The following accounts of Mennonite Christmases before the Revolution are from the unpublished diary of Jacob P. Janzen (note 1).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.
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.
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