“First Arrival of German Troops in Halbstadt” (Volksfreund, April 20, 1918)

“April 19, 1918 will always remain significant in the history of the Molotschna German Colony. That which until recently could hardly be imagined has occurred: the German military has arrived to free us from the despotism, rape and pillaging of barbarous people and to reestablish the order and security of life and property--something desperately necessary for our land. For this we give thanks above all to the One in whose hands the peoples and nations and also individuals rest. ...” (Note 1)

Mennonites greeted their “guests and liberators” with festivities that included baked goods (Zwieback), meats and even the German anthem “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles"—all before the watchful eyes of their Russian /Ukrainian neighbours.

The troops arrived by train; and to the shock of most present, three bound prisoners—all well-known bandits and terrorists—“were brought out of one of the railway cars without any prior notice, lined up and shot right in front of us” as an example (note 2).

The arrival of German troops in brought an immediate cessation to the oppressive demands of the Bolsheviks and to arbitrary pillaging and terror.

Only three days earlier “guns had been received from Tokmak for our [Mennonite] militia men” (note 3); the support for self-defense was overwhelming in the central Mennonite town of Halbstadt (Molotschna): “Everybody was for it; all the preachers of every persuasion,” according to one eyewitness (note 4).

In the first days fleeing local Bolshevik leaders were rounded up and arrested, including two Bolshevik Mennonites—Johann Wiebe of Lichtenau, Gerhard Friesen of Gnadenfeld—and “some others.” Wiebe and Friesen were executed by the Germans, and later three other Mennonites as well: a Peter Braun of Lichtenau, a Neufeld from the Molotschna, and a Huebert from Nikolaipol (note 5). In another case, minister and teacher Jacob H. Janzen together with Philipp Cornies “interceded for eleven soldiers of the Red Army who were held by the German commander and were to be shot” (note 6).

The Mennonite press asked the community’s most pressing question: "Why had God had allowed us to suffer?" To dispel all thought that they may somehow be religious martyrs, Abraham Kröker drew an explicit contrast to “our martyr fathers” who in clear conscience “suffered for the sake of the highest things.” Rather

“… we have suffered because of 'Mammon' which we pursued too vigorously. We were far too materialistic, too selfish. That is why God first sent the Land Liquidation Laws; and when he did not achieve his goal, the knife had to cut deeper. A man is punished with that with which he sins. Do we understand this? Have we learnt anything?” (Note 7).

The moral problem was widespread. A German wartime internee placed under Mennonites in the Orenburg/ Samara region wrote to a German military newspaper that Mennonites—or “Mammon-ites” as he preferred to refer to them “were a hypocritical, miserly, money-sucking people” (note 8). Another wrote: “The most complaints have been voiced against the German Mennonites in the region of Samara, who have often exploited the plight of the deportees” (note 9).

While during the war Mennonites sought to convince the state that they were Dutch and not German, and should not be subject to land liquidation measures, by May 1918 Mennonites participated in a “Congress of Representatives of the German Settlements” in Prischib—across the Molotschna River from Halbstadt. A resolution was passed unanimously to request the German Kaiser to grant citizenship to German colonists in South Russia. The resolution indicated their wish “to organize a German state structure” and “to remain here as German forerunners and pioneers … [or to] return to the German motherland” (note 10). In turn, they promised “to offer themselves unreservedly to the German homeland, economically and militarily” (note 11).

The next day the new local self-government was established and two Mennonites—W. A. Hausknecht and J. H. Schröder—took the leadership roles in the regional self-defence committee (note 12). The old mayoral system was reinstated; mayors were responsible to resolve conflicts in the village in good conscience and wisdom. Voting rights were again only extended to land owners.

Previous Russian land liquidation laws were nullified (note 13), and confiscated property was returned to original owners.

In the Mennonite villages the once-wealthy—often accompanied by the Ukrainian National Guard and the German military—went house-to-house to identify property and goods. Mennonite “rich women went to the houses of the poor and demanded back their pillows, lamps, chickens, pets and jars. Here is where the real hatred was engendered,” according to one contemporary (note 14). In some cases a hand of friendship and forgiveness was extended, but there was also public flogging, verbal abuse, threats, and expulsions.

Old antagonisms and social divides in the Molotschna separating those with land, those with small-farms (Kleinwirtschaften), and the cottagers without land (Anwohner) resurfaced immediately; Mennonite youth leaders were very conscious and critical of a return to the previous status quo (note 15).

After two months of terror (February and March) the community had not learnt its lesson: “Many of our brethren treat their workers worse than before, provide less to eat, and use violence to force the servants to serve” (note 16).

As this continued into the summer, the German captain and district commander issued a stern public notice that wealthier residents were “creating an atmosphere amongst the poorer classes that will make any peaceful and fruitful work together impossible” (note 17. The directive noted that “it is a great error if some well-to-do people believe that the German troops have entered into the land only to protect the well-to-do.” The captain firmly expected “that in the future more tolerance will prevail, especially between ethnic brethren (eigenen Stammesbrüdern)” (note 18).

---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

---Notes---

Pic: German occupation troops in Melitopol; General von Kosch. Text at lower left says "Exzellenz General v. Kosch b. d. Melitopoler Besatzung." https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/numbered-photos/pholist2.php?num=2004-0102&fbclid=.

Note 1: Volksfreund II (XI), no. 14 (32) (April 20, 1918), 1, https://chortitza.org/pdf/pletk19.pdf;

Note 2: See; Heinrich F. Goerz, Molotschna Settlement, trans. by Al Reimer and John B. Toews (Winnipeg, MB: CMBC, 1993), 228; John B. Toews, “Origins and Activities of the Mennonite Selbstschutz (1918–1919),” Mennonite Quarterly Review 46, no. 1 (January 1972), 5–40; 15. For larger context, see Wolfram Dornik et al, The Emergence of Ukraine: Self-Determination, Occupation, and War in Ukraine, 1917–1922, translated by Gus Fagan (Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, 2015).

Note 3: John P. Dyck, ed., Troubles and Triumphs 1914–1924: Excerpts from the Diary of Peter J. Dyck, Ladekopp, Molotschna Colony, Ukraine (Springstein, MB: Self-published, 1981), entry for April 18, 1918.

Note 4: A. Wiens, letter to B. B. Janz, cited in Josephine Chipman, “The Mennonite Selbstschutz in the Ukraine: 1918–1919” (Master of Arts thesis, University of Manitoba, 1988), 92. https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/xmlui/handle/1993/3535.

Note 5: Cf. Volksfreund II (XI), no. 14 (32) (April 20, 1918), 1, https://chortitza.org/pdf/pletk19.pdf; no. 22 (40) (May 31, 1918), 7, https://chortitza.org/pdf/pletk27.pdf.

Note 6: Heinz Janzen, “Jacob H. Janzen—at Home,” Mennonite Life 6, no. 3 (July 1951), 36. https://mla.bethelks.edu/mennonitelife/pre2000/1951jul.pdf.

Note 7: Abraham Kröker, “Unsere Befreiung,” Volksfreund II (XI), no. 16 (34) (April 27, 1918), 1.

Note 8: Julius Wolff, “Aus der russischen Internierungszeit (Fortsetzung),” Kriegszeitung von Baranowitschi 3, no. 20 (March 9, 1918), “Beilage;” no. 21 (March 13, 1918), “Beilage.” http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB0002023600010095.

Note 9: “Aus der Heimat,” Rumänische Feldpost: Soldatenzeitung (July 24, 1918), 4, http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB00014F7800010000.

Note 10: In John B. Toews, ed., Mennonites in Ukraine amid Civil War and Anarchy (1917–1920): A Documentary Collection (Fresno, CA: Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies, 2013) 52. Cf. Thy Kingdom Come: The Diary of Johann J. Nickel of Rosenhof: 1918-1919 (ed. John P. Nickel [Saskatoon, SK: Self-published, 1978], May 31, 1918, 47; May 2, 1918, 44), which references both the decision in Prischib and the broader Mennonite support in Chortitza for German citizenship. The official German response to colonists in Russia was, in contrast, very cautious; cf. Friedensstimme 16, no. 32 (July 9, 1918), 5, https://chortitza.org/pdf/pletk43.pdf.

Note 11: “Vertrauensrat russischer Kolonisten,” Deutsche Zeitung für Ost-Taurien (Melitopol, Ukraine) no. 3 (June 12, 1918), 3, http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB00014E4200000000.

Note 12: Volksfreund II, no. 22 (May 31, 1918) 7, https://chortitza.org/pdf/pletk27.pdf.

Note 13: Cf. “Die Liquidation der Deutschstämmigen,” Deutsche Zeitung für Ost-Taurien, Part I, no. 136 (November 15, 1918), 2; Part II, no. 137 (November 16, 1918), 2, http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB00014E4200000000.

Note 14: Gerhard Schroeder, Miracles of Grace and Judgement: A Family Strives for Survival During the Russian Revolution (Lodi, CA: Self-published, 1974), 28f.

Note 15: Gerhard A. Peters, “Die christliche Jugendpflege, ihre Notwendigkeit und Bedeutung (Fortsetzung),” presented at the General Conference of Mennonite Churches, Lichtenau, June 30–July 2, 1918, in Friedensstimme XVI, no. 34 (July 16, 1918), 2, https://chortitza.org/pdf/pletk45.pdf.

Note 16: Volksfreund II (XI), no. 19 (37) (May 11, 1918), 7, https://chortitza.org/pdf/pletk24.pdf; Christlicher Familienkalender 21 (1919), 60: “On the whole, one has the impression that the earlier materialistic (selfish) disposition has not only not diminished, but has actually increased,” https://chortitza.org/Pis/CFK19a.pdf.

Note 17: Friedensstimme 16, no. 33 (July 13, 1918), 3, https://chortitza.org/pdf/pletk44.pdf.

Note 18: Ibid.

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History of the Russian Mennonites

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