istry, unbelief, and corruption of the church; for indeed be called this, fitted easily into well estab- established ways. His warnings included a cata- `knowledge puffeth up’ (1 Cor. 8:1). Reason lished Mennonite ideas, concepts and practices logue of sinful practices well rehearsed in Men- gets its strength and sustenance from this learn- dating back to Anabaptist and earlier Christian nonite religious writings, including those of other ing, and soon simplicity is bound to be aban- writers, and also KG thought and action as is KG writers: “[p]ride, ostentation, vanity, greed doned. Therefore I counsel and implore each apparent in their writings produced in the first for money and lust for wealth, avarice, drunken- member of our church to make it not too diffi- half of the 19th century. His distinctive contribu- ness, luxury, vicious life, masquerades, obscene cult for his own child to find his salvation in tion was to add a new dimension built on a reac- songs, gambling, and above all the miserable innocence.” tion to post-Reformation developments in theol- smoking of tobacco.” These faults need to be This was written at time when a number of ogy and secular philosophy which debated the corrected through the application of understand- new Prussian school teachers had begun to teach role of reason in human affairs. In this sense, ing, Christian discipline and a return to a simple in the colony and within a decade Cornies had although Balzer exhorted his readers to “cling way of life, that of “the lowest estate, that of the wrested control of the village schools away from firmly to fundamentals” and to firmly unite in husbandman” which was “the most conducive . . the local communities and congregations and love, because “firmness protects [against] de- . for the preservation of genuine simplicity in brought them under control of his Agricultural cline” (Note 33), his appeal to continuity and Christ.” Union. From 1842 onwards Cornies and his son- maintenance was based upon a critique of the But Balzer also warned of the dangers of in-law, Philip Wiebe, forced a more regular and modern world through an understanding of re- policies aimed at that reform of Mennonite life secularised educational system on the Menno- cent developments in ideas and their application where they were based on reason and not on nites (Note 31). to human affairs. Balzer was thus an informed, understanding. In this he singled out higher edu- intellectual conservative by choice, rather than a cational reform in the colonies. The “new secu- Balzer’s Dualism and Two Kingdom Theol- conservative holding onto perceived traditions larism” which had occurred through greater con- ogy. out of ignorance or stubborn narrow mindedness. tact with the world in business and through Balzer’s contrast between understanding and

14 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Balzer’s legacy. Schapansky who kindly answered other queries. Additional Square, Pa.: Mennonitische Druck-Verein). Hunzinger’s son, It is clear from Delbert Plett’s extensive re- information was located in the genealogical notes of the John Ludwig Heinrich Hunzinger (1842 - 1900), became a Lutheran searches that kinship has always played an im- Balzer family in SA.I.106 in the Mennonite Library and Ar- minister and his grandson, August Wilhelm Hunzinger (1871- portant part in KG life. In the early 19th century chives, , North Newton, Kansas; I am most 1920), a noted Lutheran church reformer. the majority of its members were of Flemish grateful to the archivist, John D. Thiesen, for supplying me Note 19: Letter from Fadeev in the Peter Braun Collection with a copy of this manuscript. (89-1-232 (19)) originals in the Odessa Regional State Ar- background some with close ties to members of Note 7: See Horst Penner, “Tragheimweide,” ME 4, 741-42; chives, Ukraine, a transcription of which was kindly sent to the Ohrloff Flemish congregation, including the congregation was formed in an area settled only after me by Professor John Staples of the Department of History at Ohrloff’s religious leaders (Note 34). There 1724 by Mennonite refugees from Hohenzollern Prussia and the State University of New York, Fredonia. In a later Russian were few converts from the non-Flemish con- Lithuania. government report on the Molochnaia during the period of gregations, especially those who emigrated to Note 8: See “Ein paar Blaetter aus der Geschichte der intense reform of the Ministry of State Domains, Hunzinger’s Russia after 1818. By leaving the Frisian con- Rudnerwiede Gemeinde,” Mennonitisches Jahrbuch, 10, book was referred to as a good guide to Mennonite practice! gregation, Balzer must have broken with not (1913), 31 and reports of various officials in villages founded See Opisanie mennonitiskikh koloni v Rossii, Zhurnal only his congregation but also his family and in this migration in M. Woltner ed., Die Gemeindeberichte Ministerstva Gosudarstvennykh Imushchestv, 4, (1842), 34, kin entering a very different social and religious von 1848 der deutschen Siedlungen am Schwarzen Meer where the author is incorrectly given as Heinriger. On the (Leipzig, 1941), 139, 142. On the migration of new congrega- Ministry’s reform programmes in the 1830s and 40s see Urry, world. This occurred after he had achieved adult- tions at this period see James Urry, None but saints: the trans- None but saints, 117-22, 136-37. hood and probably after he married, so he had formation of Mennonite life in Russia, 1789-1889 (Winnipeg, Note 20: Letter of Johann Cornies dated February 5 [1832] to few, if any kinship links with the KG. No doubt Man.: Hyperion Press, 1989), Chapter 5. the “Reverend [Jacob] van der Smissen,” Danzig in the Peter by living in Tiege (Note 35) he had made friends Note 9: For brief family sketches of various Balzer families Braun Collection 89-1-236 (11-12) again thanks to Profes- with members of the congregation who lived in connected with the KG, see Delbert Plett, “Balzer Genealo- sor Staples. the neighbourhood and these undoubtedly were gies,” in Plett, Leaders of the Kleine Gemeinde (Steinbach, Note 21: Heinrich Balzer, “Epistle to the Aeltesten,” 1833 in strengthened after his joining their congrega- 1993), 345-353. Plett, ed., The Golden Years, 219-20 all quotations in the next tion, but there were few other bonds to link him Note 10: Franz Martin Klassen (b. 1773) was the son of Mar- few paragraphs are from this source. with the network of KG families which was tin Klassen (d. 1774), Simonsdorf, 1776 census, West Prussia. Note 22: On these ideas see Urry, “All that glistens . . .” 241- Franz emigrated to Russia in 1818 where he became the owner 44. well established by the 1830s. Even if any of of Wirtschaft 5, Tiege. Franz had a brother Martin Martin Note 23: Urry, None but saints, 155-56. his children married into the KG families (Note Klassen (b. 1770), Tiegenhagen, West Prussia, who emigrated Note 24: Ibid., 105, 112-18, 156, 165. 36) this probably occurred too late to be of any to Russia in 1841. Two of Martin’s children were involved Note 25: Abraham Braun, “Kleine Chronik der Mennoniten social significance as Balzer died on January 1, with the KG: Martin Klassen (1822-82), Gnadenau, Kansas, an der Molotschna seit ihrer Ansiedlungen bis mein 80. Jahr,” 1846. His joining the KG was a matter of faith; and Katherina Martin Klassen (1819-99), married Heinrich Mennonitisches Jahrbuch (1906-07), 69. he was joined in spiritual kinship not in social Friesen (1815-50), son of Abraham, the KG Elder. Together Note 26: Balzer to the school teacher Heinrich Rempel of kinship with the KG. His legacy for the KG with her third husband, Cornelius Enns (1832-79), Fischau, Altonau, February 1834 in Plett, ed., The Golden Years, 225. was therefore not sealed by continuity of blood Katharina, emigrated to Kansas, also as Gnadenau pioneers. Note 27: Balzer in “Faith and Reason” in Plett, ed., Golden and his descendants apparently vanish from KG For additional genealogical information, see Plett, ed., Dy- Years, 245. nasties of the Kleine Gemeinde (Steinbach, 2000), various Note 28: In “Faith and Reason”, Balzer wrote that “The big history. references. trading connections made it absolutely necessary to study But it is obvious that his memory, and par- Note 11: See Benjamin H. Unruh, Die niederländisch- business administration, geography and political science. ticularly his writings lived on for some time. The niederdeutschen Hintergrunde der mennonitischen Reading daily newspapers became a necessary and tempting high esteem in which his writings were held is Ostwanderungen im 16.,18.und 19. Jahrhundert (Karlsruhe: habit, and made people familiar with the great politics of this apparent from their inclusion in the manuscript the author, 1955), 367; “Ein paar Blaetter . . .,” 29-33. Details world. They thoroughly enjoyed observing revolutions and Collected History of Peter Toews and the fact supplied to me by Henry Schapansky indicate, however, that the overthrow of kings and states” in Plett, ed., The Golden that an effort was made to publish some of his any relationship must have been distant, i.e. over three gen- Years, 244. Again this sounds like a confession of his earlier texts in North America before and after 1900 erations apart. actions and interests. (Note 37). But by this date the KG community Note 12: See Klaas Reimer, “Ein Kleine Aufsatz,” in Plett, ed., Note 29: All the quotations which follow are from Balzer’s Leaders of the Kleine Gemeinde, 135, and Urry, None but “Faith and Reason” in Plett ed., Golden Years, 224-45. was itself under strain, as Plett has noted from saints, 99-101. Note 30: On the wider context of these changes in attitude “American (dispensationalism)” Note 13: For a listing of the Rudnerwiede ministry in 1843 towards “knowledge” and “learning” among Mennonites in and the “writings of the forefathers were largely see Namenverzeichnis der Aeltesten und Lehrer der 19th century Russia, see James Urry, “`The snares of reason:’ forgotten and relegated to dust bins” (Note 38). mennonitischen Gemeinden (Danzig, 1843), 54 and compare changing Mennonite attitudes to `knowledge’ in 19th cen- It took an Anabaptist scholar to rediscover and to its new elections with the ministry listed in the earlier 1835 tury Russia,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, recognise the value of Balzer’s writing, and an- edition republished by Adalbert Goertz, “Die 25(1983), 306-22. other twenty years before Balzer’s work could Mennonitengemeinden Altpreussens und Osteuropas in Jahre Note 31: Urry, None but saints, 132, 160-63. be placed in a broader context. 1835,” Ostdeutsche Familienkunde, 13, (1965), 112. One of Note 32: Robert Friedmann, “The doctrine of two worlds,” in the leaders of the Templars cited Balzer’s transfer as prece- G. F. Herschberger, ed., The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision dence for his leaving the Gnadenfeld congregation in the (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1957); cf. Robert Friedmann, The Endnotes. Heinrich Balzer (1800-46): 1860s, see Nikolai Schmidt in Franz Isaak, Die Molotschnaer (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1973). Note 1: Delbert Plett, ed., The Golden Years: the Mennonite Mennoniten: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte derselben Note 33: Balzer quoted in Plett, ed., The Golden Years, 220, Kleine Gemeinde in Russia (1812-1849) (Steinbach, 1985), (Halbstadt: H.J. Braun, 1908), 240. 244. and other volumes in this series; cf. James Urry, “All that Note 14: James Urry, editor and introduction, “Immigration Note 34: Delbert Plett, Profile of the Mennonite Kleine glistens . . .’ Delbert Plett and the place of the Kleine Gemeinde and Famine in Russia, 1833. Two letters of Johann Cornies,” Gemeinde 1874 (Steinbach, 1987); Plett, ed., Pioneers and in Russian-Mennonite history,” in Journal of Mennonite Mennonite Life 46 (3), (1991), 18-20; see also Urry, Pilgrims. Studies, 4 (1986), 228-50. “Molotschna: the Year 1833,” in Pres., No. 17, pages 17-19. Note 35: It is interesting that Balzer lived in Tiege as all the Note 2: Plett, ed., The Golden Years, 221, 233-4. Note 15: Urry, None but saints, Chapters 6 and 7. other Frisian ministers whose places of residence are noted Note 3: Robert Friedmann (translator and Editor), [Heinrich Note 16: Plett, ed., The Golden Years, 253-256; in his epistle in the listings at this period lived in the eastern villages. Was Balzer’s] Faith and reason: the principles of Mennonitism to the other elder (see below) written in January 1833, Balzer it perhaps the intellectual atmosphere of the Ohrloff/Tiege reconsidered, in a treatise of 1833. Mennonite Quarterly spoke of “circumstances which came together in my life’s community which had attracted him to settle there before he Review, 22 (1948), 75-93 reprinted in Plett, ed., Golden Years, history about a year or somewhat more ago,” ibid., 219. joined the Kleine Gemeinde? Editor’s note: There was a sig- 237-47 - all quotations from now on are taken from the re- Note 17: Plett, ed., The Golden Years, 248-50; 262-64. nificant KG community in Tiege, including the prominent print in Plett. Note 18: Abraham Hunzinger, Das -, Kirchen-und Isaac family. The KG community here also included brothers- Note 4: Plett, ed., The Golden Years, and related volumes. Schulwesen der Mennoniten oder Taufgesinnten; wahr und in-law: Klaas F. Reimer - son of Ältester Klaas Reimer; and Note 5: Friedmann in Plett, ed., The Golden Years, 237. unpartheilisch dargestellt und mit besondern Peter W. Friesen - son of Ältester Abraham Friesen Note 6: Much of the genealogical information used here and Betrachtungen ueber einige dogmen, mit Verbesserungs- Note 36: See above note 9. below was supplied by H. Schapansky of Vorschlagen versehen (Speyer: Kob’schen, 1830); cf. Chris- Note 37: Plett, ed., The Golden Years, 221, 233-34. to Delbert Plett who kindly provided me with copies of Mr. tian Neff, “Hunzinger, Abraham,” ME 2, 845. Hunzinger’s Note 38: Ibid., 233. Schapansky’s research and direct correspondence with Mr. booklet was republished in the United States in 1862 (Milford

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 15 Johann Cornies and Pietism in the Molochna “Johann Cornies (1789-1848) and Pietism in the Molochna,” by Dr. John Staples, Professor of Russian and Soviet History at State University of New York, Fredonia, New York, U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected]. The Frisian newcomers to the Molochna in Introduction. communities from which its members came. It 1818 were justifiably regarded with suspicion Johann Cornies (1789-1848) is probably the practised a quietist theology of strict withdrawal by Flemish Congregationalists as Pietists. They best known 19th-century Tsarist Mennonite. He from the secular world. The latter was more will- quickly introduced their Pietist innovations to was 15 when he came with his family from ing to accept outsiders and sanction inter-con- their new home, establishing a chapter of the Prussia to in 1804. By 1809 he gregational marriages. Russian Bible Society in 1821, and creating the was leasing large stretches of land from the state, In Danzig in 1808 the Flemish and Frisian Christian School Association and opening a sec- and by the 1820s he had made himself one of the congregations united, and in the following years ondary school in Ohrloff in 1822. In the richest men in the entire region. Along with wealth became increasingly open to ideas drawn from Molochna of the 1820s these were startling in- came community responsibilities, and beginning non-Mennonite, and particularly Pietist Chris- novations. Johann Cornies, who had supervised in 1817 Cornies served as his Molochna Men- tian groups. When the Russian state authorised a the settlement of these Pietist immigrants, was at nonite Settlement’s principle representative to the new immigration of several thousand Menno- the heart of their activities, both as a member of state regarding new Mennonite immigration from nites from Prussia in 1818, it opened the door to the school association and secretary of the Bible Prussia. Over the following 30 years Cornies religious controversy by bringing into the con- Society. Cornies was being swept up in the Pi- would be the most prominent Mennonite in the servative Molochna community a large group of etist movement, and it transformed him pro- Tsarist Empire. Danzig Mennonites, regarded by Flemish Con- foundly. Cornies has traditionally been treated by his- gregationalists in the Molochna as Frisian Pi- torians as a secular, and secularising, figure. My etists. Friends. own past work, which focuses on the interaction The religious evolution that began with the This judgement is not based solely on Cornies’ of ethno-cultural groups in the Molochna region, arrival of Pietist Mennonites in the Molochna in involvement in a few religious societies. Many attempts to reinsert religion into the Cornies story, 1818 was a driving force in the rest of Cornies’ of Cornies’ closest friends in the 1820s were but I too dwell principally on his secular activi- life, for it freed him psychologically to pursue avowed Pietists. Daniel Schlatter was a Swiss ties, and I have identified his religious beliefs as his vision of economic modernisation for his Separatist missionary who came to the Molochna mainstream Flemish Congregation conservatism. community. Consequently, understanding in 1824 and spent much of the next three years Cornies’ religious beliefs is an important prereq- there, living for long stretches in Cornies’ home. Pietism. uisite for understanding everything that he ac- A fast friendship formed between the two men. This is an interpretation that must be recon- complished in his life. Schlatter was a Pietist, and the nephew of Anna sidered. As I will argue here, Cornies was as Many saw Pietism Schlatter, one of the leading figures of European innovative in religion as he was in other matters. as a fundamental threat to Mennonite beliefs. Pietism. Beginning in 1818 he was swept up in Pietism, Pietism is a religious movement that emphasises David Epp, of Heubuden, Prussia, was an- and his new religious beliefs were an important inner spiritual regeneration and evangelical ac- other friend and frequent correspondent of contributor to his well-known conflicts with reli- tivities. This was particularly contro- Cornies. Epp was one of the two most important gious conservatives in his Molochna Mennonite versial to Mennonites, whose beliefs promoted Pietist Mennonite ministers in Prussia. He and settlement. separation from the secular world. Their history Cornies corresponded for years, and Cornies The Prussian Mennonite communities that of martyrdom had given particular emphasis to made a special side-trip to visit Epp in Prussia in provided the first Mennonite immigrants to south- this belief, for Mennonites had learned to keep 1827. ern Ukraine were divided between two congre- their heads down if they wanted to survive. Jacob Van der Smissen, of Danzig, was the gations, the Flemish and the Frisian. The former Pietism, in contrast, demanded engagement with other leading Pietist Mennonite minister in promoted a conservative Mennonite world view the larger world. Prussia. A member of a noted Swiss Pietist fam- closely linked to the 18th-century rural Prussian ily, Van der Smissen too corresponded warmly with Cornies, and he too received a special visit from Cornies in 1827. Finally, Cornies formed one of his strongest and most lasting friendships with Daniel Blueher, a wool merchant. Cornies visited Blueher in 1824, and in 1834 he sent his son, Johann Jr., to stay with Blueher, writing to his friend that, “counting on your friendship, I will now be so bold as to hesitate no further and to send my son directly to your address and I com- mend him to your guardianship. This provides great joy to us as parents and it eases our minds completely.” Blueher made a return visit to Cornies’ home in the Molochna in 1837. Blueher was the head of the Moscow trading house of the Moravian Brethren, who offered a Pietist version of Christianity that was almost diametrically opposed to that of conservative Flemish Mennonites. As noted above, the Flem- ish Congregation, to which Cornies formally belonged, represented a conservative Mennonite world view that promoted a quietist theology of Johann Cornies (1789-1848), Ohrloff. From Hans Cornies V (1898-1918), the last male de- strict withdrawal from the secular world. The David H. Epp Johann Cornies (Berdiansk, 1909). scendant of Johann Cornies. He was brutally mur- Moravian Brethren, by comparison, promoted Urry, None but Saints, page 110. dered by bandits. Photo - Lohrenz, 151.

16 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 an outward-looking theology, focused on one must experience it. The letter kills and the Conclusion. prosylitization and mission work. In particular, spirit alone gives life. I am happy to be alive and The essential religious attitudes of Pietism that the Moravian Brethren viewed economic engage- that God so obviously made me recognise many emerged in Cornies in 1820s were a permanent ment with the broader world as a good thing, things that I did not know before.” part of his world view, as an 1834 letter to his son both because it opened the door to religious en- reveals. Johann Jr. was setting out for Moscow gagement, and because it financially supported Scholastic Conservatives. to live in the home of Blueher and be educated in mission work. Cornies’ emphasis on experience demands the big city. Cornies gave his son a letter of fa- Cornies’ Pietist friends offered him access to close attention. Here is an explicit rejection of the therly advice that began with this injunction: “Con- an entirely new world view. Although Cornies scholastic conservatism of Flemish Mennonite duct your pious devotions quietly and do not ne- would never show any sign of fully adopting the beliefs and an acceptance of the experiential Chris- glect to visit churches. Devotion is a spiritual Moravian Brethrens’ missionary goals, their tianity that is so characteristic of Pietists. Pietism state of mind and can only be practised at particu- message of engagement with the lar times, namely, when we are dis- secular world, and particularly of posed to it. For example, this feeling economic engagement, must have is awakened by contemplation of a come to him as a breath of fresh air. religious truth or by honouring God. Beginning in 1827 he would increas- Therefore you must never be indif- ingly focus his attention on convinc- ferent to the feelings which affect ing Mennonites to become involved you.” in the Tsarist economic world. This The well-documented creation of strongly resembles elements of the Forestry Society in 1830 and the Moravian Brethren policies. Agricultural Society in 1836, as well as Cornies’ efforts to reform the eco- Hernhut, 1827. nomic and social practices of the The year 1827 marks a critical neighbouring Nogai Tatars, must all watershed in Cornies’ life and it de- Farm of Johann Cornies in Ohrloff. Photo - P. M. Friesen, 850. be considered in the light of this reli- mands very close attention. In that gious awakening. Pietism had year Cornies embarked on a long trip opened the way for him psychologi- to Saxony. This was a business trip; cally to leave behind the narrow con- he went to buy high-quality sheep fines of conservative 18th century for his own and community herds. Prussian Mennonitism and seek a But as always for Cornies, business new Mennonite world view that fully and religion were inseparable, and engaged 19th century Russian reali- he took the opportunity for a side ties. trip to the town of Herrnhut, the Cornies’ confrontational relation- world headquarters of the Moravian ship to conservative Mennonites Brethren. within his Molochna community There is no evidence of exactly takes on new dimensions in light of what went on in Herrnhut, except Old Mennonite estate home - Juschanlee, Molotschna. Photo - P. M. Friesen, his Pietism. The predominating in- that Cornies found the town and its 840. terpretation of Cornies views him people extraordinarily welcoming. solely as an economic moderniser, He wrote to David Epp, describing it as “quiet, placed great emphasis on the experience of con- and in turn views economic modernisation as orderly Herrnhut, whose inhabitants have given version through a “New Birth.” In particular, implicitly secular. In this equation, the religious me, and still give me, much pleasure and true Philipp Jakob Spener’s successor, August conservatives’ opposition to Cornies is equated inner happiness.” It was on the way home from Hermann Francke, emphasised the centrality of a to opposition to economic modernisation: con- Herrnhut that Cornies stopped in Danzig and “living experience” of faith, first through the con- servatives are “backward” and secular figures are Heubuden to visit the Pietist ministers David Epp version experience, and then through “ongoing “progressive.” and Jacob Van der Smissen. Still in 1827, when actions presumed to further God’s plan for the This interpretation has always rested uneasily Cornies arrived back home from Saxony, he ex- world.” with the economically progressive attitude of some perienced a further life-altering event: he fell very Writing in 1828 to a Mennonite friend in religiously conservative Mennonites. A prime seriously ill. For four long months he was bed- Prussia, Cornies reiterated this emphasis on ac- example is the Kleine Gemeinde, a religiously ridden, and the illness was probably life-threat- tion as a demonstration of the love of God, say- conservative but economically progressive group. ening. For Cornies the illness, close on the heels ing: “To love meaningfully is to do so with deeds Cornies himself acknowledged their progressive of his visit to the Pietist heartland of Saxony, and not simply with words.” Nor did Cornies and productive economic efforts, and yet he was marked the climax of a period of religious and follow conservative Flemish Mennonite fashion often at loggerheads with them. This conflict only personal exploration. by limiting the scope of this call to action to his makes sense if it is understood in religious terms. In a handful of letters following the illness, own Mennonite community: “We would be in a Kleine Gemeinde members - and also mem- Cornies described his own sense of this trans- terrible position, if we could only love those who bers of Jacob Warkentin’s Large Flemish Con- forming experience. In a particularly revealing were around us. Thank God that he has not lim- gregation - correctly understood that Cornies’ re- letter to Daniel Schlatter he wrote: “I have often ited our feelings of love to a tight circle but that ligious beliefs conflicted sharply with their own. read that God’s ways are marvellous but now, in they encompass the whole human race, that we This religious opposition sometimes manifested part, I have experienced and understood them in may love everyone and be active on their behalf. itself as opposition to Cornies’ economic pro- practice, and, from time to time, I have been The more we feel this impulse to love, the more gram, but not always. Members of the Kleine humbled by His loving hand and I understand we learn to comprehend that the whole world Gemeinde were willing to take part in his eco- that it is good for me because it serves to enable with all its millions of human inhabitants is bound nomic modernisation schemes as long as those me to learn to know myself better. By these means, together and the more we learn to comprehend schemes did not infringe upon their religious be- I acquire the perception to be able to think better this, the more energetically we become involved liefs. Conservatism was not anti-modernism: it of others than of myself. I have learned to per- and productive for everyone.” was anti-Pietism. And Cornies was not a seculiser: ceive that for the Christian, simple recognition of he was a Pietist. the letter of God’s word is not sufficient, but that

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 17 The Chronicles of Ohm Heinrich Neufeld, Rosenort The Chronicles of Prediger Heinrich Neufeld (1791-1865), Rosenort: A Report Regarding the Dismissal of Ältester Jakob Warkentin, Altona, Molotschna.

Introduction. 1937) married Hermann Enns (1847-97). She re- Johann Regier 1802-42. Through the journals of Heinrich Neufeld sev- ceived a 5000 ruble inheritance and purchased a Oberschulze (Vorsteher) Johann Regier was the eral figures make appearances on the stage of his- double Wirtschaft in Schönau. Later they added a son of Catharina Epp (b. 1764) and Johann “Hans” tory in the events leading up to the dismissal of tile and brick factory. Hermann’s son Heinrich (b. Regier (b. 1759) who settled in Kronsgarten near Jakob Warkentin in 1842 and the exile of Heinrich 1857) was killed by bandits (Korn. P. Neufeld, Ekaterinoslav shortly after 1800. Catharina was the Wiens in 1847. These introductory comments will “Register Heft....,” 80 pp., courtesy Eric Neufeld, daughter of Peter Epp (1725-89), renown Ältester provide some historical background. Swan River, Man.,). of the Danziger Old Flemish Gemeinde who spear- headed the immigration to Russia in the 1780s. Heinrich Neufeld 1791-1865. Gerhard Neufeld 1795-1869. Another daughter Aganetha Regier (1793-1863) Chronicler Heinrich Neufeld (1791-1865) was Gerhard Neufeld (1795-1869) was another married Johann Klassen (1785-1841), Tiegerweide the son of Hermann Neufeld (1760-1835) of brother in the important Münsterberg Neufeld clan. (originally Tiege), who served as Oberschulze of Münsterburg, who served as village Schulze - 1810/ In 1825 Gerhard and wife Katharina Thiessen pur- the Molotschna Colony from 1827-33. Aganetha 16. In 1814 Heinrich married Regina von Riesen chased a Feuerstelle in Lindenau for 820 ruble (1835 and Johann Klassen had a daughter Aganetha mar- (1795-1852), sister to Kleine Gemeinde Ältester census). In 1845 the Gerhard Neufeld family was ried to David A. Friesen (1807-93), Halbstadt, Abraham Friesen (1782-1849) of Ohrloff and honoured by a visit from the Russian Czar. Kornelius Oberschulze of the Molotschna from 1848-65. Son Prediger Klaas Friesen (1783-1870) and brother- P. Neufeld writes: “On August 20, 1845 His Impe- Abraham Klassen (1828-1906) was a Kleine in-law to Johann Friesen (1763-1830), the latter a rial Highness Konstantin Nikolajewitch visited in Gemeinde minister and eventually settled in senior Grosze Gemeinde Prediger, both of Rosenort Lindenau and was at my grandparents Gerhard Alexanderfeld, Ks. His descendants include Matt (Dynasties,529-683). The Heinrich Neufeld fam- Neufeld’s place for dinner. My grandmother re- Groening, founder of the TV show “The Simpsons”. ily also moved to Rosenort purchasing Wirtschaft ceived two ear rings as a present,” (see K. P. Neufeld; Catharina Epp and Johann Regier had another 17 (1835 census). They owned a lumber yard man- cf. Woltner, 100). daughter Katharina married to Martin J. Barkman aged by son Abraham. In 1853 Gerhard’s son Hermann (1829-1909) (1796-1872), Rückenau. Their son Jakob (1824- On April 14, 1838, Mr. and Mrs. Heinrich and family moved to Blumenort and paid 7600 75) was a Kleine Gemeinde minister who drowned Neufeld left for Petershagen, Prussia, for a jour- ruble for their Wirtschaft. On February 7, 1872, in the Red River in 1875. ney of ministry and to visit brother Peter v. Riesen, Hermann Neufeld bought a Wirtschaft in Ohrloff Johann Regier (1802-42) lived in Schönsee. He well-known co-publisher of ’ for 6320 ruble. Hermann’s son Wilhelm and wife served as Oberschulze or district mayor of the “Fundamentbuch” in 1833. Heinrich and Regina Katharina Warkentin, were the parents of Herman Molotschna from 1833-41 succeeding his brother- arrived in Prussia on May 14, 1838 where daugh- Neufeld (1893-1982) who came to Canada in 1930. in-law Klassen. Dr. James Urry has written: ter Susanna was born. Two letters of 1842 and “...Johann Regier....even according to his opponents, 1843 by Abraham Friesen to sister Regina, pro- Heinrich Wiens 1800-72. was a competent administrator. Assisted by the dis- vide insight into the relationship between the sib- Heinrich Wiens (1800-72), Gnadenheim, was trict secretary appointed by the government, Regier lings and their beliefs (Golden Years, 283-6). the son of Jakob Wiens (1762-1864), a pioneer on was a keen supporter of the Agricultural Union as Heinrich Neufeld married for the second time to Wirtschaft 7 in Schönau in 1804 (B. Baergen, 251 Cornies expanded its activities. But Regier had a the widow Peter Harms from Blumstein. He mar- Simcoe St., Wpg. and Men. Genealogy Inc., Wpg., dreadful weakness: he drank to excess. As his drink- ried for the third time to the widow Goertzen from Man.). He was elected as a minister in 1825 and ing problems increased he was called before his Fischau. became Ältester of the Lichtenau “Rein” Flemish congregation and forced to repent his ways. Repen- On May 30. 1830, Heinrich Neufeld was elected Gemeinde in 1842. Wiens was expelled from Rus- tance, however, did not result in increased sobriety, as minister of the “Reine” Flemish Gemeinde in the sia at the orders of Johann Cornies in 1847. Heinrich and Warkentin, obviously faced with a dilemma if worship house at Lichtenau. He acted as Vice- died in Rosenort in 1872. In 1904 Heinrich Wiens’ Regier was banned by his congregation yet remained Ältester in 1842, serving as intermediary with the farewell address and letters were published by Old district mayor, appealed to the other elders to assist feared Johann Cornies. Sons Abraham, Peter and Colony printer, Abram Wolfe (1876-1945), him in a complaint to the Guardian’s Committee Johann, and daughter Margaretha and son-in-law Gnadenthal, P.O. , Manitoba (see which might result in Regier’s removal. The other Prediger Abram Wiens, immigrated to America in Pres., No. 17, pages 48-52). Professor Cornelius [pietistic] elders, no doubt suspicious of Warkentin’s the 1870s settling in Inman, Kansas. Adolf Neufeld, Krahn has written that “....Wiens became the mar- motives, refused to support such a move. They great-grandson of Peter served as mayor of Inman tyr hero for the conservative Mennonites, who pub- pointed out that the affairs of the District Office during the 1980s and also published a local Inman lished his account in Manitoba, whence it was were all in order and that Regier’s drinking did not history book. taken to Mexico and there is cherished as an item of interfere with his fulfilling the duties of office,” classic martyr literature....Wiens later returned to (Urry, 127-128). Johann Neufeld 1801-55. Russia where he lived as a private citizen preaching In spite of strong opposition Regier was elected Another important personage in the chronicles only on special occasions such as funerals,” (ME 4, for a third term in 1838. For the next term starting in of Heinrich Neufeld is younger brother, Johann 949). 1842, Jakob Warkentin put up his own candidate (1801-55). In 1832 Johann Neufeld started a beer In 1911 Heinrich H. Wiens of Inman men- for Oberschulze, namely, Peter Toews, of Tiege. In brewery and vinegar factory in Alt-Halbstadt (Irvin tioned that Ältester Heinrich Wiens was his father’s spite of his successful election Johann Regier con- G. Neufeld, “Family Records, Fresno, Ca., 1991). uncle (Rundschau, June 11, 1911). Heinrich Wiens tinued to carry out the duties of Oberschulze even Johann purchased Wirtschaft 1 in Halbstadt (1835 had sons Gerhard (1829-1904) and Jakob (b. though his term had expired. Another election was census). In contrast to Heinrich, Johann was origi- 1824), and daughter Katharina (b.1825), married ordered but Regier died before it was completed nally on the side of Cornies and his proto-elite band to Claas Enns, Friedensdorf. Son Gerhard Wiens with the result that Peter Toews was elected with of supporters. Johann, it appears, was appointed as was born in Margenau. He married Eva Pankratz 800 votes (see Golden Years, 285). Beisitzer (assistant District Mayor) by one of and at least one of their children was born in Historian Henry Schapansky has speculated Cornies’ political manipulations. Paulsheim. Their son Heinrich G. Wiens (1860- whether Johann Regier may also have been a pietist Johann’s son Hermann Neufeld (1823-89) mar- 1945) moved to Karpovka, Memrik Colony. They which would help explain why Cornies defended ried Elisabeth Bolt. He took over the brewery and came to Manitoba in 1925 settling in Blumenort, him so loyally: “His daughter and the Defehr rela- vinegar factory in Alt-Halbstadt and increased its near Gretna. tives were among the first Brüdergemeinders.” capacity. Hermann’s daughter Katharina (1847-

18 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 The Dismissal of Ältester Jakob Warkentin, 1842 “Eine Geschichte die Absetzung des Aeltesten Jakob Warkentin, Altona, die Erhebung des weltlichen Gebiets=Vorstandes über die Diener und Lehrer der Gemeinde Gottes u. Christi Jesu, ähnlich wie die Päpste, die Könige u. Kaiser vor den Reformation” (“An account dealing with the dismissal of Ältester Jacob Warkentin, Altona, from his office and the self-elevation of the worldly Colony Government over the servants and teachers of the church of God and Christ Jesus, even as done by the popes, the kings and emperors before the Reformation”), Aufgezeichnet von Prediger Heinrich Neufeld, Rosenort (“Recorded by Minister Heinrich Neufeld, Rosenort”).

Introduction. This happened at my brother Johann proached Sr. Excellence with the request to spare During the year 1842, at the end of the month Neufeld’s, Halbstadt, for here the Sr. Excel- them from this, he said; He had answered that of April, Sr. Excellence v. Hahn, Privy Council- lence had his quarters. The same, upon the rec- he could also do it in another way, although it lor and acting Head-Curator of the Guardian- ommendation of Cornies, had affirmed him as caused him more writing. Consequently he del- ship Committee (“Fürsorge Komittee”), arrived assistant chairman of the Gebietsamt without egated the matter to the Gebietsamt and the chair- here in Prischip at the Colonial Inspector, at any majority vote of the Gemeinde to elect him man of the Society, Johann Cornies, to see to it which time the chairman of the Agricultural into the office which normally sought to hold that Ältester would be elected in the Gemeinde Society (Landwirthschaflichen Verein), Johann elections to fill such official positions. to replace the dismissed Ältester Warkentin, who Cornies, also went there, or possibly may have After His Excellence had dismissed Ohm then accepted this responsibility. also have been ordered to be present. Warkentin from his Ältester position, he went After the consultations with both of to Gebietsamt offices, whereto the other Letter, May 1842. them, Cornies returned home. The Privy To this end the Colony Administration Councillor travelled to the Mariupol Colo- sent a letter to David Huebert, teacher in nies in order to drive through the villages Lindenau, and to the Chairman of the Soci- there. Upon his return to our colonies he ety, Johann Cornies, which I have at hand, arrived in Rudnerweide on the 16th day of and which states as follows [2]: May and also stayed there overnight. On From the Chairman, May, 1842 No. 57. the 16th of May – namely, Sunday – he Ohrloff. To the Church Lehrer, the attended the church there. In the afternoon Honourable Heinrich Neufeld, Rosenort. he departed from there and drove through a I have been commissioned by Sr. Excel- number of villages and for night he went to lence, the acting Head-Curator of the Colo- Johann Cornies’ estate in Juschanlee. nists in South Russia, to notify you briefly regarding the decisions which have been Halbstadt, May 16, 1842. made pertaining to your Gemeinde whose On the 18th of May he drove from there Ältester has been removed: Are they plan- via Rosenort to Altona to Ältester Jacob ning to divide into two or three Gemeinden Warkentin and said to him whether he might and with a particular church Ältester elected kindly to come to Halbstadt the following for each? Or would they have the intention day, the place to which the other Ältester of distributing [their members] among the had been summoned as well: However he other Ältester. The Gemeinde is free to should not come there too late, for he first choose one of the two options. Should they, wanted to speak with him alone before the however, wish to come to other conclu- other Ältester came, which request Ohm sions, they must first apply together with a Warkentin complied with in the truly posi- detailed presentation to the Guardianship tive expectation that Hahn would wish to Committee [Fürsorge Kommität] over the discuss certain matters with him also, see- foreign settlers in Russia. You will, there- ing that Hahn had demonstrated himself to Hermann Neufeld (1829-1909) and wife, Margaretha, nee fore notify me before Saturday, the 30th of be so friendly and favourably disposed to- Baerg (1829-1910). Herman was the son of Gerhard Neufeld this month, at the latest, regarding your wards him in the Cömmität (“Guardianship (1795-1869), who had hosted Imperial Czar Nicholas I at applicable resolution in this regard, so that his home in Lindenau in 1845. Photo courtesy of great- Council”). I may discharge my responsibility to Sr. grandson, John Neufeld, former president of Canadian Men- But what happened? When Ohm nonite Bible College, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Excellence in reporting to him. “Joh. Warkentin appeared before him, Sr. Excel- Cornies”. lence asked him: what complaints he had against Ältester had also been summoned. Who - as the Colony Council (Gebietsamt) and the Agri- Ohm Lange, Ältester from Gnadenfeld said - Heinrich Neufeld responds. cultural Society? And whereupon Warkentin learned with amazement, what they heard said On the 24th of May, I had to present the gave him the answer that although he did not by the Privy Councillor that he had removed Articles of Faith in the Lichtenauer house of want to indict anyone, that nonetheless he wished Warkentin from his Ältester office. Neverthe- prayer where the youth were presented for the that Gebietsamt (Colony Administration) and less it was not completely a surprise for Ältester last time. On the 25th of May we teachers the Society (Verein) might deal less harshly and Bernhard Fast, as to what was to take place as (Lehrer) were all gathered together in the house dictatorially, which was not in accordance with he had already previously told the other Ältester of prayer in Margenau in order to discuss the the teachings of the Gospel and fundamentals that it appeared to him that today they would election of new Ältester. On the 26th of May of our faith, and also added thereto the words come to see His Excellency from another side, Ohm Heinrich Wiens from Gnadenheim, had from Matt. 18; wherein the punishment between without him having first seen nor talked to the youth recite the catechism for him in the brother and brother[1] was dealt with. Where- them; wherefrom it can be concluded that the house of prayer held in Lichtenau. On the 27th upon Sr. His Excellence, the Privy Councillor, entire affair was not completely unbeknown to of May a brotherhood meeting was held to said to Ohm Warkentin with harsh words, that him. discuss the election of two Ältester, at which he was now dismissed from his office as Firstly, Sr. Excellence was going to lay the time I conducted a beforehand. On Ältester and added thereto that he should keep matter upon the other Ältester that other Ältester the 30th of May I brought a written report to silent and no longer participate in any more be elected in the place of Ohm Warkentin. But Chairman Cornies, Ohrloff, which stated as matters. since Ältester Lange from Gnadenfeld ap- follows:

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 19 To the Corresponding Member of the month, whether the Gemeinden Lichtenauer and Learned Committee of the Ministry of State Margenauer were duly organized with an Domains, Joh. Cornies, Ohrloff: Ältester particularly elected and ordained for I discharge my commission in the name of each in accordance with your report and how the Gemeinde and declare with this that the many Colonial villages and members have Gemeinde has concluded the decision to have joined each so that I do not fall short regarding two Ältester elected now and to allow them to my responsibility to provide a thorough report be ordained. While this, however, is a work, to Sr. Excellence. “Joh. Cornies”. which according to the teachings of [3] the (Completely according to the of the Pope). apostles, must be carried through with fasting To Corresponding Member, Johann Cornies, and prayer, therefore, it is our petition that you Ohrloff might want to allow us a period of time in order From Church teacher Heinrich Neufeld, that the Gemeinde could prepare itself through Hermann Neufeld. Presumably Hermann Jr., Rosenort. prayer and supplication to God, so that God grandson of Hermann Sr. (1823-90) who took In response to your letter of July 9 whether might wish to mark men for her who would over the Halbstadt brewery from founder Johann the two newly elected Ältester had been elected, Neufeld. Photo - Quiring, , lead and direct the Gemeinde according the will In the Fullness of Time I inform you that although the report submitted page 73. and pleasure of God. With undoubting confi- by me to you of June 30 stated that the Gemeinde dence that we shall see our petition granted; later than January 1, 1843, and which is in- had reached the conclusion to elect and ordain subscribed hereto by your humble servant of tended to be designated with the name Pordenau. three Ältester and to have the same ordained, the Gospel of the Lord, “Heinrich Neufeld,” As I am writing this to you I am asking that, nonetheless, only one has been elected and May 30, Rosenort. you, after the two churches -Lichtenauer and ordained up until now, namely: Ohm Heinrich On Sunday afternoon, the 31st of May, we Margenauer - have been properly organized Wiens, Gnadenheim, for whom the ordination Lehrer (“teachers of the Word or Prediger”) with Ältester ordained, to provide me with fur- took place on the past Sunday, July 5th by the from the Lichtenau and Petershagen Gemeinde, ther reports, as to how many Colonial villages Ältester Peter Schmidt, Waldheim. How many as was also the teacher Abr. Peters from - and, indeed, with their names - which will Colonial villages and how many members are Ladekopp, were all gathered together at belong to each Gemeinde, and how many mem- to be counted to his Gemeinde has not yet been Petershagen, in order to discuss what kind of bers will belong to each. Likewise let me know recorded. an Ältester we might want to invite for our- how many Colonial villages are tentatively Regarding the election of a second Ältester selves, to serve us with the election of a new designated to be included in the Pordenauer for the Lichtenauer Gemeinde, I cannot as yet Ältester. Gemeinde. say anything definite; rather we will first have On Wednesday, the 3rd of June, we Lehrer “Johann Cornies” to conduct a general conference. But since: were assembled in the house of prayer in firstly, the Ältester Heinrich Wiens is sickly Margenau where it was discussed to invite the Ältester Election, June 18, 1842. exactly at the present time; and secondly, since two Ältester, Peter Schmidt, Waldheim, and On June 12th I and Joh. Wiens drove to everyone has their work with the harvest, I do Fr. Lange, Gnadenfeld. After conclusion of the Gnadenheim to Ohm Heinrich Wiens, in order not know how soon any of this can be com- aforesaid meeting, I and the other Lehrer, to discuss the election of an Ältester. On June pleted. namely, Joh. Wiens, Rosenort; Heinrich 14 all of us Lehrer (“teachers of the Word”) Should you have further occasion to write Toews, Pordenau; and also Aron Penner from were together in the house of prayer in again regarding matters with the Gemeinde, it the same village, drove to the Lehrer Heinrich Margenau where it was discussed to have an would now be my wish and request that you Wiens, Gnadenheim. In the afternoon all of us Ältester election on the 18th of June which then would no longer write to me but would direct together went to Ältester Peter Schmidt, also took place and Ohm Heinrich Wiens, any further correspondence to the newly Waldheim, who, however, was not at home. Gnadenheim, was elected by a majority vote by elected Ältester Heinrich Wiens in We then immediately drove from there to our previously entire Gemeinde with 228 votes. Gnadenheim. Gnadenfeld to the Ältester Fr. Lange, whom On July 5th he was ordained into his office by Heinrich Neufeld, Church teacher of the we found at home, but who, however, did not the Ältester Peter Schmidt, Waldheim. Gemeinde in Lichtenau Rosenort, the 11th of wish to come to a decision in certain respects July, 1842. in our circumstances to be helpful to us, so Letters, July 9 and 16. that we again had to drive back without having On July 9th I again received another letter found counsel and help. from the Chairman Joh. Cornies in which it was (Completely according to the ritual asked whether the election had been completed of the Pope). Letter, June 3, 1842. and in accordance with the report of May 30th, Upon my return home, I again had a letter which is next following: Heinrich Neufeld. from the chairman of the Verein Johann Cornies, From the Corresponding Member, etc., etc. On July 14th Abr. Friesen, Blumstein Ohrloff, the content of which stated as follows: July 9, 1842. No. 67. Col. Ohrloff. [Ältester of the Kleine Gemeinde and brother- From the member etc. etc. No. 68 June 3, To the Honourable Church Teacher in-law to Lehrer Neufeld], came to us and 1842, Col. Ohrloff. [Prediger] Heinrich Neufeld, Rosenort. Fol- warned me that if we did not obey what Cornies To the Church teacher [minister] the Honourable lowing your report of May 30 of this year, I and the Colony Administration [Gebiets-amt] Heinrich Neufeld, Rosenort: reported to Sr. Excellence etc., etc., the 2nd day had prescribed, namely, to elect other Ältester, Further to your report of May 30th I have of June, that within one month the Gemeinde then Ohm Jacob Warkentin would be expelled completed my duty underdate the 2nd of this which was now without an Ältester, would out the country, and Thun, Fürstenwerder, month. Sr. Excellence, the acting Head-Curator according to the said conclusions for the would be handed over to the military for service informs that the Gemeinde without an Ältester Lichtenauer and for the Margenauer as a recruit. has reached the decision to divide into two Gemeinden, have elected and ordained Ältester, (Just the way it was done to the followers of churches and that within one month, and to have particularly for each Gemeinde, and that the Christ during the time of the martyrs). elected and ordained a church Ältester for each arrangements for the establishment in Pordenau In the evening of that same day, I went to [4], and then to have both of these Gemeinden of the third Gemeinde would follow at the lat- Peter Toews, Ohrloff, and brought him the news designated with the names Lichtenau and est by January 1, 1843. Further to which I and that he should inform Ohm Warkentin of Margenau. The establishment of a third hereby bid that you shortly report to me in this this. Gemeinde shall be made later but at the latest no regard, and that not later than the 13th of the On July 15, brother Johann Neufeld,

20 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 On August 14th I and Peter Toews, Tiege someone had told him that I was a different and Thun, Fürstenwerder, as well as also the man, and that I should tell him what the reason newly elected Ältester Heinrich Wiens, was that that which had been commanded and Gnadenfeld, drove to both of the two Ältester which had been accepted to be obeyed had not Fr. Lange, Gnadenfeld, and Benj. Ratzlaff, been carried out. Firstly, it had been repre- Rudnerweide, as we wished to discuss certain sented that the newly elected one was sick, and current issues with them. These, however, could that the harvest had not yet been completed. in no way decide to be helpful to us in any But now the harvest was completed, and so, respect. what was holding things up that another (The fear of the Neronian government of Ältester had not yet been elected. Cornies was too great). I now told him that the Gemeinde had not On August 17, I and the two teachers, David yet been able to make a decision regarding this, Hübert and Wilhelm Berg, Lindenau, drove to seeing that no particulars of the misdeeds of Halbstadt to the teacher Ab. Fröse, Halbstadt, Ältester Warkentin had been made known and from there we went to the Ältester Bern. which had necessitated his dismissal from his Fast in order to also talk with him, among other office. things, about whether he considered it to be To this he answered me and said that the appropriate to send a deputation to the Commit- government did not need to state anything to tee. Fast, however, gave us little advice in this explain and whereupon he pressed upon me to regard, and so that we saw ourselves as help- give him names - as I would know who had less in every respect. been the instigators to put a stop to this work. On August 31 a number of the Lehrer, as But when I again took my stand on the well as Peter Toews from Tiege, were together Gemeinde, he was also satisfied with that, and at our place and where the decision was reached asked me whether I would like to know why to write the Minister for Spiritual Concerns, for Warkentin had been dismissed from his office. which purpose we were again gathered together When I answered in the affirmative, he enumer- on September 7th in the house of prayer in ated three items which made him unworthy of Margenau to evaluate our writing which was to his office. Advertisement for the Hermann Neufeld beer and be sent away, but which, however, was not sent. One of these I would like to mention here vinegar factory in Neu-Halbstadt. Photo - Rudy On the 9th day we again were gathered in the which Sr. Excellence stated which had brought Friesen, Into the Past, 239. house of prayer in Margenau, were it was dis- about Ohm Warkentin’s dismissal. It had come Halbstadt, came to us and asked what I had cussed that a letter to Sr. Excellence, Privy Coun- to pass because a certain Klaassen from been thinking to send such a letter off to Cornies cillor von Hahn was to be composed [7] and Münsterberg, a Schulze (village major) com- which would not only bring us but also Thun which was to be personally delivered to him mitted an offence against Joh. Cornies, who into great misfortune. And certainly not this let- seeing that he had already arrived at the [Colo- then accused him before the Committee without ter only, but also when we would not carry out nial] Inspector in Prischip. But this also remained letting the ministerial know. Regarding which what we had been commanded. Yet I could not undone. an accusation had come back from the Commit- in the least way recollect anything which I had tee, that for this written exchange Klaassen written that could have been so damaging. Gebietsamt, Sept. 10. should perform five days of punishment labour. Cornies had ordered us that within the space of Then on September 10th I received again a When this was applied upon him, he had gone one month we should have elected two Ältester. writing from the Gebietsamt, which stated as to Ohm Warkentin who took on the matter and And since he now demanded same of me - since follows: according to his view found that Klaassen was the end of the month and somewhat more time To the church teacher Heinrich Neufeld in innocent therein. Whereupon he directed him- had already elapsed - I sent him the answer of Rosenort: self to the Gebietsamt and asked that the written July 11, which can be read above. According to the command of Sr. Excellence accusation against Klaassen be remanded, and On the evening of the same day, I however, HE, Acting Head Guardian, you are herewith also asked for a two months postponement of personally drove there to Cornies, who also did ordered forthwith upon receiving this to appear the punishment, which postponement was not not criticize my letter. He, however, only said at the Gebietsamt in Halbstadt on 10 Sept. 1842. granted on the part of the Gebietsamt, so that that he greatly doubted whether Warkentin Gebiets Vorsteher Toews Klaassen instead of five days of penalty work would be able to remain free and Thun, Upon receiving this note, I left home at once now had to perform seven. When Ohm Fürstenwerder, would make himself highly un- and arrived at the home of my brother Johann Warkentin now saw that matters with this pun- fortunate. Neufeld in Halbstadt towards evening at about ishment were serious, he felt responsible for On August 13th all the Lehrer held a brother- 4:30 o’clock and where I stayed overnight. the two extra days that Klaassen had been pun- hood meeting in the house of prayer in Margenau Cornies also came here during the evening and ished, which had been added because of the where it was discussed that Peter Toews, Tiege, also remained for the night. The next day, Sept. delay. [8] and Thun Fürstenwerder, should go to the 11, according to the command of Privy Coun- For this reason he travelled that same day [Guardianship Council] Committee, which, cillor Hahn, I was ordered to the Gebietsamt, when Klaassen was commanded to do his penal however, did not take place. At a brotherhood as it was called, to ap- meeting held on the 13th, I was given authority pear, and personally - in cases where members of the Gemeinde had had to appear before conducted themselves somewhat punishably - him as well as in the to separate and to again accept the same; thereby presence of Cornies. functioning as a Ältester. Upon entering the judgment hall, the Honourable Privy “Just the way it was done to the Councillor appeared followers of Christ during the time before me in a of the martyrs.” friendly way and said: Postcard depicting the Hermann Neufeld beer and vinegar factory in Neu- he had heard or that Halbstadt. Photo - Rudy Friesen, Into the Past, 239.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 21 work, to the Gemeinde sheep ranch honoured their promise which they have made (“Schäferei”) to perform this two day penal in the official meeting in the judgment hall in the work for Klaassen. The manager of the sheep Gebiets-amt in Halbstadt on the 11th of this ranch, however, had not accepted this work. month to the person of the acting HE Head Cu- But already when I began my discussion rator and in the presence of the Verein and the with the Privy Councillor, the members of the Gebietsamt members and whether you are de- Verein also entered the judgment hall: Gerhard termined to bring this to a swift conclusion. Enns, Altona; Jacob Martens, Tiegenhagen; as And I expect to receive such a report from you well as the [members of the] Gebietsamt and within the expiration of a week in order that I also the secretary of the Gebietsamt Reimer, may provide a report to Sr. Excellence. “Johann who seated himself on the table behind me with Cornies” paper and pen and ink, as it seemed to me, to (Thus a completely papist attitude of a to- record that which I and Sr. Excellence spoke tally worldly-minded man raising himself above with each other. When the same had talked the concerns of the church, according to 2 Thess. enough with me, the newly elected Ältester Hein. 2:3-12). Wiens, who also had been ordered to be present, also had to appear before him. After the same had entered, he was interrogated regarding many “Thus a completely papist attitude things to which he provided an answer for ev- of a totally worldly-minded erything. The Verein was transposed into scorn man....2 Thess. 2:3-12.” regarding him, so that many unsavoury matters about him were thrust forth before Sr. Excel- Ältester Election, Sept. 22. lence, whereby the same was enraged against On the 15th of September a brotherhood meet- him in that Cornies said to the Privy Councillor: Hermann Neufeld (1850-1913), grandson of brew- ing was held in the house of prayer in Lichtenau. that this Gemeinde stood in the insane thinking ery founder Johann Neufeld (1801-55), Neu- A decision was made to have an Ältester elec- as if the authorities had no power or means of Halbstadt. Photo - Quiring, In the Fullness of tion on the forthcoming 22nd which also fol- disposing a bishop. Time, 67. lowed on the said day through a majority vote. (Which according to the Word of God is Lehrer Dirk Warkentin from Petershagen, was actually also true) the Gemeinde in hatred against the State, elected with 51 votes. The next highest with 42 Whereupon, however, Sr. Excellence an- whereof written documents speak, deeds tes- votes was my insignificant self [H. Neufeld], swered, “Now if that is what they believe, I will tify and sufficiently confirm to depose him Johann Wiens, Rosenort, with 30 votes, Abr. demonstrate this in myself.” from office and to expel him from the colony Fröse, Halbstadt, received 9 and Wilhelm Berg, In view of the fact that there were more Lehrer as a harmful person. Likewise also the teach- Lichtenau, 3 votes. gathered together in Halbstadt at the home of ers in the future shall not allow themselves to On September 17th a brotherhood meeting the Lehrer Abr. Fröse, the same also had to come call together in the house of prayer in the was held in the house of prayer in Pordenau and hear what was commanded to us, namely, colony, two [or more] persons, whose evil in- and concluded to have an Ältester election on that within a time of three weeks we would tent they know, and under the pretence of a the 29th of September which was also carried have elected a new Ältester. brotherhood meeting [meetings], to foster con- through on said day. And the majority of votes spiracies against the regulations and laws. fell on Lehrer Heinrich Toews from there. Letter, Sept. 14, 1842. Rather that they conduct the brotherhood in On September 18th I sent the chairman Regarding which I also received a letter from such a manner and that [9] they invite the mem- Cornies a report of the results of both the Cornies on September 14th, which stated as fol- bers in accordance with the confession of the Ältester elections as follows: lows: Mennonite faith and following the church us- To the Corresponding etc. etc. Johann From Corresponding Member etc. etc. Sept. ages of the same which are known and which Cornies, Ohrloff: 14, 1842, No 78 Ohrloff. are also customary in the other Mennonite The same is herewith notified that at the To the Honourable Church Lehrer Heinrich Gemeinden, so that everyone who is a brother brotherhood meeting of the 15th of this month, Neufeld, Rosenort. in the Gemeinde, receives free access thereto the Gemeinde in Lichtenau has concluded with- Sr. Excellence HE, Acting Head Curator of in order to be able to counsel themselves re- out objection to conduct a Ältester election dur- the Colonists of South Russia has again com- garding religious and ecclesiastical issues and ing the first coming Tuesday, September 22, missioned and commanded me to inform the to have the privilege of openly discussing the and the Gemeinde in Pordenau on the 29th of Lehrer and Gemeinde members of the former same, and generally certainly not to conduct September. This I witness with my signature in Warkentinsche Gemeinde that, if - in accor- gatherings in the house of worship in secret the name of the Gemeinde. Heinrich Neufeld, dance with the promise - they would not have with particularly designated persons to dis- Church-Lehrer of the Gemeinde at Lichtenau. elected an Ältester for the Lichtenauer cuss matters pertaining to the governmental Thus far the report of the tragic situation of Gemeinde within three weeks, i.e. from the regulations and to unite themselves in opposi- our Molotschna Mennonite Gemeinde which is 11th day of the current month of September up tion thereto as it occurred in the Margenau still extent. The continuation has been lost. to the 1st of October of this year, Warkentin as church. Transcribed by Is. Peters, Henderson, Neb. the instigator of unrest would be expelled near Inman, Kansas. from the colonies without any further discus- “[The Flemish Gemeinde was or- sion and for which purpose the [Colonial] In- Acknowledgement: spector has been given all essential orders. And dered] “....to refrain from [promot- Heinrich Neufeld, “Report Regarding the that in the future the teachers of this Gemeinde ing] the idea that the government has Deposition of Jakob Warkentin, Altona, will in general - the way it has been done pre- no means of disposing a Ältester,...” Molotschna,” as translated by Rev. Ben viously - have to refrain from instilling the Hoeppner, Winnipeg, Man., 1992, and Delbert Gemeinde with the idea that the government Now that I have hereby informed you of the Plett, 2004. Received courtesy of James Urry, has no means of disposing a Ältester, who commission and orders of Sr. Excellence which Victoria University of Wellington, New under the pretence of being holy, arouses re- he has shared with me, I await from you a writ- Zealand, July 22, 1992. The original is in ar- sistance to the order and laws of the State and ten report, whether the obedience has fully per- chives of MLA, Bethel College, North New- through concocted lies exerts himself to arouse meated your Gemeinde and that the Lehrer have ton, Ks.

22 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 A Further Examination of the Molotschna Conflict “Eine Nachweisung im betreff der an den Molotschna Süd=Rußland ünter den Mennoniten Brüderschaft stadtgefundenen uneinigkeiten, u., besonders über die statt gefundenen Absetzung des Aeltesten Jakob Warkentin, Altona, u., den Landes Beweisung des Kirchenältesten Heinrich Wiens, Gnadenheim (“An examination with respect to the disunity which took place within the Mennonite Brotherhood in the Molotschna in South Russia, and especially those dealing with the deposition of Ältester Jacob Warkentin, Altona, and the exile of the Kirchen-Ältester Heinrich Wiens, Gnadenheim, from Russia.”)

Johann Regier, Schönsee. raged forth in his drunkenness. Many a time As these events were actually the results of he would mistreat the subjects given into his incorrect occurrences which had taken place governance who appeared in the Gebietsamt in already in previous years, it is essential to first a rude way, so that certainly every right-think- take note of the following. ing man was filled with dread when he had to In the years 1833 until 1842 the Molotschna appear in the Gebietsamt because of business. Mennonite brotherhood had a man by the name However, since Regier was a member of of Johann Regier (1802-42) as Gebiets- Warkentin’s Kirchen-Gemeinde, Warkentin did Vorsteher (Chairman) of their Gebietsamt who not omit to often talk to him in accordance with according to his talents seemed very suitable his responsibility and to admonish him and to for said office. Regrettably he later yielded him- direct him in the right way although without self to his desires and, in particular, to the ex- any good results. cessive use of alcohol and in consequence of Regier resented this and sought sympathy which he not only often offended the Gemeinde from the other Kirchen-Ältester and falsely ac- but also publicly brought himself into disgrace. cused him. These, however, out of blind sub- In spite of this he understood how to ingratiate mission, and in spite of their knowledge of himself to Johann Cornies, the chairman of the what kind of life Regier was leading, wrote a Agricultural Society (“Landwirthschaflichen letter to Warkentin demanding that he stop this, Verein”). The latter in association with the with the comment that Regier was Vorsteher Gebietsamt demanded of the spiritual Kirchen- for all the collective Gemeinden and that there- Konvent that they be given the freedom to ex- fore the same need not abide only by ecute corporal punishment of church members Warkentin’s wishes, but rather only by the as they saw fit. The Kirchen-Ältester Bernhard wishes of all the Ältester. Through this, natu- Fast, Benjamin Ratzlaff and Fr. Lange agreed Johann Johann Braeul (1854-1916), teacher of rally, Regier was strengthened in his evil ways. to this without deliberation and, in fact, gave the Ohrloff Secondary School from 1875 until Warkentin as Ältester could not admonish him their written approval thereto, which, however, 1916. He was the grandson of Jakob Johann any more, and the other Ältester would not very much displeased the Gemeinde. The Braeul (1803-66), who served as teacher for the admonish him in his immoral behaviour and Ältester Jacob Warkentin, however, did not village of Rudnerweide from 1824-58. Jakob thus the evil greatly increased. Matters, were agree to this, as the then developing circum- Braeul was a very gifted teacher in arithmetic, dealt with by the Gebietsamt which were highly stances already indicated that a damaging mis- singing and Schönschrieben, and was fluent in punishable e.g. a man who had been separated use of the spiritual church bann might arise Russian. He was also a gifted furniture maker. As from the Gemeinde for unethical living was therefrom. recognition his school was unilaterally raised to summoned by the Gebietsamt where he had to Notation: What was really the reason that the status of a “Musterschule” (model school) equal subscribe to a protocol which contained false such was demanded in writing from the to the Verein-Schule in Ohrloff. From this, it is accusations directed against Ältester Jacob Kirchen-Ältester? Since times past the evident that there were also gifted and genuine Warkentin, and thus, they finally had brought Gebietsamt had always punished those who teachers among the Mennonites and not only those matters to the point where, according to the were disobedient to their Ordnungen and who tried to use their positions to spread false direction of the Guardianship Committee, teachings such as Tobias Voth in Ohrloff, who was against which no one had thus far objected to Warkentin was made subservient to the over- a fanatical adherent of Separatist-Pietist religious with any justification, that is to say, as long as sight of the Ältester; and all of this on account culture. Photo - P. M. Friesen, Brotherhood, 726/ any fundamental principles of the Mennonites J. P. Dyck, Braeul Genealogy (Springstein, 1983), of the purely groundless accusations, because were not wilfully rejected according to the 23. Agi, wife of John P. Dyck was the grand- he would not sympathize with the other Ältester Mennonite church regulations. However, in daughter of Johann J. Braeul. Cf: Diese Steine, with respect to such fanatical malice of the the latter situation, even our own designated 319. Gebietsamt. guardians of church discipline would be sub- ject thereto. For we confess in our confessions himself thereby that in the near future the Election, 1842. of faith that the disobedient and those who Gemeinden would obtain another Vorsteher for Yet, in the midst of the manifold unseemly lead a disorderly life shall be punished by the the Gebietsamt. But before proceeding to the dealings, the three years came to an end, and Gemeinde, and such without respect of per- election, the Head Curator-General Mr. Insow, the Gemeinde, as prescribed again proceeded son”. wrote to all the collective Kirchen-Ältester that to an election, and the majority of the vote fell After the aforesaid demand was agreed to, they should influence the Gemeinden to again on Peter Toews, Tiege. But, however, neither the punishments in the Gemeinde always be- elect the old Gebiets-Ältester. This transposed the Gebietsamt nor the Agricultural Society came more frequent. That this was not always the Gemeinden into grief but regarding the wish wanted him. On one occasion David Braun, at done in a righteous manner no one would dis- of the Government as a command, they again that time Gebiets Beisitzer said “Peter Toews pute, as one knows that a drunkard is not in a elected the old members. could not become the Gebiets-Vorsteher be- position to evaluate matters correctly which Notation: This Mr. Insow, whose mild and cause he would exact such an accurate finan- certainly was frequently the case with Regier. well-meaning views the colonies could thank cial account from us as we could never pro- But because of the fact that Regier was faith- for their prosperity, and who in the last years vide to him.” The accounts of the Gebiet’s trea- fully submitted to Cornies, he could, in spite because of high age and sickness had travelled sury did not balance and the records of his open drunkenness, remain as Vorsteher only little in the colonies, consequently did not (beerschaft) and that of the “Schnurbuches” in the Gebietsamt. know that the most shameful malice ruled here. did not nearly agree, although they were spared After he had already served two terms, But now the truly difficult time only first from the investigation of the Privy Councillor namely, six years, almost everyone comforted began and the Gebiets Vorsteher Regier [1] - for which the rich Wilhelm Martens contrib-

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 23 uted the money; according to the The Gemeinde herein was not told confession of his Book-keeper in the least way why Warkentin was (Kausgeber?). dismissed from his office (This The first of January 1842 went command can still be proven with by when the incumbent Vorsteher evidence). was to take over. Regier, however, Notation. Sad and without con- still remained in office, and it ap- solation a Kirchengemeinde now pears as if he would seemingly also stood forsaken, although it counted remain there. In this regard, how- over 1000 members, and even more ever, the Gemeinde became rest- so, as this occurred at a time when less since almost everyone had a youth group of over 164 learned to realize that circum- [3] had prepared themselves for the stances could not possibly continue Holy Baptism by the Ältester any longer - not in this way. Con- Warkentin. Who could think any- sequently meetings were held thing else but that this pained the among the spiritual ministerials Gemeinde unto its soul. And who and it seemed as if all the carried the blame for this? No one Gemeinden would become united, Mennonite farmers and their Russian servants (the oldest man was still a else but Cornies with a small num- except that of Ältester Bernhard serf), ca. 1910. Photo - P. M. Friesen, Brotherhood, 178. ber of his followers and the inflam- Fast, of which Kirchen-Gemeinde matory writing of the same with Cornies also belonged, who continued to exert started to make changes. another 54 subscribers. At this time an attempt all efforts to divide the Gemeinden into two The at-the-time assistant substitutional was made on the part of this Gemeinde to seek factions. He with some other members of Fast’s Gebiets-Beisitzer Johann Neufeld sent word help from the Chortitzer Kirchen-Konvent (The Gemeinde drew up an accusatory writing to the Ältester Warkentin and at the same time Mennonite Colonies in Ekaterinoslawschen against the Warkentin’s Gemeinde, directed to begging him to help at once to have the two Government). But Cornies had already Ältester Bernhard Fast, signed by Cornies him- Gebiets-Beisitzer Abr. Toews and David Braun strongly forbidden them not to accept outsid- self and 54 members of the Gemeinde, which removed from office, as he had detected such ers. can still be displayed. great unrighteousness in the Gebietsamt which But as this Gemeinde could not so easily All of this and many things more which could not be allowed to stand. Cornies himself deal with the pain caused by the dismissal of would be too difficult to describe properly came to the Ältester Warkentin and asked the their Ältester they tarried somewhat in electing prompted our Gemeinde to earnestly entreat same that he should help to set everything right new Ältester. That they did not want elect one the Kirchen-Ältester Warkentin to travel to the and also asked for forgiveness in writing: the no one would even have dared themselves to Guardianship Counsel in this regard. In par- members of the Verein on April 27 and the say for such a one would have been dealt with ticular, the Gemeinde took courage because at members of the Gebietsamt on May 1. This severely. This was clearly to be understood that time the staff [Etat] of the Guardianship can be proven by written documents. from the commands of Cornies which again Council had recently been strengthened by Sr. hastily issued forth; regarding which, among Excellence HE, the Privy Councillor von Hahn Halbstadt, May 19, 1842. other things, there was the threat that Warkentin in respect to whom Warkentin had the confi- Presently everyone rejoiced, that peace and would be completely banished from the colony dence to be able to discuss the matter and he calm would hereby again be restored and in (This command can still be proven to every- departed for Odessa on February 2, 1842. [2] consequence of which the Ältester Warkentin one at anytime). In light of such as well as At the same time the Gemeinde did not omit called a conference and invited all the Ältester other threats, the Gemeinde was forced for the to bring a most humble and fully submissive and Lehrer for a discussion. Without a doubt a time being to elect at least another Ältester. For petition to the Guardianship Committee regard- lasting peace would have been established if a which purpose then the Lehrer Heinrich Wiens, ing the acceptance of the newly elected little more time had been allowed for that pur- Gnadenheim, was elected, who also served the Vorsteher of the Gebietsamt. Sr. Excellence, pose. However, it failed. Sr. Excellence, the then prepared baptismal candidates with the the Privy Councillor, accepted the presenta- Privy Councillor von Hahn arrived and came Holy Baptism. tion of the Ältester Warkentin, but said regard- first of all to the Molotschna Colony of the ing the Vorsteher of the Gebietsamt that a sec- [German] Colonists at the honourable Inspec- ond election had already been ordered as Peter tor [Prischip] and where Cornies also trav- ” Sad and without consolation a Toews had been presented as too old and too elled to at the time. From here Sr. Excellence Kirchengemeinde now stood for- weakly. At the same time, however, he declared travelled to the Mariupolschen Plan, came back saken, although it counted over further that the one who would be elected by again, and then also visited the Ältester 1000 members,....” the Gemeinde would also be the one whom the Warkentin in his house and notified the same th Committee would affirm regardless, whether to come to Halbstadt on the 19 of May for a Whippings. it were Peter Toews or someone else. discussion and for which purpose Warkentin With respect to the Gebiets-Ältester, the But before Ältester Warkentin returned also drove there. But then what happened? resident of Halbstadt Johann Neufeld, was in- from Odessa, however, the Vorsteher of the The Ältester Warkentin promptly was dis- stalled as the Gebiets-Beisitzer and this with- Gebietsamt [Regier] suddenly died. The com- missed from his office “under four eyes.” And out the prescribed election by the Gemeinde, mand of Guardianship Committees to hold a whereupon Sr. Excellence on the very same but a new Gebiets-Vorsteher had to be elected. second election, however, had as yet not been day also present this matter to the other Ältester And those landowners (Wirthe) who did not publicized. But, little matter, for when it was although with the explanation that he no longer elect the man who was nominated by the Guard- learned that the Ältester Warkentin had received regarded Warkentin as any Ältester. A com- ianship Committee, but honoured the right of a favourable reception with the Guardianship mand of the Sr. Excellence was also circulated election which had existed since the founding Committee, the election was now pushed to an through the Schulzenamter (village mayoral of the Colony - a principle of free elections as earlier date and instead of Peter Toews receiv- offices) wherein the Gemeinde was com- they saw fit - and those who had elected Peter ing 400 votes as in his first election, he now manded in the strongest way that in place of Toews, Tiege, a second time with a majority, received 800 votes. It seemed as if our repre- the deposed Ältester Warkentin two or three who were somewhat over 70 in number, were sentative members of the Gebietsamt as well Ältester should be elected in the very near fu- condemned to be punished with many days of as those of the Verein became anxious and now ture and failing which harsh threats were made. hard labour and one of them actually even a

24 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 village mayor, was to be punished with 50 than all the others combined, should thereby own confession and his God, when he corpo- lashes, which punishment was carried out un- become disunited and that the Gebietsamt and rally punishes his fellow man. On the con- der the supervision of Sr. Excellence Hahn the Agricultural Society could more freely trary, he leaves such punishment gladly to the when he returned again in fall. implement their Old Testament and Papist Re- government, which does not carry the sword (Completely according to the ritual of the gime. in vain for the protection of the just and pun- papacy during the time of the martyrs). In which, however, they did not succeed. ishment of the evil. The question may arise At the same time Hahn also ordered the The three Ältester remained united. But other- here: If now the Mennonite principles prohibit deposed Ältester Warkentin to appear again in wise, following this, all matters in this corporal punishment, what must we then think the Gebietsamt where he spoke with him ma- Gemeinde went better according to the liking of the instigators of such punishment who yet nipulatively, in part harshly and in part in a of Cornies. Physical punishments were now all maintain to be Mennonites? Unfortunately friendly way, demanding that Warkentin sign a begun. Whereas formerly punishment con- this question must be answered with sadness written resignation of his office whereby sisted of fees and hard labour, they now con- that such already were fallen away or never Cornies was present also. sisted of corporal lashes with the whip. actually were true Mennonites, and that al- Warkentin explained that he was in no way though they have the Mennonite name but their able to do this, seeing that he had given his Church Discipline, 1846. deeds betray the confession of their mouth. covenant before God and the Gemeinde to be In the month of June 1846, it happened that According to the teachings of our Confession faithful in his office for as long as he lived. a Mennonite was teased and hurt by a Russian of Faith as stated in Article 15 where it is stated This is also how the matter remained standing servant whereupon he was smitten by rage and word for word as follows: Since so many mat- but he would remain as deposed. smote the servant with a blow on the shoulder. ters are encompassed in the offices of the The servant filed a complaint with Cornies. worldly authority which stand in conflict with The Mennonite was punished with 12 lashes the non-resistant follower of Christ, it follows “....even a village mayor, was to of the whip which punishment was imple- therefrom that all true disciples of Christ can be punished with 50 lashes,....” mented at the orders of Cornies by four local in no way serve in any governmental office landowners upon the request of the village with all that which is thereby encompassed Mennonite Principles. mayor of the Colony of Blumenort. and rather far more would follow the example Notation: Warkentin had to remain as de- Three of these were members of the former of Christ and His apostles in accordance with posed and the twice elected Peter Toews could Warkentin Gemeinde. But as it was contrary to Matt. 10 v. 38 and 39 and chapter 16 v. 24 and not become the Gebiets Vorsteher. And why the fundamental principles of our Mennonite 25, and among whose Gemeinden such of- not? It was claimed that he was too old and too faith to punish anyone physically, these three fices [5] were not served. feeble; but neither one of which was the case. who had acted contrary to their own principle If, however, an appointed leader or a Regarding Ältester Warkentin it was claimed of non-resistance and who gave more obedi- Vorsteher of a Mennonite Gemeinde, in accor- that he had wanted to destroy the Agricultural ence to the worldly authorities than their own dance with 1 Cor. 12 v. 28, considers himself Society according to Cornies’ alle- as a government person and as gations. But Warkentin had never such adheres to the laws and ordi- even entertained such thoughts, nor nances of the worldly government could this be proven. It was sim- which are in conflict with the teach- ply a fabricated untruth. Proof of ings of Christ, he is no Menno- Warkentin’s loyalty is seen in his nite, and indeed, no true Christian. being among the first at all times Now, however, when Cornies to fulfil the regulations regarding and the Gebietsamt realized that plantings [of trees] which the our Gemeinde had excommuni- Verein prescribed. Which one can cated the three who had adminis- see today. tered the corporal punishment to But something entirely differ- that Mennonite and had therefore ent, however, lay here as the rea- been separated from the Gemeinde, son. Warkentin wanted to preserve it was alleged that we opposed the our Mennonite ecclesiastical regu- government which was actually lations as they had been hitherto, not the case. For with reason and a which, however, Cornies could good conscience we could main- not endure. Rather he wanted to tain that the separation of the afore- establish a regime like that of said three members did not occur Risico Rehoboam, according to 1 A Mennonite barn raising “Bjarung” in Russia. Quiring, In the Fullness of from the basis that we wished to Kings 12:8-11. Time, 88. Cf: Preservings, No. 19, page 24. somewhat set ourselves against the That this really was the case government, or to somewhat hide was proven by the events which followed when confession of faith and God’s Word according the offence which the government deemed pun- they are carefully analyzed [4]. to Acts 5:29, were put before the Gemeinde. ishable, such is and remains foreign to us. Following this, the newly elected Ältester And since they did not demonstrate any genu- Rather the Gemeinde is simply concerned to Heinrich Wiens was also summoned to the ine repentance, they were excommunicated ac- adhere to the church regulations and Confes- Gebietsamt where he was also severely threat- cording to the regulations of the Gemeinde. sion of Faith which our forefathers have passed ened by the Sr. Excellence, the Lord Privy Later, however, when they demonstrated re- down to us and which are founded on God’s Councillor, if he would not shortly have two pentance they were again reaccepted into the Word. But to implement corporal punishment more Ältester elected. As a result the Gemeinde Gemeinde. against anyone is to deal contrary to our con- was forced to hold elections. The northern part fession and inherited faith and conscience. We elected Dirk Warkentin in Petershagen and the Mennonite Principles. also believe that when a government sentences southern part elected Heinrich Toews in Notation: The one who is familiar with the someone to corporal punishment that the gov- Pordenau. And now the Grosse Gemeinde of fundamental principles of the Mennonites and ernment at all times must utilize such persons the deposed Warkentin had three Ältester in- who is willing and ready to serve God faith- who are willing to do so and who can do so stead of one. The objective of this was that the fully according to his confession, also realizes without violating their faith, their confession Grosse Gemeinde, which had more members that he makes himself punishable against his and their conscience.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 25 affair with a young woman, on account of Lehrer who did not endorse such action should Gebietsamt, July 25, 1846. which he was separated from his wife), and now submit an explanation to the Gebietsamt When in July of the past year, 1846, the the Ältester Benjamin Ratzlaff, who, however, which was then also done by our Lehrer as Lord President of the Guardianship Commit- was not personally present because of his sick- well as by the other Gemeinden. The explana- tee again travelled through the colonies, the ness and who had commissioned one of his tion was sent by the Gebietsamt to the above matters above written were brought to his at- fellow servants [minister] to sign his signature mentioned three Ältester for examination, and tention. The name of the individual who com- on the condition that all the other Ältester and asked them for a declaration refuting the same, plained has remained unknown to us. But servants [ministers] would subscribe to this which they also did. The sly and deceiving Ältester Heinrich Wiens who chaired the broth- dismissal; who later, however, publicly be- Fritz Wilh. Lange, also exerted his entire learn- erhood meeting which excommunicated these moaned his action. In all only three Ältester edness and demonstrated what spirit’s child he three out of the Gemeinde, was ordered to ap- and 14 Lehrer sent a writing to Ältester Wiens, was, and knew how to shamefully twist the pear in the Gebietsamt on July 25. Here Sr. issued in the church in Ohrloff on the 21st of simple writing of our Ältester and to misrepre- Excellence accused the same of sent it. A further declaration was having made an intrusion into the again requested of our ministerial jurisdiction of the worldly govern- which they sent in November 28th. ment and generally spoke in an ex- All of this occasioned open tremely hard way. brotherhood meetings in our re- Among other things he said, “If spective houses of worship in or- anyone is to be punished corpo- der to elect a deputation together rally by the government, and the with the ministerial to help work village Schulz requires anyone towards a peace regarding this per- from out of the Gemeinde to carry secution of the Gemeinde on the out this punishment, then that one part of the local authorities. But it has to do it, even if it were the was not possible to bring this to Ältester Wiens of whom the pass, so that it would also be au- Schulze required it - then even Mennonite Church, Neu-Halbstadt, Molotschna, as it appeared ca. 1910. thorized in the name of the three Wiens would have to do it.” This church was built in 1858. This was presumably the worship house built Gemeinden to petition the highest To which Ältester Wiens re- by brewery founder Johann Neufeld (1801-55), Halbstadt, and which be- government regarding preservation plied, “Sr. Excellence, that Wiens came the subject of bitter controversy until it was finally ceded to the Lichtenau- of our church regulations, which would not do!” Petershagen Gemeinde by the Ohrloff Gemeinde. The building replaced the deputation was confirmed by the In anger Sr. Excellence re- worship house in Petershagen which had been torn down in 1852. Photo - P. ministerial on October 12th. On sponded, “That I would force him M. Friesen, Brotherhood, page 890. October 17th the deputation wrote to do so.” [Und dann wurde ich to Ältester Bernhard Fast, dem Wiensen!] September, 1846, whereby they declared the Halbstadt, declaring that the Gemeinde did not In response, the Ältester Wiens referred to same unworthy for his office and forbade him recognize the deposition of Ältester Wiens as the most gracious Privilegium once granted to to carry out any of the duties and obligations lawful and as a result also did not recognize us at time of our emigration into Russia and of his office, indeed, even threatening to re- the same. Cornies and the Gebietsamt were whereby free religious exercise of our church port him before the highest authorities if he enraged hereby and began to call the deputa- regulations was granted to us and that accord- failed to comply. tion instigators of rebellion. [7] ing to the fundamental principles of our faith, (Wholly like unto the operation of the Ro- Cornies immediately accused Peter Toews, no member of the Gemeinde would be allowed man Church during the time of the martyrs). Tiege, who was one of the deputies, as one of such, that one member would be able to pun- Which writing could still be brought forth; these before the Gebietsamt, and he was sum- ish another or anyone else by physically strik- to the contrary five Ältester with their Lehrer moned to appear in the Gebietsamt on Novem- ing them. did not sign. ber 21 where an accusative writing from Whereupon Sr. Excellence commanded him Cornies was read to him. Wherein it stated , to remain silent and accepted no further expla- among other things, “This deputation has for nation. Then he added thereto, “If the “(Wholly like unto the operation its objective the complete disruption and de- Privilegium had such a content that the gov- of the Roman Church during the struction of all governmental authority in the ernment no longer has the liberty to command time of the martyrs).” colonies, since they travel around in the dis- the disobedient subjects to be punished, then tricts gathering signatures and to arouse the he would be the first to lobby the government Persecution of the Gemeinde. citizens against the government, etc.” to terminate such a Privilegium.” Also, at the time, a testimonial by eight wit- All our Ältester certainly did not omit to Following this, on August 30th, all the nesses, among whom there were even two false declare to the Gebietsamt that such was abso- Ältester and Lehrer were summoned to the witnesses who were not present in the judg- lutely and completely not the case and that Pe- Gebietsamt where they were informed of an ment hall when interrogation by Sr. Excel. of ter Toews together with five others members order issued by Sr. Excellence the Privy Coun- Ältester Wiens took place, was sent by the of the Gemeinde had been publicly elected to a cillor Hahn, dated Aug. 14th, No. 5108, which Gebietsamt to the Ältester wherein it dealt with deputation; only the Gebietsamt did not heed writing can still be shown as evidence. an offensive insinuation in words which this, but instead even wrote Ältester Dirk Following this the Agricultural Society in Ältester Wiens was to have made during their Warkentin a letter and in a ridiculing way for- conjunction with the Gebietsamt Administra- meeting with Sr. Excel. on July 25. Neither bade such representations. tions issued a writing to the Kirchen-Convent, Ältester Wiens or Ältester Dirk Warkentin nor dated the 7th of September, setting forth to them any of the others who were present, could, not Appeal to Guardianship Committee. the dismissal of Ältester Heinrich Wiens from in the least, remember anything like that hav- As our Gemeinde in particular and the depu- his office. The greater part of the Ältester and ing been said. Just like in 1 Kings 21:10 (And tation were strongly threatened and one had to Lehrer did not endorse the deposition of the these also were relying on misunderstandings). fear that the Colony leaders might falsely ac- same [6]. But the Ältester Bernhard Fast and The Gebietsamt was by now well aware cuse the same before the government (which the Ältester Fr. Lange (who had actually al- that the greatest part of the spiritual leadership later also proved to be the case), consequently ready long ago made himself unworthy of his did not endorse the dismissal of Ältester the deputation filed a request for protection to office by an illicit life’s walk through a love Wiens. It now ordered that those Ältester and the Guardianship Committee on November 28

26 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 and from whom they asked for protection Mennonite Confession of Faith: “Since the (which petition can still be shown as evidence office of the worldly authorities are contrary today). Whereupon a decision was issued by to the non-resistant follower of Christ, it fol- the Guardianship Committee on December 14 lows therefore that all true followers of Christ under No. 2808 whereby the deputies were can in no way serve the governmental office promised protection although they interpreted with all that it entails, but rather herein shall the request as evil and not only made any fur- also much more follow the example of Christ ther efforts regarding the matter rather doubt- and His Apostles, according to Math. 10:38, ful they also threatened them. 39; and Chapter 16:24,25, and among whose As, however, this decision was very long Gemeinden such offices were not served. We in forthcoming and the Gemeinde was under are obligated to accept an office only when the extreme duress, the deputation issued a sec- Diakonissenheim “Morija”, Halbstadt, built in office is not in conflict with our allegiance to ond petition to the Guardianship Committee, 1912. This was an institution for training nurses God, our faith and our confession of faith. We th dated the 12 of December, requesting that a and closely associated with the hospitals in Muntau read in 1 Cor. 12:28 which offices the true thorough investigation of the dismissal of and Ohrloff, where the nurses did their practical followers of Christ may occupy.” Ältester Wiens would be conducted, and ex- training. Photo - Rudy Friesen, Into the Past, page But here in this specific Mennonite plaining our fundamental principles of faith 247. Gemeinde the situation was such that these regarding corporal punishment persons in our area who had been within the Mennonite brother- appointed as helpers and regulators, hood, but in regard to which no as worldly governors now consid- response has been forthcoming to ered themselves as the government date. and also ruled according to the In the meantime our Gemeinde worldly laws and not according to waited with the greatest longing the teachings of Christ and the prac- hoping that the Guardianship tices of His Apostles, which a true Committee would hear our peti- Mennonite and follower of Christ tion and either itself establish a would not fully be able to obey, that commission for the investigation which they command; likewise in of the aforesaid matter or would and for which they were even sup- agree to the same. But unfortu- ported by a small part of the spiri- Ohrloff hospital, as it appeared ca. 1910. Photo - P. M. Friesen, Brother- nately it was futile. Things oc- tual church ministerial which had hood, page 817. curred as they did long ago in Is- become lukewarm. Acts 4:17-19 rael during the times of King Ahab and Jezebel, card and deal contrary to the same. and 5:29, Rev. 3 v. 14-18. 1 Kings 21:8-15. In this way many weeks passed by with But our Lehrer however did not want to fear and hope until the 16th of April at which support all such things for according to our Deportation, 1847. time the arrested Ältester Heinrich Wiens was evangelical fundamental principles such [per- On March 12, 1847, Ältester Wiens was summoned to the [Colonial] Inspector of the sons] separate themselves from the Mennonite completely removed from the Mennonite colo- Molotschna Colony. Here the verdict of Sr. brotherhood. And the true Gemeinde would nies and placed under the scrutiny of the In- Excellence, the Lord Privy Councillor v. Hahn, also in every respect acknowledge these as a spector of Prischip, so that no one could have was read to him and in which ruling the In- government and be subject unto them if they any contact with him and whereby the spector was instructed according to the com- would want to punish anyone physically, pro- Gemeinde was turned even deeper into sor- mand of the Minister of State-Domains to pro- vided that only individuals may be ordered to row. This concern was made all the more acute vide all necessary assistance to expel Wiens carry this out who have freedom of conscience through the rumour which was spreading that outside of the borders [of Russia] as soon as in that regard [9]. he was to be expelled from the country. This possible. the Gemeinde found to be altogether unbeliev- able as it was totally against all the most high- Mennonite Principles. “[Cornies wanted]...to operate a est affirmed laws and regulations, in accor- This is, however, particularly doubtful since regime patterned after the Old Tes- dance with which: 1) a person could be ex- Ältester Wiens had been falsely accused be- tament and Papist ritual....” pelled in such a way only after judicial exami- fore the high government only by our local nation had first taken place and even then only Colonial representatives together with a small Deportation, 1847. when at least two-thirds of all the family heads percentage of the ministerial leadership who On June 3, 1847 the sentence of the in the Gemeinde had subscribed to the same; were allied with them, namely, that he opposed Honourable Privy Councillor v. Hahn to oper- 2) As this was a fundamental matter of Men- the government which, in truth, neither Cornies ate a regime patterned after the Old Testament nonite faith and in no way a violation of any nor any one else could in any way prove. It and Papist ritual was carried out and the Ältester paragraph of the laws of the government, it was only the case that he sought to preserve Wiens had to depart on his journey, without was therefore unthinkable that our own Men- and to maintain aright the fundamentals and knowing whereto. His destination simply was nonite colony representatives with a small per- teachings of the Mennonite faith within our Prussia in Germany, but in his passport it was centage of the spiritual leadership, if they had Mennonite fellowship. By comparison, how- simply stated, “Prussian subject, foreigner an iota of righteousness left in their hearts, out ever, said three Ältester and their Lehrer and Heinrich Wiens and his wife are going aboard of pure [8] hatred and jealously (Gen. 37:11) the colony representatives wanted to completely via Radschiwilow etc.” Clearly a completely against the Ältester Wiens and against our set these aside, so as to operate a regime pat- falsified passport! Gemeinde and their own - with our - mutually terned after the Old Testament and Papist ritual How could it state that Wiens was a Prus- professed Confession of Faith and regulations and thereby fulfilling the words of the Apostle sian subject? And a foreigner? For certainly he of the church, which certainly every member in Thess. 2:3-12, in that they themselves re- had emigrated to Russia as a young boy with at time of baptism and, in particular, every garded themselves as the government, which his parents at the beginning of the century, had church Ältester at time of his ordination and according to our accepted Confession of Faith grown up there and settled there and from the blessing into office, covenanted before God is not allowed to any true Mennonite. beginning his name had stood recorded in the and the Gemeinde to obey and practice, to dis- For thus it is stated in Article 15 of our Revision [Census] as a Russian subject and

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 27 nor had he ever been a Prussian subject? And way. Finally after urgent begging she acqui- Apostles, according to Math. 9:34 and 12:24). why was there no comment in the passport esced. They themselves prepared their sleep- And with this the entire matter seemed to have regarding an offence which would have justi- ing quarters on the earth floor and laid down to ended. fied the authorities in exiling him as is com- sleep. Finally at somewhat after mid-night the But the Ältester Wiens will remain in the monly done with such evildoers according to entire band of robbers came home. They drank memory of the Gemeinde for a long time to the laws of the land? Therefore a clear proof of and caroused about, but did not molest them. come - grieved for - not only by our Gemeinde how his entire matter was dealt with by the Early the next morning they got up while the but also many from other Gemeinden as being falsehoods and lies. The passport stipulated a others remained in the deepest sleep and again innocent, except for a small group of blind duration of only three months. set forth on their journey. Here is evidence that followers of Cornies, who with his death have they were carried upon their journey by many lost their power. We, however, hope that God Deceitful Process. praying hearts. But unto those, however, who will note in grace the multitude of tears which A printed order of Sr. Excel. Hahn was had forced them on the journey, the prophetic have flown as a result of the tyrannical deal- circulated through the Schulzenämter (village words of Isaiah are applicable, “Take counsel ings, and that in His time and through His mayoral offices) which stated, among other together, and it shall come to nought; speak the help, which always rests in His almighty hand, things, that in the event of a possible subse- word, and it shall not stand: for God is with He will wipe away those tears and that a time quent appearance by Wiens he should not be us.” of His peace may again be established. afforded any reception, which order could still As they now established their home in be shown as evidence. His passport was drawn Prussia, they still had to report to the govern- up in such a way that Wiens should thereby ment. But when Ohm Wiens [10] submitted “Just like Judas dealt with Christ come to his end. For even Cornies’ own daugh- his passport, the officials were surprised how and the Apostles,....” ter is to have said that when she thought about they could have gotten through everywhere what they had intended with Wiens, she could with this passport without difficulties. The “Signed” not sleep during the night. passport was also then shown to the Russian Ältester Dirk Warkentin, Petershagen This was also confirmed there on the Aus- Consul, who was certainly the most amazed, Ältester Heinrich Toews, Pordenau trian border. When they arrived at the border, a in that the whole contents of the passport Lehrer Heinrich Neufeld, Rosenort cross beam blocked the crossing, as was usu- showed that the entire matter with Ohm Wiens Lehrer Bernhard Matties, Tiegerweide ally the case, for all travellers needed to have had proceeded through false eyes, and that Lehrer Abraham Peters, Ladekopp their passports inspected here. When Ohm those who had processed the passport appar- Lehrer Abraham Fröse, Halbstadt Wiens finally came up to the office with his ently never gave it any thought that it might Lehrer Wilhelm Berg, Lindenau passport, the elderly official noticed something ever be read by other government officials. If Lehrer Jacob Woelk, Tiegerweide in the passport and said, “He could not stamp the Consul had not died shortly thereafter, the Lehrer David Hiebert, Lindenau this passport.” matter of Ohm Wiens most likely would have Lehrer Johann Wiens, Rosenort When he now sadly turned back, he met a been thoroughly investigated by higher authori- Lehrer Johann Kröger, Petershagen Jew. The Jew asked him, “What is wrong? ties. This, however, remained undone, as no Lehrer Isaak Braun, Konteniusfeld Why was he looking so sad?” After he had further efforts were set forth from that end. Lehrer Jacob Sawatsky, Friedensdorf related to him about his circumstances, he asked When, however, Cornies heard that Ohm Wiens Lehrer Jacob Fast, Landskron further, “Would you not risk something?” Ohm had arrived safely in Prussia, he shortly died Lehrer Jacob Warkentin, Ohrloff Wiens replied, “I do not know whether I may instantly. Deacon Peter Enns, Altona offer the man something?” Together they back Deacon Johann Klaassen went back into the office, whereupon the Jew Conclusion. Deacon Klaas Thiessen, Petershagen had a short discussion with the elderly offi- In respect to the deputation in the colonies, Deacon Jacob Hildebrand, Tiegerweide. cial. Then he said to Ohm Wiens, “The ap- firstly, Peter Toews was dismissed from his proval of your passport will cost you 25 office as village mayor (Dorfsschulze) in NB. The two Ältester Warkentin and Wiens rubles.” He gave the money and was immedi- Altona, and later the same [the deputies] were were expelled from the Gemeinde because they ately granted permission to continue his jour- publicly denounced in the colonies as unwor- took a stand against corporal punishment, ney without any further difficulties into Aus- thy [ränkwelle?] indecent men, with the added which was being implemented by the tria and on towards Prussia in Germany. notation, that in the future none of the same Gebietsamt and Agricultural Society and which, Therefore this was the place where our rep- were to be given access to any public offices however, the other three Ältester and their fel- resentatives had determined that Ohm Wiens (Just like Judas dealt with Christ and the low ministers promoted and also endorsed the should come to his end. They, persecution of the spiritual lead- however, had here also not reck- ers of the non-resistant Menno- oned with the Lord - a Jew and nite Gemeinden. Yet they called 25 rubles had crossed a stroke themselves followers of Christ, through their plans. After a jour- much like the high priests who ney of nine weeks and six days, judged Christ, according to Math. they finally arrived in Prussia, 26: 65,66. Neufeld healthy and unviolated, where they were welcomed and accepted Acknowledgement: in a friendly way by our sister Heinrich Neufeld, “A Further Gemeinden. Examination of the Molotschna Also to be noted is that during Conflict,” was translated by Rev. their difficult journey they spent Ben Hoeppner, Winnipeg, Man., one night in a den of robbers. 1992, and Delbert Plett, 2004. Evening had come and they did Received courtesy of James Urry, not have any expectation of reach- Victoria University of Wellington, ing any other place of night lodg- New Zealand, July 22, 1992. The ing. Here they found only a original is in archives of MLA, woman present, but who did not Maria Deaf-Mute School in Tiege, Molotschna (street view), ca. 1910. Photo - Bethel College, North Newton, want to accommodate them in any P. M. Friesen, Brotherhood, page 811. Ks.

28 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Farewell Address of Ältester Heinrich Wiens, 1847 Ein Abschied und Bericht wie es in der Molotschnaerkolonie in d. früh. Jahre zugegangen ist, und wie die Vorgesetzeten den ehr. Ältesten Heinrich Wiens von Gnadenheim aus dem Lande Verwiesen haben. Seine Rückehr nebst Beschreibung der ganzen Reise. (“The Farewell Address of the Honourable Kirchenältesten Heinrich Wiens (1800-72) from Gnadenheim, from both of the Ältester at Lichtenau and Pordenau, and the entire ministerial, as well as from the entire in Jesus dearly-loved Gemeinde, 1847.”) Introduction. danger to the soul as it appears presses forth Mel. 74. Wenn meine Sünd mich kränken so strongly. Es sind noch wenig Tage, But what shall I say? Or what shall I com- So scheiden wir von hier plain? When it is once commanded by God, In’s schöne Land; die Plage you shall go wherever I will sent you, accord- Und Angst verlassen wir. ing to Jeremiah 1 v. 7. Wohlan, wohlan! Es ist behend’, Therefore, I am also agreed to follow this Daß unser Weg von Plagen calling which separation from the Gemeinde So eilend nimmt ein End’. entrusted unto me, for the sake of my faith, was or shall be no less difficult for me than The Rudnerweider worship house built in 1822? 100. Mel. Wie soll ich dich empfangen. formerly, beginning some 21 years ago, as a in the old Prussian two-storey style. Photo - Rudy Wacht, Brüder! Betet alle, worker in the Gemeinde, or five years ago, to Friesen, Into the Past, pages 289-290. Daß uns der letzte Tag take over the office of Ältester in such a Nicht zu schnell überfalle, troubled time. And following this, to conduct the pilgrimage here is completed (for the little Zu unserm Weh und Ach, both the election and ordination for both of work and exertion), to grant the inheritance Der wie ein Fallstrick kommen you fellow Ältester. together with all those already there in glory, Als wie ein Dieb bei Nacht, Therefore, with the help of the Good Shep- carrying the palms of victory in their hands Die Bösen, nicht die Frommen, herd, I will go wherever He will send me and before the throne! Zum ewgen Weh und Ach. shall submit myself unto His leading and not O! How gladly (do believe me) I would This you’re united in love Ältester wishes to become in the least mistrustful that He is comfort your grieving hearts if only it were you in closing unto God above and unto eter- demanding somewhat too much of me, but possible for me and yet, even without the same nal life and reach out my hands over you in rather for the sake of our religion and the teach- (I believe) I will not forget you, my beloved. blessing. ings of the Saviour, to depart from out of this Also do not blame yourselves for this my de- “Heinrich Wiens”. land, from the Gemeinde and from my house, parture. I love you all from the heart and do And unto you, my united in the name of in accordance with the referenced words, and not suffer yet too much, according to my think- Jesus, heartily loved brethren in service - in to go the way which God will show me and ing, for there was presently no other option if the name of the truth which is and must remain presently to comfort myself with that poet: our religion was not instantly to be vanquished. within us, unto the unending eternity, receive 99. Mel. O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden. Therefore, I also do not find it hard for the from me the blessing: “May the holiness, grace Weg’ hat er allerwegen, sake of the Gemeinde to take this road, and and compassion from God the Father and the An Mitteln fehlts ihm nicht, wish only that God might impart power enough Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the Father in Sein Thun ist lauter Segen, unto you, to remain standing before this fizzure truth and in love, be and remain with us all. Sein Gang ist lauter Licht; (Risz) and that the Gemeinde also might be Now my beloved, I cannot do otherwise (if Sein Werk kann niemand hindern, strengthened in faith and be bound together in I somewhat wish to build myself up with you Sein Arbeit darf nicht ruh’n, love; indeed, encourage yourselves with this in love) but to come before you through a letter Wenn er was seinen Kindern as if I am speaking these things to you for the in that I – according to the appearance thereof Ersprießlich ist, will thun. last time. - have been notified of my exile from this our Since I realize that with this my departure I by virtue of a writing of the Und ob gleich alle Teufel leave you behind in much heartfelt fear and Honourable Inspector, and even so now as was Hie wollten wiederstehn, many tears and whereby I burden all of you, also the case previously, absolutely no permis- So wird doch ohne Zweifel and which I in fact would so gladly take away sion is to be granted to me for me to be able to Gott nicht zurücke gehen; from you, if only it was possible before God get together personally with my fellow Was er sich vorgenommen who comforts us in all our sorrows, so that we confessionalists; therefore, I must take my de- Und was er haben will, can comfort also those who have troubles. parture from you for this life in writing. And Das muß doch endlich kommen Therefore walk together in the spirit, and to see the same as a calling forth from God Zu seinem Zweck und Ziel. truly unite as one in the spirit and remain watch- unto me, as this once occurred to Abraham, Behold, according to the appearances our ful in the faith to Jesus, Who - after all - once and if it has here also taken place regarding me religion cannot remained spared from purifi- was and remains the victory over the world through hatred and revenge and false accusa- cation by God if it is to remain standing upon and all that subsists therein, and remain mind- tions of my enemies and betrayal, then it would the true rock. Therefore, I also will most gladly ful that for 21 years, day and night, I have not be exactly as stated there: “Go out of thy father’s allow myself to go this way with God. And slackened even once to admonish everyone house unto a land which I will show you,” now at my departure I do bid you also, do not with tears, which I still do and will continue to Genesis 12. be terrified thereby and remain steadfast in the do for as long as I shall live. I know that I have faith, and care for the Gemeinde up until the done so only for the sake of the suffering of Forsaking Hearth and Home. Lord shall call you to come over [unto Him]. Christ and the same will not leave me without I do not find it all difficult to forsake my O! The great recompense which awaiteth that comfort either. Therefore claim also the words outwardly homeland and Wirtschaft. But, ah - final hour of labour. Herdsmen, from the bot- of Paul, “Whether we experience well being or my brethren in the ministry and the children tom of your hearts, have only concern for your trouble, it occurs for our good. If it be sorrow and the Gemeinde which lays so heavenly upon flock over which the Holy Spirit hath appointed it occurs for the comfort and salvation of our my heart which I have served faithfully and you as Bishops, to pasture the Gemeinde of souls, if you shall endure in patience. There- untiringly for 21 years although always in great God, and be awake in the calling: The bride- fore, remain steadfast in the faith, and remain weakness - it almost breaks my heart to leave groom is near before the door. I commit the united in love and hope.” I bid you again, from the same in such a way at a time when the Gemeinde unto you, next to God - He who is the bottom of my heart, that you do not grow mighty enough to hold me and you, and after Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 29 weary, rather that you might battle for the faith, Nach deinem Rath und Willen. through my admonitions, I plead with you which is committed unto the saints, according again, remember again, if it has not taken place to the letter to Jude, v 3. Erbarme dich, o treuer Gott! until today than do allow yourselves that this Recall unto yourselves only the words Der du die Welt geliebet, may now go to your hearts as if I was pres- which have been written thereto by the Apostle, Die Welt, die ganz in Sünden todt, ently standing before you with tears (beloved which say, “That during the last days slander- In Irrthum dich betrübet; members and brethren, allow yourselves to be ers shall come who conduct themselves ac- Gieb deinem werthen Worte Kraft, reconciled from hatred and unreconciliation), cording to the Godless ways of their own cun- Daß es in solchen Herzen haft’, and to those of you who until this day have not ning and who will not endure the renounced immoderate drinking as salvation-yielding teachings, and well as pride and arrogance, for who will appoint teachers unto the sake of God and your salva- themselves after whom their ears tion, I plead with you, allow it to are longing, and shall turn fables.” be sufficient, so that if you do now Paul says, “There shall be people in penitence yet come [that it shall] who think much of themselves, cause rejoicing before God and His selfish, gossipers, proud, slander- holy angels in heaven. Oh, but do ers, unspiritual, betrayers, gluttons, not delay any longer to turn back, arrogant, lovers of self more than rather come unto Him in true heart- God, and thus departed from the felt penitence, like the prodigal son: words which have been given, Ach mein Vater darf ich’s wagen? from Christ, and lovers of the mis- Und zu dir mein Vater sagen? leading spirits and teachings of the Ich hab’s übel angericht, devil, even such as are pharisaical, Ach mein Vater zürne nicht, speakers of lies and who have scars Daß ich mich noch unterstehe, in their conscience, these are they Und dir unter Augen gehe. who make mobs, fleshly without Ich bin nicht werth, dass ich wohl, any spirit.” The floor plan of the Rudnerweider church as drawn by architect Rudy Friesen, Fort dein Sohn mehr heißen soll. But you, my beloved, edify Winnipeg. This plan was typical of all the older two-storey style worship houses yourselves upon your most holy in Prussia and Russia. Photo - Rudy Friesen, Into the Past, page 290. Ach was soll ich nun anfangen, faith, through the Holy Spirit and Ist es möglich zu erlangen, prayer, and keep yourselves in the love of God, Die hart sind, wie die Felsen. Daß ich vor dir kommen mag, and await upon the compassion of our Lord Nor should any single one of you beloved Und dir meinen Jammer klag? Jesus Christ unto eternal life. blame yourselves on account of this my depar- Ja ich kenne dein Gemüthe, For the time is nigh, for the signs which ture and think to themselves that had they only Deine väterliche Güte; have been recorded by the Saviour which shall not done this or perhaps not done that, or spo- Dein Herz bricht dir endlich doch, first occur are manifesting themselves. There- ken, or if only they had done this? Oh No! We Daß du mir mußt helfen noch. fore, raise your heads upwards and let all of us do not want to do so; rather I forgive and also Oh, I say again: I forgive and am also guar- be as servants who are awaiting their Lord. from the heart gladly want to submit myself anteed, that the One who hath given me unto Beloved brothers and sisters, do not sigh unto going this way. Where it occurs because you as a watchman for a number of years, to regarding my departure, for it must yet all be of my sins that God would only also forgive serve you in love and filled with energy, com- fulfilled. I am fully comforted in my heart. I them and that God might hereby wish to re- pletely without losing courage - O, He will have not knowingly wanted to do anyone any lease me from my sins. And should it in part also know how to furnish my path which is as harm, and why I must walk upon this way, also occur only for the testing of our faith, as I yet unknown to me, that I might also walk the God alone knows best; but according to ap- firmly believe, then do also be comforted that I same with courage, since - according to my pearances it is occurring out of hatred. And as as the shepherd go ahead, and offer my life for thoughts - this also takes place for the once the sons of Jacob sent Joseph out of his the sheep according to the words of Christ. Gemeinde; wherefore, I now also venture forth father’s house - and how unwillingly accord- I have no concern regarding any temporal upon this path without terror, and plead, do ing to his fleshly understanding did he go this loss and Wirtshaft - of the same the Lord has not weep over this my separation, rather think way we can readily imagine - but he had to already released me a long time ago. The most about how soon the reunion (if not in this life take hold of himself and depend on God and difficult for me is to leave behind the Gemeinde then there in that glory) can take place. go there where God commanded him to go; and the children (in this time of deception and For: therefore, I also commend myself and all of sorrow, for the blessed salvation); but even Das Scheiden und Vereinen, you together unto God and His leading with unto the same, I will yield myself and the way Hat beides seine Zeit. that well known poet: that poet states: Das Scheiden wirkt oft Weinen, 80. Mel. Es ist gewißlich an der Zeit. 80. Mel. Es ist gewißlich an der Zeit Das Wiederseh’n erfreut. Die Heerde, die du hast erwählt, Wo Jesus geht, da folge nach, Drum lasst in guten Werken, Die setze du zum Segen Wie und wohin er führet, Uns Tag und Nacht, Und schenke was ihr annoch fehlt, Wiel dich gewiß kein Ungemach, Durch Hut und Macht, Zu gehen auf rechten Wegen; Wenn er nicht will, berühret; Auf Christi Tag wohl merken. Laß deine Treue, Aug’ und Hand Ohn’ ihn geschiehet die kein Leid, Wenn er dann wird erstehen, Sein deinen Gliedern wohl bekannt, Es steht ja unsere Lebenszeit Das Seelen in der That, Die deiner Güte trauen. Allein in Gottes Händen. Zur neuen Salemsstadt, Wir freudig mit ihm gehen. Ein Vater und ein Hirte meint Consequences. Indeed, might God so grant. This I would Es treulich mit den Seinen; Ah, I bid also again with this (to everyone wish for us all. I find the departure to be very Du bist noch mehr als beide seind, to certainly depart from the paths of sin), the hard and yet not nearly as hard as I found it to Du kannst’s nicht böse meinen; way I have formerly often done in weakness, come to the decision, as to what it was that I D’rum trauen wir allein auf dich: and especially to all those to whom according should or wanted to do. When I sought to spare Ach! Leite du uns väterlich to their opinions I might have said too much my flesh, then the soul terror (Seelenangst)

30 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 came upon me, that God would Peter 4 v. 17. punish and demonstrate His lack Therefore, all of you, do exert of grace unto me that I would yourselves as much as possible not remain steadfast until the to walk here in the fear of the end, and in so far as I wish to Lord and with upright hearts to myself for the demonstrate yourselves unto Gemeinde, I saw the hatred of everyone in true meekness and my enemies and their scorn, the humility, so that in the end they way the same is never spared in shall all come to shame who any matter, raise up over myself have slandered our walk in and my family. Christ. For the eyes of the Lord Oh, behold, how hard and see upon the righteous; there- difficult this battle has been for fore, continue in the true hu- my flesh and blood to overcome mility of the soul according to and conquer --- Unto God in the commands of Jesus. For heaven it is known! Nor do I when we, says the apostle, pray wish it on anybody (if only one’s unto the Father, who judges salvation could be obtained by a without respect of person, then different means). Nonetheless I conduct yourselves for as long assure you, my beloved, that my as you live in the fear of God, Another old church, identified as the church at Schönsee by Quiring and Bartel, heartfelt love as well as also In and know that you are not re- the Fullness of the Time, page 80. However, Franz Isaak, Die Molotschnaer concern for your salvation hath deemed from your vile deeds Mennoniten, pages 267-269, makes no mention of a church built at Schönsee, in still not decreased but has the early years, but does mention a church built in Margenau in 1832 where by perishable silver or gold as stepped higher. O! And if only I Ältester Heinrich Wiens was ordained on July 5, 1842. Cf. with the photo of the a father would do, rather by the could save you from this physi- Margenau worship house published in Diese Steine, page 299. precious blood of Christ as an cally harsh oppression as well innocent and unblemished lamb. as from the danger to the soul in these perilous Paul says, “He is true who hath promised you.” Indeed, my much beloved children in the times. Believe me, I will survive, if God grants Let us take this to heart among ourselves Lord! Do not resist suffering for the will of me strength and support. through striving for love and unto good works, Christ and His word, for behold, the Lord Jesus I now commit myself and you, my beloved and not to forsake our assemblies the way some submitted Himself unto His path (under the brothers and sisters, unto God, as the Creator like to do, rather to admonish each other, and pressing cross, amidst scorn and mockery, in of our souls. Who is there who can do us harm that all the more as you can see that the day is order to rescue us from the jaws of Satan). if we suffer according to the will of God, 1 drawing nigh, according to Hebrews 10 v. 25. Why then should we hesitate to take His Peter 4, and already here seek to do that which For it is time, says Peter, the beginning of the cross upon us and then to carry it for the flock is good? When we suffer for righteousness Judgment on the house of God. entrusted unto us, amongst scorn and ridicule, sake we need fear no evil nor pay any heed to This, however, first with us, but what kind like forsaking house and everything here and the temptations of the enemy, for if it is the will of an end will it bring unto those who do not to set forth upon an unfamiliar road? In so far of God, it is better to suffer for goodness sake believe the Gospel of God? And if the righ- as we all know very well that there is no en- and not because of evil, although we know, teous shall hardly endure, where will the God- during city for us here. In my weakness, I how Christ our Saviour once also suffered for less and sinner appear? Therefore, those who have sought to comfort many when they have our sins, the righteous for the unrighteous. And suffer for the will of God shall commit their encountered sorrow. O! How will not the One since we know that Christ has suffered for us souls unto the true Shepherd in good works, 1 to whom I have given myself, and whose com- in the flesh, we, therefore, passion prevails over also have reason to emu- everything, not know late the same if we wish to how to also comfort me be His disciples, for it has in this sorrow? No one now come – the end of will take that from me: many things - so that the Denn wer ihn kann in heat of persecution and Glauben fassen, trouble might not appear Der werd nicht foreign unto us, for we ex- Wenn’s gebricht perience something very Von ihm sein verlassen. special through this depar- Wherefore, I also do ture which I must do. not need to be afraid of For it says, “Blessed travelling and all of you are ye when you are slan- need not be grieving over dered for the name of me; indeed, it only Christ, who is a spirit of presses [upon the heart glory and of God, indeed, [?]. But it occurs out of persecuted by the world love, and thus, let it be. but which rests upon us.” I bid you also in love Because we suffer as with the words of the Christians we are not past! ashamed, rather in such a Laßt euch die Welt nicht case we honour God, says blenden, the apostle, and admon- Ein jeder von den ishes us to cling unto the The worship house of the Mennonite Gemeinde at Margenau. Standing to the far left is Ältester meinen confession of hope and not Gerhard Plett, Ältester of the Margenau Gemeinde since 1907. Photo - Tina Mathies, Coaldale, Erkenne frei und to falter. For the apostle Alberta/Diese Steine, page 299. offenbar,

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 31 Weil er in seinem Sohne, Ein Vorbild uns gestellt, Der uns die Freudenkrone, Durch Leiden zugestellt. With heart filled with hope, I now take my leave of you and hug all of you together with my spiritual arms of love. O, might that the Almighty would unite all of you in love that the great might of Satan would not tear you apart. By the last quarter of the 19th century, Menno- This is my wish composed by me unto you. nites in Russia were converting themselves more The Alexanderwohl worship house built in 1865. Now adieu! And should we not see each other and more to Germanization and Separatist-Pietist “It was a large two storey structure generally based again here in this life, then, however, that God religious culture. These changes were also reflected on traditional Mennonite design,” Rudy Friesen, would grant that we would see each other again in their church architecture. This is the Petershagen Into the Past, pages 208-209. church built in 1892 where the sanctuary was there in the happy eternity where no more suf- already oriented towards the narrow end of the wanted to be known as a son of Pharaoh, but fering shall cause us sorrow. church with the council and pulpit at the south rather to endure discomfort with the people of Full of faith, I journey to that destination end. Photo - Quiring and Bartel, In the Fullness God, than to possess the temporal idolatry of which is my true Fatherland. Do also follow of the Time, page 80. In 1999 the church was sin. He considered the recompense and for- me in that faith, where I hope to find no cross restored and renovated and is again in use as a sook Egypt, neither did he fear the wrath of the nor suffering. house of worship by Mennonites. Cf: Diese Steine, king, for he held unto them whom he did not May God grant you His blessing and pre- page 282, and Pres., No. 18, page 52, No. 16, see as steadfast in faith as he saw him. serve you in His grace and truth unto eternal page 50, and an article and photo of the Alas, behold, my beloved! What more can life and spread His grace like wings over us! Petershagen and Schönsee churches in 1994 by I mention for your strengthening and more. O! Whereby the testimony of Jesus within us Orlando Hiebert, in Pres., No. 7, pages 26-27. For the time would certainly be too short and would also not cease in persecution, rather that our edification would find no end. His peace might at all times fill us. And here- Des großen Gottes Namen. with we wish to depart from each other and Fürch’t ihm zur Ehre, hier kein Gefahr, Closing. comfort ourselves with our Lord Jesus. Schlägts augenblicklich auch zusammen. Wherefore, in closing now take to heart the Wenn die Not am allergrößten, Ja halt’t euch fest an Jesum Christ, words of Paul that he did not consider worthy Ist er gegen seine Kinder, Der euch zum Heil geworden ist. the suffering of this time compared to the glory Mehr als väterlich gesinnt. Seid eifrig sein’ Bekenner, which shall be revealed unto us and the words Trotz dem Teufel, trotz dem Drachen, Von seiner Lehr in dieser Welt, of our beloved Saviour when He says through Will ich ihre Macht belachen, Laßt nichts euch davon schrecken, the Evangelist Luke, “Blessed are they who Trotz dem schweren Kreuze auch, Und seid im Glauben fest gestellt, are hated among men and when they separate Gott mein Vater lebet noch. Ihm nach zu geh’n auf Hecken. you and slander you, and trod down your name Trotz der bittern Todeszähren, Do not think that this time of suffering is as an evil doer for the sake of the son of God. Trotz der Welt und alle denen, not worth the glory which Christ shall bestow Rejoice therefore and be glad, for behold your Die mir ohn’ Ursach’ Feind, upon us there. Wherefore the apostle also re- recompense is great in heaven. Your fathers, Gott im Himmel ist mein Freund. minds us of same, that all who wish to live the prophets did likewise. Nor is the servant godly in the faith must suffer persecution, 2 greater than his master. For if they have lik- Laßt Cornies nur immer neiden Tim. 3 v. 12. Sirach, the teacher of traditions, ened the master of the house, Beelzebub, how Und mich länger hier nicht leiden. says “If you wish to be a servant of God, you much more will they not do likewise unto His Hört, so frag ich nichts danach, must suffer temptations, neither to yield to nor house companions.” “Therefore, be not afraid,” Gott ist Richter uns’rer Sach. avoid the same, and rather to endure all suffer- says Christ. “For they who confess me before Thut er gleich von hier mich treiben, ing in patience,” following the example of the people, I shall likewise confess before my heav- Wird mir doch der Himmel bleiben, patriarchs, when he says, “Take note of them, enly Father. And He who does not take my Und wenn ich nur diesen Krieg, for who hath ever come unto shame who hath cross upon himself and follows me, is not Hab ich ja, was mir vergnügt. remained in the fear of God, or who hath ever worthy of me,” Math 10. Ich will dies hier gern verlassen, been scorned, who hath called out unto Him. Ach Jesu waffne unsre , Da sie mich ohn’ Ursach hassen. Indeed, and who likewise calls forth unto Dasz unser Kampf den Sieg gewinn, Sie behalt’n nur Erd und Koth, us, “You, you who fear the Lord, trust unto all Und treu bis Ende bleiben. Ich reis’ fort mit meinem Gott. good from Him and unto you shall be imparted As also the first Christians suffered every- grace and comfort. For the Lord is gracious thing for the faith, satisfying the revenge of Sollt es noch bisweilen scheinen and compassionate, forgiving the sins and help- the lion’s and extinguishing the power of the Als wenn Gott verlässt die Seinen, ing amidst tribulation. Wherefore, cling fast fire, they persevered through faith, and sacri- O! so glaub und weiß ich dies, unto God, and depart not from Him, so that ficed body and life. Which is also our obliga- Gott hilft und verlässt mich nicht. you might always grow stronger. For as the tion, but for which, however, we are not ca- With a heartfelt greeting and best wishes, gold is purified by fire, so also shall they, who pable of our own strength. Therefore, let us and all humanly-possible good fortune in body are pleasing unto God, be preserved through step forward with loving hearts and humility and soul, I remain your friend and fellow-pil- the fire of tribulation. in this misery before our God. grim, bonded unto you in love. Therefore, why shall we then also appar- Ja zum Gnadenthrone, “Heinrich Wiens.” ently marvel or sorrow that I must depart from Uns zuversichtlich gehen, you in such a way? For Paul says: “All things Er läßt in seinem Sohne, must serve for the best unto those who love Aus Gnad uns Hülf’ geschehen. God and consider the ridicule for the sake of Gott führet seine Kinder, Christ a much greater wealth than to have all Mit Zucht die Kreuzesbahn; the wealth of this world. Thereby directing unto Doch aber auch nicht minder, Moses: After he had grown up he no longer Zuletzt noch Himmelan.

32 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Travel Report of Ältesten Heinrich Wiens (1800-72) Travel Report of the Honourable Ältesten Heinrich Wiens (1800-72), Gnadenheim, 1847.

Heartily beloved friends, children and sib- be reported, but certainly in the month of Au- sive journey safe and sound and therefore only lings, indeed, all beloved fellow servants and gust and then I will write you again. I bid that first arrived at Gurke on July 26th at one o’clock the Gemeinde, which have remained behind in you heartily greet the members of the beloved after dinner at Ohm Abraham’s, the most be- the Molotschna in Russia. Gemeinde and thanks for all the demonstrated loved and honourable Ältesten. After firstly wishing you from the bottom of deeds and love. You have had many worries I have written twice but do not know whether my heart, everything good from the inexhaust- regarding our journey, and have wondered why they have arrived there; but now, however, I ible well of Jesus’ grace, here temporally and no news or writing came from us. I did write hope this will get there. I wish that it might find there spiritually, and since every hour - daily, from Odessa but do not know if it arrived there. all of you, together with spouses and children, you continue to await for a writing regarding Now, however, might God grant that you alive and well. As concerns us, we are well in our trip, therefore, I am presently hurrying to receive this [letter]. We are alive and all three are the body. We have also found a friendly recep- the same as quickly as I can. fine. I have never had opportunity to write along tion here. For the winter we will apparently stay Saturday, at 7 o’clock in the morning, the way because everything was unfamiliar and with the widow Reger at Klein-Heubuden, if namely, the 26th of July (our time there) we foreign. For I believe that of our people none we live and further I cannot yet report. On Au- arrived well in Marienburg, and at 7 o’clock at has ever yet travelled this way before nor ap- gust 10th I preached at Heubuden and on Au- Gurben, at the aged Honourable Ältesten parently would anyone want to travel the same. gust 17th at Tiegenhagen which I had not done Abraham Reger. [According to] God’s [ways] Quite often in the midst of woods or among the for almost five months already; might the Lord there are never unfamiliar ways, places and hills with valleys [the words] come to me: Are in grace grant His blessing thereto that it might people. Until now, however, everything remains you then the scapegoat selected by God who serve unto His glory and that it might yield and unfamiliar. Alas, most worthy friends, children must carry the sins of the people in the wilder- bring forth fruits unto all our eternal salvation. and relatives! The direction in our passports, to ness, then surely all sins will thereby remain Certainly everything is very foreign for us travel by way of Radsiwilow into the foreign away from the Molotschna and never find there and yet not as difficult as it was there to endure land, very much protracted our trip and made it way back. Now, I close with the heartfelt greet- the grievous accusations and written denuncia- more expensive, so that as a result we had to ing and thank God for everything as often as I tions. Ah, that all of us might hereby be strength- travel for six weeks and four days, an addi- think of you and bid that you would inform ened in our faith and offices and that we might tional six days we had to wait in Odessa for the everyone of my writing. And friend Hein will have also been drawn closer to the Saviour full Old Colonists’ passes; the [actual] travelling was presumably pay the postage. of love, who, after all, has been and is and re- exactly five weeks and five days from the Old My beloved children! Should we not see mains the beginning and the finisher of every- Colony. We also had much expenditure for feed; you face and you not ours again in this life, do thing for us, in faith as well as in slander and at one occasion I actually had to pay one Prus- hold God in your hearts and before your eyes persecution, and who has personally had to ex- sian Thaler for four “Metzen” of hay and usu- for your entire life. Indeed, beware of sins and perience the power of Satan. ally the shovel [full] was two Thaler in Osterrich pray in faith unto Jesus, so that through faith Ah, that certainly all of us would only seek and Prussia; consequently the journey became we might personally arrive there to see, where to work for His honour and that armed with the very expensive for us and also far and difficult; there will be no more suffering, separations and full power of our faith we might stand against nonetheless, we made it to here very fortunately, reunions. Be watchful regarding the love and Satan’s might, and as servants who are await- with good health. The horses have certainly be- do not allow the bond of the same to become ing their master, when He will break forth from come quite emaciated but all three remained extinguished or torn apart in your marriage or His wedding: healthy. Otherwise we had no hindernesses with among yourselves, whereof, as you all know, I O lasset euch die Müh nicht reuen, horses and wagon except that [when we were] have always advised and still continue to do so. Glaubt es liebste Seelen doch, one day past the Old Colony we broke our hitch Good wishes! Good wishes! Wollet ihr das Kruze schauen, (Deichsel) and one day before Marienburg an May the Lord preserve you in His grace and O das sanfte Jesus Joch “Ortsschiede” tore in the morning dew. truth. We remain unforgettably your parents and Ist das Mittel zu besiegen It was 70 miles from Odessa up to near relatives unto our deaths. “Heinrich Wiens” Und bring herrliches Vergnügen. Rodsiwilow. The city was called Brode, the aged Heubuden, July 27th, 1847. For behold, my journey has certainly been Hl. noted something in our pass, but it went The beloved, elderly, honourable Ältester very far and difficult, and it was painful to leave quite well. We had no inspections nor difficul- Abraham Reger sends a heartfelt greeting to all you there, but alas, only according to the flesh, ties at any borders. It was 15 miles from Brode Ältesten and Lehrer [minister] there. He has for the conscience does not complain. I have to Lenberg, where we were almost lost, for demonstrated his friendship to us. peace and contentment within myself regarding hardly anyone here knew the way to the place Arrived in Prischip, August 20th, 10 o’clock all the accusations, all of which certainly were where we wanted to go. They directed us to in the evening. Copied by me Johann Wall, motivated only by jealousy and evil, for I have travel to , that was the next road. But the Neuhorst, on February 21, 1850. done no evil either knowingly or intentionally, [border] office said that we would not get over nor have I ever wanted to do so as God is my the border there, and that instead we had to cross First Letter, 1847. witness. And might He also grant that not one the border into Prussia at Krakau. It was 38 This is the first letter by the Honourable of those who have directed this towards me miles, but another nine miles from there over Heinrich Wiens from the Molotschna which he might have to pass over from this world unto the border. Indeed, everything went well and sent from Prussia back here to the Molotschna the next in such blindness, rather that all of them without danger to travel into Prussia - 67 miles after his exile. might have their eyes opened here. up to Marienburg. Very much beloved – indeed, bonded to- Alas, indeed, when I think of how they are And thus the time passed by and from gether in Jesus – fellow servants! After I have, the fault for my deportation from the country Prischip we have spent seven weeks and four from my heart, collectively wished all of you and God for that reason hereafter will reject days underway. Further I cannot yet write, rather and so far distant [friends], all goodness from them from the eternal kingdom of Grace; Oh, must wait for the direction of God. Jesus, the inexhaustible well of grace, here tem- how anxious I become and according to the My brother Johann Wiens, possibly with porally as well as there for eternity: In heartfelt testimony of the Holy Scripture, it cannot fail to Cornelius Friesen from Altona, may want to love I hereby report to you herewith that - filled take place if they remain without feeling and come and remain here for a little while. How with love from us unto you - we have received repentant penitence, for Jesus is the door and soon, however, they will want to depart cannot news [of you] and have completed the exten- the way to the Father, and what is done here

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 33 unto the least of His, He will perceive it as if it much has happened to me, since for the sake of and thank you for your loyalty which you have was done unto Himself and it is more likely that the Gemeinde according to our [high] calling, I demonstrated to us. How long this will con- heaven and earth shall vanish than that one title would have gladly wished to suffer even much tinue is known only to God, may His name be of His law will fail. For with the measure, says more than this to preserve the same: and now, praised. the beloved Saviour, that you have judged, you my beloved fellow servants, I can no longer I have read the writing from Abraham Dyck yourself shall be judged. Oh, therefore, might help you in your work and so the Gemeinde from Altona and seen [therefrom] that you are everyone guard themselves against remains entrusted unto you, and may God grant somewhat improved and perhaps you will again unrighteousness, for an uncompassionate judg- you courage and fearlessness to pasture the become well. Nonetheless death continues to ment shall also come to pass over all those who flock of Christ here [on earth] upon good and stand before us and drains us forth from out of commit unrighteousness. wholesome pastures, so that after your journey this world, as it finds us and God permits. Com- Alas, and might God also grant, if we are is completed you might come to the true Shep- fort where you can the weak, be manly and not to see each other here again in this life, that herd and to receive from Him the crown of peace. strong in the faith, for the Lord can work any- after this life and after this so painful farewell I conclude and ask that you greet the be- thing: He alone is to be trusted. that we shall see each other again in heaven’s loved Gemeinde and thank you for all the good We often speak with the Sandhöfer siblings joy in eternity. Indeed, for this reason, your love deeds which you have demonstrated unto me. I about you - they ask to greet you and all friends. can and should never forget to bid together with remain unforgettably your Ältester, bonded to- Heinrich Peters is wondering that none of the the poet: gether with all of you in love. “Heinrich Wiens” two Peters writes to him. He asks that they all Sucht doch nicht auszuweichen Greet the Gemeinde at Pordenau, Margenau be greeted there. He and his wife and both chil- Dem Kreuz, was Gott geschickt; and Schönsee, Petershagen and Lichtenau, and dren are already well. Cornelius Epp and his Weil nichts ist zu vergleichen forgive me for not writing to anyone by name, it wife from Gnadenheim, as well as their beloved Dem Wohl, das dort beglückt; is because of the reason, but you can think it mother from Blumenort, their sister Classen and Drum faß Geduld (das beste), yourself and bless you. But do not forget those her husband, they have already visited us once Wenn Kreuz sich offenbart, so far distant, I will never forget you. “Heinrich and bid that we greet you there. Dort glänzen alle Geste Wiens” 1847. Now I and my wife bid that the friends there Von Lammes edler Art. Copied by me, Johann Wall, Neuhorst, on all be heartily greeted from us as well as all our Which contemplation, however, our oppo- February 22, 1850. neighbours in Gnadenheim. And also with you nent, the devil, as Peter calls him, generally can- my beloved brother Jakob Wiens together with not tolerate and therefore also seeks to destroy Second Letter, 1848. your beloved wife and children; and with Johann the same within the entire Christendom, seek- This is the second letter from the honourable Braun with his wife and children, I have to talk ing to exalt pride and revenge, for the apostle Ältester Heinrich Wiens from the Molotschna - how are things? Are you still alive? I and my says; be sober and watchful, for your enemy which he wrote from Prussia here to the wife are still alive and are well but in our thoughts daily goeth about the people, like a roaring lion, Molotschna after his deportation. we are often there with you. seeking whom he can ensnare; him resist firmly Klein-Heubuden, Oh, how precious for us were the hours in faith. February 14, 1848, new calendar. when we got together, but how hard the final Ah, how so often I am together with you Dearly beloved brother in Jesus, Johann parting: God, my God, how it pressed upon me there in my thoughts, and in my present talk Wiens in Gnadenheim! After I have from the and inflected such wounds in our hearts. Great with one or the other person; and very much heart wished you and your beloved children was our love, hard was the pain, to bear it all also the same from you unto us; that the Ohms every only self imaginable well-being in body upon which my heart alone was fixed - the chil- there so frequently speak of us on Sunday is in and soul, and, therefore, now have the hope that dren and the Lehrer and the Gemeinde, without one way so urgent and inspiring as if I hear it, [this writing] might find you alive, I cannot omit exception - and the two siblings from the large and yet, we are so very far apart from each to report to you what incorrect thoughts we hu- family remained standing there in tears, but our other. Indeed, how so many a mountain and mans often have here. For behold, beloved passports arrived and the journey had to occur. valley lies between us and how many concerns brother, heavily you left from my wife and my- Oh, my beloved brother, do strengthen that have you and the beloved Gemeinde not had self and most every evening since your depar- which wishes to die and be watchful at all times. over us, and behold, how well the Lord hath ture, my wife and I have talked about you; I It is certainly hard to suffer in the flesh. But preserved us, for upon the so very distant and always only wish for myself to have a few hours remain comforted; he who wants to inherit the unfamiliar journey we have not even once no- in the evening in your company, and my wife, kingdom of God and His gifts must also have ticed, whether anyone has gazed upon us with how she would so gladly make you the coffee suffering here - many experience persecution. evil intentions - everyone was amazed how we in the mornings. Indeed, and take note, this is That shall only bring us peace. Only wait a short travelled here in the starved-out Galacia. how we counted almost every evening until we time, the Lord shall soon appear; His help is no Ah, when I recall unto myself, the love us believed now you could already be there alive longer far. toward of the left behind Gemeinde. I could and well. Oh what a joy, and how you would Thus I close and greet our loved ones and perish in tears, when from the other side I rec- receive so many visitors there, but how very our friends who think of us. ognize how a number of Ältester and Lehrer different things turned out! You beloved one, The slanderous writings have also followed have so little respect for the flock entrusted unto got sick on your journey. This was tragic news us and we do not know if it is already the last them, which certainly the experiences of our for us! My wife now only wished if only she whereby Satan expects to bury us or will he still opponents there has already often demonstrated, might have been able to save you but this also be able to achieve more? I myself am only for who do not seek to pasture their flock without was in vain. Yet we expected to hear news of war, and behold, how my Lord Jesus waves the recompense as directed by their hearts, but rather your death but instead it struck our daughter flag. to rule, and [they] much more love the renown Sara. And thus it also says, my thoughts are not I continue to remain not without friends, but and adoration of the world, and cherish the re- your thoughts. likewise, not without enemies; it is always my gard of person. But this is not how we want to And so fervently you lie upon my heart. prayer, that God might also wish to grant me [conduct ourselves] my beloved Ohms; rather Often while driving, when I sat with you, I this, that I might be able to distinguish the en- to build ourselves up in the most Holy faith, often could not restrain myself for love, that I emy from friends and so that I would not some- praying through the Holy Spirit, that He might did not grab you and hug you until I was satis- how forget myself in my duty and thereby ex- keep us in the love of God and to await in pa- fied and then thought to myself: so you be- perience damage unto myself. tience upon the compassion of the Lord Jesus loved, you accompany me in this way, and who Therefore also unto you, my beloved, re- Christ unto eternal life. Amen. knows which of the two of us will be the first main watchful at all times. And as you have I also do not complain in any way that too to travel to heaven. My wife and I are still alive now accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, so walk in

34 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Him and be rooted and built up in Him and be est interest in this unpeaceful time regarding a Cornelius Wall still has to suffer, whose condi- firm in your faith as you have been taught. physical Wirtschaft which hopefully, would also tion is painful. Nonetheless it was a most pre- All the best and do not forget us in prayer. be hard to find here as long as my thoughts are cious writing for us. We also wish from the May the Lord be and continue with you all. still so firmly fixed upon my people there in heart that this insignificant writing from us might Amen. “Heinrich Wiens” Russia. But [given that] my end might already awaken joy in you and that it might find you Copied by me, Johann Wall, Neuhorst, on also be quite near this possibly might be the alive and in health. March 14, 1850. reason. We are still here on our old place by the most Since the time, however, that my friend beloved Mrs. Reger and are truly chipper and Fourth Letter 1849. Cornies died I have been filled with many new healthy, which we also recognize as a great gift This is the fourth letter of the honourable thoughts, as you can well imagine. For I readily of God and must be thankful for the same. Of Church Ältester Heinrich Wiens from the know that if God had not allowed it to happen it our friends who are also yours, there remains Molotschna which he wrote after his exile from would not be possible. But the entire [matter] for only the one branch at Sandhof from our Oheim Prussia back to the Molotschna. a long time already was driven by Cornies, and Corneils Wall with whom we get together quite Klein-Heuboden, therefore, he is also the one on account of whom frequently. They are still their six together: two April 7, 1849 I was deported. But not yet by God and my most married, four of them are in the paternal [house] Dear beloved Cousin Jacob Wall! beloved Saviour, who is my entire firm moun- which also belongs to the four singles. The name Firstly I wish unto you, your wife and your tain and hope, and I also firmly hope, will also of the man of the oldest sister is Reimer and children and all our beloved friends and acquain- remain, and never deny me His help and assis- they live in Grosz Mausendorf, they have a good tances all the blessings of God and all self-ex- tance – so far he has never yet done so. Indeed, living and two children alive. The name of the perienced goodness on body and soul from out according to the flesh the road for me which I man of the youngest sister is Nikel and live on of the inexhaustible well of the grace of Jesus. must walk has already been very hard but in the the Klein-Schordau. They have suffered much Simultaneously I make note that I and my wife spirit I have also often enjoyed the heavenly sweet from water flooding and also on account of are alive and well. I also report hereby that I glimpses. As you, beloved, also quote in a verse break-ins by thieves and have their difficulties have received your letter, so full of love, of in your loving writing, which the blind world making ends meet. The four in the paternal home August 31, 1848, but which only arrived on does not know: It will sweeten your cross, that are doing very well. The oldest brother of them January 23, 1849, old calendar. you shall have to confess. Therefore, according is called Abraham, the youngest Cornelius, the I immediately read the letter with newly in- to your wish, as it is also mine, if God would oldest sister is Maria and the youngest is Sara. flamed love and read therein of your life and allow it, that we could personally talk; but if this I am to greet you from them all. health and that of your siblings. I myself also is not to be - which is quite possible – since I The harvest here has done very well, the feel fully obliged as soon as possible to come to have only now entered into my 50th year of my prices are not high; yet, if things remain in peace, greet the love you have demonstrated to us with life - and yet possibly may not complete the same; matters are going very well in the outwardly; a letter. Certainly it has remained undone for I therefore wish that all of us together might meet God knows regarding the eternal. Things seem almost too long and therefore it does not thereby before the throne of God, which is where our quite dark to me as if hardly any spirit therefore extinguish the love demonstrated toward us and true Fatherland is, among the multitude of the is still at hand, and when I think thereon that we for this I hereby ask for forgiveness. blessed, and where no earthly difficulties can are not to seek for equality with the world, rather It would be a heartfelt joy for me and my anymore disperse us or separate us. Now in this to allow our light to shine in humble love, I wife if this simple writing would find you and sense, we shall also only walk here to defend the most almost completely wonder regarding the your beloved wife and children as well as our faith, in order that our beloved Saviour might not enormous pride which already could not be prac- friends and acquaintances there in good well- be ashamed of us on that day. tised and displayed any higher in clothes, such being. Much beloved cousin and all beloved Now finally, all of you together are hereby as riding and travelling harness, then as is pres- friends, with living and health we have again greeted many times from me and my beloved ently occurring. survived a winter and with God’s help the spring wife, with the most precious peace of our Lord May God be gracious unto us and also know is drawing nigh which in so many ways in- Jesus. I remain your friend who never forgets how to keep me in order that also here I might spires us to raise our senses and lift up our you and your fellow pilgrim unto Zion. conduct my walk unto the honour of His holy voices in praise that the cold winter is over and “Heinrich Wiens” Copied by me Johann name and in which anxiety I often counsel in that spring has come which will renew every- Wall, Neuhorst, this 14th of March, 1850. this way, which He knows the best. Oh, do thing. forgive me that I do not express myself further Would that the All-mighty God might abun- Fifth Letter, 1849. in this regard. If I could speak with you in per- dantly allow His rich in grace spring to become This is the fifth letter by the honourable son, I would declare myself further and more truly great and inspired in the entire Christendom; church Ältesten Heinrich Wiens from the lovingly in this regard. My beloved, pray, how- might He in the future also preserve us from the Molotschna which he wrote from Prussia here ever, for us, and pray for the entire Christendom cold winter, which has already taken hold of so to Russia after his deportation. and also each one for himself; presently we can many a heart here in and among our people; and Kleine Heuboden, November 21, 1849 still do so, presently God still gives us time for presently through the warm spring to awake all To Jakob Wall, Neuendorf, Chortitzer Colony! that, now He will still receive penitence for sins, those who had died alive in faith in Jesus our Dearly loved cousin together with your wife but for how much longer this will still be the Saviour, so that certainly not one single person and children as well as all our blood relatives, case, we do not know. might have to hear that statement without com- friends and acquaintances, receive from us so I might well refer to the so-familiar evening fort: Go out you cursed into the eternal fire. far distinct a wish of grace, peace, salvation and song, the 11th verse, and from song 241, the last Your question, my heartfelt friend, regard- blessing from God the Father in the co-working three verses, and the Revelation of St. John 14 ing our living conditions, in what we make our power of the Holy Spirit. Amen! v.7. Yet, my outlook remains firmly standing living here, I answer by saying it is still our old After this greeting of love from my wife and according to the words of Paul in 2 Thess., way, here by the very beloved widow Reger at myself, I report to you, most intimately and chapter 2, and truly what Peter says in his sec- Klein-Heuboden. She is a woman in the 76th bonded together beloved cousin and brother in ond epistle in chapter three from verses 9 to the year of her life and my wife fills her womanly Jesus, that we received your most loving letter end. place in the Wirtshaft together with two maids of October 10, here on the 5th of November, old Wherefore I give you my heartfelt wish that and until now it is still going very good. I must calendar, and with joy we saw therefrom about you might confess and remain true until the see to it how I also occupy my time. Quite fre- your living and health and certainly also about death; that is my heartfelt wish. Amen. quently I get together with our beloved friends your many difficulties which you made for your- Now, my beloved cousin, about that which at Sandhoff and continue to have not the slight- self through the sale of the mill and how cousin you write to have heard about your very be-

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 35 loved brother Klaas Wall, that as I understand ever, manifestly apparent from looking at my hand in brotherhood, but only with you and with it, he belongs there in the Bergthaler Colony; do passport, whether I was a Prussian, and when my entire being, according to Galatians 5, verse not believe ours that they had fault in my depor- this became evident, that no inquiries in that re- 14, 15, so that I too can forgive from the heart. tation, but I through a writing which was sent gard were possible. This Consul died and thus Whether or not those - as I have understood from from here to the [Guardianship] Committee, ap- the entire matter remained in abeyance, which Wall’s writing - excuse themselves regarding my parently made our return more difficult, regard- was very painful for me, for this gentlemen dem- exile out of the country, the question remains: ing which I have otherwise not yet heard any- onstrated very great compassion for us, and said, will they thereby also be able to excuse them- thing. It also gave me a real boost of my heart that in as far as he knew, the Mennonites were selves before God, or whether their dealings as that I read such, but what shall I say thereto. held in high regard by the Czar. manifested as against me shall ever be able to From here I wrote to the Lord Privy Councillor Finally, a most heartfelt greeting of love from stand before God? I regard this [aspect] as much Barcho v Rosen. The children had already often me and my wife unto you all who are our friends more serious than the banishment. pleaded with me, I should write to him, how- and relatives. I will remain bonded with you in Yet, everything certainly remains under the ever I hesitated. Finally I got such drive to do so love until the death and will never forget you. Lord’s sovereignty and His holy name is glori- and simultaneously such a great trust in this God bless! Amen. “Heinrich Wiens” fied by me. As a Father He concerns Himself Lord, that after I in my weakness had spoken to Copied by me, Johann Wall, Neuhorst, abundantly over us here in this foreign land. God in my and asked for permission as March 16, 1850. Although I perceive from the few lines in the well as for words, that He might give them to writing to friend Wall, that he had read them and me for that purpose, that without two moments Sixth Letter, 1849. that possibly doubts and anxieties had arisen hesitation I wrote it out exactly as it came to me. This is the sixth letter by the honourable within him as to what kind of a letter I had sent I also felt myself compelled because of your Ältester Heinrich Wiens from the Molotschna to the Comite, I cannot do otherwise than to somewhat expressed concern there, to send a which he wrote to Prussia here to Russia after send you an exact copy in the quickest way copy to the beloved honourable Ältester Jakob his deportation. possible [so that you yourself can determine] Dyck. At the first opportunity, my beloved, travel Kleine Heuboden, November 21, 1849 the contents of the same. to him; he might read it to you and also let you To the Church-Ältester Jakob Dyck, Rosenthal, The circular, which came to all the village copy it; otherwise I would well wish for this to Chortitzer Colony! offices [Schulzenämter] already while we were remain among you, for the world is full of de- Most worthy champion of battle and colleague still there [Russia], was not at first sent to the ceit and cunning. in service in Christ! After firstly wishing you all Honourable Ältesten Abr. Reger, rather [it was And should I have thereby omitted some- of God’s blessing unto body and soul from the sent] to those who were wholly agreed and the thing or made an error that our moving back is inexhaustible well of the grace of Jesus out of same was passed on to him, and he wrote out a thereby weakened, what shall I say? It has al- true and heartfelt love, and simultaneously noti- copy for himself. That I have - at least as indi- ready happened, and if it then only falls back on fying you of the health of my beloved wife and cated in friend Wall’s writing - made a return [to us and not on anyone else, then God be praised myself, I report that we have received your lov- Russia] more difficult, was certainly not my in- - upon whom my hope is firmly placed - and ing letter of August 1 here on September 3, and tention, nor was it that I thereby got too [danger- their accusations before the world will not stand the joyous reference regarding the previous health ously] close to an important personage. Rather, before God, for His Word remains constant and of the beloved friend Wall, according to his writ- in so doing I had such trust to write to the most unbreakable: that which you have done to the ing of November 5, and for which we pass on worthy Privy Counsellor v. Rosen - almost as if least of them here on earth, you have done unto our heartfelt thanks unto you, honourable [Ohm], I was writing to you, beloved; also, he will quickly me. Yet I would wish that everyone in this time together with the wish that the health remained at surmise [from my letter] that I am no [custom- of grace might have their eyes opened in that the best, and that this unworthy writing might ary] writer of petitions, and because of my poor regard and that no one would take it over into find you alive and in good well-being. [hand] writing, I had it properly rewritten by a eternity, what they have carried out not only Ohm Abr. Regier was quite moved by the young person who is together with us here. against me, but the anger which they have al- little note regarding yourself and for this reason But until the present day I have not experi- ready executed for years, is horrible. Indeed, I am also to pass on a heartfelt greeting and enced nor heard anything regarding what I when I so truly reflect in that regard, my senses thanks. He finds himself more-or-less well. wrote. I wrote in that regard to the delegates, almost remain motionless, regarding people who There is still no news to report regarding the that if they should happen to come to speak to supposedly have attired themselves in Christ’s journey of the Ältesten to Berlin. In order to the prince [Herrn], they should certainly seek to blood and righteousness and stand there to nurse the wounded soldiers, all the Gemeinden ascertain if errors were made therein; and should preach His word, that they have allowed them- together have made a joint collection of 3,000 it thereby, as indicated, not have been beneficial selves to be torn that way so far. Lord, do not Thaler cash, in respect of which they also re- with respect to our eventual return, I would remember them for their sins; help me Lord ceived a very loving acknowledgement. How hereby bid you, most beloved, that you would Jesus to be able to speak in truth. Amen. things will turn out otherwise, no one can really want to support us in any possible way as best Otherwise, I do not know much more to re- say. May the Lord uphold us all in His wisdom. you know how. port to you for this time my beloved friends, Generally, though, things do seem rather dark Also please make friend Wall familiar with other than this much my beloved cousin, with the to me and I would so dearly like to speak to this copy. It is my wish that the Lord might petition I also send you our passports as Prus- you, beloved, regarding so many circumstances, immediately erase any existing anxieties regard- sian subjects, as well as the circular, which also and also regarding the situation here, if it would ing the writing. lay in every village office - I think also in your be possible. For I say again, things look very With another similar greeting of love unto colony - already before our departure from there, dark to me. you from my wife and myself, we remain your for the purpose that it was to truly bring us into A heartfelt joy was awakened within me when unforgetting friends and fellow pilgrims bonded disrepute here as well, in order that you might I perceived from your letter that you had been until we see each other again. also show the same to the Privy Councillor. For visited by the Molotschna brethren, asking you Amen! I commit you unto the grace of God. during the first winter here I travelled to Danzig to come to help bring about a reconciliation there. Best wishes unto you, so far distant fellow- to the Russian Consul and presented our matter Oh, if only our Ohms there would not inter- servant in the Gospel. Amen. to him and also showed him our passport and the mingle themselves with the others without you, “Heinrich Wiens” same writing. He was astonished by the same as it will grieve me for my lifetime if they with Copied by me, Johann Wall, Neuhorst, and advised me to immediately appeal to the Rus- their arrogant prohibitionary writings should have March 16, 1850. This is the sixth letter from the sian Czar through the Prussian government. Upon torn our bond with you. I certainly more than Honourable Ältesten Heinrich Wiens from the my request to him, to rather go through him in- wish for a reconciliation but not without you, Molotschna which he wrote here to Russia after stead of the Prussian government, it was, how- beloved. With a bended disposition I extend my his exile to Prussia.

36 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 The Schönsee worship house, Molotschna. In 1909 a petition was filed for permission to build the Schönsee worship house. Government approval was granted and the church built shortly thereafter. Rudy Friesen writes that the “Schönsee church building was one of the most ornate Mennonite churches in Russia. It was built in a neo-Gothic style complete with Gothic shaped windows and buttresses between the windows.....It was placed parallel to the street with the pulpit/platform at one end of the long rectangular sanctuary. At the other end of the building....was an extension which was the main entrance....There was another extension along the main wall facing the yard, which was the side entrance....The seating capacity of the building was 700. The interior had a fresco ceiling painted by an Italian artist. After the civil war the building was turned into a granary and then into a club,” from Into the Past, pages 292-293. For an article and photo of the Petershagen and Schönsee churches in 1994 by Orlando Hiebert, see Pres., No. 7, pages 26-27. See Diese Steine, pp. 276- 279, for additional photos of the Schönsee church. The old style with the council/pulpit on the long side reflected the long-standing tradition of equality and democracy of the Flemish Mennonites, which Ältester Heinrich Wiens had fought so hard to protect. The Prediger or Fah’moona, was an equal chosen from among the brethren to admonish them in the ways of the Gospel. Having the minister standing in front at the narrow end reflected a more Protestant way of organizing the church where the pastor had become part of a paid educated elite telling the parishioners what theology to hold, what to think, etc. The prayers were now spoken out loud by the whereby the prayer concerns of the parishioners were mediated to God by the clergy. Praying was no longer a communal sighing of the spirit by equals before God.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 37 The Hutterian Brethren in the Molochna, 1842-74 “Struggle for Identity and Confession. The Hutterian Brethren in the Molochna Colony, South Russia, 1842-74,” by Astrid Von Schlacta, 20/10 Fürstenweg, 6020 Insbruck, Austria (011-43-676-3327310). Introduction. ing the 1750s this small Hutterite group, which bilities of living close to the Mennonite settle- The time the spent in the only consisted of a few families and which cer- ments around Chortitza. This group of nearly Molochna - 30 years during the 19th century - tainly would have disappeared, was joined by 30 families with its leader Jacob Walther, who is a short time compared to nearly 500 years of persecuted Protestants from (South had argued for giving up community of goods, Hutterian history in general. But these 30 years Austria). These Protestants had to leave their was integrated in the Molochnan Mennonite constitute an important period of the Hutterite homelands after the Empress Maria Theresia villages for one winter. The parting from their story and they proved to be very crucial for the had ordered the deportation of all Protestants in former fellow believers did not proceed with- Hutterites to find their identity - a process whose her Hereditary Lands to Transsylvania. out difficulties because the Walther group try- consequences radiate into the 21st century. It Some of these deported Protestants became ing to start a new life in private property, de- was an epoch of struggle for identity and con- interested in the Hutterite faith and finally got manded its part of the financial resources of the fession, the aftermath of a tension between old baptized. They built up their own “Bruderhof” community. Furthermore the best craftsmen went Anabaptist traditions and new influences. But and started a life in community of goods - and with Jacob Walther. before taking a closer look on the Hutterites in brought “fresh blood” into the old Anabaptist The situation changed again when a short the Molochna, we have to have a glimpse on the Hutterites. With these conversions a time within time later a fire destroyed the colony in Radiceva. Hutterites before the Molochna. the Hutterite community started which was char- The chances for the Walachian Hutterite group acterized by a tense dualism between the old which still lived in community of goods to sur- Historical Background. Hutterite Anabaptist tradition and the new Prot- vive tended to be almost zero. Hutterite origin lay in in the 16th estant influences. Therefore, Jacob Walther and his fellow be- century where a lot of persecuted Anabaptists lievers in Chortitza decided to return to Walachia found refuge due to a tolerant climate provided Johannes Waldner. in order to help and prevent a total decline of the by local nobles and landlords. Jakob Huter af- But by the 1760s the situation in church. Although a complete reunion of both ter whom the group later was named, stemmed Transsylvania got more and more difficult since groups did not take place, for the following years from the village Moos in the Pustertal valley in Jesuit also reached these regions they lived in neighbouring villages. Neverthe- Tyrol. Because of the strong persecution of in order to continue their work of recatholization. less, the spiritual and economic decline of the Anabaptists in their home lands he organized The Hutterites decided to immigrate to Walachia Hutterite church, which was yet another decline the emigration of his fellow believers to Moravia. and further on to the Northern parts of the in their history, could not be delayed. Here, they founded early communities sharing Ukraine where they established a colony of about all property. The Moravian nobles welcomed 200 members in Radiceva. Here Johannes Molotschna, 1842. on their estates emigrants from Tyrol, Waldner became the leading person within the A solution and a way out for a new begin- Württemberg, Bavaria and other parts of the Hutterite community. His name stands for a very ning opened up in the move to the Molochna Empire. interesting period of Hutterite history. Johannes where contacts with the Mennonites had been In this first period of Hutterite history the Waldner was of Carinthian background; as a maintained and where the Hutterites were en- community found its specific identity based on young boy he had been among the deported couraged by the guarantee of help from the out- Anabaptist principles such as believers’ bap- Protestants. In 1794 he was elected as Elder of side. But only after several years of waiting and tism, , separation and, specifically the whole community; his contribution among the intervention of Johann Cornies had the gov- Hutterite, community of goods. Church, social others was the continuation of the Hutterite ernment at last allowed the settlement of the and spiritual life was being organized - the Chronicle - the Austrian historian Johann Hutterites. Cornies had to promise to integrate Hutterites had and still have a tremendous cor- Loserth called him “the only true historian of the Hutterian group into the economic and so- pus on church writings, as ordinances, letters, the Hutterites”. cial life of the Mennonite villages. He also had sermons and historical reports - and the com- Johannes Waldner started a very intensive to confirm that the costs of the settlement would munity prospered, especially economically. But correspondence with Pietistic groups, especially be fully met by local resources. The first settle- Hutterite fate changed with the beginning of the with the Herrnhut Brüdergemeine. He showed ment of the financially and spiritually impover- Thirty Years’ War (1618), when all Non-Catho- a deep interest in their ideas, a curiosity for non- ished Hutterites in the Gouvernement Taurien lics had to leave Moravia. Anabaptist thinking; he was open to discus- was Huttertal. Later on, when the Hutterite com- The Hutterites continued their migration and sions about questions of theology and practical munity grew larger, the villages Johannesruh, found refuge in and Christian living. Waldner’s correspondence Neu-Hutterdorf and Dobritscha, were founded. Transsylvania where they settled until the late stands for a significant change of the Hutterites The Hutterites stayed in South Russia from 1842 18th century. But in the late 17th and early 18th position from separation to a more open-minded to 1874. century new phases of recatholization struck spirit. But this spirit was not met with general Approximately 50 families of Hutterites ar- the areas of Hutterite settlement. Pressure on approval by all community members, so that his rived in the newly established village Hutterthal the Anabaptists was intensified due to Jesuit time was characterized by a sort of clash be- (Gouvernement Taurien) in 1842. They started missionaries who tried to recatholize the remain- tween the old Anabaptist tradition and teaching living in private property, since community of ing non-Catholic subjects of the Habsburg Em- and the new Protestant-Pietistic thinking; this goods had finally been given up in Radiceva. pire. The Hutterites in Upper Hungary were clash reached into the Hutterite community and Hutterite agriculture in the Molochna was orga- forced to adopt childs’ baptism. Furthermore caused a tension between tradition and renewal. nized according to the Mennonite model; social they gave up community of goods. Within the and political structures within the villages also following decades Hutterites in this area were Community of Property. corresponded to the common self-administra- more and more assimilated into the surrounding When Johannes Waldner died in 1824 the tion. Already by 1852, the community had society. crisis among the Hutterites could not be denied. grown large enough to found a second colony, Only in Transsylvania, which continued as In 1818 a dispute between two elders about the Johannesruh. a tolerant region within the Habsburg Empire, necessity of community of goods had led to a was a life for non-Catholic subjects still pos- serious confrontation - economic problems had New Identity. sible. Here a small, declining remnant of caused the dispute. The Hutterites split and one In contrast to the outward very positive and Hutterites survived until the 18th century. Dur- group went to South Russia to find new possi- promising development leading to prosperity,

38 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 several more questions that led to discussions when they had to find their position towards and splits: the question of political participation questions of political participation. The Grosse and discussions around reinstating community Gemeinde also went through the same process of goods. before the schism in 1842. Although destructive in the beginning, these problems in the end helped the Hutterites to Civil Authority. find their old - new identity; they helped to shape The appointment of the “Dorfschulze” and and reorganize Hutterite community after nearly the “Beisitzer” conflicted with internal church one century of turmoil. The process of finding a structures which had grown over centuries, new and strengthened confessional identity was based upon clear hierarchies and containing paved with splits and . But the result of fixed mechanisms of sanctions for non-con- this process was the basis for another period of formist behaviour. Consequently, a discussion prosperity and growth in the North American within the Hutterite community started as to Dakota Territories and in Canada which eventu- whether Hutterites should and were allowed to ally lasted into the 21st century. From a retro- participate in a “worldly” political administra- spective perspective the importance of the tion. Since the 16th century Hutterites had re- “Molochnan climate” becomes obvious; for the fused this participation due to the teaching that Hutterites it was like going through the desert no Christian should hold a political office. In (steppe) to find their identity. South Russia the Hutterites now were forced to Three topics were fundamental for the elect one man out of their midst for the office of Astrid von Schlacta at Molotschna 2004 confer- Hutterite crisis in the Molochna: communal liv- the “Schulze”, and they had to transfer political ence, June 6, 2004. Photo - Adina Reger. ing, political participation (civil authority) and authority and jurisdiction from the ecclesiasti- community of goods. The first problem arose cal area into the general public - before this, the inner condition of the Hutterite church dur- out of the fact that the political and social struc- authority and jurisdiction had been the respon- ing the times of resettlement as well as during tures in Hutterthal, a typical South Russian street sibility of the church elders. They had been the the following years presented itself in a con- village, were oriented on the model of self-ad- authority; it had been their power to decide about stant and ongoing situation of crisis and con- ministration which had been granted to the Men- the politics of the church and e.g. about matters flict. The reasons were the already mentioned nonites decades earlier. Therefore, the Hutterites of punishment and ban. different lines of tradition, the Anabaptist and had to appoint a “Dorfschulze” and two A long report - “The decline of the church in the Carinthian-Protestant, which also had caused “Beisitzer” as political authority - this appoint- Russia and whose fault it is” - paints a colourful the conflicts in Radiceva. Additionally, in the ment was followed by conflicts that were simi- and detailed picture of the internal difficulties the Molochna the Hutterites were confronted with lar to those the Mennonites had to face in Prussia Hutterites had with the submission of the church

European Hutterian Communities, 16th-19th Centuries.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 39 members under the authority of the “Dorfschulze”. having a significant impact on their social and spiri- ing ordinances. The report is anonymous, but most likely and tual development. This influence not only con- The advantage of the Hutterites was their cor- obviously written by a Hutterite of the faction cerned the provision of a model of economic and pus of church writings and ordinances stemming which wanted to stick to the old ways and cling political structures in the first years of their settle- from the 16th and 17th century. Here the founda- to the old ordinances. The “Schulze” for example ment and their recommendation to the authorities, tion of Hutterite life had been set down and in was accused of “clinging to the world” and gen- but also extended over Hutterite social and spiri- every church crisis the Hutterites could base their erally holding too much power. The critic notes tual life. Among others, under the guidance of reorganisation on century-old and proven prin- that the Schulzen would even judge, mock and Johann Cornies the school system in the Hutterite ciples. beat the elders who had previously been the high- colonies was reorganized. Further on, Cornies Thus, the time in South Russia for the Hutterite est authority. His conclusion was that “God has brought the old Hutterite tradition to an end that church or for the three communal groups which departed from the Schulzenamt.” And to extend the marriage of a woman to a man was arranged later separately settled in the Dakota Territories - the argument: the Mennonites and, particularly, by the elders. Obviously, these intrusions into old the Schmiede-, Darius- and - proved Johann Cornies were not led by God because traditions added to the discussions and conflicts to be an important phase of identity building point- they stood behind the Schulzenamt as the highest within the Hutterian church, but also in their rela- ing the way into the 20th and 21st century. The authority. tionship to the Mennonites. circumstances of living in the Molotschna, the influences coming from the outside and the inter- Community of Goods. Conclusions. nal discussions, became a catalyst for the forma- Besides these questions of political participa- As can be seen, the Hutterite settlements in tion of a new, old Hutterite identity. tion the Hutterites had to deal with a second fun- the Gouvernement Taurien were integrated into damental problem. For a long time of their history the Mennonite political, social and economic vil- Endnotes: the Hutterite church had been characterized by lage structures from the very beginning. With Note 1: A. J. F. Ziegschmid (Hg.), Das Klein- community of goods. But this special Hutterite time going on the Hutterites though tried to free Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brüder, Phila- teaching and practice had been given up in Radiceva themselves from these structures in order to again delphia 1947, p. 443. and in the Molotchna the church members contin- introduce traditions which had been handed down ued living with private property. Due to the eco- by their own history and through their spiritual Further Reading: nomic upturn the Hutterites now experienced the and church writings. Accordingly, they tried to Astrid von Schlacta, “`Searching through the mostly unknown situation of different standards practice separation more strictly - from the local Nations’: tasks and problems of sixteenth-cen- of living within their community. Rich Hutterites aspect by founding new colonies, practicing com- tury Hutterian mission,” in Mennonite Quarterly stood side by side with poor ones who had to earn munity of goods, outwardly e.g. by special cloth- Review, Jan. 2000, pages 27-49. their money as loan workers - an inequality which caused further conflicts. The subsequent discussions awakened the Oberschulz vs. Vorsteher. memory of the “good old times” in some An interesting aside that arose during the research for this Molotschna bicentennial issue is that Hutterites when the church lived a “peaceful” life the earlier Russian Mennonite historical works, e.g. Franz Isaak (1906) and P. M. Friesen (1910), in community of goods and when the old hierar- and the documentation published therein, used the term “Vorsteher” in referring to the head of the chies still functioned and regulated the social and Gebietsamt (the civil authority in the Mennonite community) and not Oberschulze. The exception, spiritual life. The desire grew to reinstate com- however, is D. H. Epp (1889), who uses the term “Oberschulze” relative to the head of the civic munity of goods as the right path shown by Jesus authority (pp. 75-76) although he uses the term “Vorsteher” relative to the civic leader in the for his disciples. But this wish was met with Fürstenland Colony (p. 91). Franz Doerksen writes that the six Fürstenlandt villages “...had to resistance not only by the authorities, the welfare elect a man from their midst who was then presented to the Oberverwalter. The latter then affirmed office, the Agricultural Society and the Menno- him as Vorsteher over the six colonies,” Diese Steine, pages 438-9. nites, but also within the Hutterite church itself. The Mennonite Encyclopedia article (Vol IV, pages 14-15) simply explains that “Oberschulze Two church members, Jakob Walter and Jörg (German for mayor or executive official) was the highest officer of the district or county.” One Waldner, which fought for re-establishing com- assumption is that the term “Vorsteher” was the traditional word used by the Flemish Mennonites munity of goods, asked in a letter to the welfare in the Vistula delta during the 18th century as head of the civic or material functions of the office for foreign colonists in South Russia in Gemeinde, e.g. managing church properties, cemeteries, fire , etc., as opposed to spiri- 1848 “that we would be allowed to go back to tual matters which were the responsibility of the Ältester. Presumably the term was slowly our former conditions and establish a ‘Bruderhof’ replaced with Oberschulze as Germanization advanced among the Russian Mennonites during on this behalf. Due to the hostility not only among the 19th century. However, Professor S. Voolstra, Amsterdam, states he is not aware of any our brothers but also among the elders we ask precedent for the term “Vorsteher” in the Dutch context, and suggests that the term may have Low the welfare office for help,”[Note 1]. German origins. Hutterites also used the term “Vorsteher” (Cf: Horst Penner, pp. 106 and 166). To make the first preparations for communal James Urry writes “I have found the Khortitza Mennonites using the term `Oberschulze’ in living a group around Jörg Waldner separated 1848 where the single historical report is signed by Bartsch as Oberschulze” (Woltner, from the other church members and gathered for Gemeindeberichten, page 28). Urry adds that the “...Guardian’s Committee regulations (i.e.1875) their own meetings in Johannes Stahl’s house [in their]....official regulations for Gebietsverwaltung used the term Gebietsvorsteher NOT where they would hold services and pray. Fi- Oberschulze.” E. K. Francis (In Search of ) consistently uses only the term “Oberschulze”. nally, in some existing villages and in some newly In the case of the Bergthaler, the reference is always to Oberschulze, although the founded daughter colonies, community of goods Bergthaler were unique among the Mennonite emigrating to Manitoba in that for them the concept was established: in Hutterdorf (1857), in Neu- of Gemeinde and Gebietsamt was co-terminous. Hutterthal and Johannesruh (1864), in Scheromet According to Peter Zacharias (, page 58), the conservative Old Colonists emigrating to (1868). The internal Hutterite writings from the Manitoba in the 1870s used the term Vorsteher to express their dissatisfaction with the fact that the 16th and 17th century which propagated com- Oberschulzen in Russia, technically had power over the Ältester, the head of the church commu- munity of goods and the example of the first nity around which all of life was to be structured. One can possibly conclude then that the origins church in Jerusalem as the only way of living for of the Old Colonist distaste for Oberschulze originated in the strong arm power associated with the disciples of Jesus Christ proved to be basic the office in Russia while at the same time the largest single component of their community came for reinstating community of goods. from Fürstenland where their civic leaders, the “Vorsteher” had significantly lessor powers. For The Mennonites and, especially, Johann the Old Colonists the word Vorsteher signified that the head of the civil authority within their Cornies have to be noted as being of great impor- community had a different and somewhat less powerful status in their Gemeinde, always subject tance for the Hutterites in South Russia and of to the supreme authority of the church.

40 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 American Civil Religion and the New Religious Right “Civil Religion, the American Dream and the New Religious Right: A Study in Confusion and Tension,” by Robert D. Linder, Department of History, Eisenhower Hall, Kansas State University, Manhatten, Kansas, U.S.A., 66506.

Introduction. “The American Dream” is an illusive con- cept, yet most of those who live in the United “....church and state alike were to States believe there is such a thing (Note One). be dominated by the saints...” Roughly speaking, it has something to do with freedom and equality of opportunity. In the po- litical realm, it involves the shared dream of a This arrangement worked fairly well for the free and equal society. The fact that the reality first American Puritans, but in the second and does not fit the dream is probably well known, third generations the tension began to mount be- for no society can be both free and equal at the tween the concept of a New Israel composed same time. Even in a relatively open and mobile only of elect saints on the one hand and the Puri- nation like the USA, there are still relatively few tan conviction that true Christians were those at the top of the heap, many more in the middle, who had experienced a genuine conversion to and some at or near the bottom. Christ on the other. Everything in the New Israel depended on the saints. They were the church and they ruled the state. But what if the second generation did not respond to the call for conver- sion and the supply of saints ran out? The answer was eventually to establish an arrangement, usually called the halfway covenant, whereby those who of the second generation who did not experience conversion in the Puritan mold could be admitted to church membership after making a profession of communal obedience Roger Williams. which, in turn, allowed them to have their chil- dren baptized in order to place them under the two dreams of for a religiously har- covenant. In short, the Puritans had discovered monious nation and a religiously free nation have how difficult it was to make certain that the sec- existed side-by-side down to the present - some- ond and third generations were soundly converted times in relative peace but often in turmoil and and thus qualified to keep the City on the Hill tension (Note Four). operating properly according to the ordinances of God. In any event, the Puritans maintained their “....the Puritan sense of cosmic sense of destiny and purpose by means of this patch-work scheme. However, the concept of mission as God’s New Israel even- New England as God’s New Israel was given John Winthrop. tually became part of America’s na- new impetus during the First Great Awakening Nevertheless, in the United States, even those tional identity....” in the first half of the seventeenth century. Ameri- who have the most reason to deny its reality still can theologian and Congregational minister Jonathan Edwards, for one, saw the hand of God cling to its promise, if not for themselves at least The First American Dream and Religion: for their children. In any event, it can be said of at work in the awakening, in both a theological Puritan Reformers vs. Radical Restorationists and social sense. Edwards believed that there the American Dream, in the words of sociologist The Puritans who gave the country its rich W. Lloyd Warner, that “…though some of it is would be a golden age for the church on earth imagery of America as a City on a Hill and as a achieved through the faithful preaching of the false, by virtue of our firm belief in it, we have second Israel lived with a great deal of tension made some of it true,” (Note Two). What is op- gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. The world themselves. They were, by self-definition, elect thus would be led by the American example of erative in the case of the American Dream and spirits, segregated from the mass of humankind society-at-large also seems to be operative in the faithful preaching, impressive conversions and by an experience of conversion, fired by the sense godly living into the establishment of the millen- realm of religion and the Dream (Note Three). that God was using them to revolutionize human Puritan John Winthrop’s oft-cited and well- nium. In so doing, the New Englanders were history, and committed to the execution of his surely God’s chosen people, his New Israel (Note known 1630 metaphor of “A City upon a Hill” will. As such, they constituted a crusading force and sometime Baptist and Roger Will- Six). of immense energy. However, in reality, it was As most people know, the millennium did not iams’ less known but equally hallowed vision of an energy that was often incapable of united ac- a country in which, as he observed in 1644, “God come in Edwards’ day or even immediately there- tion because the Puritan saints formed different after. Instead the First Great Awakening died out requireth not an uniformity of Religion to be conceptions of what the divine will entailed for inacted and inforced in any civil state…” provide and the original theistically-oriented chosen na- themselves, their churches, and the unregenerate tion theme was metamorphosed into a civil the background for understanding the historic world-at-large. Nevertheless, they were certain tension between two aspects of the American millennialism. This occurred in the period be- of their mission in the New World: to be an ex- tween the end of the awakening in the 1740s and Dream in the realm of religion. Over the years, ample of how a covenanted community of heart- the Puritan sense of cosmic mission as God’s the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775. felt believers could function. Thus, in New En- It was in this era that the transferal of the central New Israel eventually became part of America’s gland the relation of church and state was to be a national identity and the radical stand for reli- concepts of seventeenth-century Puritan ideol- harmonious partnership, for church and state alike ogy to the future American republic, including gious freedom developed into the American ideal were to be dominated by the saints (Note Five). of religious and cultural pluralism. And so the the New Israel motif, took place.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 41 Disappointed that the great revival did not Constitution became the covenants that bound religious liberty result in the dawning of the millennium, many together the people of the nation and secured to champions on the colonial preachers turned their apocalyptic ex- them God’s blessing, protection, and call to his- left in order to create pectations elsewhere. In short, when the First toric mission. Most important, the United States an American civil re- Awakening tailed off, many evangelical leaders itself became the covenanted community and ligion. Jefferson, the attempted to reinterpret the millennial hope it had God’s New Israel, destined to spread real free- great champion of spawned. In the process, the clergy, in a subtle dom and true religion to the rest of the world religious liberty and but profound shift in , redefined (Note Eight). political individual- the ultimate goal of apocalyptic hope. The old In the nineteenth-century, this transmutation ism, also embraced expectation of the conversion of all nations to of the millennial ideal resulted in what became the imagery of the Christianity became diluted with, and often sub- known as “Manifest Destiny.” Coined by jour- United States as a ordinated to, the commitment to America as the nalist John L. Sullivan in 1845, Manifest Des- second Israel. In his new seat of liberty. First and then En- tiny came to mean for countless Americans that second inaugural gland became the archenemies of freedom, both Almighty God had “destined” them to spread address on 4 March Jonathan Edwards. civil and religious. over the entire North American continent. And as 1805, Jefferson told they did, they would take with them their uplift- the American people that during his second term ing and ennobling political and religious institu- as their national leader, he would need: “the favor tions (Note Nine). of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our But there was another religious dream abroad fathers, as Israel of old, from their native land and in the land that did not rest upon the model of a planted them in a country flowing with all the City on a Hill or God’s New Israel. This was the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered belief in religious liberty that had grown out of our infancy with His providence and our riper the Protestant left, generally known as the Radi- years with His wisdom and power, and to whose cal Reformation. This view originally stood goodness I ask you to join in supplications with alongside of and in many cases opposed to the me that He will so enlighten the minds of your idea that New England was God’s New Israel. servants, guide their councils, and prosper their The classic spokesperson for this second con- measures that whatsoever they do shall result in cept was Roger Williams, founder of the Rhode your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friend- Island colony - the first real haven for religious ship, and approbation of all nations,” (Note Eleven). dissidents on American soil. Jefferson thus articulated the belief held by most As already mentioned, Williams rejected the Americans of that day that the United States and The Pilgrims. Puritan notion of a religiously covenant commu- not just New England was a City on a Hill. nity that could exercise political power. He val- In his insightful study of this development, ued religious liberty and religious individualism historian Nathan Hatch concludes: “The civil more than religious uniformity and religious “....Jefferson....reached out to the millennialism of the Revolutionary era, expressed . In fact, he stoutly resisted New Israel exponents on the right by the rationalists as well as pietists, grew out of the Puritan teaching that New England was God’s the politicizing of Puritan millennial history in New Israel and asserted that: “The State of the and the religious liberty champions the two decades before the Stamp Act Land of Israel, the Kings and people thereof in on the left in order to create an Ameri- crisis….Civil millennialism advanced freedom Peace and War, is proven figurative and can civil religion....” as the cause of God, defined the primary enemy ceremoniall, and no patterne nor president for as the antichrist of civil oppression rather than any Kingdome or civille state in the world to The American Amalgam: Civil Religion that of formal religion, traced the myths of its follow, (Note Ten). Exactly what was the civil religion that was past through political developments rather than In sum, Williams boldly declared his basic pre- able to subsume, for a time at least, these two through the vital religion of the forefathers, and mises that civil magistrates are to rule only in civil divergent strands of the American Dream? Briefly turned its vision toward the privileges of Britons and never in religious matters, and that persecu- stated, civil religion (some call it public religion) rather than to a heritage exclusive to New En- tion of religion had no sanction in the teachings of is that use of consensus religious sentiments, gland,” (Note Seven). Jesus, thus undercutting the whole ideological foun- concepts and symbols by the state - either di- Thus, the First Great Awakening was not only dation for the Puritan goal of creating a Christian rectly or indirectly - for its own purposes. Those a significant religious event, but also a popular state that would be a City on a Hill. purposes may be noble or debased, depending movement with wide-ranging political and ideo- Quaker William Penn was also in this radical on the kind of civil religion (prophetic, pastoral logical implications that laid the groundwork for tradition. In both Baptist Rhode Island and Quaker or priestly) and the historical context. Civil reli- an emotional and future-oriented American civil Pennsylvania, religious liberty resulted in reli- gion involves the mixing of traditional religion religion. The revolutionary generation began to gious pluralism. This was all right with Williams with national life until it is difficult to distinguish build an American nation based upon the reli- and Penn, for both believed that true faith could between the two, and usually leads to a blurring gious foundations of evangelical revivalism. The not be coerced. Jesus must be freely accepted by of religion and patriotism and of religious values latter-day New England Puritans were joined by the individual. That was the New Testament way. and national values. In the United States, it be- many other American Protestants in seeing them- But how could God’s New Israel survive such a came a rather elaborate matrix of beliefs and prac- selves as jointly commissioned to awaken and to cacophony of spiritual voices? How could the tices born of the nation’s historic experience and guide the nation into the coming period of religious mosaic that soon emerged in the new constituting the only real religion of millions of millennial fulfillment. nation be reconciled with the view that America its citizens (Note Twelve). But in the process, where the churches moved was God’s chosen nation? How could any sem- out, the nation moved in. Gradually, the nation blance of religious unity be achieved if religious emerged in the thinking of most Americans as liberty prevailed? In short, how could this reli- “....Civil religion involves the mix- the primary agent of God’s meaningful activity gious smorgasbord ever be regarded as a ing of traditional religion with na- in history. They began to bestow on their new covenanted community? nation a catholicity of destiny similar to that which The answer lay in the willingness of Enlight- tional life until it is difficult to distin- theology usually attributes to the universal church. enment figures like Thomas Jefferson to reach out guish between the two,...” Thus, the Declaration of Independence and the to the New Israel exponents on the right and the

42 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 During the newly proclaimed National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, President Bush addresses the congregation at the National Cathedral in The Bush family and the Clinton families at the Prayer service on Washington, D.C. Sept. 14, 2001. Sept. 14, 2001 at the National Cathedral.

The nation’s intellectuals - mostly children of that would be bad business and discreditable; (3) feet in Orlando, Florida, when he proclaimed to the Enlightenment - and the country’s Christians that we could not leave them to themselves - they the annual convention of the National Associa- - mostly Bible-believing evangelicals - both sup- were unfit for self-government - and they would tion of Evangelicals: “America is great because ported the first American civil religion. Intellec- soon have anarchy and misrule worse than America is good” and reiterated that the United tuals like Jefferson encouraged it because it was Spain’s was; and (4) that there was nothing left States was “the last best hope of man,” (Note general enough to include the vast majority of for us to do but to take them all, and to educate Eighteen). Americans and because it provided the moral the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Chris- These themes of an elect nation and American glue for the body politic created by the social tianize them, and by God’s grace do the very best spiritual exceptionalism continued throughout the contract. Evangelicals embraced it because it ap- we could by them…. And then I went to bed, and presidencies of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton peared to be compatible (and perhaps even iden- went to sleep and slept soundly,” (Note Fifteen). and George W. Bush. The civil religion of the tical) with biblical Christianity. In any case, the In short, McKinley said that destiny and duty elder Bush was much like that of Reagan, his initial American civil religion emerged from this made it inevitable that the Americans should bring political mentor, as he spoke of God’s help in confluence of the Enlightenment and biblical civilization and light - democratic civilization and winning both the Cold War and the Persian Gulf Christianity to promote both the concept of reli- biblical light - to the poor Filipinos. Manifest War of 1990-1991. He also reiterated the City on gious liberty and the notion that America was destiny had led God’s New Israel down the prim- a Hill imagery when in January 1992, he thanked God’s New Israel! (Note Thirteen). rose path of imperialism! the National Religious Broadcasters at their an- Under the aegis of American civil religion, The concept that the United States is God’s nual meeting for their help in overcoming the the idea of the City on a Hill and God’s New New Israel and a chosen nation is hardly dead. In threats of Communism and Saddam Hussein in Israel was advanced to that of the “redeemer na- his 1980 acceptance speech at the Republican the late twentieth century as America continued tion” with a manifest destiny. In other words, National Convention in Kansas City, presiden- to be “a light unto the world,” (Note Nineteen). gradually, the old Puritan notion was infused with tial nominee Ronald Reagan declared: “Can we However, Clinton and the younger Bush in- secular as well as religious meaning, and joined doubt that only a Divine Providence placed this troduced startling new elements in the civil reli- with political as well as religious goals. This land, this island of freedom, here as a refuge for gion practiced by the American people when they was accomplished in the course of American ex- all those people in the world who yearn to breathe enlarged the tents of the national faith to include pansion and by means of political rhetoric and free? Jews and Christians enduring persecution new peoples and purposes. First, Clinton ex- McGuffey’s Reader. The Reader, in particular, behind the Iron Curtain; the boat people of South- tended his civil religious concerns to include all almost universally taught American public school east Asia, Cuba and of Haiti; the victims of drought of the people in the world as he used his bully children between 1836 and 1920 that a good citi- and famine in Africa, the freedom fighters in Af- pulpit and personal ministrations to become a was someone who loved God, neighbor and ghanistan…. God Bless America!” (Note Six- “universal pastor” of a world flock (Note country (Note Fourteen). teen). Twenty). Second, George W. Bush embraced an The result of these developments is perhaps In many ways, Reagan’s words in this in- imperialist civil religion as he built upon Clinton’s best illustrated by the story of President William stance extended the concept from America as a claim to universal pastoral oversight and asserted McKinley’s decision to annex the Philippines City on a Hill to America as a Cosmic Hotel, America’s worldwide responsibility for main- following the Spanish-American War in 1898. from the nation as a Model of Merit to the nation taining not only the correct political order (free- In November of the following year, McKinley, as a Magnet to the Masses. dom) and economic philosophy (capitalism) but himself a devout Methodist layman, revealed to a Reagan also used the City on a Hill/Manifest also the right moral values (America’s moral con- group of visiting clergymen just how he came to Destiny motif with telling effect on many occa- cerns). As he told graduating West Point Cadets sign the bill of annexation following a excruciat- sions during his presidency. For example, in Sep- on 1 June 2002, “The United States Military ing period of soul-searching and prayer: “I walked tember 1982, he received roaring approval from Academy is the guardian of values that have the floor of the White House night after night a large crowd at Kansas State University when shaped the soldiers who have shaped the history until midnight; and I…went down on my knees he asserted: “But be proud of the red, white, and of the world,” (Note Twenty-One). and prayed to Almighty God for light and guid- blue, and believe in her mission…. America re- In addition, the second Bush international- ance…. And one night late it came to me this way mains mankind’s best hope. The eyes of man- ized civil religion to fit the new American Empire - (1) That we should not give them back to Spain kind are on us…remember that we are one Na- when he presided over the memorial service for - that would be cowardly and dishonorable; (2) tion under God, believing in liberty and justice the seven fallen crew members of the Space that we could not turn them over to France or for all,” (Note Seventeen). In March 1983, Shuttle Columbia in Houston, Texas, on 4 Feb- Germany - our commercial rivals in the Orient - Reagan brought cheering evangelicals to their ruary 2003. On that occasion, the president not

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 43 President Dwight Eisenhoweer.. President Ronald Regan. President George Bush Sr.. President George W. Bush Jr.. only assured the audience that they would some tion made their presence felt in American society. acted as the nation’s chief civil pastor. It was now day be reunited with their deceased loved ones in Moreover, as the country became more diverse, a civil religion that had been enlarged to include heaven but also noted that the people of both that diversity was protected - some would even not only the three major faiths of the land - Prot- India (her native land) and the United States (her say encouraged - by the nation’s commitment to estant, Catholic, Jew - but also anyone else who adopted country) were grateful to Hindu astro- religious liberty. In this manner, slowly but surely, acknowledged a Supreme Being who cared to naut Kalpana Chawla for her service to the United religious freedom was translated into cultural plu- participate. The national mood of the 1950s was States and the world community (Note Twenty- ralism. congenial to an outpouring of religiosity, and Two). However, by the post-World War II period, examples of it abounded: national days of prayer, As the former Puritan concept of a City on a this cultural pluralism was beginning to strain the addition of “under God” to the Pledge of Hill and God’s New Israel evolved over the years the bonds of national unity. It was a time of in- Allegiance to the flag in 1954, the authorization from an evangelical, communitarian application creasing tension and confusion. Looking back to place “in God we trust” on all currency and to a religious, national one, there was a parallel on the period 1945-1960, the late Paul Goodman coins and the adoption of the same phrase as the development from religious liberty to cultural plu- lamented: “Our case is astounding. For the first national motto in 1956 are a few examples. ralism. Originally, religious liberty meant that the time in recorded history, the mention of country, Interestingly enough, hard on the heels of the various denominations were free to spread the community, place has lost its power to animate. new upsurge of civil religion in the 1950s came a Gospel, as they understood it, without intrusion Nobody but a scoundrel even tries it. Our rejec- time of great socio-political turmoil and wide- by either the government or a state church. In this tion of false patriotism is, of course, itself a badge spread religious renewal in the 1960s. It was in context, an evangelical Protestant consensus of honor. But the positive loss is tragic and I this context that the New Religious Right (NRR) emerged that made the United States in the nine- cannot resign myself to it. A man has only one emerged in the 1970s - galvanized by its hostility teenth century into what historian William G. life and if during it he has no great environment, to theological and political liberalism alike. In McLoughlin called “a unified, pietistic-perfec- no community, he has been irreparably robbed of many ways, this New Religious Right resembled tionist nation” and “the most religious people in a human right,” (Note Twenty-Four). the old Puritanism as it began to interact with the world,” (Note Twenty-Three). However, that Goodman’s analysis was not only a modern American civil religion. The NRR’s first order of consensus began to crack near the end of the jeremiad, however; it was also a plea for the emer- business was to purify church and state, to re- century as new immigrants from non-Protestant gence of a modern unifying concept that would store old values and old ideals, and, if possible, churches or no churches at all flowed into the serve to hold the republic together. The destruc- to put an end to the confusion and tension of the country and as the secularizing forces associated tion of the old evangelical Protestant consensus age. with Darwinism, urbanization, and industrializa- and with it the original American civil religion, and the emergence of American Civil Religion in the Hands of the cultural pluralism based New Religious Right: The Confusion and on the American doc- Tension Heightened. trine of religious liberty The leaders of the NRR of the 1970s and 1980s - and now reinforced found a civil religion that invested the civil offic- by the melting pot myth ers of the country with a certain religious mys- - spelled out the need tique; one that linked the social order to a higher for a new civil religion and truer realm; one that provided religious moti- based on the new facts vation and sanction for civil virtue; one that, in of American life. short, served the functions of an established reli- Ironically gion - and they liked it! It was a public religion that enough, during the gave the majority of Americans an over-arching very period when common spiritual heritage in which the entire na- Goodman’s observa- tion supposedly shared. Because it did not appear tions most closely ap- to contradict their understanding of the American plied, a rejuvenated past nor their commitment to Bible Christianity, civil faith was, in fact, and because they did not have a profound under- emerging. The new standing of civil religion or American history, and, civil religion took shape further, because civil religion seemed suited to during the Eisenhower their goal of restoring America’s spiritual vigor, Rev. Billy Graham delivers the sermon during the national day of prayer and presidency and it was NRR leaders embraced the American civil religion remembrance service at the National Cathedral in Washington, Friday, Sept. as amiable and ambigu- as they found it. 11, 2001. ous as Ike himself, who They did not seem to be aware of or under-

44 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 stand one perplexing feature of the American tiny of America played a vital role in justifying a rather gloomy public faith, pointed out by historian Sidney E. national expansion. Though there were other ex- scenario of the Mead and others - namely, that it included a cen- planations for the nation’s growth, the idea of a future, includ- tral doctrine of separation of church and state. Christian republic marching toward a golden age ing the concept This concept is, of course, a legacy of the historic appealed to many people. Millennial nationalism of a time of great American emphasis on religious liberty. As such, was attractive because it harmonized the republic decline immedi- it greatly complicates the operation of civil reli- with religious values. Thus, America became the ately preceding gion in America and provides the public faith hope of the nations - destined to uphold Chris- the second com- with a substantial element of self-contradiction. tian and democratic principles that eventually ing of Christ In any event, the leaders of the NRR hardly no- would bring spiritual and political freedom to the (Note Thirty). ticed this in the beginning. Consequently, they world (Note Twenty-Six). There has al- were often perplexed by those, especially many This is exactly what the leaders of the NRR, ways been in- fellow evangelicals, who refused to go along with men like TV evangelist Jerry Falwell and best- consistency on such parts of the NRR’s program as the attempt selling author Tim LaHaye, believe. Falwell de- the part of to restore state initiated prayer in the public clares that the various activities of the Founding premillennialists schools - a perfectly logical civil religion activity Fathers indicate that they “…were putting to- with regard to - because of the principle of religious liberty and gether God’s country, God’s republic, and for their interpreta- its corollary separation of church and state (Note that reason God has blessed her for two glorious tion of world Twenty-Five). centuries,” (Note Twenty-Seven). He has written events and their approvingly: “Any diligent student of American desire to be pa- Tim LeHaye, leader of the new “....Belief in America as a City on history finds that our great nation was founded triotic Ameri- religious right and co-author by godly men upon godly principles to be a Chris- cans. This is of the popular “left behind” a Hill and as God’s New Israel re- tian nation…. Our Founding Fathers firmly be- particularly books. quires a postmillennial eschatology...” lieved that America had a special destiny in the marked in the world,” (Note Twenty-Eight). LaHaye proclaims current New Religious Right Movement (Note But this last point illustrates the fact that the that: “America is the human hope of the world, Thirty-One). Individuals like Falwell and LaHaye appearance of the NRR in the 1970s exacerbated and Jesus Christ is the hope of America,” (Note have felt called to enter the social and political the old tensions associated with the two religious Twenty-Nine). arena, but they do not have a consistent components of the American Dream. Most of the The only problem with all of this is that eschatological base for such activities. In essence, adherents of the NRR came from traditions that Falwell, LaHaye and many other leaders of the they want to support a certain type of accepted the doctrine of religious liberty, but the NRR are also premillennialists - adherents of postmillennial vision for America while main- that view of the future taining a premillennial eschatology. that claims that Jesus’ In fact, much of the NRR’s program seems to return will be followed be contradictory and inconsistent. Perhaps this is by a period of peace and because of its confused eschatology. A further righteousness before problem with its millennialism is its encourage- the last judgment, dur- ment of the new American civil religion with its ing which time Christ emphasis on the chosen nation theme and its in- will reign as king in citement to empire while ignoring its constantly person or through a se- expanding theological canopy and the growing lect group of people. cultural pluralism in the United States today. There This kingdom will not seems to be something bizarre about attempts to be established by the advocate any scheme to spread American politi- conversion of individu- cal, cultural, and religious values to the world als over a long period when there is so much debate among American of time, but suddenly intellectual elites over what those values are sup- and by overwhelming posed to be. All of this has been complicated Jerry Falwell, leader of the new religious right. power. During the further by the government-endorsed policy of millennial kingdom, multiculturalism that emerged in full force in the movement wholeheartedly embraced that part of Christ will rule with a rod of iron and hold evil in 1990s. Moreover, much that is proposed by the American civil religion that emphasized check. Further, premillennialists believe that this NRR appears to contradict the historic American America’s national mission as God’s New Is- kingdom will be preceded by a period of steady Dream of religious liberty - especially in terms of rael. How can a nation that is so culturally di- decline and by certain signs such as great tribula- its drive to introduce state-sponsored prayers into verse speak in terms of a national mission? Un- tion, apostasy, wars, famines, earthquakes, and public schools, its advocacy of tax credits and/or fortunately, NRR leaders of the 1970s and 1980s the appearance of the antichrist. school vouchers for those who send their chil- did not seem to acknowledge the reality of that dren to parochial schools, its insistence on a large, cultural diversity but preferred to think of America “....Falwell, LaHaye and many standing, professional army, and its fervent sup- as it was throughout most of the nineteenth cen- port of the policies of the New American Empire tury - a religiously homogeneous nation. other leaders of the NRR are also (Note Thirty-Two). Moreover, the NRR’s millennial vision for premillennialists....” America seemed to be inconsistent and confused. “....much that is proposed by the Belief in America as a City on a Hill and as God’s By way of contrast, nineteenth-century New Israel requires a postmillennial eschatology premillennialists, who then constituted only a NRR appears to contradict the his- - the view that the Kingdom of God is extended minority of American Christians, did not believe toric American Dream of religious through Christian preaching and teaching as a that their nation was a recipient of God’s special liberty...” result of which the world will be Christianized favor but was rather just another Gentile world and will enjoy a long period of peace and righ- power. In short, they did not support the view Conclusions teousness called the millennium. During the nine- that the United States was God’s New Israel. There are many similarities between the ad- teenth century, postmillennial views of the des- Moreover, premillennialists today still maintain herents of the New Religious Right and the Puri-

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 45 In the Dream is still meaningful, precious, and pos- end, what will sible. The live question of this generation is: can happen to the it be preserved? For more than thirty years now, New Reli- adherents of the New Religious Right have been gious Right as trying to save the American Dream. But how its political in- ironic it would be if, in the process, they have fluence wanes helped to destroy it! and its partici- pation in the Further Reading; political pro- Plett, “A ,” in Old cess comes to Colony Mennonites in Canada 1875-2000 naught, as (Steinbach, 2001), pages 35-44 (available on our “Faith in America.” seems to be website at: www:hshs.mb.ca). the case at the dawn of the twenty-first century? What will come Endnotes: of its vision and its participation in the American Note One: This essay is a revised version of an article which Dream? If the concept of a New Israel and a first appeared in Mennonite Life, 38, no. 4 (December 1983), covenanted community could not be implemented 17-22. “Canadian Dreamers” no doubt share much in com- and maintained in a country like seventeenth- mon with their American cousins south of the border. Note Two: W. Lloyd Warner, Social Class in America (New century England or in a place like colonial New York: Harper and Row, 1960), v-vi. England with their culturally and religiously ho- Note Three: Christopher F. Mooney, Religion and the Ameri- God bless America.” mogeneous populations, how can anyone expect can Dream: The Search for Freedom Under God (Philadel- such an idea to be successfully realized in an phia: Westminster, 1977). This collection of essays focuses tans of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. increasingly multicultural, multinational empire on the “power and force of religion in civil affairs” and notes Both seem to be movements composed of self- like the U.S. of A. in the new millennium? many of the contradictions and tensions in this aspect of the confessed godly people determined to change The New Religious Right, like the Puritan American Dream. the moral and religious climate of their day. There movement of old, may have to learn the hard way Note Four: John Winthrop, Papers, A. B. Forbes, ed. (5 vols., also appear to be many of the same tensions in that the best that Christians can hope for in a Boston: The Massachusetts Historical Society, 1929-1947), 2:295; and Roger Williams, The Bloudy Tenent of Persecu- the two respective movements - especially the largely unconverted and sinful world is genuine tion for Cause of Conscience (London: n.p., 1644), Intro- desire, on the one hand, for heartfelt religion to religious freedom in which to practice the Faith duction. Also see Anson Phelps Stokes, Church and State in prevail and the wish, on the other, to impose a and preach the Gospel. That part of the American the United States (New York: Harper and Row, 1950); Leo certain level of morality on society in general. Pfeffer, Church, State and Freedom (Boston: Beacon Press, There is, if you will, a perplexing contradiction About the Author: 1953); Loren Baritz, City on a Hill: A History of Ideas and Myths in America (New York: John Wiley, 1964); Ernest L. in the two movements that made them want to Robert Linder is currently the University create some kind of state church (or a common Tuveson, Redeemer Nation: The Idea of America’s Millennial Distinguished Professor of History, Kansas Role (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968); Conrad national religion) composed only of “true believ- State University. ers.” As the Puritans discovered, it is impossible Cherry, ed., God’s New Israel: Religious Interpretations of Robert Linder is a native of Salina, Kansas. American Destiny (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, to combine the two elements in any meaningful He is a former semi-pro baseball and fastball 1971); John F. Wilson, Public Religion in American Culture way because true faith cannot be imposed by player. Received his PhD in History, Univer- (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1979); Richard V. coercion, either directly or indirectly, especially sity of Iowa, 1963 and pursued advanced stud- Pierard and Robert D. Linder, Civil Religion and the Presi- in the context of religious freedom. It appears ies at the Universities of Geneva, Oxford and dency (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988); and Mark Noll, historically impossible to achieve the Puritan Cambridge. America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lin- coln (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002). goals of an elect society composed entirely of Robert Linder is the author or editor of 15 genuine believers while at the same time allow- Note Five: Alan Simpson, Puritanism in Old and New En- books and more than 100 articles in historical gland (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1955), 19-38; ing for religious liberty that, in turn, makes the and religion journals. Co-author with R. V. conversion experience meaningful. Moreover, the Mark A. Noll, Nathan O. Hatch and George M. Marsden, The Pierard, Civil Religion and the Presidency Search for Christian America, expanded ed. (Colorado New Testament to which so many adherents of (Zondervan Publishing House, 1988). Forth- Springs: Helmers & Howard, 1989), 31-36; and Noll, the NRR claim to give allegiance teaches that coming in 2005, Between Heaven and Hell: America’s God, 33-42. morality likewise cannot be forced. That was the A History of Australian Evangelical Chris- Note Six: Jonathan Edwards, Apocalyptic Writings, ed. Puritan dilemma and it may well be the dilemma tianity, 1788-2000 Stephan J. Stein (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977). of the New Religious Right as well. E-mail address: [email protected] Note Seven: Nathan O. Hatch, “The Origins of Civil What happened to the Puritans when they Millennialism in America: New England Clergymen, War with tried to impose their values - no matter how high- France and the Revolution,” William and Mary Quarterly, 31 minded and uplifting to humanity they may have (July 1974): 429. Also see Nathan O. Hatch, The Sacred Cause been - on a larger society? They met first with of Liberty: Millennial Thought in Revolutionary New En- gland (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977); John F. frustration, then with disillusionment, and finally Berens, Providence and Patriotism in Early America, 1640- with the prospect of either acquiescing to a new 1815 (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1978), regime or going into exile. After three genera- 51-80; and Noll, America’s God, 48-50. tions of attempting to bring godly government to Note Eight: John E. Smylie, “National Ethos and the Church,” England and after fighting and winning a civil Theology Today, 20 (October 1963): 314; and Berens, Provi- war, Oxford don and Puritan divine Dr. John dence and Patriotism in Early America, 81-111. Owen in 1652 could only survey the Cromwellian Note Nine: Frederick Merk, Manifest Destiny and Mission in regime and lament: “Now, those that ponder these American History (New York: Knopf, 1963), 31-2. things, their spirits are grieved in the midst of Note Ten: Williams, The Bloudy Tenet of Persecution, Intro- duction. their bodies; - the visions of their heads trouble Note Eleven: Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the them. They looked for other things from them Robert Linder, Professor Kansas State Univer- United States (Washington, DC: United States Government that professed Christ; but the summer is ended, sity and prolific writer regarding Evangelical Printing Office, 1974), 21. and the harvest is past, and we are not refreshed,” Christianity and the North American religious Note Twelve: The basis for this definition of civil religion is found in the following: Robert N. Bellah, “Civil Religion in (Note Thirty-Three). scene.

46 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Joe Blowers.

America,” Daedalus, No. 96 (Winter 1967): 1-21; D. Elton Note Twenty-Seven: Jerry Falwell, America Can Be Saved Note Thirty-One: For a first-rate examination of this particu- Trueblood, The Future of the Christian (New York: Harper (Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1979), 23. lar problem, see Robert G. Clouse, “The New Christian Right, and Row, 1971), 83-102; Will Herberg, “American Civil Re- Note Twenty-Eight: Jerry Falwell, Listen America! (Garden America, and the Kingdom of God,” Christian Scholar’s ligion: What It Is and Whence It Comes,” in American Civil City, NY: Doubleday, 1980), 29. Review, 12, no. 1 (1983): 3-16. Religion, ed. Russell E. Richey and Donald G. Jones (New Note Twenty-Nine: Tim LaHaye, The Bible’s Influence on Note Thirty-Two: For a discussion of the tensions created by York: Harper and Row, 1974), 76-88; and Pierard and Linder, American History (San Diego: Master Books, 1976), 59. the NRR’s support of a large, standing professional army, see Civil Religion and the Presidency, 20-9. For an evaluation of Note Thirty: For a discussion of this view, see Ernest R. Robert D. Linder, “Militarism in Nazi Thought and in the civil religion from two different but complementary points Sandeen, The Roots of Fundamentalism: British and Ameri- American New Religious Right,” Journal of Church and State, of view, see Wilson, Public Religion in American Culture and can Millennialism, 1800-1930 (Chicago: University of Chi- 24, no. 2 (Spring 1982): 263-279, esp. 276, n. 38. Robert D. Linder and Richard V. Pierard, Twilight of the Saints: cago Press, 1970); and Robert G. Clouse, The Meaning of the Note Thirty-Three: John Owen, “Christ’s Kingdom and the Biblical Christianity and Civil Religion in America (Downers Millennium (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1977), Magistrate’s Power,” sermon published in The Works of John Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1978). 17-40. Owen (24 vols., Edinburgh: T. Clark, 1850-853), 8: 381. For Note Thirteen: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract the scriptural basis for Owen’s allusion, see Jeremiah 8:20. and Discourses, ed. G. D. H. Cole (New York: Dutton, 1950), 139; Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Oeuvres Completes, Du Contrat Social, ed. Bernard Gagnebin and Marcel Raymond (4 vols., Paris: Gallimard, 1964), 3: 368-75, 468; Ralph H. Gabriel, Theology that loves creation The Course of American Democratic Thought, 2nd ed. (New Theology that loves creation: What on Earth? by Joe Blowers. York: Ronald Press, 1956), 14-25; Sidney E. Mead, The Na- tion With the Soul of a Church (New York: Harper and Row, Some Christians love to speculate about the future. “Are we in the last days?” they ask. It’s 1975), 56-7; and Seymour M. Lipset, The First New Nation (New York: Basic Books, 1963), 61-98. natural to ask such questions. Jesus cautions us, however, not to let our speculation get out of Note Fourteen: Robert W. Lynn, “Civil Catechetics in Mid- hand. Some of us have chosen to ignore this warning. Victorian America: Some Notes About American Civil Reli- The church I grew up in held a view of the end times known as premillennial dispensationalism. gion, Past and Present,” , No. 48 (Janu- That view is best exemplified today in the Left Behind novels (see Pres., No. 23, pages 134-5). ary-February 1973): 5-27; and John H. Westerhoff III, It reminds me of a scheme dreamed up by Rube Goldberg. It cobbles together questionable McGuffey and His Readers: Piety, Morality, and Education biblical interpretations with creative guesswork and a selective view of history. in Nineteenth-Century America (Nashville: Abingdon, 1978), Since it conveniently assigns Christ’s teachings about the kingdom to a different “dispensation,” 74-110. adherents can set aside any saying of Jesus that makes them uncomfortable. In my opinion, it’s a Note Fifteen: The Christian Advocate, 22 January 1903, 1-2. teetering house of cards. Also see Charles S. Olcott, The Life of William McKinley (2 vols., New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1916), 2: 109-11. This is clearer to me now than when I was 19. At the time, I believed it to be the gospel truth. Note Sixteen: Ronald W. Reagan, “Acceptance Address: Re- Later, I almost lost my faith over it. I have only God to thank that I didn’t. publican National Convention Presidential Nomination,” Before I was introduced to dispensationalism. God the Creator often touched me as I played in Vital Speeches of the Day, 46, No. 21 (15 August 1980): 646. the farm grove or in grandma’s backyard. Under his tutelage I learned where the spiderwort Note Seventeen: Ronald W. Reagan, “Believe in Her Mission,” blooms and how the boxelder grows. Landon Lecture at Kansas State University, 9 September With some help from Grandma, I began to keep a list of birds, to nurture irises and to transplant 1982, cited in Robert D. Linder, “Reagan at Kansas State: young trees. By the age of 12, I had become, in one sense, an environmentalist. I was acutely Civil Religion in the Service of the New Right,” The Reformed aware of and in love with God’s creation. Journal, vol. 32, No. 12 (December 1982): 14. This did not sit well with my neighbours, who were as likely to shoot a hawk as to admire it. My Note Eighteen: Text of the Remarks of President Ronald W. Reagan to the Forty-First Annual Convention of the National 4-H club leaders were dumbfounded when I requested a tree identification class instead of a Association of Evangelicals, 8 March 1983, Sheraton Twin livestock project. Towers Hotel, Orlando, Florida, released by the Office of the Members of my church viewed creation as a divine object lesson and as a means to a livelihood Press Secretary, The White House, Washington, DC, 1. Also but looked with suspicion on anyone expressing love toward nature. see the report of the speech in The New York Times, 9 March Creation, they were sure, was going to burn. Only humans would be ushered into the New 1983, 1 and 11. For more on Reagan’s use of civil religion, Jerusalem. Evidently, they didn’t agree with God’s own evaluation of creation. They certainly see Robert D. Linder and Richard V. Pierard, “Ronald Reagan, didn’t believe that creation is awaiting God’s deliverance. Civil Religion and the New Religious Right in America,” They could comprehend the metaphor of being at war with nature but Paul’s teaching of God Fides et Historia, 23, No. 3 (Fall 1991): 57-73. making peace with nature “through the blood of his cross” was foreign to them. Note Nineteen: Richard V. Pierard, “The Politics of Prayer,” Liberty, November/December, 1992, 6-10; and George H. W. My love for nature and my allegiance to my church were headed for some serious collisions. Bush, “Remarks at the Annual Conference of the National The first crash came during my sophomore year at a fundamentalist Bible college. Religious Broadcasters,” 27 January 1992, Weekly Compila- I explained to a classmate that if God called the world good, then it must be God’s will that tion of Presidential Documents, (Washington, DC: United Christians act to protect the world from further damage. States Government Printing Office, 1992), 28, no. 5, 165. His response is burned into my memory, 30 years later. Creation is important, he replied, but not Note Twenty: Robert D. Linder, “Universal Pastor: President nearly as important as winning souls for Christ. There, in a nutshell, was the problem. If I chose Bill Clinton’s Civil Religion,” Journal of Church and State, to expend energy caring for creation, I would forever be a second-class Christian in his eyes. 38, no. 4 (Autumn 1996): 733-49. Clearly, my values were clashing with the teachings of my church. Note Twenty-One: George W. Bush, “Commencement Address It took me a few more years to realize that the church’s teachings would have to go. Fortunately, at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York,” 1 June 2002, Weekly Compilation of Presidential my faith in Jesus did not go with them - almost, but not quite. I eventually found my way into the Documents, 38, no. 23, 944. Mennonite church. Note Twenty-Two: George W. Bush, “Remarks at a Memorial Over the years its people have helped me understand that “worship Service for the STS-107 Crew of the Space Shuttle Colum- and work are one,” that there is no dividing line between creation and bia,” 4 February 2003, Weekly Compilation of Presidential Christianity. Documents, 39, no. 6, 156. It’s not a question of only doing evangelism or only caring for the Note Twenty-Three: William G. McLoughlin, ed., The Ameri- Earth. It’s both. can Evangelicals, 1800-1900 (New York: Harper and Row, In the words of the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective: 1968), 1. “The church is called to live now according to the model of the future Note Twenty-Four: Paul Goodman, Growing Up Absurd (New York: Random House, 1960), 97. reign of God…demonstrating…the justice, righteousness, love and Note Twenty-five: Mead, The Nation With the Soul of a peace of the age to come.” Church, 78-113; and Alfred Balitzer, “Some Thoughts About Finally, a place where I can follow Christ and follow my heart. Civil Religion,” Journal of Church and State, 16, no. 1 (Winter Joe Blowers is a science teacher in Portland, . Joe Blowers. 1974): 36-7. Reprinted from Men. Weekly Review, Dec. 29, 2003, page 5. Note Twenty-Six: Noll, America’s God, 73-113.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 47 President’s Report By Ralph Friesen, 413 - 6th Street, Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, V1L 2Y2, (250) 505-5460. e-mail: [email protected]

Deep unspeakable suffering may well be called exempt us from pain. Even if the clamour of our apply the mixture to her face. They did so, and the a baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new bodily pain can be muted by pharmaceutical agents, pain lessened. Dr. Schilstra visited again and de- state. (George Eliot) the pain of life itself, of broken relationships, or the clared: “No one can comfort her; she knows all of As a family therapist I encounter human suffer- knowledge of the transient nature of all things, in- the Scripture by heart.” ing every day. This encounter is the essence of my cluding ourselves, breaks in. In retrospect, reflecting on her experience, Judith profession. It is not an easy task, and I try my best If we are bound to suffer, and even more if we wrote: “I know that it was God’s will that I suffer, to honour it, and pray for God’s grace to help me. It come from a tradition in which suffering held a but to what end, or whether that end was reached, I is not just a matter of sitting in the same room with prominent place, then we are invited to formulate a do not know. I do not write this in order to evoke the sufferer (though just being able to do that is response. What does our suffering mean? For our pity, but rather to show what God has done with sometimes a great challenge) but also a matter of ancestors, and perhaps for us as well, the first an- me.... I believe that I suffered to the extent that God listening empathically, of “being with.” I also know swer is already given: our suffering, as the quota- found necessary to keep me humble....I had to be- that, whatever I feel, I do not actually feel the pain of tion from George Eliot at the head of this report come blind in order to see the glory of God, for our the other person. That is something they bear alone. suggests, is in some way meant to teach us, so that fleshly eyes would not be able to endure such clar- As a people, Mennonites are deeply marked by we will emerge from it changed, improved, refined. ity.” suffering - physical, mental, emotional, and spiri- That is certainly the premise of an exceptional Judith concludes her article by saying that she tual. Our story begins in torture and blood, in the article which appears in the June 19, 1935 issue of was never afraid and her goal was always certain: persecution of the Anabaptist martyrs of the 16th the Steinbach Post. It is written by Judith Kroeker, “It is marvelous to walk hand in hand with Jesus.” century. The accounts in the Martyr’s Mirror show nee Judith Wiebe (b. 1888). She was a daughter of She signs herself as “the least of God’s us men and woman brave beyond our imagining, schoolteacher Jacob and Katharina Wiebe of the handmaidens.” testifying to the truth of their spiritual journey. While village of Bergfeld near Gruenthal, Manitoba. She Had it not been for her Christian faith, it is hard most of these stories emphasize faithfulness, we married Cornelius T. Kroeker (1888 - 1960), son of to imagine Judith Kroeker coming through her suf- are also told that some of the Anabaptists, under prominent Steinbach oil dealer C. P. Kroeker (1862- fering at all, much less coming through with the pressure of persecution and the threat of death, re- 1942) and Katharina R. Toews (1866-1938) and attitude of humility and gratitude she exhibits. She canted. Not all of them could bear the savage treat- grandson of pioneers the Franz Kroekers. Judith suggests that her pride was too great, and the acci- ment they were given. had two sisters who also married into the Kleine dent was God’s way of chastening her, teaching In the last century, Mennonites were caught up Gemeinde and moved to Steinbach; they were the her. Such an idea does not stand up to logical scru- with many others in the wrenching turmoil of Euro- wives of sons of the pioneer merchant Klaas R. tiny (how could this Mennonite woman, living in pean conflicts, and modern day martyrs were cre- Reimer. simplicity and Demutigkeit, possibly have pos- ated, many killed by Makhno and his followers Her children, with their birth dates in parenthe- sessed a pride so monstrous as to warrant such a during the , while others suf- ses, were: Jakob (1913), Aaron (1915), Isaak (1916), harsh “teaching”?). Yet her faith helped her through fered imprisonment, exile and starvation under the Cornelius (1918), Gerhard (1920), Levina (1922), her ordeal, just as her ancestors’ faith were helped regime of Stalin. Judith (1924), Angelina (1927) and John (1929). through their trials by the same kind of faith. As Mennonites we have been singled out; we At the time of the incident she describes she was Through intense suffering we are changed. have suffered not just randomly, but because we 45, with nine children, ranging in age from 4 to 20. Through faith, we have the possibility of seeing were Mennonites. Our beliefs, our way of life, and The article itself appears two years after the accident this change as a new state, even a regeneration. This perhaps our wealth and apparent goodness rankled she describes. is part of the heritage given to us by our grandmoth- some enough to render us targets. One night in March, 1933, Judith dreamt of ers and grandfathers. Part of our suffering has also come about through heaven. But there was a disturbing element to her being a pioneering people, separate from the world. dream that prompted her to think it might somehow Whether it was in the swampy, stony land of the be a predictor of her own demise. The day after, East Reserve in Manitoba in the 19th century or the when she was making soap in a large kettle, she even more inhospitable environment of some parts poured some gasoline into the soap mixture, which of Paraguay or Mexico in the 20th, Mennonite bod- exploded and caused deep burns to her hands, neck ies have bent and sometimes broken under the strain and face. of building a new commonwealth. There commenced an extended period of excru- For many of us who were raised in a post- ciating pain for Judith. She bore her suffering with pioneer, industrialized, wealthy North American astonishing fortitude. She was given a strong seda- environment, these experiences of a suffering people tive by Dr. Schilstra, but the sedative wore off and are something of an abstraction. We may read about the pain hit her with full force. She tried not to cry them and occasionally come into contact with some- out. When her thoughts were sufficiently coherent one who has directly experienced such suffering, she sang, “Where He Leads Me, I Will Follow” in or whose parents have - but for the most part we are German. Her sons gathered around her, trying to insulated from the direct pain. In fact, we may not help in whatever way they could. When the pain want to acknowledge it at all; we may not even want became too great she cried out, “Oh God, what to think of ourselves as a suffering people. That is a shall we do? For my children’s sake, help us!” victim identity, after all, and we prefer to be masters, Even in such extremity she prayed for her children. pursuing our various exceptional accomplishments The burned skin of her face stiffened so that her in business, education, medicine, culture, and the eyes and mouth closed. At one point she had a different professions. vision of a ladder to heaven; she was near death but None of this mastery, however, shields us from pulled herself back into consciousness. Kornelius T. Kroeker and wife nee, Judith Wiebe, our own individual suffering, or the suffering of God’s answer was eminently practical: “Bran Steinbach, Manitoba. Photo - courtesy of grand- friends and loved ones. Whatever else contempo- and ice.” Judith let her husband know that he and daughter Doris Klassen, Box 1, Steinbach, rary health technologies can do for us, they cannot the boys were to crush ice, mix it with bran, and Manitoba, R5G 1M1.

48 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Guest Essays Watching Out For The End of Days By Robert Rhodes, republished with permission from Mennonite Weekly Review, May 31, 2004, page 4. Ever since Jesus of Nazareth vanished in the force and violence on the grandest scale. LaHaye Tribulation.... clouds over Palestine 2,000 years ago, debate has and Jenkins don’t exactly extol these anti-virtues “The way of the cross.... is not just an individual focused nearly nonstop on when he would return, outright, but they don’t deny their seductive power, thing, but as John Howard Yoder showed, repre- and whether the cataclysmic events expected to pre- or their pragmatic usefulness, either. sents the heart of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ cede the Second Coming lie just ahead. These deceptions are exactly what “Left Be- that God is in control of history through the way of Such uncertain and often misguided specula- hind,” and two companion serials written with po- love. And despite appearances, that way of love tion has caused blood, and tears, to be shed many litical and military storylines, trade in. To look at the will win out in the end. There is no sense of the way times over ensuing centuries. And today, in part leftbehind.com website is to see the myth of Ameri- of love in this series and no willingness to consider because of the heresy of Christian-American can triumphalism at its most market-friendly — the possibility that the way of love could have cos- triumphalism, some believe they can “expedite” flag-wrapped, patriotic and bristling with military, mic significance.” and speed the plow of judgment by influ- and moral, supremacy. When Christ returns to this world in glory, he encing U.S. policy in Israel. The problem is, none of this has any cogent will do so not out of revenge on evil but out of love Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, authors of biblical base. Jesus doesn’t need American-style for his people. With all its reliance on biblical sooth- the “Left Behind” omni-franchise, don’t believe God firepower to prevail over evil. The only means of saying and Scriptural sleight of hand, this is one is enslaved to the whims and triggers of American conquest in his arsenal was, and is, love. lesson that “Left Behind” seems to have missed. politics. But the fearsome dreams they weave in Why then do so many believe Jesus needs an Robert Rhodes their incredibly lucrative series of end-times techno- arms-laden “Tribulation Force,” driving humvees thrillers (more than 62 million sold, with the latest and wielding high-tech munitions, to do his bid- Robert Rhodes installment’s debut featured on a recent Newsweek ding? Perhaps it is our need to believe that good of Newton, cover) run on some of the same fuel. Zionist domi- ultimately will prevail in this world, or that our Kansas, is nation of the Holy Land, demonizing of non-Chris- addiction to military might is endorsed from above. assistant editor tians and an ultra-militaristic approach to ushering Though Jesus promised to save the world from of Mennonite in the kingdom of God are only a few disturbing itself, he also taught a gospel of and Weekly Review. fragments of this addled equation. deep repentance that bears little resemblance to the He and his wife Several books in the past decade have set out to “gospel” found in “Left Behind.” and three debunk the “Left Behind” theology of the Rapture Loren Johns, academic dean at Associated Men- children attend and its reliance on what is, at best, an imaginative nonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind., has com- Sharon interpretation of Scripture. At its worst, however, piled a web page of resources on the “Left Behind” Mennonite “Left Behind” is nationalistic fear-mongering, for series, where he evaluates the books from an Church in which the war in Iraq and the continuing bloodshed Anabaptist viewpoint. Newton. The in Israel and Palestine could have been tailormade. “Although the main characters in the [series] family lived at Those who have this kind of Christo-political become Christians, very little is said about actually Starland outlook believe, typically, that the United States is following Christ in life,” Johns wrote. “Nothing is Hutterite Colony from 1995 to God’s anointed choice to lead the world and make it said in this series about embracing the way of the 2002. fit for holy habitation, even if that requires lethal cross as those who are left behind face the years of Theologian: Prayer affects God’s action “Theologian: Prayer affects God’s action - Speaker defends `open ,’” by Steve Shenk, Bluffton College, Bluffton, Ohio. Bluffton, Ohio - Soon after John Sanders became a ers said. They believe God exercises tight control can make a difference in the world - and that life Christian, people in his church taught him to pray. over every detail of everyone’s life and that each situations, like poverty and war are not predeter- Later at Bible college, he was taught that God never event in life - good and bad - is specifically “or- mined by God. changes and that prayer will not affect God’s deci- dained” by God. Some evangelicals think open theism borders sions.... Sanders noted that, traditionally, Mennonites on heresy. In fact, the Evangelical Theological So- The people who told Sanders that prayer doesn’t have not subscribed to Calvinist views. They be- ciety, which holds its annual meeting Nov. 19-21 in affect God also said that the death of Sander’s brother lieve that people freely choose whether or not to Atlanta, may vote on whether to expel proponents in a motorcycle accident was planned by God as a follow Jesus, that prayer can influence God and of open theism. At last year’s conference, Sanders way to bring Sanders to Christ. This view of God that evil is permitted but not wanted by God. And and another theologian were singled out as the main didn’t sit well with Sanders, either. that thinking, Sanders said, is close to open theism. advocates of open theism. Today Sanders is a theology professor at Hun- “God does not have a blueprint for our lives “The amount of anger and opposition from tington (Ind.) College, a successful author and a regarding college choice, career and marriage,” Sand- evangelicals has surprised me,” Sanders told his leading proponent of what is called “open theism” - ers said. “Rather, we cooperate with God to decide Bluffton audience. “But I just cannot accept their a view that emphasizes a “dynamic give-and-take what our future will be.” contention that God has exhaustive definite knowl- relationship between God and people.” It is a con- He also rejected the Calvinist notion that God edge of what will happen in each of our lives.” troversial view among Evangelical Christians. chooses who will be saved and who will be damned. Sanders said God has a general plan for the Sanders was the speaker for Bluffton College’s Open theism affects his daily Christian life, Sand- future, but even God can’t know the future choices weekly Forum series Nov. 4 [2003]. His topic was ers said, in that he can go to God in prayer, know- made by people with . “What Is Open Theism and Why Are Some ing that God sometimes intervenes and even changes “What people decide to do determines what God Evangelicals So Upset About It?” his mind. There are many examples of that in the will do,” he said. Many Evangelicals are influenced by the think- Bible, especially the Old Testament, he said. Open Reprinted from Men. Weekly Review, Nov. ing of 16th century theologian John Calvin, Sand- theism also allows Christians to believe that they 17, 2003, page 7. Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 49 Editorial - The Battle for the Faith “Battle for the Faith (“Kampf um die Gemeinde”): 500 Years of Persecution and Survival,” by Delbert F. Plett, Box 1960, Steinbach, Manitoba, R5G 1N5 (e-mail [email protected]) websites: “www.hshs.mb.ca” and “www.mts.net/~delplett”

“Kampf um die Gemeinde.” diaspora has now blossomed to around 600- private and subordinated to an external commu- The story of the Flemish Mennonites from 800,000 souls. nity ethic, now expressions of faith had become the beginnings in the martyr fires of the Refor- increasingly public and individualized” (None But mation in Brabant and Flanders, to the arrival of Spiritualism vs. Confessionalism. Saints, page 22). The response of the conserva- the first Anabaptists in the Vistula delta in the In his new book, Anabaptist-Mennonite Con- tives was predictable: “To counteract the appeals 1530s, and on to Russia in 1788, can best be fessions of Faith, Dr. Karl Koop refers to two of progress they reaffirmed what they believed to understood in terms of the “Kampf um die streams within the Flemish-Dutch Anabaptist- be the essential basis of tradition by articulating a Gemeinde”, literally, the battle for the faith. The Mennonite movement which have co-existed since set of strategies that aimed at maintenance, conser- visible, discipled Church of God without spot the Reformation, often in fierce competition. vation, and continuance of established ideas....But and wrinkle was engaged in a constant battle for Menno Simons (1492-1561) articulated a vision other[s], encouraged....by Russian officialdom, purity of faith, doctrine and practice as well as of a visible, disciplined Gemeinde “without spot promoted change through their support of pro- survival. and wrinkle.” His opponents such as David Joris, gressive ideas and practices. Mennonite commu- From the perspective of Reformation spiritu- and, later, Hans de Ries, stressed a nities became polarized between the promoters of alists such as David Joris or Hans Denck, the spiritualistic more inwardly religion marked by progress and the guardians of tradition,” (NBS, striving of the peaceful Anabaptists under Menno disdain for church discipline and the “”. page 23). Simons (1496-1561) to establish purity of doc- Dr. Karl Koop, summarizes the situation as A confession of faith once meant a public trine as well as faith lived in practice, was a sense- follows: “....yet, Dutch historians clearly champi- commitment to a community through learning less waste of time over man-made rules and oned the individual conscience of the believer ar- the catechism and committing oneself to public Ordnungen. For Hans de Ries, the articulate leader guing that this tradition was genuinely Anabaptist. scrutiny in everyday life and personal faith in- of the spiritualistic Waterlanders, the constant striv- In looking beyond the confessional period, this volved a silent covenant between believer and ing for a “Reine” (pure) Gemeinde, amounted to emphasis on the individual and `inner’ dimension God. In the spiritualist tradition, a confession of little more than a senseless squabbling over “but- of the Christian life won the day among Dutch faith meant a personal statement of the certainty tons and hooks.” To Kellerite historians like Peter Mennonites. A similar but more conservative of one’s faith announced publicly. What had re- M. Friesen, the entire Flemish Mennonite faith stream among pietistically-minded Anabaptists also mained private in the old order became public was corrupted and the striving for communal stan- surfaced in South Germany and , as and what had been part of the public covenant dards of discipline and discipleship together with well as among the Mennonite Brethren in 19th- now became a matter of private morals. To shout the resulting splits and schisms were dismissed as century Russia.” one’s faith from the balcony - or worse, to claim nothing more than the despicable “Anabaptist dis- “Another stream in the Mennonite story, how- absolute knowledge of salvation - was pride, a ease” (p. 31). ever, championed the more communal and `outer’ grievous sin. What was important was the public The following rhythm might well have been dimensions of the Christian life. This particular life of faith lived in the hope of salvation. Salva- composed by the enemies of the Danziger Old emphasis bore fruit for a time in the environs of tion was to depend on a person’s life as lived, Flemish in the Dutch Netherlands to mock or spite Hamburg and Prussia and took hold especially in separate from the world and in accordance with them: Russia. A concern for the communal and `outer’ the teachings of Jesus. “Hacken en Eisen, wout Gott erliesen, also became characteristic of Swiss Anabaptism, People lived in social grouping and it was kjeinpen und taschen, wird er verlasen.” especially among the , who based their per- within the community that believers sought salva- “Hooks and bows, God will redeem, spectives on the Dortrecht confession. In both the tion, not by personal experience or by withdrawal bottons and pockets, will be forsaken.” Dutch and Swiss contexts, these differing under- from society (as in extreme ). To From the standpoint of the Church of God, it standings of the church and religious life led to achieve salvation, a person needed the support of was important that the community of saints (and open conflict. In the Dutch context the clash cul- a community to maintain purity and to walk the sinners) be governed by the canon of the Gospels minated with the `War of the Lambs’; in the Swiss narrow path. Salvation was known only to God and the Epistles of the Apostles, with the details context the clash lead to the Amish schism,” Koop. and would become manifest on the day of judge- defined by the brotherhood (and later sisters also) Anabaptist-Mennonite Confessions of Faith (Wa- ment. The early Anabaptists believed they were through a democratic process under the guidance terloo, 2004), page 134. living in the endtimes. The world was degenerat- of the Holy Spirit. It mattered not so much whether From within the conservative Mennonite tra- ing; Christ had come to show mankind the way to one wore buttons or hooks but rather whether the dition this conflict is understood as a “battle for redemption. The Constantinian church had be- community had found the same acceptable and in the faith” (“Kampf um die Gemeinde) where the trayed Christ’s message and the Apostles by hav- keeping with the proper apparel and demeanour of steadfast followers of the New Testament tradi- ing the church mediate salvation for all. The a humble follower of Christ. It was important that tion of following Jesus (as articulated by Menno Anabaptists claimed that under the rubble of cen- the individual be yielded to the will of the brother- Simons) constantly had to engage in battle with turies of neglect they had rediscovered the biblical hood, namely, community spirit over individual- the modernizationists seeking assimilation with way to live in order to possess the hope of salva- ism. the world, whether by progressivism in a material tion. This was a constant battle among the Flemish sense, or by those abandoning the faith, usually Among the individualistic pietists, old ideas Mennonite Gemeinden whether in the Dutch Neth- by conversion to an alternate religious culture such of a degeneration of society gave way to views erlands, Polish-Prussia, Russia, Canada or Latin as (Hans de Ries in the 17th century of progress and modernization. People wanted America. Over the years, thousands left the Netherlands), Separatist-Pietism (the Secession- to be sure of their salvation and wanted it imme- Gemeinde when they could not agree with the ists in 19th Imperial Russia), or diately. The individual pietistic faith promised particulars of various Ordnungen, be it automo- (American Fundamentalism) in the 20th century. instant salvation, with that knowledge immedi- biles or springs on buggies, but always the ately available to the believer in the here and now. Gemeinde survived and continued to grow. Al- Private vs. Public Confession. “Experience” became the key to salvation and most without exception, it was the conservative, James Urry discusses these inherently con- with believers discovering they were already per- traditionalist Gemeinden that grew in size and flicting tendencies in terms of salvation: “Where fect individuals, not just members of a commu- through whom the Flemish Russian Mennonite once the personal experience of faith had been nity of saints which allowed for the failings of a

50 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 fallen creation. People wanted to become God America. The Dutch and North German Menno- tain dictatorial control over their flocks. rather than to follow Christ. They could “know” nites were among the first to become acculturated Kellerite historians (see Preservings, No. 22, immediately that they were saved and heaven to many aspects of modern Western pages 46-49) such as Peter M. Friesen write dis- was their sure inheritance. culture.....Mennonites in Russia, because of their paragingly about “hooks and bottons” and “the “For the old order, earthly existence was cen- autonomy and self-government, in many ways Anabaptist illness”. Friesen is of the view that the tered on the present community of the saints and a lived in traditional villages societies. Once they “The twilight of his life [Menno Simons] coin- sense of non-social being was to be in the age to left those villages, however, they have embraced cides with the decline of the first and only general come. For the new spiritualists, the individualized modern North American culture more readily than `golden age’ of the old evangelical-Anabaptist con- faith was here and now, but the ideal community their Swiss -Pennsylvania cousins....” gregations bearing his name.” In Friesen’s view was in heaven.” Among the Danziger Old Flemish tradition “the splintering of the Anabaptist movement be- was appreciated and respected. At the same time, gun during Menno’s lifetime, continued after his Modernization. however, they were progressive farmers and mer- death. In the end five or more important factions Modernization in its widest sense has been chants who welcomed new innovations when they emerged: the Flemish, the Frisians, the High Ger- the dominant theme in Western civilization since made their farming and business life easier. Even mans (South ), the Waterlanders, the Old the Reformation, associated with great thinkers the most isolated Flemish Mennonite farmer in the Flemish..... The strictest, the `best’ or `most pre- and artists such as Shakespeare, Bacon, deltas of the Vistula River, to some extent, became cise’ were the Flemish, the most latitudinarian, the Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo and Descarte. a modernizationist as soon as he picked up a spade Waterlanders who never adopted the name Men- Modernity was shaped by the 18th century move- to dig a drainage ditch or built a windmill to drain nonite” (page 31). ment known as the “Enlightenment”, given voice the water. Instead of recognizing the courageous battle by the brilliant French philosophers, Francois Modernization became a powerful force for the faith being engaged by the Flemish and Marie Arouet Voltaire (1694-1778) and Jean Bap- among the Mennonites in 19th century Russia. particularly the Old Flemish and Old Frisians, tist Rousseau (1671-1741). In essence, modern- Johann Cornies (1789-1848) was the central fig- against the inroads of assimilationism and spiritu- ization was based on the idea that all decisions ure in any study of modernization within Men- alism which had existed in the Anabaptist move- and activities should be based on human reason, nonite society. As is evident from the articles in ment from the beginning, P. M. Friesen dispar- not on religious beliefs, culture or traditions. The this issue of Preservings, Johann Cornies went aged the Flemish for “dissipat[ing] in dissension.” time of the Enlightenment was also known as the to extreme lengths to suppress and even extin- It was Friesen’s view that: “Under the guise of “Age of Reason”. guish the existing Flemish institutions such as `cleansing’ the church, they threw their brother Political power shifted from autocratic monar- the Gemeinde and the traditional position of the out of the house because his was either too chies to democratically elected Parliaments and Ältester. The Flemish Mennonites agreed with long or too short, because of a button or hood, political assemblies, starting in the French Revo- many of his innovations but certainly disagreed because of a shibboleth or `Sib’” (page 13). lution. The basic ideals and vision of the Found- with the strong-arm tactics he used to implement In answering these charges one would refer ing Fathers of the United States in 1776 were these changes. first to the banning and counterbanning found in directly inspired by Enlightenment thinkers such Because Modernizationists and Pietists shared the early Brüdergemeinde in Russia after 1860 as these. Incidently, it is noteworthy that the same goal - the destruction of traditional Men- and even the denial of salvation to those who had “grassroots democracy” was one of the funda- nonite society - they often worked in alliance. Pro- not undergone the prescribed ritualized conver- mental premises of Flemish Mennonites thought, fessor John Staples has concluded in his study sion experience and/or immersion baptism. The a principle permeating every aspect and compart- that Cornies underwent a conversion experience same do not appear to be much of an improvement ment of their social and cultural paradigm. to Separatist-Pietist religious culture in Hernhut in over what Friesen is complaining about among In the material sphere, modernization was rep- 1827. It is clear that Johann Cornies aided and the 16th century Anabaptists. Friesen is also wrong resented by Adam Smith and “laissez-faire” eco- allied himself with other Pietists whose objective in stating that divisions emerged, since the groups nomics. The value of any product - and even the similarly was to destroy traditional Mennonite re- referred to came from separate geographical areas selection of a product for production - was gov- ligious society and to replace the same with the and naturally had developed largely independently erned by what the buyer would pay on the open more modern institutions and teachings of Pietism. during the Reformation. It would have been un- market and not by autocratic degrees or govern- In Johann Cornies, Pietism and modernization usual to expect that these groups would ever have ment regulations. combined in a powerful alliance which perma- amalgamated given their independent pre-Refor- A modern world view also implicitly assumed nently crippled the conservative majority in the mation histories. To imply that there was some- the superiority of the latest and newest ideas. New Molotschna. thing inherently wrong in Anabaptist teaching or concepts, institutions, methods, etc. based on hu- The battle for the Gemeinde (“Kampf um die culture because separate branches or manifesta- man reason and observed experience were seen as Gemeinde”), therefore, often flared up under the tions of Anabaptism should develop independently inherently good, liberating and beneficial. The so- guise of a struggle between modernization vs. tra- is pure nonsense. In fact, it would have been most cial systems, culture and thinking of the past were dition. However, as Dr. Staples has correctly unusual should these disparate groups with their seen as evil, corrupted and decayed, deserving pointed out, the Flemish Mennonites in the separate histories and development have ever only of quick extinction. Molotschna were not necessarily anti- united. A traditional or pre-modern society, on the modernizationists, but they were certainly anti- other hand, respected and defended the existing Pietists. Development Period. institutions and values as good and worthy of In his book Anabaptist-Mennonite Confes- preservation. Tradition was the accumulated good The Anabaptist Disease. sions of Faith, Professor Karl Koop makes the and wisdom of the past, which needed to be medi- The 17th century Doopsgezinde in the Low point that much research has been done regard- ated and handed down from one generation to the Countries refused any association with the name ing the Anabaptist roots of the Mennonites while next. For example, the , for the Mennonite. The spiritualistic and liberal the “development period” thereafter has simply most part, saw modernization as a threat and as an Anabaptists in what later became the Dutch Neth- been ignored (page 21). Koop quotes John Roth attack against its very foundations. erlands were referred to as “Waterlanders” (and as follows: “....historians of the past have ideal- after 1811 as “Doopsgezindte”). From within the ized 16th century Anabaptism and have simply Mennonites and Modernity. progressivistic Doopsgezinde, the struggle of the ignored the later years....[and] the intervening In his Mennonite Encyclopedia (Vol 5, 598- Danziger Old Flemish for the integrity of their years became a literal `middle ages’. Or worse it 600) article on “Modernity” Denis Martin writes faith was characterized as the senseless clinging to became `the dark ages’ a period characterized that “Most Mennonites, however, relinquished tra- the past of a hopelessly dead and archaic culture, first and foremost by what it was not: by its ditionalism and embraced modernity in different focused on useless and counterproductive rites retreat from the power of ideas into the routineity degrees and at differing pace in Europe and North and by a power hungry leadership, to main- of structure, by its apostasy from the discipline

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 51 of Nachfolge into the blissful devotion of During the 19th century, deal with such issues and did so in love, compas- Gelassenheit. Stripped of its idealism, and hence the Zemstva - the re- sion, and with common sense. In his letters of its pedagogical value for the present, the story of gional governements 1872 Evangelist Bernhard Harder has stated that the Anabaptists after 1550 simply became unin- beyond the Volosts - had morality in the Brüdergemeinde at the time was no teresting” (page 27). their own postage better then that of the Kirchliche Gemeinden and Historians such as P. M. Friesen have taken stamps. The Molotschna that for that reason he would never consider chang- such sentiments and created a historical narrative Volosts were part of the ing churches. which saw simply a present reformed era, pre- Berdiansk Zemstva. These are just a few of the many false state- ceded by a period of darkness and falleness, but This picture shows the ments made by the M.B. website. The allegation with the original 16th century Reformation being Berdiansk Zemstva of a fallen and corrupted Mennonite Church is “the golden age”. Studies such as those by Dr. stamp. It contains the absolute nonsense. I find it insulting to the ex- Koop show that such conclusions are far too sim- symbols for the treme that such false charges are being publicly agricutural hinterland - the plough (for agricul- plistic and that the period of confessionalization displayed on a website by a reputable and highly ture); the honey hive (for prosperity and produc- and denominalization which followed the Refor- tivity); and the anchor, of course for the seaport of respected denomination as the Mennonite Breth- mation, was an important period in Mennonite Berdiansk. Photo - courtesy of James Urry. ren Church. I can understand these charges being history, equally deserving of study and research made in the heated atmosphere and intense emo- and worthy of our respect. no battle between the Mennonite Vollwirt class tions of the actual separation in 1860 by landless and the landless. The battle was between land- fanatics who had converted themselves to Sepa- The Brüdergemeinde Thesis, 1860. less and the “Gutsbesitzer” who had leased all ratist-Pietist religious culture, but see no excuse It was the Brüdergemeinde view that the Flem- the reserve land of the Molotschna colony and for the continuation of such falsehoods and slan- ish Mennonite community in Russia in 1860 was were renting the same at 10 times the price to the der 145 years later. corrupted, fallen, and completely beyond redemp- landless. The problem with the Brüdergemeinde tion, which made a separation from the whore of allegation is that these “Gutsbesitzer” were mostly Conclusion. Babylon (as the secessionists called the existing also pietists such as Johann Cornies and Peter What is traditional Mennonite faith? Accord- Gemeinden) the only biblically valid alternative Schmidt. ing to Soujke Voolstra the teachings of Menno and the only reasonable response. The website alleges that “Public drunkenness, Simons were centered on the idea of penitence. Professor James Urry has described the letter gambling and moral decadence were undisci- From genuine penitence arose faith. Penitence was of secession by the Brüdergemeinders as follows: plined.” In the first place, not every person resid- the foundation of true faith. According to Voolstra, “On January 6, 1860, the leaders of the Molochnaja ing on the colony was a church member and sub- had artificially reversed these bibli- congregations received a pretentious declaration ject to discipline. The Bible also makes positive cal teachings to come up with a doctrinal paradigm that was signed by 18 Mennonites. It condemned references to drinking and so the moral position in which faith came first, before penitence. Ac- the `entire corrupt Mennonite brotherhood’ and stated by the M.B. website is not totally correct. In cording to Luther, the sinner first had to have faith, announced their withdrawal to form a new con- fact, it is my understanding that the majority of from which penitence might or might not arise. It gregation. They cited as reason for their with- M.B.ers in the modern-day would enjoy a glass of was not critical in any case, as for Luther, redemp- drawal the lack of spiritual life in the colony, the wine now and again (as well they should). Sec- tion followed from faith and faith alone (see sinful practices of colonists, and the failure of re- ondly, the Brüder have equally often complained Preservings, No. 23, pages 30-41). ligious leaders to maintain proper discipline. The that the ban is used too often and too forcefully Several attempts have been made earlier in this only true Mennonites they claimed were those against members. Please make up you mind which article and elsewhere in this issue of Preservings whose baptism confirmed a true experience of way the Kirchlichen are to go. to define traditional Mennonite faith or at least to faith and salvation. Anyone not so redeemed was The website makes the blanket statement that describe it, even if very inadequately. The impor- to be denied communion and social contact with “The Russian Mennonites faced social, economic, tant point, in any case, is that all of us should work those possessed of the spirit. They alone were the intellectual and spiritual stagnation. They were in together to create a Flemish-Russian Mennonite elect and capable of forming an exclusive fellow- need of renewal.” Where in the world the world where both streams - traditionalists and ship of true believers. They had placed themselves Brüdergemeinders would come up with such a modernizationists and/or spiritualists and beyond the discipline of the established congrega- ridiculous, nonsensical statement is beyond me. confessionalists - can sit down at the same table in tions whom they had condemned and in a sense To the best of my knowledge the Mennonite Colo- an atmosphere of mutual respect and understand- banned” (NBS, page 179-180). nies in Czarist Russia were always regarded as ing. We should be striving for a community where Surprisingly, some 145 years later, the website model settlements as is evidenced by the visits and Old Colonists can sit on boards of inter-Menno- of the Mennonite still makes some reports of many dignitaries and travellers. nite organizations and not have to fear that the of the same false and equally untrue statements. Another statement made by the website is that “Evangelical” members only see them as targets Of the church in Russia it is stated: “Baptism was “Many who were weary of lifeless formalism were for conversion or that they are, indeed, already extended to those who completed a catechism class, drawn by his [Wuest’s] message into a vibrant conniving behind their backs to alienate their chil- without insistence on personal commitment to Jesus spiritual relationship with God and each other.” dren from them. We should build a world in which Christ.” Response: Everybody who has taken the Again, to state or imply that Mennonite spiritual both streams of belief are treated justly and traditional Mennonite catechism class in any church life under the conservative Flemish congregations honourably by the other. will recall that the same constituted a through study was a “lifeless formalism,” is mere meaningless As we enter the 21rst century already marred of the scripture, dealing, in fact, with the totality of hyperbole. The truth is that the conservative Men- by the ugly spectre of war and countless innocent Christian life and salvation, and that throughout nonites lived a rich spiritual life, blessed by large deaths, the need for a Mennonite community united the program and at their baptism candidates ac- and extended family clans, and their working of in a witness of peace is vital. The battle for the knowledged Jesus Christ as their Lord and Sav- the land. To suggest that the of the Gemeinde was a high calling, to press towards the iour. To make a general statement that those who Wuest Brethren - with their senseless jumping and mark. Through the grace of God, the conservative had completed the traditional catechism course had shrieking around - was any richer than that of the Flemish Mennonites have not only survived but not made a personal commitment to Christ is sim- humble simple Flemish peasants, is simply non- have grown and - on occasion - have even blos- ply a barefaced lie. sense. somed. A further statement is made that “Divisions Let us briefly recap some of the evidence. Con- Let us learn to love and respect each other and between wealthy members and the impoverished temporary journals such as Johann Wall and David to be proud of each others’ accomplishments. But landless class deepened.” It this regard it has al- Epp, show that those indulging in immorality, drink- let us focus also on our higher calling, that of ready been proven in the article in this issue of ing and false dealing in the colonies were a small being a testimony for the teachings of Jesus in a Preservings by Dr. John Staples that there was minority. The unpaid ministerial met frequently to troubled world. The Editor.

52 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Letters We welcome letters to the editor and appreciate feedback from our readers, critical or otherwise. We will assume that all letters and e-mails can be published, unless the contrary is indicated. We reserve the right to edit, discard and/or not to publish any letter/e-mail and/or not to respond. E-mails should not contain attachments. All letters and e-mails should contain the writer’s name, address and home phone number. Letters should be short (preferably under 300 words) and to the point.

42 Campbell Ct., 502 for the Destitute and Dying in Calcutta, and was cheque. Stratford, Ont., N5A 7K2 deeply impressed by the respect and dignity, and Sincerely, “Peter Doell” The enclosed cheque is for a subscription to cultural sensitivity Mother Teresa and her staff ______Preservings. I have received several copies in expressed to these homeless and “off the street” the past after ordering the publication Diese Steine persons. They made it possible for them to die in From: and found the journal/magazine very interesting. a clean surrounding, and, very important, to die Subject: Preservings Dec 2003, No. 23 Although my family (Hoemsen, Heidebrecht, on a bed instead of on the ground. It was beauti- Good issue. Really enjoyed the guest edito- Driedger) was originally from the Molotschna ful! rial and your editorial as well. Focusing on one settlement, any information or history of the I am enclosing herewith my 2004 subscrip- paragraph...”the Gospel-centricism of traditional Mennonites in general helps me in understand- tion to Preservings and best wishes for the year Catholic theology, Erasmus and Christian hu- ing my family background. ahead. manism,....”. A colleague of mine who is not I was on a tour of the former U.S.S.R. in Sincerely, “Helen Kornelsen” Mennonite once remarked to me that Erasmus 1987 which aroused my interest in Mennonite ______was particularly fascinated by the early and Russian history and has given me a focus for Anabaptists. To this end I have been searching reading and study since retirement. I found the [email protected] for a copy of “Erasmus, the Anabaptists, and the December/02 on borrowed words in the Low 782 Wright Ave. Great Commission” by Abraham Friesen. of special interest. Although I Port Coquitlam, Eerdmans, copyright 1998. Have you ever come may not agree with the intent and content of some B.C., V3B 5M7 across a copy of this book? articles, they are all worth reading with an open Dec. 30, 2003 Regards, “Curtis” mind. Please fine enclosed my cheque for $100.00 ______Mrs. Marge Silver. to cover my Preservings renewal and also a do- ______nation to the Society. Curtis B. Rempel MBA, PhD, PAg Keep up the great work you have been doing. 148 Harvest Drive Dec. 22.03 It is most informative especially to someone like Steinbach, MB Box 502, Morris myself who is not totally familiar with Menno- R5G 2C7 Manitoba, R0G 1K0 nite history. Editor’s Note: The book you mentioned should Please find enclosed a cheque for $20.00 for Thanks, Don Fehr. be available through Mennonite Books, 67 Flett one year subscription to Preservings. Your maga- _____ Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba. Ph. 1-800-465-6564. zine is a great source of information about my _____ heritage. Box 491, Station Main I too am a member of a Conservative Church Winkler, Manitoba 91 Chancery Bay and find it refreshing to hear our side of a story R6W 4A7 Winnipeg, Man., R2N 2R3 told. But let us not close our eyes to our own Nov. 30, 2003 Your organization is to be commended for errors and failures, least we become as self-righ- Thank you very much for the shipment of the the excellent work being done to preserve a record teous as the so-called “Separatist-Pietists”. book, “Das Mennonitentum in Russland,” by of Mennonite history, and I do look forward to Sincerely, Peter G. Unrau Adolf Ehrt. reading each issue of Preservings. _____ It contains a wealth of information and statis- Sincerely, “Peter J. Suderman” tical data about the life of our forefathers in Rus- ______12 Jan 2004 sia. It is a valuable addition to the study of our Subject: Your Old Colony Issue of Preservings. Mennonite heritage. Thank you again Jan. 15, 2004 Your December 2003 issue featuring the Old Sincerely, Jake Hildebrandt. Box 684, Heins Creek Colony Mennonites was informative and an im- P.S. I will distribute the books among my friends Alberta, T0H 2A0 portant corrective to our modernizing and and relatives. ....Ja nun will ich mich noch von Herzen assimilationist assumptions. As one who grew ______bedanken fuer die Preservings, haben sie richtig up among the Old Order Amish and conserva- zu seiner Zeit bekommen....Ich will mich tive Mennonites, I’ve admired their commitment bemuehen um diese Buecher an Entersante Leser to Christian faithfulness. weiter zu teilen. Darum so bedanke ich mich noch Levi Miller, Herald Press, Mennonite Pub- einmal..... lishing Network, 616 Walnut Avenue, Scottdale, Box 89, Warman von David D. Janzen PA 15683, [email protected] Sask., S0K 4S0 ______Jan. 9, 2004 ______I very much appreciate the info in Pathway Publications “Preservings” on conservative Menn. back- Route 4, Aylmer Box 1194, Watrous ground and history. Faithful Christians often need Ont., N5H 2R3 Sask., S0K 4T0 defenders who are able to properly articulate a March 1, 2004 Dec. 29, 2003 credible defense in a spirit of love and grace, Apparently you sent sample copies of the new Re: Mother Teresa, Issue 22, pages 56-61. even to our accusers. Thank you for the many book The Mennonite Old Colony Vision to our As one who has spent many years in India, I insightful articles in the magazine. May the Lord office here at Aylmer, as David Luthy handed me was gratified to read the tribute paid to Mother grant us all grace to live as He lived. a copy for review. Teresa. I had the privilege of visiting her Home Enclosed is my donation and membership I have read it, and I am favourably impressed.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 53 Moreover, I found the book to be fascinating all means, and you’ve done invaluable work in reading. I can remember when the first Old pursuit of this curiosity. I know the work that is Colony people from Mexico showed up in this involved in such work, the dedication. For this I area 50 years ago, soon after our own arrival in thank you. this community. By now, of course, our town- We share some blood. It was distant enough ship has a very large representation of Menno- that I didn’t realize this until I was gone from nites from Mexico. They are our neighbours, Steinbach. Our grandfathers being brothers. I and we encounter them frequently. have a photo of the two of them. Your grandfa- Please mail 10 copies at this time to our Aylmer ther, Martin, with his sunglasses on, looking like office and bill us for them. We will use several a Mennonite hitman, or something. I love the copies for further review with the possibility that photo. we can add this book to our 2005 Pathway Book I know you have disagreed with me, with catalogue. The other copies we will offer for re- what is within some of my books, but that is only sale in our bookstore here. part of natural discourse. We continue, as best Thanks, sincerely, Joseph Stoll. we can, in that process of understanding, look- _____ ing always for that flash of recognition of what seems true. Trying always for integrity. It’s how Penco Construction, we were brought up, isn’t it? Though, even with Blumenort, MB R0A 0C0 that question, I hold doubts. Our people, where April 2, 2004 we’ve come from, a complex matter. Not all good, Dear Delbert, not all bad. The usual human mess of good inten- I came home late last night from an 8 week tions, frailties and effort. stay in Florida when I heard you were ill. I am It comes down to the individual spirit, no Rudy Wiebe speaking to the closing session of the saddened to hear this. matter what the community. Delbert, I wish, in- Molotschna ‘04 conference held in Potemkin’s Since Linda and I are planning to back track adequately, the best for you. Be of good spirit. Palace, Dnepropetrovsk, June 7, 2004. Photo - our historical ancestors, by going to Ukraine in “Best Patrick” [Friesen] Johannes Dyck. May, I had selected my reading material for my mention a few) have written about the conserva- winter holidays appropriately. One of my selec- Editor’s Note: When your “The Shunning” came tive (as opposed to the more “individualistic” tions was your 125th Anniversary ...Preservings. out in 1980 I felt it focused (as did Rudy Wiebe’s and “spiritualistic”) stream within Flemish-Rus- I had planned on meeting you to discuss certain Peace Shall Destroy Many) solely on one nega- sian Mennonite historiography, recognizing that issues. How do you define, in a historical con- tive aspect of the Mennonite pioneering experi- those who remained faithful to the Gospel as text, what distinguishes the Flemmish from ence. There was little or no recognition that insti- envisioned by Menno have equally legitimate Friesiens and are these traits (that what distin- tutions such as the Gemeinde and the village be- roots in the Reformation and that their “develop- guishes them) still evident today..... came “arks” through which our people survived ing tradition” is worthy of study and pride (see Delbert, you have made, as yet far from fully a hostile environment and eventually triumphed Karl Koop, Anabaptist-Mennonite Confessions realized, a massive contribution to the self worth over their enemies. One should consider, also, of Faith, page 134). of a people often looked upon with curiosity by the fundamental principles of the Flemish Men- Thus the Mennonite canon has matured and the greater society. The present generation of nonites in grassroots democracy and equality, blossomed creating a rich and diverse literary Mennonites, by and large, I believe, do not real- values they had gleaned from their almost landscape. Hopefully this will result in new lev- ize their indebtedness to their ancestors for the 500 years ago. The survival instincts and irre- els of understanding within the Mennonite com- quality of life they enjoy today. Will they respect pressible vitality of our conservative forebears munity and between the two - often divergent - the time honored traditions and core values that (including the modern Old Colonists) was birthed streams. Within this context we need and value have served them well? You have in a duty full in the blood of the martyrs in Flemish fields - the books such as “The Shunning” which point also way given them an awareness and the opportu- heaviest toll of any Anabaptist group in the Ref- to the blotches in our past. I want to thank you nity to do so if they so choose. ormation. publicly for having the courage, back in 1980, to You have greatly enhanced my awareness by Over the expanse of time, these very same write as you did. I think our twin grandfathers educating me as to the attributes of my ancestors. Ältesten (and by implication all Ohms, Meums, would be proud. I have a deep appreciation for my ancestors and midwives, and civic leaders) who were pillo- what you have done to enlighten me in this re- ried by these books gave freely of their time and gards. energy in order to create a better life for the While I as yet do not fully concur with all of marginalized and underprivileged in their com- the positions that you take, this all pales in light munities. By comparison, their Anglo of the overall enrichment you have provided to neighbours on the prairies, isolated with only me and my family. their own resources on their primitive home- Hang in there, Good luck and God bless. steads, could only gaze on in envy as their Men- With gratitude- Respectfully yours as always, nonites advanced in giant steps in a few short “Ernie G. Penner” decades. ______Since 1980 the corpus of Mennonite litera- ture (English) has matured and blossomed, and 215-1643 East 3rd Ave. among others, I mention the novel of Al Reimer, Van., BC, V5N 5R6, My Harp is Turned to Mourning (1985), Armin March 27/04 Wiebe’s The Salvation of Yasch Simens (1984), Dear Delbert, and, of course, in 2001, the twin Canadian best Ralph has told me of your illness, your sur- sellers, Rudy Wiebe’s Sweeter than all the World, gery. I wish you the best. Healing, if at all pos- and ’s, The Russländer. sible. In the meantime, also, a number of historians Potemkin’s Palace in Dnepropetrovsk (formerly I remember our conversations at The Steak (including Peter Zacharias, Henry Schapansky, Ekaterinoslav). Photo - Johannes Dyck. Loft (I think that was it). I know your insatiable John J. Friesen, S. Zijlstra, Piet Visser, Sjouke curiosity about where we’ve come from, what it Voolstra and Royden Loewen, and myself, to

54 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 News Bicentennial - Molotschna/ June 6, 2004 Bicentennial Events - Halbstadt, Molotschna Colony, formerly South Russia/Molochansk, Ukraine, June 6, 2004, report by Sheila Reid Penner, Box 1305, Steinbach, Manitoba, R0A 2A0. Worship Service. Grigoryevich Smerdov. His greetings include a Blumenort. These bars stand on a large round The sky reflects the occasion. warm invitation for us all to return to this land marble base that tells the story of the settlers in Gray splotches with some promise of rain. that our ancestors had built and carry on their both German and Ukrainian. The symbols of the Mild, windless, and pensive. work. He guaranteed us equality this time anchor and the rose are used to suggest the People have gathered here in Halbstadt around. strength of the Mennonite faith and their belief in (Molochansk), Ukraine, to mark the 200th anni- It is time for the unveiling of the monument to peace. versary of the arrival of the first Mennonite set- the settlers, appropriately by a Mennonite woman tlers to the Molotschna Colony (Halbstadt was and a Ukrainian child. Three Mennonite hymns Greetings. the original county-Municipal seat of the by the choir and folk orchestra from Melitopol Greetings from the Ukrainian State Commit- Molotschna Colony). We are the tee on Religion are given by Nikolai Canadian part of the gatherers. There Romanovich Novichenko, First are many others. From Holland, Deputy Chair. South America, Germany, and from Historian John Staples presents different areas of Ukraine. some answers to the question Why We stream ourselves into the are we gathered here? He reminds us church service, held in what used to of the circumstances that brought the be the Mennonite Zentralschule. To- Mennonites here in the first place, day would be the first time a church what forced them to leave, and the service would have been held here legacy they left the area while they since the days when the Mennonites were here. fled westward with the retreating Governor Vladimir Petrovich Wehrmacht in 1943. These days the Berezovskii of Zaporohse Oblast large building is used as a Teacher brings greetings from the State and Training College. issues the second invitation of the Once inside, we look around at day for us all to return as equals to each other, wondering. Strangers all, this land built by our Mennonite set- but from where? And why here, to- tlers. day? Are some of us related to each As the rain starts to sprinkle upon other because of that time 200 years the audience like a blessing, the ago? What stories have they heard Tokmak-Molochansk Orthodox about that time? Choir fills the tree-lined square with Then we are asked to stand and their music. sing from the hymn sheets that had The Canadian Ambassador, An- been handed out. But in what lan- drew Robinson, who brought a gift guage, we wonder? Then the tune is from the Canadian Government to played and we all know it, each in help fund the construction of a much our own language - German, Rus- needed medical centre for the area, sian, English and Spanish. That great honours the contribution of the Men- and powerful reminder of the Cre- nonite settlers to the Ukrainian com- ator of all of us “How Great Thou Dr. Marlyce Friesen, Abbotsford, B.C., and Molotschna student (right) un- munity. This message receives a Art”. And we raise our voices to- veiling the Settlers’ Monument in Molochansk (Halbstadt, Molotschna) dur- rousing applause from the Ukraini- gether in that universal language of ing the bi-centennial celebration, June 6, 2004. The monument is shaped ans and the foreigners alike in the The Hymn. It is a stirring moment like a stone with the names of the old villages being honoured audience. and sets the tone for the service carved into the bars. Dr. Marlyce Friesen and her husband Dr. Art Friesen, The last words of the program ahead. All of us so far from home, are physicians from Abbotsford, B.C. (practising in New Westminster) who are given to author Peter Klassen yet drawn back, each for our own have organized medical seminars at the Mennonite Center in Halbstadt. from Filadelphia, Paraguay, who has reasons, to our common roots. There They are also involved with updating former Mennonite hospitals with new chosen a very timely theme for all of follows prayers, songs from the and recycled hospital equipment. Photo Johannes Dyck, courtesy of Walter the many contingencies there. “This choir, spiritual messages, and a bene- Unger. is the time for forgiveness.” diction. A light spring rain accompanies accompany the unveiling. the Mennonite hymns by the Choir of Melitopol Bicentennial Commemoration. The inscription on the monument is read in University, as flowers are laid at the foot of the Outside, under a still uncertain sky, we move Ukrainian by Ekaterina Ostapenko and in Ger- monument by various groups. Appropriately they ourselves into the large central square for the rest man by Gerhard Ratzlaff. Then Toronto designer, are the flowers growing in the many gardens we of the ceremony. Paul Epp, describes the symbolism of the monu- have seen along the streets of the villages. MCC Chairman, Steve Shirk, opens this part ment. On the six upright marble bars are the names Bright peonies that would have been the flow- of the memorial service. of the different villages within the larger colony - ers of choice planted in the gardens of the Men- Then we are officially greeted by the Mayor many familiar to the Mennonite towns in nonite settlers. of Molochansk (Halbstadt), Anatoliy Manitoba now, such as Steinbach, Altona,

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 55 Lichtenau Train Station Memorial, June 5, 2004 Peonies had also been chosen to deco- The editor, Delbert Plett was deeply rate the two-part memorial unveiled at honoured to be chosen to unveil the the Lichtenau (Svetlodolinskoje) train bench memorial. Prior to the unveil- station on June 5, 2004 which we also ing he read the script (translated from attended. German): “Railway station Svetlodolinskoje/Lichtenau. In 1804 Another memorial designed by Paul Mennonites settled this village and Epp from Toronto. He had been there to in 1910 they built the railway. Origi- present and explain the symbolism. He nally a point of arrival and depar- had created two marble benches for this ture for those leaving to study and special place. “The bench seemed to be serving in the Forestry and Alterna- the best way to depict the waiting the tive Services, it also became a meet- Mennonites had to do at this station to ing point for visiting families. Later catch the train and make their escape from the railway station bore witness of the persecution they were facing. This painful separations: from here 1000s waiting meant leaving loved ones behind of Mennonites emigrated to the West and taking great risks to resettle in new during the 1920s. Between 1930 and 1941 1000s of others were deported countries far away.” to the east. `The Lord is my light and The rose and the anchor were used in my salvation; whom shall I fear? these memorials as well to commemorate Psalms 27, 1.’ Erected by the village the Mennonites’ great strength of faith, council and the Mennonite Histori- and their keeping of the peace despite cal Committee.” Photo - George the high costs. By Sheila Reid Penner Schroeder, Steinbach, Canada.

Frank Wall, grandson of one of the co-founders of the railway in 1910. Photo - A. Reger.

Conference participants formed a choir to sing the familiar hymns “Wehrlos und verlassen” and “So nimm denn meine Hände.” This latter song was often sung as a farewell both by the departing Menno- nites and their loved ones who remained behind. Photo - A. Reger.

Designer Paul Epp, Toronto, explains the signifi- cance of the benches as memorials. Photo - A. Reger.

Lichtenau train station, view from the west (street side). “When the railway line was built through Quite appropriately, a train rumbles by the station the Molotschna in 1910, Lichtenau became one during the dedication of the memorial benches, of three stations within the colony....The station bringing thoughts of our ancestors as they waited was located northeast of the village,” Rudy Friesen, for wagons to flee westward in 1943. To the right Into the Past, pages 266-267. See Lohrenz, In the of the photo is teacher, Paulhans Klassen, Fernheim Lichtenau train station, view from the east (rail- Fullness of Time, page 74, for photo of the invest- Colony, Paraguay, brother of Peter P. Klassen, the way side), June 6, 2004. Photo Adina Reger, Ger- ment syndicate that built the railway. reknown Mennonite historian. many.

56 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Molochansk Mennonite Conference, June 2-5, 2004 Molochna/Molochansk - 2004: Mennonites and Their Neighbours (1804-2004). An International Scholarly Conference, , Ukraine, 2 - 5 June 2004,” by Dr. Peter Letkemann, 5-1110 Henderson Hwy., Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2G 1L1 ([email protected]).

Introduction. The year 2004 marks the 200th anniver- sary of the founding of the Molochna Menno- nite settlement in southern Russia (present-day Ukraine). To mark this historic anniversary, scholars from eight countries on four conti- nents gathered in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine from 2 - 5 June for an academic conference entitled - “Molochna - 2004: Mennonites and Their Neighbours (1804-2004)”. The first nine villages of the Molochna Settlement were founded in the spring of 1804; by 1809 there were already 19 villages. From 1819 to 1848 (the year of Johann Cornies’ death) another 27 villages were founded; be- tween 1851 and 1863 another 11 were added - making a total of 57 villages. Part of the crowd gathering for the Bi-centennial celebrations in the square in front of the former The settlement also included a number of Mennonite Zentralschule, June 6, 2004. The building is currently being used as a Teacher Training large private estates, including Juschanlee College. Photo -Johannes Dyck, Bielefeld, Germany. June 6, 2004. (1811 - J. Cornies), Steinbach (1812 - Klaas Wiens) and Felsenthal (1820 - David Reimer). and the United States to explore a wide spec- Chief Administrator of Nationalities, Immigra- By 1914, the settlement had a population of trum of subjects on all aspects of the history of tion and Religion, Admin- 27,127 and covered an area of over 306,000 the Molochna Mennonites and their interac- istration. acres - it was the largest Mennonite colony in tions with their non-German neighbours. Sadly, John Staples, acting chair of the confer- Tsarist Russia. there were no representatives from Bethel Col- ence, presented the keynote address: “Putting The conference was originally scheduled lege, Canadian Mennonite University, or `Russia’ back into Russian Mennonite His- to take place in the city of Melitopol (pop. College - all former centres of tory: The Crimean War, Emancipation and the 200,000), located some 150 km south of Russian Mennonite studies here in North Molochna Mennonite Landlessness Crisis.” He Zaporizhzhia and only a few kilometres south America. It is a sad commentary on the deplor- began with statement: “Mennonite of the original Molochna Settlement. A seri- able state of Russian Mennonite studies in these historians....have told and retold this story ous fire, accompanied by large explosions, at a and other North American Mennonite institu- countless times, but even the best of them have huge munitions dump just 30 km northwest of tions! told it as an exclusively Mennonite story. The Melitopol - and a few kilometres landlessness crisis might just as across the Molochnaia River from well have happened in Kansas, or the former Mennonite village of Manitoba, or Paraguay, so little Lichtenau (Svyetlodolinsk) - led to does the broader context of Tsarist the shift of location from Melitopol Russia intrude. Staples emphasized to Zaporizhzhia, just two weeks that the crisis was not only a “Men- prior to the opening. nonite event” brought on by “in- Another complication was the ternal, religious, social and politi- sudden illness of the main confer- cal struggles, but rather part of a ence organizer, Prof. Harvey Dyck much larger economic and social from the University of Toronto, crisis in southern Ukraine as a who had to be flown back to whole” brought on by “external” Toronto for treatment in mid-May. factors such as the Crimean War Other members of the organizing and the emancipation of the serfs committee, including John Staples The Zentralschule as it stood in 1910. Photo - P. M. Friesen, Mennonite in 1861. (New York State University at Brotherhood, 726. It was the only Mennonite building in Russia to use the The Conference Program listed Fredonia), Nikolai Krylov (Uni- Greek temple design. “Four large (almost Doric) columns with a pediment a total of 37 papers in 13 sessions, versity of Melitopol), Svetlana create a canopy over the front steps,” Rudy Friesen, Into the past, 243. some of which were held concur- Bobyleva (Director of the Institute rently. Several scholars, in addi- of Ukrainian-German Studies at the National tion to Harvey Dyck, did not show up, and in University of Dnepropetrovsk), travel coor- Opening, June 2. the final analysis only 33 papers were pre- dinators Walter and Marina Unger (Toronto) The conference began on Wednesday sented. The level of scholarship was generally and members of the Zaporizhzhia Intourist evening, 2 June, with an official opening din- quite high. Over two-thirds of the papers (23 staff, led by Larissa Goryacheva, stepped into ner in the newly-renovated banquet room of in all) were given by Ukrainian scholars from the breach. All arrangements for the last minute the Intourist Hotel in Zaporizhzhia. Special Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia and Dnepropetrovsk transition were taken care of efficiently. The guests and dignitaries included Nikolai and Russian scholars from as far away as St. conference ran smoothly and associated events Novichenko, First Deputy Chair of the Ukrai- Petersburg, Stavropol (Caucasus) and Omsk took place as scheduled. nian State Committee on Religion, Anatolii (Siberia). The contributions of these non-Men- Scholars came from Austria, Canada, Ger- Striuk, Deputy Chair of the Zaporizhzhia nonite scholars from Eastern Europe, based many, Netherlands, Paraguay, Russia, Ukraine Oblast Administration, and Natalia Derkach, largely on their study of primary archival docu-

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 57 ments, have added new insights and perspec- sian Mennonites during the years of famine in interviews can be found in Nestor Makno and tives to the Russian Mennonite story. the early 1920s. Concurrently, Natalia the Eichenfeld Massacre, published earlier this The Conference booklet provided 2-3 page Ostasheva-Venger, Marina Belikova and K. year by Pandora Press] summaries in Russian and English of most pa- Lyakh presented papers on various aspects of Concurrently, three papers were presented pers, so that all could follow the general con- Mennonite economic, industrial and agricul- in the neighbouring room: V. Babkova, a gradu- tent of the presentations. The subsequent ques- tural development. ate student from Stavropol University, pre- tion and discussion period of each session was sented her paper on “Russian Understanding conducted in both languages, with of Mennonites in the North the help of an excellent team of Caucasus in the 1860s” which dealt translators. A selection of 10-12 with the first Mennonite settlement papers is scheduled for publica- in the Kuban region. Irina tion in the Journal of Mennonite Cherkazianova from St. Petersburg Studies. presented a paper on “Central Conference proceedings began Schools: discourse on the at 8:45 on Thursday morning, 3 russification and self-isolation of June with papers on “The Germans in southern Ukraine.” Molochna Mennonite School Sergei Shevchuk concluded with a Council” (Plesskaia) and “The paper on “Johann Cornies’ Educa- Role of Mennonites in the Inten- tional and Scientific Activities in the sification of Steppe Forestry in the Molochna Region.” He noted that first half of the 19th Century” with the support of the Russian (Rudchenko). civil servant Peter Koeppen, After the coffee break, two The view from the council during the Sunday morning bi-centennial memo- Cornies was named a correspond- sessions were held concurrently. I rial service. Seated in the second row. l.-r.: John Staples, Co-chair of the ing member of the Russian Acad- attended the session which dealt Conference, Hans Dürksen, editor of the Mennoblatt, Fernheim, Paraguay, emy of Sciences in 1837. In this with “Medical Care and Humani- Adina Reger, writer of Weißenthurm, Germany, Delbert Plett, and Peter capacity he submitted a study of tarian Aid.” Dr. Art Friesen Letkeman. Photo - Johannes Dyck. wells in the Molochna district, re- (Vancouver) presented a detailed survey of the ports on the development of fruit medical institutions developed by Mennonites June 3, Thursday. orchards and tree plantations, an archaeologi- in south central Ukraine prior to . On Thursday afternoon, I attended the ses- cal report on the excavation of 13 ancient burial Dr. V. Reznik (Melitopol) reported on “His- sion dealing with the Revolution and Civil War mounds, and ethnographical studies of the torical and Medical-Hygienic Aspects in the Period. David Sudermann (USA) presented Nogai and Duchobors. Establishment and Development of Mennonite an excellent paper on “The Halbstadt Days Schools.” He noted that Mennonite schools (February 1918)” - providing for the first time June 4, Melitopol. and classrooms “were the most spacious in the a comprehensive and detailed look at events Early Friday morning, 4 June, conference region,” and “ventilation in Mennonite Schools leading up to the brutal murder of five Menno- participants boarded two busses for the two was better than in other schools.” But Menno- nite men and one Russian youth by sailors hour trip to Melitopol University, where nine nite schools did not meet government stan- from the Black Sea fleet and members of the papers were presented. The first six focussed dards on lighting “which led to conditions such local Red Guard on the weekend of 16-18 Feb- on various religious themes. John Staples pre- as scoliosis, short-sightedness and fatigue” nor ruary 1918. The Red Guard included a number sented a stimulating paper on “Pietism and did their school desks correspond to the stan- of Mennonite men, including a certain Kroeker Progress in the Molochna: The `Great Awak- dards of the period “most students sat a long who was identified as one of the triggermen. ening’ of Johann Cornies.” Staples noted that tables, rather that in two-seat or one-seat desks, Alexander Tedeev, Director of the Zaporizhzhia “Pietism afforded Cornies access to an entirely as recommended by many educators.” Regional State Archives, responded to the pa- new world view....[It] provided a vital mecha- Dr. Piet Visser (Amsterdam) closed the ses- per by presenting additional evidence of Men- nism to free Cornies from the constraints of sion with a paper that provided valuable new nonite involvement in the Red Guard from the his conservative Mennonite mentality and insights into the history of Dutch aid to Rus- files of men such as Abram Neufeld, Jakob paved the way for dramatic economic growth.” Derksen and Johann Peter Kroeker. His contacts to the Moravian Brethren and to Svetlana Bobyleva spoke on the causes, the German “Erweckungsbewegung” of the character and outcome of the tragic events of early 19th Century led to increased contact with the Civil War in Mennonite settlements of the secular world - including the economic Southern Ukraine. She urged that the history world of his Russian environment. The cre- of these tragic years must be studied and ana- ation of the Agricultural Society must be con- lyzed anew, using sources that illuminate both sidered in the light of this religious awaken- sides of the story. A concrete example was the ing. brutal massacre that occurred in the village of Oksana Besnosova asked the provocative Eichenfeld on 26 October [8 Nov] 1919. We question: “What die P.M. Friesen Leave Out? have a host of sources describing this tragic Mennonites and the Orthodox Church in the event from the Mennonite perspective. But what Late 19th Century.” She noted that P.M. Friesen about the Ukrainian perspective? In the Spring was “notably silent [in his history book] on of 2001, prior to the dedication of the Eichenfeld the subject of relations between Mennonites Memorial, Bobyleva and her students from and the Orthodox Church, and particularly the Floor plan of the Halbstadt Zentralschule. The Dnepropetrovsk University interviewed some subject of Mennonite influence on Orthodox school had eight classrooms and a large audito- two dozen elderly Ukrainian residents of the people.” In the early 1890s, Friesen himself rium extending out of the back. Rudy Friesen, Into region to get their viewpoint of the event. The was ordered to appear in court to answer the past, 243. It was a real coupe for the Confer- general consensus was that members of the charges of evangelistic activity among Ortho- ence organizing committee to be able to hold the Yazykovo Mennonite “” provoked dox inhabitants of the region. Besnosova also bicentennial events, including the worship ser- real hatred by their actions, which led to this noted that Mennonites made the strongest im- vice, in this historic building. terrible act of revenge. [Excerpts from these pression on the Orthodox not so much through

58 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 their preaching, but rather by their sober and already given up community of goods earlier and Mennonites in the Northern Azov Region: prudent life-style, their literacy and their sing- in their settlement at Radushcheva, north of Pages of a Common History” (S.I. Pachev). ing. The choral festivals [“Sängerfeste”] which Kiev, and in Huttertal they were integrated into In the evening participants attended the became a regular feature of Mennonite com- the Mennonites political, social and economic opening of Paul Toews’ (Fresno) exhibition of munity life in the 1890s, were of particular village structures. The unprecedented prosper- 139 historical photos of the Molochna Region concern to the authorities and came under regu- ity experienced by the best farmers soon stood in the Melitopol Regional History Museum. lar police surveillance as early as 1895....A in stark contrast to the poverty of their fellow The final eight papers of the conference Police report from 1905 states: were presented in three sessions “Russian sectarians have fallen on Saturday morning. In the first under the influence of the Menno- session, Tatiana Plokhotniuk nites.” The effects of this influence (Stavropol, Caucasus) reported on were already demonstrated in the her discovery of the NKVD inter- 1897 Census, when 647 “non-Ger- rogation records of Jakob Aron man” men declared themselves to Rempel from the year 1936. He be “Mennonites.” In the years lead- and some 20 other Mennonite men ing up to World War I, the Ortho- from the Trakehn Settlement were dox Church took advantage of anti- accused of “founding a counter German policies to accuse its ideo- revolutionary organization and logical opponents of exerting a promoting anti-soviet and reli- “German influence” on the Ortho- gious propaganda.” The interroga- dox population and turned the tion records from 20-27 Novem- Tsarist police and the popular press ber 1936 present the Soviet against Mennonites, , [NKVD] interpretation of The University of Melitopol choir performing on the steps of the Zentralschule Evangelical Christians and Pente- Rempel’s activities as Ältester of in Neu-Halbstadt during the afternoon bicentennial memorial services. Seated, costals. Some preachers were ex- front, left, is Lisa Heller, Cultural Affairs Officer, U.S. Embassy to Ukraine; the Neu-Chortitza Mennoniten iled to Siberia, publishing houses two above her is John Staples, Co-chair of the Conference Committee, seated Gemeinde [Shlakhtin-Baratov, were closed, and government plans front left, is Dr. I. P. Anosow President of the University of Melitopol, and two Borozenko and Nepluyevka settle- to restrict the religious rights of above, face visible to the left, is Steve Shirk, MCC director for Ukraine and ments] and as chairman of the Mennonites were formulated. Un- Russia. Historian Dr. Peter P. Klassen, Fernheim, Paraguay, gave a moving “Kommission für Kirchliche der such conditions, P.M. Friesen keynote address, stressing the need for forgiveness. Photo - Johannes Dyck. Angelegenheiten” [KfK] of the “who tried to portray Mennonites Mennonite General Conference in as loyal subjects of the Tsar was compelled to craftsmen and wage labourers, and produced the 1920s. He was accused of being a leader of hide the true scale of Mennonite [Brethren] bitter tensions in the community. As a result, the Moscow emigration movement in 1929, missionary activities. She concluded that “the they decided to return to their “former condi- and of encouraging the Mennonites and par- study of archival records, which are still far tions” and establish a “Bruderhof.” The tradi- ticularly their youth, to resist the Soviet atheis- from exhausted, shows that Mennonites had a tional community of goods was reinstated in tic ideology. He was forced to make a confes- much greater influence than is generally Hutterdorf in 1857, and in Johannesruh and sion of his resistance to the destructiveness of thought. Neu-Hutterthal in 1864. In the 1870s all the Soviet state. In April 1937, Rempel and Sergei Zhuk expanded on this theme by Hutterites left Russia and emigrated to North several others were condemned to death, but illuminating the cultural dialogue between America. his sentence was later commuted to 10 years in Molochna Mennonites and local peasant dis- prison. Unfortunately, Ms. Plokhotniuk had senters called the Shalaputs during the 1860s. June 5, Zaporozhe. only limited access to German and Canadian He characterized the Shalaputs as representa- The final session of the day dealt with top- sources on Rempel’s life [especially Hermann tives of a type of among ics of Geography and Inter-Ethnic Relations: Heidebrecht’s excellent new life story of Russian and Ukrainian peasants that influenced “The Role of Molochna Mennonites in the For- Rempel “Auf dem Gipfel des Lebens] and was up to twenty percent of the rural population of mation of the Settlement Network of the unable to give a complete picture of the re- southern Russia. They became the first pio- Zaporizhzhe/Azov Region” (Nikolai Krylov); markable contributions of this great leader. She neers of the Protestant ethic on the southern “Mennonite Landownership in Melitopol Uezd, was also unable to report that he was shot in frontier, and laid a foundation for future anti- 1889-1914” (A.N. Krylova), and “Bulgarians 1941, as German forces approached the city of dissident practices and discourse, including the Orel, where he had been imprisoned for sev- later Stundist movement. Johannes Dyck (Oerlinghausen), showed how “the structure of the Russian Baptist con- gregations has a strong proto-type in the Anabaptist/Mennonite Church structure as put into practice by generations of Mennonites.” L.I. Sennikova reported on the effects of So- viet religious legislation from 1917-41 on Men- nonites in Western Siberia. She concluded that “Mennonites posed the greatest challenge of all German-speaking settlements in Siberia to Bolshevik policies of Sovietization and Russification. John Staples, Conference Co-chair, and Dr. I. P. Astrid von Schlachta, a specialist on Anosow, President of the Melitopol University, enjoy Hutterite history from , presented the lunch during the academic session held June 4, findings of her research on the relationship on the university campus in Melitopol. The lun- between Hutterites and the Molochna Menno- Pastor Jakob Tiessen of the Mennonite Church in cheon guests were treated to a rousing demon- nites. The Hutterites settled in Huttertal, near Kutusowka (Petershagen), Molotschna, speaks to stration of Ukrainian folk dancing by a profes- the Molochna Settlement, in 1842. They had the Sunday morning memorial worship service, sional dance ensemble from the university. Photo June 6, 2004. Photo - J. Dyck. - Adina Reger.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 59 Some of the participants of the Academic conference in Melitopol pose for a photograph: second row, at left side is Dr. Paul Toews, Fresno, California; tall man, rear, second from the left is Archivist Petr Viebe, Omsk, Siberia. The six individuals in front row, starting from the right, are, Irina Tscherkazjaniva, unknown, Franz Wall, Dr. I. P. Anosow, John Staples and Natasha Wenger. Fresno historian Paul Toews (currently Fullbright scholar to the Ukraine, Photo - Adina Reger. see Pres., No. 23, page 60), and, left, Peoples’ Deputy and Musuem Director, Sachatzkaja Valentina Mefodievna, in front of the Mennonite photo exhibi- tors determining us back to the fundamental importance of place, tion at the Melitopol Museum of Regional Studies. Tour guide Olga Schmakin, Speech Behaviour of land and physical environment. 2) It is ab- right. Photo - J. Dyck. among Ethnic Ger- solutely critical for us to look carefully at the mans”; while Gerhard relation between the actual landscapes and the eral years. Ratzlaff (Paraguay) reported on the “Continu- landscapes of mind and memory, for once reg- Viktor Klets (Dnepropetrovsk) presented a ation of the Mennonite Commonwealth in Para- istered in memory landscapes tend to shrink thought-provoking paper on “Ukrainian Men- guay: Parallels and Contrasts with Russia”; and lose a larger context. The first edition of nonites during the German Occupation of and Peter Vibe (Omsk) spoke on “Mennonites Schroeder’s and Huebert’s Historical Atlas, World War II,” which examined various levels in Siberia.” for example, left out of the Molochna map ev- of Mennonite collaboration with Nazi Occu- The final conference session was dedicated erything west of the Molochnaia (thirty plus pation forces during the years 1941 - 1945. to topics of musical and literary culture. I pre- German settlements) and south of the This sensitive and controversial topic is rarely sented a paper on “Heinrich Franz and the ori- Juschanlee. Ms. Martyniuk’s paper reminds mentioned in the memoirs of Mennonites from gins of the Ziffernsystem”, which he intro- us that the Lutherans in Prischib were also the period, although we know that many Men- duced into the musical instruction in Menno- concerned with choral music. [There was, in nonite men joined the German army voluntar- nite schools in 1835, and which became com- fact, a pipe organ in the Prischib Lutheran ily, while others volunteered to serve as inter- pulsory in all Mennonite schools through church up on the Kolonistenberg, and Menno- preters, or to take on administrative and secre- Johann Cornies’ curriculum reform of 1846. nites from Halbstadt found pleasure in hearing tarial positions in the German military admin- Tatiana Martyniuk (Melitopol) spoke on mu- that instrument.] But did the Orthodox church istration of the region. Kletz claimed that “some sic education in general among the Slavic and in Halbstadt have its liturgical choir? That we documents evidence Mennonite service as German populations of the region, including do not yet know. John Staples’s work, among overseers in the Dnepropetrovsk concentra- music education in Mennonite schools. others, is stretching back the landscape of tion camp.” He concluded that “the largest part memory to reintegrate the full range of envi- of the [Mennonite] population had a neutral Rudy Wiebe. ronmental, ethnic, and cultural layers. 3) Fi- attitude toward the new regime.... Mennonites The closing word was given to the well nally, the contracted landscape of memory may in this group did not collaborate with the in- known Mennonite novelist Rudy Wiebe. As a omit entire layers of the cultural landscape. vaders, but at the same time did not struggle young boy growing up in northern These might include dress, photographic im- against them, even in a passive way.” It is clear he remembered wondering ages, food, spirituality, inter-ethnic relations. that much more research needs to be done on “what it would be like if one day, just as I These and similar omissions from the full land- this area. turned the corner of the pasture with the cows, scape might well form topics for our next con- In a concurrent session, L.I. Moskaliuk pre- a huge car would wheel into our yard, Joseph ference. sented a paper on “Socio-Demographic Fac- Stalin would emerge and from under his mous- tache tell my father he could have his farm Lichtenau Dedication. back in Russia, if he wanted it.” Later on the The Conference closed officially at 11:45, open prairie of southern Alberta Wiebe felt that and by 12:00 participants were on the buses “to touch this land with words requires an ar- heading for the Dedication Ceremony of two chitectural structure; to break into the space of Mennonite memorial benches at the Lichtenau the readers’ mind....you must build a structure (Svietlodolinsk) Train Station. The dedication of fiction like an engineer builds a bridge or a ceremony was attended by well over 120 resi- skyscraper over and into space.” Wiebe him- dents of Svietlodolinsk (including several self has been a leading contributor to this dozen school children, all waving Canadian “structure of fiction”, along with Al Reimer flags!), together with some 60 or more confer- and Sandra Birdsell, and with Arnold Dyck, ence participants and several groups of visi- Johannes Harder, Dietrich Neufeld, and Peter tors from Canada, USA and Paraguay. The Historians Sergei Zhuk, Ball University, Muncie, Epp from an earlier generation. mayor of Svietlodolinsk and other regional Indiana (left), and Piet Visser, Amsterdam (see David Sudermann (Northfield, ) government officials welcomed those in atten- Pres., No. 23, page 56), enjoy lunch at the aca- responded to these three papers and offered dance; Paul Toews (Fresno) and Walter Unger demic conference Melitopol University, June 4, the following concluding observations: 1) Both (Toronto) gave short speeches, and Paul Epp 2004. Photo - Adina Reger. of the Krylov’s papers and Rudy Wiebe’s call (Toronto) explained the symbolic significance

60 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 The proceedings at the Academic Conference June 5, 2005, at the University The proceedings at the Academic Conference held June 4, at the Intourist of Melitopol. Seated in the foreground, middle, is Abe Dueck, M.B. archivist Hotel, Zaporozhe. Seated at the table, l.-r., Irina Tscherkazjaniva, St. Peters- Winnipeg, Manitoba, retired. Photo - J. Dyck. burg, Russia, Natasha Wenger, unknown, and Svetlana Bobyleva, Director, Centre for German-Ukrainian Studies, Dnipropetrosk State University. Photo of the benches. A young man from the com- Toronto, whose own - J. Dyck. munity sang a moving Ukrainian song, while father left from Conference participants formed a choir to sing Lichtenau station for Canada as a young boy Dorfrat und dem Mennonitischen the familiar hymns “Wehrlos und verlassen” in 1924. The text on the benches [one in Ukrai- Gedächtniskomitee.” and “So nimm denn meine Hände.” This latter nian, the other in German] reads: “Mennoniten Paul Epp included the traditional symbol of song was often sung as a farewell both by the legten 1804 das Dorf Lichtenau an und bauten the anchor [found on many Mennonite grave- departing Mennonites and their loved ones who 1910 die [Tokmak] Eisenbahn, Ursprünglich stones in Ukraine] circumscribed by a com- remained behind. The tour group from Para- Abfahrts- und Ankunftsort für Studierende, pass rose in his design. He writes, “In this guay, led by Peter Klassen, sang the song Sanitäter und Ersatzdienstleistende, sowie case, the anchor within the compass is a refer- “Glaube der Väter” [Faith of our Fathers]. All Treffpunkt bei Familienbesuchen, wurde der ence to how faith [symbolized by the anchor] in all, it was a deeply moving service. Bahnhof später Zeuge schmerzhafter gives us our spiritual direction, just as a com- Many Mennonites left from the Lichtenau Trennungen. Von hier emigrierten in die pass gives us our physical direction. Apart from station for Canada in the years after 1924, and 1920ger Jahren Tausende Mennoniten in den the text, the other most significant symbolism beginning in 1929 hundreds of families de- Westen. Zwischen 1930 und 1941 wurden is the placement of the two benches - separate parted from the same station for an uncertain weitere Tausende in den Osten deportiert. Der but equal, facing the same direction; German future in the labour camps and exile settlements Herr ist meines Lebens Kraft, vor wem sollte and Russian - side by side, so to speak, going in Siberia or the Far North. Two granite benches mir grauen? (Psalm 27,1). Errichtet 2004 vom forward. recall these two vastly differing fates. The This rail station was located on the Tokmak benches were designed by Paul Epp from Railway line - a line built designed and built by Mennonites in 1910. One of the builders of the railway was the prominent industrialist Franz Wall. Several of Wall’s grandsons were on hand to present a commemorative photo album of the railway to the mayor of Svietlodolinsk (Lichtenau). After the ceremony we returned to Zaporizhzhia for the evening. The next day, we left early again to attend the Sunday morn- ing worship service and Dedication Ceremony in Molochansk - Halbstadt.

Bicentennial Service. The morning began with a worship service in the auditorium of the former Mennonite Zentralschule [now serving as a “Culture Pal- ace” - community hall for Molochansk]. This proved to be a momentous and moving occa- Rev. Johannes Dyck, Bielefeld, Germany, who sion, since it was the first religious service to preached the sermon simultaneously in German be held in this auditorium since the Menno- and Russian at the Sunday morning worship ser- nites left over 60 years ago in the fall of 1943! vices in Neu-Halbstadt, June 6, 2004. He also The service was led by Jakob Tiessen, pastor Geographer Nikolai Krylov, Co-Chair of the took most of the excellent photographs for this of the nearby Kutuzovka (Petershagen) Men- Molotschna ‘04 Conference. Dr. Krylov is head of article. Johannes Dyck is Chair of “The Society nonite Church, who spoke in Russian and in the Geography Department at the University of for Research and Nurture of the cultural inherit- German. The packed auditorium included many Melitopol and has himself written a book regard- ance of the Russian German Mennonites,” local residents, members of the Zaporizhzhia ing the Mennonite settlements in the region. Photo Detmoldstr. 8, 33813 Oerlinghausen, Germany, and Kutuzovka Mennonite congregations, - J. Dyck. e-mail: [email protected]

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 61 Conference participants, and visitors from Robinson from Kiev. He announced a contri- unveiled in the Yavarnitzky Museum in Canada, USA, Paraguay and Germany, along bution of several thousand dollars towards the Dnepropetrovsk. with regional state dignitaries and the Cana- humanitarian and medical work being carried Other memorials were dedicated in dian Ambassador to Ukraine, Andrew out by the Mennonite Centre. He also made Vladovka (Waldheim) and Bogdanovka Robinson. Johannes Dyck spoke on the “love some forceful and critical comments on elec- (Gnadenfeld). One plaque placed at the en- and hope of our Christian faith.” Five familiar tion irregularities in the upcoming Ukrainian trance of the former Mennonite hospital of hymns - “How Great Thou Art,” “Great Waldheim recalls the role played by is Thy Faithfulness,” “Nun danket alle Agnes and Cornelius Warkentin in the Gott,” “Gott ist die Liebe,” and “Ich establishment of this hospital. Another bete an die Macht der Liebe” - were plaque was dedicated at the local high sung in German, English and Russian school, which occupies the site of the [simultaneously]. former Isaak Neufeld factory in Following the service, a dedication Waldheim. In Gnadenfeld a monu- ceremony was held on the steps of the ment was placed at the site of the former Zentralschule for the Settlers’ former Mennonite cemetery. Monument - erected in memory of the Mennonite settlers who founded the 57 About the Author: Molochna Mennonite villages in the The Dr. Peter Letkeman is an years after 1804. A large crowd of lo- organist and historian living in cal residents and guests (I would esti- Winnipeg, Manitoba. His doctoral mate at least 500-600 persons) had gath- dissertation on “Hymnody and Cho- ered for the occasion. ral Music of Mennonites in Russia The Memorial was designed by 1789-1915,” 860 pages, was com- Paul Epp and constructed out of gran- pleted at the University of Toronto in ite by local craftsmen. The monument 1985. is in the form of a common threshing Dr. Letkeman is currently pre- stone, turned on its end and set on a paring his documentation of Menno- pedestal. Epp spoke of the meaning and Part of the Melitopol University Campus where the Molotschna ‘04 nite victims of Soviet terror and re- symbolism of the monument: “One of proceedings were held on June 4, 2004. Photo - J. Dyck. pression from 1918 to 1956 for pub- the most important roles of art is to lication under the title, “A Book of Re- make the common appear special.... Tools are state elections. Canadian representatives have membrance”, see Preservings, No. 13, pages common, humble. This is especially true of been appointed to chair an international com- 10-11. He is also working about the origins agricultural tools. What I have done here is to mission to oversee election procedures. and development of the hymn tunes of the take the humble, the typically overlooked and Mennonite representatives from Canada, Gesangbuch. For an earlier article by Dr. make it special through its presentation.... Men- USA and Paraguay also spoke. The whole ser- Letkeman “The German Hymnody of the Rus- nonites in Ukraine were identified by their ag- vice was chaired by Steve Shirk, MCC repre- sian Mennonites: A Tale of Two riculture.... What better symbol of Mennonite sentative in Ukraine. It was a day which the Gesangbücher,” see Pres., No. 18, pages 120- agriculture than a , where by residents of Molochansk will long remember. 130. the fruit of labour, the grain, was turned into a form that would not only make life sustain- Memorialization. able, but whereby it could be celebrated [in the On Monday afternoon, the recently discov- communion service]. The names of the vil- ered tombstone of Samuel Contenius, friend Piet Visser. lages have been inscribed on the facets of the of the Mennonites and Johann Cornies, and Noted Dutch historian, Piet Visser of stone....this encourages the viewer to approach former head of the Guardians Committee was Amsterdam, summarized the early June events the monument and to walk around it - search- in this manner: “The conference was well or- ing for a village name....this circular move- ganized and featured papers from different ment is a symbol of the circular nature of life Commentary, speak of this spring as unusu- angles and disciplines. The level of scholar- and history - constant change and returning to ship was good. What struck me most dra- the beginning. Our return here, for the confer- ally beautiful. The landscape is green, spring rains have watered the steppe, the wild flow- matically was the substantial amount of work ence, is a circle from the presence here, earlier, contributed by Ukrainian and Russian schol- of our ancestors.” ers are brilliant in their colour. After the win- ter the renewal of the spring is a metaphor for ars. This is very promising for the future of A choir from the music department at the Mennonite studies. I think it is vitally impor- University of Melitopol sang well known cho- what is happening to the Mennonite story and to Mennonite-Ukrainian relationships. tant that non-Mennonite scholars in eastern rales and “Kernlieder” - “Großer Gott wir loben Europe bring new research to the story, al- dich,” “Nun danket alle Gott,” “Wehrlos und The Mennonite story, long suppressed, is being rediscovered as a vital part of the his- lowing for new insights and perspectives. verlassen,” “So nimm denn meine Hände, and During my time at the conference I also en- “Ich bete an die Macht der Liebe” - accompa- tory of south Ukraine. The values that shaped the Mennonite story are being embraced as joyed moments of great psychological or nied by a small folk orchestra (violins, flute, spiritual impact. In particular I recall a long trumpet, trombone, accordions, electric bass necessary for the renewal of Ukrainian soci- ety. The admiration for Mennonites as a people discussion with a Ukrainian teacher associ- and percussion). ated with the Mennonite Centre in Ukraine at Local and regional government representa- of memory, for having a sense of tradition that anchors them in changing times was re- Halbstadt, whom I admire so much for her tives acknowledged the historical contribution courage in difficult personal circumstances, of Mennonites to the economic and cultural peatedly invoked. Both Ukrainian and the returning Mennonites from Paraguay, United itself surely a paradigm for present day life of the region, and gave thanks for the hu- Ukraine, plus my unexpected visit with other manitarian aid and community support being States, Canada and Germany were moved by the mutual embrace and the kinship that such Mennonites to the massacre site at Eichenfeld offered through the Mennonite Centre, recently and its evocative memorial erected in 2001. It organized in the newly-renovated former Girls’ historic celebrations rekindle. By Dr. Paul Toews, Fresno, California, and Walter Unger, is such moments and golden silences that will School of Halbstadt. The Canadian govern- remain with me. “ ment was represented by Ambassador Andrew Toronto.

62 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Harvey Dyck: Man of Vision and Molotschna ‘04 “Harvey Dyck: Man of Vision and Molotschna 04,” a tribute by Dr. John Staples, Co-Chair, Molotschna Bicenennial Conference and Professor of Russian and Soviet History at State University of New York, Fredonia, New York, U.S.A. [email protected] For Harvey L. Dyck, Director of the Research Odessa, had personally carried them home, and had tional Mennonite Memorial Committee”, chaired by Program in Tsarist and Soviet Mennonite Studies at thrown open the doors to the complete rewriting of Harvey Dyck. In the years following Khortitsa ‘99 the University of Toronto’s Centre for Russian and the Tsarist Mennonite past. Collaborating with Ingrid this committee erected memorials to Mennonite vic- East European Studies, this year’s Molochna Men- I. Epp he catalogued the collection and distributed it tims of Civil War massacres in Ebenfeld and nonite Bicentennial celebrations in Ukraine mark the to key repositories in the West. Eichenfeld. The unveiling of a monument to the culmination of 15 years of painstaking and dedicated The full impact of the Braun Archive is just being Molochna Mennonite Settlement was the high note work. Along the way, he has fundamentally trans- felt today. In the coming few years the publication of of the Molochna ‘04 celebrations in June. formed the study of Mennonites in Tsarist Russia a three-volume collection of the papers of Johann As a public event Khortitsa ‘99 was equally suc- and the . Cornies, translated into English by Ingrid Epp and cessful. It received national television, radio, and The Molochna ‘04 celebrations described in this edited by Dyck, Epp, and John Staples, will make newspaper coverage in Ukraine, introducing Men- edition of Preservings saw the largest ever gathering major portions of the Braun collection available to a nonites to many Ukrainians for the first time. Today of specialists on Tsarist and Soviet Mennonite his- broad audience and further demonstrate the vital im- Mennonites even appear in Ukrainian high-school tory. Papers on all aspects of Molochna Mennonite portance of this discovery. history textbooks, and this is a direct consequence of history, delivered by experts from around the world, As Professor Dyck worked to recover the docu- Khortisa ‘99. proved that this academic subfield has grown and mentary record of Mennonites in Tsarist Russia and Khortitsa ‘99 has had at least one further signifi- matured into a scholarly discipline in its own right. the Soviet Union, he also made contact with a com- cant outgrowth: it was the driving impetus in the The presence of Canadian Ambassador Andrew munity of historians in Ukraine who were eager to establishment of the Mennonite Centre in Ukraine. Robinson, accompanied by dignitaries from the engage Western colleagues and pursue their own In Spring 2000 Professor Dyck visited Molochansk, Ukrainian central and regional governments, showed research in this field. He recognized the need to en- where the mayor offered him the opportunity to buy that Mennonites are now recognized in Ukraine as courage and support this group, and equally, he saw the one-time Mennonite Girls School. He returned to major contributors to that country’s past. their potential to bring valuable new perspectives to Canada brimming with enthusiasm, knowing that All of this would have been unimaginable just 15 Mennonite history. His goal of nurturing this Rus- the Mennonite community would eagerly support years ago when Professor Dyck began his work in sian and Ukrainian community, and of promoting the opportunity to provide humanitarian aid to the southern Ukraine. In 1989 only a handful of profes- and popularizing Mennonite history as part of main- former Mennonite regions of Ukraine. A June 2000 sional historians studied Tsarist and Soviet Menno- stream Tsarist and Soviet history, crystallized into a consultation hosted at the University of Toronto nite history. Their work was sharply limited by their project that is now recognized as a cornerstone event proved him right, and the Centre, supported by the lack of access to Soviet archives; of necessity they in the new Mennonite history: Khortitsa ‘99. “Friends of the Mennonite Centre in Ukraine”, is based their findings on a small, well-thumbed collec- In close collaboration with scholars and adminis- today a shining example of Mennonite humanitarian tion of German-language sources, mostly written in trators from Canada, the United States, Germany, accomplishments. the West or exported from Russia before the 1917 Ukraine, and Russia, Harvey Dyck played the cen- The Molochna ‘04 bicentennial celebrations were Revolution. tral role in planning and carrying out Khortitsa ‘99. built upon the foundations of Harvey Dyck’s 15 For this to change, three things had to happen. He conceived of it as a scholarly conference, a me- years of groundwork in Ukraine. Conference pa- First, we needed the opening up of the archival trea- morial event to permanently mark and honour the pers, based on the Braun Archives, the Zaporozhe sure-troves locked away in Soviet Archives. Sec- Mennonite past in Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Archives, and the work of scholars funded by ond, we needed the development of a larger group of Union, and a public event to return the Mennonite Khortitsa ‘99 Grants, revealed the new face of Men- historians to sift through that treasure trove, applying story to prominence in Ukraine (see Preservings, nonite scholarship. Memorial events in Molochansk broader perspectives rooted in broader training in No. 14, pages 65-68). and other one-time Mennonite villages were made order to produce a full, nuanced interpretation. And As a scholarly conference, Khortitsa ‘99 was a possible by the experience of years of work with third, we needed someone with the experience, major success. It gathered together for the first time regional administrators. knowledge, energy and vision to put all of this in an academic community from around the world, put- Mennonite dedication to humanitarian aid was motion and force it forward. ting on display the work of historians, archivists, and on display in every corner of the former Molochna It is here that Harvey Dyck entered the story. A museologists from East and West. Most importantly, Mennonite settlement. Harvey Dyck’s energy and Columbia-educated professional historian, he was it opened lines of communication between Russian enthusiasm for Tsarist and Soviet Mennonite studies already established as a Professor of Russian and and Ukrainian scholars and their Western colleagues is unabated. He is Chair of the Editorial Committee Soviet history at the University of Toronto. Almost that continue to bear fruits today. of the planned multi-volume Documentary History uniquely among Mennonite historians, he possessed One of the most significant by-products of the of Mennonites in the Soviet Union and his own the necessary languages to work in the Soviet (and conference was the creation of the Khortitsa ‘99 contribution to that series, a translated edition of the soon, post-Soviet) archives. He was broadly edu- Mennonite Studies Grants. These grants grew out of writings of Jacob Neufeld, is close to completion. cated in both Tsarist and Soviet history, and had the recognition by Western participants in Khortitsa The Johann Cornies papers will soon be moving into published on subjects varying from inter-war Ger- ‘99 of the need to provide material support to Rus- their final stages. A man-Soviet relations to 18th-century Russian diplo- sian and Ukrainian scholars. This program, spear- groundbreaking macy. Finally, he was a Mennonite, the son of a headed by Harvey Dyck and funded by contribu- history of Menno- prominent Mennonite educator, and raised on a diet tions from a number of Western institutions and indi- nites under Soviet rich in traditional Mennonite stories of a Russian viduals, has provided grants to scholars and institu- rule is in the offing. past. tions across the Former Soviet Union. The work of The future of Men- In 1989, in the midst of Mikhail Gorbachev’s many grant recipients was on public display at nonite studies, built Perestroika and Glasnost, Professor Dyck found Molochna ‘04, proving the effectiveness of this upon such firm himself working in the Odessa Regional State Ar- project. foundations, is rich chives. Not-quite-by-accident he stumbled across the As a memorial event Khortitsa ‘99 was dramatic with promise. lost Peter J. Braun Archives, and overwhelmed by and compelling. No one who was present at the their dramatic potential for reinterpreting Mennonite unveiling of the Nieder Khortitsa cemetery memorial history, he launched himself into a new field. By will soon forget that solemn and moving ceremony. Harvey Dyck. 1991 Harvey Dyck had negotiated and overseen the The memorial element of Khortitsa ‘99 has also left Photo - Pres., No. 13, page 2. microfilming of 130,000 pages of documents in an important legacy: the formation of an “Interna-

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 63 A. E. van Vogt, Star Trek - The Mennonite Connection A. E. van Vogt, Star Trek - The Mennonite Connection, by Andrew Buun, 215 Horton Ave., Winnipeg, R2C 2G2.

It is well known that the science fiction “Discord in Scarlet”, which told the story of writer Alfred E. van Vogt, who passed away in an alien lifeform stalking the crew of an inter- January, 2000, was born in the West Reserve, stellar spaceship. However, Roddenberry had specifically in Edenburg, Manitoba, the son of reached out to van Vogt, keeping in communi- Henry and Agnes van Vogt. Henry was a law- cation with him and later inviting him to the set yer who practised in Neville, Saskatchewan, of the first Star Trek movie as a consultant, and later moved his family to Morden, and and thereby apparently earned van Vogt’s re- then Winnipeg. It is less well known that Alfred spect. Alfred was never a man given to dis- van Vogt (who wrote under the name A.E. van putes, preferring to follow his personal phi- Vogt) contributed to the worldwide cultural losophy of cooperation as outlined in many of phenomenon known as Star Trek. his stories. It appears he was satisfied that some Most people in Canada and the U.S., not to of his early concepts were at last receiving mention the rest of the world, are very familiar wider public exposure through the medium of with Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and the other the Star Trek series. characters of the TV series Star Trek. Mem- The reputation of the late A.E. van Vogt as a bers of the baby boom generation grew up with writer of unusual vision has been revived in the original show, which was originally broad- Left: Robert Wise, the director of “Star Trek: The recent years, with his receipt of the Grand Mas- cast in the 1960’s. Subsequent generations con- Motion Picture”, with Alfred van Vogt, middle, ter Award from the Science Fiction Writers of tinue to follow the show and its many spin-off and Gene Roddenberry, right. The photo was ap- America in 1996, and the recent publication of parently taken on the movie set. shows, such as Star Trek: The Next Genera- a book about his works, A.E. van Vogt: Sci- tion, as well as the many Star Trek movies, Later, van Vogt was to weave this story ence Fantasy’s Icon, by H. L. Drake. Perhaps books, fan activities, and conventions. The together with another story, “Discord in Scar- it is also fitting at this time to recall that the original show continues to be shown in re- let” and other material into the novel Voyage of ideas of this son of the West Reserve helped to runs, and interest in the Star Trek universe the Space Beagle. launch one of the greatest popular cultural phe- continues to be strong. The show’s formula of A.E. van Vogt’s popularity reached an all- nomena of our day. interstellar travel and adventure appeals to our time high during the late 1940’s, when he was innate sense of wonder, but few of its fans are regarded as one of the leading science-fiction Sources: aware of the role played by A.E. van Vogt in writers in the world, on the same level as Rob- Dyck, John, “Alfred van Vogt: Science Fic- the late 1930’s in preparing the way for its ert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. However, tion Master”, Preservings No. 10, Part II. popularity. during the fifties, he left the writing of science (June, 1997), p. 66. In 1939, van Vogt was a struggling sci- fiction to pursue his interests in Dianetics and Panshin, Alexei and Cory, The World Be- ence-fiction writer in Winnipeg looking for his other studies of the mind, and never regained yond the Hill, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1989, first sale to the science-fiction magazine As- the same position in the field. pp. 445-519. tounding. His first story, “Vault of the Beast”, In the meantime, a former LAPD police Alexander, David, Star Trek Creator, Penguin had been returned to him by the then-editor of officer, and later Hollywood screenwriter, Books USA Inc., 1994. the magazine, John W. Campbell, with the sug- Gene Roddenberry, had discovered van Vogt’s gestion that it needed a few changes. How- early work and grew fascinated with the idea ever, van Vogt was not discouraged. He sub- of an interstellar survey team searching the mitted another story, “Black Destroyer”, which cosmos for new forms of life. Roddenberry Evangelist slanders was published in the July, 1939 issue of As- saw that this concept carried strong possibili- tounding as the cover story. That issue is re- ties for a dramatic series, provided it was done Old Colonists. garded by some to have ushered in what is correctly. In the mid-sixties, he was able to sell Aggressive religions seemingly find it to referred to as “the Golden Age of Science- the concept to NBC, and the rest is history. their advantage to slander the communities Fiction”. The series in its various forms shows no sign they are targeting for proselytization. In a The really different thing about the story of abating after almost forty years. brochure distributed in Winnipeg churches “Black Destroyer” was that it told the story of Alfred van Vogt could possibly have sued in 2004, Evangelist Jakob Funk, Winnipeg, a crew of men from Earth travelling through for copyright infringement. Indeed, later he did slandered the Old Colony Mennonites, stat- the galaxy in an interstellar survey ship, en- receive a modest settlement from the produc- ing they “....were religious but nonetheless countering strange life-forms and monsters and ers of the movie Alien as compensation for lost,” and “that they were religious, but none- overcoming many difficulties on their voyage. their having used the concept from the story theless without Jesus Christ, and living in Does this sound very similar to the premise of spiritual darkness.” Funk’s brochure makes Star Trek? Of course, most of us today recog- Alfred van Vogt - Order of Manitoba. the further slanderous statement that “ap- nize this storyline. However, in 1939, it was Alfred van Vogt is probably one of the most proximately half are unbelievers.” something entirely new. prominent writers coming out of the Menno- Funk has already lied and slandered Old nite community and the Province of Manitoba. Colonists previously. On one occasion it About the Author: Anyone interested in the works of van Vogt was against the Mexican Mennonites (see Andrew Bunn is a Winnipeg educator and and in having him named posthumously to Pres., No. 19, page 77). It is clear that Evan- trainer with an interest in literature and sci- the Order of Manitoba, please write to the gelist Funk is in great spiritual darkness. ence fiction in particular. He has written sto- Premier at: The Honourable Gary Doer, Pre- Let us pray for Evangelist Funk that he too ries and articles for local publications and is mier of Manitoba, Legislative Building, 204- may come to a saving knowledge of God’s presently working on a collection of short 450 Broadway, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C grace and seek forgiveness for the evil he stories. 0V8, Fax: 1(204) 949-1484. has done before it is eternally too late.

64 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Goshen exhibit to honour Dutch-born illustrator He is a painter, illustrator and photographer; he is a storyteller, tour guide, slide lecturer and Mennonite historian; and he is an environmental- ist, train lover and humorist. The wide interests and passions Jan Gleysteen expressed through his life’s work will all be on display in the upcoming exhibit, “Jan Gleysteen: Life Work,” in the Library Gallery. The exhibit will open with a reception at 2 p.m. Jan. 4. The display will continue through Feb. 22. The show will feature Gleysteen’s pen and ink drawings, watercolour and oil paintings, calligraphy, book designs, model trains and documen- tary photography. “Jan is well-known in the Mennonite church for all his years as an illustrator with Mennonite Publishing House, and later as a slide lecturer on Mennonite history,” said Ervin Beck, Goshen College professor emeri- tus of English. Gleysteen was born in 1931 in Amsterdam, Holland. He and his family attended the historic Singel Mennonite Church that traces its roots back to 1608. After living through the five-year Nazi occupation of his country and then connecting with American and Canadian Mennonite relief workers and church leaders during the reconstruction period, Gleysteen travelled to the United States to attend Goshen college at the invitation of H.S. Bender. Jan Gleysteen with his award-winning painting, “”Fog Bound Ferry,” based He attended Goshen and then Eastern Mennonite College in on memories from his childhood in Amsterdam. An exhibit of Gleysteen’s art Harrisonburg, Va., each for a year, before working full-time at the Menno- will be featured starting Jan. 4 at Goshen (Ind.) College. Photo - Jodi H. nite Publishing House in Scottdale, Pa. Beyeler/Goshen College. Men. Weekly Review, Dec. 29/03, page 11. Having studied art in Amsterdam at the Municipal School for Fine and Applied Arts and the Royal Academy, Gleysteen began his lifelong career His 200,000 slides of nature, travels and Mennonite history are all of illustrating, designing books and editing. housed in his basement, colour-coded and easily accessible. “I haven’t used a computer yet for designing – my work is all done by Goshen College. hand,” Gleysteen said. From Men. Weekly Review, Dec. 29/04, page 11. Gwen Stamm, a former designer for Mennonite Publishing House who worked with Gleysteen for 20 years, said, “Beneath Jan’s sense of humour, quick wit and ability to tell a captivating story, I learned that he possessed a refined sense of what comprises quality.” H. E. Plett Awards After extensive travel in Europe and photographically documenting Henry E. Plett Awards for Family Histories. The winners of this Mennonite historical sites, Gleysteen contributed to the Mennonite Ency- year’s awards were both from W. C. Miller Colligiate in Altona, Manitoba. clopedia and wrote The Mennonite Tour Guide to Western Europe. Gleysteen The first prize was awarded to Andrew Giesbrecht for his paper entitled is co-founder of TourMagination, personally leading more than 60 tours “Helena (Heinrichs) Schroeder (1892-1996).” The winner of the second through Europe. prize was Kathleen Penner for her paper entitled John Nickel (1926- And from the 1970s to 1990s, he carried his well-worn slide projector 96).” The contest is administered by the Manitoba Mennonite Historical to many churches around the country giving illustrated lectures on Menno- Society - Genealogy Committee and is aimed at Manitoba high school nite history. students to encourage research and writing on a family history subject. For additional details see: http://www.mmhs.org/plett.htm Der Bote Editor Retires. By Alf Redekopp, Chair Genealogy Committee, Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society Inc. Justina Heese, executive secre- tary of Menno- nite Church Canada Forma- tion, presents an engraved mug to Isbrand Hiebert in recognition of his work with the German-lan- guage publica- tion Der Bote. Hiebert served as editor for seven years, overseeing the change from a newspaper to a bi-weekly magazine in 2002. Ingrid Janzen Lamp from Swift Current, Saskatchewan, who has been interim editor since January 1, 2003, was named editor in May. - From MC Canada release. Courtesy Andrew Giesbrecht, Kathleen Penner, of Canadian Mennonite, July 12, 2004, page 38. first prize winner. second prize winner.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 65 Amish - The Simple Life “Amish - The Simple Life: Farewell, Atkins and Pilates - the Amish workout is where it’s at,” by Jeannine Stein, from the Toronto Globe and Mail, January 17, 2004. Forget the standard health and fitness resolu- a day. tions that include joining a gym, going to yoga and Amish men spent about 10 hours a week doing trading meatball subs for white-meat turkey. It may vigorous activities, women about 3 ½ hours (heavy just be that the best way to get in shape is to plow lifting, shovelling or digging, shoeing horses, toss- the back 40, toss a few bales of hay and wash ing straw bales). Men averaged 43 hours of moder- buckets of wet clothes by hand. ate activity a week, women about 39 hours (garden- Call it the Amish paradox. An exercise science ing, feeding farm animals, doing laundry). We feel professor has discovered that a pocket of Old Or- virtuous if we manage to eke out half an hour a day der Amish folks in has stunningly low obe- on the StairMaster. sity levels, despite a diet high in fat, calories and Lead researcher David R. Bassett Jr., professor refined sugar – exactly the stuff doctors tell us not of exercise science at the University of Tennessee, to eat. conducted the study to look at changes in physical They’re at a paltry four per cent obesity rate, activity from a historical perspective. His findings compared to a whopping 31 per cent in the general were published in January’s Medicine & Science in U.S. population, which, as we all know, is getting Sports & Exercise, a journal of the American Col- fatter by the minute. This group of Amish manages lege of Sports Medicine. to keep its overweight levels low despite a diet that He chose this population of Amish for their includes meat, potatoes, gravy, cakes, pies and eggs. adherence to a physically demanding farming So what’s their secret? Exercise, people. Exercise. lifestyle and rejection of things technical, such as For starters, of the 98 Amish pedometer-wear- automobiles and electricity. They are something of ing adults surveyed over a week, men averaged an artifact of how we lived 150 years ago. about 18,000 steps a day, women about 14,000. The findings of the Old Order Amish, Bassett Most of us don’t come anywhere close to that, , serve to put our current slothful lives in The findings of the Old Order Amish serve to put struggling to get in the recommended 10,000 steps perspective. “It can provide a sense of what we our current slothful lives in perspective. ought to be doing,” he says. “It’s a little ridiculous – Reality show targets Amish teens we drive to work, then go to the gym to walk on a than anybody of consciously thinking what impact Los Angeles - The UPN television network is treadmill. We go to great lengths to remove activity technology will have on their lives.” preparing a reality series that follows Amish from our daily lives, and then we go to great lengths From The Globe and Mail, courtesy of Sid teenagers having their first experiences with to put it back in. The Amish have done a better job Barkman. modern and outside society, part of a religious rite of passage that tests their faith. Network executives are informally calling it U.S. Terror Fears Strands Amish Man “Amish in the City”, although they said the title “U.S. Terror fears strand Amish man in Canadian Village. Refuses to have picture will likely change. “To have people who don’t have television taken. Cannot cross the border to return home without green card,” by Jennifer Chen. walk down Rodeo Drive and be freaked out by Ottawa - An Amish man from Alymer, Ont., cannot The community has also contacted their congress- what they see, I think will be interesting televi- return to the United States, where he has been living, man and senator for help “to see if there’s some way sion,” said CBS chairman Leslie Moonves, who because his religion prevents him from taking a pho- the policy can be adjusted,” Mik Robertson, a town also oversees UPN. “It will not be denigrating tograph required for a green card. supervisor, said....Licking Township has more that to the Amish.” When Daniel Zehr heard his father was undergo- 400 residents and about 10% of the rural community Members of the Amish religious dress ing open heart surgery in December, the 29-year-old is Amish.... simply and shun most technology. Rural Penn- travelled to an Amish community near London with The Amish refuse to have their photograph taken sylvania and Ohio are home to large Amish his wife and daughter, who are both American. because of a “direct biblical injunction not to make communities, where their horse-drawn black “We haven’t tried to go back because of warning graven images,” or images for worship, said Abe buggies appear on country roads. that we’ve had from the border that they won’t let us Harms, who works with the Amish community in At age 16, Amish youngsters are allowed to across,” he said. Aylmer as the Mennonite Central Committee pro- break free of the religion’s strict code of conduct Mr. Zehr said one U.S. border official told him grams regional manager. to decide whether they want to be baptized as that without photographic identification, authorities They also believe in retaining their own decision- adults. During the period of “rumspringa”, a would not allow him to cross, and they could even making powers by rejecting technology, he added. term that means “running bar him from the country from five to 10 years. “I It is more of an issue now, Mr. Harms said, around,” they often date, drink, drive cars and don’t know what’s true and what’s not. That’s what “simply because of security being beefed up” since move away from their homes. keeps me shaking in my shoes,” he said. “I was the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The majority return to the faith. trying not to do anything illegal,” he added. According to The Clarion News in Licking The show will be about culture shock, not Although Mr. Zehr applied for a green card in County, Amish community members had previously religion, and he said it would be like a reverse 2002, he was denied for not providing a photographic been granted green cards without photographs, but version of Fox’s The Simple Life, where social- image. Mr. Zehr said he would be willing to notify apparently not after the attacks. ites Parish Hilton and Nicole Richie lived for a the U.S. government in advance everytime he wanted The problem will have to be addressed on the time on an Arkansas farm. to cross into Canada, or go through extra steps, if that policy-making level, not at the border, said Greg “Where were all the people writing about The is what it takes. “I don’t care if it’s a lot of headache to Palmore, a Customs and Board Protection spokes- Simple Life?” Moonves said. “Did it make fun do it, because I understand that they’re doing some- man. of the family they were living with? Did it make thing they normally don’t do.” At this point, he added, Mr. Zehr will not be fun of the two girls? It was fun.” His father-in-law is working with an attorney in allowed back into the United States without photo- Associated Press. From the Free Press, Feb. the United States to help him find a way back to graphic proof of his identity. 04. Licking Township, Pa., where Mr. Zehr has a farm. From National Post. March 5, page A5.

66 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Sommerfelder Worship Services - Dec. 7, 2003 On Sunday, December 7, 2003, Dr. Jack wrote these thousands of verses of holy dog- shamelessly affordable. Thiessen, attended the Sunday worship ser- gerel in High German? Prior to the benediction, the minister an- vices of the Sommerfelder Gemeinde at New Then the minister, no cravat but with a con- nounces that the Young People’s Piggy Bank Bothwell, Manitoba. He filed the following servative Schwaulmsrocktje, speaks on the could do with some fattening up but no collec- report: meaning of advent in Low German and while tion plates come spinning my way by the com- When Ken Reddig recently recommended my language is considerably superior to his, petitive dozen. attending the Sommerfelder church, if at all, I my faith is not. He did well. On my way out I still fail to see any evi- pricked my slouchy ears. But today I went. Then we are back on our knees and another dence of the usual cashiers and their toothy The church is just down the road towards song, five stanzas of monotone, accapella, of insistence. the dreaded Tjleenjemeenda and Holdemanna course, mounts to the rafters and beyond. Also not a single soul asks me how I am or while to the other side are the Chortitzer, an The second portion of the sermon is deliv- invites me back. ambitious lot of instant salvation and tradition ered by the same minister but this time his text They don’t have to. and eager proselytizers, recently worked over is Old Testament. Again, the preacher finds no Etj feehld mie mol wada gaunz tusijch. by American gospel, now ready to take on the biblical pastures on which to exercise mission- world. ary ambitions, no justification for going to all Chortitza Old Colony Atlas “Chortitza Old Colony Atlas,” published by Heinz Bergen Ed., Regina, Saskatchewan.

Comprehensive, 130 pages, over 65 maps. 30 maps from the year 1865 in full colour. Introduction by Dr. Lawrence Klippenstein, “The Khortitza Colony in New Russia.” The Sommerfelder Mennonite Church at New Bothwell (East Reserve), Manitoba. Photo - Jack Thiessen. Order from Mennonite Historical Soci- ety of Saskatchewan, 110 LaRonge Rd., This Sommerfelder church is large and the world and teaching them the virtues of con- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7K 7H8. Ca- simple in the extreme and totally uncompetitive. sumption, the justification for indulgence, the nadian cost $35.00 plus shipping and han- The only luxuries are electricity and carpeting. sowing of seeds of entitlement. dling. However, when one is repeatedly summoned Suddenly our world, small but self-suffi- to kneel-pray the carpeting becomes a neces- cient, makes sense and minding our own busi- sity. ness keeps us busy enough. And it is all so The women sit to the right, men to the left. Klock Tien Kleine Gemeinde Bücherabend twelve men dressed in dark shades walk sol- emnly to that elevated part behind and to the side of the pulpit and sit down on accord. They bow their heads for a breath of prayer and then one of sev- eral V’asenja an- nounces a song in Low German. For once, even God pricks up his ears. After verse or The Kleine Gemeinde, headquartered in Jagueyes, Mexico, makes a strong stanza six draws to a effort to distribute Bibles and devotional literature through its publishing close, my wonderment house “Centro Escolar Evangelico (see Pres, No. 19, pp. 116-120). In this regard they feature “Bücherabends” (literally, “book evenings”) in is great and complete. Heinz Bergen, compiler and editor of the Number one: how do various colonies where books are displayed, sold and distributed. Here l.-r., Eddy Plett, Gerhard Bergen, La Honda, Abraham Bergen, La Honda, Chortitza Old Colony Atlas is showing it to these precentors re- Professor Ted Regehr (right) during the An- member the melodies and Cornelius Penner, Quellen Colony, gather at the Crossway Publica- tions Inc., book table to look at the latest offerings. Photo - Eddy Plett. nual meeting. Photo - Susan Braun, Sask. to hundreds of songs, For more information regarding Kleine Gemeinde publications write Men. Historian, Vol. X, No. 1, April 2004, with not a note to guide Apdo 502, Cd. Cuauhtemoc, , Mexico, 31500. page 19. them? Second: who

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 67 Remembering Our Mennonite Heritage” Remembering Our Mennonite Heritage” - Film by Otto Klassen, reviewed by Dr. Peter Letkemann, 5-1110 Henderson Hwy., Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2G 1L1 ([email protected]). The film director Otto Klassen is widely director, writer, camera man and is actively in- peated religious controversies of the 19th cen- known in the Mennonite world for his many film volved in editing, sound and even in the selection tury. But he chooses to emphasize the positive documentaries on the history of Mennonites in of the music for the soundtrack. In recent years he achievements - especially the economic achieve- Paraguay, Mexico, Canada and Russia. For more has kept up with the latest developments in com- ments in agriculture (sheep herding and cattle than 30 years he has dedicated himself, mostly at puter and digital technology - so that this latest production, grain, etc.), in industry (factories for his own expense, to the production of these films. production was produced in digital format. the production of agricultural implements and His latest production - “Remembering Our It is impossible to say everything in 45 min- mills and oil presses), as well as the social and Mennonite Heritage” - was premiered on Sun- utes, but Otto Klassen is able to illuminate all of charitable endeavours (including schools, hospi- day, 2 May 2004 at the Douglas Ave. Mennonite the main themes of Russian Mennonite history tals, old folks homes, orphanages, and many Church in Winnipeg. Klassen originally planned in Tsarist Russia in a simple yet comprehensive more). It was these economic and social contri- the film for his children and grandchildren, in manner - including the immigration from Prussia butions which were recognized and rewarded by order to give them a brief insight into the history and the many difficulties associated with this, the the Tsar and his officials. of their ancestors in Russia. After the children relationship of Mennonites to the state, the spiri- At its premiere, the film was presented in had viewed the film, they suggested that it would tual, cultural and economic life of the commu- English, but a German version - narrated by Pas- also be of general interest to a wider Mennonite nity. tor James Schellenberg - is now available as well. audience. They were correct in this. One sees that Mr. Klassen is proud of his Both versions can be obtained by contacting Otto The church was filled to capacity and many people and his heritage, but he does not deny that Klassen, who deserves our heartfelt gratitude for people had to be turned away at the door - unmis- there are dark sides to the story as well. He knows his many years of dedicated service to the Men- takable evidence of a continued interest in the the dark sides all too well - especially the re- nonite people and their history. history of Mennonites in Russia, and a powerful testimony to the quality of Otto Klassen’s films, which have repeatedly been well received by au- Presidents Visit Chaco, April 15, 2004 diences and critics alike. Otto Klassen’s own script was read by his The Presidents of , Carlos Mesa Gisbert, and Paraguay, Nicanor Duarte Frutos, met daughter Charlotte (Klassen) DeFehr. In 45 min- on April 15, 2004, at Fort Boqueron. It was apparently the first time since the Chaco War of 72 years utes the film presents the historical background ago that these two one-time foes and neighbouring countries met on one of the former and most and development of Mennonite settlement in significant killing fields of the Chaco War. Russia to the year 1914. The Oberschulzen of the colonies had also received an invitation to this historic occasion. The Through intensive and extensive self-study Oberschulzen and the Governor of Boqueron greeted the esteemed visitors at the airport in Neuland Otto Klassen has acquired an excellent under- and accompanied them to the Ex. Fort Boqueron. Here the program was presented as planned. standing of all aspects of Mennonite history. In Greetings were given by the Governor Mr. David Sawatzky, and short speeches by each of the its more recent episodes he also knows this his- Presidents of Bolivia and Paraguay. Both emphasized the importance of the meeting and that the war tory from personal experience - he was born in of 70 years ago had been absurd. The obligation now was to look to the future and to work together. Ukraine, came to Germany during the Second The “Boqueron World War, emigrated to Paraguay in 1947 and Declaration” was helped to establish the new pioneer settlement of signed whereby both Volendam. In the 1950s he moved to Winnipeg, Presidents renewed a where he worked as a mason, bricklayer and commitment to the building contractor for many years. brotherliness of both His artistic temperament led him to devote much countries and commit- of his free time to film making. Through many ted themselves to the years of experience this multi-talented devotee of physical union of the Mennonite history has acquired expertise in all two countries through aspects of film. He fulfils the role of producer, the “biozeanische” connection: Paraguay for its part will asphalt the “Ruta Transchaco” up to the border, which President Frutos an- nounced at this occa- sion, and Bolivia will secure the stretch from Left, the President of Bolivia, Prof. Carlos Mesa Gisbert, and Nicanor the border up to Villa Duarte Frutos, President of Paraguay. Photo - Menno Informiert, April Montes. Earlier in the 2004, page 27. day, President Mesa Gisbert had already signed a degree and deposited the same at the promised location, which governed the financing of the stretch between Villa Montes and the border marker 94.... As the high point and conclusion of the ceremony, a memorial with a commemorative inscription for those who fell in the Chaco War was unveiled by the Presidents of Bolivia and Paraguay....On April 16, the two Presidents flew to Asuncion in order the discuss various items of political and economic concerns. Otto Klassen, Premiere Mennonite film producer, Report written according to information from Oberschulz Cornelius Sawatzky and the national has made an invaluable contribution to Menno- press, by Andreas F. Sawatzky. Reprinted from Menno Informiert, April 2004, page 27. nite life, culture and faith. Photo - Peter Letkeman.

68 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Mennonite Rock Singer Casts Aside Tradition The following article appeared in the Globe flaunts his Mennonite roots when he performs, nonite areas, preferring the more cosmopolitan and Mail, Toronto, May 29, 2003. wearing traditional dress including denim over- Mexico City. By Luis Rojas Miena, from Esfuerzos alls and a wide-brimmed hat. Like Mr. Thulin, younger members of the Unidos, Mexico. His CD, a collection of 12 songs in English community are turning their backs on the ways Each time Mexican rocker Martin Thulin ap- with titles such as Kill, Kill, Kill and Disco Rat is of their elders. pears on stage he is defying 500-years of tradi- likely to shock the Mennonite community. “Because they go out sometimes, have days tion. Mr. Thulin said the traditional lifestyle of off, they do what they can’t do here. Young people Mr. Thulin, 30, was born into the religious Mexico’s 80,000 Mennonites is already chang- have hidden music. Our religion doesn’t allow community of the Mennonites, known for their ing. [non-religious] music but there are young people austere lifestyle and distrust of the modern world. There is a kind of a opening; people wanting to who have it,” said Guillermo Lopez, head of a Named after a 16th century Dutch Christian live like normal people and having normal lives. Mennonite community in the Mexican state of reformer, Menno Simons, many of the one mil- Mexico’s Mennonites began arriving in the Durango. lion or so Mennonites around the world live in country’s arid north from Canada in the 1920s Mr. Thulin, who sings and sometimes plays simple agricultural communities where they travel and quickly earned a reputation as hard-work- keyboards, said he hopes to break the stereotype by horse and cart, not motor vehicles. ing, thrifty farmers who produce top-quality of quiet, conservative Mennonites. Their beliefs forbid any non-religious music, cheese. “I’m not trying to be the Mennonite ambassa- never mind Mr. Thulin’s blend of electropop, Now many of the communities youngsters dor,” he said. “But maybe my voice can make a punk and rock. travel to Mexico’s biggest cities for business, little difference.” His debut CD, Rock Menonita, came out in picking up urban habits. Reuters News Agency. Mexico earlier this year. Although he does not Mr. Thulin spent much of his childhood in Submitted by Harry Loewen, 4870 Parkridge practice the religion, blond blue-eyed Mr. Thulin Sweden. He does not play to audiences in Men- Place, Kelowna, B.C., V1W 3A1. “Toronto Blessing” now decade old By Ron Scillag, Religion News Service. Canada’s largest city. Now in a cavernous former convention center Ten years ago this month, worshipers at a small “British Airways Flight 092 took off from near the airport that can house up to 3,500 wor- church a stone’s throw from this city’s airport be- Toronto Airport on Thursday evening just at the shipers, the fellowship intended 10 years ago sim- gan laughing uncontrollably. Holy Spirit was landing on a small building 100 ply to start a series of four revival meetings led by They also made animal noises – braying, bark- yards from the end of the runway,” enthused one Randy Clark, a visiting pastor from St. Louis. ing, howling and roaring. They collapsed to the widely circulated report. But something happened that wintry Thurs- floor, staggered about as if drunk, shook and Regardless of what one may think of the claim day night. The four meetings turned into regular jerked; wept, wailed and yelped. Faces contorted that the Holy Spirit regularly disembarks at a church services, and the TACF now hosts them every with tics. Groans and guffaws hung in the air. near Pearson International Airport, there’s no doubt night of the week except Monday. The ministry is Bodies lay prone on the carpet. the Toronto Blessing represents one of the most aided by a trained, 45-member team. To the uninitiated, this was eerie stuff, resem- intriguing – and contentious – stories in recent But some Christians have charged the Toronto bling mass hysteria more than religious worship. years. Blessing exhibits false teaching and bizarre be- But to regulars at the Toronto Airport Vineyard “Holy laughter” has since been exported around havior incompatible with the Holy Spirit. Church (now the Toronto Airport Christian Fel- the world, but the TACF remains ground zero for In his 1996 book, Counterfeit Revival, Hank lowship, or TACF), this was the work of the Holy the phenomenon. The church has drawn some 4 Hanegraaff, head of the evangelical Christian Re- Spirit, and the genesis of worldwide revival in the million Christians from five dozen nations over the search Institute in California, denounced Arnott charismatic and Pentecostal movements. past decade, all eager to experience the blessing and and the Toronto Blessing as a fraud. That same The phenomenon was first noticed on Jan. 20, the wild bodily manifestations that accompany it. year, the TACF was kicked out of the charismatic 1994, and dubbed the Toronto Blessing by a glow- Airlines and major hotels around the airport offer Vineyard movement for being too extreme. ing British press that acclaimed the strange signs discounts to pilgrims journeying to Toronto to be – From Mennonite Weekly Review, Jan. 5/04, page and wonders at the church near the airport of in the movement’s parlance – slain in the spirit. 3. Conservative Conference seeking resources Like many Christian faith groups, the Con- can consumerism, that disturb us.” or developing appropriate materials for the con- servative Mennonite Conference is on the look- Headquartered at Irvin, Ohio, the conference ference to use. out for study resources for pastors and members includes 108 congregations with 10,704 mem- To be held at the Lake Center Christian School, that match its churches’ theology. bers. Among other ministries, the conference the conference’s annual meeting will focus on The search has been so challenging that con- sponsors Rosedale Bible College and Rosedale the theme “The Lordship of Jesus.” ference leaders plan to take the matter into their Mennonite Missions, which has about 120 work- Programs are planned for women, men, min- own hands. ers in 17 countries. isters, youth and children, in addition to the The conference will hold its annual meeting With the church growing, the need for appro- gathering’s general business sessions. July 24-27 at Hartville, Ohio. priate study resources has become acute. Among the speakers will be George Verwer, “We are searching for study material for pas- “In an effort to generate materials that reflect founder and international coordinator of Opera- tors and congregations that represent Conserva- our Anabaptist, evangelical, Mennonite and con- tion Mobilization. Verwer will speak four times tive Mennonite Conference theology,” said Steve servative theology, we approved a new position on global education and missions, Swartz said. Swartz, general secretary-elect of the conference. within the CMC office known as a secretary of Lavern Nissley, associate pastor of Vineyard “Many resources are available from the larger congregational resources,” Swartz said. Church of Northridge in Springfield, Ohio, will evangelical world - Vineyard, Willow Creek, The conference is still working to fill that be the main speaker for the youth gathering. Focus on the Family - but in those materials are position, ideally by Jan. 1, Swartz said. The per- By Robert Rhodes, Mennonite Weekly Re- themes of God and country, Calvinism, Ameri- son hired would be charged with either finding view, June 23, page 14.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 69 His Holiness - Pope John Paul II “His Holiness - Pope John Paul II - Behold the greatest man of our time,” by Eric Margolis in The Winnipeg Sun, Sunday October 19, 2003, page C4. After covering world affairs for the past Pope’s sweeping reforms and newly ap- 20 years. I (a non-Catholic) believe the pointed cardinals will perpetuate his monu- greatest man of our era has been His Holi- mental works long after his death, and main- ness, Pope John Paul II. tain the Church as a rock of faith in the This past week, the most remarkable stormy seas of life. The Church will sur- pope since the Middle Ages commemorated vive its recent shameful sex scandals, as it his 25th anniversajy as both leader of the has survived so many past disasters. world’s Roman Catholics. and the defender Ironically, orthodox Muslims and Jews un- of the world’s oppressed peoples - no mat- derstand much better than many western ter what their religion. Christians how important it is for a great, The first pope since the l6th century who cardinal faith that spans mankind’s history was not Italian, Polish-born Karol Wojtvla to keep firm its moorings and resist the si- quickly confirmed his countrymen’s de- His Holiness - Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul helped the ren calls of modernization and accommo- served reputation for courage and audacity U.S. fight Soviet communism, but then warned that unbridled dation, no matter how inconvenient. capitalism could become as great an evil. Photo - Winnipeg by shaking up and revitalizing the Vatican It is heartbreaking to see this redoubtable Sun, Oct. 19, 2003, page C4. bureaucracy and worldwide Catholic priest- Pope and profound humanist, this “great hood, which were afflicted by low morale, loss of sions, but he inspired the hearts and minds of spirit”. as would say. increasingly crippled faith, poor leadership and often shocking corrup- Eastern Europe’s peoples, and ignited their upris- by grave ailments and nearing his end. But each tion. ing against Soviet imperial rule. John Paul became time I see Pope John Paul. my spirit lifts with the John Paul purged the Church, notably its Latin their liberator. As a result, the Soviets tried to as- knowledge there is indeed objective good, and that American branches, of Marxist priests preaching sassinate him. a man of great heart, courage and deep compassion “liberation theology”, one of the graver recent chal- But John Paul was not just spiritual father of can change for the better this often sordid world. lenges to Catholicism. The Polish Pope reasserted East Europeans. His raised his mighty voice and By Eric Margolis, Sun columnist, reprinted the authority of Rome over the Church, parts of mobilized the Church to defend the world’s op- from the Winnipeg Sun, Oct. 19, 2003, page C4. which, in many nations. had grown unresponsive, pressed, voiceless peoples. No one became a stron- indifferent or outright rebellious to papal author- ger defender of the five million suffering Palestin- ity. ians than John Paul II. When the Muslim world Amish talk with President. In short, John Paul reinvigorated the Catholic forgot the Palestinians plight, the Catholic Pope Lancaster, Pa. President Bush met privately faith by insisting its tenets be faithfully observed, reminded them. He ceaselessly called for a just with a group of Old Order Amish during a even when strictures against contraception, abor- peace between Arabs and Jews based on a viable campaign visit to Lancaster County on July 9. tion, or divorce ran sharply counter to social trends. Palestinian homeland. He discussed their farms and their hats and his When the Muslim world turned its back on the religion, and got a pledge for prayers if not Dogmatic rigour. slaughter and rape of Bosnia’s Muslims by neo- votes....Bush had tears in his eyes, when he The cost of this dogmatic rigour was high, Nazi savages calling themselves Christians, John replied, according to an Amishman who was particularly in Europe: large numbers of Catholics Paul demanded the western powers rescue the present. Bush reportedly said he needs the dropped from the Church. But the alternative was Bosnians. prayers of the Amish and that having a strong worse: to become like Britain’s dying Anglican John Paul ceaselessly commanded Catholics faith in God is the only way he can do his job. Church, which, by embracing every trend, from to purge their faith and minds of that two millen- Sam Stoltzfus of Gordonville, an Old Order tambourine playing services to homosexual clergy, nium-old evil, anti-Semitism, calling for true am- historian...recounted the private meeting with has ended up standing for nothing, becoming ity between Catholics and Jews, and between the president, saying the Amish “caught Bush’s meaningless and irrelevant. Catholics and Muslims. heart.” John Paul was also a modern warrior pope. As soon as the Cold War ended. John Paul The 20 minute meeting occurred after the presi- Branding communism the greatest evil the world urged the victorious West to temper its capitalist dent addressed an audience at Lapp Electric Ser- had seen, he launched a personal crusade against system by protecting the poor, the downtrodden, vice in Smoketown. An Amish woman had pre- the Soviet Union in secret alliance with the United the helpless. Unbridled capitalism could be as great sented a quilt to the president that morning....The States. Vatican money. channeled through Latin a danger as communism, warned the Pope. But in Secret Service invited the family to meet the America, funded Poland’s Solidarity Movement, the post-Cold War get-rich-quick scramble, few in president...and the entire assembly eventually which ignited the rebellion against Soviet rule that the West heeded his pleas for social justice. numbered about 60.... led to the final collapse of what was truly an evil When President George Bush and British PM “It took a while to get them through the metal empire. Tony Blair decided to invade Iraq, Pope John Paul detectors, as these were farmers and shop men, The Kremlin knew the Polish Pope was its repeatedly accused them of preparing to wage an with vise-grips, pocket knives and nuts and bolts most dangerous enemy: he commanded no divi- illegal, immoral war of aggression. In this, the in their pockets...” When the Amish were found Pope spoke for much of the world, urging the not to be a serious threat to national security” U.S. and U.K. to work through the United Na- Stoltzfus said, they were allowed inside the of- tions and enhance the power and authority of the fices.... world body. But Bush and Blair ignored him. and “Suddenly the president and five Secret Ser- are now paying the price of their arrogance, folly vice men stepped into the room, Stoltzfus said. and greed. “One housewife said, `Are you George Bush?’” Eric Margolis. Critics of Pope John Paul charge he failed to The president replied in the affirmative and shook Winnipeg Sun adapt the Church to the times. But no great institu- hands all around.... columnist. Photo tion can long survive that shifts course to every By Jack Brubaker, Lancaster New Era, ex- - Winnipeg Sun, change in the social winds. Under John Paul, the cerpted from Men. Weekly Review, Aug. 2, 2004, Oct. 19, 2003, Roman Catholic Church has declined in adher- page 1-2. page C4. ents. but it has grown stronger and more vital. The

70 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Zaporizhzhya Mennonite Family Center “Zaporizhzhya Mennonite Family Center,” by Tony Driedger, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and member of the Bethania board of directors,

On May 30, 2004 a group of 21 embarked to the dedicated on an excursion to the Ukraine and Poland to staff members explore their Mennonite roots. One of the trav- by the director elers, Tony Driedger a board member of The Ann Goertzen. Bethania Group, had extended an invitation for Ann gave us a this group to visit the Family Center in detailed account Zaporoshye. The Family Center is a project of of the begin- the Mennonite Benevolent Society im Winnipeg, ning of the Cen- Manitoba. The Bethania Group assists the Be- ter and its nevolent Society in carrying out this project. present goals Also cooperating in the project is the and objectives. Zaporizhzhya Mennonite Church. We were im- The project now occupies one suite in an pressed by the apartment built to house people who were evacu- passion of the ated from the Chernoble nuclear disaster. The staff in serving suite has been remodeled to make it more suit- the elderly and able for the services provided. Next to this suite with the remod- is a suite that is owned by the Zaporizhzhya eled facilities. Mennonite Church. After hear- Clients and staff members of the Zaporizhzhya Mennonite Family Centre. Photo - The project offers a number of different ser- ing from the Tony Driedger. vices for seniors including home care, short term staff, a number respite, some day care and training for home of the clients gave us moving stories about their Persons interested in this project and want- care workers. Home care clients can choose to particular situations. Olga, our tour guide, pro- ing to make donations should contact Louie come to the center for a bath. Clients are chosen vided the translations. We met clients who were Sawatzky at 204-253-3631 or Anita Kampen at from a list recommended by churches and other there for respite, home care clients and some Bethania. social contacts. who had come there because they were ill and All 21 of us chose to make this an important needed the support to get back on their feet. part of our trip. We arrived at the Center just in Each one explained how they were benefiting time for a delicious lunch of soup and sand- from the services they were receiving at the cen- wiches. Half the group had lunch in the Center ter. The stories were heart wrenching and it was “Glen’s Bender - while the other half met in the Church’s suite, difficult for us to realize that things could be so making us all comfortable. We were introduced difficult for them. It made us realize how fortu- Evangelical nate we were to have the health system we have. Let’s not com- plain. Christian” This small care facility is a light in a system where care for the By the time elderly is almost non-existent. Glen Campbell There is only one other facility in got to Phoenix, all of Zaporizhzhya. A facility for he was soused. the “lonely”; people who abso- And medicated. lutely have no other relative who The Rhinestone might be able to give some atten- Cowboy was ar- tion and care. rested last week Plans are under way to increase for “extreme the size of the operation to im- drunken driving” prove the efficiency. At the time after a collision in of this writing two major events Phoenix, Ari- have occurred that will further zona. Police say this project. An eight passenger Campbell be- van has been purchased to pro- came enraged vide transportation for the home while in custory Glen’s Bender. Photo - care workers and clients. This and kneed an of- Time, Dec, 8, 2003, page was made possible by a large do- ficer. The evan- 63. nation from Concordia Hospital. gelical Christian says he forgot that the anti- The second event is that the Men- anxiety medication he was taking shouldn’t nonite Benevolent Society has be mixed with alcohol. been able to purchase the suite “Even at my age, I learned a valuable les- next to the Center from the son,” Campbell said in a statement. Which Zaporizhzhya Mennonite was....dab on a little styling mousse before Ann Goertzen, director of the Family Centre, left, with Boris Church. Renovations are cur- your mug shot? Letkeman, chairman of the Zaporizhzhya Mennonite Church. Photo rently underway to make the suite From Time, Dec, 8, 2003, page 63. - Tony Driedger. more suitable for use.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 71 News from the Gemeinden News of interest to Old Colony, Sommerfelder, Kleine Gemeinde and Reinländer Mennonites in North and South America. Satan is working zealously to slander and denigrate the traditionalist and conservative Mennonites, steadfast descendants of the Flemish Anabaptist martyrs, valiantly faithful to the tradition of following Jesus. All Gemeinden and denominations have their calling from God and have made important contributions to the Kingdom of Christ (the community of non-resistant saints), which are deserving of acknowledgment and celebration.

Vorsteher Offices. The Vorsteher offices in the colony adminis- trative building have a secretary and business hours. The occupation of the new offices for the Vorsteher of the Manitoba Colony at is an historical event for the . Cornelius Wiebe of Hoffnungsfeld has been hired between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. from Monday to Friday to serve the people of the colony in various ways. He is prepared, for example, to help with applications for “Procampo” as well as other government sup- port programs (such as nets for apple orchards), and to complete documents for wells. For some time already the building has been utilized for various gatherings such as funerals, Verlobungen (betrothal receptions), and special Ruben Dyck, Campo 106 1/2 starts with the corn harvest. From one field Dyck harvested 6.5 ton per evening schools, but now the offices are also acre, but from the field immediately adjacent, a lot less. The difference apparently was the application ready. Six rooms have been built for offices, a of fertilizer at the right time on one field.....The straw from this field was available to those in need of large hall for gatherings, and two smaller ones feed. Photo - Deutsch-Mexikanische Rundschau, Nov. 3, 2003, page 3. for evening school. The offices are intended for the Waisenamt, Brandordnung, etc. and evi- help those in need. If one does not help in such lot of money. But it is cheap in the sense that dently will later also be used by these organiza- a situation, is one then not like the Levite or the Unipro will save itself a lot of money. tions. Pharisee, who walks by the beaten man along One example, is the freight price to The telephone numbers for the offices are the way to Jericho? Guadalajara. Unipro is in the process of settling 586 5261 and 586 5263. We can see, that many will have to sell their a contract to sell 150,000 tonnes of corn to buy- Many a person has commented that such a cattle or other possessions if they do not receive ers from Guadalajara. This corn would be facility was needed for a long time already since help, in order to stay alive or actually have to shipped by train. The railway company only the colony consists of more than 60 villages. sell everything and emigrate. From - Deutsch- allows 24 hours time at the reduced price for Until now, taxpayers also had to locate the Mexikanische Rundschau, Nov. 3, 2003, page loading the cars. The current facilities only al- Vorsteher at their home if something was needed 3. low for loading 50 wagons a day. And in that to be worked out. When there was a change in case the freight is 280 pesos per tonne. the Vorsteher all the documents had to be taken Unipro Buys Neuendorf Granery. Now Unipro wants to develop facilites that to the house of the new Vorsteher. In many re- In one of the largest, and possibly even the can load 110 wagons in 12 hours. Since a larger spect the new facilities should make the admin- biggest - business transactions in the colonies train can now be sent, the freight price falls to istration of the colony easier (see Pres., No. 20, around Cuauhtemoc - Unipro has purchased the 220 pesos per tonne. Peter Wiebe says that on page 78). facilities of the Agricultores Unidos de the one transaction alone, Unipro will save 9 Report by J.Reimer from K.N., Oct. 3/Die Cuauhtemoc, commonly known as the granery million pesos [approximately $800,000.00 US]. Post, Oct.17/03, pages 16-17. at Neuendorf. The contract provides that Unipro One can therefore say that the facilities will pay will pay $3,115,000.00 U.S., advises Unipro for themselves with the money that is saved..... Corn Bales for the Needy. President Peter Wiebe Schellenberg. One third is Since the border is always more open for There are a number of men in the Swift payable immediately, one-third at the beginning competition from the U.S.A. one must always Colony, who have taken it upon themselves and of 2005 and one-third at the beginning of 2006. search for ways in which to remain competitive have organized themselves to help those who The price is calculated based on the per tonne with the big corporations from the north. The are short of corn straw bales. Currently inquir- capacity of the granary at $52.50 US per tonne. more one works in a big scale, the better one ies have been made in the Manzahillas and Santa The grainery has a capacity of 60,000 tonnes.... can compete. Clara Colonies. The Vorstehers of those colo- How does Unipro justify such a transac- From - Deutsch-Mexikanische Rundschau, nies are looking after taking a census in order to tion? It can certainly be said that it deals with a June 7, 2004, page 5. determine how many are in need of corn bales. Since the Vorstehers of the Swift Colony are not planning to take part as to how the farmers can obtain the corn straw here, the group of men have agreed to do this, and in fact, not merely for the mentioned colonies but also for the Ejidos and ranches. Some 120,000 bales are needed for the colonies and some 100,000 for the ranches. The organization feels they have been blessed this year with good corn prices and good sup- The granery at Neuendorf. Photo - Deutsch-Mexikanische Rundschau, June 7, 2004, page 5. This is port from the government (Procampo, subsi- where the Mexican Mennonite 75th anniversary celebrations were held in 1997 (see Pres., No. 11, pp. dies, cheaper diesel) so that it is their duty to 22-27).

72 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Five Ambassadors Visit the Lamesa - Grand Mennonites, June 11, 2004 Opening, Campo 70 “Five Ambassadors from Europe and Asia Visit the Mennonites at Cuauhtemoc, June Lamesa - Grand Opening, Campo 70. Sep- 11, 2004, visiting the Centro Cultural y Museo Menonita, A.C.,” written in the name tember 19 was a significant day for the approxi- of the Executive of the Centro Cultural y Museo Menonita A.C., by Peter Rempel. mately 1800 shareholders of Lacateos Mennonitas de Chihuahua S.A. de C.V. The milk The German Ambassador to Mexico, Dr. very moved by what she had heard earlier al- processing plant was officially opened. Although Eberhard Kölsch, who hails from the City of ready about the Mennonites and about what she it is initially only equipped to be used as cheese Köln in Germany, wanted to get to know Chi- had heard today....Among other things she said, factory, the ground work has been laid that it can huahua, the largest State in Mexico. He invited “how good it would be if there would only be also be used for milk processing. four other Ambassadors from foreign lands to more of the diligent and peaceful Mennonites all Many guests were in attendance. Almost 1500 travel with him [Netherlands, Italy, Sweden and over the world, for the world so desperately needs persons may have been present. The guests waited India]. Prof. Abram Schmitt Fehr, President of such peaceful and hard working people....” patiently for the arrival of the Governor Patricio Centro Cultural y Museo Menonita A.C. received From - Deutsch-Mexikanische Rundschau, Martinez. He was supposed to arrive a 12:00 the news by telephone....that they [also] wanted July 5, 2004, page 5. noon....but his helicopter only arrived around 2 to visit out museum. p.m. After President Heinrich Loewen from It was planned that they would visit the school, Lamesa and the Governor had each presented a the Museum, the cheese factory in Gnadenfeld, speech, and the ribbon for the official opening and the largest apple packing plant of our land, was cut, the guests enjoyed a lunch. After the “La Nortenita” belonging to Mr. Salvador Cor- wait, the meal tasted very good. ral. And then at 3 pm there was to be a late lunch The organizers had exerted much effort so banquette at the ranch “Sans Souci” of Mr. Sal- that everything was well planned. A large roof vador Corral (which formerly was the ranch of consisting of a tarpaulin had been set up for the Mr. Walter Schmidehaus).... event. This was much appreciated for a hot sun Having arrived at the museum, we led the shone down on the people for most of the day. group through the rooms faster than normal and The governor, government officials, and re- we had to be very brief with our explanations. porters were given a complete tour of the facili- Back in the gift shop a number of guests also ties. The visit of the reporters in some respect is wrote their names in the guestbook. The women just as important as the visit of the government each received a black traditional head kerchief The German Ambassador Dr. Eberhard Kölsch officials, for then they can report first hand in the with the beautiful flowers and long tassels.... subscribing his name as a visitor in the guestbook entire State how well equipped Lamesa is. They I was invited to accompany the group [to the of our museum. Photo - Deutsch-Mexikanische were very impressed by the general cleanliness. ranch] on the bus. The wife of the Ambassador Rundschau, July 5, 2004, page 5 (see page 139 If they now report this in their newspapers and from India invited me to sit beside her. She was for additional photographs of this event). T.V. people will be more ready to buy the prod- ucts. The government of Chihuahua offered the “Flour Mill, `Harina Bergthal’, Paraguay” reporters a ride with the helicopters in order that “Flour Mill, `Harina Bergthal’, Paraguay,” written by Kennert Giesbrecht and reprinted with permis- they could inspect the entire grounds and sur- sion from Die Mennonitische Post, June 18, 2004, page 4. rounding facilities by air, and thereby to obtain a more positive impression. This is a small matter for the government and yet in this way they are Colony Bergthal, Paraguay. Last year this colony the raw product (the wheat) and is better able to indirectly supporting good advertising for the built its own wheat mill or flour mill, which re- market the end product (the flour), and jobs are firm. From - Deutsch-Mexikanische Rundschau, ceived the name “Harina Bergthal” [“Harina” created for the residents of the colony. Okt. 6, 2004, page 6. means flour in Spanish]. For approximately the In the last months the colony has also pur- past half year, flour is being made here day and chased additional land in order to satisfy demand night. The mill is operational 24 hours a day; pro- for more land. Many farmers, and especially the duction is only halted on Sundays. young, want to plant more wheat and soya and The wheat that is processed here, for the most hardly know where they can get the land. part, comes from the farmers of the colony. The factory belongs to the “Sociedad Coopera- tive Bergthal” and Billy Peters was ap- pointed as the manager. The mill was built right besides the giant receiving station for soya beans. Consequently, this locations has become the most important meeting place for the farmers where they deliver their wheat and their soya beans. The workers in the factory are all Men- nonites. The colony has thereby also cre- ated employment opportunities for its young people. By the developement of such fa- cilities, a colony can kill three birds with Governor Patricio Martinez was accompanied by his wife when he came for the grand opening of one stone. The colony itself can buy the New flour mill “Harina Bergthal”, Bergthal Colony, East Lamesa, Campo 70, on September 19, 2004. Photo crops and is not dependant on the broker or Paraguay. Photo - Kennert Giesbrecht/Men. Post, June - Deutsch-Mexikanische Rundschau, Okt. 6, 2004, 18, 2004, page 4. middle man. The colony itself can process page 12.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 73 Paul Buhler - Bolivia Beating, 1996 Paul Buhler - Bolivia Beating, Missionary Jakob Fehr and Gospel Missionary Union, Winnipeg, ca. 1996, by Ron Banman, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Introduction. ally curious to see if it would be possible to get a Shortly after this incident, an individual from The enemies of the Holy Gospel are delighted licking like the kind he had heard was given to the GMU (Gospel Missionary Union) wrote a let- to use the slightest incident to attack and deni- disobedient youth. ter to Canada stating that this case would be brought grate the conservative Mennonites and to try to When Paul was 15, at the request of his father, to the highest court in the land. It further claimed prove that their culture and faith are corrupted a group of men from the Cupesi Colony drove to that, as a result of this incident, the State of Bolivia and fallen and that they must convert themselves his home and tried to reason with him. When he would rescind the rights and privileges of the Men- to Evangelical religion if they wish to obtain showed no interest in discussing his behaviour, he nonite colonies. Their internal structures would there salvation as narrowly defined by them. Evan- was blindfolded and taken out to a field. He was by break down resulting in thousands of people gelical forces seek nothing less than to impose tied around a fuel drum and given one hit with a belt being saved and then there would be no more prob- their religion upon the entire world thereby es- over the buttocks approximately once every half lems like this. tablishing a new regime ruled out of Jerusalem. hour. In between hits he was admonished for ap- During this time, a Bolivian group of approxi- In 1996 an Evangelical organization operating proximately half an hour. At first he refused to re- mately 20 or so reporters, children’s aid workers and under the name Gospel Missionary Union used spond but said that after about three of four hits it police showed up at the bishop’s house in the Cupesi an incident of an extremely rebellious youth began to hurt and that he began to tell the men what Colony. Charges were laid against a number of indi- being disciplined in an attempt to have the rights they wanted to hear and more. He then mentioned viduals. These charges were later dropped. The inci- and privileges of the taken that he was surprised how gullible these people dent was brought up in the Canadian Parliament and away from them. It is also lamentable when were to have believed what he was telling them MCC Canada was called by CIDA to see to see if foreign operatives become so brazen as to coun- because most of it was contrived. any funding that MCC was receiving from them had sel children to turn against their parents and A short while after this incident he had made a gone to this work in Bolivia. There was outrage communities (In this instance, the lad was brain- decision, in the privacy of his room, to change his expressed in the Canadian media, and the director of washed into telling his father he was bound for life. He made a personal commitment to Christ. He MCC Bolivia at that time was fielding questions hell. How despicable can people get?) But here then went to his father and confessed that he had from Canadian reporters regarding the incident. too, the Holy Saviour held up His hand and did stolen money from him and had also bought a tape MCC Canada wrote a letter to all the colonies in not allow these evil plans to come to fruition. In player, something not permitted by his father nor Bolivia expressing, in a brotherly way, their con- this short article, former MCC worker Ron the colony. The father, however, had gone to the cerns about the form of discipline. Designated lead- Banman, recalls the incident and the results of Bishop and had asked for advice as to how to re- ers from more than 25 colonies responded by ex- his own investigation. The Editor. spond to his son’s confessions. The Bishop had pressing some of their feelings of frustration by told Mr. Buhler that if his son had confessed, he way of a letter to MCC Canada. (MCC Canada did The Paul Buhler Incident, 1996. should be forgiven unconditionally. At this time I not respond at that time, however, in 2000, they My family and I lived in Bolivia from 1998 to asked Paul if he thought that the bishop had an drafted a letter in an attempt to rebuild the relation- 2001. As a group from MCC, we decided to inves- understanding of grace. He replied no. Paul also ship and address some of the concerns expressed tigate what was called the Buhler beating incident in had challenged his father to see if he was assured of by the Bishops.) The colony leaders in Bolivia, felt the Cupesi colony. According to news accounts, the his own absolute salvation. His father according to that they had been misrepresented and misunder- beating had taken place as a result of a young man Paul had wavered on this question. Paul had told stood by the media and by Christian organizations. having worn sneakers and professing personal sal- him that if he did not know absolutely that he was A bishop wondered why there was such commo- vation in Christ. It was alleged that he was being saved, he was then going to hell along with the rest tion in Canada whereas Paul had been seen riding a told by colony members to recant his faith position. of the people in his family and the colony. horse within a day or two of the incident. The ques- This incident was broadcast to Canadian News Paul decided to live with relatives in a different tion had been raised by some bishops, should we Papers and made headlines in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. colony. Later his father brought him back home but be handing over our youth to the Bolivian Authori- When I went to talk to Paul Buhler, the young their relationship did not improve. Around the age ties when serious infractions occur? man in the centre of the story, one of the first things of 16, Paul, who had recently broken up with a girl According to an eye witness, a meeting was he mentioned was that he felt uncomfortable about friend, was approached by a man from the Valle held a number of days after the incident with a a recent article in the GMU paper where the beating Esperanza Colony. This man asked him to come lawyer from Santa Cruz. Paul was asked to remove story had been resurrected. However, he said that if and live at his farm. He was also having difficulties his clothing while the lawyer and those present God could somehow use the story then it was prob- with his own colony and shared the view that there searched for marks on his body in an attempt to ably okay. He also asked me if I believed that there were few or no Christians in the colonies. He too build their case. Apparently there were none that were any Christians in the Mennonite colonies. He had recently been “saved” and believed that most of were visible so the lawyer had looked around the thought there might be a few if any. the people in the colonies were eternally lost. room, and without saying anything, had then used Paul, who grew up on the Cupesi Colony, ex- Paul moved onto the Valle Esperanza Colony a felt marker to mark Paul’s body. A reporter took a plained that he had been a very rebellious youth into a home with three teenage girls (one of whom picture which appeared in the Santa Cruz newspa- beginning in his early teens. He recalled that he had he later married). After living in Valle Esperanza for pers showing marks on his back. I talked to Paul deliberately disobeyed many things that his father some time, the mother in the home began feeling about this later and he said the marker had been asked him to do - like cutting his hair, not behaving uncomfortable about Paul being there with her used to highlight where there had been an outline of in church, and listening to tape players. He had also daughters. The Old Colony leaders from Valle a mark on him a number of days before. been involved with drinking alcohol as a minor and Esperanza requested that the Cupesi Colony should I asked Paul if he thought that the story had been participated in other activities which were contrary come and take him back. As a result he was physi- manipulated by the people who were using it. He to the law. His father became frustrated and asked cally removed from the house where he was stay- replied yes. I better understood at that time what he others to help him discipline his son. Initially no ing. Along the way, cordial discussions were held, had communicated to me when I first spoke to him - one was interested. (Paul mentioned that his father but upon arriving at the colony he was tied down to when he told me that he felt uncomfortable with how was a devout man for whom he had a lot of re- two benches and blindfolded. He received one hit his story was being used but that perhaps God could spect.) As time went on, relations between father on the buttocks and then was spoken to for ap- use it anyway. Paul left the Cupesi colony and con- and son got worse and the father continued to feel proximately half an hour. He continued to get up to tinues to live with his wife in the general area. helpless and frustrated when his own attempts at 12 hits over a period of approximately six hours As recalled by Ron Banman, former MCC discipline failed. Paul mentioned that he was actu- before he was released. worker, Santa Cruz. Bolivia. Aug. 2004.

74 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Articles The Molochna Mennonite Landlessness Crisis “Putting ‘Russia’ Back into Russian Mennonite History : The Crimean War, Emancipation, and the Molochna Mennonite Landlessness Crisis.” Excerpts from the Keynote Address of the Opening Ceremony of the International Scholarly Conference “Molochna `04: Mennonites and their Neighbours, 1804-2004,” June 2, 2004, by Professor of Russian and Soviet History at State University of New York, Fredonia, New York, U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected].

Introduction. more equitable distribution of Mennonite land, nesses of the Tsarist state. In its wake, Russia’s The Molochna Mennonite landlessness cri- and therefore of political power. The landless role in the international community, its ability sis was a watershed event in Tsarist Menno- and their supporters demanded that village au- to maintain domestic stability, and its economic nite history. By the 1860s a small minority of thorities give them the small remaining supply policies were all brought into question. It is Mennonites owned land and were wealthy, of the Settlement’s surplus land. Opponents one of the basic weaknesses of Mennonite his- while the majority leased land, or worked as and proponents of this proposal engaged in toriography that it has remained so utterly agricultural labourers, craftsmen, shopkeepers, heated disputes in the German-language press oblivious to this watershed event. or merchants. In a bitter and divisive confron- as well as in a battle of appeals to the Russian The economic problems created by the tation in the 1860s the landless demanded their state. Ultimately the crisis was resolved when Crimean War were vitally important for the fair share of community land. In 1867 the the state ordered landed Mennonites to grant a Molochna region. Beginning in the 1830s, Tsarist state intervened to force a settlement, number of concessions to the landless. Mennonites, other German-speaking colonists, but the damage was done. The dispute left per- For Mennonites the crisis has long been and Ukrainian peasants in the region had be- manent scars on Mennonite society that were seen as a black mark that challenges their per- gun to shift from a pastoral to a grain-based revealed in religious, economic, social and cul- ceptions of their own society as just and egali- economy. Only the large Nogai Tatar popula- tural fissures. Or this, at least, is how the story tarian. In this tradition, in the early 20th Cen- tion had resisted the trend. is conventionally told. tury the great Mennonite historian P.M. Friesen In 1847-48 a livestock epidemic decimated Mennonite historians have told and retold wrote: “Like a misfortune [the crisis] lies on Nogai herds, and plunged the Nogai into cri- this story countless times, but even the best of the soul of the community because there has sis. Left without sheep, but unwilling to be- them have told it as an exclusively Mennonite not taken place a thorough cleansing of the come grain growers, many Nogai instead be- story. The landlessness crisis might just as well corporate body through conscious repenting.” came landlords, and by the eve of the Crimean have happened in Kansas, or Manitoba, or Para- More recently, Mennonite historians have come war significant tracts of Nogai land were be- guay, so little does the broader context of Tsarist to regard the crisis as a watershed event after ing leased by the increasingly numerous Men- Russia intrude. which social and economic differentiation nonite landless. This 200th anniversary of the founding of within Mennonite society became dominant The Crimean War changed this equation. the Molochna Mennonite Settlement seems to forces. Such historians have not escaped the Wartime demand for grain, and rapid inflation me to be a very good place to put Tsarist Rus- moralizing tone of earlier writers. David after the war, drove grain prices sharply up- sia back into this vitally important Mennonite Rempel, whose pioneering work in the 1960s- ward. Mennonite renters, who held long-term, story. What I would like to suggest is that the 1980s revitalized the study of Russian Men- fixed-price leases on Nogai land, consequently landlessness crisis is not a Mennonite story - nonite history, characterized the actions of the enjoyed a brief, remarkable golden era of high or at least not exclusively or even primarily so. landed as “unconscionable.” For other histori- prices and low rents. Nogai landlords, of Mennonites were Tsarist subjects. Moreover - ans the landlessness crisis has been seized course, had the opposite experience: they found and this is a very significant element of the upon as a particularly clear instance of class themselves in the position of having to buy story - they were part of the multi-ethnic, multi- conflict in an industrializing society. James grain, grown on their own land, at prices that religious, multi-national southern Ukrainian re- Urry, whose None But Saints is the standard exceeded their rental income. gion of the Tsarist Empire. To understand the work on the first century of Mennonite settle- I would like to particularly reemphasize the landlessness crisis, we must understand the ment in Russia, writes that the “land struggles situation of landless Mennonites in this pe- history of the Molochna River Basin, the his- revealed the ugly and unacceptable face of the riod. Past interpretations of the Landlessness tory of Ukraine, and the history of the Tsarist economic and social transformations that had Crisis have taken it for granted that the Crisis Empire. Turning this on its head, to under- occurred since first settlement in Russia.” reflected deep-rooted long term socio-eco- stand the history of the Tsarist Empire, of Placing the crisis in its larger Tsarist con- nomic divisions in Mennonite society. There Ukraine, and of the Molochna, we must also text serves to make clear that the root problem has never been evidence of any such divide understand the history of the Mennonites. was not Mennonite, but Tsarist. If the crisis is before the Crisis itself, but, seeing as every- My intention, then, is to reconstrue the out- not construed as Mennonite, then we are no one knows that crises cannot emerge out of break of the landlessness crisis - a critical event longer stuck with the prevailing paradigm of nothing, the Landlessness Crisis itself has been in Mennonite history - as part of two critical post-Emancipation Mennonite society as a so- employed as proof of the pre-existing divi- events in Tsarist Russian history: the Crimean ciety in crisis. This opens the door to a total sions. What I am suggesting is that this as- War of 1853-55, and the emancipation of the reconsideration of the basic nature of Tsarist sumption of a pre-existing crisis is patently serfs in 1861. I will argue that the local eco- Mennonite society after emancipation. But that untrue. The reason that there is no explicit evi- nomic effects of the war on Mennonites and is another subject: for the present, let us be dence of such a crisis is that it did not exist. their neighbours, combined with the broader content to reconsider the causes of the crisis Landless Mennonites entered the 1860s in very effects of the emancipation of Ukrainian peas- itself. good economic shape. The Crisis would arise, ants to the North of the Molochna, coincided not out of internal struggles, but due to exter- to provoke a crisis in the Molochna Menno- Crimean War. nal forces. nite Settlement. It will come as no surprise to students of In 1862 landless Mennonites, supported by Tsarist Russian history that the Crimean War Nogai Tartars. some influential Mennonite landowners and provides a starting place for this reconsidera- When the crisis came, it was a product of merchants, launched a campaign to force the tion. That war exposed the fundamental weak- problems in the neighbouring Nogai commu-

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 75 nity. While landless Mennonites, as renters, system that placed such great emphasis on large influx of Ukrainian peasants following certainly contributed to that problem, at heart it land owning, but rather their hope of inclu- emancipation have on this market? Did this was rooted in the specific circumstances of the sion in that system. In essence, this was a new supply of cheap labour stimulate invest- post-Crimean War Tsarist economy. vote by the landless for the continuation of ment? And, by corollary, could Mennonite in- The economic problems of the Nogai Tatars, the system in a modified form. It is equally dustrialization have succeeded so astonishingly and more broadly of the , led to important to note that the solutions were fully without the process of emancipation? Again, the great Tatar exodus of 1860. That summer, in keeping with policies toward the landless is not the economic history of Mennonites in some 35,000 Nogai abandoned their land and that were already well-established before the southern Ukraine a topic in the history of the fled to Turkey. By October 1860 only 105 crisis occurred. Great Reforms? Nogai remained in the entire region. The role of the state in forcing these re- This could have been good news for land- forms cannot be dismissed lightly. Many Men- Conclusion. less Mennonites. Certainly Molochna Menno- nonites clearly saw this as a dramatic viola- Beyond the contribution of the Tsarist state, nite leaders immediately applied to the state to tion of traditional Mennonite internal au- and Ukrainian peasants, to Mennonite indus- have the newly-vacated land - much of it al- tonomy, and it caused great unrest in Menno- trial success, the acknowledgement of a sig- ready leased by landless Mennonites - formally nite society. But here, too, there is cause for nificant economic arena of interaction between ceded to the Mennonite settlement. But of caution, for the state did not force Menno- Mennonites and their neighbours also raises course, the Nogai exodus came in the midst of nites into an economic straightjacket. Rather, important questions about the evolution of one of the greatest social engineering projects while the state forced the Mennonites to act, Mennonite religious beliefs. This is, after all, of the nineteenth century: the emancipation of the solutions were modeled on Mennonite precisely the period when the Mennonite the serfs. As with the Crimean War, this semi- experience dating back to the time of Johann Brethren crystallized into an important new nal event in Tsarist history has gone almost Cornies. And of course, Cornies himself had Mennonite movement. But it is also a period in completely unmentioned by historians who never operated free of state intervention. The which some Ukrainian peasants in this region focus narrowly on Mennonite history. Clearly Tsarist state had always set strict limits on began to explore alternatives to Orthodoxy. To this will not do. Mennonite independence, and it is a tribute to what extent was Mennonite religious ferment The Tsarist administration had no intention Cornies that he found so much room for flex- and Ukrainian religious ferment the product of of handing large tracts of land over to what it ibility within those limits. a common leavening? justifiably identified as a prosperous Menno- Looking past specific reactions to the cri- Putting the Crimean War and the emancipa- nite community. Instead, the vacated Nogai land sis, I would like to speculate briefly on other tion of the serfs together, the outcome for was designated for reassignment to more needy possible consequences. I say “speculate,” be- Molochna Mennonites was: a brief period of peasants, and in particular, to Bulgarians. Not cause these are not yet the product of research; prosperity and attendant hope for the landless; only did Mennonites not gain ownership of but they point the way to research that I think a sudden loss of land, prosperity, and hope; the Nogai land; Mennonite renters of that land might be very revealing for historians con- sharp competition for the remaining land, ag- were evicted to make way for the new settlers. cerned with the common history of Tsarist gravated by an influx of Ukrainian migrants; Russia and the Mennnonites. sharp competition for jobs, also aggravated by Emancipation. One important avenue for research is into the influx of Ukrainian migrants; and a sharp If this sudden reversal were not enough to the industrialization of southern Ukraine. This drop in real wages. As I have suggested, it is provoke a crisis, a further, unintended conse- region, of course, was at the forefront of very difficult to conceive of a way that this quence of the Emancipation would almost im- Russia’s industrial growth in the 19th century, confluence of circumstances might not have mediately exacerbate the problems of the Men- and Mennonite historians have justifiably as- provoked a crisis. nonite landless. In the wake of emancipation, serted that Mennonites took a leading role in But if we accept that the crisis was stimu- the Molochna region was inundated with the process. There is already a body of work lated, to a significant degree, by forces outside Ukrainian peasants. Such peasant migrants did on wealthy Mennonite industrialists. An im- the Mennonite community, then we open the not wait for the terms of the emancipation to portant unanswered question is about the na- door to the possibility that the result was not take effect: they reacted to the promise of free- ture of capital accumulation and investment. exclusively divisive, or exclusively negative. dom by spontaneously abandoning their homes There has been some speculation about how Mennonites bemoan state interference: but this and heading south, pursuing their own dreams Mennonite inheritance practices, and the indi- presupposes that it their problems were inter- of acquiring vacated Tatar land. Between 1861 visibility of land allotments, affected accumu- nal, and susceptible to internal solutions. In and 1864, 10,000 peasants arrived in lation and investment, but it bears close inves- fact, the landlessness crisis was a state prob- Berdiansk Uezd. Upon arrival, they competed tigation whether or not the events that precipi- lem, arising out of war and emancipation, and with the Mennonite landless for jobs and for tated the landlessness crisis were also central too large for Mennonites to handle: state inter- land. As a consequence, wages fell and land to this process. After all, from 1853-1860 land- vention was necessary. prices rose. less Mennonites experienced large profits, and This emphasizes the point that Molochna It would be a miracle indeed had the com- suddenly, in 1861, they had to find new outlets Mennonites were a part of the state, affected bined effects of losing their leased land, and for their economic activities. To what degree by its policies - and affected by the actions of the sharp increase in competition for land and did this dynamic, of growth and crisis, con- other state subjects such as and Ukrai- jobs, not provoked a crisis for the Molochna tribute to industrialization? And by corollary, nian peasants - whether they liked it or not. Mennonite landless. I have elsewhere written to what extent was Mennonite economic suc- The actions of Nogais and Ukrainians and about the ways that Mennonites reacted to this cess a consequence, however unintended, of Mennonites and the state caused the crisis. crisis. This is a large subject that demands a the Tsarist state’s policies? Put another way, is Meanwhile Mennonites helped cause the ac- full study of its own, but briefly the elements not the economic history of Mennonites in tions of Nogais and Ukrainians and the state. of the resolution of the crisis that have tradi- southern Ukraine a topic in the history of the The crisis itself forced the state to formulate tionally been most emphasized are: 1) the re- Great Reforms? polices regarding religion, land ownership, and distribution of Mennonite land; 2) the state’s A second question regarding industrializa- ultimately things like military service, and such controversial role in imposing this redistribu- tion pertains to labour markets. Landless Men- policies affected Nogais, and Ukrainians, and tion. nonites, of course, would provide labour for Mennonites. In the end, this is one history; Mennonite industry, but as we know from later and it is not a Mennonite history, but a history The Landless. industrial records, the bulk of labourers in Men- of many peoples living together in Tsarist Rus- It is important to note that what placated nonite industry by the end of the 19th century sia. To try to understand it in any other way is the landless was not an end to the Mennonite were Ukrainian peasants. What effect did the to misunderstand it.

76 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Ältester Johann Harder (1811-75), Blumstein Ältester Johann Harder (1811-71), Blumstein, Molotschna, by Dr. Leland Harder, Box 363, North Newton, Kansas, U.S.A., 67117, as published in the Johann Plett Family Saga (Steinbach, 2003), pages 106-120. Introduction. and on such occasions he would say to us, `Chil- The Ministry. Johann Johann Harder (1811-75), dren, some day you will be grateful to me that I did In 1855 Johann was elected to the ministry of Blumstein, Molotschna Colony, was the son of not permit you to go out nights to get into mischief the Ohrloff Gemeinde, along with his good friend, Johann Harder (1789-1847) and Elisabeth Plett like some of the village youth. Sins are committed Franz Isaac, the historian and social activist. Johann (b. 1790), pioneers in the village of Blumstein, at the darkness of night that would not happen in felt great apprehension at the call to the ministry Molotschna Colony, in 1804. The following biog- the light of day.’ When we were sick, he would with a deep sense of the grave responsibility car- raphy of Ältester Johann Harder (1811-75) was come to our bedside to talk to our conscience that ried by the Ohms or ministers. His cousin, written by historian Leland Harder and first pub- we should totally yield ourselves to the Lord so Bernhard Harder, later a renowned Evangelist lished in the Harder Family Review (Note One) that death would not be a messenger of dread for among the Russian Mennonites, responded to and subsequently in the Blumstein Legacy (Note us” (Note Six). Johann’s concerns. “When his cousin began to Two), and was reprinted by permission in the Johann III had learned the trade of tailoring, show the usual signs of lament and foreboding Johann Plett: A Mennonite Family Saga (Steinbach, probably through an apprenticeship. Following about getting such a sacred call from the church, 2003), pages 106-120, with some modifications. his marriage to Justina, he worked as a tailor in Bernhard injected a note of humour into the other- Ältester Johann Harder is sometimes referred to addition to the shared work on the family farm. wise depressed atmosphere with his comment, as Johann III, to distinguish him from his father, They lived on the homestead in Blumstein but in a `When Jesus calls, the angels laugh’” (Note Ten). Johann II (1789-1847), and his son, Johann IV. small accessory house which Johann had built for Unlike his young cousin, Bernhard Harder, the Johann Harder was born and raised on the himself prior to his marriage. After Johann took Evangelist, who felt a strong inner call to preach. family Wirtschaft # 14 (village farm homestead) over the family Wirtschaft and moved into the Johann’s propensities had always related to man- in Blumstein, Molotschna. He was fortunate in main house, Justina’ widowed father came to live aging his Wirtschaft and his leadership on the that Johann Cornies gave him a three-year all- in the accessory house. Between 1835 and 1840, village council. What resources he had for the expense paid scholarship to attend the Ohrloff four children were born to Johann III and Justina, ministry came from observing the pastoral perfor- Verein School where he also learned the trade of two of whom died in infancy: mances of Ältester Bernhard Fast, who always a tailor. His teacher here was Tobias Voth, a de- In about 1840 he “built a dwelling house, with prepared his sermons for reading....In his sermons voted adherent to the teachings of Separatist- attached stable and shop across the street. His Fast often said to his congregation with tears flow- Pietism. mother had died and so his father moved into this ing down his cheeks, “Some day I will have to Johann was baptized in 1833 and the next year Anwohner property and he presumably bought give an account for your souls.” The thought of he married Justina Schulz, daughter of Georg the Wirtschaft in 1841” (Note Seven). Upon mu- preparing biblical sermons for reading to the con- Schulz from (Note Three). She was tual agreement, Johann III took over the manage- gregation must have seemed formidable at this born in Tusch, near Gradenz, West Prussia. Al- ment of the farm. Now both of their fathers lived stage of Johann’s life. though her father was raised Catholic, he had joined nearby. Leland Harder notes that “Thus three gen- Johann preached his first sermon on Septem- his wife’s state-established Lutheran Church (Note erations of Johann Harders had lived successively ber 19, 1855; and years later he looked back and Four). Justina’s parents eventually joined the Men- on this Wirtschaft and made their living” (Note said to his children that he was sorry he had not nonite immigration to Russia. Many of the post- Eight). begun to preach freely at the time of his ordina- Napoleonic War immigrants were heavily influ- Son Abraham described the entrepreneurial tion, for he always laboriously copied and read his enced by Separatist-Pietism. It speaks well for the skills of his father: “My father [Johann III] was a sermons from the pulpit. Son Abraham made the upbringing received by Johann that he was able to serious, conscientious man, but with a good sense following interesting observation: “The acceptance resist such influences and remained a devout and of humour. At his work he was fast and clever. of the ministry gave my father a sober outlook on committed Mennonite leader throughout his life. Because he had such good luck in relation to agri- life and its responsibilities. Where before, he oc- Son Abraham J. Harder has written about cultural handicrafts, father was able to remodel the casionally indulged in smoking tobacco and read- Justina’s faith and piety: “In the heart of my mother, whole Wirtschaft [farm] within five years.” ing magazines, at the disapproval of my mother, many religious teachings had found their lodging. now he gave up these indulgences. He said that by Her parents were very pious and gave their chil- Village Councillor. reading magazines a person neglected to read the dren a strong Christian nurture. This helped my Meanwhile, Johann gained respect in Word of God, and instead of spiritual growth, mother through many dark hours in her life. She Blumstein as a manager of affairs and a commu- doubt entered a person’s soul.” felt that she was not good enough to stand before nity leader. He was elected to the village council, God in His holiness on her own merit and always which dealt with various matters of judicial con- Death of Justina. prayed that God would purify her whole being so cern, such as the following: “One day a group of On March 8, 1856, after 21 years of marriage, that she might be made worthy to appear before young men had committed a destructive deed. Justina Schulz Harder died following nine days of Him and that her whole life might be directed for The fathers of these boys were brought before sickness. The following comment about her death Him. If He could not achieve His purposes in her the Council. Father upheld the punishment meted was written by son Abraham: “One time when life otherwise, perhaps He would achieve it through out to the boys by the Schulze [village mayor], she was sure that God had placed her on a sick allowing her to go through trial and suffering, which was digging sod out of a field and carry- bed, she confessed with joy that she had found the whatever be His will.” ing it away with wheelbarrows. One of the fa- Lord as her Redeemer, and the words of the Psalm- “Several times sickness came to both of my thers said to my father, `You don’t know what ist, `Be still and know that I am God’ had come to parents at the same time. One time Father went to your own sons might do.’ Father replied, `If my her. Her last prayer was, `Come, Lord Jesus!’ As Mother’s bed to shake up her pillows, and he sons would do something like that, this punish- the pallor of death spread over her face and with fainted in doing so. This frightened Mother, and I ment would have been too lenient. I would have the last whisper of `Come, oh come!’, her soul cannot express the feelings I experienced as a child punished them myself and more severely.’ In his went to meet her master.” in that moment” (Note Five). village council work Johann Harder was undoubt- “Her passing made a profound impression on Son Johann J. Harder later described the Chris- edly influenced by individuals like Jakob W. me, a 15 year-old boy. The world had lost its tian environment of the Harder home: “In the Friesen (1808-89), later a Kleine Gemeinde dea- attraction to me. After mother’s passing, no loving evening during the time of his ministry, father con, who served as Schulze of Blumstein at about mother eye could I see, and her loving heart had would often read to us children from some book, this time (Note Nine). stopped beating. When my older brother [Johann

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 77 IV] experienced conversion, she had called us to ally accepted without questioning at congregational a sound Anabaptist perspective. Here is a brief her bedside and exhorted the rest of us to follow meetings. To speak against an Ältester was con- excerpt from his address: his example and accept the Lord as our personal sidered a grave offense. In 1860 there were seven “My hope is that through this school efforts Saviour.” Ältesten in the Kirchenkonvent: Johann Harder of will be made not only to impart earthly knowledge “My mother had been a very busy woman. the Ohrloff Gemeinde, Benjamin Ratzlaff of the (which, though useful, is of lesser profit accord- Her hands had never lain idle in her lap. She had Rudnerweide Gemeinde, Peter Wedel of the ing to the Apostle Paul), but also true godliness, served as a midwife in the community. She had Alexanderwohl Gemeinde, August Lenzman of which is profitable for all things. O that the Lord made many a herb tea from different plants for the Gnadenfeld Gemeinde, Johann Friesen of the would send us teachers who, as poor pardoned sick people. We did not have doctors in those days Kleine Gemeinde, Dirk Warkentin of the sinners, become models for their little flock, so as we have now. On winter evenings when she Petershagen Gemeinde, and Heinrich Toews of that the fruit of their labours might be a rich bless- was knitting or sewing, I had to read to her out of the Pordenau Gemeinde. ing for our children and children’s children...” a doctor’s book or health book. She was loved and On many issues, Harder and Friesen acted to- “Woe to those educational institutions and teach- respected by the women of the community. On her gether in opposition to the others, who were con- ers who restrict themselves solely to the knowl- death bed, many came to visit her” (Note Eleven). sidered reactionary by some and sometimes called edge and sciences of this world and attempt to “the five Ältesten.” Johann Harder III opposed give to this knowledge and these sciences a direc- Remarriage. corruption, resisted power and hierarchy in the tion which brings them into contradiction with the Ministers were supposed to be married, and church and worked earnestly for continued bibli- Word of God!” (Note Fifteen). Johann undoubtedly felt some pressure from the cal renewal. Following his election Johann said to church to find a second wife as soon as possible. his 20 year-old son Abraham, “Make another Barley Land Dispute. His youngest child, Justina, was still an infant. cradle! We can expect a lot of company, and I The documents telling the story of Johann’s On July 1, 1856, barely four months after her know that the rest of my life will be spent in worry leadership in the Colony are mostly in the nature mother’s death, Johann, then 44 years of age, and sorrow.” With considerable reluctance as be- of official ecclesiastical minutes and correspon- married Katharina Schulz, who had not yet fore, he accepted the call as a mandate from the dence. One issue that the Ältester had to deal reached her 17th birthday. Katharina was the niece majority of the members who voted for him. He with concerned the so-called Barley Land Dis- of his first wife, the daughter of Justina’s older was ordained by Fast, whose health was failing. pute. In the Spring of 1858, a dispute arose in brother, Johann Schulz (Note Twelve). She was “Ohm Behrend” as Fast was affectionately called Ohrloff between two men over a piece of rented the eighth of 10 children and had lost both of her by his friends, died several months later. land that the one had seeded into barley and the parents. One of the first acts that Johann performed in other had harvested (Note Sixteen). Both had The marriage of Katherina and Johann III was his new duties was to baptize the young people what they felt was a valid rental contract, but the probably a marriage of for both of whom Fast had prepared in his catechism class. owner confessed to the Ohrloff ministers that he them, in more ways than one. Between 1857 and Among the candidates was Johann’s son Abraham, had really rented the land to the first man. Ältester 1872, they had nine children of their own, five of who wrote that as Ohm Behrend stood before his Fast, who would have better used his pastoral whom died in infancy or childhood. class, he would exhort them with tears in his eyes authority to resolve the conflict locally, had turned There is evidence that the older children of to turn from the “way of evil and follow the Lord.” the dispute over to David A. Friesen, the Colony Johann III had some negative feelings when their Fast promised Johann that he would try to per- Oberschulze (Overseer) in Halbstadt. The father remarried barely four month after their form the baptismal service, and Abraham looked Oberschulze ruled that the second renter could mother died. Johann IV was actually three years forward to being baptised by the same Ältester harvest the barley but should reimburse the first older and Abraham only one year younger than who had baptized his father; but it was not to be. for his seed and labour. their new stepmother. Some years later Abraham He did, however, have the privilege of marrying The dispute raged on for two year and got wrote the following about their father’s remar- Fast’s daughter, Anna. embroiled in the larger unresolved conflict be- riage: “After Father’s second marriage, he had very tween the Ohrloff and Lichtenau (Grosse few happy hours. My stepmother was often sick Ohrloff Zentralschule. Gemeinde) congregations. By this time the most and in bed; and with this added to his pastoral The first issue Johann faced as Ältester con- neutral and objective Ältester in the Kirchenkonvent duties, it was a hard time for him.” cerned policies for the Zentralschule (central was Johann Friesen of the Kleine Gemeinde. On School) at Ohrloff. This secondary school had June 26, 1860, he sent a long letter of appeal to the Ältestership. been started in 1822 under the auspices of an two churches to stop their disputing and let the old After serving as a minister for five years, Johann Educational Association headed by Johann wounds heal. Johann Harder agreed entirely and was elected as Ältester (182 votes to 110) on Janu- Cornies. The first teachers were Tobias Voth wrote the following resolution on behalf of the ary 3, 1860 to succeed Bernhard Fast. He was (1822-29) and Heinrich Heese (1829-42), both Ältesten: ordained 14 days later by the retiring Ältester in the of whom had received their training in Germany. “Resolution of Peace: Ohrloff house of worship (Note Thirteen). Now in A problem that emerged with each succession of “All the divisions which originated from the addition to the duties of preaching and teaching the teachers was the introduction of doctrines that Ohrloff land dispute are hereby ended, and we Word of God in association with other ministers, he seemed to undermine the historic Anabaptist- Ältesten want to forgive and forget everything had the total overseer responsibilities at the Ohrloff Mennonite vision, for instance, the strident ad- that has occurred in connection with this matter, Gemeinde, including baptisms and communion ser- vocacy of Voth of the teachings of Separatist- and in the name of the Lord to mutually build and vices. Moreover, he was now a member of the Pietism, and the pro-Russian patriotism of Heese plant in love. To which we give witness by sign- Molotschna Council of Ältesten, responsible for during the Crimean War. ing our names.” resolving problems in the entire Colony. A lot of Conflict over this resulted in Heese’s resigna- “August 5th, 1860, the Ältesters of the political as well as ecclesiastical power was vested tion and replacement with his son-in-law Martin Gemeinden: Benjamin Ratzlaff, Peter Wedel, Dirk in the Council of Ältesten to the point that it was a Huebert, who was known for his effective teach- Warkentin, Heinrich Toews, Johann Harder, Au- vested hierarchy in the Russian Mennonite Church. ing of the . In 1847, however, gust Lenzman and Johann Friesen” (Note Seven- The establishment of the Council of Ältesten can the Ohrloff school burned down and was not re- teen). also be seen as a first rudimentary step in establish- built for 13 years. ing conference-type institutions, and comparable to In 1860 an all new school building was dedi- Ohrloff Church Dispute. some of the Ältester committees found among 16th cated and a new teacher, Herman Janzen, installed. By 1858 the Ohrloff church building, erected century Mennonites (Note Fourteen). Ältester Johann Harder was the main speaker for in 1809, had deteriorated to the extend that it had When the Ältesten met, they were known as the occasion. Knowing the up and down history to be replaced. A wealthy member who lived in the the Kirchenkonvent (Conference of Churches). of the school, he saw the occasion as an opportu- village of Neu-Halbstadt proposed that if the new The recommendations of the Ältester were usu- nity to call the teachers and the community back to church would be built in his village, he would pay

78 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 for the building materials above a certain mini- Gemeinden in the Molotschna were not strict the Anabaptist vision of the church. To the five mum cost. Without authorization he ordered the enough in enforcing moral standards against their Ältester and other colony leaders it looked like a foundation laid out on a scale larger than anyone members. At the same time, they also criticized revolt. They feared that this dissension, on top of anticipated. Nevertheless, the new church was built them when excommunication was finally imple- the others, would give the Russian authorities an and dedicated on December 28, 1858. mented against miscreants and those who slan- excuse for abolishing their immigration privileges When the donor submitted his bill, including dered the Holy Spirit by denigrating the integrity and require their full integration into Russian soci- the exorbitant sum of 200 rubles for the transpor- of the Gemeinde, an integral part of the universal ety. After trying to admonish the Brethren to cease tation of materials, the Ohrloff congregation re- Church of God. In understanding the allegations and desist from their schismatic activities the five fused to pay more than the amount in the original of the Brüdergemeinde movement, one must re- Ältesten turned to their own colony authorities, verbal agreement. Meanwhile the donor had sided member the great disparity in understanding of centred in David A. Friesen, the Colony with the dissenters in the Barley dispute and jointed issues such as morality and ethics between tradi- Oberschulze, an authoritative governor with head- the Lichtenau Church. His plan now was to take tionalist Mennonites and Separatist Pietist reli- quarters in Halbstadt. the building away from the Ohrloff Church and gious culture. The Separatist Pietists saw moral- Although the Brethren were harassed and utilize it for the Lichtenau Church. ity largely in terms of personal behaviour such as threatened with banishment to Siberia by The dispute was then referred to the Russian drinking, dancing, and later also smoking, re- Oberschulze Friesen, their movement could not Board of Guardians in Odessa for arbitration. The garding which they developed an extremely le- be thwarted. In fact, some very able leaders among Russian supervisors ruled that the building be- galistic regime of punishment. The Flemish Men- the Brethren appealed to the imperial court at St. longed to the Ohrloff Church but that the donor nonites, on the other hand, saw morality more in Petersburg and finally secured official recogni- should be reimbursed two-thirds of his costs. terms of following the teachings of Jesus, par- tion. Moreover, they secured a land grant to estab- Ältester Johann Harder was glad to do so; but ticularly as found in the lish several new settlements of some of their people when the payment was offered, the donor refused and the Beatitudes, and in terms of communal on the Kuban River in the upper Caucasus. [Of it, saying that he would rather have the church. ethics, structuring their society to incorporate this settlement, J. J. Hildebrand writes: “The es- Franz Isaac’s history of Die Molotschnaer these ideals. Thus, the Brüder, were incensed tablishment of this Gemeinde in the Molotschna Mennoniten contains a total of 13 letters written that the Grosse Gemeinde congregations indulged caused incomparably more difficulties, writings, by Ältester Harder concerning this matter together some social drinking or dancing, which they pun- journeys and conferences than the barley dispute with memoranda from the Council of Ältester, the ished harshly (notwithstanding that they did ini- and church building dispute together. Mile-long Colony Oberschulze, and the Board of Guardians tially dance vigorously in their church services, petitions were written in the name of this new (Note Eighteen). hence the name “Hüpfer”), but had little or no Gemeinde and directed to the Guardians’ Com- Finally in August of 1862, the matter was re- concern over morality in a wider business and mittee and to the Crown in Petersburg. And yet, solved when Johann Harder indicated the willing- ethical sense, or regarding the waging of war, now the adherents of this direction had gone so far ness of the Ohrloff Church and let the donor have moral issues of great abhorrence to traditionalist that they were able to have a separate settlement the church building, and the matter was dropped. Mennonites. Paragraph added by D. Plett, edi- district alone for themselves, and where not a single tor]. one from the `devil-serving Babylonian church’ Brüdergemeinde Secession. In 1859 a group of Brethren in the Gnadenfeld had a right to settle and where they without any The crisis represented by the Brüdergemeinde Church asked their Ältester to give them com- hindrance could now work their salvation in all schism may have been influenced by the condi- munion separately because they could no longer peace and brotherly unity. However, after a num- tions under which the West Prussian Mennonites partake of the Lord’s Supper with unrepentant ber of like-minded were present together here settled on the Russian steppes. Here for the first members. When their request was denied, they [Kuban], it turned out completely differently. It time they had responsibility not only for the rees- went to a private home to have Communion by became clear that the roots of the evil - which they tablishment of their church but also for the estab- themselves. When word of this got around, there had until now believed to be in the `devil-serving lishment of law and order within their own terri- were immediate repercussions, especially among Babylonian church’ - were within themselves as tory or colony, which now included saints and the five Ältester of the Kirchenkonvent, because well and grew rapidly here on the Kuban.”] (Note sinners with the same ethnic community. Moral only Ältesten, not even the ministers and espe- Twenty-One). lapse and the failure to share the economic re- cially not the laity, were authorized to administer In all of the difficult confrontations over the sources of the land created a climate conducive to communion. period of several years, the two tolerant Ältester, renewal movements which refused to continue Several of the Brethren were excommunicated Johann Harder and Johann Friesen, tried to use with the status quo in the old compromised church, and the others were forbidden to hold any more their influence to achieve a peaceful resolution of the Grosse Gemeinde (large church), later despair- private meetings, an order they could not obey. On the conflict. At least seven of Harder’s letters on ingly called the “Kirchliche” (ecclesiastics). January 6, 1860, their leader drafted a document the subject have been preserved. The first, dated [We have already related how the Kleine of secession which they addressed to the Council February 11, 1860, was a letter of support and Gemeinde (small church) withdrew in 1812 in of Ältesten, lamenting the “open godless living” admonition to Heinrich Huebert, a member of the protest to the apparent abandonment of tradition- of church members, reporting their separation from Ohrloff Church, who had joined the brethren to alist Mennonite ideals and teachings, such as the “this fallen church,” summarizing their articles of become one of their ministers. Following is the purity of the communion, grass roots democ- belief, and declaring their intention to return to the Ältester’s expression of concern: racy, the way physical punishment was used to teachings of Menno Simons and the Bible. In fact, “But that you wish to leave us causes us grief, enforce conformity, etc. The Brüdergemeinde was however, “the Hüpfer”, as the early Brethren were for the church whose condition is in fact as you founded in 1860 by those converting themselves known for their enthusiastic forms of worship, describe it in your letter needs members like you to Separatist Pietist teachings. Although there is had largely adopted the doctrines of Separatist- who recognize the decadence, seek to improve little actual evidence to support their claims, the Pietism and the German Baptists. In assessing the matters, and pray for us” (Note Twenty-Two). secession allegedly was also in protest to other claims of the Brethren that they were unjustly To the Colony Oberschulze,....[understandably specific forms of moral dishonesty in business treated, it should also be remembered that they concerned about the social unrest caused by the dealing, unseemly disputing, disregard for the were often rather strident in their view that the disruptive tactics] of the Brethren, Johann wrote landless, and the lack of fear of God’s judgments. communion of the existing Gemeinden was a fallen as follows on March 25, March 29, and Novem- The Brethren preached about the need for radical “devil’s service” (Note Nineteen), and that “They ber 12, 1860: conversions (as ritualized in Separatist Pietist alone were the elect and capable of forming an “Since all of us will surely be eager to oppose religious culture) which they themselves had exclusive fellowship of true believers” (Note the decay of true Christianity on the basis of the come to experience through the revivalistic preach- Twenty). Holy Scriptures, it should be possible in conse- ing of men like Bernhard Harder, Johann’s cousin. The Brüdergemeinde (Brethren Church) was quence of this fellowship’s own statement signed Presumably their complaint was that the Flemish not simply a movement for the gradual renewal of by 33 of its members to resolve this matter in a

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 79 different [peaceful] way....” to the Privy Councillor, Lord Islavin, on behalf of this was followed by the baptism of the Spirit “The aspiration of these people finds expres- his church, was the following: from above [Acts 19:2ff]. The true God will not sion in the desire to establish their own church on “Your Excellency, member of the Council of lead your group into the flesh, if you are earnest the foundation and confession of all other Menno- Ministers of State Domains, and Privy Council- with the sighing, as you state in your letter. `Search nite churches, and in keeping with our highly es- lor, Lord Islavin:” me God,’ etc.” teemed religious freedom, to live according to their “We recognize that thousands of fellow breth- And should you repudiate your [first] bap- faith in the midst of the other churches in the hope ren are without a means of livelihood. We as the tism, the question would surface in my mind: How that thus they will be able to establish a better spiritual overseers cannot remain indifferent with were you so blessed at the time? Who has hin- church discipline. If they will pursue this goal, the respect to the lamentable prospects for the future dered you? Who has robbed you? I am fully con- consequences need not be detrimental to the which are developing in this matter. Rather, we vinced that my Saviour, who left his heavenly whole...” must deal with the serious dangers to the moral throne and dressed himself in the form of a ser- “Since upon investigation these secessionists character of our churches.” vant [Phil. 2:7], carried all the miseries of this life, declared their confession to be the same as ours, “Since there is a solution for the current situa- finally suffering mockery and reproach, torment namely the Confession of Faith of the United Flem- tion through the presently available land, we feel and martyrdom, breathing his life out on the ish, Frisian, and High German Anabaptist Men- ourselves compelled to support the wishes of our crossbeam of shame, just to free me, miserable nonite Church…, the Ohrloff Halbstadt Church poor landless in this respect. Accordingly we sub- sinner chained to Satan’s prison and deserving sees no hindrances to recognizing these Menno- missively bid your Excellence, that you make ap- nothing but punishment and death. If salvation nites as a Church” (Note Twenty-Three). propriate arrangements to bring an end to this op- was really bound up with the form of baptism, we There was apparently another letter, no longer pression and poverty. Such a measure will be a would expect that he would have expressly said extant, which Johann wrote to a Russian official great benefit for us and the mentioned brethren, as so in his Word, that the form of baptism should be in Odessa, Eduard von Hahn, head of the Rus- well as for our posterity.” so and so, and that ‘my meritorious shedding of sian Board of Guardians appointed to supervise “August 20, 1865 Ältester Johann Harder” blood will not help you.’ No, this I cannot be- the foreign colonies. After some years of service (Note Twenty-Six). lieve.” at the imperial court in St. Petersburg, Hahn was “It is said now that each one is so sure of his appointed to this office by Czar Nikolas I, and he Ritualized Conversion. own opinion but that the Lord will help those that used his authority with a firm hand, removing Among the teachings espoused by the Seces- are upright. Therefore, because of these different three of the Mennonite Ältesten from office for sionists (Brethren) was that believers needed to opinions, far be it from us to love each other less, unwarranted interference in civil jurisdictional experience a radical and emotional conversion, as it has been the case until now. In conclusion, I matters. After the struggle of the leadership of sealed by river or immersion baptism to be saved. wish you everything good for body and soul.” the Brüdergemeinde to gain recognition, the [The legalistic insistence upon a ritualized dra- “If you plan to visit us this spring, let us know; Board of Guardians in consultation with the Im- matic conversion experience (better described as and then maybe we will come to you in fall. Cor- perial Court overturned the decision of the ‘pendulum’ conversion) was contrary to sound dial greetings from your parents who love you. Oberschulze in Halbstadt and granted official sta- biblical exegesis as well as orthodox Mennonite `Johann Harder’” tus to the Brethren. As he delivered the decision teaching, which held that believers would come to to the Brethren leader, Johann Claasen, Hahn faith by a variety of New Testament models, in- Millennialism. said “You have Ältester Harder to thank for your cluding the nurture and formation of Christian The biblical reference to a thousand year reign deliverance.” parents, 2 Timothy 1:5-7.] (Note Twenty-Seven). of Christ on earth following his “second coming” Several of Johann’s children would wrestle with is found in Revelation 20:1-10. [Jung-Stilling The Landless Dispute. this issue, including son Johann IV who had (1740-1817), a professor at Heidelburg, Germany, By 1860 only about a third of the Molotschna moved to the in 1865. A letter dating from was a prominent leader of a branch of the Separat- Mennonites were Vollwirten, i.e., fully landed 1871 by Johann Harder, speaks of his religious ist-Pietist movement. He advocated that the sec- farmers. The remaining families were subsistence tolerance and love for his children: ond coming of Christ would occur in the East farmers or disenfranchised landless Anwohner “To Johann Harders in Annenfeld. Blumstein, Feb. where He would gather His “true” church to es- who lived on small lots at the end of each village. 5, 1871” cape the tribulation, and that Russian Czar During the 1860s a powerful movement led by “We received your letters, and it appears from Alexander I would be the protector of the church Ohrloff ministers Franz Isaak and Bernhard them that you are well, which makes us glad. We in the end times. By the end of the Napoleonic Harder arose on behalf of the landless demand- also learned from them that you had not yet re- Wars in 1815 these teachings had influenced many ing that the surplus lands reserved in each village ceived my letters from the beginning of February believers in Germany to emigrate to Russia. His- be distributed to them in accordance with the of this year, one to you and one to your parents. torian Karl Stumpp has written: “Many of the original intention. Franz Isaak wrote that “the The man to whom I gave them, a Prussian with the faithful also looked upon the Russian Czar as the landless were not prepared to be condemned in name of Bilitz, said that he lives in the lodge of his `White Eagle’, just as they regarded Napoleon as perpetuity to be the hewers of wood and the draw- colonization project, 30 verst from you.” the `Black Angel’ or the incarnate Anti-Christ. In ers of water like the men of Gideon” (Note “We are fairly well now, except for mother, wide circles there arose an intense desire to go to Twenty-Four). The rigid reaction of the Colony who is always ailing, but she has improved to the the East, the land of refuge, to the sacred Mount Oberschulze in Halbstadt is reflected in the com- point that she talks occasionally about coming to Acarat where Noah’s ark was believed to have ment that the landless could not have even sub- visit you in the month of May. On the 6th of landed. From Württemburg the so-called `Har- sist on a half of a dessiatine of land [the size of January, we buried our little Jakob.” monies’ comprising thousands of people migrated their lots] and now they wanted even more land” “My dear children, here are some suggestions to Russia” (Note Twenty-Eight). Henry (Note Twenty-Five). about your expressed decision regarding baptism. Schapansky has written that many if not the ma- As in the other disputes described above, this First, examine what is reproved so earnestly in the jority of the Post-Napoleonic War Mennonite im- one required the intervention of the Russian au- letter to the Galatians, namely, that the Galatians migrants had already converted themselves to Sepa- thorities. The crucial ruling came from the Czar were abandoning the foundation of their free grace ratist Pietist teachings in Prussia: “Included with himself on February 14, 1866: “All the unsettled and striving after works, hence entering into the these groups were many Mennonites who would land to be found in the Colonies is immediately to realm which `leads unto the flesh.’ Therefore the later promote Pietist or Chiliastic views including be divided among the landless Mennonites, who reproach, `having begun in the Spirit,’ etc. [Gal. Nikolas (Klaas) Epp, previously mentioned, have their own dwelling houses.” 3:3]. Johann Klassen (regarded as the founder of the Again it was Ältester Johann Harder and the “About your group, and especially you, my Mennonite Brethren Church), Wilhelm Lange, Ohrloff Gemeinde that exerted the pressure needed dear Johann, I do not believe otherwise but that Tobias Voth and Heinrich Franz” (Note Twenty- for this land redistribution. The petition he wrote your beginning was made in the Spirit, and that Nine). The Gnadenfeld Gemeinde, in particular,

80 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 brought these Chiliastic views with them to Rus- they were blood cousins only through their moth- pendently for itself.” sia, and became a radicalized center for their dis- ers. “It is my wish that this work be printed if the semination in the Molotschna Colony. Editor D. Peter was very bright and well read, and he approval of the censor is granted. I wish even Plett]. knew that one of the best tools for sound exposi- more that our beloved God might bless the same In their struggle with the harsh conditions on tory teaching was good Christian literature, espe- so that Satan cannot succeed in his plan. Matters the Russian steppes, including the problem of land- cially out of the Anabaptist past. Somehow, he had here have already progressed to the point that it lessness, several Mennonite prophet-types and acquired a copy of the 17th century Dutch [millennialism] is being cast down from the pulpit their deluded followers found an escapist hope for Anabaptist writing, The Peaceful Kingdom of during the worship services (Note Thirty-Five). a better life in the millennial promise. Unfortu- Christ: An Exposition of Revelation 20 by Ältester There are certainly those who are casting shame nately, this hope led to several excesses that caused Peter J. Twisk (1565-1636), Horn, Netherlands, on the teachings of their Saviour in that they do the acute suffering of the people involved. setting forth an orthodox Mennonite eschatology not endorse or believe his teachings.” One was known as the Templer group or (Note Thirty-Three). In contrast to the wild specu- “With heartfelt greeting from your true friend’ “Friends of Jerusalem.” This movement was started lations about Christ’s second coming, Twisk re- Johann Harder” (Note Thirty-Six). in Germany in connection with Württenberg minded his readers of Christ’s teaching in Mark Pietism, and its goal was to anticipate the second 13:32-33, “Of that day or that hour no one knows, Emigration. coming of Christ by establishing little kingdoms not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but In 1874 Johann’s son, Johann IV, and his fam- of God on earth, starting at Jerusalem. The move- only the Father. Take heed, therefore, and watch ily, joined his Krimmer Brüdergemeinde co- ment spread to the Molotschna Colony through and pray, for you never know when the time will confessionists from the Crimea, and immigrated the teaching of Johannes Lange in Gnadenfeld. come.” In this perspective, Twisk argued, the king- to America. [Separatist Pietist idealogy also played The dissension this caused resulted in the tempo- dom of God must be understood in a spiritual an important role regarding the emigration issue rary imprisonment of Lange in Halbstadt in 1863. sense and not as an imminent physical historical influencing many adherents of Separatist Pietism Upon release, Lange and 20 of his followers event or physical kingdom. to remain in Russia. Professor James Urry has founded a Templer Church and moved to the Kuban Peter wrote to his cousin Johann to ask for his written: “One of the arguments put forward in the River area to establish their new branch of the help in publishing and distributing this tract. Here 1870s by members of the Molochnaia and kingdom. is what Johann wrote in reply: Mennonite communities for not emigrating was Another manifestation of millennialism oc- “Blumstein, the 21st of January, 1874. that Russia lay close to the `east’ and was thus the curred in the early 1870s when another prophet- Beloved friend Toews. I have received your promised place of refuge whereas America, situ- type by the name of Claus Epp began to teach the letter of the 20th, which was very precious to me. ated in the `west’ was doomed” (Note Thirty- imminent end of the age and the return of Christ, It was truly a heartfelt joy for me to receive such a Seven). launching the promised millennium. He prom- letter during a period when the teaching of the Other more traditionalist leaders simply dis- ised the Mennonites in Russia an “open door” to thousand year reign [millennium] which is yet to agreed in their interpretation of the situation in the kingdom if they would “flee the tribulation” come here on earth is being adopted so earnestly. Russia believing that there was still room for com- and follow him to a place of refuge (Rev. 12-14) But I do not understand this in that manner and I promise in terms of freedom from military ser- somewhere in the far east, an idea that actually am in complete agreement with the contents and vice. Editor. D. Plett]. The Ältester Johann Harder came from the writings of the German pietist, meaning of your letter. It is unfortunate that I have and cousin Bernhard Harder were not convinced Jung-Stilling [whose tracts and novels had wide not previously read the referenced work which that emigration was necessary, at least not until the circulation among the Mennonites in the you intend to publish, for then I would have been Russian government had been petitioned for re- Molotschna and were promoted by those of the able to endorse it more and consequently also take versal of its decision to rescind their entrenched radicalized Pietist persuasion]. Epp led a small a greater part in this, for the greater the number of rights as pacifists. band of followers on one of the most bizarre and copies printed, the lower will be the cost. Never- His cousin, Ältester Peter Toews, and his tragic adventures in Mennonite history to the theless you can count on me for 100 copies. I will people, however, were in the process of deciding barren wild land of to meet the Lord forward payment as soon as you request it. With for emigration. In 1872, Peter came to Blumstein and inaugurate his millennial kingdom (Note heartfelt greeting, Johann Harder” (Note Thirty- to discuss the question with Johann Harder and Thirty). Four). Frank Isaak. In his diary Peter wrote that “these The eschatology of Jung-Stilling and his east- It took 17 months before the book came off the men [Harder and Isaak] were not yet convinced ward chiliasm, found some acceptance among the press of Ulrich & Schultze in Odessa. The cause that we should emigrate. Instead, they first wanted Russian Mennonites. Johann’s cousin, Bernhard for the delay was the decision of the Russian cen- to present a petition for more freedom to the Impe- Harder, the renown Evangelist, supported these sors to require an endorsement of the book by the rial Council and then personally to the Czar” (Note millennial ideas in his preaching as did Abraham Mennonite Council of Ältesten. When Johann Thirty-Eight). Goertz, Johann’s successor as Ohrloff Ältester approached the other five Ältester about this he Until the day of his death, Johann remained (Note Thirty-One). By the end of the 19th century got a negative response as usual; and in the fol- active in the duties of his Ältestership. On March these teachings were widely accepted among the lowing letter to cousin Peter, he suggested an al- 20, 1875, he monitored the school examinations Russian Mennonites, both in the Brüdergemeinde ternative solution: in Ohrloff for the last time (Note Thirty-Nine). He as well as the more conservative Kirchliche “Blumstein, April 9th, 1874. was saddened to hear that the able Kleine Gemeinden (Note Thirty-Two). To the Church Ältester Peter Toews in Gemeinde teacher Abraham R. Friesen, Lichtenau, But Johann Harder and another cousin from Blumenhoff. Beloved Friend. It has taken some- was planning to immigrate to Canada. His cousin his mother’s side, Peter Toews, decided to cooper- what long for us to provide you with a definitive Peter Toews and his Kleine Gemeinde people, not ate in an effort to provide a sounder biblical view reply to your last writing. I had requested that to mention his own son and their group in Crimea, of the future Christian hope. Peter, who was 30 Ältester Toews in Blumenort also take part in this had already emigrated. years younger than Johann, had been elected to endeavour, but this he declined to do. The seeding the Kleine Gemeinde Ältestership at the age of 29, season came in the meantime and so the matter Death. which spoke well for his gifts for church leader- remained until now.” Johann’s son Abraham wrote: “Father often ship. He was the son of Johann Toews, Fischau, “But you can count on 150 copies for us. With talked about laying down his leadership because whose first wife was Johann’s Aunt Elizabeth respect to the endorsement or approval of this of the many conflicts he had to face, but this was Harder Toews (1800-34). Actually, however, work for the printer, I believe that it would be not to be. God in his wisdom had other plans and Elizabeth had died before Peter was born, and sufficient if you would provide your attestations called his weary servant home by a sudden death. Toews later married Maria Plett, the half-sister of for the booklet in the same manner in which you I often noticed how a sigh of worry and frustra- Johann’s mother, Elisabeth Plett. Thus, although commended it to me, for we no longer have a joint tion escaped his lips. Peter’s father was Johann’s uncle by marriage, council [of Ältesten] since each church deals inde- In the last year of his leadership, he was en-

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 81 Grunde”: Note Fourteen: As found, for example, in the work of Ältester “Though aches and faint laments went this (1504-68) in attempting to resolve the worsen- man’s pilgrimage. Yet faced with dire potents the ing schism between the Flemish and Friesian Mennonites in Lord will now assuage. O servant good and true, the 1560s, see Doornkaat Koolman, Dirk Philips: Vriend en the Lord has called you home. To be where you Medewerke van Menno Simons (Haarlem, 1964), 235 pages; also available in an English edition: Dirk Philips: Friend and can roam, to get what is your due. O house of Colleague of Menno Simons, 1504-1568 (Kitchener, 1998), death and grief, ordained to life that stuns, today is 234 pages. hard but brief. Then separation comes. Who con- Note Fifteen: P. M. Friesen, The Mennonite Brotherhood in quered death and fear in Jesus learn to trust. You Russia (Fresno, California, 1978), page 715; see also Plett, The widow, children, must to him, the Lord, draw near! Golden Years (Steinbach, 1985), page 142. O Jesus, full of grace, look on these orphaned kin, Note Sixteen: More complete details are found in Plett, Storm and these poor ones embrace your Word of hope and Triumph, pages 104-105. to win. O Father, thou wilt be to widow, orphaned Note Seventeen: Ibid, page 107. soul, provider, make them whole so heav’n they Note Eighteen: Franz Isaak, Die Molotschnaer: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte derselben (Halbstadt, Taurien, 1908), pages can forsee. Your flock, O Jesus, give a Shepherd 159-173. in his place through whom these sheep may live Note Nineteen: Peter Toews, “Sammlung...zur Historie der by counsels of your grace. Like him who built thy Kleine Gemeinde der Mennoniten,” unpublished manuscript, Ältester Johann Harder (1811-75), Blumstein, shrine. They realm did he proclaim, in honour of 1874, as quoted in Storm and Triumph, pages 153-154. Molotschna, oldest son of Elisabeth Plett Harder Christ’s name and glorious blood divine!” Note Twenty: James Urry, None but Saints, page 180. and Johann Harder. Photo - Blumstein Legacy, Note Twenty-One: J. J. Hildebrand, Hildebrand’s Zeittafel page 26/Pres., No. 13, page 129. Legacy. (Winnipeg, 1945), pages 212-213. Ältester Johann Harder has been widely rec- Note Twenty-Two: P. M. Friesen, page 236. couraged by the election to the ministry of the ognized for his genuine Christian virtue and spirit Note Twenty-Three: P. M. Friesen, pages 239, 241 and 255. Note Twenty-Four: Plett, Storm and Triumph, page 129. brethren Abraham Goertz and Nikolai Ediger, who of reconciliation. He was one of the most re- Note Twenty-Five: Ibid. stood by him faithfully. During the last days of his spected and prominent Mennonite leaders of the Note Twenty-Six: Ibid, pages 129-130. life on earth, when one of the ministers visited 19th century. Among his many enduring accom- Note Twenty-Seven: John Neufeld, “Toward an understanding him, he said, ‘I am so tired. I long to go home’” plishments are the resolution of the so-called of conversion - Part One,” in Preservings, No. 21, pages 33-36. (Note Fourty). “Barley Land Dispute” and his benevolent inter- Available at www.hshs.mb.ca On the morning of September 10, 1875, Johann vention on behalf of the landless and the “seces- Note Twenty-Eight: Karl Stumpp, The Emigration from Ger- became ill. Several hours later at 12:30 p.m., he sionists”, the Brüdergemeinde. Although Johann many to Russia in the Years 1763 to 1862 (Lincoln, Neb. 1978), suffered a heart attack and died an hour later. Harder recognized that the dissidents should be pages 27-28. Peter I. Fast (1831-1916), Rückenau (and later treated in love as directed by scripture, he held Note Twenty-Nine: Henry Schapansky, The Old Colony (Chortitza) of Russia, pages 87-9. of Jansen, ), described the death of Johann steadfast to the faith of the fathers’ and contended Note Thirty: Readers interested in knowing more about this Harder: “Today our beloved Ältester Johann valiantly for the integrity of the Mennonite com- episode will find interesting reading in Fred Belk, The Great Harder, Blumstein, died instantly. He had still gone munion. Trek of the Russian Mennonites to Central Asia (Scottdale, to the field that day but returned home very tired, M.B. historian, John A. Toews, gave Johann 1976). laid down, and managed to summon the children Harder the following tribute: “The new elder Note Thirty-One: P. M. Friesen, page 570; cf: M. B. Fast, to come to pray. Three hours later he lay dead. His [Johann Harder] was a man of moral integrity and Mitteilungen von etliche der Großen unter den Mennoniten in wife had been very sick for a considerable time of deep concern for the renewal of the church....The Rußland und in Amerika (Reedley, California, 1935), page 9. already, so that the doctor had frequently been [Mennonite] Brethren found `true Christians’ in Note Thirty-Two: P. M. Friesen, page 570, and James Urry, None called there to tend to her, and on that day also they elder Johann Harder and other members of the but Saints, pages 226-227. Note Thirty-Three: See Plett, Storm and Triumph, pages 307- had sent for her. When she arrived the children Ohrloff Mennonite Church” (Note Forty-Three). 321, for extracts of his correspondence and various references rushed out of the house screaming `Father is dead!’ to the publication of this work, as well as a complete copy of The Doctor had thought to herself, `they must be Endnotes: the English translation prepared by John F. Funk. saying the mother is dead’, since in her sickness Note One: Harder Family Review, July 1988 Issue. Note Thirty-Four: Delbert Plett, Storm and Triumph, page 309. she had frequently been at death’s door. But it was Note Two: Leland Harder, The Blumstein Legacy, pages 26-36. A facsimile of the original was published in The Harder Fam- indeed the father who was dead. He had evidently Note Three: For a full listing of her family, including several ily Review, No. 3, page 16. had a premonition of his death and had wanted to siblings immigrating to the United States, see Johann Harder Note Thirty-Five: Johann was probably referring to the fact (1836-1930), “Family History and Genealogy”, pages 2-3-- that his most intimate friend, cousin and associate minister, have a new Ältester elected. Through his death the courtesy of Dr. Leland Harder, Box 363, Newton, Kansas, 67117, Gemeinde lost a very precious shepherd” (Note Bernhard Harder, had embraced a premillennial view and was 1983. For excellent historical accounts of the Schulz family preaching it from the pulpits of the churches. Forty-One). Peter I. Fast goes on to describe a see also; Harder Family Review, Issue Three, 1988, pages 4-5 Note Thirty-Six: Delbert Plett, Storm and Triumph, page 275. journey when they stayed at the home of minister and 11-13. Note Thirty-Seven: James Urry, None but Saints, page 227. For Ediger in Altona on December 15, 1875, where Note Four: Blumstein Legacy, page 27. an example, of how the differences in religious culture im- Ediger had earnestly related of Ältester Harder’s Note Five: Abr. J. Harder, “Autobiography,” 1899, in The Harder pacted on those favouring immigration and those opposed, last activities and death as follows: “The beloved Family Review, No. 6, page 2. see comments of veteran school teacher Jakob Wiens, Ältester was very loyal (devout), and had a pre- Note Six: Abraham J. Harder, “Autobiography von Pred. Kronsthal, Chortitza Colony, as published in Old Colony monition of his death and had said quite some time Abraham J. Harder,” Alexanderwohl, 1899, as quoted in Mennonites in Canada, pages 90-91. Blumstein Legacy, page 51-52. Note Thirty-Eight: Storm and Triumph, page 327. earlier that he wished to lay down his office, and Note Seven: Harder Family Review, Issue No. 3, page 4. allow a new Ältester to be elected” (Note Forty- Note Thirty-Nine: Abraham J. Harder, Blumstein Legacy, page Note Eight: Leland Harder, e-mail, January 28, 2003. 4. Two). Note Nine: Jakob W. Friesen was the son of the widely known Note Forty: Ibid. By modern standards he was still a young 64 Kleine Gemeinde Ältester Abraham Friesen (1782-1849), Note Forty-One: Peter I. Fast, “Wiederholtes Tagebuch und years of age. Indeed, his widow was only 36 and Ohrloff: see Plett, ed, Dynasties of the Kleine Gemeinde sonstige wichtige Chroniken angefangen den 8 Januar 1907,” his youngest child was not yet two. But Johann (Steinbach, 2000), pages 541-543. unpublished journal, page 66--courtesy of Tabor College, was old and had finished his course. He was bur- Note Ten: Leland Harder, The Blumstein Legacy, page 18. Hillsboro, Kansas. February, 1989. Translation by John W. ied on September 13th. The memorial sermon was Note Eleven: Abraham J. Harder, “Autobiography,” in Blumstein Wohlgemuth, Elma, Manitoba. preached by his associate minister, Johann Regier. Legacy, page 13. Note Forty-Two: Peter I. Fast, “Wiederholtes Tagebuch,” page Note Twelve: “George Schulz Family Records.” 68. His cousin and closest confidant, Bernhard Harder, Note Thirteen: “Auszug eines Briefes aus der Ohrloffer- composed a hymn to his memory, which was sung Note Forty-Three: John A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Halbstädter Gemeinde in Süd-Rußland,” aus Mennonitische Brethren Church (Fresno, California, 1975), pages 42 and 380. to the familiar German tune, “Aus meines Herzen Blällter, 8(2) 1861, page 34. Courtesy of James Urry.

82 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Secession of the Mennonite Brüdergemeinde, 1860 “The Secession of the Mennonite Brüdergemeinde, 1860: An Historical Outline,” by Henry Schapansky, 108-5020 Riverbend Road, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6H 5J8.

Sectarianism in Russia. Mennonite or not? How then did (and do) Vice-Director Sivers (Russian Ministry of In- The purpose of this article the spiritualists (including the ternal Affairs), in an undated report of 1860-69, is to describe the early history Brüder) justify their own mis- made numerous, perhaps belated, recommendations of the Brüder from a more ob- sionary efforts and their own on how movements such as the Mennoniten jective view than done by church organization? Quite sim- Brüdergemeinde could be checked or prevented Brüdergemeinde apologists. ply, their missionaries were not from emerging. Central to these recommendations The Brüder consisted in a small missionaries at all. They were is a belief that foreign influences were the major number of individuals within merely tools (robots) of God, cause for the appearance of the Brethren. This too, the Mennonite community, pre-ordained to serve His cause is the perception of Brethren historian P.M. Friesen, who, in the years 1850-1860 in awakening those persons al- and of this author (Note One). came to see themselves as an ready destined for salvation. Another reason given by Russian officials for elite group, with a higher level Their church was merely a gath- the emergence of the Bruder was lack of unity in the of faith (and a higher level of ering place for those who had Mennonite community. Minister and diarist David morality?) than their Menno- been given an assurance of sal- Epp similarly attributed most of the perceived prob- nite neighbours. They were vation by means of a conver- lems in the Molotschna to this cause. I would also above all else, convinced that sion experience. agree on this point. During the period 1840-60, the they were saved, and that those As history reveals, spiri- Russian Mennonites were divided as follows: who disagreed with them were tualistic movements individually not. In what did this convic- have generally had very short A. Traditionalist Gemeinden: tion lie? This conviction had its lifetimes. Often a spiritualistic Pastor Eduard Wuest (1817-59). * The Old Colony Gemeinden; roots deep in the spiritualistic group dies out with its founder, Photo credit - P. M. Friesen, page - The Chortiza Gemeinde; movement, which held that the 214. Wuest was a fanatical Separat- who may be a proclaimed vi- - The Kronsweide (Schönwiese) Gemeinde; inner light and the internal ist-Pietist committed to the spread and sionary or prophet. In and of it- - The Bergthal Gemeinde; awareness of God, were more propagation of his religious culture, self emphasizing individual ex- * The Molotschna Gemeinden: important than any scriptures whatever the cost. He was prepared perience, spiritualism ill lends it- - The Grosse Gemeinde (later forcibly split into (or study of the same), written to use any means to turn alienated self to growth and development, three: Lichtenau/Petershagen, Margenau/Schonsee, commandment of God, or even young people and marginalized unless compromise and adapta- Pordenau); the words of Christ. Spiritual- adults against their own families and tion to ritual and organization is - The Kleine Gemeinde; ism (akin to ) is by Christian communities. made. - The Waldheim Gemeinde; nature individualistic and elit- How then did the Men- - The Alexanderwohl Gemeinde. ist, and readily lends itself to nonite Brethren movement sur- B. Progressive/Pietist Gemeinden: predestinationist and prophetic vive? The early years of the - The Orloff Gemeinde; tendencies. Spiritualism is in Brüder were indeed chaotic and - The Rudernerweide Gemeinde; almost total opposition to the contradictory. Prophetic and fa- - The Gnadenfeld Gemeinde. Mennonite faith, which places natical figures such as Gerhard a high value on the community Wiehler and Benjamin Becker In the past, historians have interpreted Menno- of Christians, on adherence to appeared and then vanished nite history from the progressive/pietist viewpoint, scripture and the words of from the scene. The Kuban even though the traditionalists, throughout the en- Christ, as well as on individual settlement, founded by extrem- tire Russian period, represented the majority of penance, repentance and re- ists of the Brüder, did not thrive, Russian Mennonites. To find validity in the tradi- birth. Menno Simons himself a fate suffered by similar Brüder tionalist outlook has been judged as academically viewed spiritualists as the settlements. The answer surely or politically incorrect, especially as many Menno- worst enemies of the true must lie in the Mennonite heri- nite institutions were - and still are - dominated by church. tage of the Brüder. Although (I scholars of the progressive or Mennonite Brethren Spiritualists, in particular contend) the Mennonite Breth- schools. This is all the more astonishing since his- the Pietists, and later the Sepa- ren movement was totally op- torical events themselves have repeatedly proven ratist-Pietists, held the various posed to fundamentals of the the judgments of the traditionalists to be correct. I forms of church organization Mennonite faith, the Bruder would argue that an unbiased analysis and an open- (of whatever form) in con- eventually realized the advantage minded effort to understand the (majority) tradi- tempt. To them, an organized Minister August Liebig (b. 1836) in of adapting their Mennonite heri- tionalist Gemeinden is productive of a clearer and church contradicted the idea Bernstein/Neumark. Photo credit - P. tage to their spiritualism to en- less contradictory picture of Mennonite history in that God pre-destined certain M. Friesen, page 214. sure survival. Indeed the Brüder its entirety (not only of the Russian period) than that individuals (for unknown rea- narrowly escaped the fate of available seen through the eyes of Brüder or sons) for salvation. These spiritualists, whether their spiritualistic brethren, the Separatist-Pietists “progressives”. It is also my thesis that the divi- Separatist-Pietists or Mennonite Brethren, regarded and the , and also narrowly escaped ab- sions above were due, in large part, to foreign influ- the organized church as evil (as did also, for in- sorption in the Russian Baptist movement. ences. stance the Dutch Collegiants). Indeed, the term The single most unresolved question relative to Yet another reason given by Russian officials is “Kirchliche” (churchly) was a term of contempt the Mennonite Brüdergemeinde is the following: the negative opinion of a small number of Menno- applied by the Brüder to those who disagreed with were the Brüder only yet one further division within nites themselves as to the moral state of the Menno- their vision and who were therefore without the the Mennonite community, or did their theology nite community. I have commented on this else- certain guarantee of salvation. The Brüder (origi- and actions divorce them entirely from the Menno- where (Note Two). nally) referred to themselves as the “Gemeinde der nite community? Could - or should - the Brüder, Heiligen” (community of the saints). like their close associates, the Templers, be referred

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 83 to as “Brethren” of Mennonite Vistula delta, in close proxim- background? ity to the Tragheimersweide The Neumark Lutherans. Both contemporary (1860) (Rosenkrantz) (later The second of the foreign influences involved and modern Mennonites had Rudnerweide) villages; such as again the second (not surprisingly) Mennonite and have various views on this Kurzebrach, Oberfeld, Gutsch settlement in Lutheran Prussia, in Neumark prov- question. The prevailing opin- (also known as Pastwa), etc.. ince, namely the Neumark or Brenkenhoffswalde ion on the question is that the Kurzebrach, in particular, was Gemeinde. The Neumark Gemeinde was founded Brüder did remain, and still have the early home of several fami- 1764 by the Flemish Mennonites from the remained, within the Menno- lies of later importance in the Przechowko Gemeinde. This Gemeinde preserved nite community, although there Bruder movement (Note Five). their traditionalist community for decades until, due are good arguments for the op- Also worthy of note is to isolation by distance (and political boundaries) posite view. that a considerable number of from the main Mennonite Gemeinden, the Neumark Molotschna Brüder were in fact Gemeinde accepted a number of Lutherans of pi- Foreign influence and alien- descended from Lithuanian etist inclination. These Lutherans included Wilhelm ation. Retired Elder Daniel Fast (b. 1826), families who had originally Lange (originally joining the Mennonites to escape Given that, as I claim, the Ältester of the Brüdergemeinde in the settled in the Old Colony (for conscription in 1788, later to be Ältester (1810-41) Mennonite Brethren movement Kuban, 1877-1901. Photo credit - example - Johann Hiebert (b. of the Neumark, later Gnadenfeld Gemeinde). Other was embedded with spiritualis- P. M. Friesen, page 919. 1818)). families joining at that time included the Lenzmanns, tic views, and diametrically op- The groups representing later active in the Wust Brüder. posed to fundamentals of the Mennonite faith, the foreign influences can be summarized as follows: Members from both Rudnerweide and question arises as to how this form of spiritualism - the Lithuanian Lutherans; Gnadenfeld Gemeinden were active in the later Wüst found a foothold in the Mennonite community. It is - the Neumark Lutherans; Brüder, the Templers, and the Mennoniten Brüder. my thesis that foreign influences acted on individu- - individuals from Wurttemberg of pietist views; Although August Lenzmann (later Ältester of the als, or groups of individuals, who were to some - the Wurttemberg Separatist-Pietist groups; Gnadenfeld Gemeinde) was an early Wüst Brüder, extent estranged from the whole Mennonite com- - educators of “foreign” (or pietist) origin; he was nevertheless a strong opponent of the munity. This estrangement arose mainly from spa- - the Hamburg Baptists. Mennoniten Brüder. Nonetheless, many later tial or temporal isolation. The Rudnerweide and A discussion of these groups follows: Mennoniten Brüder and Templers had previously Gnadenfelder Gemeinden had experienced this spa- belonged to the Gnadenfeld Gemeinde. The tial isolation from other Mennonite Gemeinden, long The Lithuanian Lutherans. Prezchowko, later Alexanderwohl Gemeinde (par- before the immigration to Russia. Many of the post- The first of the foreign influences relevant to ent of the Neumark Gemeinde), it seems, had a war (post 1815) immigrants to Russia were tempo- this discussion occurred, perhaps not unexpectedly, leadership which supported, in part, pietist ideals. It rally isolated from the first Russian settlers and had in the first Mennonite settlement established in is however reported that Ältester Peter Wedel (first experienced the physical, emotional, and idealistic Lutheran-Prussian territory, in Lithuania, where the head of the Molotschna branch of the Petersburg upheavals of the Napoleonic era. Yet other indi- (Friesian) Lithuanian Gemeinde was founded circa Bible Society) had little support from the members viduals were isolated by their (foreign influenced 1713. At the same time as the founding of the of his Gemeinde (David Epp diary, year end 1837). or pietist) educators. Lithuanian (Mennonite) Gemeinde, perhaps also In another piece, I have shown that the over- due to the great plague of 1709, a “great awaken- Individuals from Wurttemberg of pietist views. whelming majority of Molotschna Brüder were ing” arose within the Prussian Lutheran commu- Pietism, which grew in the mid-1600s through- from post-war families, and the majority had roots nity in Lithuania, likely involving Pietists, and prob- out Europe, proposed that the relationship between in Friesian Gemeinden (mainly, but not exclusively, ably involving south German and Swiss settlers, the individual and God was strictly personal and from the Tragheimerweide/ Rosenkrantzer who had been invited to settle in plague-devastated mystical. It was another manifestation of spiritual- Gemeinde) (Note Three). Of the Old Colony Lithuania at the same time as the Mennonites. ism, arising in part as a reaction to the growing Brüder, the majority came from families of the Ältester Heinrich Donner reports (from second rationalism and dogmatism of both church and so- Lithuanian/ Tragheimerweide/Rosenkrantzer group. hand sources, no doubt) that this cross-over to the ciety. It appealed to individuals who felt constrained Where this is not the case, for the very few men of Mennonite settlements was of considerable con- by the Christian community in which they lived, in pre-war Flemish families, it can generally be shown cern to both Prussian and Mennonite authorities. emphasizing the role of the individual, as opposed that their wives came from this background. Addi- The later Falk and one of the Funk families may to the community and a shared system of Christian tional research and information confirms, except in have been part of this group, which joined the Men- values. It is surprising that many radical Pietists a very few cases, this conclusion (Note Four). Thus, nonites, but which also included other Prussian themselves formed new denominations (such as among the families previously regarded as uncer- Lutherans. Later, in reaction it seems, the Lithuanian John Wesley) or new separate Christian communi- tain, David Dirksen (1830-1913) and Johann Gemeinde developed one of the strictest policies in ties. In the more radical form, Pietism came to pro- Thiessen (b.1820) now appear to have been from respect of accepting outsiders. claim the certainty of salvation obtained through a pre-war families, however their wives Karolina The Tragheimersweide Gemeinde was a direct conversion experience or through an inner awaken- Strauß (b.1832) and Sara Koop (b.1821) were from descendant of the Lithuanian Gemeinde, being ing directly attributable to God. Thus pre- post-war families. On the other hand, Abraham formed from uprooted Lithuanian exiles in West destinationism was reborn. This concept was the Peters (b.1826), whom I previously thought from a Prussia in 1724. The later Rosenkrantzers, led by basis for the new elitist Separatist-Pietist communi- pre-war family, was from a post-war Friesian fam- self-appointed Ältester Jan (Johann) Klassen, ties. Perhaps the strongest attacks made by the Sepa- ily (from Schlamsack). The Penner brothers, adopted some new, unknown and peculiar ideas, ratist-Pietists were against the Lutheran church Kornelius (1837-1915), Heinrich (b.1845), and and created dissention in both West Prussia and in which had originally adopted, then abanded the idea Abraham (b.1846) were from Schönwiese (Old the Old Colony. They were part of the of pre-destination. Colony) families, with roots in the Tragheimerweide Tragheimersweide Gemeinde. Only a small num- Within the German-speaking lands, the king- (Rosenkrantz) Gemeinde. Jacob Giesbrecht was a ber of these, including some “Rosenkrantzers”, dom of Württemberg was the single most impor- relative, not the brother, of Wilhelm Giesbrecht, immigrated to Russia in the first period (1788-1796). tant centre of Pietism and Separatist-Pietism. Nu- and was from a family which immigrated in 1818. Of those who remained in Prussia, many came merous Separatist-Pietist communities were formed Of importance too, is the fact that, of the post- under the influence of Pietists. Most of the remain- in the kingdom, many immigrating as groups to war Flemish immigrants found in the early Brüder, ing Gemeinde later moved to Russia in 1819, and Russia (Note Six). a surprising number came from, or had roots in established the Rudnerweide Gemeinde. A great Although Pietism (I claim) has much more in (southern) Heubuden Gemeinde villages located many later Brüder were originally from the common with Augustinian, Lutheran, and Calvin- far to the south of the Mennonite triangle in the Rudnerweide Gemeinde. ist theology than with the Mennonite faith, it did

84 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 make an appeal to some Mennonites, particularly villages or from Berjansk (Note Eight). Lenzmann). It appears likely that Wüst’s influence those with Lutheran connections or recent Lutheran The exact nature of the relationship between also extended to the Old Colony, although evidence background, or living in isolation in a predomi- these Württemberg Separatist-Pietist settlements of direct links is not available. It was likely, how- nantly Lutheran enviroment. (also known as the Swabian Colonies, consisting ever that Separatist-Pietists distributed copies of Among the individual Pietists, Württembergers, of the villages of Neuhoffnung, Hoffnungsthal, Ludwig Hofackers’ Sermon-Book (first published or Württemberg Separatist- Pietists who had, to Rosenfeld, and Neu-Stuttgart) and the Rudnerweide in Stuttgart, 1833), which is reported to have im- some degree, a negative influence on the Prussian and Gnadenfeld Gemeinden has never been closely pacted several individuals in the Old Colony. In or Russian Mennonites could be mentioned the examined, and is a subject for further research. It about 1853, likely under the spell of Separatist- following: does appear that the convictions of this Württemberg Pietist teachings, one Johann Löwen and Jacob - Sophie Dorothea (later Maria Feodorovna) of group lapsed into apathy, and a number of its mem- Janzen (a former Lehrer of the Kronsweide the royal family of Württemberg, mother of bers returned to the Lutheran church. The failure of Gemeinde who had been dismissed from office) Alexander I; Jung-Stilling’s prophesies no doubt contributed to began to form a group of the “awakened”. - Alexander I, Czar of Russia (1801-25), a some- this demoralization. Little is known regarding this Old Colony group time Pietist, who had numerous contacts with Pi- In about 1842, the situation in the Swabian Colo- which soon fell into extremism and disrepute. Some etists, and together with Prince Golozyn, founded nies was serious enough (with respect to demoral- of the most extremist of all the later Bruder (includ- (1812) the Evangelical Bible Society of Russia (Pe- ization) that the Separatist-Pietists requested help ing Gerhard and Johann Wiehler) belonged to this tersburg); from Wurttemberg (Note Nine). A young and re- group at one time. Perhaps because of this early - Wilhelm Lange (1766-1841), originally a markable individual, revivalist missionary Eduard extremism, the more moderate Brüder, including Lutheran, later Ältester of the Gnadenfeld Gemeinde; Wüst was sent out by the Württemberg Separatist- Abraham Unger, turned away from the - Friedrich (Wilhelm) Lange, nephew of Wilhelm Württemberg Pietists, seeking and finding support Lange, school teacher at Rudlofferhuben (West elsewhere, namely from the pietistically-minded Prussia), later Lehrer and Ältester (1841-49) of the Hamburg Baptists. Gnadenfeld Gemeinde. He was removed from of- fice in 1849 (for unspecified moral lapses) and re- Educators of “foreign” (or Pietist) origins. joined the Lutheran church in Russia. He officiated The role of educators in the development of the at the marriage (1847) of Eduard Wüst in Russia. Mennonite Brethern should not be undervalued. - Jacob v.d. Smissen (b. 1785), son of a Ham- Many of the leading early teachers were either former burg Mennonite, Jacob v.d. Smissen (a convert to Lutherans or pietistically-minded Mennonites. Edu- Pietism and a correspondant of Jung-Stilling and cation was often a controversial issue in early Men- other radical Pietists), later Ältester of the Danzig nonite Russia. Central to the questions raised was Gemeinde, but dismissed from office. not education itself, but the nature of the education - Jacob Mannhardt (1801-85), son of Jacob W. and the background of the educators. The tradition- Mannhardt of Württemberg (later tutor to Jacob alists naturally wished educators to reflect existing v.d. Smissen), a Lutheran (Pietist?). Jacob community values, while the progressives promoted Mannhardt was also a relative of Jacob v.d. Pietists or former Lutherans for leading educational Smissen, Ältester of the Danzig Gemeinde (1836- roles. One expression of the traditionalist view of 85) (Note Seven). education can be found in Heinrich Balzer’s -Eduard Wüst (1817-59) (see below). “Verstand und Vernunft” (l833) (Note Ten). Among the early supporters of Pietism in Rus- Among the leading educators with a Pietist or sia should be mentioned Franz Görtz (1779-1835) Lutheran background could be mentioned the fol- Ältester (1819-35) of the Rudnerweide Gemeinde lowing: and Tobias Voth (b.1791) from the Neumark - Friedrich W. Lange teacher at the Gemeinde, later school-teacher and protégé of Franz Rudlofferhuben school (1826-36) mentioned above Görtz. Tobias Voth had married a Lutheran (Pi- and later teacher at the Steinbach private school; etist?) (Maria Skrage b.1788). - Heinrich Franz 1(1812-89) pupil of Friedrich Jakob Reimer (1817-91) with his young wife Lange; The Wurttemberg Separatist-Pietist Groups Gertrude, nee Neustädter, 1887. Jakob was an - Tobias Voth (b. 1791) mentioned above, teacher (The Swabian colony and Eduard Wüst). itinerant minister of the Brüdergemeinde. His work of the Orloff Vereinschule (1822-29), a Pietist said The (chiliast) teaching of Pietist Heinrich Jung- on endtimes beliefs, Der wundervolle Ratschluss to have deeply influenced Heinrich Hubert in Pi- Stilling, who proclaimed that the 1,000 year king- Gottes mit tder Menschheit was widely read. They etist directions; dom of Christ would appear in the east circa 1833- immigrated in 1924, settling initially in Steinbach, - Heinrich Heese (1787-1868) a former Lutheran 36, motivated various groups of Württemberg Sepa- Manitoba. Photo credit- Lohrenz, page 74 (for who joined the Mennonites to escape conscription; ratist-Pietists to emigrate to Russia. Alexander I another photo, see P. M. Friesen, page 791). - David Hausknecht (b.1833) teacher at Einlage contributed to this idea by projecting himself as the (Old Colony), later Wüst Brüder, then Templer; defender of Christianity, and Russia as the haven Pietists in about 1843-1844. - Johann Lange (1838-1902) from a Neumark for Christians. Eduard Wüst was a powerful orator, whose Mennonite family (originally Lutheran). Educated One such large group of Württemberg Separat- abilities and influence must have been similar to at the Württemberg Jerusalem school at ist-Pietists came to Russia in 1819, at the same time John Wesley and George Whitefield in prior times, Kirschenhardthof, later teacher at the Gnadenfeld as the (later) Rudnerweide Gemeinde. They were or Billy Graham in modern times. The impact of his private school and a Templer (Note Eleven); originally scheduled to settle in the north Caucasus, oratory extended beyond the Swabian Colonies, to - Friedrich Lange (1840-1923) brother of Johann however they remained in the Molotschna for two the neighbouring Molotschna villages, and even to Lange. years. In the event, these Separatist-Pietists settled the Old Colony, as well as to other Russian- The Wüst Brüder realized the importance of in the lands immediately to the south of the Lutheran circles. Some of his enthusiasts formed education in promoting Pietist values, and estab- Rudnerweide Gemeinde villages (neighbouring on study groups, referred to as “Wüst Brüder”. One lished the “Brüderschule” (1857-59) with support Rudnerweide, Franzthal, Pastwa, Marienthal, such small group (of about 27 family heads) was from Wüst Brüder in the Swabian Colonies, in Pordenau, Schardau, and Eliesabethal), and imme- formed in the Molotschna. These Molotschna Wüst Charkow, and in Moscow. David Hausknecht and diately to the north of Berjansk. Not surprisingly, a Brüder were to be later founding members of the Heinrich Franz were the candidates for teacher. very large number of later Wüst Brüder and Mennoniten Brüdergemeinde and the Templers Franz was selected over the opposition of Johann Mennoniten Brüder were from these very same (with perhaps the notable exception of August Klassen and Jacob Reimer, but was later replaced

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 85 by Johann Lange. Templers, dated 6.4.1863 (Note Thirteen) listed as - Benjamin Lange (1845-95) A son of the above follows: Benjamin. m. Katherina Dyck (b. 1848), daughter The Hamburg Baptists. - Nicholas Schmidt (1815-74) Alexanderthal. of Dietrich Dyck above; The pietistically-minded Hamburg Baptists were An original Wüst Brüder. Came to Russia 1810 - David Hausknecht (b.1833) see previous com- very anxious to expand their vision of Christianity (his family was originally from Zweibrücken/Pfalz) ments above; to Russia, particularly to the highly regarded, deeply m. Katherina Mathies (1816-80); - Isaac Fast (b.1845) A son of Isaac Fast(1815- religious, and prosperous Mennonites. Correspon- - Johann Schmidt (1826-1864) brother of the 96), an immigrant of 1836. dence from Old Colony Brüder Abraham Unger, above; Persons who are difficult to locate: Abraham and activities in Poland (part of Russia) prompted - Abraham Schmidt (b.1786?) Schardau. Pos- Braun (Grossweide or Franzthal, an original Wüst many leading German Baptists to look to the Rus- sibly the Abraham Schmidt from Rosenkrantz who Brüder), Isaac Hiebert, Hermann Friesen, Johann sian Mennonite communities as ideal new areas for came to Russia in 1819. His daughter married Dyck, Jacob Dyck. Also of note is that Franz Isaac expansion. Among the leading Baptists who played Dietrich Dyck below. m1) Katherina Peters (1785- (1816-99), Lehrer of the Orloff Gemeinde, and a key role and exerted much influence during the 1830), m2) Anna X (b.1794); author of Die Molotschnaer Mennoniten, later early formative period of the Mennoniten Brüder - Abraham Wiebe (b.1792) Rudnerweide. A joined the Templers (Note Fourteen). were the following: son of Jacob Wiebe (1745-1807) (Leske 1776) m. This profile of the Templers is indeed very simi- - Johann Gerhard Oncken (b. 1799): Hamburg. Margaretha Mathies (b.1753) 2)m1) Gertruda lar to that of the Mennoniten Brüder. Founder of the Hamburg Baptist movement; Klassen (b.1783), ml) Abraham Mathies (1781- - Karl Benzien: Dirschau (West Prussia). A dea- 1824). Abraham Wiebe was an immigrant of 1818. Early Historical Developments: Extremism and con of the Hamburg Baptist movement. His daugh- - Isaac Mathies (b. 1822) Rudnerweide. A step- Secession (1860): ter Louisa later married Abraham, a son of first son of Abraham Wiebe above and a brother of Both the Molotschna Wüst Brüder and the Old Ältester of the Einlage Brüdergemeinde, Abraham Abraham Mathies, an original Wüst Brüder. Colony Brüder soon began to adopt the extremist Unger; - Dietrich Dyck (1809-63) Rudnerweide. m. and elitist ideas that appear to be a natural conse- - August Liebig (b.1836): Neumark. A Ham- Kornelia Schmidt (1819-1901). A son of Wüst quence of Separatist-Pietist theology. Within Wüst’s burg Baptist. His daughter Martha later married own parish, extremists contributed to the disrepute Peter Wedel (1865-97) missionary in Cameroon, into which the movement fell. Many Lutheran settle- brother of Kornelius Wedel (1860-1911) president ments in south Russia were likewise affected. The of Bethel College and a historian (!) (see Pres., No. extremism of these Pietists consisted in the belief 23, page 48); that, since they had a guarantee of salvation, and - Martin Kalweit: Prussian Lithuania. His daugh- were therefore members of God’s elect, they could ter Emma later married Abraham Reimer (b.1853), do no wrong. There was nothing for them to do, son of Brüdergemeinde leader Jacob Reimer (1817- except luxuriate in the knowledge that they had 91); been saved. Meetings of the elect began to degener- - Friedrich Alf (1831-98): Originally a Lutheran, ate into rejoicing, frenzied dancing, and proclama- but dismissed as a school-teacher because of his tions of superiority. For this reason, outsiders (in- activities, went to Hamburg to study at Onckens’ cluding Russian officials) referred to them as school, and was ordained as a Baptist minister in “Hupfer” or leapers. 1859. His main sphere of mission work was central About the time of Wüst’s death (1859), the Poland, where some Mennonites from Wola Molotschna Wüst Brüder sent out missionaries Wodzinska went over to the Baptists; Heinrich Bartel and Benjamin Becker to the Lutheran - Eduard Leppky: Originally a Baptist, later Volga and Planer Colonies (Note Fifteen). At this joined the Mennonite Brüder in the Kuban, then time too, a strong feeling arose within the Brüder moved to the U.S.A. as a Reiseprediger of the KMB; that they should separate from the Mennonite com- - Wilhelm Schulz: A Baptist from abroad. munity. It is still a matter for debate as to whether Worked as a Reiseprediger with the Brüder after the agenda of the Brüder included total separation 1873, but was apparently deported (Note Twelve). from the Mennonite community, or whether the Retired Elder Aron Lepp (b. 1829), Elder of the Brüder had merely intended to reform the Menno- The Templers. Brüdergemeinde in Einlage, (1876-1903). Photo nite community in pietist directions, forming a new The Templers need to be mentioned in any ac- credit- Lohrenz, page 96. In 1866 Peter Toews, Pietistically-inclined Mennonite church. The evi- count of the early Brüder because both movements later Kleine Gemeinde Bishop, sold his leasehold dence, on the whole, suggests the former thesis. originated from the same inspiration, and indeed farm in Andreasfeld to Aron Lepp (Toews to Certainly, this was the course expressed by the ex- from the same origin group, namely the Wüst Brüder. Rundschau, Aug. 2/12 - courtesy of Henry Fast). tremists, who were in the majority in the early years. The Templers took the idea of separatism and elit- Early in 1860, the Brüder published the ism even further than the Brüder, and also arose in Brüder Peter Dyck (1788-1867) of Pordenau, an “Ausgangsschrift” the articles of secession. Some Württemberg in the 1840s. Various Separatist-Pi- immigrant of 1819 from Heubuden. Also a Wüst of the Brüder argued that the actions and degenerate etists proposed that a separate model community of Brüder, married a daughter (born at Rosenkrantz) nature of the Mennonite community forced them Christians be created in the only location suitable of Abraham Schmidt; into taking this step to separation. On the other for such a group, namely the Holy Land itself. Thus - Abraham Dyck (b. 1827) A brother of the hand, it could be argued that the elitism of the Sepa- the Templer movement was founded. Through the above; ratist-Pietist movement itself would inevitably lead established communication links to Russia, the - Peter Dyck (b. 1830) A brother of the above; to separation. Within the next two years, some of movement soon spread to include Mennonite Wüst - Isaac Dyck (b. 1834) A brother of the above. the extremists began to think of a physically sepa- Brüder. Later, some Mennoniten Brüder (especially m. Helena Dyck (1836-1908); rate colony. One of the early (and perhaps most from the more radical Kuban Colony) joined the - Benjamin Lange (b.1804) Gnadenfeld, m. important) of the Brüder, Johann Klassen, went to Templers, while some Templers went over to the Maria Janz. Came to Russia 1833 from Neumark Petersburg to negotiate for a separate living space, Brüder. Particularly numerous among the Menno- (Alt Hoferwiese); which was to result in the formation of the Kuban nite Templers were former members from the - Johann Lange (1838-1902) A son of the above. colony in the south Caucasus (founded in 1863). Gnadenfeld Gemeinde. m. Emma Jaus; (Note 16) It may be of interest to examine the origins of - Friederich Lange (1840-1923) A son of the The extremist Brüder were the dominant group the first Mennonite Templers. These could include above Benjamin. m. Anna Dyck (1843-1930), among the Secessionists, both in the Molotschna the 20 signatories to a petition in favour of the daughter of Dietrich Dyck above; and in the Old Colony, up to 1865. Their leaders

86 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 included Molotschnau Brüder Johann Klassen, been initiated by various Brüder in 1860-61, in- Kuban Gemeinden) and presided over the same Isaac Koop, Jacob Becker, and Benjamin Becker cluding Jacob Reimer and Jacob Becker, with no from 1872-l875 (Note Eighteen). The first such and Old Colony Brüder Gerhard Wiehler, Johann definite results (Note Seventeen). To establish some annual conference took place in May, 1872 at Wiehler, and Heinrich Neufeld. Moderates, who sort of legitimacy to the movement, and in view of Andreasfeld. Liebig finally settled permanently in could be said to have supported Pietist, but not their small numbers and poor reputation at home, Russia in 1875, taking on the leadership of the extremist Separatist-Pietist views, included many moderates supported Unger in the cultivation Odessa Baptists. Molotschna Brüder Heinrich Hiebert, Jacob Reimer, of closer ties with the Baptists. When the moderates In some respects, many of the Baptists did not and Abraham Kornelson and Old Colony Brüder did prevail, more concrete measures were taken to live up to the high expectations of the Brüder, when Abraham Unger. By the time (1865) that the mod- further these ties. The Brüder remained on the path they became more closely aquainted. The Brüder erates finally prevailed, the split from the Menno- to union with the Baptists, under the leadership of had, for instance, developed a positon against alco- nite community was irreparable. The extremists Unger, until his resignation in 1876. holic beverages and tobacco. Indeed, many Brüder failed to carry the day because of the very nature of This move towards union was resisted by only resigned from the movement for this reason. P.M. their extremism. There was really little for them to a few Brüder, including Aron Lepp and Eduard Friesen reports that over 10 Brüder, including some do except rejoice or awaken others. Having been Leppky (a former Baptist). Aron Lepp (1827-1912), who were “begabt und angesehen” (talented and saved and elected of God, there was no need to former Judenplan superintendant, and brother of respected), left because of the prohibition on to- search for additional truth, and they turned to book- industrialist Peter Lepp (1817-71) (both immigrants bacco. The Brüder were therefore very astonished burning. They also turned to banning each other for of 1817), was in fact the only leader in the move- when they discovered that many of their Baptist disagreement or lack of enthusiasm. Thus Gerhard ment to resist union with the Baptists, and it was colleagues, including Oncken himself, were smok- Wiehler banned both his father and his brother for largely due to him that a final union did not take ers (Note Nineteen). Liebig himself was refused disagreeing with his some of his views. Others, place. admission to the communion service at one time including Heinrich Hiebert and Jacob Reimer, were The Baptists, as indicated above, were only too (Note Twenty). also banned. Moral lapses occurred and became pleased to assist the Brüder in the reorganisation On the other hand, the Brüder often revealed public knowledge, including the affair of Heinrich required after 1865. In 1866, Baptist August Liebig, great moral weaknesses themselves. P.M. Friesen Bartel with Helena Regier (1861 - the affair could in reponse to written requests from the Einlage tells us that three Brüder, from families of high not, of course, be concealed due to preg- standing in the Brüdergemeinde, during nancy). Friedrich Lange had been previ- the period (1870-80), were involved in a ously dismissed in 1849, because of moral get-rich-quick scheme of land and busi- lapses within his household. ness speculations at Blumenau, cheating their fellow Brüder (including Jacob Crisis and the Hamburg Baptists. Reimer) who apparently suffered large The years 1864 and 1865 were years financial losses, resulting in the abandon- of crisis. Many of the Brüder became very ment of Blumenau (Note Twenty-One). apprehensive regarding the future, fearing This account is rather similar to that in- that they themselves might be banned at volving Heinrich Martens (1867-1942), any time for lack of enthusiasm or for in- a.k.a. “Swindler” Martens. “Swindler” correct thinking. A return to the Gemeinden Martens was a Brüder originally from the seemed impossible, as their actions had Kuban, later perpetrator of a famous (at rendered them ridiculously pompous in the time) California land swindle where the eyes of their friends and neighbours, very many fellow Brüder lost their life and the slanderous utterances made by savings (Note Twenty-Two). many Brüder had antagonized many Men- Interestingly enough, the Brüder nonites. Ältester Heinrich Hiebert proved placed great emphasis on the “form” of to be ineffective in this period of stress, baptism, and argued extensively on the nor was Jacob Reimer, another natural subject (it was also in part this subject leader more effective, as he was related to Peter M. Friesen and his wife. He was the author of the “Altevangelische which attracted them to the Baptists). Yet Johann Klassen by marriage. Abraham Brüderschaft” (Halbstadt, Taurien, 1911), from which many of the the Brüder criticized the “Kirchliche” for Kornelsen had already moved to the Planer photos in this article are reprinted. Photo credit - Quiring, In the adhering more to form than to matters of Colonies. Fullness of Time, page 69. substance. This unbearable situation could not The Brüder and the Baptists con- continue indefinitely, and eventually, the moderates Brüder, was sent out by the Hamburg Baptists to tinued to have extensive and involved relationships, prevailed with the introduction of a protocol of Au- help resolve the many outstanding issues. How- even after negotiations for a union had ground to a gust 4, 1865. Leadership of the Brüder effectively ever, he was arrested after two weeks and deported. halt by the time of Unger’s resignation in 1876. passed to the only strong early leader who had Karl Benzien, also a Hamburg Baptist, who had Johann Wiehler (the former extremist Brüder) was continuously resisted the extremists, namely come to Russia for business reasons and stayed to in fact the first chairman of the Union of Russian Abraham Unger of Einlage (Old Colony). Many of settle, chaired several meetings in Einlage, includ- Baptists (1884-1886). Other Brüder attended vari- the moderates who had moved to the Kuban were ing the meeting of July 10, 1868, where an organi- ous Baptist institutions in Germany. Of the eight greatly disappointed with both spiritual and eco- zational protocol was adopted, and the meeting of missionary workers at the Brüdergemeinde mis- nomic conditions prevailing, and returned to the July 14, 1868, where Unger was elected Ältester. sion station at Nalgonda (India), seven had studied Molotschna, to the Old Colony, or eventually to the Benzien himself eventually joined the Brüder. at Hamburg-Horn, including the head of the mis- new colonies at Andreasfeld and Wiesenfeld (in the Shortly thereafter, in 1869, the founder of the Ham- sion, Abraham Friesen (1859-1919) (Note Twenty- neighbourhood of Einlage). burg Baptists himself, Oncken, came to Russia and Three). Other examples include Jacob Kröcker, Unger had, at a very early time, foreseen that the presided over the ordination of Unger, as well as publisher of the Christlisches Abriss Kalendar,and extremist and Separatist-Pietist directions of the the ordination of Aron Lepp as Lehrer of the Brüder the Friedenstimme, who had studied at Hamburg movement taken by the Brüder had no future. Ac- and Benzien as Lehrer of the Gerhardsthal (his brother Abraham had worked as a Baptist min- quainted with the pietistically-minded Hamburg (Tschornoglas) Baptists. Liebig later returned, again ister in Rumania for two years) (Note Twenty-Four). Baptist movement through various periodicals, he at the request of the Brüder, living at Andreasfeld The Brüder of the Volga and Planer Colonies, whose began a correspondence with some of the leading 1871-1872, to assist with a number of issues. He conversion to the Brüder had begun with the pros- Baptists in Hamburg. Correspondence with Bap- organized annual conferences of the collective elytizing of Bartel and Becker in 1859, all later joined tist leader Friedrich Alf in Russian Poland had also Brüdergemeinden (of the Einlage, Molotschna, and the Baptists.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 87 Why then did the movement to- Endnotes: wards union collapse? As indicated Note One: Sivers. Report to the Ministry of In- above, the Mennonite heritage of the ternal Affairs, 14, April 1865, in John B. Toews, Brüder was the key factor, along with ed. Story of the early Mennonite Brethren, p.134. the passing into law of the Universal Note Two: See my comments in Pres., No. 22, pp.138-139. This is a critical point, invariably Military Service Statute in 1874 in assumed by Brethren historians, generally with- Russia, at exactly the critical moment out factual evidence of any kind. of the discussions. The Mennonites Note Three: Pres., No. 23, pp.118-125. were highly regarded in official Note Four: Information from my friend, Dr. circles, while the Baptists were per- Glenn Penner, of Guelph, Ont., includes census secuted as a disruptive sect. Alterna- Baptism of the Brüdergemeinde in Rückenau, Molotschna Colony. The strat- lists for 1858, 1864, and 1869 for the Kuban tive service, it was soon apparent, egy of rejecting the traditional Mennonite baptismal mode, namely, affusion settlement. would be available to the Mennonites, or sprinkling, created a strict and dramatic cultural and social border marker Note Five: For example, the following persons but not to the Baptists. Pacifism had for those who rejected their parental faith. Photo credit - P. M. Friesen, page were either born at, or from Kurzebrach: Jacob 488. Cf: “Evangelical Baptism,” Pres., No. 20, pages 34-39. Wall, Martin Friesen (1814-83, father of P.M. always been a strong tenet of the Friesen), Karolina Thiessen (b.1818, wife of Mennonite faith, but not at all an article of the Summary. Brüdergemeinder Wilhelm Löwen b.1818). Baptist . Indeed, the Mennonites had suf- The Mennonite Brüdergemeinde remained a Note Six: Karl Stumpp, The Emigration from Germany to Rus- fered for this fundamental tenet and struggled to very small minority group for much of the Russian sia, Lincoln, Neb. 1978, pp.138-139. maintain this principle, for centuries. Then too, the period gaining only some 20 percent of the 100,000 Note Seven: See also John Friesen, op. cit., p.161, etc. more restrictive lifestyle of the Bruder conflicted Mennonites in Russia by 1917. Later Pietist ex- Note Eight: James Urry, None But Saints, pp.97-101. with the more tolerant attitude of the Baptists. tremists, such as Klaas Epp and his followers had Note Nine: George K. Epp, op. cit., p.19. Despite their abusive condemnation of their fel- much in common with the Brüder. The Mennonite Note Ten: See D.Plett, The Golden Years, pp.237-247. low Mennonites, the Brüder were simply unable Pietist Brüder, generally speaking, came from fami- Note Eleben: Johann Lange published articles in the Süddeutscher Warte (nos. 14, 17. 1861), while still in to give up the prestige and regard that the behaviour lies who were already estranged (spatially or tem- Württemberg, wherein he promoted the Templers, and his own and labour of generations of Mennonites had won porally), to some degree, from the main traditional- future plans. The Fürsorgkomittee at Odessa was made aware of for them in Russian society, in exchange for a ist groups. Pietists and/or Lutherans deeply influ- these articles by Lutheran officials. On his return to Russia, he much lower and hazardous position as a danger- enced some of these individuals. In this, some Men- preached a sermon at Hoffungsthal/Odessa, attended also by ous and disruptive minority sect. Nor were cul- nonite leaders (such as Johann Cornies) and some members of the Fürsorgekomittee. Later, at Gnadenfeld, having tural factors or considerations of lifestyle unim- leading Russian officials (such as, in particular, replaced H. Franz as school-teacher, the Komittee requested a portant. Nevertheless, the discussions were diffi- Eugen v. Hahn), who themselves were possibly written declaration from Lange himself, as well as a statement cult, and many Brüder were of two minds on the Pietist or Pietist sympathizers, saw a means to fur- from the Molotschna Lehrdienst as to his suitability. On March subject. Even Aron Lepp later in 1900 regretted ther breakup the traditionalist Gemeinden, and fur- 8, 1862 Lange wrote that he was not connected with any sect, and had no solidarity with Kirschhardhof. A. Keller, a member of the his strong position against the Baptists (Note ther the assimilation of the Mennonite into Russian Fürsorgekomittee, paid a surprise visit to Lange’s school room Twenty-Five). society. on January 9, 1863, where he found literature of the Templers. Not surprisingly, however, the Russian bureau- Had it not been for the early influence of the Both J. and N. Schmidt were also implicated, and all three were cracy repeatedly identified the Brüder and the Bap- “foreigners”, the Brüder would likely not have come required to complete a written questionaire, whereupon Lange tists. When, for example, the Baptists were recog- into existence. Had it not been for the later support was dismissed as teacher and placed under a form of house arrest nized as a legitimate Protestant group in Russia in of “foreigners” the Brüder would likely have fallen (being released June 21, having promised to discontinue his 1879, the Brüder were classified as Baptist. Shortly apart as a group and disappeared. The Brüder then Templer activities). J.J. Hildebrand, Aus der Vorgeschichte der thereafter, a contra-petition was prepared (with the would likely have in part, returned to the Menno- Einwanderung aus Rußland nach Manitoba, Winnipeg, 1949, assistance of P.M. Friesen himself) with successful nite community, and in part, dispersed as insignifi- pp. 71-77. Note Twelve; P.M. Friesen, p.395. results. cant splinter groups. Much of the subsequent social Note Thirteen: Hildebrand, Aus der Vorgeschichte der tension and inner conflict within the Mennonite Einwanderung aus Rußland nach Manitoba, Winnipeg, 1949, The Brüdergemeinden 1865-1870. community would then have been avoided. p. 76. In the period 1865 to 1870, the Brüder can be Note Fourteen: Hildebrand, op. cit., p. 80. Yet another example of grouped as follows: References: how much Russian Mennonite historiography has been coloured 1. The Templers. The most extremist of all the Epp, George K., Geschichte der Mennoniten in by Brüder, Templers and Orloff “progressives”. Brüder groups. Later most of the Templers moved Rußland Band II, Lage, 1998; Note Fifteen: The Planer Colonies were near the Bergthal Colo- to the south Caucasus region. Some of the Menno- Friesen, John, “Education, Pietism and change nies (so-called after the “Plan”) (also known as the Gronau Colo- nite Templers eventually did move to Palestine. among the Mennonites in Nineteenth century nies). Note Sixteen: See comments of J.J. Hildebrand regarding the 2. The Kuban Brüder. Most of the extremist Prussia”, in Mennonite Quarterly Review, April Kuban settlement, quoted in Pres., No.22, p. 63. Brüder (both from the Old Colony and the 1991 (contains an excellent discussion on the Note Seventeen: P.M. Friesen, p.244. Molotschna) moved to the Kuban in the early pe- Rudlofferfeld school); Note Eighteen: P.M. Friesen, p.386. riod, as well as some of the moderates. As the mod- Friesen, P. M., Geschichte die Alt-Evangelischen Note Nineteen: P.M. Friesen, pp.383-384. erates came to prevail, many Brüder families re- Mennoniten Brüderschaft in Rußland,Halbstadt, Note Twenty: P.M. Friesen, p.396. turned to the Old Colony or to the Molotschna. A Taurien, 1911; Note Twenty-One: P.M. Friesen, p.403. number of these then moved to the new settlements Loewen, Harry, “Echos of Drumbeats: The Note Twenty-Two: See Leland Harder, Harder Family Review, Oct, at Andreasfeld and Wiesenfeld. In time, the Kuban movement of Exuberance among the Mennonite 1992, for a complete account. settlement came to be regarded as a backwater in the Brethren,” in JMS, No. 3, pages 118-127. Note Twenty-Three: P.M. Friesen, p. 568. Abraham Friesen was a son of Brüdergemeinder administrator Johann Friesen, later of Brüder community. Ratzlaff, E. Im Wiechselbogen, Winnipeg, 1971; Einlage, Andreasfeld, then Rückenau. Abraham’s brother, 3. The Moderate Brüder. Sawatsky, Heinrich, Templer Mennonitische Gerhard (probably named after his uncle Gerhard Wiehler (the - The Einlage Brüdergemeinde under the lead- Herkunft, ,Winnipeg, 1955; Brüder extremist)) later participated in a revolutionary worker’s ership of Abraham Unger, then Aron Lepp. Later Toews, John B., The Story of the Early Menno- tribunal in 1917. He was arrested by members of the subgroups - Andreasfeld, Wiesenfeld, Jasykovo, nite Brethren,, Hillsboro, 2002; Selbstschutze and executed by a German military tribunal (of Fürstenland, Burwald, and Neplejevko; Urry, James, None But Saints, Winnipeg, 1989; the occupation forces) in 1918. A.A.Töws, Mennonitische - The Molotschna Brüdergemeinde (later the Urry, James, “The Social Background to the Mörtyrer, Band 2, Clearbrook, 1954, p. 297. Rückenau Gemeinde). Later subgroups - Putchin, Emergence of the Mennonite Brethren in Nine- Note Twenty-Four: P.M. Friesen, p.467. the Crimea, Herzenberg, Friedensfeld, Sagradovka. teenth Century Russia,” Journal of Mennonite Stud- Note Twenty-Five: P.M. Friesen, p.385. ies, Vol. 6, 1988.

88 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Evangelist Bernhard Harder (1832-84), Halbstadt Evangelist Bernhard Harder (1832-84), Halbstadt, Molotschna - Letters of Admonition to Johann Fast and Johann Harder, Annenfeld, Crimea, March 29, 1872, compiled and edited by Delbert F. Plett, Steinbach, Manitoba.

their own. Like their Old Colonist counterparts of no proof is ever cited that would pass the basic rules Introduction. the modern-day, they evidently felt it was more of evidence in any court of law (Note Three). Evangelist Bernhard Harder (1832-84), Christ-like to turn the other cheek. It would have That having been said, Bernard Harder is in- Halbstadt, Molotschna, is considered among been relatively easy to point out that the much self- variably the centrepiece of any defence of the the most important leaders of the Mennonite lauded piety of the secessionists was mainly of the Brüdergemeinde secession and the absolute neces- Church in Russia. Therefore the publication of inwardly personal variety which did not regulate sity thereof. It is alleged that with his preaching two of his letters expressing his views regard- nor temper their outwardly actions, particularly in Harder supported the Secessionists but never had ing the secession of various sectarian groups their arrogant treatment of their former Brethren in the courage to join them (Note Four). On the issue from the main body of Mennonites and the level the “Kirchliche” congregations whom they de- of moral and ethical values among the Flemish of their morality is of considerable significance. nounced as unsaved “heathen”. Mennonites, John A. Toews, the prominent M. B. On March 29, 1872, Evangelist Bernard To understand the Kirchliche reluctance to reply historian, cites a letter written by Evangelist Harder wrote two letters of admonition to his in kind to the harsh condemnations of the Seces- Bernhard Harder in the Mennonitische Blätter, dated dear friends Johann Fast and Johann Harder sionists we should recall that one of the central July 22, 1862, in which Harder severely criticized who joined the Brüdergemeinde secession from tenets of traditionalist Flemish Mennonite thought the ministry in his own church: “`What is lacking the Kleine Gemeinde in the Crimea in 1869 or is that pride was a sin. Therefore you do not criticize among us?’ he asks.” shortly thereafter. others. You look for the splinter/plank in your eye “In the first place there is something wrong with Letter One was written to veteran school as the New Testament has it. For this reason the us - the witness and watchman. A large number teacher Johann Fast (1813-92), formerly of conservatives did not respond with their own very among us lack the very first and all-important capi- Schönau, and nephew of Ältester Bernhard Fast legitimate questions about the “salvation” of the tal `A’ of Christianity: `Wake up, o man, from your of the Ohrloff Gemeinde. Johann Fast was Secessionists, especially regarding the salvific effi- sleep of sin’....What can be expected from compla- married to Elisabeth Isaak, a sister to historian cacy and validity of the dramatic conversion experi- cent and self-satisfied preachers who are reluctant Franz Isaak (1816-1900), Tiege. The Fast fam- ence processes and immersion baptism procedures to do anything but read an occasional sermon which ily had moved to Annenfeld, Crimea in 1867. In as ritualized by them. No one other than God knew for a half a century has been part of the family 1873 Johann Fast moved to America, selecting that until they met their Maker face to face on the heritage, without consideration whether it is rel- and settling on the land where the village of day of judgement. evant to the times or not...all that we are left is a dry Gnadenau was established the following year The Flemish Mennonites also recognized the foundation, a shell without a kernel, a church with- (Note One) imperfection of human beings; what they wanted out living members” (Note Five). Letter Two was written to Johann Harder IV was a pure community in which imperfect people It may therefore come as a surprise to historians (1836-1930), son of Ältester Johann Harder could live, separated from the temptations of the and lay persons alike that in his Letters of Admoni- (1811-75), Bernhard’s cousin. Johann IV was world which threatened their salvation, and hope tion, 1872, written less than 10 years later, Evange- married to Elisabeth Fast (1836-98), daughter for salvation after a life lived according to the com- list Bernard Harder expressed himself forthrightly of teacher Johann Fast. Johann IV and his young mandments of Jesus. Thus all conservative leaders and unequivocally that no improvement in moral family moved to Annenfeld, Crimea in 1865. In knew and expected problems to emerge among character and social ethics had been brought forth 1874 they immigrated to Gnadenau (Hillsboro), members of their community and concentrated on by the various Secessionist movements and that, Kansas, where Johann IV also served as a min- settling these, collectively - first removing a person therefore, he would never consider joining any of ister of the K.M.B. (Note Two). from being a polluting threat to others, and then the new sectarian groups. The two letters published here were discov- trying to reintegrate them into the community (the We are indeed grateful to Dr. Leland Harder for ered by Dr. Leland Harder, Newton, Kansas, in ban and public confession). But the Brüdergemeinde translating and publishing these invaluable primary private family archives and published in The campaigned on the idea of a perfect individual who, source documents. —The Editor Harder Family Review, April 1989, pages 6-7. through a conversion experience had gained knowl- edge (certainty) of their salvation. They did not need Founding Myth. others in a community to achieve salvation - they The founding narrative of the Mennonite had achieved it. Whether or not they would subse- Brüdergemeinde in Russia in 1860 was: One, that quently “fall” into sin was debatable. But one can the Flemish Mennonite Church was fallen, cor- see why many conservatives did not trust them. rupted and beyond redemption; Two, spontaneously, But again, to criticize would be to put oneself above a number of the “enlightened” brethren started read- them. Only God knew one’s true value and the state ing the Bible, artificially redefined the “New Birth” of one’s soul. as “conversion experience”, converted themselves to “true” religion, and, having no choice, separated Morality. themselves from the “Babylonian whore” to form Regarding the first premise of the corruptedness their own assemblies. and fallen morality of the “old line” Gemeinden, In the preceding essay, Henry Schapansky has Brüdergemeinde apologists have cited mainly the established convincingly the lack of validity of the self-serving epithets of their own contemporary second premise in that the secessionist movement brethren as well as statements by foreign missioners consisted mainly of the adoption of alien religious and other observers generally in agreement with cultures which were presented to the Secessionists their agenda. Members of the progressivistic Ohrloff by foreigners of various spiritual hues and denomi- Gemeinde feature prominently in any national varieties. Brüdergemeinde recitation of testimonials support- Bernhard Harder (1832-84), Halbstadt, ing or sympathetic to their cause, which, however, Molotschna, and his second wife, Helena (nee Failure to Respond to False Criticism. are of little probative value since Ohrloff itself had Ewert). He was a poet, teacher, minister and evan- It is noteworthy that the Flemish Mennonite already adopted many pietist ideas and was actively gelist who promoted revivalistic techniques among religious leaders generally did not stoop to the level engaged in a protracted cultural and social struggle the Mennonites. Photo - John Friesen, ed., Men- of their accusers to reply with harsh criticism of against the traditionalists majority. In short, little or nonites in Russia, page 165.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 89 Bernhard Harder - Letters of Admonition, 1872 Letter One: have anything more preached about it, that is, church] no prophet and no apostle of the Lord Blumstein, March 29, 1872 when it demands something else, then I will go has [ever] separated until the Lord in judgement On the 25th of this month I was 40 years old with those who confess Jesus, God willing, regarding Jerusalem himself gave the signal Dear Brother Fast! over valley and hill, even to the Sahara, if God [Acts 1:4]. This time I must write again in such a way so wills, or to another desert; for where shall But there was only the Apostle John, who that both you and the Harders get [letters] to His Gemeinde blossom for two times, one time presided over the Gemeinde of the believers, read because thereby I save time and work, for and a half time [Rev 12 v. 14]. Amen. independent from the Jewish Church. Read in what I have to say, I would like to say to all of A congregation which is started as a private the letter of the Apostle John and in the Revela- you. The descriptions of the decline of our people venture, which ignites like a straw fire at first, tion of John whether even under the most cor- which I gave in my last letter were close to the soon dies out again; for it is nothing but the rupted and decayed Gemeinde, the loyal ones truth, and everyone who has open eyes for the natural enthusiasm of the poor human spirit for withdrew or whether they were admonished to truth and the reality must find it that way and its own work. On secession it becomes neces- do so, or whether faith, kinship, or heaven were attest to it. I find exceptions in individual souls sary that only one aspect of doctrine is pro- denied unto them because of the fallen and cor- but not in existing Gemeinden or communities, fessed. The most fervent adherents bestir them- rupted church. just as I also do not believe that the Thus have I believed until now remedy for this decline is the start- and thus have I preached. Is that ing of new churches and move- wrong? If I endeavour in my rela- ments. tionships to be gentle and to evade To your river-baptized brethren all useless questions that cause more I would say somewhat the follow- friction than improvement, is that ing: If I should withdraw [secede hypocrisy and falsehood? from my Gemeinde], I would first The three dear youths have al- like to find a congregation that I ways demonstrated themselves to would like better than my present be loving and childlike towards me, one. Now I would like to ask you and we always parted from one an- for advice. Which of the separated other in peace. I never fostered sus- congregations that all profess to be picion against them that they wanted the Church of God should I choose? to attack and conquer me, but rather I ask you because of all the direc- gave myself to them without deceit tions that are arising through the and without suspicion. That they are haughtiness and passions of the now bitterly angry [at me]; is that Kleine Gemeinde [KMB] (Note the gratitude I have earned? From Six). You would not recommend whom have they learned that? Per- any of them to me! haps [but not likely] from such who I would mention [for example] wish to be followers of Christ? [Is the congregations of Huebert and it] By chance because I do not fol- Peters. I would have so much to low you like them (Luke 9:49-50)? criticize in both that my courage Truly that would be woeful fruit - would fail me, and even more so, fruit like Sodom’s apples [Deut. perhaps, in the movement of Klaas 32:32] or the adder’s eggs [ Isa. Schmidt and the Jerusalem Friends 59:5]. [Templers]. Then I would also feel Oh, may the Lord protect the obligated to abide by the advice of dear young brethren from pride and others, and I would be cast down unrighteousness! May the dear by so many with the same judgment Saviour forgive them for what they of repudiation as I hear from you; have scolded about me. If one of and you would be all the same, and them should become deathly ill or you really are that in my eyes. I re- Bernhard Harder’s memorial stone in Halbstadt, Molotschna. Eleven of B. comes to the point of reflection ally would not know which way I Harder’s songs were included in the Gesangbuch der Brüdergemeinde, in- along the way, and he begins to feel should go. cluding the much loved “Die Zeit ist kurz, O Mensch, sei weise!” For a sorry for unknowingly and unnec- Here it is remonstrated that one current biography of Evangelist Bernhard Harder, see Leland Harder, The essarily having grieved a friend must follow the Word of God. In- Blumstein Legacy, pages 17-24. who in weakness had good inten- deed, [in order to] follow the Word tions, then tell him that everything of God I would go neither to you nor to the selves for a time, as if on a stick-horse, while is alright with me as if there had been reconcili- others but remain in my own Gemeinde, which most are asleep for a long time, and until they ation with a kiss and handshake, as if nothing is no worse than yours, and which I love and also grow weary thereof and all together they had ever happened. And whoever has any doubts cherish above all others. Everywhere there is a rigidify into a dead form. When the scoundrels about this, whether it be genuine, I would ad- need of the real power of faith and of the genu- have first finished scolding each other, they quiet monish him to have patience until the day comes ine signs of life; and I myself fall short so much down and become tranquil as the others; and when everything will come to the light - every- that I am glad and satisfied when the Gemeinde the biggest difference remaining, which for the thing that has remained hidden here. has patience with me. I go, it is to be hoped, most part lies in the fervour itself, disappears Thus be heartily greeted and see to it that the directly to the name of Jesus before any consid- without anything having been won for the King- brothers Zacharias, Janzen and Hein receive a eration of form and dogma becomes the deter- dom of God. But for those [who are] righteous greeting from me if they still love me a little, and mining and separating [factor in the] confes- [the opportunity] always remains to [serve] the see whether they will write to me. Yours, “B. sion. When the Gemeinde no longer believes in Lord in the [established] Gemeinde as well as Harder” the name [of Jesus] anymore, does not want to among those who have withdrawn. [In the early

90 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Letter Two: there in all the congregations who cling to the Blumstein, March 29, 1872 Saviour in child-likeness and sincerity and Johann Harder: [who] will also follow when He will blow [the Beloved brother Johannes! trumpet] for the departure [Rev. 8:6]. I have not yet replied to your letter which I Always preach repentance in your congre- now want to do at this opportunity. I am glad gation also, for sooner or later, it will prove to for the loving tone of your letter, which shows be necessary. The two-edged sword strikes to to me that you are not renouncing or condemn- the right and to the left [Rev. 1:16; 2:12]. It ing me, even though your new direction by na- judges among the ‘pious’ (Note Seven) - whether ture implicitly tends to judge [others] quite se- a heart is humble or whether it sets itself up verely. But is it not, however, against all Chris- against the Word in proud self-righteousness tian love and fairness to reproach a man or count and thinks or says, ‘Such to me? Am I like the it as evil if he does not immediately run along others?’ etc. I have had such experiences, and when a new idea comes up? The individual must my heart has grieved - grieved silently. But thank first consider whether the new persuasion is God! I can be silent by His grace, submit, and genuine or in error, also that shortly previous to be strong in His power despite my weakness.” this he was not that far along, and how he at- “I am telling you this because my love bids tributes his growth to grace. Likewise he must me to trust you. I trust that likewise you will now also expect that this same grace can and believe me. I am not consciously nor wilfully a will lead the other one along as well.” gross liar, have not consciously or wilfully “You, for instance, were a believer earlier sought the favour of people, nor for the favour than I and have for many years walked in the of the rich, have not consciously or wilfully same persuasion of faith to which am I still preached against the pious, nor against the committed. You have also known that others proper distinctions between belief and unbelief; thought differently - in fact, you were thoroughly have never, never, never declared from the pul- familiar with almost exactly the same beliefs as pit or in conversation the godless to be right those upon which you are currently embarking, Peter B. Harder (1868-1919) and wife Lena, nee when he was wrong in relation to the pious, but you were a believer nonetheless and were Epp. Photo credit - Lohrenz, Damit es nicht have not preached to keep the company of the saved. If you should reply to this with a `no’, I Vergessen Werde, page 75. Peter was the son of searching souls away from me; and I also did would have to say, `I am not convinced of that,’ the Evangelist. He was a teacher and also the first not know that the three young brothers were so for I have gotten this perspective from your novelist among the Russian Mennonites, publish- ill-disposed against me as it presently turns out, earlier professions and from your course of life ing his book, “Die Lutherische Cousine,” in 1912, rather in my weakness I have been sincere and until now. If I am wrong then I have totally with others following. In 1902 he published a loyal towards them and took them under my collection of his father’s poetry. Leland Harder misjudged you; but in that case I cannot trust protection as well as I could - more so than I writes that “...the main theme in Peter’s writings you now either and I would trust your present deemed wise to reveal unto them. More later, was Mennonite village life on the Ukrainian and word and walk less than the earnestness of your Crimean steppes, observed and interpreted from a perhaps orally, God willing.” first love for the Saviour!” critical, yet sympathetic perspective, somewhat “I greet you heartily, `B. Harder’” (Note “Yet you will not allure me to such a dismal reminiscent of the prophetic preaching perspec- Eight). conclusion; for you know how at that time you tives of his father,” see L. Harder, The Blumstein were so blissful and filled with powers of faith Legacy, pages 37-45. Endnotes: and of eternal life. Oh, are you still today so Note One: See Plett, Pioneers and Pilgrims (Steinbach, 1990), meek, so childlike, so humble? At that time with find fault with that. It is for you the drive of page 344, for a brief biography. The entire Issue 12 (Oct. 1990) God’s help, your were an example that wrested conscience. Whether this is correctly or wrongly of The Harder Family Review is devoted to the story of this me out of a dead intellectual and moralistic faith understood remains to be seen.” dedicated and gifted pre-Cornies era teacher. Note Two: See Plett, Johann Plett: A Mennonite Family Saga and enabled me to grasp the living Saviour, “When, however, the members among you (Steinbach, 2003), pages 121-126, for a biography. wherein your father has [also] rendered me faith- become rude and spiteful and spare themselves Note Three: The explanation for this lack of evidence is clear. ful ministries of love. no means in putting others into a bad light, then The alleged excessive immorality existed only in the minds “Should that now have been all for nothing? the upright ones will not be part of it, rather will of the Secessionists. There are numerous laudatory reports With you mother, nothing? With your father, noth- admit that the `hateful’ ones among you are just by outsiders regarding the high level of morality and social ing? And with you nothing? With me nothing?” as hateful among you as the hateful ones ethics of the Russian Mennonites which establish this point “Well, I know that the faithful hands of Jesus amongst us. Or when before and after the wor- beyond any reasonable doubt. have guided me since then, and I know whom I ship service a form of program is presented, Note Four: An excellent example is found in Loewen and have believed [2 Tim. 1:12]. If all that is noth- lovelessly discussing the shortcomings and in- Nolt, through fire & water: An Overview of Mennonite His- tory (Scottdale, 1996), pages 322 and 335. ing, including all the blessed experiences of my firmities of other congregations and their mem- Note Five: J. A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren life which have become a strength for life in me, bers, then the upright and faithful disciples of Church (Fresno, 1975), page 20. The letter is reproduced in in spite of all my weaknesses and imperfec- Jesus, will certainly on one occasion remain P. M. Friesen, Mennonite Brotherhood, pages 252-253. tions, and all that is nothing, then I expect noth- quiet and sighing, or on the other, will exert Note Six: In a letter of March 1, 1871, to his brother Johann ing at all from all the new ideas, inventions, and themselves to direct the discussion to the one Harder IV, Crimea, Heinrich Harder, Kleefeld, Mol., refers to introductions in the area of faith.” who has the need. That is the way it is with you the Krimmer Mennoniten Brüdergemeinde as the “Kleine” “But, however, I will leave it at that and and that is also the way it is with us. Your seces- Brüdergemeinde. leave it to the conscience of each one, whether sion will soon be considered a failure - as use- Note Seven: A derogatory term for those who had converted inner persuasion or the enticement of the new is less - if it has not gone that far already, and you themselves to Separatist Pietist religious culture, since they considered themselves “holier than thou” than all the others, driving him, whether he serves his God in sim- will not have achieved anything except to in- and they made the ridiculous assertion that only they were plicity and humility, or whether the striving to crease the number of splits - [divisions] which “saved” whereas they regarded all the others as unsaved “hea- be something and to enjoin something have crept should not take place.” then”. Such fanatical attitudes, regrettably, are normal for in. You, however, know that all upright souls in “When I describe and deplore the decline of “new” sectarian movements. your congregation will not be differently dis- our people, I do not know a single congregation Note Eight: As quoted in the Harder Family Review, No. 8, posed towards us. If you feel compelled to ad- which I could regard as an exception. However, page 6, and also extracted in Leland Harder, The Blumstein vise others to join your congregation, I will not there are many souls who are scattered here and Legacy, pages 56-57.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 91 Nestor Machnov (1889-1934), Anarchist “Nestor Machnov (1889-1934), Guljaj Pole, Anarchist,” as presented at the Zaporozhe Museum by Swetlana Wladimiowna Taranowa, September 2002, as recorded by Adina Reger, with information added from Victor Peters, Nestor Machnov (Winnipeg, n.d.), 139 pages, as quoted in Reger and Plett, Diese Steine (Steinbach, 2001), pages 365-366. Background. a high honour. His military, anarchistic way Machnov was born in the village of now started; his rebellious army grew from “Chasarowo” close to Guljaj Pole on Oc- day to day since the peasants were tired of tober 27, 1889. Guljaj Pole was a district the constant taxes levied on them; the indi- centre located some 50 km. northwest of vidual farmer was incapable of defending the Molotschna Colony. Machnov’s father himself against this marauding band. had been born a serf. When he died he left behind a widow and four infant sons, the Mennonites. youngest Nestor being 10 months old. By August 1917 Machnov was so strong Since the family was poor Machnov, as a that he was able to demand an inventory seven year-old, had to herd cattle and sheep from all the Gutsbesitzern (“estate own- for the farmers of the village. At the age of ers”), well-to-do farmers and other entre- eight he finally started school. After finish- The Machnowzy installed their machine guns on the Mennonite-built preneurs, regarding their lands, property ing school Machnov worked for the Ger- wagons; this was a totally new tactic by the Machnowzy. With this and inventories. Bordering the Guljaj Pole man large-scale farmers and “gutsbesitzer” invention one could simultaneously shoot and escape. The wagons, Volost [municipality] lay the German-Men- in the area. Later he worked in his home called “Tatschanka” made the Machnowzy untouchable. One of these nonite Schönfelder Volost. This included village in the smelter of the Kröger factory. “Tatschankas”, used in the 1940s by the NKWD-personnel, was parked prosperous villages and estate owners The wages were low and the Machnov on the yard of the NKWD in Chortitza. It stood there until after the Jakob Neufeld, Gerhard Klassen, David family remained poor. The three brothers war. For a while the police used this wagon, and then the museum Schroeder, Wilhelm Janzen and others. He of Nestor also grew up as anarchists and took possession of it where it is on display to this day. Photo - Peter rejoiced when houses were burning. His revolutionaries. Janzen, Winnipeg, June 2002. eyes lit up when a shootout took place on [Machnov]....was a very agitated, un- the street. It pleased him to witness the tor- predictable, insufferable man; like a hounded ani- fancy. turous death of an innocent person. mal he attempted to cause trouble everywhere and Machnov had very little understanding of sci- One day when they brought a group of terrified to every person. He was dispersed everywhere un- ence. Of Marxism and Leninism he understood people to him, he said, “Hack them all apart.” And til, finally, at age 16 he was employed by one Mr. nothing. As hard and as hopeless as life in Butyrka so it also occurred. The result: instead of a group of Klassen in the agricultural equipment factory in was, Machnov exerted himself to make use of his living people, a pile of chopped apart and bloody Guljaj Pole. He attended school for only two years. presence there to advance his education. He learned corpses; heads lying around and hands with twisted Russian, grammar, mathematics, literature, cultural fingers. Suddenly, Machnov, who had witnessed Anarchism. history and economics. This learning served this event with laughing, jumped on the pile of During the Revolution of 1905-6 the anarchists Machnov well in his later revolutionary life. In other bodies and stomped around on the corpses of the also won their first adherents in Guljaj Pole. The respects the time at Butyrka had made a gruesome dead. A minute later, he said, “That was that!” fundamental principle of anarchism was “the de- animal out of Machnov. Machnov had no human feelings. Nothing influ- stroying spirit is a redemptive spirit.” The group in enced him, neither the tears of a mother, nor the Guljaj Pole at first consisted of 10 men and they Revolution, 1917. crying of children, nor the cursing of men. Among were armed with revolvers. On March 2, 1917 during the Revolution, he all the “Ataman” of the Ukraine, Machnov was the In 1908 Machnov participated in a “Union of was set free. For the record, it was the Revolution most fearsome. Poor Peasants”, an anarchistic organization, which which set him free since he was released as a politi- The Mennonite colonies of Zagradowka and attempted to attack the police and wealthy farmers cal prisoner and not as a murderer who had killed a Chortitza and its daughter colonies Borosenko, on account of alleged injustices. They killed a po- policeman. In Guljaj Pole he was received as a liceman in the central square of Guljaj Pole. political prisoner, a victim of the Czarist regime. He Machnov was condemned to death by hanging but was celebrated as a national hero. his mother went all the way to the Czar and his As an anarchist he was shocked at the economic death sentence was commuted developments in his village. He Nestor Machnov, to a life sentence. He came to challenged the village council. It 1918. Photo - W. Moscow in the famous ended with a boycott by the anar- Wolkowinskij, Nestor “Butyrka” prison, where he was chists, who founded a new vil- Machno: Legendy incarcerated for eight years and lage Soviet and Nestor Machnov and realnostj (Kiev, eight months. was elected as the chairman. 1994), 256 pages. Contemporaries report that During these times vari- he was always kept in shackles ous parties banded together in the since he was very undisciplined, region. This was at the time of disorderly and malicious. He was the Revolution, the time of the frequently held in solitary con- Civil War. Machnov joined one finement. He was very weak and of these bands which was headed small of stature (1.64m.). While by a man named Schüss. in prison he contracted tubercu- Machnov’s joie de vivre, his brav- losis, an ailment which affected ery and his single-mindedness to him all his life. While at Butyrka achieve a victory in every skir- he became acquainted with other mish led to his being voted leader anarchists: Arschinow among Display of Machnovzy uniform, of the band and he was immedi- others and he became acquainted apparel and weapons. Zaporozhe ately called “Batjka” (Little Fa- The camp of the Machnovzy partisans, 1921. with his ideas to which he took a Museum, June 2002. ther). Machnov regarded this as Photo - Wolkowinskij. 92 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 side of the bandit’s life, the camp when the Russian army marched experience. A shortage of soap and into Berlin, the NKWD ordered other sanitary conveniences contrib- that the Machnov family be deliv- uted to the fact that they routinely ered to them. The interrogation was spread contagious diseases among brief. Galina admitted to every- which and diarrhoea were thing. They were sent to a prison the most prevalent. Since the army camp in where they had no medical services, the sick lived till 1957. Then they were re- Machnovzy remained in the homes habilitated upon the condition that where they were quartered and they never settle in Central Russia. passed their sicknesses on to the Later they moved to the Rostow villagers. Problems of nutrition area where Galina died. In 1978 Division commander P. J. Dybenko and Brigade arose. The men were too weak to her daughter Elena also died. commander N. I. Machnov, Station Pologi, 1919. bury the dead. A famine followed Photo - Wolkowinskij. which claimed many victims. Nestor I. Machnov, 1921. Conclusion. Although Machnov suffered Photo - Wolkowinskij. The Republican Administration of Nikolaifeld and Jasykowo suffered the most. great losses among his Army, the the Ukraine issued an order that a ranks were always refilled with new special exhibit be featured on the Guljaj Pole. recruits. Their banner remained the occasion of the 110th anniversary. The new Ukrainian government entered into a black flag. Machnov was wounded If an order was issued by the gov- special peace treaty with the Axis powers. In order 21 times and he died of the conse- ernment of Kiev, particular atten- to avoid the occupation of the Ukraine by the Bol- quences of these injuries. In 1919 tion was paid to it. In order to me- sheviks, it invited the German and Austro-Hungar- he was so seriously injured that he morialize Machnov, a bust was ian occupation troops into the country. The Machnov almost died. He was treated in a ceremoniously erected in his home movement was scattered in pieces. Machnov fled to Soviet military hospital where they in Guljaj Pole with dancing and Moscow. Until his return home he spent the time saved his life. singing. It is said that in Guljaj Pole with a family Arshinow. During this time he con- people love and honour him. Ljowa ferred with prominent government officials includ- Exile. Sadow, son of Ljowa Sadow, ing Lenin. Lenin applauded his activities and de- The time of Machnov’s rule in Machnov’s personal secretary clared his willingness to help Machnov. Lenin saw Guljaj Pole was only short. Soon Galina Kuzmenko, wife of who was involved with the to it that Machnov received forged identity docu- the area was surrounded by units Nestor Machnov, in the 1970s. NKWD for a while, was present ments in which he was called “Iwan Jakowlewitsch of the . With great effort Photo - Wolkowinskij. at this celebration. Ljowa Sadow Schepelj” and with these he returned to the Ukraine. Machnov was successful in break- had not accompanied Machnov to ing out of the encirclement. Accompanied by a small Rumania. He was banished to the outermost Urals Machnovzy Regime. group Machnov wandered around in the woods in the 1930s. By July 1918 Machnov was back in Guljaj and river valleys. Wounded and maimed by hunger In 2000 Machnov’s last cousin, who knew him Pole. At the beginning Machnov sided with the Red and thirst he reached the Rumanian border. On well and had much to tell about his life, died. Many Army, and he concluded an agreement with the August 28, 1921, he crossed the Dnestr River and of his nephews and nieces live in France. commander of the Dnieper Region Army Pawel turned his back forever on Russia. Machnov understood the Revolution in his Dybenko. Machnov believed in his own ideals and The Rumanian government awarded him and own way because anarchy was a sort of revolu- intended to found a “Guljaj Poler Republic without his wife temporary exile in in a private tion as well. Today opinions regarding Machnov Soviets” but he had no idea as to how he could dwelling although his troops were interned in pris- have changed and republican historical research is realize this. ons. On April 11, 1922, he was forced to leave the revising the topic. It may be that Machnov was a During the Civil War he fought on the side of country by the Rumanian government. At this time political bandit who intended to found his own the poor people. For many years Machnov was Machnov moved to Poland. In 1923 he also left republic without Soviets and Communists. With regarded in the Soviet Union as an enemy of Com- Poland, going to Danzig and later to Berlin. Here he equal justification one could also term another munism, as an enemy of the Soviet forces. In fact went into the hospital and was diagnosed with tu- political party banditry, for instance Lenin or he himself was exactly this party since he murdered berculosis. From Berlin he went to Paris. Here he Trotsky. the representatives of the Soviet forces, the Com- found some like-minded souls and was taken in by Machnov was a political bandit. The Machnovzy munist-Socialists. He not only murdered Commu- a anarchist family. movement had 300-400,000 souls upon its con- nists and Revolutionaries, but also the common One daughter Elena was born to him. His wife science, the price of a new experiment. He may folk who did not suit his fancy. As an example: he Galina later worked in Paris in a children’s home have wanted to do some good but only by means of drove up to a house and called for the young woman for Russian children. They were divorced. His wife death upon death. He wanted to found a new repub- to come out and then said: you and daughter lived close to Paris, lic and distribute the land to the poor, and to hand are to be my wife. If she refused, while Machnov lived in the city out food as well (none of which belonged to him) he shot her in the head and took proper. During his final years he but in doing so, he was constantly involved in kill- off. was very sick and poor. He was ing and murdering. One should evaluate such a When the German retreat was supported by former friends who person objectively and not condemn him outright ordered at the end of 1918, the still believed in the anarchistic as has been the case for many years; further, he is government of the Ukraine fell ideas. also not worthy of honour. One may dislike a per- and entire region of the southern Machnov died in Paris on son on account of his destructive activities...he had Ukraine was delivered to the dis- July 25, 1934. His wife Galina an idea to construct something but he had no idea of position of the Machnovzy. When Kusmenko was present at his how to go about it. To the Mennonites of the Ukraine, Machnov occupied a city every- death. He was buried in the world Machnov was the beast of the Apocalypse who thing was robbed which could be famous Pere-Lachaise cemetery. brought nothing but rape, murder and destruction. loaded on farm wagons. He kept Flag of the Machnovzy. Photo - In 1940 when France the most valuable things for him- Wolkowinskij. The flag states: was occupied by the Germans, Further Reading: self. “Death unto all who hinder us, to Galina (who now adopted the See Preserings, No. 21, pp. 25-27; No. 19, 63- Something should also be suppress the might of the working name Michnenko) stayed in 4 and 31-4; No. 18, 25-31; No. 16, 88-90; No. 11, mentioned here about the other class.” France. At the end of the war, 41-2; No. 8, Part Two, 5-7. Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 93 Ältester Gerhard Plett (1860-1933), Hierschau, Mol. Ältester Gerhard Plett (1860-1933), Hierschau, Molotschna,” based on a biography written by grandson Gerhard Hildebrand, Göttingen, Germany, published in Aron A. Toews, Mennonistiche Märtyrerder jüngsten Vergangenheit und der Gegenwart (Abbotsford, 1949), pages 214-219, and translated and republished in English in Aron A. Toews, Mennonite Martyrs: People Who Suffered For Their Faith 1920-1940 (Winnipeg, 1990), pages 167-174. Background. welcome place [in these jottings] came from and used it to paint the brick walls in their Gerhard Julius Plett was the son of Julius the recollections of his daughters Maria, rooms so that they appeared snow-white. The Johann Plett (1817-92), Hierschau, Katharina, Nelly, and Aganetha, who were on brick fences in front of them were also painted Molotschna, a second cousin to Cornelius S. the Ringelsbruch estate in Westphalia while once a year, usually for Easter or Pentecost. Plett (1820-1900) who settled in Blumenhof, these lines were being written. Time references This gave a festive appearance to the entire Manitoba, in 1875 (see Johann Plett: A Men- cannot always be given exactly but, in general, farm. nonite Family Saga, pages 41-61). are correct. The loss of the said papers was Through this business, my grandfather was Gerhard Plett was baptised May 21, 1879. especially regrettable, because the fate of a con- soon able to accumulate capital, and when his He married for the first time to Elisabeth Franz siderable section of the Molotschna settlement father, our great-grandfather, died, he bought Klassen from Alexanderkrone. He married for was intimately associated with grandfather’s his fine, full-sized farm in the village the second time to Katharina Willms, daughter activities.” [Wirtschaft 12 on the north side of the street]. of Gerhard Willms and Maria Baerg of Nikolaidorf, Molotschna. The following biog- Teaching. Ministry. raphy of Gerhard Julius Plett was written by After completing village school, grandfa- For a lengthy period, he was the district his grandson Gerhard Hildebrandt, as a refu- ther received his further education in an evening judge in the Gnadenfeld district. Unfortunately, gee in Germany in 1947: school run by the teacher Johann Doerksen. It I cannot give the exact time when he held this “Shortly before his death, my dear grand- cannot be argued that this was more of an in- position. In 1904 he gave up this post in order father expressed the wish that the [records] in spiration rather than an education for grandfa- to devote his full time to the ministry. He had `the golden classical Bible’ (fam- already been elected as a minis- ily Bible) be continued under all ter by the Margenau Mennonite circumstances. In fulfilment of Gemeinde in 1899. When Ältester his wishes. I now feel compelled Peter Friesen died in 1907, he to write his life’s story. Today, was ordained as Ältester of this May 1, 1946, I find myself in Gemeinde the following year by Mündersheim, Germany, where Ältester Heinrich Koop of I have been employed as a public Alexanderkrone. One or two school teacher since October 25, years later, he also took charge 1945.” of the Landskrone Gemeinde “[I] do not only want to pre- where a fine meeting house was serve the eventful story within the being constructed: this was in framework of family happenings. 1910. Following the death of Even more than this, I want to Ältester Johann Schartner, portray my grandfather’s Gerhard Plett also took over the unshakeable faith, which became Gemeinde in Alexanderwohl. He a kind of refreshing oasis during baptized some 2,000 people. It is the Red reign of terror, and his evident from statistics, which he conviction that not a hair on our Professor and Ältester Gerhard Ältester Gerhard Plett (1860-1933), carefully kept, that in one year he heads would be singed without Hildebrand, Göttingen, Germany, Hierschau, in his later years. Photo - made 400 trips on behalf of the God’s will. [I] want to portray grandson of Ält. Gerh. Plett. Photo - Mennonitsche Märtyrer, Volume One, Molotschna churches. This natu- his strength to patiently bear the Men. Geschichtsblätter, 1999, page page 214. rally included all the travel re- hardship visited upon the Men- 140. quired of him as Ältester of the nonites, without murmuring, and in the fear of ther, since this style [of education] suited him three churches, especially at funerals, wed- God, [a strength] which stemmed from this admirably. His knowledge, which was rather dings, worship services. etc. conviction. I want to honestly depict his up- impressive and diverse, was largely acquired Though he spent almost all of his time in right desire to serve the Mennonite people with by self-study. the service of the churches, his farm was in his life and work, his actions and activities.” For some years, he was a teacher in the model order. “Another one of his last wishes must also village of Sparrau, Gnadenfeld district. After In 1916 son Kornelius contracted some be carefully taken into consideration, namely, his first wife died, he moved to Hierschau. form of “black pox” and died on February 23, that no words of praise about his life work be Here, he purchased a small farm and also ac- while serving in the Forstei in Anadol, near mentioned in his funeral sermon. Therefore, it quired the clay pit near the village. At the same the Sea of Azov. Gerhard performed the fu- is my humble wish that my attempt to show time, he built a small store. Here, grandmother neral (Note One). dear grandfather as he was in everyday life sold bread, meat, rope, nails, etc. to the Rus- will not be construed as a form of praise. His sian travellers who came from far and near to Sovietization. God-fearing lifestyle is to be the ongoing ex- buy the much sought after clay. Grandfather In 1919 he was arrested by the Reds and ample for all his descendants.” had married again; and so they worked together. imprisoned in a very unhealthy cellar for 14 “From the very onset, I have to regretfully At that time, the clay pit brought a rather good days. Why so many Mennonites were locked note that the portrait will not be without its income. The clay was also called “white earth” up never became clear; they were mistreated gaps. During the retreat from Russia to Ger- or lime. Russian clay huts were plastered with for no real reasons. Sixty-four men were many, valuable pages containing grandfather’s this inside and out. Even Mennonite house- crowded together in a room of 56 cubic meters. handwritten memoirs were lost in flight. Many wives bought this from Russian peddlers who The wet and cold floor was of stone. After important incidents in his life which find a went down the street shouting, “Bella Glina” several days, grandfather could no longer stand

94 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 on his feet. With great difficulty, enough room Hildebrand, secretly obtained horses (which was found for him to lie down, but he had no did not belong to him) in order to get grandfa- protection from the [cold] floor. When his son ther. Though the wagon was almost empty - Gerhard visited him several days later, he did what did the grandparents still possess? - and not recognize him. With the help of the Men- the four strong horses did their best, the jour- nonite doctor, Franz Dueck, grandfather was ney made slow progress because of the deep transferred to the hospital after 14 days. After mud. I, as a 13 year-old, was along at the time. one month, he was allowed to go home, with- Grandfather’s stay at our house had to be out ever learning why he was imprisoned in kept secret so that he would not be found by the first place. his pursuers. Meanwhile, his health deterio- Grandfather even spoke of this period as rated, and, after several months, he was con- the leading of God. He was able to comfort fined to bed where he remained until the end of and pray with many men in prison, and for his life. His daughters Aganetha and Maria some of them these were the last minutes of were with him. Katharina and Nelly were in their life. Men had not only prayed but cried to Kharkov. The political situation steadily wors- God. Many a man was taken at night and, not ened and so, one hot June day, grandfather, long after, one heard shots. Why the prisoner with no regard for his condition, had to be had been shot, no one knew. loaded onto a wagon and taken to Friedensdorf. The health of our grandfather Plett had de- During the last days of his stay in teriorated severely while he was in prison. After Hierschau, his daughters Maria and Aganetha that time, he never fully recovered. He obvi- had to hide in the gardens and hedges in order ously contracted rheumatism there, which later, to avoid arrest. This time it was Jakob Voth in virtually crippled his legs. By 1928 he could Friedensdorf who placed his home at the dis- hardly move without the help of his cane. Be- posal of the grandparents. Here, grandfather cause of his poor health, he felt compelled to was privileged to spend the last months of his resign his office as Ältester and placed it in the strenuous life. If he was confined to his bed hands of his younger colleague, the minister Ältester Gerhard Julius Plett (1860-1933), before the move, the move itself certainly did Heinrich T. Janz of Landskrone. This happened Hierschau, Molotschna. Photo - Hierschau, page not improve his condition. Instead, the pain in the year 1928 (Note Two). 158. intensified month by month, and later, week In 1928 Russia initiated equalization - in by week. His bodily weakness steadily in- simple words the liquidation of classes. This he shook each hand and wished them all the creased. His body became sore from lying in generally referred to those who had more pos- best for their later life. The men, normally not bed. Sitting brought some relief, but soon his sessions than the average person. The proce- given to sentimentality, were dumbfounded by weakened condition did not allow this. He dures were rather harsh. First, a money levy, such behaviour. could not even turn in bed. the so-called “extraordinary tax,” had to be paid. Then came the second levy which also had to Refuge. Death, 1933. be paid to the state within a very short period Grandfather found a secret refuge with He consistently viewed the political chaos of time. This went on until the last resources Heinrich Sawatzky of Landskrone. In the sum- as God’s leading, as he did the arrest of minis- were exhausted. This, of course, was the pur- mer of the same year, Sawatzky suffered a ters, the prohibition of public worship, the clos- pose of the whole operation. All the posses- similar fate: he had to leave as well, and grand- ing of churches, the deportation of Menno- sions were then confiscated by the state and father went to Kornelius Toews, also of nites to Siberia, etc. During his entire period sold at a ridiculous price in order to pay the Landskrone. By April, 1932, the difficulties of suffering, no one ever heard him make a debt to the state. In this fashion, three-quarters generated by the local political administration complaint. He was as calm in death as he had of all the farmers had to part with their belong- made a further stay in Landskrone impossible. been in his pain and suffering. On April 1, ings accumulated over many years of work. On a pitch dark April evening, my father, 1933. he died quietly in the Lord. They were only allowed to take The funeral service was held what they carried with them on on April 5, 1933 at the home of their own person. Jakob Voth in Friedensdorf. In this manner, grandfather Ältester Heinrich T. Janz from saw his earthly possessions Landskrone, his successor in vanish in December 1930. On the office, preached the funeral February 17, he had to bid his sermon. All the children, except home adieu. When they came Gertrude were at the funeral. to take his furniture, grandfa- The small room could not hold ther commented, “For his live- all the visitors. Even men like lihood a blacksmith needs a Heinrich Kliewer, director of smithy and a bed. The one is the high school in Gnadenheim as important as the other. My and a communist, as well as chair and my bed mean the several of his colleagues were same to me as a shop and a present. bed to the craftsman. I go from In a quiet spot in the the bed to the armchair and the Friedensdorf cemetery, grand- armchair to the bed.” Amaz- father Gerhard Plett gently ingly, they left him these two sleeps until the great resurrec- items but no more. His fare- tion morning. well to the men who forced him out of his own house was char- Ältester Gerhard Julius Plett (1860-1933), Hierschau, at the funeral of his son Note by Aron A. Toews: acteristic of his whole lifestyle. Cornelius in February 1916 at the Forstei “Anadol” in the Crimea. Photo - Hiertschau, “For a time, Ältester Gerhard In a warm, forthright manner, page 159. Plett was a member of the

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 95 Molotschna School Council. As such, he had Hierschau when they were dekulakized. They unknown. Daughter Aganetha Plett married to visit the schools and evaluate and supervise lived for a time in Chortitza and then were Heinrich Käthler, son of Heinrich Jakob Käthler the instruction of religion and German lan- exiled to Seneno, 400 miles east of Moscow. and Helena Johann Janzen. Aganetha died in guage. School council members also had to be In 1936 they returned to Chortitza. In Febru- Alberta of an accident. He was exiled before present at the final exam of the village school ary of 1937, Gerhard Plett was arrested and 1945. pupils in order to test the verbal and written executed May 5, in Saporoshje Prison (Note skills of the graduates and provide them with Five). He was found dead, his clothing cov- Endnotes: an appropriate certificate.” ered with blood. Katharina was arrested in 1939 Note One: Helmut Huebert, Hierschau: An Ex- “They were also the examiners in religion and released after one year. The family lived in ample of Russian Mennonite Life (Winnipeg, and German for the final exam in high school Chortitza again until the arrival of the 1986), page 230. and for the candidates in the pedagogical Wehrmacht in 1941. In 1943 she with her chil- Note Two: Village historian Helmut Huebert men- classes. They also represented the interests of dren joined the Trek to Poland. In 1945 she tions that Gerhard Plett wrote an official letter of the school to the community and the govern- and children were repatriated and sent to thanks for American Mennonite assistance to the ment. They were elected by the Molotschna Archangelsk, northwestern Russia, where she Mennonitische Rundschau, August 9, 1922, pages Ecclesiastical Council for a specified term. The died. Son John (b. 1927) founded the Menno- 11,12, supplement. A note by him and an evalu- Ecclesiastical Council was comprised of all the nite Gemeinde at Bechterdissen, Germany, and ation of the previous several years was included ministers of all the churches of the three [Men- served as the first Ältester (Note Six). Daugh- in a book by relief worker D.M. Hofer, Die nonite] groups in the Molotschna.” ter Elisabeth Gerhard Plett and her husband, Hungersnot in Russland und Unsere Reise um die Welt (Chicago, 1924), pages 157-159: see “Ältester Gerhard Plett was a man pos- David Hildebrand, together with several chil- Huebert, Hierschau, pages 160 and 362. sessed of a calm objectivity and presence of dren, were also sent back to Russia. Two chil- Note Three: Aron A. Toews, Mennonite Martyrs: mind. His verdict meant something in the dren remained in Germany, among them son People Who Suffered for Their Faith 1920-1940 churches. He had respect among the congrega- Gerhard Hildebrandt, who wrote his (Winnipeg, 1990), pages 167-174. tions, in the community, among his colleagues grandfather’s biography. He is a retired Pro- Note Four: Heinrich Goertz, “Plett, Gerhard and the teachers.” fessor of Russian Literature and History in (1860-1933),” ME IV, pages 194-5. “I was able to visit him on his sickbed in Göttingen, Germany, and former Ältester of Note Five: Les Plett has the information that the Hierschau in the last years before my emigra- the Mennoniten Gemeinde. Daughter Maria execution took place on May 5, 1938. But son tion. At that time, he was still vitally interested Gerhard Plett escaped to Germany and immi- Johann states that his father was shot in 1937. in the affairs of our churches. May the Lord grated to Coaldale, Alberta, in 1948 with sis- Note Six: Telephone interview Oct. 5, 2002, with reward His servant according to his work. 1 ters Katharina and Enelse. Son Heinrich Plett Ältester Johann Plett, Bechterdissen, Im Kleine Corinthians 3:8.” was arrested by the Russians in 1938. He was Werder 11, D-33818 Leopoldshöhe, Germany. Postscript from his diary: “Most of my shot in prison. His wife and their child were The Bielefeld Gemeinde was a daughter church childhood and youth were preoccupied with deported before the occupation. She is to have of the Bechterdissen Gemeinde. See Reger and learning. On May 21, 1879, I was baptised in been in a train on which the Russians poured Plett, Diese Steine (Steinbach, 2002), page 529. the Margenau Gemeinde by Ältester Bernhard oil and set it on fire. There is no word as to her See also Der Bote, April 31, 1984, for a report on Peters. In the fall of 1881, I was called into fate. Daughter Gertrude Plett and her hus- Johann Plett’s 25th anniversary of service to his state service, but was released because of fam- band Johann Bergen remained in Russia, fate Gemeinde. ily obligations, serving as a teacher in the Crimea at the Spat station in a tenant village called Schamk. From there, I was transferred Gen Name Birth Marriage Death to Sparrau in the Molotschna Colony where I 6 Gerhard Julius Plett Jun 30,1860 Apr 1,1933 served for six years as teacher in the village m Elisabeth Klassen Jun 4,1862 Jun 3,1882 Jun 2,1890 school” (Note Three). 7 Franz Gerhard Plett May 31,1883 Oct 27,1890 Gerhard Plett was the only Plett mentioned 7 Elisabeth Gerh. Plett Aug 12,1884 Aug 12,1886 in the Mennonite Encyclopedia. His biogra- 7 Gerhard Gerhard Plett Aug 26,1885 Jul 31,1886 pher Heinrich Goertz has written “Devotion to duty and sound judgement were outstanding 7 Johann Gerhard Plett ca.1886 Before 1940 features of his character” (Note Four). m Margaretha Plett 7 Gerhard Gerhard Plett Oct 2,1888 Nov 19,1922 May 5,1938 Family. m Katharina Plett Jul 15,1896 Jun 3,1882 Nov 14,1962 Mrs. Plett and her four daughters. Maria, 7 Franz Gerhard Plett Apr 4,1890 Oct 27,1890 Katharina. Nelly and Aganetha (with her three 6 Gerhard Julius Plett Jun 30,1860 Apr 1,1933 children) fled before the Russians to Germany 2m Katharina Willms Jan 15,1869 Sep 22,1890 Jan 27,1947 where they work on the estate Ringelsbruch. 7 Jakob Gerhard Plett Dec 7,1891 Oct 17,1894 Aganetha’s husband. Heinrich Kaethler, van- 7 Elisabeth Gerhard Plett Mar 23,1893 ished during the war as a member of the Red m David Hildebrand army. Mrs. Plett is very weak and confined to bed. She only wishes to die and go home. (The 7 Kornelius G. Plett Dec 1,1894 Feb 23,1916 latest word from Germany which just arrived, 7 Peter Gerhard Plett Sep 15,1896 Nov 4,1896 states that Mrs. Plett has died and was buried 7 Maria Gerhard Plett Nov 14,1897 Jul 28,1986 on January 29, 1947.) 7 Katharina Gerhard Plett Feb 21,1900 7 Son Johann Gerhard Plett was adopted m Hans Thiessen From Friedensdorf Coaldale, Alberta, 1948 by a Fast family from Hierschau. He was ex- 7 Heinrich Gerhard Plett Dec 21,190 Exiled iled to Siberia before the Germans occupied 7 Kornelia (Enelse) Plett Jul 3,1904 Came to Canada 1948 the Ukraine. His wife and daughter also came 7 Gertrude Gerhard Plett Mar 29,1906 to Germany but were forcibly deported back m Johann Bergen Mar 19,1905 to Russia by the Russians. Son Gerhard 7 Aganetha Gerhard Plett Jun 27,1911 Aug 23,1934 Gerhard Plett married Katharina Plett, daugh- ter of his uncle Bernhard Plett of Hierschau. m Heinrich Käthler Mar 16,1909 Until 1931 Gerhard and Katharina lived in

96 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Nikolai Reimer (1900-77) - Only by Grace “Only by Grace: Reminiscences of a Russian Mennonite Pastor - Nikolai Reimer (1900-77),” translated and edited by Peter Pauls, 51 Rutgers Bay, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 3C9, retired professor at the University of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The italicized portion of the following biog- purchases and went home. At raphy is written by Peter Pauls, editor of this this point we began to won- article, and the remainder is from the mem- der if our desire to emigrate oirs of Nikolai Reimer. might not be in accordance with God’s will. However, letters continued to come from Introduction. friends already in Moscow Nikolaj Reimer (1900-77) was born in the advising us to make haste. village of Stepanovka, Orenburg Settlement And so we sold the little (One of five Mennonite settlements between house that we had built with the Volga River and the ). In so much labor, and with this 1909, his parents moved to the village of money set out for Moscow on Schöntal in the Slavgorod (Barnaul) Settle- September 15, 1929....” ment in western Siberia where Nikolaj spent This proved to be the first his remaining early years. In 1925 his par- of two unsuccessful attempts ents, together with their five unmarried chil- to immigrate to Germany. Af- dren, immigrated to Mexico, and in 1928 to ter the second attempt, Oklahoma. Nikolaj and three married sib- Nikolaj Reimer had no choice lings remained in Russia. but to move back to Trakehn In 1922 Nikolaj Reimer married Agatha in the Caucasus with his wife Penner. In 1927 they moved to the village of and two small children. It Neu-Hoffnung in the Trekehn settlement in was the beginning of a life- the Caucasus. In 1929, Nikolaj tried to immi- time of suffering under Com- grate to Canada, but by this time it was too munist rule. It was also the late. After selling all their possessions, and beginning of Reimer’s com- two frustrating trips to Moscow, Nikolaj and mitment to a life of service to his family were forced to accept the fact that God, his church and his fel- they would have to remain in Russia and ac- low Mennonites. Reimer re- commodate themselves to life under commu- calls the following incident nist rule. from this period - Editor Pe- Agatha (1904-41) and Nikolaj Reimer (1900-77) with children Katja Nikolaj and his family suffered extreme per- ter Pauls: secution during the Stalinist purges of the and Kolja. Rear: Liese Penner, sister of Agatha, and a servant. Photo 1930s. Like other Soviet citizens, Mennonites taken in Schönthal, Slavgorad, Siberia, 1926. were not above informing on one another if on high, and behold who hath created these by doing so they could themselves escape Renewal, 1929. things, that bringeth out their host by number: arrest, interrogation and exile. Reimer was The chairman of our collective (Kolchos) he calleth them all by names by the greatness initially betrayed by one of his own people. [Neu-Hoffnung, Caucasus], allowed us to of his might, for that he is strong in power; not Since Reimer was a religious leader, the gov- move into one of the vacant houses made avail- one faileth.” My wife said, “Read on.” erning authorities regarded him as a counter- able when a number of Russian men had been In the verses following we read that the revolutionary and kept him under constant sent into exile. I had reached the nadir in my Lord does not grow weary and that “He giveth surveillance. The book, “Only By Grace,” is spiritual journey. At that time I wasn’t even power to the faint,” and that “they who wait based on Reimer’s journals and was written reading the Bible. One day Brother Johann upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” I in the 1970s after Reimer’s final release from Regehr came to visit and to ask how we were had found comfort. “My dear husband,” my prison. What follows are excerpts from this managing. I told him all about our disappoint- wife said, “shouldn’t we make a fresh start book translated into English: ments and our extreme poverty. We had a long and put our faith entirely in the Lord?” discussion. Moscow, 1929. That evening I told my wife all about it and Pastoral Calling. “After 1925, the migration movement she said: “My dear husband, how much longer Reimer notes that by 1931 their economic gradually came to a standstill. Remarkably, in do we want to oppose the Lord? Aren’t we to situation had improved considerably. In 1932 1929 there was again renewed interest in emi- blame for our poverty? Others have been al- he and his wife moved to the city of Pjatigorsk, gration. Encouraged by my brother Aaron, lowed to emigrate but obviously God has more Caucasus. They were able to provide much Agatha and I decided we would risk it. We left difficult ways in mind for us. Does that mean needed clothing for their family. “Material our horses with the Collective that had just that we must give up? Perhaps our trust is no comforts are a vexation to the spirit,” Reimer been organized and sold our prize hogs at the longer in God. Shouldn’t we resume family writes in retrospect. By this time they had four market in Woronzowka. We seemed to be well worship services, something we have sadly children, all reasonably well clothed and fed. supplied with money, but there was much that neglected recently? Open your Bible and see Fellowship with other believers was lacking we still needed to buy. When my wife had se- what God has to say to us in our distress.” since by this time there were no longer any lected the necessary articles, she asked me for Then she sat down and wept. Three children Mennonite congregations in Russia. Because money. I said to her, “Didn’t you just now take had to be clothed and fed. We had no home for there were other Mennonites who felt isolated, the money out of my pocket? I felt your hand the coming winter and no money or provi- Reimer eventually became their spiritual leader. there.” What had happened? Pickpockets had sions.... His work as pastor soon aroused the suspi- stolen the money I had just acquired from the At last I opened the long neglected Bible at cion of the Communist authorities: sale of our hogs. In tears, we returned all our Isaiah 40, 26-31 and read: “Lift up your eyes In the months before my arrest and trial, I

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 97 was summoned several times by the NKVD following points: and asked if I would work for them as an un- 1. I was to confess that counter-revolutionary dercover agent. Out of fear I gave them a few meetings had taken place in our house. written reports on my fellow villagers, but 2. I was to confirm that I had been in atten- when the notorious Dobrowolskij read these dance at these meetings and that we had dis- papers in which I had made only positive state- cussed the overthrow of the government. ments about my neighbors he flew into a rage 3. I was to agree that the religious meetings and tore my papers into little pieces. After I were against the law. returned home, my wife and I prayed to God One day in the summer of 1936, I was again that we might be spared a separation. Our chil- called before Dobrowolskij. “Be seated,” was dren noticed how unhappy we were. Our little all he said at first. For a long time I sat waiting five-year-old Waldemar came to me and asked and wondering what was about to happen. Fi- me: “Papa, you’re not going to leave us, are nally there was a knock on the door. Upon you?” I was overcome with pity for my wife Dobrowolskij’s “Enter!” a guard appeared and and children. What we so greatly feared would asked, “May I bring in the prisoner?” Then, to soon come to pass. my great astonishment, my wife Agatha walked On Jan. 29, 1936 we celebrated my dear in. When she saw me she broke into tears. For wife’s 32nd birthday. At eleven o’clock that nearly half a year I had not had a change of evening my uncle, Klaas Reimer, paid us a clothing. My shirt was torn from top to bot- visit and stayed the night. Around 2:00 a.m. tom, exposing my bare flesh. When I was ar- there was a loud knocking on our window and rested I had been wearing only a shirt and thin a voice I didn’t recognize shouting, “Nikolaj trousers. Now Dobrowolskij asked my wife Aaronowitsch, come outside for a few min- to confirm in writing that she had taken part in Nikolaj Reimer, after his release from imprison- utes!” Eternity will reveal who the traitor was. the counter-revolutionary meetings in our ment in Russia’s north country. City of Norilsk, I knew immediately what was happening. As I 1947. house. stepped into the yard comrade Ginsberg, Lieu- “She doesn’t even know what the word tenant and Examining Magistrate of the NKVD, that meant was that I was to betray my fellow `counter-revolutionary’ means,” I interjected. welcomed me. He greeted me as though we Mennonites. I countered by telling him that I At this point Dobrowolskij shouted me down were old friends. He ordered me to fetch my was not prepared to bargain for my freedom and forbade me to say another word. I’ve for- coat as the night was cold and I was lightly under such conditions and that I would rather gotten by now how this particular altercation dressed, only in trousers and shirt. I took ad- sit in prison with a clear conscience. ended, but eventually Dobrowolskij made his vantage of this opportunity to embrace and kiss After this I didn’t hear from Dobrowolskij second demand: “Admit now that Rempel- my beloved wife for the last time. “Come!” for three months. Then I had to face the inevi- Suderman and his wife spent three days as was his brusque command. As we entered the table further inquiry. First I was asked to re- your guests!” Agatha replied, “It was less than street we were met by a truck on which there veal the address of Professor Rempel- three days.” Here I interjected once again: “She were several men. When I mounted the truck it Suderman. Jakob Aaronowitsch Rempel was didn’t really understand your accusation. She was completely full. the former bishop of the Mennonite knows very little Russian! She meant to say Kirchengemeinden in Ukraine. Earlier he had that Rempel-Suderman did not spend three days Imprisonment. resided in Chortitza. He had been part of the with us!” The records show to this day that my I was imprisoned in a “Klopownik,” a bug- emigration movement in Moscow in 1929. wife twice signed the declaration “Rempel- ridden cell. A bed and a pitcher of water was Some of the leaders there, including Rempel, Suderman did not spend three days with us.”.... all it contained in the way of furnishings. All had been exiled to the North. However, Rempel This confrontation was meant to show me night long I could hear a woman in the adjoin- had managed to escape, and in 1930 he had that my wife was also under arrest. Although ing cell crying out in despair, “O God, my surfaced in the Omsk settlement using the name Dobrowolskij had often threatened me with children, my children!” “Thank God,” I said to “Suderman,” his wife’s maiden name. . . . I this possibility, I had never taken him seri- myself, at least my wife is still with our chil- learned all this when he visited us in Pjatigorsk ously. Even at this time my wife was well dren.” in the fall of 1932, just before he disappeared dressed. She was wearing a white blouse and During this night in prison I came to appre- again. . . . Now I was asked to tell the authori- carefully ironed black skirt. I couldn’t tell by ciate for the first time the meaning of Job 5: ties where Rempel-Suderman was hiding. As her facial expressions if she really was under 17-19: “ Behold, happy is the man whom God punishment for my refusal to disclose this in- arrest. While the prosecutor wrote, my wife correcteth. . .” But I did not yet fully under- formation I was forced to relieve myself in the signaled to me with 5 fingers. Did she mean 5 stand that God was preparing me for true hap- large chamber pot that my fellow prisoners months in prison? I couldn’t believe it. At this piness through suffering. I had resisted this were obliged to carry out each day. “You will point my wife asked the prosecutor if, for testing all my life. I had always fled from such be required to do this until you give us the God’s sake, she might be allowed a few words trials. . . . Now I began to have qualms of information we seek,” Dobrowolskij threat- with the children. At this the prosecutor flew conscience about my lack of faith in God and ened. into a rage as though he were the devil himself. about my neglect of the spiritual nurture for My wife was escorted out of the room, but as my children. . . . Interrogation. she was leaving she turned and said in Ger- On Monday I was taken to the Inquiry That entire summer I was called before the man: “Nikolaj, trust in God! He won’t forsake Chamber. [My interrogators] could not offer Public Prosecutor almost every day. When I us.” When I told my fellow inmates what had me much hope. In fact, what they told me dur- was brought back to my cell, sometimes at 3, 4 happened, they said: “Just accept the fact that ing this examination only increased my fear of or 5 in the morning, the guard was ordered to your wife is in detention.” I could not count on what was yet to come. I spent much of the see to it that I would not go to bed. This lack of them for words of comfort. In the quiet of that nighttime in prayer. After a few more days, sleep was a difficult burden for me. The psy- night, the Lord Himself provided consolation. one of the prosecutors, Dobrowolskij, sent for chological stress imposed by the prosecutor As a second tactic they confronted me with me and asked me in a mocking tone how I was almost brought me to a state of utter despair. I Brother Heinrich Tobias Janz. Their plan was enjoying prison. But his more serious ques- was completely isolated and could confide only to prove that I had lied. In one of my state- tion soon followed: “Are you willing, if I re- in God. ments I had denied that I had visited the [Col- lease you, to write more truthful reports?” What The interrogations focused mainly on the lective] store with Rempel-Suderman. When

98 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Janz was questioned as to my visit to the store with Rempel-Suderman he had said that he knew nothing about it. Dobrowolskij had an- grily countered that I had myself confessed to it but Dobrowolskij had not shown Janz a writ- ten confession. However, Dobrowolskij had managed, by shouting and threatening, to wring a confession from Janz. Janz was too compli- ant and therefore highly vulnerable. The next confrontation was with Johann Bergen. Bergen had been tried twice and had been pronounced guilty. By this time he was in prison and, along with other condemned pris- oners, was awaiting exile. He too had been questioned about his acquaintance with Rempel-Suderman. This was a difficult time for me. ....I was asked to disregard my con- science and betray other people. The Lord helped me to resist the temptation to commit the sin of Judas. When I signed only one declaration, namely, that I was innocent of all charges brought against me, Dobrowolskij vowed: “This dec- laration is your death sentence! I hope I will Nikolaj Reimer with his second wife, Katharina Sukkau. Photographed in the 1950s in Kaschmurn, have the satisfaction of shooting you myself!” Kasachstan. How unfathomable are God’s ways. In 1940, a former high-ranking government official was follows: made under duress. . . . transferred to our prison. This man reported 1. I was the son of a or landowner; My wife was one of those who attended that Dobrowolskij, along with two other pros- 2. I was a counter-revolutionary; the proceeding. I will never forget the moment ecutors had been executed. I was reminded of 3. I was a German nationalist, and so on. when I approached the courthouse and saw Psalm 62: 8-10 and Psalm 64: 2-8: “Trust not All the charges had to do with politics or my Agatha among the crowd of people who in oppression. . .” and “Hide me from the se- religion. In light of today’s views and general were being held back by soldiers. She was cret counsel of the wicked.....” attitudes they seem laughable, even perverted. there with Tienchen Sukkau (now my second However, in 1936 there were still some rules wife) and both were trying desperately to push Pjatigorsk, Caucasus. that limited the measures taken by the prosecu- their way forward. Only someone who has After seven months of constant hearings, tors. Investigators were not permitted to inflict experienced a similar fate can imagine the emo- many of which took place at night, the investi- beatings or to force prisoners to stand upright tional turmoil a helpless prisoner has to deal gations were finally concluded. On the 25th of all night before their trials the following morn- with at such a moment. Although my heart was August, 1936 I was transferred to a larger ing. Because these rules were still observed breaking, and my tattered clothes were a clear prison in Pjatigorsk. There I came down with we were spared some of the tortures that were indication of my desperate situation, my smile dysentery and so ended up in the infirmary. later endured by others.... Slowly my fellow was nevertheless a reflection of the joy, how- Here I met the elderly Brother Franz Janzen prisoners and I read the charges against each ever brief, that I felt when I saw my wife once from Kolontarowka. My brother-in-law one of us. Again and again the concluding sen- again. My wife broke into tears when she saw Johann Bergen also paid me a visit. From these tence read, “He himself admitted his guilt.”...It me in my rags. two I learned that I had been labeled the ring- was obvious that in many cases such state- My wife entered the courtroom along with leader of 32 other prisoners, including my wife. ments were fabricated.... When we came to my the prisoners and took a seat next to me, but I knew some of the 31 men but a number were name I was surprised to read, “Reimer did not when the judges entered she was taken away unfamiliar. This was the first time I had seen admit that he was guilty of any of the charges, from me. “Is there no mercy, no sympathy left my wife since her arrest. but a number of witnesses testified that he was in this world,” I asked myself. As soon as the My joy at seeing her again defies descrip- an active counter-revolutionary.” This statement judges were seated, one of them asked, “Which tion. Upon the conclusion of their investiga- gave me considerable confidence in my deter- one is Reimer?” I identified myself, and so the tion, they had granted her a temporary release. mination to stand firm for what I believed was sentencing began. This had enabled her to once again gather our right. The sentencing process lasted five days..... scattered children and try to provide them with On November 25, 1936 the process of sen- Five days I spent mostly standing upright since the necessities of life. Her release proved to be tencing began.... The court was made up of I was made to feel responsible for what had an extremely frustrating experience since she three judges, a secretary and a prosecutor. happened to all 32 prisoners. For example, was utterly destitute. During our absence, our Armed guards were stationed next to these of- while the judge was questioning the others he own people in the Collective had rummaged ficials, at the door, on the steps and in every would often ask, “What did Reimer say to you through our house and had made off with most corner of the room.... When they brought all of privately? What role did you play in Reimer’s of our belongings. While our 12-year-old us, 31 altogether, into the same room, the scene group of counter-revolutionaries?” If the ac- daughter was attending school away from was indescribable. Some were asking, “What cused tried to temper or deny what he had ad- home, complete strangers had even taken up did you say about me?” Many apologized for mitted to in an earlier hearing, the judge would temporary residence in our home. having said anything while under investiga- interrupt him with complex legal language and tion that had proved harmful to their fellow accuse him of lying..... Some who had testi- Criminal Charges. prisoners.....In the few minutes we prisoners fied against me earlier now tried to change their On November 19, 1936, while still in had to communicate with one another in the testimony. Others, who had been granted free- prison, we received notice of the charges corridor it was agreed that we would all try to dom in exchange for their false witness, stood against us, a document of approximately 80 distance ourselves as much as possible from by what they had said, obviously out of fear. I pages. The main points in my case were as any questionable statements that any of us had found this disillusioning to say the least.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 99 Death Sentence, 1936. Although Reimer and his fellow prisoners hoped that this court would set them free the final outcome was a bitter disappointment. Three men were set free and allowed to return to their families. Three others, includ- ing my wife, were sentenced to three years in prison. The others were given prison sentences ranging from 8 to 10 years. My heart was pounding as I listened to these increasingly harsh sentences and still did not hear my name mentioned. At last the judge came to the last four names: Nikolaj Reimer, Ivan I. Koop, Isaak I. Pötker and Abram T. Janz. The sen- tence: Death by firing squad. While the sentences were being read the door to the courtroom stood wide open so that the relatives of the condemned could hear. Our daughter Katja was standing at the front of this large crowd. When she heard my sentence read she screamed loudly. My wife collapsed, un- conscious. However, the inebriated judges quickly left the room so that they would not have to witness the misery they had caused. The four of us who were condemned to death were the first to be escorted out into the Journey of suffering of Nikolai Reimer, 1936-47. yard. Armed soldiers were posted everywhere. The settlements established by Mennonites prior to the 1920s are underlined. Map credit - Nur Aus As I passed by my daughter Katja, she threw Gnaden: Errinnerungen (Lemgo, Germany, 1996), page 157. herself at my feet, embraced my legs, sobbing: “Papa, my papa!” Our escorts ruthlessly tore “Kolja Reimer!” He was very surprised to hear mission. But don’t tell anyone I said so.” This her from me, cursing horribly. me. We wept as we bestowed kisses on one man seemed an angel sent by God. When I There was a great throng of people in the another through the wall..... returned to my cell later, I discovered that Pötker yard next to the courthouse. They were there After I had spent 40 days in this death cell, had also been called out for an interview. My to see us off. Just before I stepped into the the response of the higher court to our sen- cellmates and I fell on our knees to thank God waiting vehicle, I turned to the crowd, took off tences was announced. This higher court found for assisting me and to ask Him to assist Pötker my cap and waved it over my head as I called the sentences of the local court just and legal. also. Pötker, as it turned out underwent an ex- out: “Auf wiedersehen, my friends! We will All that was left to us now was the opportunity perience very similar to mine and likewise re- see you again!” This was an expression of to appeal and sue for grace. Before we had fused to acquiesce. This was a victorious day hope in the future even though I was heartsick time to discuss this option amongst ourselves, for us. about my prospects. Then four of us were taken lawyers arrived and offered to represent us. This day was also a special day for our to the cell next to the guardhouse.... How dis- We had talked about and prayed for this devel- dependants who were still enjoying their free- appointed I was with what had transpired in opment from time to time but had not reached dom. That morning government officials sought spite of my fasting and praying earlier. I had consensus on the matter. Would such an ap- out our daughter Katja. They sent a telegram thought God would answer my prayers ac- peal be tantamount to a confession of guilt? on her behalf to N.K. Krupskaja who was the cording to my conditions rather than accord- This was something we were not, as a matter chairperson of the committee that had respon- ing to His will and that I would soon be set of principle, prepared to do. We were willing sibility for mothers and children. By 3:00 free. Now I found myself in a death cell with to let God be the judge. This was beyond the o’clock that same afternoon they brought Katja three companions. lawyers’ comprehension. Again and again they the news that this committee would take mea- tried to persuade us, but we remained firm. sures to ensure her security. The wives of other Death Cell No. 21. One morning, at approximately 10:00 prisoners were required to send similar re- As we entered the little cell, two corpulent o’clock, I was brought before Dobrowolskij. quests by telegram on behalf of their children. men with long hair and full got up from He greeted me in a friendly manner and asked their beds and welcomed us. One was named me if I would like to escape the sentence hang- A Dream, 1937. Rasmunji and the other Warfolomej. R. was a ing over my head. Tearfully I answered in the One morning I awoke late and asked my convicted thief and W. had been found guilty affirmative. After all, I had a wife and children companions, “Who called me?” They replied, of embezzling public funds. to think of. “I will promise you that your life “No one.” “And which one is Reimer?” they wanted will be spared if you will give me a positive I was silent. to know. answer to two questions,” he said. Again I was Then Pötker said, “Nikolaj, the Lord must I was reminded of Nathaniel who asked asked to corroborate the lies I had refuted ear- have spoken to you in a dream.” At this Jesus, “Whence knowest thou me?” (John 1: lier. When I refused, he said angrily, “Well, if I could only say that someone had said, “Be 48). Before my sentencing in court I had been you won’t co-operate you will be executed! I quiet and hear what I have to say to you.” These incarcerated in cell no. 20, adjacent to cell no. have done all I can to save your life!” I replied: words were similar to those found in Samuel 21. By this time, only one person, Professor “If it is God’s will, let it happen.” 9:27. Alexandrov, a Director of Theatre in Moscow, Dobrowolskij’s response to this was to call Then Pötker cried: “Nikolaj, madman! This was still being held in no. 20. Immediately I in the guard who took me to an auto waiting means that God is speaking to you. You must took my cup and knocked on the wall to see if outside. “Don’t be afraid,” the guard confided, be quiet and listen so that God can use you in I could get his attention. At last he awoke from “stick to the truth! They won’t shoot you; His service.” sleep and asked, “Who is it?” I answered, they’re only trying to frighten you into sub- I will never forget this death cell experi-

100 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 ence. It led me to promise God that if He would to share our joys and sorrows from March restore me to my family I would from that Pardoned. until September of 1939, the expected day of moment on no longer fear mere men and seek Even as Janz and Koop were entering the separation eventually arrived. For six months only to do His will. Since that day I have re- room, Radtschenko was shouting, “Reimer! we had supervised the cleaning staff of the garded unfaithfulness as the greatest of all Pötker! Come with me!” entire prison. . . This work provided ample sins..... I turned to Janz and asked, “Pardoned? opportunity for us to meet and converse on a March 8, 1937 I received a letter from my Say something or my heart will burst!” daily basis. It also gave us access to the fresh wife who was also still in prison. As I lay in He answered, “Yes, pardoned.” At this point air outdoors. my bed I read, over and over again, a particu- Radtschenko bellowed, “What are you say- On the 23rd of September, 1939 those of us larly moving passage: “If only I could once ing?” whose death sentences had been commuted again weep in your embrace, and share with He had obviously ordered Janz to say that were transported to Vladimir-Kljasma [distri- you my private grief and what lies nearest to they had been pardoned and that we would be bution prison near Moscow]..... My first con- my heart, then I would gladly die.” My executed. As we left the cell, I lashed out at cern here was to write to prison officials for cellmates were fast asleep, but these words Radtschenko with my fist and struck him on permission to exchange letters with my wife. kept me awake. the shoulder. “Is one permitted to play such This request was denied the very next day. As games with human lives?” I wanted to know. I was not expecting this rejection, I was quite Late Night Visitor. Taken aback, Radtschenko countered, “ I disheartened. I asked the supervisor if this de- Suddenly I heard a large number of people wanted to frighten you one more time just to cree would apply to my entire 10-year sen- in the corridor. see how you would react, how fearless you tence and he answered with a very brusque, Someone shouted, “Open up!” really are. But you have assaulted me, a guard, “Yes!” We heard the key rattling in the lock. and I won’t forget that. You’ll be punished for I was crestfallen. To whom could I turn? In I was uneasy to say the least because a visit that.” utter despair I cried out to God: “If I am now at that time of night usually signified some- A number of convicts and an NKGB of- in a predicament in which I am so isolated that thing out of the ordinary -- death or an exten- ficer were already assembled in the guardroom no fellow human being can offer me sympathy sion of the prison sentence. We were all wide- when we entered. Some welcomed us but oth- or comfort, I pray you, send me one of your awake in an instant. Radtschenko, one of the ers ridiculed us. We were presented with the other creatures, a bird whose song will serve guards, entered the room. official pardons that we were told to read and as a sign of your blessing. I had hardly uttered “Koop!” he shouted repeatedly. sign. The pardons stated that as of March 5, these words when a little bird swooped out of Koop, however, remained silent until, fi- 1937, by order of the “the gracious Kalinin,” nowhere and settled on the grate outside my nally, Janz said, “There he lies.” our lives had been spared. I was too eager to window, nodded its head, and chirped merrily Koop heaved a deep sigh as he was told, believe it and I signed without reading further. several times before it resumed its flight. In an “Come with me!” Why had Janz and Koop been away so long? instant I felt comforted and broke into a song Then Janz was asked to step outside as well. Janz had insisted on reading the entire docu- of thanks and praise. Nevertheless, I still faced Janz sprang to his feet and followed the guard ment but had needed glasses. It had taken some the grim prospect of 10 years without written into the corridor where all was eerily quiet. time to find the necessary spectacles. From communication with my wife and family. Brother Pötker sat on his bed, his hands folded various other details in that document, Janz In my lonely, desperate state I resolved that in his lap, praying. Automatically, I bowed my had learned that our death sentences had been I would designate the very next day as fast and head in prayer as well. commuted to 10-year prison terms..... prayer day. At first my guards were uncom- Our other cellmates were profoundly af- That night in our cell the conversation was fortable with my decision. The prison supervi- fected as well. One of them became violently animated as we recalled those moments of ter- sor even came to ask me the reason for my ill and vomited; the other suddenly needed the ror when we all thought the end was immi- fasting. They all thought I was ill and sum- bathroom. After a brief silence Baikarov, one nent. Again and again we thanked God for an- moned a doctor examine me. I reassured all of of my cellmates, wondered aloud what all this swering the prayers of His children. Yes, the them that I was undertaking a biblical fast and commotion might signify, why they had come pardons seemed a miracle to those of us who that I did not mean to cause trouble.... to take these two away to be put to death. still believed in miracles. Our faith had been All that morning I paced back and forth in At the time we assumed that they had been greatly strengthened and like the apostles in the cell, praying and singing softly. After sing- taken away to be executed. Br. Janz had men- Acts 5:41, we rejoiced because we had kept ing, “Instruct Me In Thy Ways, O Lord,” I tioned several times that he would probably be the faith and had been willing to suffer for prayed fervently with eyes cast heavenward. executed because he had once spoken out Christ’s sake. We were especially grateful that Suddenly, I heard a key in the door and two against the Politburo. Koop also feared for his God had granted us the strength necessary to uniformed officers entered. The guard stood life because one of the witnesses at his trial resist the temptation to utter falsehoods that behind them holding the keys. had testified that Koop was responsible for the would have ultimately led to our damnation.... One of the officers addressed me: “Do you deaths of 50 Reds. Brother Pötker and I con- We felt as though we had been born again. I have any questions?” veyed our last wishes to our two remaining was hopeful that I would soon be reunited with I replied, “May I know with whom I am fellow cellmates who we felt had a better my wife and children..... speaking?” chance than we did to have their sentences March 10th, on the 100th day of our incar- “I am the warden of the prison,” he an- overturned. After all, they were just thieves, ceration, we were transferred to another larger swered. common criminals. Over the next half hour or compound where we met many other convicts. My heart was pounding. Was this to be an so we reviewed the events of our lives in si- It was a joyful reunion. Here I found my brother answer to my prayer? I was sure he was stand- lence. What more could I do in this situation Aaron and, to my surprise, Rempel-Suderman ing before me under God’s command. I ac- except to utter the prayer: “Forgive me, for- as well. We four from death cell no. 21 were quainted him with my request. give me my Lord and Savior!” We bade fare- subpoenaed as witnesses at his trial. He too “Prisoners are not permitted to post letters well to our Russian cellmates in brotherly fash- had his death sentence commuted to 10 years. from one prison to another,” he replied. “How- ion. They embraced and kissed us. . . . In this prison I received several gift pack- ever, if you know someone outside the prison At last we heard the dreaded steps in the ages and even a visit from my 13 year-old to whom you can can send your letters, this corridor. We waited in abject fear. Were our daughter. third party can then forward your letters to brothers returning or were we about to be taken your wife.” away as well? Again the key rattled in the lock. Transfer to Solowki. When I was alone again I thanked God for It was like a dagger through the heart. Although my brother Aaron and I were able this blessing. I was deeply contrite for my lack

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 101 Steps to the Axtberg (“Sekirnaja Gora” in Rus- sian). This flight of steps leading from the church above on the hill to the sea, has 365 steps. Many prisoners lost there lives here by a peculiar form of punishment. Those being punished were lashed to a tree trunk and thrown down the 365 steps. The Overview of the Solowezker Kremlin. In the White Sea, where the nights are light for half the year, lies steps were so steep that not a single prisoner could the “Great Solowzki Island”. In this area there are a group of islands collectively referred to as humanly stop the tree trunk. Photo - Solzhenitsyn, “Solowzki-Ostrawa” archipelago, although each (altogether six islands) has their own names: Anserskij, Der Achipelag GUlag, page 29. Large and Small Muxulma, and in addition two small islands known as Sajazije. The cloister (monas- tery) - also known as a fortress (“Kremlin”) - on Solowzki Island was founded 1420-1430. The State from this location to an inaccessible island Penitentiary existed on the island since 1718. From December 1937 until August 1939, Nikolaj Reimer named Muxulma. Here I and 15 other men I existed behind the walls of this fortress - prison under inhuman conditions. In 1939, just before the had not known formerly were imprisoned un- Finnish War, this prison was closed because of its proximity to the border and relocated to the city of til December 25, 1938. . . . Norilsk. N. Reimer was transported to Norilsk, by way of the northern sea route. Photo - Solzhenitsyn, Reimer describes in some detail the tedious Der Achipelag GUlag (Gütersloh, 1974), page 29. existence on Muxulma, and the difficulties he of faith. And although I had to wait a year for from 1937 to 1939, a place of total isolation experienced living with men with whom he had the first letter from my wife, I decided to ob- where inmates were not even permitted to read little in common. Yet this was merely the calm serve this particular day as a fast and prayer any books. This was now to be my destiny. before the storm. day. I promised God that, if he would one day December 25th, 1938 was the day on which make it possible for me to be reunited with my Life in the GUlag. my good fortune took a turn for the worse. family, I would continue to serve Him with all Reimer quotes Alexandir Solzhenitsyn’s de- While I was deep in thought, imagining that I my strength and devotion. .... scription of the Archipelago as well as his ac- was celebrating Christmas at home, the key On November 25, 1937 all the convicts in count of the history of this region. The rattled in the lock and four prison officials our prison were taken to the railway station Solovetsky Islands, colloquially known as strode into our cell. All fifteen of us were or- [and from there transported to “Kem”, a harbour Solovki, were a group of islands in the White dered to go outside and get into a waiting truck. on the White Sea]. As we were herded from Sea and the site of monasteries that were later We were driven out into the cold in the clothes the train to our new detention center, I saw refurbished as prisons. The area had been we were wearing, thin summer trousers and huge piles of lumber and a large number of used as a place of exile for rebellious priests shirts and thin leather shoes. Shivering in the convicts working among them. It was a de- in the Middle Ages and was used for forced- bitter cold, we realized soon enough that we pressing sight, especially as it brought to my labor camps after the 1917 Revolution. were being taken back to the Kreml, our former remembrance a threat uttered by Dobrowolskij As usual, when we arrived at this new lo- prison. There I was locked up with three oth- on one occasion: “I’ll send you and Brother cation we were separated from our previous ers in one cell, Josef Bereschwilli, an engineer Janz into the far north. Then we’ll see how companions. I found that I was sharing a cell from Georgia, Choschtarija, a party secretary strong your love for one another will be!” On with Jerochin, a former Komsomol secretary from Georgia, and a partisan named Efremow. the same day that we arrived at the harbour we from Winitza. Our first question: “Would they The room could hardly provide accommo- were taken by ship to Solowki Islands that lie be giving us anything to eat or would we have dation for our four beds. There was no room approximately 40 kilometers from Kem in the to go to bed with empty stomachs?” We had for a table. On one side of the cell there was a White Sea. It is an archipelago of some 65 been provided, at the outset of our five-day brick oven that was as long as a bed. My bed islands. journey, with a daily ration of a few herring was nearest the oven. This oven was heated The lights had already been turned on when and 600 grams of bread. for an entire day so that our cell became un- we docked at Solovecki, one of the larger is- The last day’s portion had been finished bearably hot. Then the oven was turned off. lands. This is the site of the so-called long ago. We weren’t kept waiting long before For several days it was so hot that we removed “Soloveckij Kreml, “ a fortress surrounded by the door opened and we were handed some all but our underclothing. By the fifth day we high stone walls mounted with watchtowers bread and a substantial piece of cooked fish. huddled in our coats to keep warm. We won- from which they can keep a close eye on all How we celebrated. If this was how they were dered what further mistreatment this would lead activity. As we entered the huge iron gate and I going to feed us here, Solowki would be an to..... heard the ominous groan of its hinges I was improvement over our previous prison. . . . In In my despair the spirit of God led me to overcome by dismay. It seemed that the sound the quiet of the night I silently thanked God the thought that I should mark the third anni- of the gate was telling us: “Here you will be that He had brought me to this place. Soon this versary of my arrest by doing penance, by pray- securely imprisoned and it will be a miracle prison was the home of educated people as ing and fasting. On that day I gave my food indeed if any of you ever escape.”.... Accord- well as simple, ordinary folk and there was an rations to my comrades and lay face down on ing to experts, approximately 1500 to 2000 interesting exchange of ideas and experiences. my bed all day as I pleaded with God for for- condemned prisoners were incarcerated here However, in December,1937 we were taken giveness, for release from prison, for my

102 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 family’s safety . At first I was mocked by the mouth of the Lena River in eastern my three cell mates, but I ignored them. Siberai. With the outbreak of the war with Once they realized I was in earnest they in 1939, it became apparent to became quiet. It was on this day that I Soviet authorities that the Solovki prison composed the poem, “ My Mortification.” was too close to Russia’s western bor- I was convinced that God had ac- der. Reimer and many of his compatriots knowledged my prayers and my fasting, were therefore hastily transported to this but now it pleased Him to further try me. northern outpost that soon housed, ac- One day in February, 1939 the head of cording to Solzhenitsyn, 75,000 inmates. our prison section came to our cell and On the sixth of August, 1939 we were escorted me to the prison warden. This unexpectedly taken to Solovki, the main man asked me if I was familiar with the island of the Solovki group. There we rules of the prison. were immediately transferred from the I said I was. trucks to the big ocean steamer “Why then are you hiding forbidden “Budjonyj.” On this ship I once again articles in your cell?” he demanded. met Brother Pötker. Janz and Koop were I was amazed as he proceeded to show in another part of the ship’s hold. The me a crumpled piece of newspaper, so ship had three levels and each level held small he could hardly grasp it with his 3500 prisoners. Pötker and I were as- hand. In addition to this he held up a small signed quarters near the engine room piece of rubber. We had been to the bath- which was centrally located and so we house the day before and one of the guards were not as affected by the ship’s motion had found this piece of newspaper among as some of the other prisoners. Pötker my clothing. It was approximately 10 x and I were able to bring each other up to 15 cm. in size and cut diagonally to make date with regard to our experiences from it unreadable. It was the kind of paper we September, 1937 to August, 1939. were issued whenever we went to the toi- We were free to move about on this ship, let. but this was a mixed blessing since there One of these pieces had apparently was nothing but confusion and disorder been left in one of my pockets without everywhere, partly because the guards my knowing it. The little piece of rubber The Axtberg (“Sekir Gora”). Here was located the church “To were to be found mostly on the upper came from the heel of one of my shoes. I the beheading of John the Baptist” built by the monks. At the two decks. The toilet facilities were to- used it as an eraser whenever I wrote in time when Nikolaj Reimer found himself here, this was a place tally inadequate. With only one private my notebook. When I tried to convince whose very name caused terror in every prisoner, for many cubicle per deck to serve 3500 persons, my interrogator that such articles surely prisoners were shot here during the last years. The road forked one can readily understand that many had could not be regarded as contraband, he just in front of the hill, leading out of the prison in two direc- to relieve themselves in the open buckets shouted: “Silence! This warrants three tions: the one to the top of the hill and death, and the other meant to serve only as urinals. There was days in solitary confinement!” outside out of the prison. When N. Reimer was being sent to a permanent line-up for the cubicle with Norilsk in 1939, he did not know at first, which way he would I was placed in a cell that was 3 meters much pushing and shoving and angry ex- be taken - to death on the Axtberg or into another prison. by 3 meters. There was a stool in the middle change of words. Photo - Solzhenitsyn, Der Achipelag GUlag, page 37. of the floor fastened to the floor. A bed- The first few days at sea passed without spring attached to the wall could be lowered at By the evening of the third day I was so too many problems, but toward the end of our night to serve as my bed, but all sheets and despondent that I suffered a nervous break- blankets had been removed, supposedly to pre- down. I knelt at the stool and cried out to God vent me from committing suicide. The win- in a loud voice. Immediately the guard rushed dow had been boarded up. There was an oven in and wanted to know what this outburst in the room but no heat. meant. I told him that I was at the point of Without a cap, thinly clad, I stood shiver- freezing to death and I pleaded with him to beg ing in the cold room. As it was February, it the warden for grace on my behalf. But the wasn’t too long before I was almost frozen guard refused saying that I would have to serve stiff. In an attempt to stave off hypothermia, I out the rest of my sentence under these condi- paced around the stool at the center of the room tions, and he added that if I persisted in my a hundred times clockwise and then a hundred screaming and weeping I would only make times counter clockwise, until I was completely things worse for myself. exhausted. On the morning of the fourth day they re- .... Around 11 p.m. the guard came in, low- turned me to my cell. My cellmates were ered the bedspring that was attached to the wall, shocked when they saw me. My face and my laid some boards on it and ordered me to lie feet were severely swollen. My eyes were so down. As I lay down my body felt as though it puffed-up I could barely see. My cellmates had been packed in ice. I sighed a silent prayer gave me some bread and after I had eaten it I to God, but my discomfort was unrelieved. lay down on my bed, near the oven, and fell After a few sleepless hours I tried to walk into a deep sleep. How grateful I was that quietly again, but the guard noticed and threat- evening to once more be in a warm cell..... ened that he would report me to his superiors if I refused to lie down immediately. Failure to Norilsk, 1939. obey, he said, could lead to an extension of the Reimer quotes Solzhenitsyn again to de- period of solitary confinement. A meager daily scribe the events that led to the transfer of The Clock Tower. Groups of people were shot at ration of 300 grams of bread and one pitcher many prisoners to the more remote concen- the foot of the Clock Tower. Photo - Solzhenitsyn, of water did little to make me feel warmer. tration camp named “Norilsk” - located at Der Achipelag GUlag, page 39.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 103 voyage we encountered a great diate reduction in food rations. In- storm. Our ship was tossed about stead of a full kilogram of bread like a toy by the waves. Virtually per day, such offenders received all the men became seasick. Most only 300 grams. As a result of this were too sick to throw up over the malnourishment I developed night ship’s rail and instead used the open blindness..... One night after we buckets. It isn’t difficult to imag- returned from work long after ine the stench that resulted. On dark, and I was carrying my little some of these days even the cooks bowl of soup from the kitchen to were too ill to provide us with food. our sleeping quarters, I stumbled Fortunately, this did not occur at and spilled my supper. This meant the beginning of the voyage. If it I would have to go to bed hungry. had, many would not have sur- When I went back to plead for an- vived...... other portion I was told to come We arrived at Norilsk after dark. again later. Until late that evening I don’t intend to describe the his- I stood at the kitchen window and tory of this region except to say that waited only to be told repeatedly this is a place where the government The door to the clock tower. The people were shot at the top of the stairs and that not all workers had returned made use of cheap labor. As cheap then came falling down as corpses. Photo - Solzhenitsyn, Der Achipelag from work. Should any soup be laborers it was our fate to be sent GUlag, page 29. left over I would get some. Finally here where we would soon sacri- I gave up, went to my bed, and fice our physical health and many tried without success to fall asleep. would give up their lives. The first The back wall of our room had forced laborers had been brought a window that could be opened here in 1936. I was given the num- from the kitchen. Suddenly, this ber 21506. Today, at the age of 76, I window was opened and someone can repeat that number on demand, called out: “Who wanted soup?” even if I’m suddenly awakened from Most of my roommates were asleep sleep. It will remain indelibly in- and so I was the only one to re- scribed in my memory until I die. spond. I jumped from my place in The number of prisoners at the uppermost bunk and as quick Norilsk grew quickly. Those who as a flash I was at the window. had arrived in 1936 were put up in When the cook heard me he handed tents even in the winter season. me a full bucket of soup. Quickly When we came three years later we I ate my fill and then filled all the were housed in stone cottages that bowls of my sleeping comrades. were little more than drafty stone When I returned the empty con- piles. During the winter nights The German arch. There was a store here, where the prisoners also received tainer, the cook gave me another mounds of snow would accumu- some wages (9 ruble per month) and received packages from their families. one. I decided to wake my starv- late on our blankets and would ac- Presumably N. Reimer never saw this building since he never received any ing cellmates and we had a feast. I tually serve to protect us from money or packages from his wife who was also in prison at the time. Photo - was even able to stash away a sup- freezing..... Solzhenitsyn, Der Achipelag GUlag, page 41. ply of soup for the next several days. After this overindulgence I Slave Labour, 1939. was so uncomfortable I couldn’t Hungry and miserable, we were sleep. From one extreme to an- nevertheless taken to our work- other! Anyone who has ever gone place for the first time on August hungry for a long period of time 17, 1939. On this day we were told will understand. that we would not be required to It wasn’t long before we were put in a full day’s work and so we organized into work brigades. had time to become acquainted What was most difficult at this time with our fellow convicts. Here I was the constant reassignment of met Reinhold Rode, a Lutheran. the sleeping quarters. This was That evening as I sat high up on typical of the socialist system. Ev- my bunk bed, eating my little bowl ery day there was a new plan. The of soup without bread, I noticed work brigades were also constantly my new friend sitting with the reorganized, and this led to the re- prison officials. It was disillusion- peated relocation of prisoners ing to see how much better off party within the camp. After coming members and officials were. Sud- The Revelation of Christ Church. Here N. Reimer daily picked up tea water home from a long day in the cold, denly I felt someone touch my feet. which was brought for the prisoners when the long columns returned from we would be ordered to gather our I looked down and to my surprise their labour. The prisoners sometimes had to stand in lineups for hours, bedclothes and stand outside in the it was my friend Rode offering me waiting for their water. Here, in an addition to the church, was also the yard, like sheep, until the process- a full daily ration of bread. Before bathhouse and the washing facilities. Photo - Solzhenitsyn, Der Achipelag ing was completed. This went on I could thank him he was gone. I GUlag, page 41. for weeks at a time until we were could not explain his act of kind- all thoroughly exhausted and many ness, but I took it as an answer to my prayers. too undernourished and hence too weak to do were sick, myself included. As a result of this The next day we were expected to put in a so. The punishment for anyone who failed to I had to be sent to the infirmary. full day’s work even though most of us were do the required amount of work was an imme-

104 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Sickness. [During one major snow storm] each one railway cars. When they realized that they The prisoners who had been brought to this of us was expected to keep a 15 to 20 meter would be reported to their superiors if Serafim camp during the first three years now began to section of rail line open, but we knew our ef- were to freeze to death during their watch, they fall like flies. The death toll in this infirmary forts were futile. We dug holes in the snow- relented and allowed us to bring him into their was extremely high. Up to forty men died in drifts and took cover in them to escape the quarters. As soon as Serafim was brought near this infirmary on some days. Fellow prisoners fierce wind. This was not without risk as we the stove he began to tremble violently. This carried these corpses to ditches that had been could easily have fallen asleep in our shelters. case demonstrated how rapidly a man could excavated by bulldozers as early as 1935. Since If we had we would eventually have died be- fall victim to the extreme cold. Many of us lost the ground was frozen for six months of each cause of the extreme cold. I sat in my tiny fingers or toes yet this man suffered no such year, these corpses could be covered only in snow den and struggled to stay awake by mov- after-effects..... summer. If I hadn’t seen an acquaintance for ing my limbs as much as possible. Outside, One day it was reported that a locomotive some time and then inquired about him I would the storm raged on. with a number of freight cars was stuck on our often be told, “Oh, he was taken to section of rail line. We were as- the pit a long time ago.” signed the task of freeing this train. Many in the infirmary were suf- The next morning, when the storm fering from dysentery. Small won- abated somewhat, as hungry as we der when one considers the living were, we were ordered to take on conditions. Because the infirmary this work. Visibility was still lim- was overcrowded, multi-level ited because of the blowing snow. bunk beds became common. As I We were assured that we would be was one of the weaker patients I given sufficient notice if the train was put on the lowest level. This would begin to move. I dug down was considered the preferred level, to rail level and realized that I was but if those above me became vio- trapped between two walls of lently ill and could not control their snow. bodily functions I had to put up Suddenly I heard a loud hiss- with whatever fell down on me. ing noise and gunshot. As I looked The stench in the infirmary was behind me I saw the train ap- frightful. I’m reluctant to write proaching. I could not escape by about it, but it is the truth even going forward or by going back. I though it is a sad truth. . . . . Entrance to the Revelation of Christ Church. Every day, Nikolaj Reimer, cried aloud to God and began to As soon as we felt somewhat pressed through these doors in the hope of obtaining a pail of hot water. clamber up the wall of snow. With better we were sent on to Norilsk Photo - Solzhenitsyn, Der Achipelag GUlag, page 49. God’s help I was able to preserve No. 2 situated in the virgin polar my life. Yet that same night 12 men forest approximately 10 to 20 kilometers from were either seriously injured or killed. Norilsk No. 1. Here we were housed in tents. The coal that was used for heating could be Dudinka. found near the surface and was gathered by At the end of April, 1940 the weak or sick those who already felt somewhat stronger. Wood prisoners in these brigades were transported was plentiful as well. The forest contained nu- to Dudinka a small harbour on the Jenisej River merous dead tree trunks and the wood from some 90 km. east of Norilsk. That was not a these trees was dry and burned readily. Yet we pleasant experience. We were herded like cattle. lacked proper light and had to make do with Each prisoner was forced to carry his bed- primitive oil lamps. Such a lamp was a simple clothes and personal possessions (straw mat- dish that contained oil and a wick. These lamps tress, spoon, cup). would smoulder rather than burn and by the end The weakest were not able to keep up and of the day the tent would be filled with smoke. those who couldn’t carry their belongings sim- This was meant to be a place for convalescents ply threw them away in spite of the cursing, but as elsewhere there was never enough food shouting and beating of the guards. We spent and too many corrupt officials who robbed us Entrance to the Revelation of Christ Church. Ev- the nights on this journey in unheated barracks of our greatly needed sustenance. No one ery day, Nikolaj Reimer, pressed through these where we were also housed occasionally for a seemed to be in control of the situation but we doors in the hope of obtaining a pail of hot water. whole day without food. However, during the knew better than to complain..... Photo - Solzhenitsyn, Der Achipelag GUlag, page day we still had to be prepared to clear snow 49. from the rail line. How incredibly difficult! . . Snow Clearing. . It was hopeless, this endless battle with the I couldn’t do much physical labor during Suddenly I heard someone call my name. snow on a 113 kilometer stretch of rail line. the winter of 1939/40 as my strength was When I rejoined my comrades they pointed to The relentless wind filled in the trenches steadily declining. For this reason I was placed Serafim Nikolajewitsch Winogradow, a 23 shortly after we dug them. We arrived in with a brigade of invalids. The brigade was year-old man who had collapsed against a wall Dudinka on May 10. . . . . assigned the task of snow clearing. This was of snow two meters high. He appeared to be In Dudinka I was assigned to a construc- considered privileged work because we were frozen stiff. We lifted him up to a standing tion brigade. I was expected to do heavy work not required to fulfill predetermined work quo- position and tried to bring some movement that was too demanding for me in my weak- tas. We received the same food rations as all back to his limbs but to no avail. We pum- ened physical state. I was having constant ab- the others, but we were often forced to venture meled him and encouraged him to walk with dominal pain and I was feeling generally un- out in extreme weather conditions at any time us, but he cried and begged us to leave him, well. Yet, evenings, when I reported to the in- of the day or night. Our work consisted mainly insisting all the while that he felt quite warm firmary, the doctor always told me my tem- of keeping the railway tracks clear of snow. and comfortable..... perature was normal..... Reimer describes some of his experiences Finally we called the guards who were keep- One day, while at work, I simply collapsed. with the snow clearing crews: ing warm next to a red-hot stove in one of the I was taken to the infirmary, but when the doc-

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 105 tor saw me he said in an irritated tone of voice, we worked for twelve hours before we began feed them?” This man made me feel ashamed “You again?” On this occasion my tempera- the 9 kilometer trek back. This meant that each and made it possible for me to overcome my ture was found to be 40° C. This time I was day we were up at 6 o’clock, passed through self-pity and confess, “God, your ways are placed in the care of a compassionate Jewish the gate at 7, arrived at our work site at 9, worked just and merciful!”..... female doctor who was known for her chari- steadily for 12 hours, walked the return 9 kilo- Over a span of years, a man named table dealings with prisoners. She was herself meters and passed through the camp gate again Emmanuel Fischer was my counselor. As he a convict. When she made her early morning at 11 p.m. Seventeen hours on our feet! . . . . was considerably older than I was, I regarded rounds she always found some reason to keep Every opportunity was taken to get rid of the him as my spiritual father. He was not ashamed the weaker patients in bed for a while longer. weakest prisoners. In the spring of 1942, the to proselytize in this hostile environment and To me she would say, “Just rest a bit longer.” weakest in all the camps were gathered together. wasn’t the least discouraged by all the mock- And so I was allowed to remain in the infir- The intent was to transport them to the main- ing he had to endure. When the German armies mary for a full month. . . . . land. I was one of this assembly. When the au- conquered the Odessa region he felt sure that Once again winter returned. With the heavy thorities realized that our group consisted mostly his family had escaped to Germany. And so he work we were required to do, I soon lost the of and Germans, enemies so-called of the thanked God every day for their deliverance..... strength I had gained over the summer months. Russians, they brought us back again to work One day I brought him a letter from his Upon the recommendation of the doctors, I in the brick factory. I was deeply disappointed wife. He grew visibly pale as he read its con- was consigned to a work brigade made up of as I had so much looked forward to our removal tents. Several days later I was called to his prisoners who were too weak to do the heavi- from the high north to the mainland and a less bedside in the infirmary. He had become com- est work. We were nevertheless required to go extreme climate. “Why, O why, Lord,” I prayed. pletely demented. He refused to eat any food out every day and sometimes at night even Perhaps, I reasoned, God had brought me back offered to him and was becoming violent. I though most of us were too sick to accomplish to Norilsk to preserve my life..... approached his bedside with these words: much. How we suffered from the cold! Some- “Peace be with you, dear brother!” times when our legs could no longer hold us A Letter, 1943. However, he turned his face away from me up we lay down in the snow to rest. My dear wife had been released from prison without responding. I was moved to tears. I Then, mercifully, one day in the early spring in 1939. Her first task had been to find and asked him if he would like to say something to of 1941, the supervisor of the hog barns came retrieve the children. She did receive word from me. He answered with a curt “No.” I continued to our brigade leader and asked him if he could me, and in 1940 she wrote to me in Norilsk. my efforts to win his confidence. At last, after recommend a dependable man to look after the With the outbreak of the war, written commu- a long silence, he said: “Nikolaj, leave me alone. hogs. To this day I don’t know why my bri- nication once more became impossible. In June, I am guilty of the unforgivable sin; I have blas- gade leader singled me out. It was a job that 1943 I received the first letter since 1940. When phemed the Holy Spirit.” many others would gladly have taken. At least I noticed that the handwriting on the envelope I found this shocking. I did my best to per- I didn’t have to work in the bitterly cold condi- was unfamiliar, I became very apprehensive suade him that God is merciful and so on. Yet tions outdoors..... and I trembled as I opened it. all I could do was to persuade him to eat a The letter began as follows: “Today, March little. My last encounter with him was on the War, 1941. 13th, is a happy day! Kolja, your son, is cel- occasion when Brother Otto Petrowitsch Wiebe On June 22 our camp received the news of ebrating his 17th birthday.” There was more and I received permission from the doctors to the war with Germany. That same day all the news from home and then the following: “And take him outside for some fresh air. Together prisoners of German, Polish or Rumanian de- now you must know what happened to our we took him on a walk through the camp. He scent, as well as others who came from coun- mother. On the day that we arrived at the rail- was not very cooperative and kept glancing tries that supported Hitler’s war against Rus- way station here in Kazakhstan, mother passed apprehensively from one side to the other. Ev- sia, were singled out and isolated from the main away. She was already dead when she was ery now and then he would cry out, “My son, group. A special train took us by night to carried from the railway car.” my son Gerhard!” In the past he had often Norilsk. This was most alarming. We won- No one will be surprised to hear that I find talked about his youngest son, his hope for the dered if we were being taken into the tundra to it impossible to describe the pain I felt when I future. Then he told me he had heard from his be shot. Such thoughts gained credence when, received this news. My friend, A.J. Weber, a wife that, during their escape from Odessa, somewhere enroute, we were left standing out former educator from the German Republic, Gerhard had died. in the open for several hours. Another night of had heard about my letter and immediately This must have been the main cause of his sighs and groans. No one really wants to die. came to visit me. I gave him the letter and he breakdown. Such great hopes and now they The next day we arrived and were placed in studied it carefully. Then he asked me some were dashed. He had mistakenly assumed that section no. 9 of the camp. This section had questions to which I couldn’t respond because God would answer his prayers. Because God been enclosed with barbed wire even before I was so devastated. I asked him to leave me to had not granted him his requests he felt that he our arrival. Our new fellow prisoners regarded grieve alone on that day. Then I isolated my- was no longer worthy of God’s grace. This us as dangerous criminals. Every night the self, brought my sorrows to God and pleaded thought was the cause of his guilt and his fear guards checked our beds for weapons. This is with Him to give me comfort. that he had blasphemed God’s Holy Spirit. Both laughable in retrospect and yet, at the time, it By evening of that same day, as I returned Brother Wiebe and I were deeply pained by his was frightening because we knew that they to the camp, I was able to thank God for this suffering and we prayed fervently for his re- wouldn’t think twice about shooting us at the tribulation. I knew that this misfortune was covery. Soon after this Brother Fisher was trans- least provocation. And so we worked for a part of God’s plan for my personal salvation. ferred to a larger hospital where, I was told long time as specially isolated prisoners under When my companions gathered around me in later, he improved somewhat and became more the governance of the notorious, wicked, Pol- the barracks that night, I was reminded of Job communicative. It was there that he was able to ish general Milewskij. whose friends, with all their fine words were die peacefully. Years later, I wrote to Fisher’s Every day we were forced to walk 9 kilome- unable to comfort him. My prayers were now wife and told her all I knew of her husband. ters to our work. Every morning our brigade focused on my four children. As I was trying passed through the gate an hour earlier than the to get some rest, a man I hardly knew in the Free Again, 1946. others. We were exhausted even before we ar- bunk next to mine said, “Nikolaj, you have At times, when I was still in prison, I rived at our work site. The younger, stronger lost your first wife and you refuse to be com- thought I would never again enjoy freedom. ones had to again break the path made the previ- forted. What would you say if, like me, you Because I consorted with other German in- ous day. Those of us who were weaker were had lost three and the fourth had been left with mates I was always under surveillance. Three herded along behind the leaders like cattle. Then children from four unions and no means to of my acquaintances told me during my last

106 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 year of incarceration that they had been inter- myself. “Was I actually going to see my daugh- that time. . . Needless to say there was more rogated by prison officials about me, about my ters after all these years, after all that waiting?” singing than preaching at these worship ser- private relations with other prisoners. One of Then I noticed two young women plastering a vices. The group remained small since pros- these acquaintances recommended that I no wall of the half finished house. One of them elytizing was not permitted. longer associate with Germans in my cell. I saw me and stood there with plaster pails in her took this man’s advice. . . . . hands as she observed the approaching stranger. A New Home, 1947. On November 25, 1946 I was released from As I came closer she quickly put down her pails Together with the widow, Olga Benke, we prison. I had already received the address of a and wiped her hands. By this time I had reached enlarged the house so that we could all live friend who had been released earlier. This friend the neighbor’s house where I stopped for a together more comfortably, albeit simply. Eve- introduced me to a group of former convicts; moment to lean against the fence. I was afraid nings there were usually animated conversa- this group proved to be a very supportive spiri- that I was about to have a fainting spell, and I tions, often instigated by readings from the tual fellowship. Soon I was serving this group felt the world around me was growing dark. Bible. as speaker. . . . The next moment my vision cleared as my In spite of this pleasant living arrangement, Although Nikolaj had been released from eldest daughter, Katja, embraced me. “Papa, with the passage of time I realized how lonely prison, he was still required to report regu- my long awaited Papa, is it really you?” For a I was without my beloved spouse. I prayed to larly to the authorities. long time she clung to me as we kissed each God that He might direct me to someone who Although I had been released from prison other. Words cannot describe the emotions I would be willing to share the rest of my life and had passed the necessary medical exami- felt at the time of this reunion. with me, someone who would also be a sup- nation, my supervisor did not give me all the “And where is Elli?” I asked. port for my children. My children were rela- necessary papers but did promise me living Elli was called and soon came running. At tively young, and I became convinced as time quarters where I would be able to live with my first she was a bit shy, probably because she went on that a mother was still needed. children etc. Only when I appealed to higher had imagined her father somewhat differently. At last I told the children of my plan to officials was I able to receive permission to I recognized her immediately as my child and travel to Koktschetaw where my relatives lived travel. At this time there was a law that re- held her long in a warm embrace. In four days, and there propose marriage to Tina Sukkau, a quired those who had been released from on the seventeenth day of July, we would be spinster. My children were not very sympa- prison to work in Norilsk for an additional celebrating her fifteenth birthday. At this time thetic. They were of the opinion that I was too three years. As a result of special efforts I was my two daughters were living with a young old to enter a new relationship. They felt that able to depart on the first ship that left Norilsk widow, Olga Benke, her 5-year-old son and they were capable of looking after my needs. when normal navigation resumed in 1947.... her sister, Ida Briese. Eventually, however, they consented. I was one of the “rabbits” and was assigned My daughters were living in abject pov- December 4, 1947 I set out on my quest.... to the lower deck where we slept on the cold erty. They slept in a wooden bed lined with After a difficult journey I arrived in Karagaj hard floor... On this ship I celebrated my 25th straw and their only covering was a blanket where my relatives lived. Two days later my wedding anniversary with two Russian breth- their mother had brought with her from prison. brother Gerhard managed to get two oxen and ren and two Russian sisters as my guests. As They slept in their day clothes, the only clothes a wagon from the Kolchos and we set out for we went for a leisurely walk on the upper deck they had. . . . Their diet was very poor also and my cousin, Agatha Schmidt’s place. where we could enjoy viewing the green for- consisted mainly of potatoes – no meat or eggs. It was here that Nikolaj met Tina Sukkau, ests and the river currents, I felt once again Bread was not available in the stores and was her mother and her two spinster sisters among like a free man. . . . strictly rationed. Katja and Olga both worked others. His proposal of marriage was made On the eighth day we arrived at Krasnojarsk. in the Kolchos. the first time Tina and he were together alone: Here my first concern was to find the local At the end of the working day the women After a brief pause, she responded: “How congregation. What a thrill it was, after 15 years, often carried home small amounts of wheat will you know that I was meant to be your to once again hear the gospel preached openly.... that they hid in their skirts or jackets. At home wife?” they had to grind this grain by hand, no small “I will know this,” I answered, “if you tell Reunion. task after working a ten-hour day in the me that you could learn to love me.” The author describes his reunion with his Kolchos. There was no artificial light at night “In that case,” she said, “we will have to go children in Novoneschenka, in Kustanaj, except for “smoking saucers,” dishes that held our separate ways because I have never loved Kazakstan (see Pres., No. 19, page 50): a little oil and burning wicks. These lamps usu- a man and I feel no love for you either.” The first person I met as I stepped down ally delivered more smoke and stench than These words certainly took the wind out of from the train was a German woman. When I light.... my sails. I began to have doubts about all the asked her where I might leave my belongings prayers I had offered up specifically with re- she pointed to a sod hut nearby. It was the home Ministry. gard to my hopes for a more positive response of a family named Janz. After I was given direc- Soon after my arrival in Novoneschenka to my proposal. When I returned to my cousin tions I continued walking toward my two sons Kolja and Waldemar also joined Agatha’s house that evening, they were all sing- Novoneschenka where both my daughters were us. This was a great joy for everyone but par- ing joyfully. I was invited to join in, but I was living at that time. On the way another pedes- ticularly for me. I hadn’t even been able to more in a mood to sing funeral songs. trian joined me, a young girl, who served me as imagine them as grown-ups. Kolja had been The next day I made a few social calls, and guide. She went her own way when we ap- assigned to the Worker’s Army and so he was before evening I went to old mother Sukkau to proached the first houses in the village. Soon able to spend only a few days of his leave with bid her farewell.... With this farewell I gave up thereafter I met another German woman named us...... all hope of remarriage. I told my brother Krueger. In accordance with my wishes, Katja Gerhard that we would be leaving early the Before I could reveal who I was she said, brought me to a group of believers in next morning. “Are you the father of Elli and Katja?” When I Novoneschenka. They were all Russian. This answered in the affirmative she took me to their group was led by two elderly brethren, both in A Bride. place. As we approached the little house she left their eighties. A younger man was also in- Next morning, December 11, 1947 I was me and I walked the remaining few steps alone. volved, but he was mainly in charge of the up bright and early. Suddenly there was a I was so excited that I’m sure the slightest singing. Although I was still physically weak, knocking on the window and I heard a woman’s push would have sent me tumbling. Slowly I I was soon recruited to participate in the preach- voice asking, “Is Nikolaj Reimer still here?” approached the house, as if I were sleepwalk- ing. This was not easy, as I had to do it in I went out into the yard. ing. “Could this really be happening?” I asked Russian. I didn’t even own a Russian Bible at “What do you want?” I asked.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 107 “I want what you want,” she praised God although we were replied. She told me that she had aware that soon I would be in spent a sleepless night agonizing prison again. . . . over her decision, but now she was The lawyers advised us not to convinced that she should comply appeal the sentence. They were of with my wishes. Once again I con- the opinion that, judged from a fessed that I was a poor man as far strictly secular and legal point of as worldly goods were concerned. view, I had every reason to be satis- She assured me that she was aware fied with this mild sentence. Be- of this. . . . On that same day we cause I did not appeal to a higher were legally married and the pub- court, a police officer came for me lic celebration of our wedding was on April 17, 1963 and took me to set for Sunday, December 14, the prison in Kushmurin. On the 1947. Because we were so poor 23rd of April, I was transferred a the celebration was indeed a larger prison in Kustanaj. It is said humble affair. . . . by some that with time a prison be- Bringing home one’s second gins to feel like home. However, wife is very different from bring- after 17 years of freedom, a prison ing home the first. We had prayed Katharina (1901-96) and Nikolaj Reimer with children Katharina, Elli and looked to me very much like a place that the children might welcome us Waldemar, Kaschmurn, Kasachstan, 1955. for common criminals. Once again and, to our great relief, they were I was isolated, exiled. Why? For all happy to see us. Both Olga and Ida were ing he decided we could collect 30 rubles. Then what purpose? Such thoughts gave me little rest. even addressed my second wife as “mother.” by calculating retroactively he was sure we Criminals such as smugglers, traitors and had collected a considerable sum of money of so on are not usually offered the job of book- Persecution. which he estimated that I would have received keeper in a prison. And yet, prisons need book- Reimer goes on to describe the impover- one-third. A few days later I received a letter keepers too. As my prison documents permit- ished living conditions and other restrictions asking me to pay a fine of 22,000 rubles. ted me to work as bookkeeper, I was given he and his family endured during the late This led to a court hearing at which many this position even before I had served a month 1940s. Although he was no longer in prison, of the members of my congregation testified of my sentence. he was constantly reminded that his freedom that I had not received a single kopeck from was not to be taken for granted. any of these collections. Nevertheless, the Prison Labour. In Kasanbasy two elderly men and a woman court found me guilty and required that 20% After a stint as bookkeeper and night watch- were arrested for singing Christmas carols of my monthly pay be deducted every month man, Reimer was once again forced to do hard while they kept watch over cattle [presumably until the fine was paid. In 1961, when I be- labor, as a member of the infamous “Invalid on a Kolkoz or collective farm]. Someone heard came eligible to receive a paltry pension of 45 Brigade.” them and reported them. All three were sen- rubles per month, this fine was rescinded. . . . This brigade was sent out to work every tenced to 25 years in prison. When all the threats and scare tactics didn’t morning. Those winter months were particu- Even though the repressions suffered un- achieve what the authorities desired (we con- larly difficult for me as I suffered from insom- der the Stalinist regime eased somewhat after tinued to assemble in our sanctuary in spite of nia throughout the winter of 1963/64. I would Stalin’s death, basic freedoms that prevailed repeated interferences) they demanded that Sis- lie awake at night pleading with God to grant in the pre-Stalinist era were restored only ter Sara Funk appear before the Village Ple- me sleep. Mornings I had no choice but to join gradually. Permission to travel, for example, num. Here we were sternly warned again. Af- the others in the brigade. At work I was ex- was more easily obtained in the 1950s and as ter a few days a number of officials arrived at tremely exhausted and had to struggle to stay a result Nikolaj and his second wife were able Sara Funk’s residence with a truck and, not- awake. Technically it was illegal to force pen- to visit children and relatives who were scat- withstanding all her protests, loaded her be- sioners to join these labor gangs, but it was tered across the Soviet Union as a result of the longings, locked up her house, and transported done nevertheless. purges and subsequent relocations. Freedom her to the outskirts of the village, to a humble Eventually, my health was so compromised to assemble and carry on with worship ser- little sod hut that became her refuge. The house I simply could not muster the strength to get up vices also became easier during the ‘50s. How- that had served as our house of prayer was in the morning. The prison warden called me in ever, as the various Christian congregations now no longer open to us. Nevertheless, we for a hearing and tried to persuade me that I was began to grow in number, authorities once were later able to offer up prayers of gratitude still capable of working, but I simply couldn’t. again became alarmed and took measures to for the many blessings experienced there. The prison officials were not prepared to con- discourage religious assemblies. sign a pensioner to solitary confinement and so One Sunday toward the end of March 1959, Arrested, 1963. I was excused from daily physical labor for the a number of persons including the Inspector The religious harassment of Reimer’s con- remaining 3 to 4 months of my sentence. of Finances attended one of our worship ser- gregation continued intermittently until Reimer Although my sentence seemed endless, the vices. During the service they remained silent. was taken to court in March 1963. After three last day of my incarceration, October 17,1964 At the conclusion, however, they seized the days of hearings, Reimer was sentenced to 1 finally came. My family knew of the date of collection plate that contained 30 rubles.... and1/2 years in prison but was free to return my release and so my son-in-law, J. Dyck and On the 4th of April I was asked to appear to his home until his appeal could be processed. his wife came to the prison to bring me home. before a committee where 9 persons questioned My wife and daughter were baffled by the I was already waiting at the prison gate when me. First they asked me to sign a document outcome of the trial. “You mean you can return they arrived.... After being isolated for a year promising that we would no longer assemble home with us today?” my wife asked. Although and a half, I could once again experience a as a group. This I could not do, in spite of all it was already late, we stopped at the home of happy reunion with children, grandchildren and their threats. Then I was called before the leader Sister Dueck and together we praised God for the family of God. of the Finance Department who offered me an my release. Then it was on to my mother-in- My next desire was to pay a visit to my agreement. Two meetings on Sundays, one law’s house. I went to her bed and kissed her. mother-in-law, 91- year - old Mother Sukkau. midweek and one on Saturday came to four Confused, she asked, “Nikolaj, have you re- Alas, her chair was empty. She had been car- meetings per week, he observed. At each meet- ally been set free?” We prayed together and ried to her grave on October 11, 1964, 6 days

108 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 sorrow, comfort, tranquillity but, above all else, a genuine concern for others. Here we saw the daily practice of divine love and forgiveness, conduct that served as a model for his entire family. Grandfather’s life was always spiritual in orientation and his attention entirely focused on his desire to please Almighty God. His life was always exemplary and like the sun, warmed and sustained us even when he was silent.... On the 17th of April, 1977 grandfather suf- fered a heart attack. On the 20th of April, 1977 he was called to his heavenly home. He had looked forward to that moment with great an- ticipation. For his epitaph he requested his per- sonal motto: “Grace, only by grace and en- tirely by God’s grace.”

Nur Aus Gnaden. Readers interested in the story of Rev. Nikolai Reimer, may read his edited memoirs in the book, Nur Aus Gnaden: Errinnerungen (Lemgo, Germany, 1996), 160 pages, pub- lished by his Granddaughter Adina Reger, Weiszenthurm, Germany, in 1996 in loving memory and in sincere appreciation of her he- Nikolaj Reimer with grandchildren: l.-r., rear, Nikolaj Reimer (today pastor of the Mennonite Church in roic grandfather. See book review by Jacok Lemgo, Germany, Adina Reger, Elfriede Reger; front, Elli Reger, Peter Dyck (on grandfather’s lap), Pries, Winnipeg, in Preservings, No. 17, pages Johann Reimer, Katharina Dyck (on grandpa’s lap), Wladimir Reimer and Rita Reger, Kuschmurun, 139-140. Kazakstan, ca. 1960. All photos for this article are courtesy of A. Reger, editor of her grandfather’s memoirs. Further Reading: before my release. Following the persecution As suddenly as the beating had started, it Colin Neufeldt, “The Flight to Moscow, of 1962, many members of our congregation stopped. Bloodied and bruised, I managed to 1929,” in Pres., No. 19, pages 33-47. had fled to parts unknown. Our children, get up off the ground. The murderers had van- Waldemar and Rita, were still in exile, and we ished. Had they seen a frightening apparition? Translator’s Comments: could not count on their return to their former Only heaven could reveal why they had ac- Some time ago, I received the booklet Nur home. In the meantime, we continued serving costed me and then had decided to spare me. In Aus Gnaden (“Only by Grace”), the memoirs those members of the congregation who were the meantime Lydia had returned. She had run of Nikolaj Reimer. I found this to be an inter- still left. Eventually, at the urging of our chil- for help but had not been able to find anyone. esting story. It tells us a good deal about vari- dren, we also left Kuschmurin and moved to I was cradling my wounded right hand closely ous Mennonite responses to the Stalinist Amankaragaj [Kazakstan]. to my bloodstained right side. My left hand purges and the persecution of ethnic minori- was also bleeding. Lydia quickly escorted me ties during the 1930s and 40s.. Reimer’s re- A Beating. to the home of Mariechen Fast. . . . sponse, his refusal to betray his fellow men Reimer’s final release from Soviet prisons Eventually friends took Reimer to the local and women, both before and after his impris- did not lead immediately to a life of peaceful hospital where he was treated for a chest onment, was indeed admirable. Reimer’s ac- retirement: wound and severe lacerations to the head and count reveals an uncommon will to survive. In 1965, late autumn, conditions seemed to hand. It’s hard to believe that a person could live be generally more settled and quiet. November I suffered great pain and spent several sleep- through all that and not succumb to bitterness 9th was the date of my wife’s birthday, and on less nights because of these injuries. “Why or resentment. that day we were visited by my sister Sara and this as well, O God?” I couldn’t help asking. As I read this book I kept thinking that this my wife’s sisters, Mariechen and Lydia. In the Eventually these physical wounds healed also. man was an almost exact contemporary of evening, Lydia and I decided we would attend a my father, a pastor and bishop in the West Bible study meeting. About halfway to our des- Granddaughter’s Tribute. Reserve from 1935 until his death in 1961. tination a young girl, eight or nine years of age, Adina Reger, Nikolaj Reimer’s granddaugh- My father and his extended family escaped a met us, screaming, “Quickly, run away! Gypsy ter, pays tribute to her grandfather in the epi- similar fate simply because they were able to robbers are after me with knives and they’re logue: emigrate in 1926, three years before Reimer’s going to kill me!” While we were still trying to Our grandfather, Nikolaj Reimer, like so unsuccessful attempts. decide what to do, the child disappeared down many Mennonites in the Soviet Union, hoped I have translated excerpts from this book to the darkening street. Before we could react to all his life that one day he would be able to share this courageous story with the readers this news a young man suddenly appeared and move to the Republic of West Germany, the of Preservings. It is not a continuous narra- threatened me with a knife. To protect myself, I home of his ancestors. Unfortunately, this wish tive because I summarize, whenever neces- grasped the knife and in doing so I suffered a was never granted. However, his children Katja, sary, parts that I have omitted.... severe cut to my hand. In an instant a second Waldemar and Elli, as well as his daughter-in- Nikolaj Reimer was fortunate to have a robber appeared, threw me to the ground, and law Magda together with all their next of kin granddaughter who took an interest in his began beating me on the head. I thought I would were able migrate to the West.... Our story and with the publication of this little lose consciousness. There was nothing I could grandfather’s life was a special blessing and book also managed to preserve it. do to defend myself. “Run for you life, Lydia!” example for all of his descendants. His home Translator “Peter Pauls” I shouted. After that, all I could do was pray: was a place where life was appreciated to the 51 Rutgers Bay, Winnipeg, Canada, R3T “God, in your mercy, take me to you!” fullest. Here was a place where we found work, 3C9.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 109 Tamara (Dagmar) Djakonowa, nee Klassen Reminiscences of Tamara (Dagmar) Djakonowa, nee Klassen, Marganez, Ukraine, written by Adina Reger, Weißenthurm, Germany.

Tamara (Dagmar) Djakonowa, the German soldiers who were al- nee Klassen, has written: “If I ready occupying Berdjansk. would record my life’s story, it Three huge barges with sugar, would be very repetitive, for the sheep, and other provisions, were tragedy of the Germans in Rus- sunk right in front of our eyes. Dur- sia was and continues to be very ing the night and during the day 13 similar.” For this reason Dagmar bombs were dropped on three other writes only about certain episodes barges, but not a single bomb hit us. in her life which are unforgettable The people waved with towels and to her. Adina Reger bed sheets, but the bombs continued to “rain” from heaven. A storm arose Introduction. upon the sea and we had to anchor I, Dagmar (later I called myself in the middle of the Asowschen Sea Tamara) Klassen, was born on No- for the entire night for otherwise our vember 29, 1928, in the Mennonite barge would have tipped over and hospital in Halbstadt, Molotschna, sank. founded by Franz Wall. Franz Wall, Towards morning an attack together with a number of others fighter plane came by. Everyone pre- were driven out onto the fields and Katharina (Loewen) and Abram Kroeker, Halbstadt, 1924. All photos for pared themselves for their death. shot. this article are courtesy of Dagmar Klassen and Katharina Kröker-Suprunowa, Suddenly the captain on the bridge My parents, Maria nee Loewen Marganez, Ukraine. shouted out: “Women, pray!” He had (b. 1898) and Peter Klassen (b. Nov. already lost a ship in this manner 9, 1897, in Melitopol) both worked as teachers classroom and sent him to Charkow. Later he earlier. for six years in Tiegerweide, close to Halbstadt. came to the city of Iwdelj in the Urals, where he And God heard our prayers. The pilot dove Circa 1925 they married in Melitopol. In 1932 died already in December. down and as he approached our barge, he they moved to Olgino, 18 km. distant from waggled his wings (all of us were screaming), Berdjansk. Here I attended school and for three Escape from Berdjansk. and flew on!!! This experience is unforgettable years the German school. German instruction in On October 7, 1941, our family and also many for me. the schools was forbidden in 1938. In 1941 I others from Berdjansk where transported to completed the seventh grade here. Mariupol with a barge. There was no other way, Kasachstan. I was born to a family where the most of the for the German Wehrmacht was already in the We came to the village of Bannowka, District members (eight persons) were teachers: Grand- area and the residents had to flee. We were herded of Kustanaj, Kasachstan, where I was able to father Loewen, his two daughters and their hus- onto an open barge where many hundreds - and complete the eighth and ninth grades. Since teach- bands, two adopted daughters and one adopted possibly also thousands - of people had gath- ers were in short supply at this time, a two year son. ered: Germans, Bulgarians, Greeks, Jews, Ukrai- pedagogical course was offered in the Pedagogi- On September 7, 1941, they came and picked nians, Russians, party functionaries and non- cal Institute in the city of Kustanaj for students up my father (a mathematics teacher) from the party people. This was the last chance to escape who had completed grades nine and ten. I was registered at the Institute in 1944 and completed the course in 1946. I was the only German enroled at the Insti- tute, since following my father’s papers, I was entered as “Dutch” in my personal identity docu- ments. This is what saved me at the time. On this basis I was freed by Kliment Efremowitsch Woroschilow from the Kommandatur (NKVD) authority in 1955, a year sooner than the other Germans. My mother was appointed as the Ger- man teacher at the Bannowskaja School in 1942. After the completion of my course I was also

Peter Klassen, student in Berdjansk, 1915-1916. He was the father of Dagmar Klassen Djakonowa. He was the son of Jak. Klassen, the owner of the Katharina Löwen, 1918-1919. flour mills in Melitopol. Katharina (Löwen) and Alex Suprunowa, 1964.

110 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 The Löwen house in Halbstadt, view from the inner courtyard. allowed to work in the Bannowskaja School. In ing letters with the father of Jakob Gossen, a 1956 I graduated from the pedagogical advanced married-together brother of Tante Tina. He regu- studies in the city of Uralsk. I was now a teacher larly sent us “Der Bote”. of Literature and the Russian language. In March, 1997, the “Bote” contained an article with a report by Peter Kehler regarding Ukraine, 1962. the baptism in the Mennonite Church in For the entire time, my homesickness for the Zaporozhe. The address of the pastor was also Ukraine was so great that in the year 1962 I left given. Immediately I wrote him a letter. It took everything in the Kustanaj District and moved four days for my letter to get to Zaporozhe even back to the Ukraine, in the city of Marganez. though Marganez is only 70-80 km. distant. Front right: Katharina (Löwen) Kröker- Acquaintances here had arranged a teaching po- During this time the pastor family of Peter Suprunowa. Front left, Dagmar Klassen, the niece sition for me. I arrived in Marganez on August Kehler had returned back to Canada and Frank of Katharina. Photo taken in Tokmak, Ukraine. 20, 1962, and already on August 31 I took up my Dyck, the new pastor, had come. Since my let- new position of employment in the youth evening ter was addressed to Peter Kehler, F. Dyck for- pastor from Holland). This was such an experi- school. warded my letter to Peter Kehler in Canada. ence in my life that I wept for joy and rejoiced. In 1965 I married a Djakonow and in 1966 Finally I received the telephone number for F. After all these prohibitions under which we had we moved back to the Kustanaj District, Region Dyck from him and I also phoned Frank imme- suffered in Russia until now, and suddenly these of Fedorowskij, working on the Sowchose (state diately. The very next day we visited Frank and freedoms: one needs to pray often. farm) “Fedorowskij”. In 1966 my mother and Nettie Dyck. This was on Wednesday, the 23rd Ever since this day I have regularly attended her sister Tina moved to Alma-Ata the worship services and serve in and lived there until 1978. Then they the Gemeinde as translator of the moved to live with my brother sermons from German to Russian. Heinrich, who worked as the Direc- Once a month we were visited by tor of the Sowchose “Nautschnyj”, Frank and Nettie and presently by district of Komsomolshij. This the pastor family Unrau. Sowchose was an experimental sta- tion for new varieties of grain. Presently. Mother died there in 1978. At the present time, I live in the In 1972 we moved to Marganez city of Marganez, Ukraine, together where I taught as a teacher for the with my aunt Katharina (Tina) German and Russian languages and Kroeker, nee Loewen, who reached Literature. the age of 102 on the 23rd of May, In 1985 my husband died. Sub- 2002. Both of us have been engaged sequently I moved Aunt Tina to my as teachers for our entire lives. We place in Marganez. My husband celebrated Tante Tina’s 100th birth- Djakonow was a very sweet, loving day at our place together with a num- person, but he drank too often which ber of members of the Gemeinde caused me much pain for my entire Halbstadt 1917. Rear: l.-r., Heinrich Löwen, father of Katharina, and brother who also had birthdays in May: Dor- life. We had no children. Today Kornelius, right. Front: l.-r., Aganetha (Gossen) Löwen, Mrs. Dück and othy Unrau (May 26) and Lydia Berg (2001) I have already been a widow Anna (Löwen) Löwen). The latter two are sisters to the Loewen brothers. (May 20). Such gatherings are al- for 16 years. ways very happy, with prayers and of July 1997. On July 27 I was already attend- songs, which we bring forth to the honour of our Mennonite Church. ing the worship services in the Mennonite God. We are blessed to belong to this Gemeinde. Even before I ever was a member of the Gemeinde in Zaporozhe. There would certainly be much more to write Gemeinde, my aunt Tina said to me, “Can you about. I had only one more wish - to emigrate to invite a pastor to the house for me?” Baptism, 1997. Germany. I have been waiting for the emigration “Where shall I find a pastor?” I asked. “Shall The second important experience in my life approval since 1993. But since my ancestors had I go to the train station in Zaporozhe and scream, was when I was baptised on August 3, 1997, allowed themselves to be recorded as “Dutch” in `Where is there a pastor here?’” together with six other persons from our their Passports, now Germany does not wish to In 1992 Tante Tina’s nephew Jakob Gossen Gemeinde. One can hardly imagine: completely accept us. But I have not lost hope. Tante Tina from Canada and Heinrich Ehemann from Ger- in the open and without fear, we were baptised received her immigration papers in 1993 already, many visited us. We had already been exchang- by our pastor Frank Dyck and Arno Timm (a but she does not want to emigrate without me.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 111 Katharina (Lowen) Suprunowa (b. 1900) Written by Katharina (Lowen) Suprunowa herself at the age of 102.

Heinrich Loewen. us, found a teaching position in Sofiewka (ca. off, even the eight-month old child. The oldest I was born on May 23, 1900, into a teach- 1913), a Mennonite village. Heinrich Neufeld daughter, who had witnessed all this through ing family. My father Heinrich Lowen came had a factory there. We only lived here one the window, grabbed her little brother by the from Muntau. My mother Sara, nee year and then father was offered a teaching hand and ran off into the woods. Later, when Sudermann, from Melitopol. After their mar- position in Halbstadt (ca.1914) because the they returned home, they found the corpses of riage in 1897? my parents moved to the Crimea. existing teacher had been drafted into the ser- their dear ones. All three children were born in the Crimea: vice. Now father was close to his mother. He Maria 1889, Tina 1900 and a brother in 1903. taught in this school for three years until the Gymnasium, During the birth of my brother, my mother old teacher returned from his service. In 1917 we again moved away from suffered a stroke and was lamed. At that time Halbstadt to a village in the district of Mariupol, father was a teacher in Neu-Schirin, Crimea. Remarriage, 1915. where father received a teaching position. Two The lameness could not be completely cured In 1915 father married for the second time years later (ca. 1919) father was again offered even though mother had spent an entire year in in a marriage to Aganetha Gossen. She was a teaching position in Halbstadt. My sister and the hospital of Dr. Weidenbaum. She was in- loving and good to us. Now I was again able myself were accepted into the Mädchenschule deed able to walk again but the left foot dragged to attend the high school. They moved to (girls’ school), from which we graduated three a little and the left hand remained completely Muntau into a dwelling. Our second mother years later (ca. 1922) after which we were ac- powerless. I was three years old at the time was a old maid and had lived with her sick cepted into the high school (Gymnasium) in and could not understand everything, but it brother for many years. The brother lived on Tokmak. Father found it very difficult without was something quite exceptional for me that an estate. He died of cancer and his wife mother and us two daughters. After five classes my father would brush my hair and that mother (Katharina, nee Neufeld) asked her sister-in- in Tockmak I had to remain at home for one did not come home. I never saw my mother law (our second mother) to stay with her. Un- year and my sister was again able to attend the well again. fortunately [for her], Aganetha married my fa- high school. We lived here until 1905 to 1906 after which ther. We finished the high school and became we moved back to Halbstadt. Mother died in One day the Machno band visited another teachers, at first in Halbstadt, then in 1912. She suffered a kidney attack and died brother of our second mother on his estate (he Sagradowka, and then in Tokmak. When we four hours later. was a Neufeld), while he was sitting outside fled to Poland in 1943 I worked there for two Whenever father was without work we had his front door with his guests. The bandits years in a German school. Then we arrived in to move elsewhere. Father, who looked after pulled out their sabres and cut all of their heads Germany but were captured by the Russian

Theatre drama “Neuzuczayaps” or “Iwan Susanin” presented in the Mädchenschule (girls’ school) in Halbstadt, 1914. Left, middle: Katharina Aganetha (Gossen) and Heinrich Löwen, Halbstadt, 1912. Löwen, born 1900.

112 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 military. This was a hard time. We were again gathered together and we were told we would be returned to our homes. Regrettably it was all a lie - we were brought to the Urals. Here we worked in the woods. In 1947, because of a shortage of teachers, we were again allowed to work as teachers. Later I found my sister and we moved to the city of Alma-Ata and lived there for 13 years. Then we moved to my sister’s son where she died in 1948. The daughter of my sister, Dagmar, took me to her home and looked after me like a “daughter”. The beloved God has looked after me.

Tamara (Dagmar) Djakonowa, nee Klassen (left) and her 102 year old aunt Katharina (Lowen) Suprunowa (b. 1900). Photo - Adina Reger, Au- Löwen house in Halbstadt, 1935. gust 2002.

Mädchenschule in Halbstadt. Front right: Katharina Löwen (b. 1900). Rear, left, the first in the row is sister Maria.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 113 Material Culture Village Nicknames Among the Mennonites in Russia “Village Nicknames Among the Mennonites in Russia, by Gerhard Wiens, reprinted with permission from Mennonite Life, October 1970, pages 177-180. Introduction. and Molotschna, begun in 1804). I also received 13 nicknames besides the 13 in my own row of Even though the culture of our Mennonite settle- explanations of the origin of some nicknames, re- villages, a total of 26 out of 58 possible names. ments in Russia was largely German, several fac- ports of customs associated with them, and some These others are: tors, in the course of the generations, set us apart related stories. By the way, the kinship between our Alexanderwohl – Krauje (crows) from the people of the country of our origin. They Low German word Etjenaome and the English Blumenort – Huppupsnasta, Kuckucksnasta, were: very limited contact with German, our isola- “nickname” is fascinating: “nickname” comes from Kurreijoalinja (hoopoes’ nests, cuckoos’ nests, tion within the Russian environment, our district the older “a nekename”, a corruption of an ekename; Russian thistle yearling colts) way of life, and the recognition of our Low German eke, meaning “also”, is a cognate of High German Franztal – Kwaustreddasch (Kvastriders) dialect as our “Mennonite” mother tongue. We real- auch and Low German etje, which occurs only in Friedensdorf – Prachawaste (beggars’ vests) ized more and more how different we were from all Etjenaome; a nickname thus is an additional name, Fürstenwerder – Huppsfleaje (fleas) other Germans and we eventually became the an “also-name”, as it were, an Auch-Name. Gnadental – Forzvesaola (though amusing, the name Mennonitenvolk. We were Menniste-not just a reli- is too crude for translation) gious group, but a people. Village Nicknames. Grossweide – Bolleleidasch (bull leaders) The period of our growth as a people (roughly But here is a sampling of our village nicknames. Hierschau – Kosefelt (goat field) the 19th century) was long enough to allow the Our string of thirteen villages, my own Lindenau Konteniusfeld – Kosifelda (goatfielders) evolution of a folklore of our own (Note One). A lying about the middle, had these nicknames: Landskrone – Kraujenasta (crows’ nests) fascinating and rather distinctive element of our folk- Altenau – Haowamies (oat mice) Ohrloff – Prachawaste (beggars’ vests) lore was the Low German nicknames which we Münsterberg – Dwoajbiedels (bags of curds) Pastwa – Paunkoake (Pancakes) gave to our villages. Blumstein – Bobbatstjarschte (bobbat crusts; Pordenau – Komstgnoagasch (cabbage chewers) bobbat – a meat pastry) Rosenort – Kraujenasta, Schmauntletjasch, Nicknames. Lichtenau – Prachabraodasch, Prachawaste (beg- Schmauntangeltjes, Rotkoppje Distle (crows’ nests, It would seem the every one of our villages had gar roasters, beggar vests) cream lickers, cream anglers, redheaded thistles) a nickname. I had always remembered the nick- Lindenau – Rollkoake, Rollkokeschluckasch (roll Rückenau – Noadspogge (north frogs) name of my own village (Lindenau, in the cakes, roll cake swallowers) Rudnerweide – Suri Kruschtje (Sour Wild Pears) Molotschna settlement) and those of our neigh- Fischau – Piezja, Piezjeriedasch (frogs, frog rid- Sparrau – Spoalinja (sparrows) bors, but had forgotten any others I ever knew. ers) Tiege – Huppupsnasta, Kuckucksnasta (hoopoes’ Fascinated by the robust humor which lives in these Schönau – Krauntjemaltjasch (crane milkers) nests, cuckoos’ nests) ingenious and often bizarre creations of the popular Tiegenhagen – Heatjt, Heatjteriedasch (pike, pike Tiegerweide – Aotpoaschintjes (stork hams) imagination, I decided some years ago to make a riders) From the Old Colony I received the following study of them or at least to save as many as I could Muntau – Krauje, Tjirre, Kraujeschluwe, nicknames: from oblivion. Since my articles concerning our life Kraujenasta (crows, crows’ shells or hulls, crows’ Chortitza – Hunjsbroade (roast dog) and folklore which had been appearing in the Bote nests) Einlage – Welsgnoagasch (catfish gnawers or chew- had elicited warm responses from readers who Halbstadt – Rode Hunj (red dogs) ers) fondly remembered the olden times, I issued a call Neu-Halbstadt – Glomsbiedels (cottage cheese Kronsweide – Poggeleidasch (frog leaders) for our village nicknames. bags) Neu-Chortitza – Aufjebroakne Massasch (broken- I wrote the article in Low German and gave it a Petershagen – Tjräft, Tjräftschluwe (crayfish, cray- off knives) title which would startle any old-timer from Russia fish shells) Neuenburg – Deiwschlappasch (dew draggers) into reading it: Rollkoakeschluckasch, Ladekopp – Koape, Koapedoarms (carp, carp guts) Neuendorf – Rollkoake, Jäwelbräda (roll cakes, Piezjeriedasch enn Prachabraodasch (Note Two). The exuberance of the imagination in these names gable boards) These were the nicknames which I had remem- and their realism identiry them as true products of the Nieder-Chortitza – Tscherkesse (Circassians) bered. I told my readers what I knew about the people. How old these nicknames are we cannot say, Osterwick – Moadeschietasch (“maggot flies” is a tradition and asked them to write me what they but my oldest correspondents (in their eighties) re- polite translation) remembered. I had to justify my request as part of a membered them from their childhood. One corre- Rosental – Kruschtjekwaus (wild pear kvass, a sour serious scholarly endeavor, for I knew that many spondent suggested that they arose during the drink) would consider our ludicrous nicknames unwor- Podwodentiet (“carting time”), that is, during the Schöneberg – Krauntjemaltjasch, Utjeblajhte Fuppe thy of a scholar’s attention, however fond of them Crimean War (1855), when our great-grandfathers (crane milkers, tin-lined pockets) they might be themselves. Despite this, one great- supplied and transported large amounts of food to Schönhorst – Bobbatstjarschte met Fiasteena grandmother chided me gently, saying a professor the Russian army. Young men from all the villages of (“bobbat” crusts with flint-stones) should have better things to write about than such both colonies were thrown together for the first time, For one of the villages of Memrik, an older foolish names. And she sent me not one foolish and natural rivalry and local patriotism led to more or daughter colony, I received the nickname name. less good-natured raillery. It could be that this meet- Kwausdrintjasch. There, it was said, a party could But others did. Within a few weeks I had re- ing gave impetus to the proliferation of nicknames, get high on five kopecks worth of kvass. ceived more than a dozen letters, some of them half but it was not the cause. Local pride and various The sources of our village nicknames seem ob- a dozen pages long. The response was heartwarm- degrees of antagonism toward others have been part vious in some cases and quite puzzling in others. ing, the letters delightful, and their writers obvi- of social psychology ever since there were tribes or Local conditions of life or landscape could be ex- ously delighted. When I compiled the information units of human habitation. (Witness the feuding be- pected to give rise to descriptive names. For ex- received, I had the nicknames of all the villages of tween Fort Worth and Dallas, between California ample, I am sure that our neighbors, the good people my own vicinity and about twenty more from both and Florida). Our nicknames were products of the of Fischau, were the Piezja or Piezjeriedasch, i.e., our “mother colonies” (i.e., the two original colo- eternal human contest. the frogs or frog riders, because the village was half nies: Chortitza, the “Old Colony,” settled in 1789; From the Molotschna colony I can account for surrounded by ponds with a million frogs in them

114 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 whose croaking on balmy summer evenings It is of interest to note how many different nick- which consisted of roll cakes and watermelon, a drowned out the song of the nightingales. names were sometimes showered upon one vil- boy from Neuendorf came along the road. “Boy,” Tiegenhagen, according to one correspondent, was lage. On the other hand, the same appellation was my uncle called to him, “would you like a roll cake?” called Heatjt or Heatjteriedasch because the pike in often given to a number of villages. One correspon- Came back the prompt rejoinder, “Sir, do you have the Molotschna River flowing by it were big enough dent reported a very deserving nickname but regret- a piece of catfish to go with it?” My uncle had a for the people to ride on. Muntau was teased with fully conceded that he could not vouch for its au- sense of humor and liked to tell the story about the Krauje or Kraujenasta because, even though we thenticity: Mesttjniepasch (manure beetles). alert boy. all had woods with innumerable crows’ nests in While we may see the psychological explana- The jeering tale is a natural companion to nick- them, in this village the woods were situated right tion of our village nicknames in the age-old antago- names of localities. Out of several which I received by the main road at one end of the village, not nism between tribes and localities, the vigor of our I select one. Variants of it were sent me by three behind the farmsteads and away from the road as in creativity was probably due to our extreme clan- correspondents. Two could not identify the village the other villages, and every traveler passing nishness. Not only did we shun contact with the and one did so with uncertainty. This village, it through Muntau was made aware of its abundance surrounding Russian population and even, to a con- seems, had no clocks, but the people knew how to of crows and their nests. siderable extent, with our non-Mennonite German help themselves. With a long rope they tied a boar My 83-year-old correspondent from Blumenort neighbors; the circumstances of our life also en- to a pole outside the village. When the boar, while surmised that the inhabitants were call couraged some isolation of every village from its grazing or just from boredom, had wandered around Kurreijoalinja, Russian thistle colts, because a short neighbors. There was so little social contact that the pole enough times to have wound all the rope distance from her village a Siberian-olive hedge ran children and youths of different villages, when they around it - then the time was noon. Between noon all the way across the steppe and, during the long did chance to meet, kept their distance or approached and evening he obligingly unwound himself again days of wind in autumn, dead Russian thistle plants one another with reserve or a chip on their shoul- - and it was quitting time. Some rationalist, dissatis- in the shape of huge rolling tumbleweeds would ders. When such hostile camps faced each other, it fied with the story’s implausibility in relying upon a collect against it to form a wall of great height. was not long before those insulting nicknames hog’s perambulations, changed the story so that However, she wondered plaintively, why particu- started flying across no-man’s land. Further devel- now the boar was being driven, and not around a larly colts, why not for instance calves or heifers? opments of the encounter might range form a tire- pole but a thick tree. The third version let him graze The Old Colony village of Neuenburg had the some repetition of the insults or variants thereof to again, but tied him to a big wild-pear tree. nickname Deiwschlappasch, dew draggers, be- a Tjielerie, a donnybrook. We had another derisive tale which Rabelais, I cause, being situated in a deep valley, it had frequent believe, would not have been ashamed to allow for heavy morning fog, and the villagers often had to Wit and Folklore. his own, but I am not Rabelais enough to publish it. hitch their horses to a contraption of boards to drag It seemed immensely funny to our people when Hence no tale, only the observation that in it our two the fog out of the village. some wit would rise to the occasion and provide a colonies ridiculed one another in an identical story: clever twist to the hoary nickname or extemporize whoever the teller was, it was always the other Food and Nicknames. an apt application to the situation at hand. Writes colony which was made the butt of the joke - a case The other most common source of the nick- one correspondent: As a teenager I was standing of patent plagiarism which speaks ill for the teller names was the food known or assumed to be the with a schoolmate one afternoon, in the late nine- but well for the tale. favorite of the village. We Lindenauers were the ties, by the gate of my grandfather’s place in Tiege Rollkoake, roll cakes, which were thin squares of (the Kuckucksnasta, cuckoo nests). A sleigh full of Conclusion. dough, fried in deep fat, which expanded into bal- youths and girls from Blumenort (the Russian thistle In conclusion let me share with you a peek into loons of crispy goodness and were particularly de- colts) drove by and a young man shouted to us, the very workshop of folklore. At least such it seemed licious with watermelon. As in many other cases, “Boys, go inside, or you’ll freeze fast to the cuckoo to me. I felt I was witnessing the birth of a legend our nickname appeared in both the plain and the droppings!” My pal shot back, “We’ll cover our- when I read in this correspondent’s letter how he adorned form: Rollkoake and Rollkoakeschluckasch selves with Russian thistles!” had invented many a jeering tale himself in self- (swallowers or devourers). The same tendency to My delightful correspondent goes on to report: defense. He, a Molotschner, had marred an Oltkolnia embellish is apparent in Piezjeriedasch, The people of Petershagen were teased with “cray- and had lived in the Old Colony afterwards. The Heatjteridasch, Krauntjemaltjasch, Tjräftschluwe, fish shells”. When someone driving through the only Molotschner among all these Old Colonists, Prachabraodasch, Koapedoarms and others. Other village would show the people on the street, with he had lain awake nights thinking up ways to counter names derived from foods were: Dwoajbiedels, his fingers, the sign of what crayfish do with their their nasty attacks. Out of a number of his tales I Bobbatstjarschte, Glomsbiedels, Komstgnoagasch, claws, then it was not certain he would get out of select one which shows the characteristics that would Schmauntlejasch, and Welsgnoagasch. that village with a whole hide. make it indistinguishable from a folktale. Its back- Some nicknames seem to have come from a One old correspondent relates a story from her ground is the historical fact that our ancestors, who corruption or a mockery of the village’s name. The mother’s youth: My mother and her brother were came to settle the Molotschna villages in 1804, win- kopp in Ladekopp seemingly was corrupted into driving toward Fürstenwerder, the village of the tered in the Old Colony on their way from Prussia. koap, though this presupposes an abysmal lack of fleas (Huppsfleaje), and were nearing the opening Now, according to my correspondent, during that sensitivity to shadings in sound. Similarly, one of of the street where the village herd was customarily winter an Old Colonist had stolen a wheelbarrow the nicknames of Rosenort being Rotkoppje Distle, driven out to pasture. When they saw a couple of from a Molotschner’s wagon. With the aid of that my guess is that “redheaded thistles” is an attempt boys approaching, my mother said in a loud voice wheelbarrow the thief, and by and by all the Old to ridicule Rosenort (“Roseville”, as it were) as the to her brother, “Look, they’re driving the fleas out Colonists, learned to walk on their hind legs. place not of roses but of thistles. to pasture!” The brother had to apply the whip to I know of two cases where the nicknames were the horses promptly to get out from under the rain Endnotes: invented to rhyme with the name of the village: of clods which was descending upon them. Note One: Cf. my article, “Volkskunde der Kronswieda - Poggeleida and Jnoadentaola To be sure, the teasing was often quite good- Ruszlandmennoniten,” Der Bote, March 19, 26 and (Gnadental) – Forzvesaola. natured and, as a matter of fact, mutually appreci- April 3, 1958. For several of the remaining nicknames my cor- ated. Writes one Oltkolnia: We of Einlage, situated Note Two: Der Bote, Oct. 21, 1961. respondents offered more or less farfetched expla- on the Dnieper which was full of the best fish, were nations. The origin of these names remains a mys- called the catfish or catfish gnawers and actually we About the Author: tery, all the more impenetrable for such outlandish were proud of it. The land of Neuendorf bordered Gerhard Wiens emigrated from Soviet Russia ones as Prachabraoda, roaster of beggars; on ours and the Neuendorf road went past our as a young man in the 1920s. He served as Profes- Krauntjemaltjasch, crane milkers; Aotpoaschintjes, fields. The people of Neuendorf were the roll cakes. sor of Russian at the University of Oklahoma, in stork hams; Aufjebroakne Massasch, knives with One noonday when my uncle was sitting by the Norman, Oklahoma. (see Preservings, No. 23, page tips broken off. roadside at the edge of his field eating his lunch 132). He passed away ca. 1965.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 115 Mennonite Bibles and Bible Translations “Mennonite Bibles and Bible Translations,” by Walter Klaassen, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, reprinted from Mennonite Life, July 1964. pages 117-124.

Froschauer Bible. copies of the Bible finding their way to Russia achievement as there has been should, how- Mennonites have through the centuries for in the 18th century and thence to America in ever, be recognized. the most part used the standard translations the 19th. In some congregations in Holland it Bible Translations. and versions of the Bible. The Dutch Menno- continued to be used into the 19th century, but Three outstanding efforts at Bible transla- nites have used the Statenvertaling, the Ger- has since been replaced completely by the more tion by Mennonites deserve attention, connected man-speaking Luther’s translation, and En- accurate Statenvertaling. with the names of Hans Denck, Pieter Jansz glish- speaking Mennonites the King James Mennonites have from the beginning in- and Rodolphe Petter. Version. There were, however, two versions, sisted that they were more biblical than some Hans Denck (1500-27) was one of the best- one Swiss and the other Dutch [Flemish], other Christians but they have done relatively educated Anabaptist leaders in the 16th cen- which can be described as Men- tury. In the course of his univer- nonite Bibles, although neither sity years he acquired a good of them was a Mennonite trans- knowledge of Greek and He- lation. brew. This enabled him to assist The first is the Froschauer Ludwig Haetzer in translating the Bible, so-called because it was Old Testament prophets into published by Christoph German. The work was begun Froschauer, printer and towards the end of 1526 when publisher. The version was that Haetzer and Denck were both in prepared by Zwingli and his Strassburg, and completed in aides between 1524 and 1529 on 1527 in Worms. The translation the basis of Luther’s work. It dif- was a good one, and according fered from Luther mainly in word to the judgment of one 20th cen- order and vocabulary since the tury expert on Luther’s Bible German spoken in Zurich dif- translation, in some instances an fered considerably from the Ger- improvement on Luther’s own man of Luther’s translation. For German style as seen in his first some reason, perhaps the famil- New Testament. Luther, who had iarity of the dialect, the Swiss not yet translated the prophets at Brethren preferred this original this time, complimented the zeal version to others and continued and workmanship of Haetzer and to use it long after it went out of Denck, and was stimulated by the use in the Swiss Reformed appearance of their translation to Church. From 1588 onwards re- complete his own work. prints were made in Basel and The work first appeared on elsewhere especially for April 13, 1527 and within four Anabaptists. A Froschauer New years it was reprinted 11 times. Testament was reprinted in It was used extensively during America in 1787 for Mennonites the years 1527-1532 because it in Pennsylvania. was the only Reformation trans- lation in existence. As soon as Biestkens Bible. the Lutheran and the Swiss trans- The second is the Biestkens lations appeared, however, the Bible, again called by the name “Worms Prophets” were totally of its printer, Nikolaes Biestkens rejected, never to experience a re- of Emden and member of the naissance. The reason for this to- Mennonite congregation there. tal rejection, writes Gerhard This Bible was a Dutch version Goeters, is not because the trans- printed especially by Biestkens lation was philologically defi- for the members of his brother- cient, but because both Haetzer hood in 1560. The basis for this and Denck belonged to the version appears to have been a Anabaptist movement and held Low German version done by theological views that diverged Jacobus van Liesveldt, and pub- from those of Luther and Zwingli. lished in Antwerp in 1526. Men- And yet, says Goeters, it must nonites continued to used this Psalms Chapter 22-26 from the Biestkens Bible first printed in 1560. Courtesy of be admitted that this translation Bible in spite of the fact that an John D. Tiessen, MLA, Bethel College, Newton, Kansas. influenced both the Lutheran and official Dutch translation, ap- Zwinglian translations in that it proved by the Reformed Synod, had been pub- little in a practical way to prove this conten- was for them the main text next to the origi- lished in 1556. tion. Mennonites have produced no great bib- nals. More cannot be claimed.... The Biestkens Bible went through as many lical scholars to date [1964], and, as can be [Editor’s Note: The last part of the article as one hundred printings at Amsterdam and seen from the following notes, can show only dealing with a number of 19th and 20th cen- elsewhere. It was published again by the Dutch isolated cases of solid achievement in the bib- tury translations of the Bible into various for- ëmigrés in West Prussia near Danzig, some lical field in the course of 440 years. Such eign languages has been omitted].

116 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 The Story of the Flemish Biestkens Bible “The Story of the Flemish Biestkens Bible, as told by Christian Neff, in the Mennonite Encylopedia, Vol. One, pages 340-341, and Mennonitische Lexikon, Vol. One, pages 220-221. Biestkens Bible, the designation of the Bible Prussia a special edition was published in the Biestkens Bible, not only the Lutheran, but printed by Nikolaes Biestkens, printer of Emden Schottland near Danzig (HRE II, 122), but printed also the Waldensian version was used (see Bible and member of the Mennonite congregation there, in Haarlem. According to A. Muller (p. 57) this Translation). There is, however, no positive which was for many years the Bible commonly edition with artistic lettering was sold in 1598 by proof for this surmise. De Hoop Scheffer has used by the Dutch [Flemish] Mennonites, there- Crijn Vermeulen, a tradesman in Schottland, and shown (DB 1890, 64) that the Biestkens Bible is fore also known as the Dooperbibel (Keller, gave exact information about the differences be- an improved new edition of the Liesveldt Bible, Waldenser, 155). tween this Bible and that of the Reformed of though the Mierdemann Bible mentioned above Before 1560 the [Flemish] Mennonites of 1559-90. was also used. Holland, like the Reformed and Lutherans, used Of vital interest is the question of what trans- The Biestkens Bible is the first Dutch edition a Low German Bible, which was based on the lation was used as the basis of the Biestkens divided into verses. In this respect it became the old Cologne translation from the Vulgate, and Bible. Muller says it is exactly Luther’s transla- model for all later Dutch versions. Its use was was published by the famous printer continued longest in the Old Flemish Jacobus van Liesveldt (q. v.), in Antwerp churches. It was still used in the congre- in 1526. Menno Simons and his co- gations at Aalsmeer and Balk in 1837, for workers apparently used the East Frisian public services as well as family worship. edition of the Luther translation prepared In the other congregations it had been by Bugenhagen (1545); in addition they probably everywhere replaced by the su- consulted the Erasmus translation of the perior state translation (Statenvertaling) New Testament (published in Delft in by the close of the 18th century. Some 1524) and the High German Strasbourg copies of the Biestkens Bible were taken and Zurich edition (see S. Muller in DJ along when the Mennonites went from 1837, 64 ff.). Prussia to Russia and later to America. At In 1556 and again in 1559 a new least two copies (one in Bethel College Dutch translation of the Bible was is- Library) exist. Copies of the first edition sued by the Reformed Church in Em- are in Mennonite libraries at Amsterdam den; this translation was made by J.N. and Goshen. C. NEFF. Utenhove, and was approved by the Re- S. Muller, “Het Ontstaan en het Gebruik formed Synod in 1562. This translation van Bijbelvertalingen”, in DB 1837, 51- was not used by the Mennonites, who 65; HRE III, “Bibeluebersetzungen”: usually used the New Testament pub- “German Translations”, 65-84, and lished in 1557 by Mattheus Jacobszoon “Dutch Translations”, 120-24; L. Keller, and reprinted a number of times (1558, Die Waldenser und die deutschen 1559, 1562) without naming the place of Bibeluebersetzungen (Berlin, 1886); publication. The Mennonites also used Menn. B/., 1887; F. Dijkema, “Dc the translation which appeared in 1556, Doopsgez. En de Statenvertaling:, in De also in Emden, in the house of Steven Statenvertaling 183 7-1 937(Haarlem, Mierdemann and Jan Gheylliaert, a trans- 1937) 86-92: BRNV, 587; VII, 263, 493, lation which closely follows the Old Tes- 509; tament of the Liesveldt Bible and the ML I, 220. New Testament of the Froschauer Bible. Biestkens, Nikolaes of Diest, Flanders, (See also C. Krahn, Menno Simons, 84 a printer and editor (1517) at Hoorn, a ff.). Mennonite, rendered great service by In 1560 Nikolaes Biestkens printed printing and publishing Mennonite books. the entire Bible at Emden for the use of He died at Amsterdam in 1585. Of his his fellow believers. It is generally known publications the best known is the Bible by the name “Biestkens Bible”, and went he printed in 1560 for the use of the Men- through an extraordinary number of print- nonites, known as the Biestkens Bible (q. ings, mostly at Amsterdam, but also at Title page of Biestkens Bible first printed in 1560 and extensively v.). Two years later he probably published Leeuwarden and Harlingen. Keller says used among Flemish Mennonites in Amsterdam and Danzig in the the Dutch martyr- and hymnbook, Het (p. 154) that according to le Long there 17th century. Courtesy of John D. Tiesen, MLA, Bethel College, Offer des Heeren. He may also have were seven editions between 1562 and Newton, Kansas. printed the third (1567), the fourth (1570), 1565, 24 between 1567 and 1600, and and the fifth (1578) editions of this book. 24 between 1602 and 1650; from 1650 to the end tion, except that in the later editions certain words Then he perhaps moved to Amsterdam, where he of the century there were four editions; the last pertaining to the , etc., were changed and printed in 1582 or 1583 the fourth enlarged edi- one was dated 1723. Muller mentions (p. 56) some passages, such as Acts 2:30 and Romans 1 tion of the oldest Dutch hymnary, entitled, Het nearly 100 editions; viz., 16 of the entire Bible in and 3, were given different forms for reasons of tweede Liedeboek, van vele diversche Liedekens, folio, 10 in quarto, and one in octavo; of the New dogma. Keller calls attention to the fact that the ghemaect wt den ouden ende nieuwen Testamente, Testament there were 13 in quarto, 17 in octavo, Biestkens Bible contains not only the Apocry- waer af sommighe eertijts in Druck uutghegaen, 15 in duodecimo, and 19 in sedecimo. pha, but also the Laodicean Epistle with the head- ende sommige noyt in Druck gheweest, hehhende, This is an indication not only of the size and ing, “The Epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans, which daer be ghevoecht, VDZ. number of Mennonite churches in Holland at is found in the oldest Bible printed at Worms”. Qffer, 8ff, 20; CatalogusAmst., 211,266; ML that time, but also of their effectual zeal for the But the text does not follow that of the Worms 1,220; Wolkan, Lieder, 70; DJ 1837, 55ff; DB spread and use of the Word of God among them. Bible of 1529, but the Tepler Codex, which leads 1882, 53; 1890, 64; 1918, 107. For the Dutch-speaking Mennonites in West Keller to the conclusion that in the translation of

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 117 The East Reserve, 1894 by “H. B.”, Der Nordwesten, June 21, 1894. I have finally fulfilled a long delayed wish rially changed in favour of our farmers on the the cheese factory and a tannery. Isaak Plett to visit the Mennonites of the East Reserve. East Reserve, that is, in favour of cattle farm- has built a new type of well-drilling machine The things we had been hearing about the con- ers and butter- and cheese-makers. The price after a plan he brought back with him from the dition of the land and the situation of the farm- of wheat fell substantially and stayed low; right Chicago World Fair. The first attempt with this ers in that part of the province did not seem - now it mostly is at less than 50 cents, only half machine indicated that it passed the test very we must admit - very inviting. What should of what it was five to eight years ago. For well. In addition, the Steinbach farm people one think about a district about which the in- many wheat farmers this was a hard blow for are also happy with their estates. Klaas Reimer habitants themselves do not have much good which they were not prepared. Trusting, per- and Abr. Friesen have beautiful enclosed gar- to say, and which has often been portrayed as haps, that the high wheat prices would con- dens. Particularly, the latter’s house is sur- over-run with water, or sown throughout with tinue, they had made liberal use of the conve- rounded by shade trees. Oak trees have grown stones, or populated here and there with scrub nient credit system, bought expensive machin- remarkably fast and strong, and the fir and brush, or as the home of weeds which cannot ery, and so had taken on a debt load which they spruce also display fresh green colours. Alto- be tilled? One could almost pity the poor people could not pay when prices fell. gether, the land here seems very suitable for who see themselves as bound to try and sur- Unfortunately, the number of those who growing trees. Klaas Reimer has grown apple vive on land so poorly fit for farming. fell into the hands of the sheriff, or who were trees with some success and harvests ripe fruit In reality, however, the truth of the matter threatened with the seizure of their goods, was from these every fall. There are large number stands as something rather different, and, hav- not small. And even those wheat farmers who of plum and cherry trees. Everywhere in the ing travelled through the district, we are con- find themselves in better circumstances suffer reserve there is good water to be found not far vinced that, in many ways, people have a false more under the present low product prices than down, and many farms have artesian wells. impression of the East Reserve. As far as we those whose main activity is cattle raising. Even The next village we visited was Hochstadt. are in a position to judge, based on our oppor- if prices for cattle, butter, eggs, cheese, wool It was late in the evening when we reached tunity for observation, the conditions for farm- and hogs are low, there are always buyers for David Loewens’ farm (see Pres., No. 16, page ers in the East Reserve are just as good as these, and no expensive machinery is required 106 and No. 18, page 36). Here, as with the farmers anywhere else in the country [and they to produce them. others farmers we met in our tour through the can allow themselves the same land, as do oth- At present there are three cheese factories Reserve, we found a friendly welcome and ers]. The land is sufficiently productive to sup- in the East Reserve, one each in Steinbach, open friendliness. To all friends and Nordwesten port very successful grain growing and cattle Hochstadt, and Grünfeld. The owners are very readers on the East Reserve, our heartfelt raising. The fact that the farmers there them- satisfied with the financial results of their en- thanks. We will see you again. selves do not think much of their situation is terprises, and the farmers who deliver their not a sign of discontent, but rather one of mod- milk to the factories also gain more than if they Acknowledgement. esty, a virtue especially developed through their make their own butter. The owners of the cheese The readers are endebted to Ralph Friesen, inter-relationships. factory in Hochstadt are planning to install a Winnipeg, President of the FMHS, who shared The East Reserve district dates from the separator for making butter. On the part of the this gem from his current on-going research. beginning of the stream of Mennonite immi- farmers, large amounts of butter are also being gration to Manitoba. At that time, now more sold in Winnipeg, at 12 cents a pound. The than 18 years ago [almost 20 years, actually] distinction that used to be made, between Men- Bible translated into West Prussian there was no railroad here, and this area was nonite-produced butter and that produced by Plautdietsch, also known as chosen for settlement because it lay near the the English (the latter always got better prices), Mennonite Low German. Red River, which served as a transportation has now completely disappeared and is only . The translation was produced under the aus- route for immigrants coming through Minne- brought forward today by unethically specu- pices of the Canadian Bible Society and Kin- sota, and was also deemed important as the lating dealers. dred Press of Winnipeg. The 1,266 page Bible principal trading route for this part of the coun- Flourishing sheep farming is also being includes maps and a glossary of difficult try. Soon, however, it became apparent that widely pursued. In the village of Bergthal words. this area was not suitable for a densely popu- farmers own over 1000 sheep. This year they lated, large settlement. are selling the wool for an average of nine One sign of this was the fact that, at that cents a pound. Bergthal is a large village with time, very large pieces of land stood under good farmers. Not far away, close to a small water. In short, a segment of the immigrants grove, lies Hochfeld, and in another direction, settled on the other side of the river, in south- about six miles distant, Chortitiz, where the ern Manitoba. There the land was more fertile, post office and the church are found. and dryer, and the open prairie could support a Steinbach is a large, beautiful village, where flourishing wheat culture. With comparative enterprising people live. One would almost be- rapidity the people on the other side of the lieve that one has come upon a small factory river seized on this, and, in the years that fol- town with its smoke stacks and the blowing lowed, wheat farming could have been called a and humming of steam boilers, which one gold mine, and many farmers did very well, would hardly expect to find in the country. while those who had stayed behind on the East Steinbach could be called the “metropolis” of Reserve made only slow progress, as the land the East reserve. Farmers can find all the ser- was productive only in restricted areas. Only vices there. Abr. Friesen & Sons’ saw- and after some time did they find a way to adapt. shingle mills deliver lumber in significant quan- Pastor John Wiebe, Steinbach, Manitoba, says They put more effort into the raising of cattle tities; the Friesens also own a lathe for turning the Low German bible makes it possible for and milk production than grain farming, though iron and a blacksmith shop. Also in Steinbach him to share the scriptures with Low German wheat-growing still paid better and was given is the flour mill of Reimer, Barkmann & Co. speaking people using the “language of the preference. equipped with new improvements as previously heart.” Photo - Chronicle, Dec. 2003, page 6. Since a few years ago, the picture has mate- reported in the Nordwesten; and besides that,

118 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Books Samme Zijlstra, Om de ware gemeente en de Not only does it contain much new or recently various adjacent Rhineland counties. oude gronden: Geschiednis van de dopersen in de researched material, the author has come to impor- It is unfortunate indeed that Dutch historians Nederlanden 1531-1675 (“Of the true Gemeinde tant new conclusions regarding the early in general, and Zijlstra in particular, do not explore and the old fundamentals: History of the Anabaptists and Mennonites, at variance with prior the history of the Anabaptists in the Flemish coun- Anabaptists in the Netherlands 1531-1675”) generations of historians. While I, and possibly ties (Flanders, Brabant, etc.) in any detail. As (Hilverson, Uitgeving Verloren, Leeuwarden, other readers, may disagree with some of his con- Zijlstra’s statistics demonstrate, the number of le- Fryske Akademy, 2000), 544 pages, Hardcover. clusions, they are nevertheless well-argued and gally prosecuted dissenters (undecided protestants, A Book Review Essay by Henry supported by source documents. All of his ideas “sacramentarians”) in Flanders alone was almost Schapansky, 108-5020 Riverbend Road, require the most careful consideration. eight times that of all the modern Dutch counties Edmonton, Alberta, T6H 5J8: I should like to begin this essay by pointing combined (that is, in so far as research has uncov- out what I believe to be the general strengths and ered the legal cases). Furthermore, the number of Introduction. some general weaknesses of this work. The gen- rebaptizers (Zijlstra’s definition of Anabaptist) This new book is perhaps the most important eral strengths include the extensive use of archival prosecuted in Flanders alone exceeded the num- of several works on the early history of the material, source documents, the published studies ber of prosecutions in any single modem Dutch Anabaptists in the Netherlands. It is the most re- of scholars over the last 50 years, as well as the county, excepting Holland (taking Amsterdam, cent, the last previous history dating from 1952. It use of older published histories. While the work is North and South Holland as one county, which incorporates the scholarship and archival studies indeed scholarly, it is far from pedantic, and is reflects the political organization of the time), which of various researchers (including the above au- exciting to read. It is not just a history, but an is comparable in numbers to those of Flanders. thor) of some 50 subsequent years. evaluation of the historical material, with the con- This very large gap, as relative to the Flemish, Now English-speaking readers will want to clusions of a wider nature that can be drawn from is fairly serious. Were not these Anabaptist or dis- know why this book (and for that matter, this such material. senting Flemish the parents or relatives of those review), written in Dutch as it is, and concerning The general weaknesses, in my view, include Flemish who fled to the northern (Dutch) counties only the Mennonites of the Netherlands, would be the limitations imposed by the author himself in during the severe persecutions? There is infact of interest. this study. These are partially outlined in the book’s evidence that many of these Flemish continued I should begin by stating that this work is in title. These relate to time, place and the set of events onwards to East or West Prussia, as well as set- fact accessible to those somewhat familiar with covered. One of the strengths, which is also a tling in the northern counties. Did these Flemish Plautdietsch (Low-Saxon). As some Plautdietsch weakness (although some may disagree with me Anabaptists emerge via the influence of Hoffmann speakers probably already know, written Dutch here), is a refusal to go beyond the documentary or northern Anabaptists, or did Anabaptist ideas [Flemish] and Plautdietsch are perhaps as close as evidence itself. Indeed we do not likely have all circulate independent of external groups? Given any two distinct languages can be. A speaker of the documentary evidence we really need. The that Flanders was then the centre of northern Eu- Plautdietsch can generally read Dutch with some archival evidence is never complete, and that pre- ropean trade and commerce, as well as the intellec- degree of fluency. If he were to read Dutch aloud sented is likely to be one-sided in nature. For ex- tual centre of northern Europe, it seems possible (pronouncing his words as though they were ample, the judicial proceedings against the that the Flemish Anabaptists may have evolved Plautdietsch), other listeners of Plautdietsch would AnabaptistlMennonite heretics, recorded in the more independently of northern influences than is undoubtedly understand almost every word, al- archives, reflect only some Anabaptist views, and supposed by the Dutch. though a native Dutch person would be puzzled not those of the entire Anabaptist community. Indeed, there was a continuing jealousy on the indeed (spoken Dutch and spoken Plautdietsch Memoirs and similar writings (as indeed noted by part of Amsterdam (then a minor port/city) and are in fact quite different, owing to evolution in the the author) can often be self-serving and mislead- Holland (then a minor province) towards Antwerp pronounciation of Dutch). ing. The documentary evidence relating to some and Flanders. This jealousy was to lead to the Furthermore, the vocabulary used by the au- of the early divisions in the Anabaptist movement military neglect of the Flemish counties during the thor is not excessively technical and is relatively is obviously incomplete, and therefore a clear un- war of independence and later, their total aban- consistent. The author repeatedly employs the same derstanding of these divisions is sometimes not donment. This antagonism went so far as to close words and phraseology, so that if a dictionary is forthcoming in the author’s account. Antwerp to shipping for centuries, through the needed for the odd word or so per page, by the The limitations in respect of the time period do pressure of Amsterdam and Holland. Is it rem- middle of the book, a dictionary is rarely neces- not appear particularly onerous, but do reflect the nants of this attitude that still prevails among Dutch sary. As well, the book is very well laid out, in author’s bias. For him, the Anabaptist movement historians? chapter, section, and sub-section format, with clear began in 1531 (in the Netherlands) and previous No consideration is given to the interaction headings, supplemented by appropriate diagrams, events have little direct relevance. More on this between Anabaptist/Mennonite groups in these charts, and tables. Extensive and detailed foot- later. areas and the counties mentioned above, nor is notes abound, with reference to source documents The geographic restraints are somewhat more there any account taken of movements into or from (generally archival in nature), other authors, and problematic. The author (with the single exception these three counties. The Flemish appear out of quotes from early writers. Indeed, the footnotes of the Münster affair) never ventures outside the nowhere, and no account is made to discuss their are just as interesting as the text. There are numer- modern Netherlands, even though the Netherlands origins, beliefs, or how they arrived in the north, ous illustrations and graphic reproductions of an were not geographically defined until circa 1610. despite the fact that a major portion of this work eye-catching nature (although perhaps the 16th Indeed, the author rarely looks outside Holland, deals with Mennonites referred to as Flemish. Like- century “streakers” are not as attractive as one Zeeland, and Friesland. For much of the period wise Mennonites who moved elsewhere (to the would wish). One of Rembrandts most famous covered by the book, there was no nation known Vistula delta in Poland, for example) are not men- and beloved group portraits is featured - De as the Netherlands, and it was political and mili- tioned at all, despite the fact that many of them Staalmeester (“The Cloth Merchants”), whose most tary maneuvering which determined the final geo- influenced events in the above three counties (for prominent member (in the painting) is Volckert graphic boundaries, being as much determined by example, Dirk Phillips in Danzig played an im- Jansz, a Mennonite (Hard-Friesian Gemeinde). the narrow-minded tactics of the county (later prov- portant role in the events of this work). The printing quality is outstanding, and generally ince) of Holland as by the Habsburg Imperialists. Further, the author excludes historical and po- the book is visually attractive. Anabaptists/Mennonites were numerous at vari- litical events from consideration unless they in- The primary reason that readers will want to ous times in Flanders, Brabant, East Friesland volve Anabaptists/Mennonites in a very direct read this work, however is because of the content. (hereinafter referred to as the Low Counties) and manner. Thus, during the period covered by this

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 119 work, we have almost no idea that there was a war The introduction and chapters 1 and 2 of the Amsterdam (“Defense of the Christians known of independence going on, that there were huge book outline the background material. They give a as the baptism-minded”); streams of refugees going both north and south, overview of the various histories relevant to the - 1743-45 Geschiednis dier christenen welke in de that the north and east were overrun by Imperial Anabaptists/Mennonites, as well as an outline of Vereenigde Nederlanded onder de protestanten forces, that decisions were being made (mainly by the various streams of historical thought concern- Mennoniten genaamd worden, Hermann Schijn Holland) as to which counties (provinces) should ing the Mennonites. Also given here is an account & G. Maatschoen, Amsterdam (“History of the be included in the eventual union. We have very of the several streams of early Protestant thinking Christians known in the Netherlands as Menno- little insight here of the efforts made by the Cal- in the Low Counties. It may be of interest (particu- nites among the Protestants”); vinists (the major rivals to the Mennonites) to se- larly for English-speaking readers who may be - 1839 Geschiednis der Doopsgezinde in cure political control in these years. We have no unfamiliar with the Dutch Mennonite historiogra- Friesland, Blaupot ten Cate, Leeuwarden (“His- idea in this work, of the political and social ten- phy) to list some of the more important of the tory of the Baptism-minded in Friesland”); sions which created “Stad en Land” (Gröningen histories: - 1842 Geschiednis der Doopsgezinde in city versus Gröningen province - the Ommeland), - 1548 Tumultuum anabaptistarum liber unus, Groningen, Overijssel, en Oost-Friesland, Blaupot although this region, located between Friesland Lambertus Hortensius, Basel (“Anabaptist re- ten Cate, Gröningen; and East Friesland was very impor- - 1847 Geschiednis der tant in the history of the Mennonites. Doopsgezinde in Holland, Zeeland, In some respects, the author has Utrecht, en Gelderland, Blaupot ten taken a nationalistic and parochial ap- Cate, Amsterdam; proach, perhaps to manage the scope - 1873 Geschiednis der of the book. This is not atypical of kerkhervorming in Nederland van Dutch historians. I mention these gen- haar ontstaan tot 1531, Jacob eralities because they affect our view Gijsbert de Hoop Scheffer (1819- of the many important conclusions 1893), Amsterdam (“History of enunciated in this work, and may af- church reform in the Netherlands fect our view of the parallel history of from its beginning to 1531”) [also Mennonites elsewhere. There are in- various papers 1866-1895 in deed many conclusions which differ Doopgezinde Bijdragen]; to a greater or lesser extent from pre- - 1914 Menno Simons (1496-1561) vious writers. I shall attempt to point Zijn leven en werken en zijne out some of these important new con- reformatorische denkbeelden, K. clusions. There are, however, some Vos, Leiden (“Menno Simons: his very major ideas which require list- life, works, and reformation ideas”) ing at the outset: [and other works]; * The Anabaptists/Mennonites origi- - 1940 Geschiednis van de nated (in the Low Counties) with Doopsgezinden in Nederland 1600- Melchior Hoffmann in 1531. The 1735, W.J. Kuhler, Haarlem (“His- Münsterites were the major early tory of the Baptism-minded in the Anabaptist group (in the Low Coun- Netherlands”) [also many other ties). After the debacle of 1535, these works]; Anabaptists regrouped, with one di- - 1950 Geschiednis van de vision becoming the mainstream Doopsgezinde in Nederland, W.J. Anabaptist/Mennonite community Kuhler, Haarlem; headed by Menno Simons. - 1962 (2nd ed.)- Geschiednis der * Spiritualists of many varieties were Doopsgezinde in Nederland in de present and influential at the begin- zestiende eeuw, W.J. Kühler, Haarlem ning of the movement. The influence (“History of the Baptism-minded in of spiritualists continued to impinge the Netherlands in the 16th century”); on the mainstream movement even at - 1954 Galenus Abrahamsz (1622- much later times. 1706), H.W. Meihuizen, Haarlem; * the Waterlanders represented a Service of holy baptism in an early Mennonite church: From Zijlstra, Om de - 1961 Menno Simons, H.W. grouping which diverged from ware gemeete, page 100. Meihuizen, Haarlem; mainsteam Mennonite thinking, and - 1952 Geschiednis der their numbers and importance in the Mennonite volts”); Doopsgezinden in Nederland, N. van der Zijpp, community have been greatly overrated. In fact - 1558 (appr.) Van den oorspronk ende anvanck Arnheim the influence of more liberal groups associated des welck men wederdoper noomt, N.M. In this early part of the book, Zijlstra discusses with the Mennonites is similarly vastly overrated. Blesdijk, handwritten manuscript, Basel Univer- various streams of thinking advanced by prior * the Lamists (and Galenus Abrahamsz) also rep- sity Library (“Of the origins and beginning of the historians regarding the (Dutch) Anabaptists/Men- resented a divergent and fringe Mennonite group, sect known as the re-baptisers”); nonites. There are those who see the Anabaptists whose significance and importance have likewise - 1561 Der Widertoufferen Ursprung, Heinrich as the first Christian socialists (K. Vos, A.F. been overrated by later historians. Bullinger, Zurich (“The origins of the re- Mellink, H-J Goertz, etc.) and who view the These are four very important new conclu- baptisers”). Translated into Dutch with additional Anabaptists as primarily a socio-political phenom- sions. I hesitate only to agree entirely with the first material relative to the north by Geradus Nicolai, ena, reacting against the social, religious and po- two because of the limitations in the author’s work 1569; litical restraints of the time. Zijlstra, quite rightly, mentioned above. The evidence with respect to the - 1615 Historie der Martelaren, Hans de Ries, in my view, rejects this approach, concluding that last two conclusions is much more convincing, Haarlem (“History of the martyrs”); the Anabaptist movement was primarily a reli- being based in later, more fully documented times. - 1671 Historie Reformatie, Gerard Brandt (1626- gious one, although social and political factors 85), Amsterdam; need to be taken into account in considering the 1. Historiography, Antecedents, and Early - 1699 Verdediging der christenen die doopgezinde formation of the movement. Far too often, in my Events. genaamd worden, Galenus Abrahamsz. opinion, historians neglect the importance of the

120 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Mennonite faith, when writing on the Mennonites Under the other definition however, we would I disagree). The role of Hoffmann and the (even some of the most respected historians, for classify the Münsterites, terrorists, and spiritualists Münsterites are discussed in chapters 3-5. Both example with respect to the Russian Mennonites as non-Anabaptist, as deviant groups, who had these topics are dealt with in more clarity and de- (e.g. D.G. Rempel) are guilty of this undervalua- adopted only some ideals similar to Anabaptist te- tail than perhaps in other works of this genre. tion). nets. We could call them pseudo-Anabaptists, sub- Hoffmann introduced some important theo- Other historians have found forerunners of divided into mystic pseudo-Anabaptisits and revo- logical ideas in the Low Counties, some of which the Anabaptists in prior groups, including the lutionary pseudo-Anabaptists. This alternative defi- were also later taken up by Menno Simons and Devotio Moderno and the “Sacramentarians” (de nition had already been enunciated very early by other Anabaptists. These include the theory of in- Hopp Scheffer, Kuhler). Zijlstra can find no basis Swiss and South-German Anabaptists, and are ex- carnation, the ideas of free will, the universality of for these antecedents. He also believes the “nor- pressed in the Schietheim Articles of 1527. We could grace (as opposed to pre-destination), and spiri- mative” vision of Harold Bender has seen its de- then see that the large portion of the population of tual re-birth and adult baptism. In a sense, these mise. Futhermore, Zijlstra proposes that the search the Low Counties in those time, studying the scrip- are also central Anabaptist tenets, and therefore for antecedents and roots (of the Dutch Menno- tures, and other religious works, and who rejected Hoffmann was to some extent an Anabaptist (ac- nites, at least) prior to 1531 and Melchior that which was not based on scripture, were indeed cording to my definition). He had many other Hoffmann, is meaningless. antecedents of the Anabaptists (as proposed by De strange chiliastic beliefs however, and saw him- Now here I do disagree (perhaps my only major Hoop Scheffer and Kuhler). These include those self as a second Elias (p. 88). point of disagreement with the author). And I think who rejected some of the rituals, practices, and sac- We need to say a word (as does Zijstra) about the central problem is one of definition. One can- raments of the church not based on scripture (but the theory of incarnation (that Christ was God not argue with definitions, only evaluate their use- not necessarily rejecting infant baptism), loosely incarnate). Thoughts on the Trinity and the rela- fulness and determine if they are clear and grouped as “sacramentarians”, although I would tionship between God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit consistant. Zijlstra defines Anabaptists as those prefer just to refer to them as more or less Protes- are as old as Christianity itself. Traditional think- who espoused the idea of spiritual re-birth through tant. It was this large body of undefined Protestants ing held that Christ was half God, half human in penitence and adult baptism (Note One). Others, who were the basis for the tremendous growth of some mysterious way. Hoffmann advanced the myself included, define the Anabaptists as those the (true) Anabaptist movement as well as the later view that Christ partook nothing of human nature who wished to rebuild the Christian community spread of the Calvinist/Reformed faith. Erasmus, except external form. Menno Simons too, favoured on the basis of the teaching of Christ alone. The the Devotio Moderno, and even the monastic move- this view, because to him, Christ and his teaching latter definition, on the surface much more gen- ment itself, can then validly be seen as the anteced- was so fundamental. eral, entails a much more complete set of corollar- ents to the Anabaptists and Mennonites. These The theory of incarnation can be contrasted ies, including non-worldliness, non-violence in vaguely Protestant men and women could just as with Socinianism. Faustus Socinus (1539-1604) all its forms, discipleship and discipline, as well as easily be called vaguely Anabaptist or Mennonite. was an Italian who moved to Poland in 1579, and re-birth through adult baptism (Note Two). This The absolute formulation and consolidation of the promoted the idea that Christ was only a human definition also implies a strict adherence to scrip- principles under this definition did not occur (in the being, whom God, because of his exemplary life ture (particularly to the words of Christ) and ex- Low Counties) until Menno Simons began his and teaching, raised up and deified after his death. cludes the possibility (in my view at least) of latter work. In this sense, we could find validity in the His adherents were known as the Polish Brethern, day prophets and visionaries who overrule the idea (De Hoop Scheffer, Mellink) that the history or Socinians. Now if this theory holds, then one teaching of Christ. With such a definition we can of the Protestant/reform movement prior to 1566 in could in fact, view Christ as perhaps only the most return to a normative view in the Bender mold. the Low Counties is largely the history of the important of the prophets, and his teaching need What are the implications of these two defini- Anabaptists. not necessarily be binding, to the extent that better tions, and how are they useful? According to The 16th century was an age of religious fer- alternatives may become available. In this sense Zijlstra’s terms, the Anabaptists include the ment. Most people took their beliefs seriously, the spiritualists were no different than the Batenberg terrorists, the Munsterite fanatics, and and tracts, pamphlets, and books on religious mat- Socinians. The spiritualists believed that inner in- the spiritualists such as David Joris. With this ters were read avidly. This was particularly true in spiration and the inspiration of God were more definition, we revert again to the contemporary the Low Counties where the average level of lit- important than the literals words of the scripture outsider view of the early period, and could prob- eracy (and perhaps wealth) was higher than else- (and therefore the prescriptions of Christ himself. ably justify the persecution instigated by the au- where in Europe. That the (true) Anabaptists readily Not surprisingly, many spiritualists went a step thorities of those times. For Zijlstra indeed, the gained a large following is not surprising, nor is it further and came to see themselves as prophets or Münsterites were the first and primary (Dutch) surprising that many adopted only some Anabaptist as a second Christ (David Joris (p. 162)). For this Anabaptist group. The Batenberg terrorists and tenets, while incorporating new and alien beliefs. very reason, Menno Simons adopted the idea of the spiritualists were equally valid Anabaptist Nor is it strange that many committed (true) incarnation, and spiritualists in any form were, to groups. Indeed, if his is to be our definition, many Anabaptists may not have been clear on some of him, the worst enemies of the true church. other more modern groups, who adopt only the the fundamental principles at the beginning of their Socinianism itself was viewed in Europe as one idea of adult baptism, should also be included spiritual journey, nor that some later fell away from akin to , and was proscribed even in the as Anabaptist. various of these. That charlatans, fanatical proph- most religiously tolerant nations of the period, In keeping with his definition, Zijstra de-em- ets, and revolutionary visionaries took advantage namely Poland and the United Netherlands. phasizes other central Anabaptist principles. With- of ordinary people seeking answers to religious Melchior Hoffmann himself only remained in out adequate evidence, he equates Anabaptist non- questions to gain a following is lamentable, but the Low Counties for a short perod of time. He worldliness with anti-Catholicism (an assertion I almost inevitable. It is however doing a disservice was a friend of several prophetic visionaries and cannot accept). Zijstra does however provide ex- to those who did (or continue to) adhere to the spiritualists (including Andreas Karlstadt (p. 86)). amples of the converse; Hans De Ries and Albert fundamentals, to classify the charlatans, fanatics, In 1530 he rebaptized some 300 persons in Em- Verspeck were Calvinists who left the Reformed and revolutionaries as either Anabaptist or Men- den (East Friesland) (appointing Jan Volckertsz church (joining the Anabaptists) because it was nonite. Nor, more importantly, does this aid in Trypmaker as Altester (oudsten)) and in 1531 some too worldly and careless of discipline (p. 72). Fur- understanding the history of the 50 persons in Amsterdam. His whereabouts from thermore, pacifism was not, in his view, an early AnabaptistlMennonite movement in general, or in 1531 to 1533 are unknown. In 1533, he returned Anabaptist tenet (in the Low Counties), and again the Netherlands in particular. to Straßburg to await the coming of the Kingdom we have a problem of definition. Certainly, the which he himself had prophesized, and was Batenbergers were violent anti-Catholic terrorists, 2. Melchior Hoffmann and the Münsterites. promptly arrested, spending the next 11 years in and other socio-revolutionary groups such as the Zijlstra places the beginning of the Anabaptist prison until his death. Munsterites, allowed the use of arms for “self- movement (in the Low Counties) in 1531 with the Hoffmann’s personal influence, therefore, arose defense”. arrival of Melchior Hoffmann (a point with which mainly from his various published writings, which

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 121 include the “Ordonnantie Godts”(1530). Obbe to Münster to preach). Owing to conflict and inde- Menno Simons as one of the worst influences on Phillips and Menno Simons were familiar with cision among the Lutherans (or undecided Protes- the Anabaptists)) reported that Obbe Phillips was his writings and found validity in many of his tants) and the Catholics, the city council quickly present at these events (p. 134). ideas. Both however, strongly rejected his visions, lost control over the situation. New elections The fall of Münster at the end of June, 1535, , and chiliastic/mystical proposals. brought in members favourable to the Anabaptists marked the end of the first phases of the Anabaptist Martin Bucer (a leading Calvinist theologian) wrote who soon took control of the city government. movement (in the Low Counties), according to a refutation of Hoffmann’s thinking, which had The bishop laid siege to the city in February, 1534, Zijlstra. According to A. L. E. Verheyden, how- the opposite effect from that intended, publicizing and the Anabaptists passed a number of decrees, ever, Hoffmann and the Münsterites had neglible rather than refuting Hoffmann’s ideas. It was via to establish their Kingdom of God on earth. These influence on the movement in Flanders which in Bucer that first heard of measure included the exile of all non re-baptized the face of a century of persecution remained faith- Hoffmann. Rothmann became an enthusiastic persons, the abolition of private property, and the ful to the teachings of Menno Simons (Note Melchiorite, and later apologist for the Münsterites. institution of polygamy. Three). In August, 1536, a meeting of various The years 1531 to 1536 saw a tremendous Jan Matthijsz himself fell in battle on April 5 mainly pseudo-Anabaptist leaders occurred at growth of both (true) and pseudo-Anabaptists. 1534. Jan van Leyden (who had come to Münster Bocholt (Westphalia). David Joris (leader of the This growth was centred around north Holland with Matthijsz) appointed himself king (9.1534) spiritualists) attended, as did representatives of and neighbouring regions (i.e. south Holland, and headed a government including Rothmann the terrorist Batenburgers, the Münsterites (now Zeeland, Friesland). By pseudo-Anabaptists, I (official spokesman), Bernhard Knipperdollinck led by Krechting), as well as “true” Anabaptists. mean those who subscribed to the idea of adult (governor and chief executioner), and Heinrich The meeting was unsuccessful in resolving the baptism, but were followers of fanatical prophets Krechting (chancellor). Rothmann escaped after major issues, namely the use of force and po- and visionaries hoping to establish the Kingdom the fall of Münster, while Krechting was released lygamy. Thereafter, the pseudo-Anabaptists gradu- of God on earth, using violence if necessary. due to family connections, and later headed a ally dwindled in numbers and disappeared. Whether true Anabaptists or pseudo-Anabaptists Münsterite group in Oldenburg. Zijlstra claims the Anabaptist movement began were in the majority is unclear (certainly, the true The institution of polygamy has often been (in the Low Counties) with Hoffmann and was Anabaptists would have been less observed or explained by the 3 to 1 ratio of women to men in originally violent and socio-revolutionary in na- documented than the fanatics). Zijlstra (p. 131) the city under siege, as a means to provide for the ture. The fall of Münster eventually convinced many and Mellink claim the pseudo-Anabaptists were women and maintain order. Zijstra also adds that a Anabaptists that violence was not the answer. in the majority, while Kühler claims the opposite. spirit of sexual Puritanism prevailed among the I disagree with both conclusions, since Zijlstra Leaders of the true Anabaptists at this time include Münsterites and the spiritualists, who held that equates Anabaptists with re-baptizers. I am not Adam Pastor (later adopted Unitarian views and sexual activity should only be for reproductive convinced that Anabaptists did not exist in the was suspended as Ältester in 1547, banned in purposes. On the other hand, claims by opponents Low Counties prior to Hoffmann in some form, 1554), Obbe Phillips, Dirk Phillips, and Menno that polygamy was instigated by a spirit of sexual nor that the true Anabaptists were insignificant in Simons. The pacifist mystics were grouped around license cannot be lightly dismissed. Certainly, many number. Certainly the writing of Hoffmann (ex- David Joris, while the social-revolutionaries were bizarre and horrific events took place during the cepting his visions and prophecies (he did not led by Bernhard Rothmann (in Münster) and Jan siege (which ended in defeat on June 25-26, 1535). advocate the use of force to establish the Kingdom Mattijsz (of Haarlem) (who saw himself as a The Münster government sent out many emis- of God on earth)) contained much solid Anabaptist Henoch) at Amsterdam. saries to gather material and military support. These material which was used by Obbe Phillips and Zijlstra views the Münster affair (5.1534- agents were unsuccessful in their main objective, Menno Simons. Zijstra connects Obbe with the 6.1535) as the most important event in the history but did succeed in creating various disturbances Münsterites using insufficient evidence. Obbe was of the Anabaptists (a point with which I disagree). outside the city. Numerous outbursts of fanaticism, ordained by an emissary of Jan Matthijsz (of Bernhard Rothmann arrived in Münster in 1530, provoked by Münster agents, occurred in Haarlem) and, according to Blesdijk (not neces- under the influence of Hoffmann’s writings. He Amsterdam and other towns, led by various proph- sarily an unbiased or reliable reporter), was present was elected pastor of St. Lamberts (the church of ets and visionaries. On February 2, 1535, some 12 during the commotion at t‘Zand. Zijstra claims the the guilds) in February, 1532. In 1533 he pub- persons ran naked through the streets of Amsterdam memoirs of Obbe (“Bekentenisse” wherein he lished a booklet (Bekentnisse van beyden on the instigation of prophet Hendrik Hendriksz states he had always been a pacifist, opposed to sacramenten, doepe ende nachtmaele), which ob- (all 12 were executed). On May 5 1535, 40 pseudo- the Münsterite prophets and polygamy) was writ- tained a wide circulation, and stirred many people Anabaptists seized the town hall of Amsterdam, in ten as a self-justification (p. 152). (Obbe resigned already inspired by the apocalyptic prophesies of an attempt to take over the city government. The as Altester in 1540 and left the movement). He Hoffmann. Numerous prophets and visionaries town hall was re-taken a few days later. also ties Menno Simons to the Münsterites by the appeared in north Holland, including Jan Matthijsz In Friesland, a larger group took over the clois- fact that his brother took part in the Oldeklooster (a baker from Haarlem) who gained great influ- ter at Bloemkamp (the Oldeklooster). This was uprising (indeed he suggests this may have been ence in Amsterdam. Two of Matthijsz’s emissar- retaken (7.4.1535) and some 100 persons were Peter Simons, one of the 12 Ältester of Münster, ies (apostles) Bartholemeus boekbinder and executed including a brother of Menno Simons. who left in March of 1535 as an emissary to gather Willem de kuiper ordained Obbe Phillips and Hans On January 18, 1535 an emissary from Münster support for Münster (p. 174). In an early edition scheerder as Ältester in Leeuwarden (p. 108), (Antonie kistemaker) arrived at t‘Zand (near of the Fundamentbook, Menno refers to the thereby establishing an indirect link between Obbe Delfzijl, Ommelands, Gröningen). His purpose Münsterites as “dear brothers” (p. 176) (although Phillips and Matthijsz (Obbe Phillips in turn or- was the gathering of material support and men for Menno made a sharp distinction between the lead- dained David Joris (1534), Dirk Phillips (1534), the Münster struggle. At a gathering at one Eppe ers at Münster, and their followers). and Menno Simons (1537)). Peter’s farm, he named one Harmen schoenmaker Various Protestant groups in Münster obtained leader. The latter however, promptly declared 3. The Spiritualists, David Joris, and Menno initial support from Phillip, Landgraf of Hesse (a himselt to be the true messiah, and the true God. Simons. Lutheran) in their struggle with the bishop (Franz One Kornelis int Kershof, not to be left behind, Chapters 6-10 cover the struggle between the v. Waldeek). A Protestant majority was elected to declared he was the “son of god”. In frustration, true Anabaptists and the spiritualists. Early lead- the city council in 1533. Hendrik Rol (a former Antonie and others fought with “God” and his ers of each group include Menno Simons and priest from Wassenburg, County of Gulich, supporters. During this time, Karl v. Gelder David Joris. Menno may indeed have regarded Rhineland) lent his support to Rothmann, who (stadhouder/governor of Gröningen) and a troop the spiritualists as the greatest menace to the true promoted Anabaptist rather than Lutheran ideas. of 40 men arrived, and the group dispersed. This church because they were willing to relegate the The minority Anabaptists invited Matthijsz to rather trivial event is only important because Nicho- words of Christ, the Bible itself, and the forms Münster in 1534 (Matthijsz had previously sent las Meijndertsz Blesdijk (a follower and son-in- and discipline of an external church to a second Bartholemeus boekbinder and Willem de kuiper law of David Joris (p. 20)(who was regarded by place in favour of the inner spirit and inner growth.

122 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 David Joris was typical of many later spiritualists, Countries dealt with in van Braght’s Martyrs Mir- they were the first to formulate a Confession of coming to see himself as a third religious David ror were Flemish (Note Four). Faith (the 25 articles of Alkmaar in 1577), the (the second being Christ (p. 162)). Eventually his Distribution of the Anabaptists by county, oc- Confession of Faith (1620) of Hans de Ries/ followers fell away and dispersed, including his cupation, and position in society are also reviewed. Lubbert Gerritsz), the Confession of Faith was son-in -law N.M. Blesdijk. Briefly, the greatest concentrations of the never binding on Gemeinde members. Nevertheless, spiritualists were to continually Anabaptists were in Friesland (25% of the popu- The strongest following of the Waterlanders plague and appear within the Mennonite commu- lation) (p. 259), north Holland, the Ommelands, was in north Holland and Friesland. In Gemeinde nity periodically, in other guises, for instance as and East Friesland (although the author does not structure they were more autocratic than the oth- pietists. Not surprisingly, later pietists (including go far outside the modern Netherlands to adjacent ers. The Ältester were chosen by other Ältester, for example Klaas Epp in 19th century Russia) areas). The profile of the Anabaptists in society rather than by Gemeinde members (p. 272). Most came to see themselves as God-appointed proph- was very similar to that of the general population, conflicts within the Gemeinde were decided by ets, rather like David Joris. In this respect, with refuting an opinion that the Anabaptists came from the Ältester (pp. 204, 438). regard to historical hindsight, it may be said that poorer sectors of society. Structure within the While many historians see the Waterlanders as spiritualists are indeed the greatest menace to the Anabaptist community is also discussed, includ- examples of Mennonite tolerance and open- Mennonite faith, whether as Separatist-Pietists ing the roles of Ältester, Lehrer, and Diakon. mindedness, Zijlstra observes that the Waterlanders (Brüdergemeinde) in Russia, Evangelical Funda- Women were appointed as Diakon(ess) very early desired to water-down the faith and to accommo- mentalists in America, or in other forms. Zijstra (Aeltgen de Wael was appointed in Amsterdam in date a spirit of indifference. They were also the appears to have made David Joris and N.M. Blesdijk 1549). Over half of the Anabaptists were women, first to pay a salary to Lehrerdienst members, and the object of special study (in other works). These but only one-third of those persecuted were provide training for Lehrer (pp. 440-441), a move chapters thus contain much new material of inter- women. The research on growth and persecution indicative of apathy among members and elitism est. I disagree with the author only in not classify- is illustrated throughout in various statistical tables. in the Lehrdienst. These measures were resisted ing Joris and the spiritualists as true Anabaptists. Around 1700, women were able to vote in by the other Gemeinden. The life and works of Menno Simons are dis- Gemeinde elections (p. 435). cussed in detail in these chapters. Of the beliefs, 6. The Flemish and the Friesians, 1566. teaching and writings of Menno Simons, we should 5. The Waterlanders. The strict Mennonites who adhered to the mention principally a conviction that the grace of As Zijlstra points out, most histories and stud- Wismar agreement (the non-Waterlanders) were God could only be received through repentance, ies of the Dutch Mennonites focus on the to form by far the largest and most enduring group. penance (in the Monastic tradition) (p. 187), and Waterlanders, viewing them as the most important The split among the strict Mennonites into Flem- re-birth, symbolized by baptism, a faithfulness to and normative of the Mennonites. These works ish and Friesian Gemeinde, and later sub-divi- the scriptures and the words of Christ, and a belief reflect the attitudes and values of their authors sions, is not particularly clearly explained in that a Christian should imitate the life of Christ rather than historical reality. Prior generations of Zijlstra’s account. This original first division is, in (accompanied by deeds and works). He believed historians perceived the Waterlanders as more pro- part, ascribed by Zijlstra to the cultural and ideo- it was possible to establish a community of true gressive, tolerant, economically thriving, and cul- logical differences between the indigenous resi- believers on earth (the Gemeinde) without “spot turally mote advanced than the others. These per- dents of the north (mainly the Friesians) and the or wrinkle”. The Gemeinde was the realization of ceptions too, as Zijlstra demonstrates, reflect only refugee immigrants from the south (mainly Flem- Menno’s ideal. This community would be main- the opinions of the historians themselves, rather ish). He also adds a number of minor reasons and tained through a church order and discipline, which than historical fact. In numbers alone, the points to personality clashes as partially to blame included the use of the ban and shunning. Waterlanders only represented about 20% of the (a point which I do not necessarily accept). Re- The strictness with which the ban and shun- Dutch Mennonites (p. 283). The fact that histori- grettably, Zijlstra provides little information on these ning (particularly marital shunning) should be ap- ans expand and elaborate on a disproportionately Flemish, who were to become the largest group- plied was to be a matter of great controversy. The small percentage of Mennonites is not unique to ing in the Low Counties. Details of the events south Germans and Friesians, according to Zijlstra, the Dutch situation. We see the same in Russian involved in the split are, as far as documented, favoured a mild approach (p. 183). At a meeting in and Canadian historiography (where the provided in Zijlstras’s account. 1554 at Wismar, the leading Ältester (including Brudergemeinde and the “progressives” of the It seems a secret union was formed in 1560 by Dirk Phillips and Lenaert Bouwens) adopted a Ohrloff Gemeinde receive all the attention, while (the Friesians of) the towns of Leeuwarden, strict approach, although Menno Simons was of a the great majority of traditionalist Mennonites are Harlingen, Franeker, and Dokkum. While the origi- mixed opinion. The leading Altester circa 1540-60 dismissed with a few unfavourable remarks). nal protocol has been lost, the union seems to have include Dirk Phillips, Adam Pastor, Gillis v. Aken, There is here another remarkable parallel between been formed in reaction to the Flemish influence Lenaert Bouwens, as well as Menno Simons. the Dutch and Russian-Canadian experience of and position in the north, and was kept secret for Those who opted for the mild approach became historiography. this very reason (Note Five). One Jeroen known as the Waterlanders. Zijlstra shows that the Waterlanders were nei- Tinnegieter, a Flemish refugee, was somehow Menno Simons was a fierce opponent of those ther as tolerant or progressive as portrayed, nor elected/appointed Lehrer at Franeker. Karl Koop who departed from the scriptures, particularly the necessarily more culturally or economically ad- has described the conflict as follows: “The Flem- spiritualists such as David Joris and Hendrik Niclaes, vanced than other Mennonite groups. On the other ish in the town of Franeker wanted to elect their as well as those wishing to rationalize the faith. hand, the Waterlanders were more prone to as- own Flemish minister and felt they had the right to similation, and many gravitated to spiritualism or do so on the basis of the authority vested in the 4. Persecution and Growth. rationalism (to Socinianism, or to the Remonstant congregation. The Frisians did not favour the elec- Chapters 10-11 discuss various aspects of the or Collegiant movements). tion and believed that they could overturn the Flem- persecution and growth of the Anabaptists after The Waterlanders (originally sometimes re- ish decision on the basis of the authority vested in 1535.The actual number of Anabaptist executions ferred to as the Franekers (after Franeker, the regional church council, which had drafted a in the modern Netherlands is studied. The safest Friesland)) disagreed with the strict approach to nineteen-point statement - Verbond der vier counties were East Friesland and Gröningen (both Gemeinde discipline agreed to at Wismar. They steden....and which gave them the power through city and Ommelands). Various estimates of the favoured a milder use of the ban (applied only the regional council to intervene in the affairs of number of executions have ranged from 100,000 after many warnings), shunning (marital shun- the local congregation,” (Note Six). to 10,000, but the current best estimate is, accord- ning was rarely practiced, and soon dropped), This election/appointment was opposed by ing to Zijlstra, 2,000. Here Zijlstra also discusses outside marriages, while formally forbidden, were Eppe Pieters (Ältester at Harlingen). With minor- the martyr books and their weaknesses. Zijlstra, by practice allowed, re-baptism of new members ity support, and through carelessness and absen- does not note, however, the conclusions of Marjan was not required, and fewer restrictions applied in teeism in the Franeker Gemeinde, Jeroen maneu- Blok that two-thirds of the martyrs from the Low respect of separation from the world. Although vered to pull Franeker out of the union (1566),

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 123 gaining considerable support among the northern Flemish refugees. In this, he was opposed by Eppe Pieters, and a dispute arose, taking on very large dimensions. Various Ältester and leaders through- out the Low Counties attempted to mediate the dispute, with the Flemish position gaining consid- erable sympathy. Dirk Phillips, now living in Danzig, appears to have (later) criticized the union on the grounds that ordinary Mennonites were excluded from Ältester decisions which was di- rectly contrary to the basic Flemish tenet of grass roots democracy. A compromise achieved in De- cember, 1566, ended in failure when the Flemish were surprised at the last minute by an attempt to make them accept the greater blame for the dis- pute. The majority of Mennonites in Groningen/ Ommelands, East Friesland, Flanders, Brabant, as well as a contingent from Holland, supported the Flemish (p. 292). Hoyte Renix (Friesian Ältester at Bolsward) wrote to Dirk Phillips, the senior Ältester, (Danzig), advising that his pres- ence was wanted to solve the dispute. Phillips may have acted unwisely (perhaps already preju- The “naaktlopers” in Amsterdam. From Zijlstra, Om de ware gemeete, page 136. The Anabaptists diced in favour of the Flemish), and with undue included spiritualists, mystics, terrorists, social revolutionaries, chiliasts, polygamists, and also the severity towards various Friesian leaders. Zijlstra peaceful Anabaptists later demoninationalized by Menno Simons. Some modern North American blames the actions of Phillips, in part, for the split. Evangelicals claim to be the “true” descendants of the Anabaptists but are never specifie as to which Zijlstra also justifies the secret union for reasons Anabaptists they are the descendants of. other than mere anti-Flemish sentiment. Briefly, the Flemish adhered to stricter stan- stricter position, and separated from the Hard Frie- of the Friesians and Flemish, based on the Con- dards of non-worldliness than the Friesians, ac- sians in 1603, forming the Jan Jacobs division. fession of Faith of Jan Cents (a High-German) cording to Zijlstra (p. 288). Four minor points of Within the Young Flemish, Jan Luyes (d.1637, (prepared in 1630 by the Soft Friesians and the difference are mentioned in his account, which Ältester at Kloosterburen) and Uke Walles (1593- High-Germans), with various Old Flemish and nevertheless (in my view) still fail to completely 1653) reverted back to a stricter position (perhaps Hard Friesian Gemeinden (and of course the account for the enduring division of the Flemish the strictest of them all), ideologically very close Waterlanders) remaining outside the union. The and Friesians (particularly in West Prussia). Nor to the Old Flemish. They were to form the Confession of Faith of Dordrecht (1632) was to do the secondary reasons, such as personality Gröningen Old Flemish division, centred mainly be the adopted by those Gemeinden gradually join- clashes, fully explain the situation. at Gröningen. These divisions were typically the ing the union over subsequent years. At any event, the dispute became so intense that results of genuine efforts to retain the purity of the By about 1650, the Mennonite Gemeinden in the Flemish and Friesians banned one another, and vision of early leaders such as Menno Simons and the Netherlands were distributed as follows: reconciliation was impossible.As late as 1569, the Dirk Philips and to resist the assimilationists and - United (Flemish) 60% Mennonites of Overijssel were pulled into the con- others who wanted to forsake the purity of the - Hard Friesian, Old Flemish —20% flict, deciding in favour of the Flemish (p. 296). community based on strict adherence to Bibical - Waterlanders 20% The Flemish section itself divided into Old text. This couragious struggle, which has contin- Zijlstra provides a detailed and informative list- (stricter) and Young (soft) Flemish, ostensibly over ued for almost 500 years, is known as the “Kampf ing of the various Gemeinden by province in 1650 a relatively minor matter, but in fact over the strict- um die Gemeinde”. Karl Koop has described these in chapter 17 (pp. 458-463). ness of Gemeinde discipline (regarding the ban, efforts as follows: “In both the Dutch and the While Zijlstra does not dwell extensively on the outside marriages, (p. 300)). A Flemish Lehrer, Swiss contexts, these differing understandings of various Old Flemish Gemeinden remaining out- Thomas Byntgens, was accused of irregularities the church and religious life led to open conflict. side the union, the importance of the Old Flemish in the purchase of his house by a Diakon, Jacob In the Dutch contect the clash culminated with the on the history of West Prussia, Russia, and Canada, Keest (he later appears to have gone by the name “War of the Lambs”; in the Swiss context the clash cannot be overrestimated. Various Old Flemish Jacques Outermann (and was later accused of led to the Amish schism” (Note Seven). Gemeinden, mainly in the northern and eastern Neth- Socinianism, preparing a Confession of Faith in Various attempts to re-unite the divisions of erlands, joined in the union known as the “Societat 1626 as a defense)) . The Hauskopers (siding Waterlanders, Friesians, and Flemish took place der Gröninger Oude Vlaminger”. Other Old Flem- with Byntgens) were the Old Flemish and the over the years, and in various regions, not neces- ish Gemeinden, particularly in the west (including stricter, more traditionalist group, while the con- sarily on a national basis. The High-Germans Holland: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Leiden, tra-Hauskopers the (Soft) Young Flemish. united with the Soft Friesians in 1591 (p. 304). etc.) and in parts of Overijssel formed a looser The Friesians too, divided into Old (Hard) and According to Zijlstra, over time, the High-Ger- union known as the Danziger Old Flemish. The Young (Soft) Friesians for the same reasons, al- mans (previously associated with the Waterlanders) latter union derived its name from continuous and though Ältester Jan Willms kept the Friesians to- adopted a stricter outlook on Gemeinde discipline. close contacts with the (old) Flemish Gemeinden in gether until his death in 1588.The more important A partial union of Soft Friesians, High-Germans, West Prussia who also subscribed to the strict ide- leaders of the Young Friesians included Lubbert and Waterlanders took place in 1601, but fell apart als of Menno Simons and Dirk Phillips. The church Gerritsz and Hoyte Renix. Among the leaders of in 1613. Lubbert Gerritsz, however remained with books of the Danzig Flemish Gemeinde are replete the Hard Friesians was Pieter Jansz Twisck (1566- the remnant of the union (now predominantly with references to interchanges between Danzig 1.10.1636), author of a number of works and Waterlander). Many Soft Friesian Gemeinden and Dutch (Flemish) Mennonites. Indeed, the Ältester at Hoorn. The Hard Friesians were in- joined with Flemish Gemeinden over time until Danziger Old Flemish Gemeinden at Amsterdam deed much stricter than the Young Friesians, re- 1626 when four Flemish Lehrer wrote a proposal and Rotterdam asked Dirk Janzen from Danzig to maining apart as a separate minority group. Jan for a union, in the form of a Confession of Faith, serve as Altester from 1725-1733 (documented in Jacobs, Ältester at Harlingen, later took an even known as the “Olive-Branch”. This led to a union the Danzig church records).

124 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 The differences between the Danziger and their vision of the Gemeinde as it should be, the Collegiant, and had adhered to Socinian views. Groninger Old Flemish were minor (Note Eight). “true” Gemeinde. This vision was, in turn, taken Both Collegiant and Socinian doctrines can be Footwashing was a more regular practice with the along by the Flemish in their migrations to Russia, regarded as non-traditional and in opposition to Groningers. On the other hand, the Danzigers were Canada, Mexico, Paraguay, and elsewhere. Mennonite beliefs. He had apparently abandoned stricter in forbidding members to bring complaints Both unions still insisted they were the only those views when he was elected Lehrer in 1648. against others (either members or non-members) true Gemeinden (long after other Mennonite groups Many Waterlanders, on the other hand had close before higher or legal authorities. The ban, shun- dropped this claim), and required new members contacts with the Collegiants and Socinians, and ning, and a prohibition on marriage with outsiders from other Gemeinden to be re-baptised. Both many Socinians were admitted to the Waterlander were strictly applied in both unions (with some unions sought and maintained contact with West Gemeinde (p. 399). variations). The Old Flemish were the only re- Prussian Old Flemish groups. The Groningers At this time (circa 1650), the Waterlanders were maining Gemeinden where Lehrdienst members established links with the Prezchowko Gemeinde pressing for a union with the Flemish. Abrahamsz were democratically elected by all the male bap- in the Vistula valley, thereby continuing a heritage was suspected of attempting to turn the Gemeinde tized members. extending to Russia and the United States. The into a Collegiant institution and was opposed by 9 One of the features of the Flemish Gemeinden Danzigers had firm relationships with all the Vistula of 14 Ältester/Lehrer of the Gemeinde (including in general, and the Old Flemish in particular, was in delta Flemish Gemeinden, being, at least in part, Tobias Goverts v. Wijngaerd, one of the authors fact, the retention of the early democratic structures of the same ancestral stock of Flemish refugees of the Olive Branch, and Samuel Apostool, also a of the first Mennonite Gemeinden. The Waterlanders who had fled to the north after 1526. medical doctor). It soon became clear that were the first to revert to a system where new Of all the various Mennonite groups in the Neth- Abrahamsz was not the leader wanted by many in Lehrdienst members were selected or appointed by erlands, we may in fact claim the Old Flemish were the Gemeinde when he and his colleagues brought existing Lehrdienst members, a system also found the most important and enduring. Even though they in Collegiants to the church council and Lehrdienst later in the Friesian Gemeinden (at least in the Neth- were eventually absorbed throught assimilation into (3.1662). Apostool and other leaders formally left erlands). This was, in my mind, symbolic of a grow- other Mennonite Gemeinden (in the Netherlands), the Gemeinde, while Abrahamsz tried to conciliate ing worldliness and elitism, as well as apathy. The their ideology (and even blood descendants) sur- the remaining members. The dispute (sometimes Flemish always insisted on a complete equality vived in the West Prussian, Russian and Canadian known as the “War of the Lambs”) spread among the members (and were therefore also much Mennonites. In a sense, although they died out in thoughout the Netherlands, with various stricter in the selection of new members). The (male) the Netherlands, they are perhaps the most numer- Gemeinden of the (united) Flemish becoming members realized that they could be called upon to ous of todays living Mennonites. They, both in the Lamist (adherents of Abrahamsz) or Zonists (ad- serve at almost any time, which led to a greater Netherlands and elsewhere, represented the tradi- herents of Apostool). devotion and attention to the fundamentals of the tionalist Mennonites. As Voolstra states, “unless Abrahamsz then sought closer ties with the faith. Conversely, the Flemish were stricter and more we take these conservative [Old Flemish] Menno- Waterlanders, who themselves were divided be- selective in the admission of new (and voting) mem- nites as the most legitimate norm of the Anabaptist tween Collegiant supporters and those wishing to bers, as well as in the application of Gemeinde (doopgesinde) identity, we cannot fully or correctly adhere to the Confession of Faith of de Ries. Fur- discipline. Obviously, members who transgressed describe and understand the history of the thermore, opposition to union with the agreed upon rules of behaviour, or otherwise, would Anabaptists in the Netherlands (Note Nine). Waterlanders arose from with his own Lamist not be suitable voting members, either in the elec- The most serious challenge facing the Menno- group, and Abrahamsz was forced to give in on tion of Lehrdienst members or in making decisions nites in the increasingly prosperous and nationalis- this issue. Many Collegiants and Socinians were on matters of general concern. tic (Calvinist) Netherlands after l600 was absorp- however to join the Lamists. Later, Abrahamsz It may have been this concern for democratic tion and assimilation. Efforts to unite the various was to retreat from many of his earlier ideas, but structure that led the Flemish to oppose, not only divisions were symptomatic of a malaise beginning re-unionification with the Zonists was by this time the secret union of the Friesians of 1560, but also to affect the Gemeinden, that of apathy and a falling (1698) impossible. the emerging protocol (also part of the secret agree- away from their strict principles. Written and bind- At the heart of the controversy was the issue ment, it seems) of the Friesians whereby decision- ing Confessions of Faith were found to be neces- (faced today by many Mennonite churches as well) making would be reserved to the combined sary in the maintenance of an identity as a distinct whether a loose spirit of tolerance (i.e. indifference) Lehrdienst of all the Friesian Gemeinden, rather group. The Waterlanders, although the first to pro- should prevail regarding fundamental Flemish be- than open to the entire membership of each sepa- duce a Confession of Faith, never regarded the Con- liefs, or whether the Gemeinde should be maintained rate Gemeinde. It may have been this very feature fession of Faith as binding on members. Over time, through a binding Confession of Faith, and adher- which prompted Dirk Phillips to take such a strong after the partial union, many Gemeinden did indeed ence to the fundamentals enunciated therein (that is, stance against the Friesian Lehrdienst and the se- abandon and weaken principles of discipline (the whether or not the Gemeinde should be a “true” cret agreement. ban, shunning, and outside marriage), strict paci- Gemeinde or just a debating or social club). In sum- Discipline and the use of the ban was therefore fism, and non-worldliness. In this context, it is in- mary, Abrahamsz was an individual who deviated more strictly applied in the Flemish Gemeinden. teresting to note that the Mennonites of Friesland from Mennonite principles and not the enlightened In the Netherlands, the Old Flemish were the only lent the government one million gulders, in the war leader proposed by many (e.g. Meihuizen). Mennonites to resist the pressure of assimilation, years 1665, 1672, and 1678 (p. 365). In a sense, the “War of the Lambs” was the last to retain both the early democracy and strictness victory for the conservatives (the Zonists) of the of the first Mennonites. Elsewhere, in West Prussia, 7. Galenus Abrahamsz and the Lamists. united Flemish Gemeinden. For indeed, the forces a similar situation existed. Evidence regarding the The Remonstrant and Collegiant movements of assimilation, evidenced in the efforts of the Friesian Gemeinden, reveals that often important were among the forces impinging on the Menno- Collegiants, the Socinians, and Abrahamsz to turn decisions were made by the Lehrdienst, or even nites. The Remonstrants were characterized by the united Flemish away from their traditional faith only the Ältester, without any voting procedure or opposition to extreme Calvinism and an emphasis met with strong resistance and the Zonists suc- membership consultation (for instance, some of on free will. They adopted the Confession of Faith ceeded in preserving their heritage for at least some the actions of Ältester Heinrich Donner- of Hans de Ries (p. 374), although the Waterlanders decades to come. Orlofferfelde Gemeinde come to mind). Towards and other Mennonites tried to distance themselves the end of the 18th century however, it was world- from the Remonstrants. A discussion regarding 8. Society and the Mennonites. liness and apathy which eventually led to a paid possible union was held in 1658. The Collegiants The last two chapters provide much additional and appointed Lehrdienst in the Danzig city Flem- went even further, denying the validity of any detailed information on the Dutch Mennonites of ish Gemeinde. Fortunately, this innovation was formal church structure. the 17th century. Various population estimates of resisted by the (Flemish) “Land” Gemeinden. Both Galenus Abrahamsz (1622-1706), a medical Mennonites, Gemeinden, and geographic distri- democracy and strictness of discipline were com- doctor and an Ältester at Amsterdam in the (united) bution threrof are given, at various points in time. plimentary factors keeping the Flemish united in Flemish Gemeinde, was originally a strong An early estimate of 160,000 (1700), 7.4% of the

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 125 total population, is reviewed. More recent studies ally developing binding Confessions of Faith to Victoria, 2002). reduce this number by one-half. One of the rea- consolidate both faith and Gemeinde. The serious- Compressing centuries and the lives of thou- sons this estimate is important is that if the larger ness of their faith led to division, but minority groups sands into 650 pages is done the same way in figure were correct, a significant growth and later such as the Waterlanders, and later the Lamists, which porcupines make love: very carefully. And decline would be implied, whereas Zijlstra con- attempted to water down their Mennonite heritage “very carefully” describes the massive undertak- tends that while there was no significant growth, to accommodate the world. Eventually, all the ing by editor Leonard N. Neufeldt who in the neither was there as large a decline as otherwise Gemeinden in the Netherlands did become assimi- Acknowledgements of vol 1 gives tribute to about suggested. The distribution of the Mennonites was lated (forming the “Algemeene Doopsgezinde 100 individuals as well as to several foundations however very uneven. In 1665, 12% of the popu- Societat” in 1811) and gradually lost much of their and societies. No slipshod task, this, that tells the lation of Friesland was Mennonite (and interest- identity as a distinct religious group. story of Yarrow (presumably named after the herb ingly enough, the united Flemish represented 60% Spiritualism, Zijlstra claims, was always a force by that name found in abundance here), a commu- of these). North Holland, particularly the cities of impinging on the Mennonites, a force, which (in nity on British Columbia’s mainland built on a Haarlem and Amsterdam, had a significant Men- my opinion) was opposed to all the central tenets major floodplain. nonite population, as did Gröningen. Other prov- of the Mennonite faith, and was justly condemned Land in the area went through a series of devel- inces in the south and east had much smaller num- by members of the “true” Gemeinde, including opers’ hands (Vedder in the 1860s, Knox in 1905, bers of Mennonites. Zijlstra, however, totally ig- Menno Simons. Eckert in the 1920s). Beginning in 1928, Eckert nores the possible effect of immigration, particu- The one point of difference I have with the sold land to Mennonite immigrants from the Ukraine larly to West Prussia, on the statistics. author is his central view of Hoffmann and the who found their initial prairies experiences disap- Also discussed in these chapters are various Münster affair. For Zijlstra, Münster was not the pointing, and who responded to advertisements of aspects of social life, including studies of the oc- miserable interlude claimed by others (including the “Eckert Colonization Company”, promising cupations of the Mennonites. Here, Zijlstra points myself), but the key event in (Dutch) Mennonite productive soil, good roads and schools. Also as- out that it was not only the Waterlanders who were history. sisting in the settlement of Mennonites (in Yarrow active in cultural life. Artists and writers in the Though, on some points, I do differ with the and elsewhere in Canada) were the Canada Coloni- Waterlander Gemeinden included: Hans de Ries author, this work is one of great importance and zation Association (subsidiary of the CPR) and the (whose 1615 Historie der Martelaren was brought should be read by every student of Mennonite Mennonite Land Settlement Board. (Baptists and out in a second edition by the Hard Friesians to history. Lutherans had their own denominational land agen- correct de Ries’ misleading introduction), Jan cies to help their people settle.) Philipsz Schabaelje, Joost v.d. Vondel (the Milton Endnotes: In the last half of 1928, about 400 immigrants of the Netherlands, later (1640) joined the Catho- Note One: In chapter 2, Zijlstra points out some differences settled in Yarrow, and by the mid ‘30s Eckert had lics), Pieter Pietersz, and Judith Lubberts (joined between the re-baptisers (his definition of Anabaptist) and the sold all 750 acres he offered. His integrity is un- the Catholics (1632)). Other Gemeinden are rep- other dissenters. Statistical tables are provided (pages 66, 68) derscored by one writer (Agatha Klassen) who resented by: Carel v. Mander (Old Flemish, writer on the number of legally prosecuted persons in the years 1530- says he “showed his goodwill by selling the land and painter), Pieter Twisck (Hard Friesian), 1560. The re-baptisers represent the majority of prosecuted on long term credit, furnishing building materials, dissenters in all the northern counties, although these figures Solomon Ruysdael (Flemish, Haarlem), Jacob may be skewed since the re-baptisers were more visible and helping them buy farm machinery and even allow- Ruysdael (nephew of Solomon, Flemish, joined usually more organized (almost by definition/necessity). The ing them to charge up groceries in his name.” (vol the Reformed church 1657) and Jan Deutel (Hard statistics also reveal that there were more prosecuted dissent- 1, p 132). Eckert also encouraged crop diversifi- Friesian, poet! bookseller) (Note Ten). ers and more prosecuted re-baptisers in Flanders than in any cation (peas, rhubarb, beans - not all of which It is evident from various sources that as a group, one single northern county (figures which emphasize the im- were successful!). the Mennonites were relatively wealthy. Zijlstra re- portance of Flanders in the Anabaptist movement). One of the strengths of these two volumes is views and discounts some of the theories which Note Two: See for instance my own approach, The Old Colony the use of personal memoirs, of journals and of purport to explain the great wealth and status of the (Chortitza) of Russia (New Westminster, 2001), pages 7-12. interviews. Here are the stories of hardships: chicks Dutch Mennonites, including the Weber theory, and Note Three: Verheyden, Anabaptism in Flanders (Goshen, eaten by weasels and foxes; unseasonal frosts; 1961), precis as reproducted in Preservings, No. 22, page 18. the “marginalizing” theory. His own proposal is Note Four: Marjan Blok, “ as a bridge to long hours of work with crops or in the hop yards quite simply that the Gemeinde organization itself, puralism: The Epistemology of Flemish Anabaptist Martyr where many found work (some stayed in the hop mutual aid, discipline, and other aspects of the faith, Literature,” Doctoral thesis, Protestant University, Brussels, yards overnight; one boy tried to utilize the heat were important factors, and furthermore that the 2000, page 130. from the tractor’s exhaust for the tent in which he prohibition of marriage to non-Mennonites led to Note Five: Zijstra, pp. 285-286. See also my own article was sleeping and nearly died of carbon monoxide an accumulation of capital in Mennonite hands. They (Preservings, June, 2003, pages 34-44) on the Flemish-Frie- poisoning). were also active in profitable enterprises, including sian division. Zijlstra here refers to all the collective southern The journals quoted, and the interviews given, the Baltic trade (particularly advantageous must refugees as Flemish (p. 288). cover the life of the community from the 1920s to surely have been the presence of a large Mennonite Note Six: Karl Koop, Anabaptist-Mennonite Confessions of (in a few cases) the 1990s. Fascinating stories of Faith (Waterloo, 2003), page 51. population in the Vistula delta), and the textile in- Note Seven: Ibid, page 134. trucking and fruit processing, of grocery stores and dustry. A gift of some 1,000 gulders to the Prince of Note Eight: S. Voolstra, “Huiskopers of Danziger Oude feedmills, of lumberyards and nurseries - all are Orange in 1572 (by the Waterlanders (pp. 230,478)) Vlamingen,” Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (nieuwe reeks 29, 2003), told either by the people who starred in them, or by during the war of independence was to set the stage pages 111-124. their children, or by both. The importance of the for a particularly warm relationship between the Note Nine: Ibid. raspberry industry, that collapsed after WW II ended Mennonites and the royal family, who in many Note Ten: Marijke Spies, “Mennonites and literature in the and demand dropped, taking down with it a newly instances favoured the Mennonites. seventeenth century,” in Hamilton and Voolstra, From martyr built church school and a marketing corporation - to muppy: A historical introduction to cultural assimilation this is told from the viewpoint of proprietors, inves- 9. General Conclusions. processes of a religious minority in the Netherlands: The tors and pickers (an integrated historiography!). Mennonites (Amsterdam, 1994), pages 83-98. In his epilogue, Zijlstra summarizes some of his A Book Review Essay by Henry Social life is talked about, including a chapter on major and important conclusions. I have drawn at- Schapansky, 108-5020 Riverbend Road, recreation (vol. 2, p 192); so are the arts, including tention to some of these earlier in this essay. In Edmonton, Alberta, T6H 5J8. the eccentric violin maker Friesen (is the account of many of these conclusions, he disagrees sharply _____ his production besting a Stradivarius and a Guarneri with other historians. The author sees the early pe- possibly an apocryphal embellishment? vol. 2, p riod of Anabaptist/Mennonite history as a religious Leonard N. Neufeldt, editor, Yarrow, British 267) and graphic artists (vol. 2, p 121). Closely struggle of a minority group, attempting to maintain Columbia: Mennonite Promise - Volume One: Be- related is music and the role it played both in the their faith and identity as the “true” Gemeinde of fore We Were the Land’s; Volume Two: Village of community (the Neufeld brothers, vol 11, p 254) God through discipleship and discipline, eventu- Unsettled Yearnings (TouchWood Editions, and in the Mennonite Brethren church with George

126 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Reimer (vol 2, p 244) and H. P. ous studies were, even though the Neufeldt (vol 1, p 177). basic earlier outlines remain. There is an emphasis on educa- In chapter one Loewen analyses tion, with the first private school that the diaries of six immigrant men. collapsed when the raspberry market What they reveal is the events of daily foundered, and the bible school spon- life. Loewen thus entitles this chapter sored by the Mennonite Brethren con- “Wonders and Drudgery,” arguing gregation. that it is in the drudgery of everyday And the role of religion. These life that one can see the wonder of the settlers came to recreate the pattern of immigrants’ lives. church and community integration that The diaries consist largely of had given them strength in the comments about weather, crops, Ukraine, and so the church was a yields, health of the households, prices major, if not the major, institution. of commodities, interest rates, and While there were two Mennonite con- visitors. The diaries do not normally gregations, it was the Mennonite Yarrow Church Baptism. Photo - courtesy of Vern Ratzlaff. express a lot of emotion. This Brethren that dominated in sheer size changes, however, when they de- (with a membership of 971 in 1948, the largest are provided, lacking is an account of how the scribe the travel from southern Russia to the United Mennonite Brethren congregation in Canada) and aboriginal community was viewed or related to States. Loewen speculates that it seems that the through the work of Peter D. Loewen (the first (the Sto:lo). “transoceanic relocation produced a heightened teacher in the bible school, and an active Sunday A printing error: the table on p 61 (vol 1) has self-consciousness, revealed in more intense record School promoter and organizer) 461 students in names but lacks the picture. keeping.”(21) 40 classes with 72 teachers (vol. 2, p 41). A wonderful read of the history and religious A number of women wrote accounts of their Lumber for the first church built was paid for by faith of a strong community. migration to North America. Their travel logs dif- volunteer labour at a nearby sawmill; part of the Book Review by Vern Ratzlaff, 1606 Ruth St. fered somewhat from those written by men. agreement was that the sawmill’s owner be allowed E., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7J 0L8. Women used more descriptive language about the to play his violin during an evening service (vol 1, Vern Ratzlaff taught in the Sharon Mennonite areas through which they traveled. What was note- p 196). The church was a dominant, if not at times Collegiate (l962-66), and received grapes from worthy, however, was that women gave more at- domineering, force: excommunication for biblical Aaron Rempel (vol 2, p 227). He is on the pastoral tention to the social aspects of the journey; includ- interpretational differences, forbidding farmers to team of Nutana Park Mennonite Church, Saska- ing family separations and traumas, feelings of grow tobacco (question: what did they think the toon. fear and dislocation, and descriptions of the mi- hops they picked went for?). In its early years, the _____ grating groups and families. Loewen surmises that church had frequent congregational meetings (24 in the migration was likely even more disruptive for 1931, vol 2, p 39). In the 1940s, it even passed a Loewen, Royden, Hidden Worlds, Revisiting the women’s lives than it was for the men.(28) resolution to place a two percent levy on the income the Mennonite Migrants of the 1870s (Winnipeg: In chapter two Loewen analyses inheritance of all church members and of all businesses owned The University of Manitoba Press, 2001), xii and patterns. Mennonites who immigrated from Rus- in part or in full by members. 139 pages. maps, illustrations, selected bibliogra- sia in the 1870s believed there was a strong con- The two volumes present a wonderful per- phy, and index. Softcover. nection between their faith and economics. One sonal look at the life of a thriving community that In Hidden Worlds, Royden Loewen who holds way they expressed this was in inheritance pat- was able to remain relatively homogeneous (there the chair in Mennonite Studies at University of terns. Where one spouse died, the surviving was one Chinese resident, vol 2, p 305; there were Winnipeg, presents another analysis of the social spouse received one half of the estate and the re- those who joined the Armed Forces, vol 11, p 95). history of Mennonite people. In this volume he mainder was divided among the children. The These accounts are carefully told and skilfully ed- analyses Mennonite life in three North American children’s portion was divided on the basis of ited (in some instances translated) so that there is a communities: the central United States, southeast- bilateral and partible distribution. Bilateral meant consistent language flow. The strength of this ap- ern Manitoba, and Waterloo, Ontario. that daughters and sons inherited land and money proach is that the subject matter is viewed from The chapters were first presented in 1999 as equally. Partible “meant that the estates were di- several perspectives e.g. the raspberry marketing the “Menno Simons” lectures at Bethel College, vided, often literally, into fragmented eighty-, forty- crisis, the closing of the private school and the life North Newton, Kansas. The occasion was the , and even twenty-acre parcels” depending on the of the bible school, hop picking and its contribu- 125th anniversary of the immigration of Menno- number of children and the size of the estate.(34) tions socially and financially. But this approach nites from Imperial Russia to the central United In both Canada and the United States this pat- has a weakness for the same reason. While this States and to Manitoba. For comparison and con- tern of inheritance came under pressure from the provides shafts from a number of points above the trast he added a third Mennonite community, inheritance laws of the two countries. Loewen ore bed, a tunnel approach would have provided a namely the one in Waterloo, Ontario that was settled analyses how Mennonites responded to these pres- more sustained and orderly approach (e.g. of the around 1800 by Mennonites from Pennsylvania sures, and how long they were able to maintain at marketing crises, of the school collapse). who were of Swiss and south German origin. least some aspects of the traditional patterns. Also lacking in the two volumes is reflection In the introduction to the study Loewen indi- Loewen analyses the effect the bilateral and par- on the impact of pluralism. While the bulk of the cates that he uses different sources and asks dif- tible distribution had upon the formation of com- material comes up to the ‘60s, there is some that ferent questions than Mennonite historians have munities, the strength of families, size of farms, goes beyond. It’s curious that there is no mention usually done. His sources are “personal docu- and the attitude to migration. in either volume of the Christian and Missionary ments including diaries, letter collections, mem- In chapter three Loewen addresses the role, place Alliance congregation that began in Yarrow in the oirs, and financial accounts,” as well as “public and voice of women in the immigrant Mennonite late 50s; there are only passing references to the information including probated wills, tax rolls, communities in both the USA and Canada. He notes Sharon Mennonite Collegiate that closed in the homestead files, nominal census records, court that scholars of prairie rural German women in late 60s; there are no references to the presence of dockets, and marriage records.”(7) In addition, he both Canada and the USA have concluded that the Christian Reformed who bought the latter indicates he asks new and different questions of women wrote little because they were exploited and school. Two volumes is a lot of writing, but a well known and published sources, for example ignorant. Consequently, they conclude, it is difficult short reflection on religious and cultural pluralism “newspapers, inheritance protocols, diaries, and to discern what women thought about their lives would have brought the volume at least partially local histories.”(7) The result is a Mennonite story and community. Loewen disputes both the assump- full circle. Also, although a few quick references that is textured somewhat differently than previ- tion and the conclusion, noting that in Mennonite

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 127 communities many women wrote diaries and cor- America the Mennonites came to know.”(100) als that have previously been ignored. As more of respondence and left a rich written legacy. Loewen concludes that the immigrant groups’ ex- this is published and thus moves from private After noting what male writers said about periences were much more complex than simply collections to the public domain, other researchers women, he peruses women’s own letters and dia- relating to the larger American society. will also be able to include it in future studies. ries. From these writings he is able to discern their Loewen concludes the book by indicating that The one puzzling aspect of the study is the con- self-image, their view of family, their perception his intention in the study was to “identify the so- clusion. In it Loewen is dismissive of the religious of the men in the communities, and their image of cial and cultural arrangements that allowed Men- or faith dimension of the Mennonite story, and sees the contours of their communities. Some of the nonites to evolve as an .”(106) his study as showing how the religious and the writers, he notes, were quite self-assured, confi- Even though he acknowledges that Mennonites temporal created “a clear ethnic identity.” He sees dent, even brazen, willing to admonish male lead- were a religious group with deep roots in the 16th the basic identity of the Mennonite communities as ers in the community. century Anabaptist movement, he suggests that it ethnic, and the faith aspect of the Mennonite com- In chapter four Loewen compares two Menno- was the cultural patterns and temporal organiza- munities as serving the maintenance of ethnic iden- nite farmers in two regions in Canada, Mr. Bergey tions that they developed and reshaped which tity. For him faith seems to be a secondary motiva- in Waterloo County, Ontario and Mr. Plett in Hanover became the essence of their communities. He indi- tor and a derivative identity for who Mennonites municipality in Manitoba. Both were rooted in cates that this study is intended to indicate the were and the migrations they undertook. Mennonite communities that loved the land. The dynamic way in which Mennonites adapted to a I think it would be more helpful, and more immigrants of the 1870s “expressed an almost ob- new world in their migration to Canada and the accurate, to see the ethnic and communal aspects sessive interest in farmland.”(71) Mennonites in USA in the 1870s to maintain “a clear ethnic iden- of Mennonite community as an out growth of the both Ontario and Manitoba considered that their tity, a sense of ‘peoplehood.’”(106) faith of the community. The Mennonite commu- “life of simplicity, peace, self-sufficiency, and sepa- In Hidden Worlds, Loewen allows the voice nity would not have existed apart from its faith ration from worldly society” were in- commitments. The early Mennonites separable from the agrarian commu- would have assimilated into Lutheran nity.(70) or Reformed churches in The Neth- Loewen makes numerous com- erlands or Poland without a commit- parison between the two Mennonite ment to an Anabaptist Mennonite faith. communities and notes that even The migration to North America from though their basic orientation to land Russia is not understandable apart was similar, and they had similar com- from the Mennonites’ commitment to mitments to maintaining their commu- pacifism. The group settlements and nities, there were also differences. the churches they organized in each Mennonites in Waterloo county, who immigrant settlement are not intelli- were third generation immigrants, gible without the faith commitment spoke more English, intermarried more as the basic factor. The inheritance with people from other cultures, and patterns, which Loewen discusses, had more contact with urban centers. were the result of the Mennonite com- Mennonites in Hanover lived in a more mitment to relating faith and econom- ethnically homogenous setting, were ics. The strong Mennonite commit- more self-sufficient and lived further ment to community, and the develop- from a major urban centre. Loewen ment of the many organizations which sees this comparative study as helping sustained those communities, devel- to see the importance of the variable of oped out of a belief that faith is to be regionalism. Ilustration from Hidden Worlds, page 50, identified only as “Members of an expressed and nurtured in commu- In Chapter five Loewen analyses unidentified Mennonite family in 1955.” Can any reader recall the names of nity. four studies about immigrant groups this family? It seems that Loewen weakens in the USA in order to show that and diminishes the significance of his Mennonites shared immigrant experiences with of the common people to be heard. His diaries, own work by denigrating the faith that has pro- their neighbours. The first study Loewen analyses letters, newspaper articles and other sources draw vided the life blood for the communities which he is about a Dutch immigrant who settled in the upon the experiences of the farmers, housewives, studies. Missouri Valley in 1892. The second is of “Rural and other ordinary people who are the back bone Except for this puzzling conclusion, Loewen in German speaking women and their families in the of Mennonite communities, but who are often ne- Hidden Worlds, makes a valuable contribution in Nineteenth century Midwest.”(93) The third is glected and not given a voice in history writing. broadening our understanding of Mennonite immi- entitled “Minds of the West: Ethnocultural evolu- In particular, Loewen gives voice to immi- grants and the communities in which they lived. tion in the Rural Middle West.”(95) The fourth grant and pioneer women, and provides catego- Book Review by Professor John J. Friesen, study deals with the pressures that industrializa- ries for understanding the significance of what Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, tion and urbanization placed on the family farm, they said and did. His emphasis on the important Manitoba. on women’s roles, and on local communities. It role immigrant women played in maintaining and _____ concludes that often immigrant farm groups were reestablishing the households is refreshing and all struggling with the effects that agribusinesses, instructive. His ability to show the creative role David G. Rempel, A Mennonite Family in supported by large corporations and the govern- women played in shaping and imaging the con- Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union 1789-1923 ment, had on the family farms. tours of the immigrant communities helps readers (Toronto, 2002), 356 pages. Loewen says that by comparing Mennonites understand immigrant communities more fully. His Memorialization in the form of diaries, journals with their neighbours, it is possible to see the many excerpts from diaries and letters which indicate and memoirs has long been a significant tradition areas where their experiences were similar to those women’s ability to see what men had missed; among the Vistula delta Danziger Old Flemish Men- of other groups. Also as Mennonites and other namely details of their surroundings, the impact of nonites who settled in Imperial Russia in 1789. The immigrant groups interacted with the powerful migration upon family life, and the expression of “Familienbuch” typically recorded the ancestry and forces of the host American society, they also in- emotions and feelings is a major contribution to frequently also significant family events. As early teracted with each other. Each was fighting for Mennonite history writing. as the 17th century, Flemish Ältester Georg Hansen survival, all accommodating, and in this process Loewen has also provided a service in draw- (1635-1703), Danzig, maintained a journal as a way “it was not at all clear which part of a multifaceted ing attention to new and rich collections of materi- of organizing his life world as well as that of his

128 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 community (Postma, Das Niederländsche Erbe, early days of the settlement” (page 16). cated, banned, shunned, exiled, and even corpo- pages 121 and 168). The extensive journals of Rempel’s literary sketches of the “Nippaenja” rally punished in the Molotschna where the “Su- Ältester Ohm Gerhard Wiebe (1725-96), Ellerwald, flesh out the teasingly short descriptions of Dr. Jack preme unelected Ruler” had broken the back of the West Prussia, created a template for numerous simi- Thiessen (Pres., No. 15, page 134). The traditionalist majority by public beatings, whippings, lar endeavours in the future. In essence, such writ- “Nippaenja” were the landless day-labourers living shaming, and defrocking of several leading Ältesten ing represented nothing less than the continuation at the river end of the village, “...who lived a hap- and even exiling the noble Ältester Heinrich Wiens of a literary tradition established by the Anabaptist hazard, perhaps carefree life” (page 124). The vil- (1800-72), Gnadenheim, Molotschna, using deceit martyrs in Flanders during the Reformation and by lagers were apparently considered as “lower class” and chicanery. Presumably Cornies filed a com- the Flemish expatriates in the northern Netherlands by some, but seemingly compensated with a robust plaint with the Guardianship Committee which “re- in the 17th century. and stoic Mennonitism and an impressive ability to moved Mayor Rempel and one of his assistants In more recent times a number of memoirs survive. Some of the other villages in the Old Colony from office.” D. G. Rempel proudly notes that be- dealing with the experience of the Mennonites in considered themselves more cultured and educated cause of his grandfather’s heroic resistance, Nieder- Russia during the first decades of the 20th century and “delighted in ridiculing our villager’s [Nieder- Chortitza remained “....one of the settlement’s most have been published. By way of example, Gerhard Chortitza] mode of speech...[which was] devoid of beautiful villages” (pages 23 and 192). P. Schroeder’s Miracles of Grace and Judgement any High-German words.....and deemed our ev- David G. Rempel is candid about Cornies’ po- (Lodi, California, 1974), 266 pages (actually co- eryday vocabulary and pronunciation to be that of lice-state regime, writing: “Although such forms edited by David G. Rempel), and Hope Springs country bumpkins....” (page 87). of punishment seem out of keeping with Menno- Eternal (Battleford, Sask., 1988), the memoirs and The “intelligentsia” during the “Golden Age” of nite tradition, there is ample evidence of Cornies’ sermons of Prediger Johann J. Nickel, describe the Mennonites in Russia lauded mainly modern- brutish methods” (page 22). Historian Adolf Ehrt the life of the Mennonites during World War One ization, pietization and Germanization as the finest echoes these observations, referring to “the polic- and its tragic aftermath under the Soviets. virtues of civilization. This resulted, ironically, in ing [state] representation of the Cornies’ commis- David G. Rempel was not only a gifted ob- the rather intolerant attitudes and narrow views cited. sion [Society] as an organ of the absolute Russian server of the human condition but also one of the It is regrettable that the so-called intellectuals of this State,” (page 40). first trained historians coming out of the Russian period overlooked and made no effort to preserve One of the most tragic chapters in Russian Men- Mennonite community. He was also quite erudite the noble traditions and pre-capitalist, egalitarian nonite history was the fall into hopelessness and and did not hesitate to criticise and lecture his fellow and communitarian ethos and culture of the Flem- despair of many of the “landless” some of whom Mennonites when he believed that historical events ish Mennonites, shaped as it was by four centuries sought deliverance through the frantic proselytising were incorrectly interpreted. Rempel became well- of persecution and struggle for survival. One tragic of Separatist-Pietists and Baptists of various hues known, for example, to Der Bote readers for his example: Heinrich Unruh, Ältester of the Halbstadt and varieties. The “enlightened self-appointed elect” didactic contributions. Accordingly I looked for- Gemeinde in 1903 could not even identify and was from “Deutschland” were only too delighted to ward to reading David G. Rempel’s memoirs fully not familiar with the classic work by Schaebalie, spread sectarianism, strife and conflict among the cognizant that they would be of great significance. Die Wandelnde Seele, from the canon of Flemish Mennonite colonies in Russia (much like American David G. Rempel is already familiar to the read- Mennonite devotional literature (Endnote). Fundamentalist missionaries in the modern-day seek ers through his excellent essay “From Danzig to The reader will find the personages described to spread their lies and deceit among our brothers Russia: The First Mennonite Migration,” published by Rempel to be warm, human and complex and and sisters in Christ in Latin America). in Presservings, No. 20, pages 3-18 (including a not the simplistic stick figures which pietist Gerhard Wieler, one of the early leaders of the brief biography by Dr. James Urry at page 19) as hagiographers have attempted to foist upon un- secessionists or Brüdergemeinde movement, is well as a subsequent article, “`I too was there, and suspecting readers - as again bravely presented in described by Rempel as follows: “Soon after be- Mead I drank....,’ The Eichenfeld massacre: and such recent productions as Janice L. Dick’s, Calm coming a brethren leader, he proclaimed himself Analysis and Commentary on the Eichenfeld mas- before the Storm (Herald Press, Waterloo, 2002) an apostle with the rights and obligations to bap- sacre and the Mennonite film, `And when they (see Pres., No. 21, page 134). One of the intrigu- tize, ban, or excommunicate whomever he wished, shall ask,’” in Pres., No. 21, pages 25-27. ing characters crossing the stage of Rempel’s thereby splintering this separatist group as well” David G. Rempel was born in Nieder Khortitza world is “Great, Great Grandfather Gerhard” who (page 27). D. G. Rempel points to some of the in 1899 and died in Menlo Park, California in 1992. at age 65 married an 18 year-old girl, apparently a devastating consequences of the “evangelizing” He attended the Chortitza High School and taught marriage of convenience. Gerhard took his bride activities of Evangelist Eduard Wuest and other school until 1922 when he was removed by the to the summer room right after the wedding, tell- sectarians. Referring to the death of Johann Wieler, Soviets. In 1923 he emigrated to Canada. He com- ing her: “Helena, here this is your room, here no Gerhard’s more stable brother, Rempel writes: “A pleted his PhD at Stanford University in 1933 with one will disturb you” (page 19). Two days after few Mennonites may have secretly and uncharita- an impressive thesis “The Mennonite Colonies in “Old Jeat died....she married her old beau, Jakob bly deemed the means of Johann’s demise poetic New Russia: A study of their Settlement and Eco- Loewen” (page 20). The family demonstrated a justice, for the schism between the Brethren and nomic Development from 1789 to 1914.” Rempel’s genuine understanding of human needs and rela- the established churches engendered such bitter thesis was ground breaking for its time and had it tionships as “Old Jeat’s sons and their wives vis- feeling that often family members severed virtu- been published and widely circulated within the ited Helena and Jakob often...[and were miffed] to ally all contact with other members if they were of Flemish-Russian Mennonite community, it would hear the Neuendorf neighbours sniff at their step- the opposite branch of the faith. For a member of undoubtedly have added considerable depth and mother as `that barefoot grandmother’”. the old church to `convert’ (the Brethren’s favourite balance to Russian Mennonite historiography which The next generation was represented by Johann expression for joining its membership) to the new for far too long was dominated by Brüdergemeinde Rempel, a stalwart of his community. In his term as was regarded as a betrayal of true Mennonite apologists and neo-Kellerites (see Pres., No. 23, Schulze or mayor of Nieder-Khortitza, Johann went faith” (page 28). D. G. Rempel refers also to one pages 46-50). Rempel’s work can usefully be com- head to head with the regime of Johann Cornies of his relatives who was leaning towards the Brüder pared with that of his contemporary, Baltic German rejecting his dictatorial and simplistic educational and “perhaps would have left his own church ex- Adolf Ehrt, who published his thesis in 1932 under reforms and living to tell the tale (page 21). Johann cept that he found it easier to recruit converts from the title, Das Mennonitentum in Russland von seine also fought off Cornies when he wanted to relocate his position in the established church,” (page 64). Einwanderung bis zur Gegenwart (republished in part of the village of Nieder Khortitza and presum- Rempel’s cynicism regarding religion is perhaps 2003). ably turn it into one of his square-box, square-grid, understandable in view of the transparent manipu- David G. Rempel grew up in Nieder-Chortitza sterilized, village plans and marked by “....over- lativeness and unethical conduct typical of such and his descriptions of the Cherkessy “with bro- whelming, stultifying sameness” as he had in the sectarians. ken-tipped knives” are delightful, reflecting an Molotschna. Johann - backed solidly by his villag- The standard approach among the Russian earthy, unpretentious Mennonite world interact- ers - refused to obey the “Fuhrer’s” directives, some- Mennonite historians has been to denigrate the ing with “....numerous lawless elements in the thing for which he might have been excommuni- struggle of the Flemish Mennonites at Chortitza in

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 129 1789-1800 to implement their traditional forms of Steine, pages 653-665) with the 1808 Molotschna faith. Belief typically becomes pro-forma. Ameri- governance based on egalitarianism and Revision (published in B. H. Unruh, pages 304- cans Evangelicals, for example, have dealt with this communitarianism, as the work of ungrateful, un- 331). These sources demonstrate that the Chortitza by ritualizing the process of conversion, baptism ruly and recalcitrant neophytes, and as the manifes- settlers were wealthier or at least as wealthy as and revival as rites of passage thereby guaranteeing tations of a fallen and corrupted culture. In his well- their Molotschna co-religionists. The relative suc- that their offspring would be soundly converted known essay “From Danzig to Russia” published cess of the “Old Colonists” was also documented and could then make a profession of communal in Mennonite Life in 1969 (Pres., No. 20, pages by Adolf Ehrt (Das Mennonitentum in Ruszland, obedience (testifying) and qualified to be entered 16-18), D. G. Rempel takes an impartial, more schol- page 96 and elsewhere) citing records of the under the covenant (see Robert Lindor, Men. Life, arly approach, pointing out that the charges against “Forstei Service” which show that Chortitza was Dec. 1983, pages 17-22). Nevertheless, retention delegate Jakob Höppner (1748-1826) arose out of the highest assessed of the three original Gebieten rates among the children of so-called Evangelicals an inquiry by Imperial administrator Samuel or municipal jurisdictions, namely, Chortitza, are relatively low - presumably dissuaded by an Contenius (normally lauded by the Halbstadt and Gnadenfeld. In the category of manu- extremely shallow religious culture. Conservative modernizationists), were laid by the authorities and, facturing in 1908, Chortitza alone outproduced Mennonites have done this far more successfully “....the government eventually found them guilty.” the other two districts (Ehrt, page 89). with retention rates up to 80 percent for Amish and David G. Rempel was a descendant of Jakob Mennonite communities like all human societ- Old Colonist Mennonites. Christian formation of Höppner and possibly this influenced his treatment ies were never completely equal. Traditional Flem- children in the home, community and church is at of the Höppner affair in a chapter of his memoirs ish Mennonite culture was founded on a biblically core of Flemish Mennonite faith and culture. with the rather revealing title, “Unjust Charges: The based vision of egalitarianism and D. G. Rempel provides a characterization of Fate of Jacob Höppner.” Rempel refers to “The communitarianism. Traditional values were eroded this aspect of religion as practised in his parental colonists...[who] turned their wrath on blameless by the transition to capitalism and the conversion of home: “....there was little verbalizing of religion at Höppner and Bartsch...(page 8) [and pursuant to] Mennonites to more spiritualistic and vocally ex- home, and I believe that this was because our par- “...the early settlers’ cruel and unjust treatment....the pressive religious cultures. Distinct social classes ents believed that actions speak louder than words” church shunned both and the community forced developed as a result. Rempel devotes an entire (pages 97-98). Rempel, however, did not recognize Höppner’s imprisonment” (page 46). chapter to “Class Conflicts within the Khortitza the centrality of faith, the church and community in One speculates whether the change in inter- Settlement” noting that “...ultimately 40 per cent of shaping Mennonite life and culture and he refers to pretation may reflect the viewpoints of the editor the Khortitza Settlement’s population and two-thirds “their proforma baptism at age twenty, which they of Rempel’s memoirs? The historical record is of Molochna’s citizens were landless” (page 120). needed if they were going to claim such community clear that Höppner had no elected status nor even Rempel explains the development of the landless privileges as marriage, eligibility for Alternative appointed authority relative to the pioneer settle- class and the later opportunity for revenge of the Service and voting” (page 124). His dismissal of ment at Chortitza and although his services and dispossessed during the Revolution when some of the differences between the Flemish and Frisians as contributions were outstanding and noble, not the the “Nippaenja” such as “Mennonite brigand Petia “...related to the settlers’ obduracy and propensity slightest shadow can be attributed to the Flemish Thiessen...” joined the Makhnovshchina and other to split hairs over meaningless matters” (page 10) is settlers in “New Russia” for seeking to reorganize anarchists (pages 217 and 248). Other Nippaenja another example. In this regard David G. Rempel and re-implement their traditional communitarian became comrades and held positions of power in rises only marginally above the so-called Russian and democratic forms of governance. the village soviet: “Elated at the reversal of roles, the Mennonite intelligentsia of the early 20th century, Pietistic - and progressivisticly - orientated writ- landless shut the former propertied elite out of the whose almost complete rejection and lack of inter- ers have tried desperately to reinvent delegate process....The property owners protested vehe- est regarding their own Flemish faith, culture and Jakob Höppner as some sort of proto-Johann mently. Balkov retorted that if they caused the local history doomed them to intellectual impoverish- Cornies “proconsul” with a mysterious but unex- soviet trouble, he would dispatch them to areas ment and decline as a people. By comparison, Adolf plained divine authority to govern. It would be from which they would never return” (page 187). Ehrt - although a non-Mennonite - saw the Flemish much to the benefit of the Mennonite community Although D. G. Rempel devotes considerable Mennonites in Russia as a unique and homoge- to move beyond the superficial hero-worship of space to the landless class he does not draw the neous people thereby presenting the foundation for Johann Cornies and other similar autocrats among connection between the development of the small a more accurate and holistic portrayal. the Russian Mennonites whose achievements - as “gutsbesitzer” and factory owner elite (2.8 % had Some critique - The process of the editing of breath-taking as they may have been - are but 38 % of the wealth) at one end of the economic these memoirs is not explained. What was left out, painful reminders of the unnecessary strife and spectrum and the 40-70 per cent landless at the what was retained, and more importantly, what disunity caused by the relentless and unyielding other. Adolf Ehrt, in contrast, identifies both as was changed? The editor, Cornelia Rempel pursuit of modernization, particularly when imple- manifestations of capitalism and as reflecting the Carlson, does refer to “...the more ambitious ef- mented by self-appointed dictators and not by a abandonment of traditional Mennonite ideals (page fort of editing and - most often - rewriting the democratically constituted process as was cus- 96). The point is that modernizationist historians material” (page xiv). tomary in traditional Flemish Mennonite culture. and social scientists should be more consistent as For example, reference is made to the New David G. Rempel also challenges some of the frequently only the positive aspects of the transi- Year’s Eve activities of the Slavic neighbours, the myths surrounding the Chortitza settlement, par- tion to capitalism are identified but only rarely is “....peasants from the nearby Ukrainian village of ticularly that of the great poverty of the Flemish there any discussion of the negative consequences Razumovka” (page 101). However the greeting pioneers. The myth arose “....among many of those resulting from the breakdown of traditional social of the supposedly Ukrainian neighbours is in Rus- who held land and wealth....[that] the cottagers, day structures and mores. Rempel notes, also, that had sian: “Seiem, seiem, provivaiem, s novym godom labourers and the few shiftless ne’er-do-wells in the Mennonite community remained faithful to its pozdravliaem”. most villagers stemmed from the vast number of traditional Flemish vision it would certainly have One questions, therefore, was the editor trying improvident original emigrants. Although there possessed the resources to eliminate landlessness to be politically correct by referring to all Slavic might be a grain of truth in this idea, it is mostly and/or at least significantly reduce it (see Rempel, neighbours of the Mennonites as Ukrainians (an false” (pages 9-10, 59). The myth - I believe - was page 133). In this regard it appears that the mod- idea actively promoted by current Ukrainian na- unashamedly morphed into a larger than life “urban ern Mexican Mennonite community has done a tionalists)?; or were the Ukrainian villagers - simi- legend” by pietist hagiographers such as P. M. better job of establishing daughter colonies for lar to the Mennonites - also Russified by having Friesen (page 91), apparently in the hope it would their landless than their 19th century counterparts lived in an Imperial Russian milieu for several make easier their mission of converting Menno- in Imperial Russia. generations, so that they spoke Russian when they nites away from their traditional Christo-centric faith. All religious societies have to deal with the ten- visited the Mennonites?; or were the residents of Those who question Dr. Rempel’s observa- sion “between the concept of a New Israel com- Razumovka in the 1920s actually ethnic Russians tions should compare the property listings of the posed only of elect saints” and the genuine conver- - not completely unlikely, given that both Russian 1801 Old Colony census (published in Diese sion of later generations already socialized in the and Ukrainian peasants were resettled in the re-

130 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Henry Pauls’ beautiful painting of the Chortitza main street 1910 - Chortitza “old” colony, South Russia. The Mädchenschule (still standing) - left, the worship house - middle centre, and the Gebietsamt building - immediately to its right. The publishers have also included in the book the painter’s poetic description of the street scene, “A Painter’s Recollection of Khortitsa, 1910,” pages 329-330, almost worth the price of the book on its own. The big man standing at the front gate of the church with the hat is Ältester Ohm Isaak Dyck (1847-1929) (see Pres., No. 21, pages 7-24) conversing with the local rabbi, teacher Penner and the local Russian Orthodox priest. Photo - A Mennonite Family, bookplates pages 124/125. gion after its conquest from Turkey (the modern- thesis, can someday also be published in German. experience of Anna Kroeker – a sister of Jantzen’s day population of Zaporozhe is still over half eth- D. G. Rempel’s recollections speak for a rich stepmother – as a young woman in Kyrgyzstan nically Russian). Presumably copies of D. G. and colourful Mennonite past. Those who are old during the turbulence of the Stalin era. Because Rempel’s manuscripts are available in various ar- enough and still familiar with the Mennonite art Jantzen is recreating a life, she gives Kroeker a chives so that historians may mine the material for form of story-telling will find in these memoirs fictive name, Mia Peters. such nuggets of interest. many a wonderful yarn and adventure which they Staggering, how a seemingly small matter can One notable glitch: the beautiful painting of the will genuinely enjoy. The largest and most exten- lead to things of great consequence. Mia scoops main street of Chortitza by Henry Pauls repro- sive chapters of the book deal with the outbreak of up six beets on a muddy road – and gets sentenced duced on the dust jacket appears to be flipped with WWI and Rempel’s account of his family’s har- to six years in Siberia (she was freed after five). the Gebietsamt building to the left (south) of the rowing experiences and - far from certain - sur- Thousands of miles from her children, she helps church when in fact it is to the right (north) (see vival under the Makhnovshchina and the Soviets construct a bridge, does railroad maintenance and page 329). The painting is, however, correctly and add an analytical and personal perspective to works in a sawmill. reproduced in the photo plates following page 224. these tragic events. These are vignettes of incomprehensible pri- Some minor points of editing: Footnote 1 at the The memoirs of David G. Rempel demon- vation: Mia’s braids frozen to the canvas of her bottom of page 314 refers to the “spread of Bap- strate that he was a genuine folk historian and bed; the violent coughing and blinding headaches tism,” presumably intended to refer to the spread of chronicler of his people in the best of the “old” from her mind-numbing toil. She is sustained by “Baptists” or “Baptists’ religion”. Footnote 1 for Old Colonist tradition. The discriminating reader several “God visions” that come to her like pow- chapter 11 on page 315 incorrectly refers to the will not be disappointed. erful cords of protection, assuring her that she and head of the Waisenamt as the “Waisenschulz” when Book review by Delbert Plett, editor. her family are in God’s hands. in fact it was the Waisenältester or Waisenvorsteher. Jantzen’s remarkable tale of faith and stoicism These items, however, are not serious and overall Endnote: James Urry, e-mail to editor, Jan. 12/ moves along like a locomotive. I could not put it the prose reads well. 04. Heinrich Unruh memoirs, Conrad Grebel, down. It is unfortunate that Dr. Rempel was not able Mss. 134. Edith Elisabeth Friesen’s book is another to write and publish as prolifically as was war- _____ heartrending tale. Friesen’s mother and three sib- ranted by his depth of scholarship and extensive lings were caught in the Soviet Union in the1930s. knowledge. His memoirs, help to make up for this Forging a future out of desperate fires: Friesen had heard the stories all her life but they void and represent a major contribution to the Flem- Erica Jantzen, Six Sugar Beets: Five Bitter became real when, in 1997, she and her mother ish Mennonite story in Russia. The readers owe Years, Pandora Press, 2003. returned to Ukraine, to the world where Anne’s daughter Cornelia Rempel Carlson and Professor Edith Elisabeth Friesen, Journey into Freedom, “childhood came crashing down” and life on the Harvey Dyck a debt of gratitude for the years of Raduga Publications, 2003. run began. work and dedication required to bring these in- Here are two more stories of lives ripped asun- Friesen’s story reads like a courtroom drama, valuable memoirs to publication. Hopefully these der in the Soviet Union. with the intermingled voices of her four characters memoirs, as well as Dr. Rempel’s valuable 1933 Erica Jantzen’s book tells of the harrowing and chunks of commentary from her as narrator.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 131 Sometimes the commentary feels overly didactic, and he have for music and travel. A major section occasionally like an interruption, but for the most of the book is devoted to highlights from some of part it is helpful in filling in the gaps. the trips they have taken to Europe and South How hungry can a person be? Friesen’s near- America and in Canada and the USA. He and starving fugitives eat eggs from birds’ nests, garlic, Linie are also ardent concert fans, and they have grass and horsemeat. How uncomfortable? Jammed hosted such renowned singers as Angela Hewitt, in cattle cars with chickens, in barracks with bed- Tracy Dahl and Edith Wiens. bugs, in open boxcars in the freezing cold, children Even though he was a bit of a rebel in his wailing. They run like animals before a forest fire, younger years, he became a person of deep faith. outfoxing all who would detain them. He writes how in the early 1950s, when he was In Vancouver, years later, Anne and her hus- moving into his 30s, he rededicated himself to the band sponsor a family from Vietnam. Anne under- Christian faith, and he has been an active partici- stands the losses boat people experienced – she, pant in the Mennonite church at the local, provin- too, has cobbled together a new life from shards cial and national levels ever since. He was a found- of loss. ing member of the Altona Mennonite Church, and Book review by Betti Erb. Reprinted from Cdn. he served on a variety of MCC and conference Men., Feb. 9, 2004, page 11. committees. He was a very active member of the _____ Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society. During World War II he declared himself to be Ted Friesen, Memoirs: A Personal Autobiog- a to war, and he did not go raphy of Ted Friesen (Altona, Man., 2003), 180 into the military, even though two of his brothers pages. Hardcover. did. In the book he tells how he and his brothers It wasn’t until his retirement that Ted Friesen, a continued to be close even though they had not Ted Friesen, supporter and patron of the Menno- beloved, well-known and life-time resident of taken the same path on the CO issue. nite community. Cover of Memoirs: A Personal Altona, Manitoba, finally got serious about writ- The foregoing are but a few brief glimpses into Autobiography of Ted Friesen. ing his memoirs. Even after he had started he kept the life of Ted Friesen as told in his memoirs. It is asking himself: “Why do I want to write a memoir an enriching story, full of interesting details and freshness and excitement to the material. of my life? Is there enough richness in my life good examples. Thank you, Ted, for having shared The strength of this work lies in the concise and worth recording? What do I have to say to my your story with us. accurate description of the general, geographical, family, friends and society at large that would jus- Reviewed by Larry Kehler, 440 Best Street, and cultural history of the Werder. This history is tify writing my Memoirs, that would reward all Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3K 1P3, who in his earlier closely tied to geographic problems (related to Vistula the work involved?” careers served with the D.W. Friesen company flooding) and cultural changes, described by the Fortunately he decided to proceed. Ted’s life several times - in the print shop, and as short-term author. One wishes the author had expanded more story and his reflections on family, church and interim editor of The Canadian Mennonite and the on the relationship between the Poles and the Teu- community, and his view of history and the arts, Altona Echo. Larry and his wife Jessie also served tonic knights, on the great landowners (the monas- and many other aspects of his experiences are rich as interim pastors of the Altona Mennonite Church teries and the wealthy families (eg. the Loitzes), and with insights and information which are worthy to for a year (1997-98), where the Friesens are mem- political events in general. However, that might have be shared with his family, friends and the broader bers. Linie and Ted provided them with bed and made the work much larger and unwieldy, and that community. breakfast and warm hospitality several days each was not, it seems, the intention of the author. Of As a friend of Ted’s and a former resident of week during most of that year. particular interest is the account of many local us- Altona I am very pleased that Ted took the time to Editor’s Note: Ted was also involved in an ear- ages, words, and names. A clear explanation of record his life story. In my school years in Altona lier publication entitled David W. Friesen: A Trib- landownership under the “Kulmer Recht” versus I remember often going to the post office and ute (24 pages) as well as several family books on leasing as “Emphyteutic” owners is provided here. general store owned by the Friesen family. This his maternal Klippensteins as well as Friesen fami- Origins of many place names are discussed in terms was where Ted worked. I remember his gentle lies. Ted and the Friesen family have always been of Slavic, German and Prussian roots, as well as friendliness and helpfulness. dedicated patrons of Mennonite writings and pub- other technical terms such as the difference between Ted writes with , but he is forthright. lications and Preservings extends its sincerest a “damm ‘ and a “wall”. The various floods over For example, he describes his relationship to his congratulations on the completion of this impor- time and their extent are discussed in detail. father as having been complex. Even though he tant project. The weakest portion of this book is that relat- rebelled at times against his father’s “puritan To order the “Memoirs” contact Ted Friesen at ing to the Mennonites, although not specifically lifestyle,” he loved him and held him in very high Box 720, Altona, Manitoba, Canada, R0G 0V0 meant as a Mennonite-Werder history. Given that regard. “This expressed itself more after his death,” or phone 1-204-324-5406. the Mennonites owned 20-25% of the Werder land writes Ted. “One of those examples is the way we ______circa 1788, and given that the author is of Menno- thought our father would have acted when we nite background, one would have expected a more established business practices. Those principles Gerhard Driedger, The Werder: The land be- detailed or at least more accurate treatment of the are embodied in the policy structure of Friesen tween the Vistula and the Nogat (3rd Ed.) Mennonites. For instance, the Münster struggle is Corporation to this day.” (Lethbridge 1995, 157 pages, softcover. described as a “riot”(p.49), and the David v. Riesen His immediate and extended families are very This book is a delightful history of the Vistula affair is very poorly depicted in terms of v. Riesen important in Ted’s life. He has dedicated his mem- delta, ancestral homeland of most Prussian, Rus- having “dared to defy the Elders” (p.89)[see oirs to his wife Linie and their sons: Eric, Paul and sian and Canadian Mennonites, and therefore of v.Reiswitz/Waldeck: “Beitrage” (1821) (pA3I33) Tim and their families. He has also worked on the interest to students of Mennonite history. It is well for a more accurate accountj. One senses the au- genealogies of several branches of his family, and written (although some “Germanisms” do exist thor is really not interested in, or sympathetic to he has been instrumental in organizing family re- and a very few typographical errors, which I un- the Mennonites in general. If I might say so, this unions. derstand will be corrected in a 4th edition), clear appears to be the case of most Prussian or German Other cultures and history have always intrigued and concise, and easy to read. For a quick over- Mennonite historians. Ted. He writes about Lou Erk, the local druggist, an view of the Werder, one could not wish for a better The abundance of Werder detail makes this immigrant from Germany, who helped to heighten presentation. The author, while drawing on many work a useful quick reference. The 17 maps are his interest in history, the arts and literature. comprehensive sources, and while fairly general well laid out, and particularly interesting are the Ted describes the great love his wife, Linie, in his approach, nevertheless manages to instill a maps detailing the villages founded (with dates) in

132 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 the era of the Teutonic knights and Villages established prior to 1356. This volume is generously illus- those founded by Mennonites. trated with photos, drawings and Book review by Henry maps, adding to a clear and attractive Schapansky, 108-5020 Riverbend tome. The new addition of the book Road, Edmonton, Alberta, T6H 5J8. contains 58 black and white and 132 _____ coloured photos. I hope that the book experiences a wide audience. It pro- Horst Gerlach, Die motes the feeling of togetherness and Rußlandmennoniten: Ein Volk the consciousness who we as Rus- Unterwegs: 4. Auflage (“The Russian sian Mennonites are in terms of iden- Mennonites: A People on the Way”) tity, where we came from, and where Weierhof, IV re-edited and expanded our tasks in the future lie. publication 2002, 235 p. (plus 76 photo Reviewed by Gerhard pages in colour). 27 EU/US. Order Ratzlaff, Archives Director, Evan- from Mennonitische Buecher, Am gelical University, Asuncion, Para- Gerbach 3, D67295 Weierhof, Post guay. Bolanden. Fax# 0049-6352-74025. ______In 1992 the first edition of this book appeared containing only 128 Jack Thiessen, Mennonite Low pages. The fourth edition contains 235 German Dictionary: Mennonitisch- pages in addition to 75 photos pages Plattdeutsches W÷rterbuch ( Madi- in colour, for a total of 311 pages. The son, Wis: Max Kade Institute for title of the book indicates the contents, German-American Studies, 2003), namely The Russian Mennonites: A 520 pages. Wandering People. In the first edition “Eene plautdietsche Welt” Many of this book, the author, Dr. Horst readers of this review will vividly re- Gerlach, writes that he has been in- member growing up in “eene volved with the Russian Germans for plautdietsche Welt,” whether in 20 years. At the time of the publica- Steinbach, as I did, or in some other tion of Volume IV this time span has “pure” Mennonite community. been extended to 30 years. The Rus- Plautdietsch was taken for granted as sian Mennonites, A Wandering People the colloquial language of Mennonites have been incorporated into the in the old days. But like many other author’s heart, one might say. In the Gerald Driedger’s, The Werder, contains many interesting maps including minority languages in this age of elec- foreword to the fourth edition the au- Map No. 7 (page 144) showing 50 villages established in the Werders by the tronic mass communication all over thor writes, “It is explicitly these wan- Teutonic Knights before 1356. the globe, it is in danger of being derers around the world, whose an- pushed aside and eventually obliter- cestors came from Russia to the USA and Canada nies, freedom from military service (or lifting of ated by big imperial languages like English. On the in 1875, and later migrated to Mexico, , same) and missionary efforts. The author pays par- bright side, while the use of Plautdietsch is declin- Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina to whom this ticular tribute to the difficult times of the Russian ing in North America, it is still holding its own in fourth edition is dedicated. They can all join in Mennonites: First World War and Civil War, the South America and parts of Europe. And it certainly with all of Christianity in the song: “From the “lash of Communism” - under which, and from helps that it has been turned into a literary language, rising of the sun, till its setting that night, praised which, many of Mennonites living in Canada today beginning with Arnold Dyck’s marvelous Low be the name of the Lord.” suffered greatly - the catastrophe during the Second German stories and plays and continuing to this The author was to make his first contacts with World War and the deportation of Mennonites to day with engaging writers like Reuben Epp and - Russian Germans in 1945 when he, as a 16-year the terrible Stalin GUlags. This horrible fate in which most prolifically - Jack Thiessen. old lad, was deported to the Soviet Union together thousands of Mennonites met an untimely death is And now, as the ultimate bonus, we have with other Germans. It was there that he also met illustrated by the author by vivid personal accounts. Thiessen’s much-needed and definitive new Low up with Volga and , likewise It is downright exhilarating to read these episodes. German dictionary, which I confidently predict sent to the Soviet Union. Years later, when he was The assembling of the Mennonite flock and the care will never be surpassed. It offers not only a rich back in Germany again, the idea hit him to depict of re-settlements and the significance of it all for assortment of words and definitions, but also pro- the fate of the Russian Mennonites within the Germany is also described and depicted by an im- vides valuable insights into Mennonite society and framework of the Russian German experience. portant essay by John N. Klassen. culture as reflected in our inimitable Plautdietsch. With this noble aim in mind, this voluminous and In the final chapters, the author concentrates It is in itself “eene plautdietsche Welt” that feels as multi-faceted work came into being. In addition, on the route of these people to Canada (Chapter warm and secure and intimate as the world many the author visited the Mennonites in many parts of XV); the settlements, congregations and schools of us grew up in. Thiessen is much more than a the world; Russian, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and the reasons which led to their migrations to lexicographer - a dictionary maker; he is also a Bolivia and the USA, but particularly Canada. South America. masterful story-teller, humorist and social histo- While travelling, he took photos and conducted In Chapter XVI he explores their further treks rian, and has enriched his dictionary with fascinat- interviews, collected data, narratives of experi- to Middle and South America: Mexico, Belize, ing bits of Mennonite folklore, verses, songs, prov- ences, depictions and pictures. Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. The author (Chapter erbs and social history. His humorous, frank and Contentually the volume transpires as follows: XVII) pays particular attention to the Bolivian at time startling illustrations and comparisons will Initially the origin and the treks of Anabaptist- settlement and this for a good reason: The Work- have all but the most prudish users of this dictio- Mennonitism are sketched and then, in more detail, ing Community of Re-Settlers (AGUM) in Ger- nary chuckling constantly. the migration of the Mennonites from Prussia to many with some 21 active churches has initiated Thiessen’s deep love of Plautdietsch and its Russia is developed. This is followed in several the Bolivia-Assistance-Programme. Containers fascinating potential for literary expression, com- chapters by describing the Mennonites institution- with essentials and clothing items as well as books bined with his long-standing studies of the lan- alizing themselves in Russia: self-administration, have been sent to Bolivia in order to support our guage (starting with his doctoral thesis on it many schools, community and church life, daughter colo- extended Mennonite family. years ago) have given him an unsurpassed mas-

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 133 tery of our colorful language. Christian martyrdom in Early Modern Europe the Dutch Reformed of 1867 which in 1965 was Thiessen published an earlier version of his dic- (1999), and he concluded that there was much re-published photo-mechanically. Of the forgot- tionary in 1999, but in my review of it at the time, I more to the topic of Anabaptist martyrdom in the ten songs I have located seven with texts by pointed out that outstanding as this new dictionary Lowlands than presently known. Obviously in Christiaen Rijcen while Carel van Mander is in- was, it was really only half a dictionary in that it had North America these studies were mainly the do- cluded with an arrangement of one “classic” no English to Plautdietsch section to balance the main of Tieleman Jansz. Van Braght’s Bloedigh martyr’s song (p. 359-380). Plautdietsch to German and English section. This Tooneel of Martelaers Spiegel (1660, 1685) and A further sub-chapter of the introduction, in new edition not only has both halves but has been contemporary scholarship in the English language which a general characteristic of the texts here enlarged by many new words and additional lore relies heavily on this material. Gregory’s discov- represented is given, deals with the individual im- and now contains over 13,000 entries. eries in the Doopsgezinde Bibliotheek (Anabaptist portant and more contentious observations. Thus, Whereas the preceding edition was published Library) include rarely used books of martyrdom Gregory by way of a continuation of Samuel locally by the Hanover Mennonite Historical Soci- not included in the Van Braght-canon, introduced Cramer’s introduction of his publication of Offer ety, this new edition was published by the presti- already by his article in: Doopsgezinde Bijdragen des Heeren (II Part of Bibliotheca Reformatorica gious Max Kade Institute at the University of Wis- 19 (Anabaptist Contributions) (1993), 81-106. Neerlandica, 1904) reaches other deductions re- consin, giving it not only a wider endorsement but This research forms the format for the Documenta garding the Anabaptist texts. He is convincing in valuable advance publicity. Although a sizable vol- Anabaptistica Neerlandica at hand (before us). stating that the original producers of the texts of ume, it has an attractive and very readable format In the introduction to the text Gregory states the published letters are mainly based on the bibli- with an arresting photo of a dignified, church-bound that Van Braght was more the messenger of the cal annotation on the margins. Gregory’s studies Old Colony Mennonite couple on the front cover. tidings and that Hans de Ries earns the credit for and conclusions have led directly to the previ- Readers of this dictionary will not only enjoy the edition of 1615 in his Offer des Heeren which ously named texts to be electronically reproduced looking up words but will have fun just browsing is based on new material of the times; the reason to be brought to the light of day as well as the in it. They may not always find the words they are for a new historiographic and receptive phase be- transcript of the handed down letters by Jeroen looking for because unfortunately Plautdietsch still ing introduced. This was a thorn in De Ries’s eye Segers (see my article in a previous publication). lacks a standardized spelling system, a problem in which he “annexed” the martyr texts by way of I honestly wish that the hand written manu- that can make the search for certain words a little new arrangements. These were known prior to script collection had come to light much sooner: the more difficult. However, they will have no trouble him by word of mouth from orthodox Menno- date is not given in Gregory’s Salvation at stake - in finding the entertaining and informative notes and nites from the Old Flemish and Old Friesians to excerpts of this text edition these should have been illustrations scattered throughout this generous whom this material had been passed on verbally located. He is right in observing the strongly bibli- volume. If they pay close attention they may even (dating prior to the Flemish-Friesian schism of cal content of these letters, and the fact that these are/ hear the voices of past generations of Mennonites 1566/67) and which led to the body of the text of were written in custody without a Bible or a testa- to whom Plautdietsch was their Laundessproak, Offer des Heeren being greatly expanded. Gre- ment to hand; he refers to the Bible in jargon terms in which they expressed the only way of life they gory claims that De Ries “stood above the in- as a “natural apparel”, tailor made for him. His knew or ever wanted to know. volved parties” which were the criteria for the ac- challenge to research this material (“it might help us In fact, as I write this I can hear my eight, long- ceptance or rejection of material. to reconstruct Mennonite biblical culture,” p.xxxiii, departed Kehler uncles - all groote Schnetterietasch The latter is evident according to Gregory, 400 footnote #47), should not have been - as far as I am - laughing their heads off: “Waut, een plautdietschet years after the fact, since De Ries included in this concerned much too modestly on his part - limited Weadabüak? Nä, Junges, daut bruck wie nijch. edition representative martyr texts which through to a footnote. In this context I make reference to a Wie weete je aul dee Weada.” [What, a Low Ger- him not only came to light but also into usage. De highly intriguing letter by Henrick Alewijnz(note 8, man dictionary? C’mon, guys, we don’t need it. Ries was familiar with both the pro and cons of p. 37-39), in which Alewijnz refers to as ‘con- We know all the words.] Yes, that generation still the context of the times but since these did not fit densed content’ which amounts to a written poetic knew all the words, but we no longer do. into his concept of a neutral strategy, he left them epistemology, a guide in 12 of written martyr po- If you don’t believe me, test yourself with out. The texts which met the standards of his posi- etry in waiting (pending). words like “Schintjeschwoaga,” “Jülbassem,” tion were those which accented the content of the The 94 representative forgotten martyr pieces “Schmaundjoop,” “Schoosebräatja,” “Chelodne,” letters rather than those dealing with the persona (among which are 20 songs), carefully edited and and “Baulabuss”. You may be in for some sur- of the authors. De Ries took from Joos Verkindert conscientiously noted - the book is an edited study prises-and there are many more like them! (+1570) many individual letters but not those with exclusively text-critical commentary - is a veri- Thanks to the life-long dedication and un- which dealt much about speaking about the ban table source of sterling quality. In addition to the 10 matched linguistic skills of Jack Thiessen, “disse but rather those for not exercising it. texts and songs by Henrick Alewijnsz (+1560 in plautdietsche Welt” is now yours to enjoy. And if For the sake of uniformity, some of the texts Middelburg), 17 by and of Jacob de Roore (+1569 you spend enough time with it you might even by Thijs Joriaenz (+1569), a Flemish leader and a at Brugge), five by Thijs Jorianensz (1569 in bring a big smile to the sober church faces of the participant in the Friesian-Flemish conflict, in Muiden), 18 by Jan Verkindert (+1569 in Antwerp), Mexican Ooltkolonia couple on the cover, not to which the Friesians are criticized, are not included. three by Hendrick Verstraeln (+1571 at mention to the already beaming face of Jack Whereas Gregory, with respect to De Ries’ posi- Rupelmonde), three by Jan Woutersz van Cuyck Thiessen in New Bothwell. tion of reconciliation, does not differentiate since (+1572 in Dorderecht), 16 by Reytsee Aysses van Reviewed by Al Reimer, 115 Wordsworth he is of the Waterlander persuasion, which took a Oldeboorn (+1574 de Leeuwarden), and that con- Way, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3K 0J6. For Al hard position against the ban, and so he chooses cludes the contents of the four texts dealing with the Reimer’s review of Dr. Jack Thiessen’s earlier his texts accordingly. The choice by Jacob de trial and three in 1592 of the martyrs Bartolomeus Low-German to German Dictionary, see Pres., Roore, in his letters, is presumably assuming a Pantyn, Michiel de Cleercq and Calleken. No. 15, pp. 167-8. conciliatory position to the Waterlanders, in which With regards to Gregory’s presentation of the _____ Gregory chooses a position of non-involvement. texts - conscientiously edited/published by Brill - However, Gregory states that this matter war- I would like to make the following criticism. In his Brad S. Gregory (ed.), The forgotten writings rants further investigation. De Ries allowed him- description of the sources (Intr., p. xix-xxv) I miss of the Mennonite martyrs (Leiden, Boston, Brill, self to be persuaded mainly by motivations of the location (with library signature) of the edited 2002) (Documenta Anabaptistica Neerlandica VIII) content and that on account of the varying tastes in text of the copy forming the basis of observations. (Kerkhistorische bijdragen XVIII) xixi,403 p., hymnological matters of the time which were As to the one (No. 9, p. xxiii; University Library ISBN 9004120874. gradually departing from the specific genre since of Leiden) which refers to the Anabaptist Library, Since research for his doctoral thesis at 1615. Moreover, eight of the 20 songs here in- which is not based on the IDC-micro-fish version Princeton University, Gregory has added further cluded are the more or less forgotten, but are in- of the books located there does not help the user studies published under the title, Salvation at Stake, cluded in Philipp Wackernagel’s book Songs of directly regarding the bibliographical works of ref-

134 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 erence of Vander Haeghen and Valkema Blouw, inter-confessional position. Herein lies the origi- then in , Austria, Thomas according to the references made. nality of the work: Gregory approaches the mar- Müntzer, Hut, et. al., before arriving in the Low- Valkema Blouwes Typographia Batava (here- tyrdom of the three great streams, Protestant, lands. Sources of German-speaking Anabaptists after: TB) further states that for eight of the 10 Anabaptist, and Catholicism as an entity - an enor- have been the object of vigorous research and published sources a second copy is known; com- mous undertaking in light of the variety and wealth comparative analysis as they apply to the Low- pare: in Univ. Library-Leiden, and three in of material on which this the research is based. lands. The author presents a necessary oversight Amsterdam, on the basis of which a text collection This book therefore presents a wealth of his- regarding the developments of the well-known had been possible in order to arrive at a good torical and bibliographic information. Much of the leaders such as Menno Simons and Dirk Philipsz. transcription. This is a must for providers of texts material utilized by the author is original, particu- Less attention is given the developments as they and for published sources of the times from the larly, the martyrdom of the late Middle Ages which transpired in the southern Netherlands. Then at- early perspective of which note should be made is based on the Lollards and the Hussites, with the tention is directed to the martyrs in Offer des Heeren and taken of the advantages of so-called correc- Lowlands soon relegated, somewhat, toward the and Van Braght (II part) originating in Flanders, tions regarding the persons involved. In the col- fringe of things. and characterized by resistant prejudice. lection of Sommige brieven by Joos Verkindert This book first presents a general description Gregory understands martyrdom not as fa- (No. 6, p. xxii) that may well have led to a differ- of martyrdom and from there it offers a short indi- natically extreme but as an exemplary model, a ent reading of the text. Here the edition of 1577 cation of the Middle Age concept of Martyrdom model which is generally regarded and praised as has been used, attributed to Valkema Blouw (TB and its sufferings; on the one hand, the readiness such. The author thereby strives to break with No. 5217) and the Scyhinckel-Hendricksz-pers te of the martyrs to be persecuted and, on the other ‘reductionist theories’ (similar to post-structural- Delft, while the Uni. Library of Leiden has one hand, their willingness to die after confessing to a ism), observing that the religious understanding unique copy from 1572 from which Valkema defense of their faith. The most consequential part and conduct of the martyrs during the 16th cen- Blouw (TB No. 5216) reasons that this copy may of the book is dedicated to the three martyr tradi- tury was of a high order. The worship experience well have been published in 1579. tions which are treated in a special main body. of 16th century mankind, in general and the mar- Based on this technically edited base of origin There we find the treatment and discussions re- tyrs specifically, should be taken seriously. The Gregory has not included some of this material garding the anti-martyrology (which deserve seri- paternalism, invariably involved, which is so much and one misses some references and for example ous attention next to martyrology itself) and a broad part of life at the time hinders the reconstruction of on page 85 where a short footnote regarding the analytical interpretation of various martyrdoms. the scene of the age and research of it. The ensuing “Sermon about the Grey Brother, named Cornelis Gregory presents a widely-based source material theological discussions should not be interpreted (the famous `Brother Cornelius’)” is right; the same and a usable index and two verses from Maeyken in terms and basis of economics, psychology or applies to the exemplary `Sebastiaen Francken Wens and her son (1573) to the respectable S. sociology but on the basis of prevailing material Cronijck’ (p.93). Gregory here provides some en- Cramer and Van Bragt. and understood on those terms. lightening annotations and information, as for in- The “Weltbild” of the Middle Ages overlaps in Without insights into the dogma and spiritual- stance on page 136, Note 257, page 250 Note 20 all three streams and reveals many common ele- ity the Reformation cannot be understood. Politics (in The Netherlands) and 22. His abbreviations ments: statements from Scripture, the reconcilia- and the church were intimately interwoven with are used according to standard usuage. Person- tion and its implications for earthly matters, life the result that theology of the times was deeply ally, I would have opted for oldest before older, after death, conciliation through Christ, the impor- involved in the culture. The emphasis is on a re- instead of the old, he uses (with references to Dirck tance of justice and the proper walk in life. Then spectable attitude (position) as Gregory has un- Philips, p. 196) and in the second letter by Reytse he deals with various forms of suffering as they dertaken in this new orientation. Only by follow- Ayssesz to his church (No. 65 p. 287) the passage apply to extreme conflict situations necessary for ing this approach can martyrdom be fully and re- the dead (being) O. B. but rather angst before the a basis of communality (Gemeinschaft). Only then ally understood; also by divesting the research text to make it read the dead O(lder) B(oorn). follow the hermeneutics: an interpretation of Scrip- from current methodological and reductionist prac- This type of commentary is a demonstration of ture and at to how the individual can make such tices of recent historical writings (351). commonality rather than a signaling of fundamental meaningful to his life. Then follow matters relat- All the while the author now and then pleads shortcomings. This sort of publication, of source ing to baptism: does one have assurance of salva- for an integration of different approaches (13). He material combined with a date registry, should be an tion before God and is adult baptism necessary or is obviously pursuing historical evidence and not addition to all further research in this area. It has is justification possible by faith alone? Gregory motivated by ecclesiastic considerations in his at- earned a respectable place next to van Bragt (a new posits a litany of articles plus transubstantiation, tempt to elucidate religious traits and actions thereby text edition and a modern English version of this faith and revelation and all are found insufficient preventing his consciousness from falling into the classic) and next to Cramers edition of the Offer des to meet the questions posed by logic (344). On the biblical scholarship as a measure of reality. In my Heeren, from which many generations of scholars other hand, he identifies the theme of opinion this is only possible if you distance your- of martyr’s literature may draw great profit. as the spirit of the Middle Ages which was like- self from the complexities of your own faith and Book review by Piet Visser, Jachtenlaan 20, wise found lacking. Martyrdom confirms the jux- formulate a social entity which is attracted to one’s 1503 HV Zaandam, Netherlands, translated from taposition of differences and leads to the indefen- own consciousness. Dutch to English by Dr. Jack Thiessen, New sibility of the practices that emerge. Thus themes of social power and powerless- Bothwell, Manitoba, reprinted from Martyrdom is the inevitable result in a world ness daily play a role in 16th century theology, of Doopsgezinde Bijdragen, nieuwe reeks 29 (2003), of absolute hierarchy where scripture is interpreted the faithful (martyrs) of whom its was expected pages 279-282. unilaterally. This would lead to a total impossibil- that they might lapse into atheism (350) or at least ______ity of as it was prior to the 16th reflect on it. If the legitimation transpires by way century. The author explains that only the of theological constructs but which makes little Brad S. Gregory, Salvation at Stake. Christian Anabaptists understood this in its every implica- sense for theology as an isolated motivation as Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, tion, while the Catholics and Calvinists, a pluralis- opposed to isolating power in an analysis of power Mass/London, Harvard University Press, 1999), tic company, demonstrated radical divergent views structures in society’s formulated death penalties Pp. 528. ISBN 0-674-78551-7. leading to such sharp differences of position. as a ‘Foucauldian claim’ (81). It is possibly more Brad. S. Gregory, in this voluminous work Martyrdom and pluralism united present an im- appropriate to ask the question whether the eccle- considers martyrdom at the time of the Reforma- portant insight into the thinking of that time. siastic motivation has equal place alongside the tion and researches the methodological question The main section regarding the Anabaptist mar- many aspects which dictate man as an acting es- of the historical attempts at conciliation. His re- tyrs is somewhat shorter than the respective analy- sence. In every case the at- search included northwest Europe (England, sis of the Protestants and the Catholics. First a tracts to itself another form of observation and France, the Lowlands and the German-speaking general introduction of Anabaptism is presented also this non-enforcement is explained away by areas) whereby the author attempts to assume an beginning with the developments in Switzerland, the sociological hook (barb). Gregory has been

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 135 successful in portraying the martyrs as people who egies for the development of individual groups to the best lands had already been utilized for use. died true to their faith. be settled on new land. For example the govern- This resulted in a shortage of land which con- Further, we notice that in the justification by ment understood full well that the Russian State fronted each successive generation. faith of the Anabaptists and by faith alone (198) peasants (farmers) would not be successful with- The author regards the years 1832-34 (drought no general consensus is a given. The sola scriptura out the support of the state. and epidemics) as the turning point in the develop- can well be intertwined into the texts but the sola The government proceeded with particular care ment of an economic structure in the Molotschna. fide demands much imagination, particularly as it with individual sects (Duchoborzie, Molokans) The problem resulted from the inability of the gov- applies to the Lowlands. as well as with the Nogasiens. With regards to the ernment to recognize the peculiarities of the demo- Gregory has taken a very courageous approach Nogasiens, it was the objective of the state to “civi- graphic situation in the Molotschna basin. As John in elevating martyrdom over the confessional limi- lize” them. The fact that the Duchoborzie received Staples claims, the government plan was to con- tations as a refuge of faith. This book offers, as the status of “re-settlers” and various protective tinue developing this region as opposed to focus- well, a unified overview of martyrdom in the 16th measures was based on a personal view of the ing on the economic stability of this region since, century and the communal (gemeinschaftliche) el- liberal Alexander I, as well as the fact that the in the previous period, various settlers already had ements and he discovers these among the different Duchoborzie would then be under his legal guard- problems of land shortage. and differing streams of belief of the times. His ianship. The German colonists and Mennonites The most important part of this research by J. observations are consistent from beginning to end. belonged to a category which would best be served Staples is the chapter about Johann Cornies to which His work, therefore, deserves high praise. More- by supplying them with land. They were under the his work is dedicated. As the author claims, the over, this research of the literature of martyrdom supervision of the Guardianship Committee and Mennonites fulfilled their complex mission as in- deserves more attention than anything dealing with therefore had certain initial advantages (a head tended by the Russian government while at the same this topic to date. start). I would dispute the author’s conclusions in time becoming a model in the important economic Book review by Marjan J. Blok, St. Johns In- that it was incorrect to regard the initial govern- process of the region. In our opinion the author has ternational School, 146 Drive Richeille, Waterloo, ment subsidies as an important factor in the eco- presented the most detailed, original and complete Belgium, 1410, translated from Dutch to English nomic success of the Mennonites in later times. analysis of Cornies’ work, without precedent in by Dr. Jack Thiessen, New Bothwell, Manitoba, In Chapter III the author presents an analysis history. The views of this reformer and his perspec- reprinted from Doopsgezinde Bijdragen, nieuwe of the process of adaptation of various groups of tives and strategies of the development of Menno- reeks 27 (2001), pages 277-279. settlers from 1783 to 1833. He reconstructs the nite society, started in the 1820s and achieved their ______economic development of individual settler groups zenith in the 1840s. The author depicts Cornies not up to the time of the drought and epidemics. In our only as a worldly man but also as a religious leader. John Staples, Cross-Cultural Encounters on opinion the chapter is not as complete as it could Cornie’s organizational abilities were more in evi- the Ukrainian Steppe: Setting the Molotschna Ba- be, particularly regarding the relationship between dence at the time of his forestation work (1830) and sin, 1763-1861 (University of Toronto Press, the meaning of the term “adaptation” and the sug- the Agricultural Society (1836), by which the Wel- 2003), 256pp. $50.00. gested time period. fare Committee tried and introduced the progres- The last decade represents a special breakthrough The author notes that under the conditions of sive ideas of the Regulations for Settlement upon in the development of Mennonite historiography. the steppe region, cattle production was the only the Mennonite settlements. The evaluation of Mennonite history based on pri- secure economic choice of the settlers. In order to According to the author the first attacks against mary sources about Russia and Ukraine previously understand the concept, the author claims that for Cornies were mounted by the opposition in the not available, can be characterized as a “judgement every colonization group the process of adapta- 1830s. Cornies himself admitted that the basis of by a foreigner (an unknown).” The world of Men- tion depended on two factors: economic back- these conflicts lay in the differences between secular nonite history lost its insularity and monotony and ground and the degree of economic activity and and religious forces. The author states that the developed a dynamic diversity provoking new the- knowledge of a market economy. It was character- Agricultural Society was a mechanism whereby matic dimensions previously unexplored. istic of the Russian farmers and the Nogasier to Cornies implemented his program of moderniz- It is noted that the work by John Staples is not maintain a passive relationship with their environ- ing upon Mennonite society, including the market exclusively “Mennonite.” As opposed to his pre- ment. The author claims that the tradition of the economy. J. Staples states that some of the projects decessors, he approaches the evaluation of coloni- nomadic people was deeply rooted in the subcon- by Cornies had a welcome character. He tackled zation from a regional perspective, namely, the scious of the Nogasier and that they were resistant the problem of the land shortage but, only partially Molotschna river basin. This study concentrates to change. On the contrary, the Russian farmers resolved the problems for those who had no ac- on individual, national, and confessional coloni- adapted quickly. This is demonstrated, for example, cess to land. He was the first, according to J. Staples, zation streams, which were not only objects of the in a very rapid transition in their economic activity who had the idea of subdividing the standard 65 colonization and the recipients of various Russian in favour of raising cattle. However, the author desjatin Wirtschaften - the first of which came into assistance or subsidies, but subjects as well (par- states, that the Russian farmers displayed no inter- effect in 1845. ticipants, initiators). est in the market economy. The model of a modern Mennonite society, In all this, the author pays particular attention At the beginning of the process of adaptation, was based on scientific theoretics. Cornies was to the history of the Mennonite community, the the researcher emphasises, in particular the reli- bent on realizing the entirety of the reform pro- fate of which developed most successfully during gious factor as one of the important elements lead- gram and therefore clung to the authority with the time of adaptation. J. Staples attempts to re- ing to economic success. Since the Duchoborzie which the government had endowed him. The fa- search the reasons for their successes and the fail- and Molokans found themselves in a strange en- mous Warkentin matter was of a political nature. ures of other groups. The titles of the individual vironment, they banded together and quickly real- One of the results of this event was the deliberate chapters confirm its regional character. My main ized rapid adaptation. In describing the individual destruction of those who opposed Cornies’ sys- objective in this review is to emphasize the valu- stages of the economic development of the set- tem of administration. able theoretical results of his work which have no tlers, the author describes that, in particular the By way of an evaluation of Cornies’ work the comparisons in previous historiography. Mennonites’ religious quarrels of the 1830-40s author states: “Not all elements of the successful In Chapter II J. Staples demonstrates his gen- and the economic differences in the 1850s-60s Mennonite development could be permanently in- eral analysis and understanding of the coloniza- period, are inter-related with the problems of the troduced into the economic culture of other settler tion process. The author claims that the state re- initial stages of the settlement. The problems of groups. I would here like to use the term `unique- garded all colonists as subjects; the degree and the 1840s were results of the natural geographic ness’ without fear in describing the model of Men- nature of this guardianship depended, above all, isolation of the communities and the two-power- nonite development.” The author, however, also on the interest of the state and its maximum profit system in the colonies (secular and religious). The depicts an alternative to the development of the to be realized from and through them. For this basis of the land conflict of the 1860s was a dearth Mennonite economy as presented by the Russian reason the state drafted particular colonization strat- of land within the time frame of adaptability, since State farmers. According to J. Staples, in the 1830s,

136 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 after the Russian farmers had recognized the model ormation have made significant progress in elabo- cuted minority group to a minority group that found of land partitioning, within a farming community, rating on the complexities of 16th century growing acceptance in an increasingly tolerant mi- they concluded that this would lead to poverty. Anabaptist beginnings. This book advances the lieu. The second and third chapters of the book But did the Russian farmers offer an alternative field of scholarship by examining subsequent de- draw attention to the internal challenges that Men- with additional perspectives as to how to resolve velopments in post-Reformation religious life in nonites faced as they sought to adjust to their new the shortage of land? No. the Mennonite community living in and around context. Driedger brings to light a largely forgotten The government had always been critically in- Hamburg and Altona, in north Germany. The au- history concerning the Dompelaars, a group within clined towards the economic abilities of the farmers thor, Michael Driedger, who teaches at Brock the Mennonite community advocating baptism by and hardly ever leant an ear to their requests. It is University, Ontario, has joined a growing number immersion. Here we are reminded that the Menno- highly probable that the re-settlement of the Rus- of scholars who have begun to pay attention to the nite Brethren were not the first Anabaptist group to sian farmers in this region was not based on eco- process of identity formation typical of churches practice this baptismal practice. Driedger also takes nomic considerations but on political considerations. during the confessional age (ca. 1550-1750). As a into account the various ways in which Mennonites As opposed to the Mennonites, the Russian farm- way of surviving amidst religious conflict, secured religious practices that gave routine to their ers were very insular in their social organization. churches during this time period, among other way of life. For instance, they practiced adult bap- This and other factors resulted in their society being things, wrote confessions of faith, produced cat- tism, and developed a system of lay leadership, relatively impotent towards government. echisms, developed liturgies, produced which came to fulfill a role similar to the clergy of John Staples’ focuses on land shortages in the songbooks, and established rules and regulations the other churches. They also developed institu- 1860s in the Mennonite colonies. The problem is for pastors to follow as they led their congregants tions and administrative bodies to strengthen local traced to peculiarities in the development of Men- throughout the church year. While the discussion congregational life, and to promote inter-Menno- nonite economics in previous times. By attempting surrounding the topic of confessionalism has usu- nite cooperation. A central dimension of Mennonite to resolve the problem of land shortage by renting ally focused on the structural similarities between confessionalism was the adoption of confessional Nogaier land, the Mennonites stimulated the devel- Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed institutional statements summarizing the essential beliefs of the opment within the Nogaier settlements of a one- cultures, Driedger is one of the first to bring Men- community. The Mennonites of Hamburg and sided model. By so doing, according to J. Staples, nonite confessional developments into this larger Altona joined some of the Dutch Mennonite net- the Mennonites were indirectly responsible for the discussion, and, in the process, has raised impor- works that advocated strict adherence to confes- eventual re-settlement of the Nogaier in Russia. In tant questions related to current methods of his- sional statements, but Driedger observes that not all total, the scarcity of land was a combination of torical research and interpretation. Mennonites gave equal weight to the significance several circumstances: loss of Nogaier land and the The research presented in the book provides to these documents. Evidently, “there was not merely economic instability resulting from the Crimean War. new information concerning how the Mennonites one but rather several brands of Mennonite In his concluding remarks the author presents survived as a minority people in a time of signifi- confessionalism” (74). an answer to the question: which changes did Men- cant transition and change. In the seventeenth cen- The fourth chapter attends to the paradigm of nonites succumb to within the time of adaptation tury, Mennonites held on to certain traditional confessionalization; the remaining chapters of the during the first half of the 19th century. The author Anabaptist distinctives, yet at the same time they book give attention to the doctrines of nonresis- concludes that at the beginning, their became increasingly involved in the broader socio- tance and oath swearing, as well as to the growing “Weltanschauung” was similar to that of the Rus- economic sphere, and demonstrated an increasing Mennonite practice of marrying outside commu- sian peasants because they lived under and with level of conformity to the political order (Hence nity boundaries. Driedger pays attention not merely similar economic possibilities. The process of the the oxymoron “obedient heretics” in the title of the to the official statements and positions of the Men- economic development of the Mennonite settle- book). In this context conflicts ensued, not only nonite community, but also examines the way in ments bore an exclusive character, leading to the among Mennonites, but also between them and which Mennonites actually practiced their faith in previous Mennonite peasants becoming farmers, other religious groups. A central argument of the daily life. He believes that studying the official stan- wage labourers and entrepreneurs. The society book is that when Mennonites experienced peri- dards alone gives an incomplete picture of Menno- which had a united character during the begin- ods of conflict, rather than weakening Mennonite nite life. By focusing too narrowly on official pro- nings, was based on the principle of equality. The identity, their self-understanding was actually nouncements, historians overlook the contradictions strategy and the main factors, leading to the eco- strengthened. Mennonite identity was strongest between what people say and what they actually do. nomic success of the Mennonites were: recogni- precisely in times of public controversy. Con- His research highlights the fact that for Menno- tion of an independent religious identity, reform versely, as controversy diminished, standards of nites, there was often tension “between official stan- measures by Cornies and to recognize and adopt identity became more flexible. dards and the daily practice of faith” (129). In addi- the agricultural conditions. A main assumption of the volume is that it is tion, Driedger points out, Mennonites did not al- According to the author, the most important is normal for groups to change. In the past, Anabaptist ways define themselves on the basis of confes- the third factor: the potential of the management of historians assumed that early sixteenth century sional affiliation. Often other affiliations-familial, their land resources leading to the evolution within Anabaptism “embodied the timeless, true and pure ethnic, professional and political-took precedence. the Mennonite society of a civil (secular) adminis- expression of Anabaptism: all later forms which Based on impressive archival research, Obe- tration which became the active “agent” of eco- differed from this supposedly pure, original form dient Heretics sheds new light on important de- nomic activities. were bastardized and corrupted” (5). Driedger be- tails about Mennonites in northern Europe, and Book review by: Natalia Ostasheva Venger, lieves that this approach is unhelpful to present- also brings to the surface older material that has Dnjepropetrowsk National University - address: day historians because it interprets diversity as a long since been lost to English-language histori- Donezkoje Schosse 15-436, Dnjepropetrowsk, problem; it implicitly frowns upon historical de- ography. Overall, the book advances the discus- 49080, Ukraine (e-mail: [email protected]). velopment, and insists that religious groups must sion on questions related to method and interpre- Translated from Russian to German by Adina have an unchanging, core character. While Driedger tation, and contributes admirably to the perennial Reger and translated from German to English by believes that there are dimensions of Mennonite question of Anabaptist-Mennonite identity. Dr. Jack Thiessen. belief that have remained relatively constant over This review was originally published in the ______time, it is fair to say that groups change. Mennonite Quarterly Review (July 2004), pages Historians should, therefore, be wary not to 451-453, but has been abbreviated and slightly Michael D. Driedger, Obedient Heretics: Men- develop false intimacies with the past, or succumb modified for Preservings. nonite Identities in Lutheran Hamburg and Altona too easily to golden age theories that support their Book review by Karl Koop, Associate Profes- during the Confessional Age (St. Andrews Studies own ideological convictions and commitments. sor of Historical Theology, Canadian Mennonite in Reformation History. Burlington, Vt: Ashgate The book is well written. The opening chapter University, 500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Publishing Co., 2002), 224 pages. $99.95 (US). begins with a description of the transition of the Winnipeg, Manitoba R3P 2N2, 204-487-3300. In recent decades historians of the Radical Ref- Hamburg and Altona Mennonites, from a perse- ______

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 137 Miriam Toews, A Complicated Kindness dient wife, mother and church member. However, rapidly disappearing. East Village is a fictional ver- (Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2004), 246 pages, her rebel nature, stimulated by her daughters, does sion of Steinbach and should not be equated with a $29.95 finally rise to the fore, and in an ugly showdown real Mennonite community now or in the past. The Miriam Toews is one of our most gifted Men- with her brother The Mouth she crosses the line very idea of several family members being excom- nonite writers, and that’s saying a lot because our and is excommunicated. She is forced to abandon municated individually from a contemporary Men- generation has produced a number of brilliant writ- her family because she is now a pariah who is no nonite church is an anachronism that is only real in ers who are giving Mennonite writing a promi- longer allowed direct contact with the family she fiction. What Toews is giving us is a satiric view of nence never seen before. That she is a native loves. the dark underside of Mennonitism, and it’s worth Steinbacher is an added bonus for many of us. What gives this novel much of its spontaneity reminding ourselves that every community and its While her first three books were well received by and narrative energy is its form: it’s actually an way of life, including the church, has a dark under- both readers and critics and won literary prizes, extended monologue in which wickedly clever, side that needs to be exposed and confronted in one they did not quite become bestsellers. never-at-a-loss-for-words Nomi tells her story di- form or another. To deny that such a negative side But with A Complicated Kindness she has hit rectly to the reader. Everything she has experi- exists in our Mennonite world is to endorse pre- the jackpot both artistically and in popularity. This enced is filtered through her mind and feelings cisely the repressive good or evil world in which new novel has been on Canadian bestseller lists and recalled in her own whimsical words. The Nomi experiences so much suffering and spiritual for months and is being published in both the US dialogues of the various characters are given with- confusion. To an older generation Nomi’s rebellion and Britain and will certainly be translated into out quotation marks as remembered and reported may seem somewhat extreme and self-indulgent, other languages. It is receiving enthusiastic re- by the narrator in her own words. It’s as though but at least she has valid reasons for taking the path views everywhere and is sure to win her more Nomi is confiding everything with complete she does and has the advantage of following the literary prizes. candour to a close friend. Steeped in pop culture- example of others. As yours truly discovered a gen- So what’s so great about this novel set in East pop music especially (in itself a language of youth- eration earlier, rebellion for an ambitious Menno- Village, a barely disguised Steinbach? There are ful revolt)-she enlivens and illustrates her wry nite youngster was no easy matter and was made many things that make this book an exciting read- comments with pop lingo and the lyrics she knows even harder when there were no precedents or models ing experience, so let me concentrate here on some so well. And no matter how depressed (or hung to be followed. of its major strengths and perhaps a few minor over) she is, the energy and passion that drive her As for the novel’s weaknesses, they are minor weaknesses. We must begin (and end) with Nomi mind and imagination never flag. She expresses ones that in no way detract from its splendid achieve- Nickel, the highly intelligent and sensitive 16-year- even her most serious thoughts and insights in ments. Nomi’s sarcastic references to Mennonite old narrator and dominant character who tells her colorful pop culture slang. history and its heritage-the world of the Mennos, as basically sad story in a pert, wisecracking style And what are we as Mennonite readers to make she calls it-usually come in the form of cheap shots that makes the reader smile and laugh and feel of Nomi and the repressive Mennonite community that are often ludicrously inaccurate, historically tears welling up at the same time. Nomi is about she rejects and longs to escape? She is convinced speaking, as when she states that, “the Russians as far from your traditional God-fearing, hard- the Mennonites “are the most embarrassing sub- took everything away from the Mennos and sent us working and soberly living Mennonite as you can sect of people to belong to if you’re a teenager.” all packing when life had been so coarse and sweet get. She is, in fact, the exact opposite: a rebellious, According to her, the people of East Village “can’t back there on the banks of the Vistula.” Mennonites free-thinking skeptic and irreverent dreamer, a wait to die” and drag themselves through life only left the Vistula behind in Poland before they moved super-smart, albeit often confused teenager whose so that they can get to heaven one day. Nomi is to Russia! One would like to think that these his- desperate cynicism is at odds with her vulnerable, lusting for a larger, freer world: “I just want to be torical errors are merely those of teenaged Nomi generous and idealistic nature. myself, I just want to do things without wondering and not the author’s, but that is not made as clear as Her family is Nomi’s one refuge in an unforgiv- if they’re a sin or not. I want to be free.” Her Mecca it might have been. Nomi also has a problem with ing, fundamentalist community dominated by “The of freedom is New York, her image of servitude is Plautdietsch-”the old language of our people”-which Mouth”, a bigoted minister and, ironically, the to be forced to spend her adult life working at Happy in her mind reflects the community’s backward sta- brother of Trudie, her mother. Sadly, by the time the Family Farms, the local chicken slaughterhouse. In tus and therefore draws her contempt as well. The novel opens that refuge has already split apart, with the meantime she tries to find temporary freedom trouble is that whenever Nomi does quote some- first her older sister Tash and then her mother leav- by adopting a reckless life style that includes drink- thing in Low German the words are embarrass- ing home without a trace-Tash because she can’t ing, smoking pot and spending wild nights away ingly misspelled, something Toews could have stand the suffocating Mennonite atmosphere any from home with her boyfriend. checked in the Low German dictionaries now avail- longer and Trudie because she has been excommu- Nomi’s situation becomes ever more barren and able. nicated. Nomi is left with only her eccentric father depressing as her father sells piece after piece of What matters in the end is that Nomi, for all her Ray, a passive and half-hearted conformist who their house furniture and she still has no word from contempt, bitterness and confusion, has come to reminds one again of Toews’s own father, whom her mother or sister. And then The Mouth trium- understand that even a community as cruelly re- she depicts so vividly in her memoir Swing Low: A phantly arrives one day with the news that Nomi stricted and blindly conformist as East Village re- Life. As Nomi puts it in her witty way, the commu- has also been excommunicated-”shunned, banished, deems itself with a complicated kindness, that is nity enforced by The Mouth offers no compromise exiled,” in her own desperate words. Shortly after, with a ray of goodness and grace that shines through or middle course: “You’re good or you’re bad. Ac- Ray also departs, leaving her only the family car the dark shadows of the community. Hard as it tually, very good or very bad. Or very good at being and instructions for selling the family house. But may be to understand and appreciate, it is there in bad without being detected.” instead of surrendering to despair, this radical teen- the end. And this theme of ultimate kindness as a Tash is Nomi’s idol and model. Tash is the ager consoles herself with a vision in which she form of redemption for Nomi stretches into the uncompromising voice of reason, the defiant non- imagines herself happy again with her scattered universal theme of loss, suffering and redemp- conformist who does what she pleases and has family reunited; she is even willing to forgive East tion. That this universal theme emerges in the end, nothing but contempt for The Mouth and the spiri- Village for all it has done to her. “East Village,” she though somewhat ambivalently, attests to Miriam tual gulag he controls. Hers is the bold voice of says, “has given me the faith to believe in the possi- Toews’s skill as a novelist. Her caustic wit and satire and to heck with the consequences. She bility of a happy family reunion some day.” And unrelenting irony, enjoyable as they are in them- scoffs at her sister’s at times child-like innocence while this faith may be no more than a “beautiful selves, lead inexorably to a conclusion that goes and gullibility and carries off her own rebellion lie,” as she puts it, it is in her mind a kind of redemp- well beyond mere entertainment. It should come with dramatic flair. tion that she is willing to accept. as no surprise that A Complicated Kindness is far Mother Trudie is also a rebel at heart but be- What Mennonite readers of A Complicated Kind- more than merely a “Mennonite” novel and that it cause she belongs to an older generation where ness should keep in mind is that this novel is not is being read and enjoyed all over the novel-read- rebellion was simply out of the question for a girl, designed as a vicious, all-out attack on Mennonitism ing world. she has forced herself to struggle along as an obe- and a narrow, isolated way of life that is, in fact, Reviewed by Al Reimer, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

138 - Preservings No. 24, December 2004 Diplomats visit Mexican Mennonites. On June 10, 2005, the Ambassadors to Mexico of Germany, Netherlands, Italy, India and Sweden, paid an official visit to the Governor of the State of Chihuahua, touring the city of Chihuahua, the state capital. The following day they visited the Mennonite Colonies in Cuauhtemoc. Here the wives of the Ambassadors model the traditional Old Colonist kerchiefs which they received as a gift from the “Centro Cultural Museo Menonita, A.C.”, the Mennonite village museum: l.-r. Ele Kotsch (Germany), Jean McGerry Van De Velde (Netherlands), Yen Huyhn Thi Tempesta (Italy), Hal Raman (India) and Ewa Polano (Sweden). Photo - Deutsch Men. Rundschau, July 5/04, rear cover.

Above: Annie Giesbrecht and Tina Loewen help selling cheese at the grand opening of Lamesa, the giant cheese factory at Campo 70 (see page 73 inside for the story). Photo - Deutsch Men. Rundschau, Okt. 6/04, front cover.

Right: Governor Patricio Martinez receives a recognition for his support of the new cheese factory at Campo 70, Mexico, from President Heinrich Loewen. Photo - Deutsch Men. Rundschau, Okt. 6/04, rear cover.

Cornelius Peters, Campo 117, Mexico, swathing his alfalfa. A typical landscape in the Bustillos Valley. There is nothing more trilling for a farmboy than to drive through 100 km. of beautiful Mennonite corn fields and dairy farms in northern Mexico. Photo - Deutsch Men. Rundschau, July 19/04, front cover.

Preservings No. 24, December 2004 - 139 Left: The majority of North American Evangelicals now prac- tice American civil reli- gion whereby God has become the God of America and acting in accordance with its na- tional interests. See pages 41-47 for the article by Dr. Robert D. Linder. Below: A local school teacher lays a wreath at the newly unveiled Lichtenau train station memorial, June 5, 2004. The bench symbolizes people waiting at the sta- tion for a train - perhaps for exile to the east, or flight to west. See page 56 for the story. Photo - courtesy of Adina Reger, Weißenthurm, Germany.

Above: The Molotschna Bicentennial was officially celebrated in Halbstadt, Molochansk, June 6, 2004. Halbstadt Mayor Anatoly G. Smerdov and two young ladies bring forward the bread and salt, a traditional Ukrainian welcome. Photo - Johannes Dyck, Bielefeld, Germany. See page 55 for the story. The city of Moloschansk has a population of 10,000. Below: The city of Zaporozhe as seen from the Island of Chortitza bridge, view to the east. The Mennonite village of the Island of Chortitza was located immediately to the right. Photo - Johannes Dyck, Bielefeld, Germany.