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

The Jewish Colony (Judenplan) and its Mennonite Agriculturalists

Both Jews and Mennonites in Russia were dependent on separation, distinct external appearance, unique dialect, inner group cohesion, international familial networks, self-governing institutions, a sojourner mentality, sense of divine mission, and a view of the other as unclean or dangerous. Each had its distinct legal privileges, restrictions, and duties under the Tsar, and each looked out for their own. For both, moderation, spiritual values, family, learning and success were important, and their related dialects made communication possible. But the traditional occupation of eastern European Jews was as “middlemen” between the “overwhelmingly agricultural Christian population and various urban markets,” as peddlers, shopkeepers and suppliers of goods ( note 1 ). Jews were forbidden to stay for longer periods in German colonies or to erect houses or shops there. “If they try to stay, they are to be reported immediately. If they are not, the German mayor will be held responsible” ( no...

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...

Shaky Beginings as a Faith Community

With basic physical needs addressed, in 1805 Chortitza pioneers were ready to recover their religious roots and to pass on a faith identity. They requested a copy of Menno Simons’ writings from the Danzig mother-church especially for the young adults, “who know only what they hear,” and because “occasionally we are asked about the founder whose name our religion bears” ( note 1 ). The Anabaptist identity of this generation—despite the strong Mennonite publications in Prussia in the late eighteenth century—was uninformed and very thin. Settlers first arrived in Russia 1788-89 without ministers or elders. Settlers had to be content with sharing Bible reflections in Low German dialect or a “service that consisted of singing one song and a sermon that was read from a book of sermons” written by the recently deceased East Prussian Mennonite elder Isaac Kroeker ( note 2 ). In the first months of settlement, Chortitza Mennonites wrote church leaders in Prussia: “We cordially plead ...

Catherine the Great’s 1763 Manifesto

“We must swarm our vast wastelands with people. I do not think that in order to achieve this it would be useful to compel our non-Christians to accept our faith--polygamy for example, is even more useful for the multiplication of the population. … "Russia does not have enough inhabitants, …but still possesses a large expanse of land, which is neither inhabited nor cultivated. … The fields that could nourish the whole nation, barely feeds one family..." – Catherine II (Note 1 ) “We perceive, among other things, that a considerable number of regions are still uncultivated which could easily and advantageously be made available for productive use of population and settlement. Most of the lands hold hidden in their depth an inexhaustible wealth of all kinds of precious ores and metals, and because they are well provided with forests, rivers and lakes, and located close to the sea for purpose of trade, they are also most convenient for the development and growth of many kinds ...

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...

“We have no poor among us”: From "Blue Bag" to e-Transfer

Through not unique or original to Menno Simons, the idea of watching and caring for fellow travellers on the journey of faith “where no one is allowed to beg” ( note 1 ) was a pillar of his teaching, and forms one of the most consistent threads in the Anabaptist–Mennonite story. In the decades before Mennonites settled in Russia they used the “Blue-Bag” to collect for the poor in Prussia. In 1723 Abraham Hartwich—an otherwise unsympathetic observer of Mennonites—noted that Mennonites in Prussia “do not allow their co-religionists to suffer want, but rather help them in their poverty from the so-called blue-bag, their fund for the poor” ( note 2 ). It is unclear when the “blue-bag tradition” changed? Similarly, in the early 1800s, two Lutheran observers—Georg Reiswitz and Friedrich Wadzeck—noted that the Mennonite care for their poor through annual free-will contributions was “exemplary” ( note 3 ). Moreover Reiswitz and Wadzeck describe a community stubbornly committed to each ot...

Russia: A Refuge for all True Christians Living in the Last Days

If only it were so. It was not only a fringe group of Russian Mennonites who believed that they were living the Last Days. This view was widely shared--though rejected by the minority conservative Kleine Gemeinde. In 1820 upon the recommendation of Rudnerweide (Frisian) Elder Franz Görz, the progressive and influential Mennonite leader Johann Cornies asked the Mennonite Tobias Voth (b. 1791) of Graudenz, Prussia to come and lead his Agricultural Association’s private high school in Ohrloff, in the Russian Mennonite colony of Molotschna. Voth understood this as nothing less than a divine call upon his life ( note 1; pic 3 ). In Ohrloff Voth grew not only a secondary school, but also a community lending library, book clubs, as well as mission prayer meetings, and Bible study evenings. Voth was the son of a Mennonite minister and his wife was raised Lutheran ( note 2 ). For some years, Voth had been strongly influenced by the warm, Pietist devotional fiction writings of Johann Heinrich Ju...

Ukraine Independence--Russian Aggression--German Interests (1918)

The semi-autonomous Ukrainian People's Republic was established shortly after Russia's February Revolution in 1917. Much was still fluid, however. After the October Bolshevik Revolution the Central Rada of Ukraine in Kyiv declared full state independence from the Russian Republic on January 22, 1918. The Ukrainian People's Republic negotiated an end to its participation in Great War, and on February 9, 1918 signed a protectorate treaty in Brest-Litovsk. On February 17, Ukraine appealed to Germany and Austria-Hungary for assistance to repel Russian Bolshevik “invaders,” to detach Ukraine from Russia, and to establish conditions of stability. The World War had not yet ended. Imperialist Germany was desperate for grain and natural resources from Ukraine, eager to end the war in the east while containing Russia, and determined to establish post-war markets for German goods, technologies and influence ( note 1 ). For its part the Russian Bolshevik regime was eager to save ...

1871: "Mennonite Tough Luck"

In 1868, a delegation of Prussian Mennonite elders met with Prussian Crown Prince Frederick in Berlin. The topic was universal conscription--now also for Mennonites. They were informed that “what has happened here is coming soon to Russia as well” ( note 1 ). In Berlin the secret was already out. Three years later this political cartoon appeared in a satirical Berlin newspaper. It captures the predicament of Russian Mennonites (some enticed in recent decades from Prussia), with the announcement of a new policy of compulsory, universal military service. “‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire—or: Mennonite tough luck.’ The Mennonites, who immigrated to Russia in order to avoid becoming soldiers in Prussia, are now subject to newly introduced compulsory military service.” ( Note 2 ) The man caught in between looks more like a Prussian than Russian Mennonite—but that’s beside the point. With the “Great Reforms” of the 1860s (including emancipation of serfs) the fundamentals were c...

"Motherhood of the People": Halbstadt Midwife Helene Berg and the SS

Recently Benjamin Goossen posted an important piece on the “well-known” Halbstadt midwife Helene Berg. Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler had taken a special interest in “old Mrs. Berg” and had publicly recognized her for helping birth some 8,000 Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) babies ( note 1 ). Goossen and I have shared archival materials in the past years. Below I would like to continue the exploration of Taunte Bojsche (or "Aunt Berg") and the surprisingly broad interest in her by Nazi officials as icon. I begin with a family story as a window onto the times. Some 35,000 Mennonites were evacuated out of German-occupied Ukraine in Fall 1943. After a grueling trek west the survivors landed in German-annexed Wartheland (previously Poland) where they were naturalized as German citizens. My grandmother Helene Bräul had eight children, and Helene Berg may very well have been her midwife for one or more of them. Like many Mennonite mothers in Wartheland, my grandmother was ...

History of the Russian Mennonites

Search This Blog