History of the Russian Mennonites

The picture below is my grandmother's family in 1928. Some could leave but most stayed behind. In 1928 a small group of some 511 Soviet Mennonites were unexpectedly approved for emigration ( note 1 ). None of the circa 21,000 Mennonites who emigrated from Russia in the 1920s “simply” left. And for everyone who left, at least three more hoped to leave but couldn’t. It is a complex story. Canada only wanted a certain type—young healthy farmers—and not all were transparent about their skills and intentions The Soviet Union wanted to rid itself of a specifically-defined “excess,” and Mennonite leadership knew how to leverage that Estate owners, and Selbstschutz /White Army militia were the first to be helped to leave, because they were deemed as most threatened community members; What role did money play? Thousands paid cash for their tickets; Who made the final decision on group lists, and for which regions? This was not transparent. Exit visa applications were also regularly reje...

In 2008 the Canadian Parliament passed an act declaring the fourth Saturday in November as “Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (‘Holodomor’) Memorial Day” ( note 1 ). Southern Ukraine was arguably the worst affected region of the famine of 1932–33, where 30,000 to 40,000 Mennonites lived ( note 2 ). The number of famine-related deaths in Ukraine during this period are conservatively estimated at 3.5 million ( note 3 ). In the early 1930s Stalin feared growing “Ukrainian nationalism” and the possibility of “losing Ukraine” ( note 4 ). He was also suspicious of ethnic Poles and Germans—like Mennonites—in Ukraine, convinced of the “existence of an organized counter-revolutionary insurgent underground” in support of Ukrainian national independence ( note 5 ). Ukraine was targeted with a “lengthy schooling” designed to ruthlessly break the threat of Ukrainian nationalism and resistance, and this included Ukraine’s Mennonites (viewed simply as “Germans”). Various causes combined to bring on w...

What did a typical day look like for a Mennonite woman on a collective farm in Ukraine ( note 1 )? She had to get up while it was still dark to milk the one cow the family was allotted—something Stalin specifically guaranteed kolkhoz “women” in 1933 ( note 2) —together with one pig and a pair of chickens. Then she would wake the children and quickly get them ready for school, prepare breakfast, bring the youngest children to kindergarten, and finally leave for the field. Kindergarten was mandated as a form of childcare to mobilize more women for the workforce. Women would arrive together with hoes over their shoulders, usually barefoot—though some had wooden shoes—each in a dress covered in patches. A collective farm might have five working groups of women, with about 20 to 25 women per group. Many root crops were planted, and day after day, week after week, these women would hoe and weed the planted fields. Each woman was given a certain number of rows; whoever finished firs...