“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 quit his leadership post later that same month. The letter is important, and I quote at length:

“I would like to share something personal, if you don't mind. ... My dealings with Russian authorities have left me terribly exhausted, physically and even morally. I don't think I can do it anymore, and therefore I am certain that I will submit my resignation at the autumn conference in August. I've rolled the boulder of Sisyphus long enough, there's too little purpose — at least for me. ... If I kill myself in the process, the family breadwinner is taken away. We are a family with 6 children, the oldest 15 years old etc., who are just now starting out in life. It is time for them to be transplanted into a new garden. ... Nonetheless, my position does not allow me to be the first to leave, so to this point I have always just sought to open the way for others. But now I want to do this for my family as well. Why am I telling you all this? To make a request. Please demonstrate good will and benevolence to this distressed worker from afar and his family, and offer him a resting place in the vast Canadian prairies in the form of a farmstead, which are now being acquired for the south Russian Mennonites! On general terms. Although not among the very first, I wanted, as God otherwise allows, to leave the arena here for good this autumn. Leaving aside the economic motives, it would be good for me - because of the government orientation - to leave. Maybe what I am saying makes sense. Should God possibly think differently, then he will certainly ‘do it well’ and help me to understand this as well. As far as I can see and judge, this is the way.” (Note 4)

To make matters worse, Toews’s for-profit plan to raise $10 million through the sale shares to finance transportation and land acquisitions was met not only with little enthusiasm but outright opposition in Canada and the USA. In August 1922, sidelined Manitoba leader H. H. Ewert of Gretna wrote his brother in Hillsboro, KS about the “overthrow” of the original committee: “The evil spirit behind the entire putsch is Gerhard Ens of Rosthern, and David Toews has let himself be completely hypnotized by him” (note 5). Ens had served provincially as member of the Saskatchewan legislature, federally as an immigration agent, and had left the Mennonite Church to join the Church of the New Jerusalem.

By Fall 1922, the ships had not yet sailed because of the cholera outbreak at Odessa and political instability in the Black Sea region. One more attempt was considered with persons who could finance their own rail fare and lodging from Ukraine north to the Latvian port at Riga on the Baltic Sea. This plan too failed because of Canadian health inspection requirements and the Soviet refusal to allow the inspectors to enter the USSR. In the end there was no mass Russian Mennonite immigration to Canada in 1922 (note 6).

And to make matters more complex, at least two American Mennonite relief directors in Russia were actively dissuading larger groups of Russian Mennonites from application for emigration (note 7).

Throughout these months, B. B. Janz was still trying to retire from his leadership role and sought an individual sponsorship to North America by the Kansas-based Mennonite Executive Committee for Colonization. The committee however rejected his request (note 8).

Early in 1923 Toews and the Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization changed course. The controversial figure Gerhard Ens resigned from his position on the fundraising association. And in a letter to H. H. Ewert’s brother—secretary of the Mennonite Executive Committee for Colonization in Kansas—Toews outlined a new strategy as a charity, and only one-tenth of the original capital funds was required (note 9). But Toews refused to adopt the less visionary plan of individual, family and small group sponsorship, and to give up on the idea of a mass immigration.

In May 1923, Janz wrote to his North American partners that the Soviet government had given permission to allow up to 20,000 Mennonites emigrate that year. Janz added, that if they had difficulty acquiring land in Canada or US, the Russian Mennonites would be happy to be settled in Mexico (note 10).

In the end 2,759 Mennonites were able to immigrate to Canada in 1923—far short of what the Soviet regime was willing to allow that year—but much greater than could have been possible if Toews had relented and focused on individual sponsorships (note 11). The way was finally opened.

Janz remained in the USSR until Spring 1926. The doors for emigration were now beginning to close around quickly again. After his departing sermon in his home congregation in Tiege, Molotschna on May 24, 1926, Janz escaped in disguise, just a few hours before his scheduled arrest as a key “agitator” for emigration (note 12).

Passengers by year of immigration (note 13)

1923 - 2,759
1924 - 5,048
1925 - 3,772
1926 - 5,940
1927 - 847
1928 - 511
1929 [into 1930] - 1,019
1930 - 305

---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

---Notes---

Note 1: B.B. Janz and Ph. Cornies to Study Commissioners A. A. Friesen, Βenjamin Η. Unruh, C. H. Warkentin; (also) to the General Commission for Foreign Needs of Holland and the American Mennonite Relief, Scottdale, PA, early March 1922. Translated and edited by Harold Bender, “A Russian Mennonite Document of 1922,” Mennonite Quarterly Review 28, no. 2 (April 1954), 143–147; 144f.

Note 2: For brief biographies, cf. GAMEO, "Janz, Benjamin B. (1877-1964), https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Janz,_Benjamin_B._(1877-1964); and "Toews, David (1870-1947)," https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Toews,_David_(1870-1947). For longer studies, cf. John B. Toews, With Courage to Spare: The Life of B. B. Janz (1877–1964) (Winnipeg, MB: Christian, 1978) https://archive.org/details/WithCourageToSpareOCRopt; and Helmut Harder, David Toews was here, 1870-1947 (Winnipeg, MB: CMBC, 2002).

Note 3: Memorandum, August 1922, “Um Kleider benötigt,” D. H. Bender, Mennonite Executive Committee for Colonization and David Toews, Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization. In Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College, North Newton, KS (MLA-B), https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/ms_6/024%20General%20correspondence%201922%20May-September/201.jpg.

Note 4: Letter, September 1922, B. B. Janz to David Toews, Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization, in MLA-B, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/ms_6/024%20General%20correspondence%201922%20May-September/243.jpg.

Note 5: Letter, August 2, 1922, H. H. Ewert (Gretna, MB) to W. J. Ewert (Hillsboro, KS), in MLA-B, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/ms_6/024%20General%20correspondence%201922%20May-September/169.jpg. For a fulsome background, cf. Frank H. Epp, Mennonite Exodus (Altona, MB: Friesen, 1962), ch. 9 and 10. Epp does not cite any H. H. Ewert letters.

Note 6: Letter, October 30, 1922, Col. J. S. Dennis (Montreal), to David Toews (Rosthern, SK), in MLA-B, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/ms_6/025%20General%20correspondence%201922%20October-December/22.jpg. Cf. Epp, Mennonite Exodus, 139f.

Note 7: See previous post, https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2023/02/immigration-to-canada-1923-background.html.

Note 8: Letter, March 1, 1923, D. H. Bender (Hesston, KS) to W. J. Ewert (Hillsboro, KS), MLA-B, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/ms_6/026%20General%20correspondence%201923%20January-June/064.jpg; AND Letter, March 1, 1923, D. H. Bender (Hesston, KS) to Levi Mumaw (Scottdale, PA), MLA-B, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/ms_6/026%20General%20correspondence%201923%20January-June/065.jpg AND Letter, March 17, 1923, D. H. Bender (Hesston, KS) to Levi Mumaw (Scottdale, PA), MLA-B, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/ms_6/026%20General%20correspondence%201923%20January-June/092.jpg.

Note 9: Letter, May 1, 1923, David Toews to W. J. Ewert (Kansas), MLA-B, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/ms_6/024%20General%20correspondence%201922%20May-September/183.jpg.

Note 10: Letter, May 2, 1923, B. B. Janz to D. H. Bender, via Alvin J. Miller, American Mennonite Relief (Russia), MLA-B, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/ms_6/026%20General%20correspondence%201923%20January-June/134.jpg.

Note 11: Epp, Mennonite Exodus, 282.

Note 12: Cf. A. A. Töws, ed., Mennonitische Märtyrer der jüngsten Vergangenheit und der Gegenwart, vol. 2: Der große Leidensweg (North Clearbrook, BC: Self-published, 1954) 487. For more detail, cf. J. Toews, With Courage to Spare, 55f.

Note 13: Epp, Mennonite Exodus, 282.

---

To cite this post: Arnold Neufeldt-Fast, “'The way is finally open'—Russian Mennonite Immigration, 1922-23,” History of the Russian Mennonites (blog), December 5, 2023, https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-way-is-finally-openrussian.html.

Comments

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 ...

Flooding and Mennonites: A Common Thread

In November 2021 many Mennonites in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia were impacted by disastrous flooding. The mayor of Abbotsford—the worst-hit city—as well as the local Member of Parliament were Mennonites. Many Mennonites across Canada had family members who are directly impacted. Flood stories have been an important thread in the Prussian-Russian Mennonite story. How have Mennonites responded? Mutual aid stands out. For Menno Simons, it was “the only sign whereby a true Christian may be known” ( note 1 ). In 1562, “Dutch people of the Mennonite religion” were specifically invited by the Polish banking house Loysen to settle on the “Tiegenhoff part of the Vistula Delta” to rebuild dikes partially destroyed by huge floods (1540 and 1543) and wars, and to drain low-lying lagoons and swamps over large blocks of land ( note 2 ). The Tiege River—a branch of the Vistula—was at or below sea level. Dams and ditches along the Nogat and Vistula rivers had been construct...

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...

Mennonite Medical Orderlies in World War I

Russia declared war on Germany on July 20, 1914. Mennonite ministers and civic leaders met on July 22, and called for the extension of their community’s alternative service agreement beyond forestry service: to form complete medical units to gather the wounded from the front and to transport them by hospital trains to interior hospitals; to establish special hospital facilities for the wounded in the colonies; to fundraise large sums for the Red Cross; and to grant financial aid to families of soldiers ( note 1 ). Mennonites knew that they would have to prove their patriotism in positive and tangible ways in order to retain property rights and privileges. Abraham Kröker, editor of the Friedensstimme , wrote just before the start of the war: “Do we not owe it our government and Russian neighbours to show that if a war … broke out, we would be ready to serve the interests of the Fatherland [Russia], and to help the needy?” D. H. Epp, editor of Der Botschafter , wrote: “We need to show ...

“First Arrival of German Troops in Halbstadt” (Volksfreund, April 20, 1918)

“ April 19, 1918 will always remain significant in the history of the Molotschna German Colony. That which until recently could hardly be imagined has occurred: the German military has arrived to free us from the despotism, rape and pillaging of barbarous people and to reestablish the order and security of life and property--something desperately necessary for our land. For this we give thanks above all to the One in whose hands the peoples and nations and also individuals rest. ...” ( Note 1 ) Mennonites greeted their “guests and liberators” with festivities that included baked goods (Zwieback), meats and even the German anthem “ Deutschland, Deutschland über alles "—all before the watchful eyes of their Russian /Ukrainian neighbours. The troops arrived by train; and to the shock of most present, three bound prisoners—all well-known bandits and terrorists—“were brought out of one of the railway cars without any prior notice, lined up and shot right in front of us” as an exampl...

"Should Holy Baptism be offered to Deaf-Mutes (1886)?”

In 1886 the General Conference of the Mennonite Congregations in Russia (elders and ministers) adopted the following resolution: “A deaf-mute who desires Holy Baptism may be baptized, providing he is not an idiot ( blödsinnig ), and an understanding of baptism is first introduced to him as far as possible” ( note 1 ). A. G. Ambarzumov, a Protestant Armenian who had been trained in Germany and Switzerland for teaching the deaf, started a small initiative in the Mennonite “Molotschna Settlement” in Ukraine/South Russia in the 1870s. After a difficult start, benefactors in the Molotschna embraced the idea of a larger institution for the deaf—the first such institution in South Russia--especially because of the demonstrable results produced in the lives of students. “After only four months, Herr Ambarzumov could demonstrate encouraging results; the students were able to pronounce almost all vowels and consonants and speak and write some words" ( note 2 ). The institution's n...

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...

Mennonite Christmases in the Diary of Jacob P. Janzen, 1911-1914

The following accounts of Mennonite Christmases before the Revolution are from the unpublished diary of Jacob P. Janzen ( note 1 ). His entries are “real,” in the sense that they include all the complexities and messiness of life, with interesting detail. These accounts are from a single man in his thirties (b. 1880) in Rudnerweide, Molotschna. His entries show him as a sensitive, humble, and curious man, who was certainly well-informed about life in the community. --Arnold Neufeldt-Fast -- Christmas 1911 (Janzen was working at "Bethania Mental Hospital" on the Dnjeper River near Einlage, note 2 ) “Some of the staff went to [director Peter] Schellenbergs to practice Christmas songs. I did not go. Aganetha Woelk [patient] had broken several window panes; I had to replace them and it got quite late. But while working in the female patients’ quarters I had a chance to see how they made beautiful, but inexpensive ornaments for the Christmas tree. Nur...

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...

"Between Monarchs" a lot can happen (like revolt). A Mennonite "Accession" Prayer for the Monarch

It is surprising for many to learn that Russian Mennonites sang the Russian national anthem "God save the Tsar" in special worship services ... frequently! We have a "Mennonite prayer" and sermon sample for the accession of the monarch ( Thronbesteigung ) or its anniversary, with closing prayer-- and another Mennonite sampler of a coronation ( Krönung ) prayer, sermon and closing prayer ( note 1 ). After 70 years with one monarch, the manual is made for a time like this--try sharing it with your Canadian Mennonite pastor ;) Technically there is no “between” monarchs: “The Queen is Dead. Long live the King!” But there is much that happens or can happen before the coronation of the new monarch. Including revolt. Mennonites in Molotschna had hosted Tsar Alexander I shortly before his death in 1825. Upon his death in December, Alexander's brother and heir Constantine declined succession, and prior to the coronation of the next brother Nicholas, some 3,000 rebel (mos...

History of the Russian Mennonites

Search This Blog