1843: London Bible Society, revival and School reform

In 1843 the Russian Mennonite colonies received a visitation from the London Bible Society. It was the same year that Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol" about the miser Ebenezer Scrooge and his conversion after the visitation of three Christmas ghosts! Dickens was not happy that the Church’s overseas mission budget was so large, while in his view they neglected the poor on their own doorsteps in London.

Ebenezer was in fact a common British name of the era. A few years earlier the Molotschna was visited by a delegation from the British and Foreign Bible Society. The British agent, Reverend Ebeneezer Henderson, convinced Molotschna elders and Johann Cornies to establish their own Bible Society. "As they live on habits of friendship and intimacy with their Tatar neighbours, and one of their principal men [Cornies] speaks the Tatar with fluency, we furnished him with a good supply of New Testaments, and other portions of Scripture, in that language, that they might commence their operations without delay” (note 1).

After the 1843 visit of the London Bible Society to Russia, a report was published in the Boston-based Baptist paper Christian Watchman about the Mennonites (pic). Neither the editor nor the delegate were well-informed or well-disposed towards Mennonites. The editor prefaced the report with the following: “The state of the people [Russian Mennonites] seems lamentable enough, but we know they are not quite so bad as they are here described [in the report]. There is a considerable number of Mennonites also in Canada [Waterloo; Swiss], who are, we fear, in a state bordering on heathen darkness” (note 2).

The delegate’s impressions of the Chortitza Colony were downright dismal.

“I was very sorry to observe the total want of religious instruction in the schools; and as far as I could learn, it is almost totally neglected in the family circle. When the children come to a certain age, it is considered as a mere matter of course, that they must be immersed, and be added to the church; till that time they are seldom to be found in the House of Prayer. What a cold-hearted Christianity prevails throughout these colonies, though the people are otherwise kind, even to a proverb, in this part of the country.”

The same visitor found that the Molotschna was "in no better a state, as it regards religion." However he was very much impressed with the spiritual leadership of a few church leaders and Cornies.

“In the Moloskna, however, there are a few zealous for the glory of God; who maintain spiritual worship, both in public and private; who labor for the spiritual welfare of their children, both in their schools and in the family circle. Religion prospers under the care of these devoted servants of the Lord. They have one very able man among them, by whose labors, partly, this pleasing state of things has been brought about. They have their missionary meetings regularly; at which two or more of their preachers address the meeting and read extracts from missionary intelligence, which they endeavour regularly to receive. I was present at one of their missionary meetings; it was opened by prayer and praise, and was concluded in a like manner. They have also a Temperance Society among them, which is doing good. Among these good friends, I found the preachers most willing to forward the work of Scripture distribution; and I was happy to be able to give them a supply, of which they were greatly in want. May the Lord bless the labors of these good men, for the benefit of all the surrounding colonies.”

Were the differences so stark? 1843 also marks the arrival of Eduard Wüst in the region--a university-trained Württemberg Pietist minister installed by the separatist Evangelical Brethren Church in New Russia. Wüst was invited regularly to the Molotschna as guest speaker. “Revivals broke out” in multiple Molotschna villages, including Rudnerweide and Gnadenfeld on the eastern edge of the colony (note 3).

In 1843 the Guardianship Committee for Foreign Settlers in New Russia also placed all Molotschna village schools under the jurisdiction of the Agricultural Society and Johann Cornies, its appointed chairman-for-life. This impacted the ethos and direction of the colony. Despite some opposition, Cornies was given full responsibility and control of implementing school reforms. In his trademark style, Cornies briskly released less competent and less diligent teachers, introduced village level school boards to promote improved supervision, management, administration and leadership in local schools; defined parental obligations and imposed fines for truancy; standardized the curriculum; organized conferences as requested by some progressive teachers; and mandated standard large-sized school buildings with appropriate equipment.

Cornies worked closely with Heinrich Heese, head of the Agricultural Society School, to formalize school constitution or “rule” in which the school together with the home have the key formational responsibilities towards the realms of both “church and state.” Viewed from the one side, the school is “situated between living room and church (Kirche), as a supporting institution (Hilfs-Anstalt) of training in the home for the preliminary introduction into the community (Gemeine) of the Lord.” Viewed from the other side, the school is “situated between living room and state as a supporting institution of training in the home for the preliminary introduction into civil society” (note 4). School boards were to be composed of “secular members as well as well as spiritual (geistliche) members, since schools are institutions of the church and the state” (note 5).

When the elders and ministers were informed that they were to have oversight of religion classes alone, as was the case in Prussia, “one of the elders, apparently completely distraught, shouted out: ‘everything is being taken from out of our hands’” (note 6). Yet in the view of one senior, “until now the elders could have had—should have had—control over the schools, but never actually had it in hand. Not only did they not concern themselves about it, but they actively worked against and were hostile toward every private initiative in support of schools” (note 7).

Schools were now explicitly recast as “institutes of spiritual salvation and healing for all peoples,” and the teacher’s “costly and sacred duty [was] to model a spiritual walk not only before his schoolchildren, but also before the whole community,” and “to keep his profession holy” (note 8).

What was the impact of these three “visitations” of 1843, i.e., London Bible Society, Eduard Wüst and the Guardianship Committee with its new mandate? Was there a Dickens-like "conversion“ in the Mennonite soul taking place? I will not make that judgement, nor argue that 1843 is a particularly important anniversary year for Russian Mennonites. These visitations however offer a colourful picture of the social, cultural and religious evolution of Russian Mennonite life some forty years after the now aging generation of settlers first arrived on the east bank of the Molotschna River.

---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

---Notes---

Note 1: Ebeneezer Henderson, Biblical Researches and Travels in Russia (James Nisbet, 1826), 386, https://books.google.ca/books?id=8yFaAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA386#v=onepage&q&f=false. See previous post (forthcoming).

Note 2/pic: “Mennonites in Russia,” Christian Watchman 24, no. 27 (July 7, 1843), 1 (Dickens photo: Wikipedia)

Note 3: Abraham Kröker, Pfarrer Eduard Wüst. Der große Erweckungsprediger in den deutschen Kolonien Südrußlands (Spat, Crimea: Self-published, ca. 1903), 77; 80, https://chortitza.org/Pis/Kroeker.pdf. See also previous post, https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2023/01/eduard-wust-second-menno.html.

Note 4: Johann Cornies, “Schulgesetz: von der Einrichtung des Schulwesens, oder von der Schulordnung, oder Schulverfassung,” 1842? [1843 -ANF], 3.1 (emphasis in original), in Peter J. Braun Russian Mennonite Archive, 1803-1920, reel 32, file 742, Robarts Library, University of Toronto.

Note 5: “Schulgesetz,” par. 2.3.

Note 6: In D. H. Epp, Johann Cornies: Züge aus seinem Leben und Wirken [1909] (Rosthern, SK: Echo, 1946), 57, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/?file=1dok15.pdf.

Note 7: Franz Isaac, Die Molotschnaer Mennoniten. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte derselben (Halbstadt, Taurien: H. J. Braun, 1908), 278, https://archive.org/details/die-molotschnaer-mennoniten-editablea; ET: https://www.mharchives.ca/download/3573/.

Note 8: “Schulgesetz,” par. 3.1,3.

Comments

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, ...

Flooding as a weapon of war, 1657

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these maps speak volumes. In February 1657, the Swedish King Carolus Gustavus ordered an intentional breach of the embankments along the Vistula River to completely flood the villages of the Danzig Werder. See the vivid punctures and water flow in 1657 map below; compare with the 1730 maps with rebuilt villages and farms ( note 1 ). In Polish memory this war is appropriately remembered as "The Deluge". Villages in the Danzig Werder (delta) from which Mennonites immigrated to Russia include: Quadendorf, Reichenberg, Krampitz, Neunhuben, Hochzeit, Scharfenberg, Wotzlaff, Landau, Schönau, Nassenhuben, Mönchengrebin, and Nobel ( note 2 ). In the war the suburbs outside the gates of Danzig suffered most; Mennonites lived here in large numbers, e.g., in Alt Schottland and Stoltzenberg. First, these villages were completely razed by the City of Danzig to keep the invading Swedes from using the villages to their advantage in battle. ...

“The way is finally open”—Russian Mennonite Immigration, 1922-23

In a highly secretive meeting in Ohrloff, Molotschna on February 7, 1922, leaders took a decision to work to remove the entire Mennonite population of some 100,000 people out of the USSR—if at all possible ( note 1 ). B.B. Janz (Ohrloff) and Bishop David Toews (Rosthern, SK) are remembered as the immigration leaders who made it possible to bring some 20,000 Mennonites from the Soviet Union to Canada in the 1920s ( note 2 ). But behind those final numbers were multiple problems. In August 1922, an appeal was made by leaders to churches in Canada and the USA: “The way is finally open, for at least 3,000 persons who have received permission to leave Russia … Two ships of the Canadian Pacific Railway are ready to sail from England to Odessa as soon as the cholera quarantine is lifted. These Russian [Mennonite] refugees are practically without clothing … .” ( Note 3 ) Notably at this point B. B. Janz was also writing Toews, saying that he was utterly exhausted and was preparing to ...

Formidable Fräulein Marga Bräul (1919–2011)

Fräulein Bräul left an indelible mark on two generations of high school students in the Mennonite Colony of Fernheim, Paraguay. Former students and acquaintances recall that Marga Bräul demanded the highest effort and achievements of her students, colleagues and of herself—the kind of teacher you either love or hate but will never forget! In March 1947, Marga was offered a position at the Fernheim Secondary School ( Zentralschule ). A recent refugee to Paraguay from war-torn Europe, she taught mathematics, physics, and chemistry. In 1952, she was the only female faculty member ( note 1 ). Marga wedded a strong commitment to academics with a passion for quality arts and crafts. She provided extensive extra-curricular instruction to students in handiwork and was especially renowned for her artwork—which included painting and woodworking— end of year art exhibits with students, theatre sets, and festival decorations. Marga’s pedagogical philosophy was holistic; she told Mennonite ed...

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 ...

Mennonite “Displaced Persons” and MCC’s “Jewish Argument”

At the conclusion of the war Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) was fully aware that “their” 13,000-plus Russian Mennonite refugees in Germany did not qualify as displaced persons and for support from the International Refugee Organization. They were refused IRO “care and maintenance” as Soviet citizens, i.e., they were free to return home. MCC sought to convince the IRO that the Mennonite refugees were not “Soviet Germans” and--if they had became German citizens in Warthegau (also a disqualifier), it was done under duress ( note 1 ). Astonishingly MCC’s Europe Director Peter J. Dyck—later seen as the Moses of the Mennonites—proposed to top military personnel at US military headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany (USFET) in July 1946, that Mennonites be granted the same status as Jews as a persecuted people. “By a recent decree all Jews, regardless of their nationality, are automatically given the status of 'D.P.' [displaced person] on the grounds that they are victims of persecu...

1929 Flight of Mennonites to Moscow and Reception in Germany

At the core of the attached video are some thirty photos of Mennonite refugees arriving from Moscow in 1929 which are new archival finds. While some 13,000 had gathered in outskirts of Moscow, with many more attempting the same journey, the Soviet Union only released 3,885 Mennonite "German farmers," together with 1,260 Lutherans, 468 Catholics, 51 Baptists, and 7 Adventists. Some of new photographs are from the first group of 323 refugees who left Moscow on October 29, arriving in Kiel on November 3, 1929. A second group of photos are from the so-called “Swinemünde group,” which left Moscow only a day later. This group however could not be accommodated in the first transport and departed from a different station on October 31. They were however held up in Leningrad for one month as intense diplomatic negotiations between the Soviet Union, Germany and also Canada took place. This second group arrived at the Prussian sea port of Swinemünde on December 2. In the next ten ...

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...

The Flight to Moscow 1929

In 1926, my grandfather’s sister Justina Fast (b. 1896) and her husband Peter Görzen moved from Krassikow, Neu Samara (Soviet Union) to village no. 5 Dejewka, Orenburg. “We thought we would live our lives here with our children secure in the hands of God. But the times were becoming turbulent,” Justina recalled. In May 1929 they travelled back to Krassikow for Pentecost to visit with her mother, brothers and their families. But when they returned to their home, she writes, “… a large quota of grain was demanded of us. But we had nothing, and the harvest was not yet in. Then we heard that many were planning to move to Canada, including my three siblings with my mother, and my husband's three sisters too. My husband decided to go to Moscow first to see if it was possible and what was required for emigration. We made the decision to leave when the harvest was complete. At that time so many people were leaving [for Moscow], and early in September we sold everything we had. Only the b...

Immigration to Canada, 1923: Background

In April 1921 Mennonites in the Caucasus and Don Region officially petitioned Moscow for permissions to emigrate—which Lenin had “flatly refused.” Their rationale was more than economic. “The disruption of economic conditions leads to impoverishment, which again goes hand in hand with the degradation of morals and has an alarming impact on our youth, who are also constantly exposed to the pressure of brutal and ruthless agitation on the part of those in power. … This decay of our spiritual and economic goods will only become greater and more ruinous.” ( Note 1 ) Later that year and some months before the large-scale feeding operations could begin in the Soviet Union, American Mennonite Relief (AMR) commissioner A.J. Miller petitioned the Soviet Embassy in London for exit permissions for 20,000 Mennonites ( note 1b) . He was unsuccessful. Nonetheless in a highly secretive meeting in Ohrloff, Molotschna on February 7, 1922, key Mennonite leaders took a decision to work toward the re...

History of the Russian Mennonites

Search This Blog