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Agitation, Propaganda and Strategies of Survival, 1925

By the end of 1924 Mennonite Central Committee’s food kitchens and feeding operations in the Soviet Union were wrapping up, and the possibilities for mass migration had opened. Refugees had come to the Molotschna settlement from surrounding estates and from villages in the North Caucasus region—now “scattered in various Dorfs (villages), but not equally well received by all Dorfs” (note 1); these were amongst the first chosen for emigration.

In this still new reality there were signs that the community was caught up in a spiritual renewal—noted with special concern in a 1925 “Agitation and Propaganda Department Report.”

“During the last six months [ca. November 1924 to April 1925] the work of Mennonite missionaries and ministers has increased. They agitate for strengthening Mennonite religion and at the same time agitate for emigration. Religious activity in Mennonite colonies is developing without restraint because no proper attention was given to its study.” (Note 2)

Early in 1925, for example, the Chortitza Mennonite Church with some 3,000 to 3,500 members and adherents agreed on a survival strategy of more frequent gathering, teaching, singing and more consistent church discipline, including the ban for those who marry outside the faith:

“The Brotherhood agrees that in order to elevate the ethical and moral condition of our congregation, it is of great importance that, in addition to the usual weekly Sunday worship services, evening worship services as well as regular Bible studies must be instituted. The teaching with the catechumens should start right at the beginning of the church year. Congregational singing is to be enhanced by the choirs, for which our adolescent youth should be engaged. … The Brotherhood also agrees that in recent years congregational discipline has been much too weak, and finds it to be urgently necessary to raise the awareness of congregational discipline … . Every Mennonite must appreciate and value his membership more in the community. On intermarriage, the Brotherhood agrees that this question has been unequivocally decided in our confession [i.e., negative]. … Baptized members who live in civilly sanctioned marriage [only] are also excluded from the community.” (Note 3)

Teachers were increasingly required to be spokespersons for the history and themes of the Revolution. In the same months a clear message was issued to the German villages:

“Teachers must participate actively in social life. They must organize reading halls in the villages, they must strive to acquire books and [Soviet] newspapers—published in German, so that farmers can understand them--especially now, for reading in the winter evenings. They must hold lectures and discussions at least twice a week on all questions that interest the farmers." (Note 4)

Not surprisingly, in Summer 1925 alone some twenty-six Molotschna teachers left for Canada, mostly from the Gnadenfeld district; those who stayed quite to farm (note 5).

In September 1925 as preparations were underway for the eighth anniversary celebrations of the October Revolution, regional Soviet leaders noted the unique difficulty of differentiating “the classes”—i.e., raising class consciousness and the associated class struggle—among the Mennonites. Authorities assessed that this was due to their generally “higher cultural level” and the “high prosperity of poor and middle groups of Mennonite peasantry comparing to respective groups of Ukrainian villages” (note 6).

While the GPU (secret police) and the Agitation and Propaganda Department had some concern about German Lutheran and Catholic clergy in the mid-1920s, they were clearly most concerned, perplexed and frustrated with the Mennonite situation: their “religious caste fanaticism,” isolation, and deeply rooted religious habits, their stubborn unreceptiveness and negative attitude toward Soviet initiatives, directives and “boycotts” of those who join the Poor Peasants Committee, the Lenin Young Communist League or other Soviet organizations; and their dogged commitment to each other—even internationally (note 7).

Village anniversary celebrations for the October Revolution on November 7 (New Style) were non-negotiable and related activities were prescribed in the greatest detail (note 8). The following instructions were distributed to German villages in the Landau Rayon.

By November 5, all yards and streets must be cleaned and swept.

On November 6, evening, a joint solemn public meeting of the village council and all organizations must be convened with reports on the political and economic achievements of the Soviet government, and on the significance of the October Revolution. All public buildings as well as private houses must be decorated with flags.

On November 7, the anniversary of the October Revolution, there must be an unconditional general work stoppage.

At 9 a.m., the youth comrades and military conscripts will march through the village on decorated horses and with caricatures of the leading imperialist rulers on their wagons and with music in the following order: Pioneers, Komsomol, party members, military conscripts and Red Army soldiers (?), women's organizations, professional associations, village council, KNS, (K)?, representatives of the cooperative and the school. Each group will give their welcoming speeches before marching off to the demonstration procession.

At 10 a.m., children must appear at the schools, where teachers must explain the significance of the day. Schools will be closed for classes.

At 11 a.m., all organizations and institutions must gather in front of the village council building, where a report on the history of the October Revolution will be held.

At 12 p.m., the parade will start to march through the village.

The afternoon will be filled with games, sports, and children's dances, etc.

In the evening, free theatrical performances, declamations, songs, and concerts are to be given, in which revolutionary memories are to be woven in.

All schools, reading halls, theaters, village councils, etc., must be decorated with posters, red flags and slogans, and must be open on this day."

These instructions help to reconstruct the atmosphere of German and Mennonite village life in 1925, and the systematic attempts by Ukraine’s Communist Party to compel Mennonite participation in new political “liturgies,” and to form—especially children and youth—for the Soviet socialist citizenship.

A few days after this celebration of the October Revolution in November 1925, the Central Bureau of the German Section of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Ukraine met and discussed again the Mennonite problem. It suggests that Mennonite enthusiasm for the celebrations were more muted than expected.

The Central Bureau resolved to implement more “intensive and systematic work" and political education among "rank-and-file" Mennonites at the village level, in hopes that peasants “from the plow” would gradually be drawn into the party, who would then “carry out the reorganization and thereby liberate themselves from the harmful influence of the [Mennonite] Union of Citizens of Dutch Lineage” (note 9).  

            ---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast



---Notes---

Pic: The poster is for the larger Ten Year Anniversary, from Das Neue Dorf, https://martin-opitz-bibliothek.de/de/elektronischer-lesesaal?action=book&bookId=via000389.

Note 1: Example of Schönfeld refugees, in Christian E. Krehbiel’s Journal, May 30, 1922. From Mennonite Library and Archives-Bethel College, MS 11, transcribed by Ruth Unrau. https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/ms_11/.

Note 2: “Report by the Agitation and Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine regarding issues in German colonies, Late April-early May 1925,” in John B. Toews and Paul Toews, Union of Citizens of Dutch Lineage in Ukraine (1922–1927): Mennonite and Soviet Documents, translated by J. B. Toews, O. Shmakina, and W. Regehr (Fresno, CA: Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies, 2011), 270, https://archive.org/details/unionofcitizenso0000unse. Cf. also “Extract from draft decree of Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine regarding work among the national minorities in Ukraine, January 1927,” in ibid., 329–330.

Note 3: “Protokoll der allgemeinen Bruderschaft der Chortitzer Mennoniten Gemeinde, January 2, 1925.” David G. Rempel Papers, Box 1, File 16. From Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto. Toronto, ON.

Note 4: "Aufgaben der deutschen Dorfräten," Hammer und Pflug (Organ für die deutschen Kolonisten der Ukraina, Krim und Kaukasiens) 4, no. 39 (January 10, 1925), 1, https://martin-opitz-bibliothek.de/de/elektronischer-lesesaal?action=book&bookId=via000321#lg=1&slide=0.

Note 5: Der Praktische Landwirt 1, no. 7 (December 1925), 12, https://chortitza.org/Pis/PL25_7.pdf.

Note 6: In other reports, Mennonite Union leaders are accused of pursuing a “policy of concealing class contradictions,” and impeding “class stratification” under the “banner of equality and brotherhood inside the community.” Cf. the Report and Conclusions of the “Central Bureau of the German Section of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine about the Ekaterinoslav Secret Inspection of the Union of Citizens of Dutch Lineage, September 1925,” in Union of Citizens of Dutch Lineage in Ukraine, 300–303.

Note 7: Cf. the full report of the commission in ibid., 270. The edited volume includes scores of newly translated, Russian language Soviet reports, surveys, and committee minutes.

Note 8: "Plan zur Durchführung des achtjährigen Jubiläums der Oktoberrevolution, den 7/XI, 1925," USSR Landauer Rayons-Vollzugskomitee, Nikolajewer Kreis, Odessaer Gouvernement, from Martin-Opitz Bibliothek elektronischer Lesesaal. There are two iterations of the instructions; the above is a composite of https://martin-opitz-bibliothek.de/de/elektronischer-lesesaal?action=book&bookId=via000116 AND https://martin-opitz-bibliothek.de/de/elektronischer-lesesaal?action=book&bookId=via000108#lg=1&slide=0. 

Note 9: “Minutes of a joint session of the Central Bureau of the German Section of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine with German sections of okrug committees about work with Mennonites November 10–12, 1925,” in Union of Citizens of Dutch Lineage in Ukraine (1922–1927): Mennonite and Soviet Documents, translated by J. B. Toews, O. Shmakina, and W. Regehr (Fresno, CA: Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies, 2011), 318-324, https://archive.org/details/unionofcitizenso0000unse. On the Union of Citizens of Dutch Lineage in Ukraine, see previous post: https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2023/01/1921-formation-of-union-of-citizens-of.html.


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