The following accounts of Mennonite Christmases before the Revolution are from the unpublished diary of Jacob P. Janzen ( note 1 ).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...
Vignettes by Arnold Neufeldt-Fast