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The Russian Mennonites and the Global Migration Story The Russian Mennonites and the Global Migration Story 1 (source: Up From the Rubble) Andrew Brown The Mennonite Brethren Historical Commission 1 Peter and Elfrieda Dyck, Up from the Rubble: The Epic Rescue of Thousands of War- Ravaged Mennonite Refugees (Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 1991), 91. [photo: Mennonites on the Great Trek from Ukraine to Germany] The Russian Mennonites and the Global Migration Story Brown, 2 Table of Contents Introduction: Human Migration ......………………………………………………. 3 1. The Migration of the Mennonites ...………………...…………....……….. 5 2. Pre-1873: Early Migrations from Russia …………………....…...……….. 11 3. 1873-1914: Pioneers in the New World ……………………...…………… 15 4. 1914-1922: The First World War, the Bolshevik Revolution, …....…...….. 18 and the Civil War 5. 1922-1929: Stalin, Collectivization, and the Red Gate …………………… 28 6. 1928-1952: Finding Another Route ………………………………………. 39 7. 1939-1950: The Second World War and the Great Trek …………………. 62 8. 1950-1992: The Cold War ………………………………………………… 76 9. 1992-Present: The Fall of the Soviet Union ..……………………………... 83 Conclusion: The Mennonites and the Modern Migration Story ……..……………. 85 The Russian Mennonites and the Global Migration Story Brown, 3 Introduction: Human Migration Since the beginning of human history, people have been migrating all over the world, settling in lands on which to live for many different reasons. From the Biblical Garden of Eden to today’s European Migrant Crisis, people have been moving all around the world. Whether people move around following seasonal food and labour sources, to flee violence and persecution, or to seek opportunities in a new land, these are all examples of human migration. (source: http://www.transpacificproject.com/index.php/genetic-research/)2 In our globalized world, human migration is at its peak and presents new possibilities and challenges as we attempt to address increasing human migration patterns and frequencies. Migration is in the front and centre of our political realms with the Syrian Refugee Crisis, the European Migrant Crisis, and various immigration and border 2 Richard L. Harris, The Migration of Anatomically Modern Humans, The Transpacific Project, Genetic Research, Website: http://www.transpacificproject.com/index.php/ genetic-research/. The Russian Mennonites and the Global Migration Story Brown, 4 security issues in the United States. Despite human migration being quite common in human history, it is often presented today as a “crisis” or an “issue.” The Mennonites, an ethno-religious group that has migrated frequently in search of religious tolerance, freedom from persecution, and for economic opportunities, have experienced both the positive and negative sides of migration perspectives from their host countries. Because of the varying experiences of Mennonite migrations, the Mennonites serve as an excellent case study in which to analyze human migration. This paper attempts to present the migrations of the Mennonites from Russia as a part of the larger human migration story, looking at the various causes, reasons, and motivations for leaving Russia and eventually, how it relates to the human migration story today. The Mennonite migrations from Russia have been broken down into sections with background information on each migration period, a few personal accounts from Mennonite migrants, and an analysis of the migration period. The Russian Mennonites and the Global Migration Story Brown, 5 The Migrations of the Mennonites In 1525, the Mennonites rose out of the Anabaptist branch of the Reformation in Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands. For the Mennonites, the Christian life meant a personal relationship with God, based on faith in, and obedience to, Jesus and his teachings. Due to their convictions and interpretations of the Sermon on the Mount,3 they believed in a radical Christian discipleship that renounced all violence, advocated for a believer’s baptism, and considered it more important to obey God than man or the state. This got them into trouble with the Church and the State, which in the Lutheran and Catholic areas of Europe, were essentially the same thing. 4 (source: Mennonite Exodus) 3 Matthew 5-7. 4 Frank H. Epp, Mennonite Exodus: The Rescue and Resettlement of the Russian Mennonites Since the Communist Revolution (Altona, Manitoba: D. W. Friesen & Sons Ltd., 1962), 10. The Russian Mennonites and the Global Migration Story Brown, 6 As early as 1530, the Mennonites began immigrating to the Vistula Delta region in Polish Prussia to escape the persecution they experienced in Western Europe. When the Mennonites arrived, the Vistula Delta was largely swamp land unfit for agricultural use, but their knowledge of building dykes, water mills, and reclaiming land through Dutch agricultural practices, allowed the Mennonites to transform it into a fertile farming region. The Polish rulers were able to encourage Mennonite immigration, settlement, and agriculture by providing them with various economic privileges and exemptions from military service.5 6 (source: Mennonite Church Canada) 5 Ibid., 11. 6 William Schroeder, “Vistula Delta,” Mennonite Church Canada, http://www. mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/holdings/Schroeder_maps/021.pdf. The Russian Mennonites and the Global Migration Story Brown, 7 The Prussians began to fear the population increase of the Mennonites and their agricultural and economic dominance. In 1789, the Prussian authorities issued a decree forbidding the sale of land to Mennonites.7 This made it difficult for the Mennonites, who with large families and growing agricultural projects were constantly in need of more land for expansion. In 1786, Empress Catherine II of Russia sent representatives to the Prussian Mennonites, offering economic privileges and rights to religious freedom if they were to settle in Russia’s new Ukrainian territories gained from the Russo-Turkish War.8 Over 10,000 Mennonite immigrants from Prussia established settlements in Russia at Chortitza in 1789, Molotschna in 1804, Am Trakt in 1853, and Alexander in 1859.9 From these settlements, further daughter colonies were established throughout Russia. 10 (source: Mennonite Church Canada) 7 Ibid., 12. 8 Ibid. 9 Epp, Mennonite Exodus, 15. 10 William Schroeder, “Mennonite Settlements in European Russia,” Mennonite Church Canada, http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/holdings/Schroeder _maps/039.pdf. The Russian Mennonites and the Global Migration Story Brown, 8 Meanwhile, Mennonites from Switzerland and the Palatinate had begun settling in North America in 1683 at Germantown, Pennsylvania.11 By 1786, the Mennonites had spread into Southern Ontario, as well.12 Further large-scale Mennonite immigration to North America did not come until the Russian Mennonite 13 (source: Mennonite Church Canada) immigrations in 1873 and the 1920s. The Russian Mennonites first immigrated to North America in 1873, with approximately 18,000 Mennonites settling in reserves in Manitoba or in communities in the American Midwest. In Canada, the Mennonites had secured a Privilegium that secured certain rights and freedoms, including tracts of land set aside for exclusive Mennonite settlement.14 In the United States, the Mennonites were treated as a normal immigrant group and settled on land they purchased privately. As Mennonites continued to migrate to North America, they continued to spread into neighbouring states and provinces. 11 Harold S. Bender, Cornelius Krahn, and John J. Friesen, “Migrations,” Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, 1989, http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Migrations. 12 Ibid. 13 William Schroeder, “Mennonite Settlements in Pennsylvania and Ontario,” Mennonite Church Canada, http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/holdings/ Schroeder_maps/182.pdf. 14 Bender, Krahn, and Friesen, “Migrations,” GAMEO. The Russian Mennonites and the Global Migration Story Brown, 9 15 16 (source: Mennonite Church Canada) (source: Mennonite Church Canada) In the 1920s, discontented with the Canadian government imposing the use of English in Mennonite schools, some of the more conservative Mennonites from Western Canada immigrated to Paraguay and Mexico, where they were able to secure similar rights and privileges.17 The 1920s also saw another mass migration of Russian Mennonites leaving the Soviet Union, with 25,000 Mennonites settling in Canada and 21,000 settling in Mexico, Paraguay, or Brazil.18 During the Second World War, approximately 35,000 Mennonites tried escaping Russia with the retreating German army 15 William Schroeder, “Mennonite Settlements in the United States During the 1870’s,” Mennonite Church Canada, http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/holdings/ Schroeder_maps/184.pdf. 16 William Schroeder, “Mennonite Settlements in Manitoba (1874-76),” Mennonite Church Canada, http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/holdings/ Schroeder_maps/175.pdf. 17 Bender, Krahn, and Friesen, “Migrations,” GAMEO. 18 Ibid. The Russian Mennonites and the Global Migration Story Brown, 10 in 1943, but only some 12,000 ever managed to escape to immigrate to Canada or South America.19 Throughout their history, Mennonites have been constantly migrating, searching for freedom and safety in new lands, and seeking to leave once they feel that their religious and economic rights are jeopardized. The Mennonites are often celebrated as valued immigrants for their agricultural skills and hardworking reputation, but the local populations have 20 (source: Mennonite Church Canada) not always
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