In the Mennonite tradition, there is no communion without
first making peace with your brother or sister. The diary of Jacob P. Janzen of
Rudnerweide, Molotschna—a single adult, brother to a lay minister—gives regular
examples:
“Easter Sunday, April 10, 1911: We were also admonished to
take part in communion; not many had attended [it] on Good Friday. With some it
is because of small quarrels within the family or with neighbours, but others
have felt deep hate for a long time and have stayed away for more than 20
years!” (Note 1)
Frequently Janzen also wrote down brief evaluations of the
worship service, like on Good Friday 1911:
“Today we had communion in the morning and also church services
in the afternoon. Rev. [S.] preached the sermon. He had written everything down
and looked now and then at his papers, but in between he often got stuck and
then he would keep coughing until he found his place in his papers. It was very
disturbing and I became quite annoyed.”
These Good Friday/ Easter entries are from what some have called the “Golden Years” of Mennonite life in Russia. Only eight years later—after World War I, Revolution, the anarchist raids of Makhno—that world came to an end.
One month before Good Friday and Easter 1919, the “First Mennonite Infantry Regiment” and self-defense units (Selbstschutz)—startling developments in themselves—ceased fighting.
On March 11, 1919, when Mennonite Selbstschutz leadership
discovered that the Bolsheviks and the followers of Nestor Makhno [anarchists]
had joined forces, they laid down their arms after three months of fighting.
“Selfless leaders among our people—Benjamin H. Unruh, A. P.
Willms, Dr. Tavonius, and perhaps a few others [Kornelius Wiens]—walked
directly into the lion’s den, that is, the headquarters of the Reds in Gross
Tokmak, and pleaded for mercy. They solemnly declared that we had founded the Selbstschutz
[for protection] against the bandits only and that we did not know that in the
end we were fighting against government troops. This explanation lessened the
punishment.” (Note 2)
Under the Bolsheviks, Makhno and his followers were given absolute authority in the province. In their anger they had sworn to kill all the inhabitants of the Molotschna's Gnadenfeld District and burn their villages to the ground. And then “something extraordinary happened”—recalls a Selbstschutz member and son of a church elder—at a meeting hastily organized for the twenty-six villages at the Gnadenfeld district offices. Amidst “utter confusion” about what to do next, Pordenau Church Elder Peter Epp spoke up:
“Appearing suddenly in the large hall of the district office
amidst the great crowd of people was my father, Peter Epp. With fiery eyes he
scanned the room and then he called out loudly: ‘Brothers, we have sinned, we
have abandoned the aid of God and trusted instead in the strength of our own
arms of flesh. There is only one way for us—to repent, to confess our sin and to
return to God.’ Afterward Father shouted into the gathered crowd: ‘Let us
pray.’ He kneeled where he stood, and brought all others to their knees as
well, Mennonites and Russians, just as they were. After a prayer of confession
and repentance, father stood up, looked at me for a long time and said, ‘Son,
the war is over; let’s go.’” (Note 3)
From this meeting in Gnadenfeld—“in the very room where
formally the Selbstschutz was courageously organized and where the nonresistant
brothers were ordered to keep quiet”—prayer occurred, and an order was sent by
the district office to all villages: “Do not flee, it is hopeless. We are
encircled. Come together, preach repentance sermons in all villages. Cry
mightily to God, perhaps He will be merciful” (note 4).
That directive for community prayer was taken up; the
following two examples from Rudnerweide and Schardau were replicated in each
village. Here again, the diary of Jacob P. Janzen:
“March 11, 1919: A sad day. … It is said that the bandit
groups of Makhnovs, Ivanoutzi and Subkovtse have joined together with the
Bolsheviki. Our Selbstschutz has given up … . It is said that they [Bolsheviks
and Makhnovs] will not murder but high contributions will be assessed and all
the grain will be taken. … We had a general prayer meeting at 4 since matters
are so serious. … There had been serious arguments and [Rudnerweide Elder David
Nikkel] wondered whether we should not forgive one another. All who were willing
to forgive were asked to stand—that was good. We are in a situation where we
don’t know whether we’ll live till tomorrow… . Hamberg, Klippenfeld and some
other villages have been evacuated.” (Note 5)
Another person recalled:
“Those were real prayer meetings! In ... Schardau they met
in the afternoon [and stayed] until six in the evening. Someone observed that
it was time to feed the cattle. The response: What did the king of Nineveh say:
‘The cattle shall neither have water or feed. Cry out fervently to God!’ The
prayer meeting lasted until nine in the evening. That was a village where
previously they were against public prayer. Calamity teaches [us] to cry to
God!” (Note 6)
Schardau was
the neighbouring village to Pordenau, and they were all members of the Pordenau
church.
The terms of peace included the surrender of all weapons.
“What a shock to see wagonloads of weapons driven to Halbstadt through our
formally peaceable village. We had no idea that so many of the weapons were
still hidden,” noted Mennonite Brethren leader B. B. Janz (note 7).
Non-Mennonite Communist Party instructors from Waldheim,
Molotschna with Red Army personnel helped to carry out new elections locally in
the Molotschna, with some Mennonites siding quickly with the new regime. Again
Jacob P. Janzen’s diary gives a local glimpse:
"March 28, 1919 [Rudnerweide]. We had to come to the
village mayor immediately in order to elect a new Assistant. Three men from
Waldheim have come and are leading it (Hellblau, Koehn and I don’t know the
other’s name). Johann Thiessen is Assistant, Friesen is Chairman and also
Secretary, Jakob Ewert, Abram Penner, Johann Nikkel and H. Thiessen, Peter
Ediger, H. Goerz, Bernhard Klassen are in the soviet. He held a speech and used
verses from the Bible but he continued to swear fluently.” (Note 8)
Those elected in 1919 were likely not yet Bolshevik Party
members; however a soviet office role and Bolshevik Party membership was an
“entry ticket” for those seeking to advance in the new order.
This is the longer context for Jacob P. Janzen’s diary
reflections on Good Friday and Easter 1919, and for some of the days that
followed.
“April 15, 1919. Today many [Red Army] soldiers were driven
to Seljonowka and some wagons went to Marienthal [beside Pordenau]. At places
they took sheets and also money for tobacco.”
“April 19, 1919 [Good Friday] During the 2nd [guard] shift
it had been quite restless. The guards out of these villages all fled, trading
horses, took our blankets along and then took other horses and harnesses. The
flag had been taken away and they were so angry when they came back.
... Not many attended the Communion service in church this
morning. Elder Nikkel [Rudnerweide] pointed out it was the wrong time to stay
home in these days even if one wished to. Many possibly stayed home because of
what he said [??] but we need to forget that for a bit and deepen our thoughts
on the Lord’s Supper. Last year more than 300 communicants attended and now
there were hardly half that number, he said. ... A train arrived in Berdjansk
this morning and it made the Reds very nervous [rumour that the British were
coming] and there was much running around, but they don’t know who the people
were. Many buggies, as well as horses, are being sent out of Berdjansk by rail.
I had to go on guard duty during the 2nd shift.”
"April 23, 1919. Rained almost all day with a west
wind. Cannon fire is clearly heard from the direction of Marienthal ...”
“April 25, 1919. Today the guards made house searches … .
They took whatever they wanted and took much. They beat several because they
didn’t smile. They also took money. … I took one of them to the fields to look
at the grain. He also recorded how much cattle and pasture we have. Then we had
to take him to Marienthal.”
“May 17, 1919: Had to make the trip to Marienhof [?] in the
morning with 3 Reds—one had worked in our village … He seemed to know which
were the good and the bad farmers here and in Marienthal.”
“May 21, 1919:. We attended the funeral in the afternoon
which could be held in peace. … Rev. Flemming spoke using 1 Peter 5: 6, 7,
emphasizing that we are not to take revenge on our enemies or grab for a gun.”
“May 29, 1919 Sunday. Heinrich Abrahams of Franzthal
preached in church today. He was very much in favour of the Selbstschutz.”
In early June 1919 the White Army began a northward
offensive and moved through the Molotschna settlement. ...
---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast
---Notes---
Pic 2 (below): “Red army resting, 1919,” is a stock picture from
different region.
Video of Makhno: https://youtu.be/g8T_hafxdNk.
Note 1: Jacob P. Janzen, “Diary 1911–1919. English monthly
summaries,” edited and translated by Katharina Wall Janzen; idem, “Diary 1916–1925.”
Translated by Edward Enns. Jacob P. Janzen fonds, 1911–1946, vol. 2341. From
Mennonite Heritage Centre, Winnipeg, MB.
Note 2: Bernhard J. Dick, “Something about the Selbstschutz of
the Mennonites in South Russia (July 1918–March 1919),” translated and edited
by Harry Loewen and Al Reimer, Journal of Mennonite Studies 4 (1986), 135–142;
141. https://jms.uwinnipeg.ca/index.php/jms/article/view/238. On the flight
from Halbstadt through the Molotschna towards Crimea, cf. Gerhard A. Peters, Menschenlos
in schwerer Zeit: Aus dem Leben der Mennoniten Süd-Rußlands (Scottdale, PA:
Mennonite Publishing House, 1923) 38–41. https://mla.bethelks.edu/gmsources/books/1923,%20Peters,%20Menschenlos%20in%20Sued%20Russland/1923,%20Peters,%20Menschenlos%20in%20Sud%20Russland.pdf.
Note 3: Cited in John B. Toews, “The Origins and Activities
of the Mennonite Selbstschutz (1918–1919),” Mennonite Quarterly Review 46, no.
1 (January 1972), 5–40; 30 n.77 [translation altered]; John B. Toews, Mennonites
in Ukraine amid Civil War and Anarchy (1917–1920): A Documentary Collection,
translated by John B. Toews (Fresno, CA: Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies,
2013), 182.
Note 4: G. Derksen, in J. Toews, Mennonites in Ukraine amid
Civil War and Anarchy, 91; 182.
Note 5: Jacob P. Janzen, “Diary 1916–1925.” See also an
account of an all-night prayer vigil in Rudnerweide, Saturday to Sunday during
threshing period (July or August) 1919 or 1920. They had received information
that a Makhno slaughter of the entire village was imminent, but the elder urged
the entire village not to call the Selbstschutz, but to pray. The Makhno attack
was called off in confusion, fearing troops in the village. Cf. Franz Wölk,
“Prayer in Rudnerweide” (Lemgo, Germany). In author’s possession.
Note 6: G. Derksen, in J. Toews, Mennonites in Ukraine amid
Civil War and Anarchy, 91.
Note 7: B. B. Janz, in J. Toews, Mennonites in Ukraine amid
Civil War and Anarchy, 183. Cf. also “Biography of Jacob Cornelius Toews,
1882–1968,” translated by Frieda Toews Baergen (Leamington: Essex-Kent
Mennonite Historical Association) 34f., https://www.ekmha.ca/collections/items/show/42.
Note 8: J. Janzen, “Diary 1916–1925.”
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