“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.

Comments

Village Reports Commando Dr. Stumpp, 1942: List and Links

Each of the "Commando Dr. Stumpp" village reports written during German occupation of Ukraine 1942 contains a mountain of demographic data, names, dates, occupations, numbers of untimely deaths (revolution, famines, abductions), narratives of life in the 1930s, of repression and liberation, maps, and much more. The reports are critical for telling the story of Mennonites in the Soviet Union before 1942, albeit written with the dynamics of Nazi German rule at play. Reports for some 56 (predominantly) Mennonite villages from the historic Mennonite settlement areas of Chortitza, Sagradovka, Baratow, Schlachtin, Milorodovka, and Borosenko have survived. Unfortunately no village reports from the Molotschna area (known under occupation as “Halbstadt”) have been found. Dr. Karl Stumpp, a prolific chronicler of “Germans abroad,” became well-known to German Mennonites (Prof. Benjamin Unruh/ Dr. Walter Quiring) before the war as the director of the Research Center for Russian Germans...

What is the Church to Say? Letter 4 (of 4) to American Mennonite Friends

Irony is used in this post to provoke and invite critical thought; the historical research on the Mennonite experience is accurate and carefully considered. ~ANF Preparing for your next AGM: Mennonite Congregations and Deportations Many U.S. Mennonite pastors voted for Donald Trump, whose signature promise was an immediate start to “the largest deportation operation in American history.” Confirmed this week, President Trump will declare a national emergency and deploy military assets to carry this out. The timing is ideal; in January many Mennonite congregations have their Annual General Meeting (AGM) with opportunity to review and update the bylaws of their constitution. Need help? We have related examples from our tradition, which I offer as a template, together with a few red flags. First, your congregational by-laws. It is unlikely you have undocumented immigrants in your congregation, but you should flag this. Model: Gustav Reimer, a deacon and notary public from the ...

1920s: Those who left and those who stayed behind

The picture below is my grandmother's family in 1928. Some could leave but most stayed behind. In 1928 a small group of some 511 Soviet Mennonites were unexpectedly approved for emigration ( note 1 ). None of the circa 21,000 Mennonites who emigrated from Russia in the 1920s “simply” left. And for everyone who left, at least three more hoped to leave but couldn’t. It is a complex story. Canada only wanted a certain type—young healthy farmers—and not all were transparent about their skills and intentions The Soviet Union wanted to rid itself of a specifically-defined “excess,” and Mennonite leadership knew how to leverage that Estate owners, and Selbstschutz /White Army militia were the first to be helped to leave, because they were deemed as most threatened community members; What role did money play? Thousands paid cash for their tickets; Who made the final decision on group lists, and for which regions? This was not transparent. Exit visa applications were also regularly reje...

1923 Mennonite immigrants "kept behind": Lechfeld (Bavaria) transit camp

An important part of the larger 1923 immigration story includes the chapter of the hundreds who were held back at Riga and Southampton and taken to the Lechfeld (Bavaria) transit camp for medical care. “Germany generously and magnanimously helped our organizations, on my intercession, to overcome the manifold difficulties connected with such a ( Volksbewegung ) movement of people in such critical times,” Benjamin H. Unruh wrote some years later ( note 1 ). Just as the first group of Russländer Mennonites set foot in Canada 100 years ago this month, the North American relief effort in the USSR was also winding down (August 1923). The famine relief work in 1921 and 1922 had found broad support in the North American Mennonite community. However excitement about a larger immigration of Russian Mennonites to North America was muted, and a new call to action could not forge the same level of cooperation across Mennonite groups. The plan required huge money guarantees. In USSR B.B. Janz h...

School Reports, 1890s

Mennonite memoirs typically paint a golden picture of schools in the so-called “golden era” of Mennonite life in Russia. The official “Reports on Molotschna Schools: 1895/96 and 1897/98,” however, give us a more lackluster and realistic picture ( note 1 ). What do we learn from these reports? Many schools had minor infractions—the furniture did not correspond to requirements, there were insufficient book cabinets, or the desks and benches were too old and in need of repair. The Mennonite schoolhouses in Halbstadt and Rudnerweide—once recognized as leading and exceptional—together with schools in Friedensruh, Fürstenwerder, Franzthal, and Blumstein were deemed to be “in an unsatisfactory state.” In other cases a new roof and new steps were needed, or the rooms too were too small, too dark, too cramped, or with moist walls. More seriously in some villages—Waldheim, Schönsee, Fabrikerwiese, and even Gnadenfeld, well-known for its educational past—inspectors recorded that pupils “do not ...

Queen Elizabeth II and Aunt Adina Neufeld Bräul

This month (April 2023) we celebrated my aunt’s 97th birthday—Adina Neufeld Bräul. Queen Elizabeth II and Aunt Adina were born within hours of each other, April 20-21, 1926. She once told me—in somewhat different words—that this makes her wonder about God’s providence … In 1944 in German-annexed Poland, my 16-year-old uncle Walter Bräul was required to report for military service. His first thought: no good soldier should be without a girlfriend! Before leaving for training, he asked one of the girls from "the trek" on a date to see a movie in Exin. Seven years later they would marry in Paraguay. Adina and her mother and sister were on the same trek or group (Gnadenfeld/ Molotschna) out of Ukraine as Walter and my mother (in the 2023 photo). Adina’s most terrible memory of the trek was when their wagon almost tipped over into a deep ravine. She was 17—a year older than Walter—and it was Walter’s 17-year-old brother Peter who literally jumped from his wagon to physically stop ...

A Traveler's Impressions of the Molotschna, 1927

In November 1927, Susanna Toews of Ohrloff, Molotschna wrote to her brother Gerhard in Canada, "Father is sleeping and the sisters are reading, even though they have read the stuff ten times. . .. Twice a week we get Das Neue Dorf . We read the most important material the first evening and then father reads the rest of it the next day" ( note 1 ). A youth in Friedensruh, Molotschna reported to the communist youth paper Die Saat in 1928, that their village receives 13 copies of Das Neue Dorf , 6 copies of Die Saat , one of the Moscow-based Deutsche Zentral-Zeitung , 16 copies of Die Trompete, 2 copies of Neuland , and some Russian papers as well. On average, 2 papers per household--all communist papers. A Mennonite-based monthly agricultural journal, “The Practical Agriculturalist” ( Der praktische Landwirt ) had been approved for publication in Ukraine in 1924 but was shut down in December 1926. Government authorities in Ukraine were exasperated to see a “significant a...

What does it cost to settle a Refugee? Basic without Medical Care (1930)

In January 1930, the Mennonite Central Committee was scrambling to get 3,885 Mennonites out of Germany and settled somewhere fast. These refugees had fled via Moscow in December 1929, and Germany was willing only to serve as first transit stop ( note 1 ). Canada was very reluctant to take any German-speaking Mennonites—the Great Depression had begun and a negative memory of war resistance still lingered. In the end Canada took 1,344 Mennonites and the USA took none born in Russia. Paraguay was the next best option ( note 2 ). The German government preferred Brazil, but Brazil would not guarantee freedom from military service, which was a problem for American Mennonite financiers. There were already some conservative "cousins" from Manitoba in Paraguay who had negotiated with the government and learned through trial and error how to survive in the "Green Hell" of the Paraguayan Chaco. MCC with the assistance of a German aid organization purchased and distribute...

Stalin’s Purge (1937-38) and Mennonite Suffering: 8 theses

1. Millions died under Stalin One of the more recent studies on the Stalin-era estimates that more than 28.7 million people suffered in the northern prisons and slave camps of the Gulag and 2.75 million people died there during Stalin’s reign ( note 1 ). To this number must be added the “close to a million political executions, the millions who died in transit to the Gulag, and some six to seven million who died of starvation during the early 1930s” ( note 2 ). The mass deportation of workers and peasants provided millions of forced labourers in the Arctic and Siberia. George K. Epp calculated that approximately one-third of Mennonites in the Soviet Union—at least 30,000—died due to exposure, beatings, overwork, disease, starvation or shootings ( note 3 ). 2. Mennonites in Ukraine suffered together with their Ukrainian neighbours Moscow was fearful of “losing Ukraine” ( note 4 ) and specifically targeted it with a “lengthy schooling” designed to ruthlessly break the threat of U...

Flemish Anabaptists and Witch Hunts

Political leaders have long used the term "witch hunt"--and there is an historical connection to Mennonites. Anabaptists and so-called “witches” were arrested and tried for related reasons in the Low Countries in the 1500s: namely, as a means to divert God’s wrath. The late-Medievals feared that heresy—in this case ana-baptism and the challenge to other sacraments—invited the wrath of God, and was an instrument for the devil’s own hellish apocalyptic assault. The assumption: the devil's tactics to destroy Christendom included the use of both heretics and sorcerers. Gary Waite writes convincingly that both were seen as “polluting” the community and thus both had to be "excised." "This fear of pollution, or scandalizing God or the saints, also explains why small numbers of peaceable Mennonites were so harshly treated during the second half of the sixteenth century. Plagues, fires, and economic and social crises were often blamed on the presence of even a smal...

History of the Russian Mennonites

Search This Blog