Mennonite memoirs say little about the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. In the second half of that year Ukraine was dealing with a typhus epidemic, cholera epidemic and the Spanish Flu pandemic—all at the same time. Troubles were compounded by the withdrawal of protective German troops and increased but still sporadic attacks by anarchist bandits.
In September and October 1918, the Mennonite newspaper Friedensstimme
recorded outbreaks of the Spanish flu in the Molotschna, Sagradovka, Memrik,
Fürstenland, and Naumenko Mennonite settlements. The Friedensstimme summarized
that “the Spanish disease is running rampant everywhere in our colonies. Deaths
are also resulting here and there” (note 1).
- In the Sagradovka Settlement, Katharina Unruh Thiessen died of the Spanish flu at the age of 69. She suffered 12 days (note 2).
- Also in the Sagradovka Settlement, Gerhard Jakob Wiebe struggled with the Spanish flu for 10 days before dying at the age of 38 (note 3).
- In the Memrik Settlement, Jakob Peter Isaak died of Spanish flu at age 28; he had a variety of underlying health issues. The officiating pastor spoke on Isaiah 28:16-17 (note 4).
- In the Naumenko Settlement, Jakob Dietrich Braun died of Spanish Flu at 42 years of age. He left behind a wife and six children; the seventh was born after his death (note 5).
- A correspondent from the Fürstenland Settlement wrote that “the Spanish Flu is also paying a visit to every home and with every resident. For several weeks there had always been about thirty sick factory workers, but a change for the better is noticeable” (note 6).
Spanish Flu deaths were reported in the Molotschna
Settlement in October.
- In the south-east corner of the settlement in the village of Pordenau, 75-year-old minister Heinrich Köhn died of the Spanish Flu after suffering 10 days (note 7).
- In Rosenort, Molotschna, Peter Martin Janzen, age 31, struggled with the Spanish Flu for ten days before dying; his illness was compounded by a lung infection (note 8).
A letter published December 4 from Ohrloff, Molotschna noted
that “many are falling ill.” The letter writer adds that both Mrs. Peter
Bergman and Jakob Dyck have been “lying sick for some time with the flu,” and
it is not clear if either will live. At the same time the author notes the
community’s fear of robber bandits. “But everything stands in God’s hand. May
we all be protected … and may we frequently lift our eyes to the hills, from
where all help comes, Psalm 121” (note 9).
The diseases lingered into the next year. Dietrich Jakob
Boldt, owner of a limestone factory in Schönwiese by the city of Alexandrowsk,
sent his family to his childhood home in the Sagradovka Settlement in 1919
after his assets were seized. When he joined them shortly thereafter, “the Spanish
Flu, typhus, dysentery and other illnesses were rampant everywhere” (note 10).
The Friedensstimme did not publish many death notices; these
are representative and show that the Spanish Flu was present in all Mennonite
settlements in Ukraine in the second half of 1918.
The notices above suggest however that the number of Mennonite
deaths related to the Spanish flu were also held in check. This can be
explained in the large Molotschna settlement, for example, by the quick medical
and civic response in early September to the first nearby cholera outbreak.
A week later the Friedensstimme reported that eight people
in two Prischib villages had now died from cholera (note 12). On September 11,
Molotschna (Halbstadt District) Mennonite mayors and doctors met for an
emergency meeting to deal with the impending Cholera epidemic. Below are the
directives that were immediately imposed (note 13):
“The meeting was called by the Halbstadt District Office.
The chair Dr. Seiler first drew attention to the danger that threatens the
Halbstadt District by the cholera epidemic that has broken out in the Prischib
District. After much discussion, it was agreed to prescribe the following 7
rules of conduct to protect the population against cholera.
1. Water for tea or "Pribs" must be boiled. In
particular it was emphasized that in schools only boiled drinking water is
allowed for the pupils. It is advised to boil milk too. Especially after the
epidemic has broken out, no raw milk should not be drunk.
2. Vegetables must be carefully cleaned, washed and scalded
before eating.
3. Raw fruit must not be eaten; the sale of grapes is
prohibited.
4. Any illness that begins with diarrhea and vomiting must
be reported to the doctor immediately. It is advised that where an ill person
refuses to go to the doctor, the neighbors should report it.
5. The cesspits must be disinfected with caustic lime; old
cesspits must be filled in. The seats of the school outhouses must be washed
and disinfected daily.
6. All food must be carefully protected from flies. Bugs
(bed bugs [Wanzen], cockroaches, etc.) must be killed where possible.
7. Wash hands carefully before each meal.
The assembly decided to set up an isolation house as a
hospital barrack in each physician's area where the sick must be taken
immediately.
It was decided to call upon former medics [WWI Alternative Service] with appropriate compensation to voluntarily care for sick.
To oversee and enforce the regulations amongst the
population, it was decided to renew the job description of the medics in
accordance with the previous regulations that exist in the village offices.
In order to give the population the opportunity to vaccinate
against cholera, it was decided to buy the necessary vaccines to be paid for by
the district office. Doctors are asked to arrange for the correct amount of
serum, which they promised to do.”
The quick medical and civic response to the cholera epidemic
with strict rules adopted September 11 likely enabled the mayors and doctors to
adapt their response for the Spanish Flu as well as it broke out in the next
days and weeks. Certainly this saved more than a few lives.
The academic literature reflects these findings. John Paul Davies' recent work on epidemics in Russia notes for 1918 that “a large cholera epidemic was unfolding" in October and November and that "Russian prisoners of war brought the Spanish flu from the West.” Davies also notes that the Bolsheviks continued the Commission of Serums and Vaccines and vigorously pursued mass vaccinations (note 13).
When one reads through the relevant issues of the Friedensstimme, it
seems that even the pandemic—or multiple epidemics—were overshadowed by the
fear of political unrest and the name "Makhno"—the anarchist leader.
That should not take away, however, from the important
medical and community response that required—indeed mandated—full participation
to fight the diseases together and to get children back in school safely.
Is there a uniquely Mennonite way to respond to a pandemic? In this episode they frame their suffering theologically and in community, while trusting on medical advice, vaccines and interventions to mitigate further disaster; children are kept in school, albeit with strict safety measures; community wellness and mutual care takes precedence over rogue individualism.
---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast
---Notes---
Note 1: Friedensstimme 16, no. 57 (October 5, 1918), 6, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pletk67.pdf.
Note 2: Friedensstimme 16, no. 64 (October 29, 1918), 6, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pletk73.pdf.
GRanDMA #305460.
Note 3: Friedensstimme 16, no. 57 (October 5, 1918), 6, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pletk67.pdf;
GRanDMA #1005934.
Note 4: Friedensstimme 16, no. 69 (November 16, 1918), 7, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pletk76.pdf.
GRanDMA #1273362.
Note 5: This notice was published three years later in a
letter to the Mennonitische Rundschau (October 5, 1921), 13, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/lfrs185.pdf;
GRanDMA #358185.
Note 6: Friedensstimme 16, no. 54 (September 24, 1918), 8, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pletk64.pdf.
Note 7: Friedensstimme 16, no. 64 (October 29, 1918), 6, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pletk73.pdf;
GRanNDMA #305460.
Note 8: Friedensstimme 16, no. 63 (October 26, 1918), 6, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pletk73.pdf.
Note 9: Friedensstimme 16, no. 74 (December 4, 1918), 7, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pletk80.pdf.
Note 10: Cf. biographical information at https://chortitza.org/FB/BF573.html;
also GRanDMA #1017958.
Note 11: Friedensstimme 16, no. 49 (September 7, 1918), 7, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pletk59.pdf.
Note 12: Friedensstimme 16, no. 51 (September 14, 1918), 7, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pletk61.pdf.
Note 13: Friedensstimme 16, no. 52 (September 17, 1918), https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pletk62.pdf.
Note 14: John Paul Davies, Russia in the Time of Cholera, Disease under Romanovs and Soviets (New York: Bloomsbury, 2018), 163; cf. also pp. 154f., 163, 171, 190, https://books.google.ca/books?id=1BOMDwAAQBAJ&pg=.
Comments
Post a Comment