Spanish Flu Pandemic in Ukraine and Mennonite Response

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).

September 1918:

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.

The September 7 issue of the Friedensstimme reported breaking news that four individuals had died from a sudden cholera outbreak in the German [Lutheran/Catholic] Prischib Settlement; one person was dead within 10 hours. The settlement was on the west bank of the Molotschna River, and so the editor warned Mennonites on the east side that “extreme caution must be taken in all respects” (note 11).

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):

“Minutes of the Assembly of Village Mayors and Medical Doctors of the Halbstadt District, Halbstadt, September 11, 1918.

“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

The Executioner of Dnepropetrovsk, 1937-38

Naum Turbovsky likely killed more Mennonites than anyone in the longer history of the Anabaptist-Mennonite movement. This is an emotionally difficult post to write because one of those men was my grandfather, Franz Bräul, born 1896. In 2019, I received the translation of his 30-page arrest, trial and execution file. To this point my mother never knew her father's fate. Naum Turbovsky's signature is on Bräul's execution order. Bräul was shot on December 11, 1937. Together with my grandfather's NKVD/ KGB file, I have the files of eight others arrested with him. Turbovsky's file is available online. Days before he signed the execution papers for those in this group, Turbovsky was given an award for the security of his prison and for his method of isolating and transferring prisoners to their interrogation—all of which “greatly contributed to the success of the investigations over the enemies of the people,” namely “military-fascist conspirators, spies and saboteurs.” T

Village Reports Commando Dr. Stumpp, 1942: List and Links

Each of the "Commando Dr. Stumpp" village reports written during German occupation of Ukraine 1942 contains a mountain of demographic data, names, dates, occupations, numbers of untimely deaths (revolution, famines, abductions), narratives of life in the 1930s, of repression and liberation, maps, and much more. The reports are critical for telling the story of Mennonites in the Soviet Union before 1942, albeit written with the dynamics of Nazi German rule at play. Reports for some 56 (predominantly) Mennonite villages from the historic Mennonite settlement areas of Chortitza, Sagradovka, Baratow, Schlachtin, Milorodovka, and Borosenko have survived. Unfortunately no village reports from the Molotschna area (known under occupation as “Halbstadt”) have been found. Dr. Karl Stumpp, a prolific chronicler of “Germans abroad,” became well-known to German Mennonites (Prof. Benjamin Unruh/ Dr. Walter Quiring) before the war as the director of the Research Center for Russian Germans

Prof. Benjamin Unruh as a Public Figure in the Nazi Era

Professor Benjamin H. Unruh (1881-1959) was a relief and immigration leader, educator, leading churchman, and official representative of Russian Mennonites outside of the Soviet Union throughout the National Socialism era in Germany. Unruh’s biography is connected to the very beginnings of Mennonite Central Committee in 1920-1922 when he served as a key spokesperson in Germany for the famine-stricken Mennonites in South Russia. Some years later he again played the central role in the rescue of thousands of Mennonites from Moscow in 1929 and, along with MCC, their resettlement in Paraguay, Brazil, and Canada. Because of Unruh’s influence and deep connections with key German government agencies in Berlin, his home office in Karlsruhe, Germany, became a relief hub for Mennonites internationally. Unruh facilitated large-scale debt forgiveness for Mennonites in Paraguay and Brazil, and negotiated preferential consideration for Mennonite relief work to the Soviet Union during the Great Famin

"Women Talking" -- and Canadian Mennonites

In March 2023 the film "Women Talking" won an Oscar for "Best adapted Screenplay." It was based on the novel of the same name by Mennonite Miriam Toews. The conservative Mennonites portrayed in the film are from the "Manitoba Colony" in Bolivia--with obvious Canadian connections. Now that many Canadians have seen the the film, Mennonites like me are being asked, "So how are you [in Markham-Stouffville, Waterloo or in St. Catharines] connected to that group?" Most would say, "We're not that type of Mennonite." And mostly that is a true answer, though unnuanced. Others will say, "Well, it is complex," but they can't quite unfold the complexity. Below is my attempt to do just that. At the heart of the story are things that happened in Ukraine (at the time "New" or "South" Russia) over 200 years ago. It is not easy to rebuild the influence and contribution of "Russian Mennonite" women and th

The Shift from Dutch to German, 1700s

Already in 1671, Mennonite Flemish Elder Georg Hansen in Danzig published his German-language catechism ( Glaubens-Bericht für die Jugend ) as preparation for youth seeking baptism. Though educational competencies varied, Hansen’s Glaubens-Bericht assumed that youth preparing for baptism had a stronger ability to read complex German than Dutch ( note 1 ). Popular Mennonite preacher Jacob Denner (1659–1746), originally from the Hamburg-Altona Mennonite Church, lived in Danzig for four years in the early 1700s. A first volume of his Dutch sermons was published in 1706 in Danzig and Amsterdam, and then in 1730 and 1751 he published two German collections. Untrained preachers would often read Denner’s sermons: “Those who preached German—which all Prussian preachers around 1750 did, with the exception of the Danzig preachers—had no sermons books from their co-religionists other than this one by Jacob Denner” ( note 2 ). In Danzig and the Vistula Delta region there were some differences

“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

The Tinkelstein Family of Chortitza-Rosenthal (Ukraine)

Chortitza was the first Mennonite settlement in "New Russia" (later Ukraine), est. 1789. The last Mennonites left in 1943 ( note 1 ). During the Stalin years in Ukraine (after 1928), marriage with Jewish neighbours—especially among better educated Mennonites in cities—had become somewhat more common. When the Germans arrived mid-August 1941, however, it meant certain death for the Jewish partner and usually for the children of those marriages. A family friend, Peter Harder, died in 2022 at age 96. Peter was born in Osterwick to a teacher and grew up in Chortitza. As a 16-year-old in 1942, Peter was compelled by occupying German forces to participate in the war effort. Ukrainians and Russians (prisoners of war?) were used by the Germans to rebuild the massive dam at Einlage near Zaporizhzhia, and Peter was engaged as a translator. In the next year he changed focus and started teachers college, which included significant Nazi indoctrination. In 2017 I interviewed Peter Ha

Invitation to the Russian Consulate, Danzig, January 19, 1788

B elow is one of the most important original Mennonite artifacts I have seen. It concerns January 19. The two land scouts Jacob Höppner and Johann Bartsch had returned to Danzig from Russia on November 10, 1787 with the Russian Immigration Agent, Georg von Trappe. Soon thereafter, Trappe had copies of the royal decree and agreement (Gnadenbrief) printed for distribution in the Flemish and Frisian Mennonite congregations in Danzig and other locations, dated December 29, 1787 ( see pic ; note 1 ). After the flyer was handed out to congregants in Danzig after worship on January 13, 1788, city councilors made the most bitter accusations against church elders for allowing Trappe and the Russian Consulate to do this; something similar had happened before ( note 2 ). In the flyer Trappe boasted that land scouts Höppner and Bartsch met not only with Gregory Potemkin, Catherine the Great’s vice-regent and administrator of New Russia, but also with “the Most Gracious Russian Monarch” herse

Why Danzig and Poland?

In the late 16th century, Poland became a haven for a variety of non-conformists which included Jews, Anti-Trinitarians from Italy and Bohemia, Quakers and Calvinists from Great Britain, south German Schwenkfelders, Eastern Orthodox, Armenian, and Greek Catholic Christians, some Muslim Tatars, as well as other peaceful sectarians like the Dutch and Flemish Anabaptists. Unlike the Low Countries and most of western Europe, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a “state without stakes,” and as such fittingly described as “God’s playground” ( note 1 ). In the view of 17th-century Dutch dramatist Joost van den Vondel, it was “the ‘Promised Land,’ where the refugee could forget all his sorrow and enjoy the richness of the land” ( note 2 ). Over the next two centuries an important strand of Mennonite life and spirituality evolved into a mature tradition in this relatively hospitable context ( note 3 ). Anabaptists from the Low Countries began to arrive in Danzig and region as early as 15

Plague and Pestilence in Danzig, 1709

Russian and Prussian Mennonites trace at least 200 years of their story through Danzig and Royal Prussia, where episodes of plague and pestilence were not unfamiliar ( note 1 ). Mennonites arrived primarily from the Low Countries and in large numbers in the middle of the 16th century—approximately 750 families or 3,000 refugees and settlers between 1527 and 1578 to Danzig and Royal Prussia ( note 2 ). At this time Danzig was undergoing tremendous demographic, cultural and economic transformation, almost tripling in population in less than 100 years. With 80% of Poland’s foreign trade handled through this port city ( note 3 ), Danzig saw the arrival of new people from across Europe, many looking to find work in the crammed and bustling city ( note 4 ). Maria Bogucka’s research on Danzig in this era brings the streets of the maritime city to life: “Sanitation facilities were inadequate … The level of personal hygiene was low. Most people lived close together: five or six to a room, sle

History of the Russian Mennonites

Search This Blog