Mennonite Christmases in the Diary of Jacob P. Janzen, 1911-1914

The following accounts of Mennonite Christmases before the Revolution are from the unpublished diary of Jacob P. Janzen (note 1). His entries are “real,” in the sense that they include all the complexities and messiness of life, with interesting detail. These accounts are from a single man in his thirties (b. 1880) in Rudnerweide, Molotschna. His entries show him as a sensitive, humble, and curious man, who was certainly well-informed about life in the community.

--Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

Christmas 1911 (Janzen was working at "Bethania Mental Hospital" on the Dnjeper River near Einlage, note 2)

“Some of the staff went to [director Peter] Schellenbergs to practice Christmas songs. I did not go. Aganetha Woelk [patient] had broken several window panes; I had to replace them and it got quite late. But while working in the female patients’ quarters I had a chance to see how they made beautiful, but inexpensive ornaments for the Christmas tree. Nurse Justina showed me how to make a star by joining together four narrow strips of paper. … on the 6th I packed my belongings, also the Christmas present I received from the Schellenbergs: a paper weight and inkwell with pen. The next day I left Bethania by train; had to wait for connections in Alexandrowsk and went once more to the island Chortitza. This time I walked across the river Dnjepr since the ice was firm and thick” [departed for home: Rudnerweide, Molotschna]

On the 13th we butchered a hog and a bull calf at [brother] David’s; during the night a young cow bore a dead calf. It is getting colder with some snow. We already can use the sleds. It has been snowing almost every day and on the 19th every household of the village had to send a team and driver to clear the road to Gnadenfeld and Sparrau. Practically everybody is butchering hogs before Christmas and taking turns in helping each other.

In the evening I went to the Matthies family and taught the girls how to make paper stars for the tree. The next day I made some more with the school teacher…

December 25, Christmas, a joyous day! If you have Jesus, you have peace. I have it, and still I miss something! I have loved a girl for a long time and still love her. I would like to tell her, but cannot bring myself to do it. Maybe it’s not the time for it yet, maybe I should wait. I have asked the Lord to take this love from me, if the girl is not to be mine, but my love for her remains. I have told no one, only Jesus and my dear diary know about it.

December 26. Our whole family was together; we were all well and happy. In the evening we went to visit the Matthies family, brother David [lay minister in Rudnerweide church] and his wife Barbara came too. The candles on the Christmas tree were lighted and we had a very enjoyable time."

Christmas 1912

Congregational matters: "David Penner and Aganetha Hooge were brought before the congregation and accused of fornication. Both were excommunicated as punishment. Last night Klaas and Lena were called to their parents late in the evening. Mother Thiessen was sick again. Conditions in that home are very sad. Father Thiessen was drunk as happens so often and that’s why the mother is ailing. The father knows it and won’t let anybody in to talk to her and comfort her. “0 Lord Jesus, change their lives, and do not make their load too heavy!” In a letter the Richerts notified us that on the 7th they had been blessed with a new baby, a boy! They named him Peter.

On Saturday I took Anna my sister to the doctor in Gnadenfeld. She has been sick for several weeks. The doctor said she had pleurisy and pneumonia and gave her several medicines and powders.

On the 24th in the morning I took Anna again to the doctor, her condition has improved somewhat, at least she stopped coughing. In the evening we went to the children’s Christmas program. They recited Luke 2 and sang beautifully. The teacher, Mr. Kiassen, spoke on the importance of names, especially the name of Jesus, and compared it to a diamond with 100 different sides and planes. Each side radiates a different colour and meaning just like the many names of Jesus have a different and important meaning to them. We should always try to do God’s will and pray in the name of Jesus.

On the 27th we had our annual congregational meeting (Bruderschaft). The suggestion to levy a voluntary(?) tax, 50 Kopeks on 1000 Rubles, was completely rejected. Instead we will have two collections each year, one in spring and one in fall. The other suggestion, to build a barn on the church yard for the horses to give them shelter during worship services, was accepted."

Christmas 1913

"The first week of December we had a lot of snow and blizzard like conditions, almost like in Siberia, but by the end of the second week most of the snow had melted and we could not use our sled anymore. The Goertzens came and took our carriage. That’s the way they do it all the time: they never ask for permission, only “if we are using it”. If not, then they come and help themselves to it. It is really very annoying. David and Johann have made a small chest of drawers for little Bärbel and took it to the painter to be finished and painted. It should be ready by Christmas. On the 21st Abram Penners and family came back from America; for him it is the second time. They are completely broke and impoverished. I bought a Philipus-Calendar from Franz Pankratz and ordered the “Botschafter” for another year. The same evening we heard of a tragic accident in Fürstenwerder. A crippled young man was courting a Peters girl, but her father would not let them marry because, he said, he did not want a cripple for a son-in-law. The unfortunate young man took his gun and went into their barn, where Thiessens’ son-in-law was doing the chores. He shot him twice in the leg and once in the abdomen and killed him. When help arrived it was too late. He had a razor in his pocket and when asked why, he said: 'I wanted to cut his ears off, so that old Peters would have a son-in-law like nobody else.' Another year has ended. It has brought us deep sorrow and many tears, but also many blessings."

Christmas 1914 (World War I had begun)

"December … Today I hung our hams into the chimney for the smoking. I hope we will be able to enjoy them during winter. At the Warkentins in Schardau thieves stole all the hams out of the chimney, there had been 16, a good haul! A. Wiebe from Neukirch, working here as an apprentice, was arrested and brought to court. He and his brother had beaten up a Jew some time ago, and he is pressing charges now. On Monday we had a village meeting. The government is asking us to make rusks from bread and zwieback for the soldiers. By Thursday the first shipment shall be ready. Also all the weapons, guns, revolvers, swords and daggers (owned by Mennonites; note 3) shall be collected and taken to Berdjansk.

On Sunday [Rudnerweide] Elder Nikkel said in our church that it might be for the last time that he could give a sermon in German [Russia at war with Germany]. In Halbstadt it is already forbidden, only singing and praying is still allowed in the German language. No letters are to be written in German anymore, not even to the next village. What will happen next? [Brother] Klaas is working on a [Red Cross] ambulance train now too. [Brother] David goes regularly by train to the front to pick up the wounded and to take them to hospitals in different cities (note 4).

Today Maria [sister] and I did some shopping for Christmas: toys and candy for the children, woolen kerchiefs for their mothers, etc. The price of coffee is rising; we paid 90 kopeks for a pound! I wonder if the Germans will be fighting on Christmas, their big holiday?

On the 21st our village too received an order to stop preaching in German. During the night 6 wagon loads of weapons were taken to Halbstadt and a few days later 4 wagon loads to a Russian village.

On the 24th Johann came home for 4 days. We also received letters from David and Klaas. They are both well and in good spirits. Their superiors and the Russian doctors and nurses are friendly and treat them well.

Christmas day was different from other years: no German sermon and no tree, that was also forbidden, but the Russian singers went from door to door like always, singing carols and expecting peppernuts and apples in return. … Little Nutta had a Christmas card from her daddy, Klaas. We sent him 4 lbs. of butter and Lena added a sausage. Barbara and her mother Esau sent a food package and letters too. Toews had to go to Moscow and took everything along for 60 kopeks."

---Notes---

Pic: From the Mennonite Soviet-era paper Unser Blatt 3, no. 3 (December 1927), 60, https://chortitza.org/Pis/UB27_03.pdf. See entry for Janzen at GRanDMA #1014476 (www.grandmaonline.org).

Note 1 : From Jacob P. Janzen. “Diary 1911–1919. English monthly summaries,” edited and translated by Katharina Wall Janzen. From Mennonite Heritage Archives, Jacob P. Janzen Fonds, 1911–1946, vol. 2341. Used with permission from family members.

Note 2: Cf. previous post on "Bethania Mental Hospital, 1925," https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2022/09/politically-backwards-but-clean-and.html.

Note 3: Because Russia was now at war with Germany, the former was taking precautions with its ethnic German population in the western parts of the empire. 2,350 guns were seized from 1,850 Mennonite households--including 600 handguns. See previous post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MennoniteGenealogyHistory/permalink/23464795453860.

Note 4: On Mennonite Red Cross orderlies/ medics in WW1, see post, https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2023/01/mennonite-medical-orderlies-in-world.html.

Comments

Russian and Prussian Mennonite Participants in “Racial-Science,” 1930

I n December 1929, some 3,885 Soviet Mennonites plus 1,260 Lutherans, 468 Catholics, 51 Baptists and seven Adventists were assisted by Germany to flee the Soviet Union. They entered German transit camps before resettlement in Canada, Brazil and Paraguay ( note 1 ) In the camps Russian Mennonites participated in a racial-biological study to measure their hereditary characteristics and “racial” composition and “blood purity” in comparison to Danzig-West Prussian, genetic cousins. In Germany in the last century, anthropological and medical research was horribly misused for the pseudo-scientific work referred to as “racial studies” (Rassenkunde). The discipline pre-dated Nazi Germany to describe apparent human differences and ultimately “to justify political, social and cultural inequality” ( note 2 ). But by 1935 a program of “racial hygiene” and eugenics was implemented with an “understanding that purity of the German Blood is the essential condition for the continued existence of the

“Operation Chortitza” – Resettler Camps in Danzig-West Prussia, 1943-44 (Part I)

In October 1943, some 3,900 Mennonite resettlers from “Operation Chortitza” entered the Gau of Danzig-West Prussia. They were transported by train via Litzmannstadt and brought to temporary camps in Neustadt (Danzig), Preußisch Stargard (Konradstein), Konitz, Kulm on the Vistula, Thorn and some smaller localities ( note 1 ). The Gau received over 11,000 resettlers from the German-occupied east zones in 1943. Before October some 3,000 were transferred from these temporary camps for permanent resettlement in order to make room for "Operation Chortitza" ( note 2 ). By January 1, 1944 there were 5,473 resettlers in the Danzig-West Prussian camps (majority Mennonite); one month later that number had almost doubled ( note 3 ). "Operation Chortitza" as it was dubbed was part of a much larger movement “welcoming” hundreds of thousands of ethnic Germans “back home” after generations in the east. Hitler’s larger plan was to reorganize peoples in Europe by race, to separate

Sesquicentennial: Proclamation of Universal Military Service Manifesto, January 1, 1874

One-hundred-and-fifty years ago Tsar Alexander II proclaimed a new universal military service requirement into law, which—despite the promises of his predecesors—included Russia’s Mennonites. This act fundamentally changed the course of the Russian Mennonite story, and resulted in the emigration of some 17,000 Mennonites. The Russian government’s intentions in this regard were first reported in newspapers in November 1870 ( note 1 ) and later confirmed by Senator Evgenii von Hahn, former President of the Guardianship Committee ( note 2 ). Some Russian Mennonite leaders were soon corresponding with American counterparts on the possibility of mass migration ( note 3 ). Despite painful internal differences in the Mennonite community, between 1871 and Fall 1873 they put up a united front with five joint delegations to St. Petersburg and Yalta to petition for a Mennonite exemption. While the delegations were well received and some options could be discussed with ministers of the Crown,

"Anti-Menno" Communist: David J. Penner (1904-1993)

The most outspoken early “Mennonite communist”—or better, “Anti-Menno” communist—was David Johann Penner, b. 1904. Penner was the son of a Chortitza teacher and had grown up Mennonite Brethren in Millerovo, with five religious services per week ( note 1 )! In 1930 with Stalin firmly in power, Penner pseudonymously penned the booklet entitled Anti-Menno ( note 2 ). While his attack was bitter, his criticisms offer a well-informed, plausible window on Mennonite life—albeit biased and with no intention for reform. He is a ethnic Mennonite writing to other Mennonites. Penner offers multiple examples of how the Mennonite clergy in particular—but also deacons, choir conductors, Sunday School teachers, leaders of youth or women’s circles—aligned themselves with the exploitative interests of industry and wealth. Extreme prosperity for Mennonite industrialists and large landowners was achieved with low wages and the poverty of their Russian /Ukrainian workers, according to Penner. Though t

High Crimes and Misdemeanors: Mennonite Murders, Infanticide, Rapes and more

To outsiders, the Mennonite reality in South Russia appeared almost utopian—with their “mild and peaceful ethos.” While it is easy to find examples of all the "holy virtues" of the Mennonite community, only when we are honest about both good deeds and misdemeanors does the Russian Mennonite tradition have something authentic to offer—or not. Rudnerweide was one of a few Molotschna villages with a Mennonite brewery and tavern , which in turn brought with it life-style lapses that would burden the local elder. For example, on January 21, 1835, the Rudnerweide Village Office reported that Johann Cornies’s sheep farm manager Heinrich Reimer, as well as Peter Friesen and an employed Russian shepherd, came into the village “under the influence of brandy,” and: "…at the tavern kept by Aron Wiens, they ordered half a quart of brandy and shouted loudly as they drank, banged their glasses on the table. The tavern keeper objected asking them to settle down, but they refused and

Mennonite Heritage Week in Canada and the Russländer Centenary (2023)

In 2019, the Canadian Parliament declared the second week in September as “Mennonite Heritage Week.” The bill and statements of support recognized the contributions of Mennonites to Canadian society ( note 1 ). 2019 also marked the centenary of a Canadian Order in Council which, at their time of greatest need, classified Mennonites as an “undesirable” immigrant group: “… because, owing to their peculiar customs, habits, modes of living and methods of holding property, they are not likely to become readily assimilated or to assume the duties and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship within a reasonable time.” ( Pic ) With a change of government, this order was rescinded in 1922 and the doors opened for some 23,000 Mennonites to immigrate from the Soviet Union to Canada. The attached archival image of the Order in Council hangs on the office wall of Canadian Senator Peter Harder—a Russländer descendant. 2023 marks the centennial of the arrival of the first Russländer immigrant groups

Turning Weapons into Waffle Irons!

Turning Weapons into Waffle Irons: Heart-Shaped Waffles and a smooth talking General In 1874 with Mennonite immigration to North America in full swing, the Tsar sent General Eduard von Totleben to the colonies to talk the remaining Mennonites out of leaving ( note 1 ). He came with the now legendary offer of alternative service. Totleben made presentations in Mennonite churches and had many conversations in Mennonite homes. Decades later the women still recalled how fond Totleben was of Mennonite heart-shaped waffles. He complemented the women saying, “How beautiful are the hearts of Mennonites!,” and he joked about how “much Mennonites love waffles ( Waffeln ), but not weapons ( Waffen )” ( note 2 )! His visit resulted in an extensive reversal of opinion and the offer was welcomed officially by the Molotschna and Chortitza Colony ministerials. And upon leaving, the general was gifted with a poem by Bernhard Harder ( note 3 ) and a waffle iron ( note 4 ). Harder was an influen

Fraktur (or Gothic) font and Kurrent- (or Sütterlin) handwriting: Nazi ban, 1941

In the middle of the war on January 1, 1942, the Winnipeg-based Mennonitische Rundschau published a new issue without the familiar Fraktur script masthead ( note 1 ). One might speculate on the reasons, but a year earlier Hitler banned the use of the font in the Reich . The Rundschau did not exactly follow all orders from Berlin—the rest of the paper was in Fraktur (sometimes referred to as "Gothic"); when the war ended in 1945, the Rundschau reintroduced the Fraktur font for its masthead. It wasn’t until the 1960s that an issue might have a page or title here or there with the “normal” or Latin font, even though post-war Germany was no longer using Fraktur . By 1973 only the Rundschau masthead is left in Fraktur , and that is only removed in December 1992. Attached is a copy of Nazi Party Secretary Martin Bormann's official letter dated January 3, 1941, which prohibited the use of Fraktur fonts "by order of the Führer. " Why? It was a Jewish invention, apparent

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

Blessed are the Shoe-Makers: Brief History of Lost Soles

A collection of simple artefacts like shoes can open windows onto the life and story of a people. Below are a few observations about shoes and boots, or the lack thereof, and their connection to the social and cultural history of Russian Mennonites. Curiously Mennonites arrived in New Russia shoe poor in 1789, and were evacuated as shoe poor in 1943 as when their ancestors arrived--and there are many stories in between. The poverty of the first Flemish elder in Chortitza Bernhard Penner was so great that he had only his home-made Bastelschuhe in which to serve the Lord’s Supper. “[Consequently] four of the participating brethren banded together to buy him a pair of boots which one of the [Land] delegates, Bartsch, made for him. The poor community desired with all its heart to partake of the holy sacrament, but when they remembered the solemnity of these occasions in their former homeland, where they dressed in their Sunday best, there was loud sobbing.” ( Note 1 ) In the 1802 C

History of the Russian Mennonites

Search This Blog