CRIMEA

The Story of Crimea and the Mennonites who lived there

by

Helmut T Huebert

Springfield Publishers Winnipeg^ Canada 2013

Published by Springfield Publishers of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Library and Archives Canada Cataloging in Publication

Huebert, Helmut T., 1935-, author

Crimea : the story of Crimea and the Mennonites who lived there / by Helmut T. Huebert.

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-920643-16-7 (pbk.)

1. Mennonites-Ukraine-Crimea-History. 2. Crimea (Ukraine)— History. I. Title

BX8119.U45H83 2013 289.7'4771

C2013-903593-1

All cartography by Helmut T Huebert

CRIMEA

Copyright 2013 by Springfield Publishers, 6 Litz Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R2G OVl, telephone (204) 334-4728, E-mail htdhuebert(^gmail.com

All rights reserved. With the exception of brief excerpts for review or very limited copying of materials for strictly private use, no part of this book may be reproduced without written pennission of the publisher

International Standard Book Number 0-920643-16-7

2

CRIMEA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover . 1

Publishing etc . 2

Table of Contents . 3

Introduction . 5

Introduction . 6

Map: Mennonite Colonies in Ukraine and Russia . 7

Map: Mennonite Colonies in South Russia, Ukraine and Crimea . 8

Map: Crimea Geography . 9

Crimea Scenery . 10

History . II

Histoiy of Crimea . 12

Cities of Crimea . 14

Simferopol . 18

Sevastopol . 22

The Crimean War . 25

Mennonites and the Crimean War . 30

Florence Nightingale . 31

Balaclava . 33

Mennonite Settlements in Crimea - Villages and Estates . 35

Mennonite Villages in Crimea . 36

Map: Mennonite Villages in Crimea . 37

Introduction and list of 55 Villages . 38

Pictures Baragon and Topalovka . 48

Map of Karassan . 49

Map of Spat . 50

Pictures of Spat . 51, 52, 53

Mennonite Estates in Crimea . 54

Map: Mennonite Estates in Crimea . 55

Introduction and list of 38 Estates . 56

Map of Tamak Estate . 64

Map of Schroeder Estate . 65

Pictures of Estate owners . 66, 67

Retreat Centre . 68

Picture of Retreat Centre . 69

Churches in Crimea . 70

Schools in Crimea . 73

Schools in Crimea . 74

Pictures of Karassan and Spat Schools . 75

Pictures of Karassan Maedcheiischule . 76

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Tschograw Bible School (1918-1924) . 77

Well-known Mennonite People who lived and worked in Crimea . 79

Duerksen, Gerhard David . 80, 90

Duerksen (Durksen), Martin . 80, 90

Dyck, Peter Isaak . 80

Friedrichsen, Peter . 81

Friesen, Peter Martin . 81, 90

Janzen, J D . 82, 90

Klassen, Abram Jakob . 82

Kroeker, Abraham Jakob . 83, 91

Kroeker, Jakob Jakob . 84, 91

Langemann, Johann . 84, 91

Martens, Heinrich . 84

Martins, Anna (Anya) . 84, 91

Rempel, Hemiann Aron . 85

Sawatzky, Peter Jakob . 85

Schroeder, Peter Heinrich . 86, 92

Schroeder, Peter Peter . 86, 92

Unruh, Abraham Heinrich . 86, 92

Unruh, Benjamin Heinrich . 87, 92

Unmh, Heinrich Benjamin . 87

Wiebe, Jakob A . 88

Wiebe, Johann Johann . 88

Wiens, Johann Gerhard . 89, 93

Pictures of well-known people . 90-93

Migration 1873-1880 . 94

Revolution, Civil War, Communist Takeover . 98

The “Crinrean Gypsies” . 101

Map: Crimean Gypsy Trail . 104

Mennonite Alternate Service in Crimea . 105

The Yalta Conference, February 4 - 1 1, 1945 . 1 1 1

Map; Post War Germany . 1 1 6

Map: Post War Berlin . 1 1 7

Berlin Escape, January 30 - February 1, 1947 . 1 1 8

Index . 127

Bibliography . 149

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5

INTRODUCTION

Why write a book about Crimea?

For a number of reasons.

Mennonites lived in Crimea - in about 55 villages and 38 estates. Unlike most other Mennonite regions, there was no specific colony, but there were certainly many interesting people and a number of institutions in both the villages and the estates.

World history was made in Crimea.

The Crimean War of 1853-1856 did not directly involve Mennonites, but was of great interest. The most famous person involved in the war was not a general, but a nurse, Florence Nightingale, who was in the forefront of developing modem nursing techniques.

The Yalta Conference of February 4-1 1, 1945, also did not directly involve Mennonites, but the decisions reached by the leaders at the conference certainly effected the lives of thousands of people, including many Mennonites.

Crimea represents a microcosm of Mennonite history. There were many Mennonite churches as well as schools and other such institutions in Crimea.

The Bible School in Tschongraw was supported by a wide constituency, not only Mennonite Brethren.

Typical Mennonite naiTow-mindedness was demonstrated in a number of instances. The Krimmer Mennonite Brethren could not work together with the regular Mennonite Brethren. Regular Mennonite Brethren baptized by immersing backwards. That was not good enough for the Krimmer. They had to immerse forwards.

There appeared to be a considerable number of people who had the capacity to be leaders among those living in Crimea. Examples that come to mind are David Gerhard Duerksen,

Peter Martin Friesen, Abraham Jakob Kroeker, Abraham Heinrich Unruh and Benjamin Heinrich Unruh.

Martin Duerksen (Durksen) has compiled an extensive collection of information in his book

“D/e Krim war unsere Heimat.” I have used this book extensively in the preparation of the present manuscript. “Die mennonitischen Siedhmgen der Krim ” by H Goerz, and its English translation have also been very helpful.

None of my own relatives lived or worked in Crimea, but I still found it to be a very interesting chapter of Mennonite history.

Originally many sources called it “The Crimea.” More recently it is simply labeled “Crimea.”

Helmut T Huebert Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada July 2013

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7

Mennonite Colonies in Ukraine and Russia

[Not all of the smaller colonies shown]

BORISSOVp^ Konstantinovka

8

Mennonite Colonies in South Russia, Ukraine and Crimea

Crimean Scenery

Touring Crimea

	jyt'i libN ^
	H 4^1 tH

Picnic in Crimea

10

HISTORY

OF

CRIMEA

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HISTORY OF CRIMEA

It should be noted that in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries this region was called “The Crimea.” It is now more commonly known simply as “Crimea.”

Crimea is currently an autonomous republic governed by the Constitution of Crimea in accordance with the laws of Ukraine. The capital and administrative centre is Simferopol, which is also its largest city. The area of Crimea is 26,200 square km, and the population in 2007 was estimated at 1,973,185. In 2001 58.32% of the population was Russian, 24.32% Ukrainian, 12.10% Crimean Tatars, the remaining 5% a mixture of German and other ethnic groups. By this time (2013) there are no Mennonites left in Crimea.

Crimea is a peninsula protruding from the northern coast of the Black Sea. It is connected to the continent of Europe by the 5-7 km wide Isthmus of Perekop. At its eastern tip the Kerch Peninsula is directly opposite the Taman Peninsula of the Russian mainland.

The people of Ukraine, now and throughout its history, have been quite separate and different from those of both Russia and Ukraine. The Mennonites who lived there, however, were quite closely tied to those of southern Ukraine, particularly those of the Molotschna Colony.

Crimea has a long history of occupation by a wide variety of people.

- Inland regions inhabited by Scythians and Taures in BC period

- Greek settlers, before second century BC, a number of cities including Chersonesos founded

The extensive ruins of Chersonesos can still be seen near Sevastopol

- Bosporan Kingdom, second century BC

- Romans, first-third centuries AD

- Goths, 250 AD

- Huns, 376 AD

- Bulgars, fourth-eighth centuries AD

- PChazars, eighth century AD

- Kievan Rus, tenth-eleventh centuries AD

- Byzantine Empire, 1016 AD

- Kipchaks, 1050 AD

- Mongols, 1237 AD

- Venice, thirteenth century AD

- Genoa, seized the Venetian settlements and controlled them for two centuries,

thirteenth to fifteenth centuries AD

- After destruction of Golden Horde in 1441, Crimean Tatars founded the independent

Crimean Khanate

- Ottoman Empire, fifteenth-eighteenth centuries AD

- 1 774 Crimean Khans came under Russian influence

- 1783 entire Crimea annexed to Russian Empire, became part of Taurida Govemorate

- Crimean War October 1853 - February 1856; Britain, France, Ottoman Empire and Sardinia

against Russia. The main conflict was in Crimea, but there were also hostilities in

Western Anatolia, the Caucasus, Baltic Sea, White Sea and the Pacific Ocean. In Russia

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it was known as the “Eastern War.” Russia was defeated. Black Sea was basically demilitarized

- Mennonites started to move to Crimea about 1 862, many coming from the Molotschna

Colony. Eventually there were 55 villages and 38 estates, total Mennonite population about 5,000 people

- 1869 Krimmer Mennoniten Bruedergemeinde founded by Jakob A Wiebe. Most

members migrated to the USA in the 1870s

- During the Russian Civil War Crimea changed hands a number of times. Intermittently it

was the stronghold of the anti-Bolshevik White Army

- According to the treaty ending World War I, Ukraine, including Crimea, was briefly

occupied by Germany. So it was that Crimea was occupied by German troops from February to December 1918

- Last stand of the White Army of General Pyotr Wrangel against Nestor Makhno and the

Red Army was in 1920.

- Wrangel and many of his troops escaped to Turkey 14 November 1920

- Upon the defeat of the White Army about 50,000 prisoners of war and civilians were

executed by the Reds, by shooting or hanging. There were undoubtedly a considerable number of Mennonites among the civilians executed

- 18 October 1921 the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Republic was created, which

became a part of the Soviet Union

- Two severe famines were experienced in southern Russia, including Crimea

The 1921-1922 famine produced by crop failure and drought The 1932-1933 famine deliberately caused by the government of Joseph Stalin -1918-1924 Tschongraw Bible School functioned, closed by government decree in 1924 Teachers were able to escape to Canada, and were instrumental in establishing the Winkler Bible School

- 1941 many Mennonites, often as complete villages, were exiled to the Central Asian

republics. Tschongrav, notably, escaped, with many inhabitants eventually to Canada

- During World War II most of Crimea was occupied by the Germans, until 1944

- After being “freed” by the Russians, the entire Tatar population was exiled to cental Asia;

46% of the deportees died of hunger and disease

- By the end of 1944 the ethnic cleansing of all groups was complete

- Yalta Conference February 4-11, 1945. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin attended

- In 1945 the Crimean ASSR was transformed into the Crimean Oblast (province) of Russia

- In 1954 Crimea was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR

- With collapse of the Soviet Union, Crimea became part of the newly independent Ukraine

- Now Crimea is Autonomous Republic of Crimea under its own and the Ukrainian

constitutions.

- In 1995 an agreement was reached in which four- fifths of the Russian Black Sea Fleet

would remain under Russian control, the remaining fifth was Ukrainian

- The lease regarding the use of the port of Sevastopol by the Russian navy has been extended

by the Ukrainian parliament until 2042.

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CITIES OF CRIMEA

Simferopol and Sevastopol are the two major cities of Crimea. Their descriptions and histories, including the involvement of the Mennonites, are listed in separate articles.

Total urban population in Crimea is about 1,027,000, which represents somewhat over half of the total population of 1,973,185 (about 52%).

Other smaller cities of Crimea played a lesser role in Mennonite life.

YEVPATORIA

The first settlement in the area was by Greek colonists about 500 BC - it was then called Kerkinitis. From the seventh to the tenth century AD it was a Khazar settlement. It was briefly occupied by British, French and Turkish troops during the Crimean War; it was then the site of the Battle of Eupatotia.

Yevpatoria is now a major Black Sea port, with a population of about 123,000. It is a resort with spas and mud lakes and is famous for its beaches.

FEODOSIYA

Feodosiya was founded as Theodosia by Greek colonists from Miletos in the sixth century BC. It came under the influence of Genoa for part of its history. During the middle ages it was dominated by the Tatars, and was renamed Caffa

The Black Death was introduced to Europe through Feodosiya in 1387

Feodosiya was one of the cities visited by Johann Comics in the 1 820s in his travels through Crimea to sell agricultural products from the Molotschna

Dr Peter Sawatzky moved to Feodosiya in the 1920s to allow his children to have a good education - so there must have been good schools in the city.

Feodosiya is a port city on the southern coast of Crimea, and is also known as a resort. At the present (2006) it has a population of 85,000, with principal industries being tourism, agriculture and fisheries. The Mennonite village of Ogus-Tobe is near the city.

YALTA

Yalta is a resort city on the southern coast of Crimea, probably best known for the conference which was held there by the Big Three on Febmary 4-11, 1945. Its climate is humid subtropical. There are many vineyards and orchards in the area.

In the nineteenth century it became a fashionable resort, and was associated with royalty; Nicholas II built the Livadia Palace there in 1911. Leo Tolstoy spent his summers there; Anton Chekhov bought a house there in 1898. Even during Communist times it was used as a resort.

The longest trolleybus line in Europe mns from Simferopol to Yalta.

The 2001 population of Yalta was 80,500, of which 65.5% are Russians, 25.7 Ukrainians, 1.6% Belarussians and 1.3 % Crimean Tatars.

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DZHANKOY

Dzhankoy is a transportation hub in north Crimea, with two major railway lines and two highways passing through. There are also automobile, re-enforced cement and fabric factories. There are professional technical schools in this city of about 36,000 (2012). It was likely established about 1805, when the population was listed at 173.

BAKHCHISARAY

First mentioned in 1502, then mentioned as the new Khan’s residence in 1532. Since then it has been the capital of the Crimean Khanate and the centre of the political life of the Crimean Tatar people. It became an ordinary town when the region was conquered by the Russian Empire in 1783.

Currently it is the site of the Khan’s Palace, as well as the Uspensky Cave Monastery. The population is about 33,800.

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Feodosiya Castle and city

16

North entrance, Bakhchisaray

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SIMFEROPOL

Simferopol is a city located in south central Crimea, on the small Salgir River. It is at 350 metres above sea level, coordinates are 44°57N, 34°6E and its area is 107 square kilometres. Temperatures in January and February can dip to just below 0“C, while July and August reach 36 or 37°C. As of 2006 the population was 340,000.

The present city has within its boundaries an important archeological site known as Scythian Neapolis. It was a settlement that existed from the end of the third century BC until the second half of the third century AD. It was the centre of the Crimean Scythian tribes, and ruled over a small kingdom covering the lands between the lower Dniepr River and Crimea.

Neapolis was destroyed half way through the third century AD by the Goths. At excavation a large public building with columns was found, as well as a mausoleum and more than 70 burial sites of Scythian noblemen. One of the skeletons was that of King Skylur; another burial site was that of a Scythian queen.

The Tatar city of Ak Mechet (White Mosque) was established on the site in the fifteenth century A D. The Russians renamed the city Simferopol after the conquest of Crimea by Catherine II in 1784. It was the administrative centre of the region, reflected in its name. Simferopol means “city collector” in Greek. In 1802 the city became the administrative centre of the Taurida Govemorate. In the 1820s and 1830s Simferopol was one of the markets used by traders from the Molotschna, such as Johann Comies, to sell their agricultural products, hams, sausages, lard, butter and eggs.

In 1850 there were 16 educational institutions in Simferopol, among them being the Provincial Crown Gymnasium.

During the Crimean War Simferopol was not actually a battlefield, but Russian Army reserves and a hospital were located in the city. More than 30,000 Russian soldiers were buried in the vicinity of the city. Mennonite wagons and drivers often brought supplies to the area. The Mennonites also accepted the care of 5,000 wounded soldiers, taking them back to facilities in the Molotschna.

Travel to and from Crimea, such as connecting to the Molotschna, was by road, basically a wide strip of land cleared to allow wagons and carriages to travel, but also wide enough to provide grass for the horses. The Perekoper Way went south from Perekop at the north end of Crimea, through Simferopol, and on to Sevastopol.

Starting in the mid 1800s Russia was starting to develop an extensive rail system. The Kharkov-Sevastopol railway, which ran through Simferopol, was completed in 1 875. Two types of locomotives were built specifically to serve on the Kursk-Kharkov-Sevastopol Railway. Spat, with station Sarabus, was north of Simferopol on this line.

At the time of the flourishing of the Mennonites in south Russia, Simferopol seems to have been commonly frequented for medical treatments. The people may well have gone to the Dr Muehlenthal Hospital where various specialist surgeons operated. According to the frequency of its advertising, the Wasserkur Abteilung of the private hospital of Dr S Levin was also popular. In the

18

life story of a number of people the only contact with Simferopol mentioned was that they died there. It is likely that they were in a city hospital for medical treatment, and, not recovering, died there. Mennonites also attended educational institutions in Simferopol, particularly the university. The medical faculty at the university was not established until 1918; even so, at least nine Mennonites graduated as doctors from there. In 1920 there were seven Mennonite medical students, St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral m 1903 graduating as physicians in 1924, Nicolai

and Gerhard Neufeld from Ufa.. There is record of only one Mennonite business located in Simferopol. Peter Reimer sold Keystone-Elgin watches and other jewelry, frequently advertising in the Christlicher Familienkalendar early in the century, 1904-1905.

During World War I there were some Mennonite Sanitaeter opportunities in Simferopol. A fair number of Mennonite nurses served in Simferopol hospitals.

In the twentieth century Simferopol was again affected by wars in the region. Crimea was a White Army stronghold during the Civil War, with General Pyotr Wrangel having his headquarters in Simferopol.

On 13 November 1920 the Red Army finally captured the city. On 18 October 1921 it became the capital of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

Simferopol suffered the usual deprivations with the Communist take over. The St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was destroyed by the Soviet government in 1930. The GPU (State Security Service) established a prison which was freely used to subdue and torture the surrounding population. In 1930, for example, 24 Mennonite families from Spat were rounded up on 24 April and taken to Simferopol, having been judged to be dangerous “kulaks.” Within two days eight long trains left the city, taking their exiled passengers to the far Russian north. For some peculiar reason four families were not banished. They were given citizenship documents and the right to collect their belongings, if they could find them. The family of Abram J Klassen was one of the four granted these privileges, although Abram himself had already been exiled, and died 5 July 1931. Men from the Crimea were commonly imprisoned in Simferopol during the “Great Purge” of the late 1930s. Franz Teichrieb of Spat was in the GPU prison for a year before he was sent to the far reaches of Siberia. Jakob Janzen of Tschongraw was more fortunate, being released after three months of incarceration.

During World War II Simferopol was occupied by the German Army between 1 November 1941 and 13 April 1944. On one occasion, 13 December 1941, the Einsatzgmppe D under Otto

19

Ohlendorf killed at least 14,300 residents. In all over 22,000 people were killed, mostly Jews and Russians.

On 26 April 1956 Simferopol and the rest of Crimea was transferred from Russia to the Ukrainian SSR by Nikita Krushchev. After the collapse of the Soviet Union Simferopol became the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within independent Ukraine. The majority of the citizens of the city were ethnic Russians, but there were also significant Ukrainian and Tatar minorities.

Simferopol has a large railway station, being on the Sevastopol-Kharkov line, and has an international airport. Many tourists go through the city, largely on the way south to the nearby tourist resorts. The longest trolleybus line in the world connects Simferopol to Yalta on Crimea’s Black Sea coast. It is also in the heart of the tmck-farming and fruit-growing region. Industries include food processing, wine making, fruit canning, and the manufacture of machinery, machine tools, power station equipment and consumer goods. A recent survey comments that there is no high-rise building in Simferopol.

The Central State Archive of Crimea is situated in Simferopol, and has many records relating to Mennonite activities, since it was for many years the capital of the Taurida Govemorate.

Adolph Joffe, a Russian Communist revolutionary, later a Bolshevik politician and diplomat, came from Simferopol. Yana Klochkova, a Ukrainian swimmer from the city, has won five Olympic gold medals in her career.

The St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is now being reconstructed, to look exactly as it was before 1930. It was originally built in the early nineteenth century, to honor a wish of Czarina Catherine II. The first stone of the renewed foundation was laid in 2000. An old architect, Borys Isaiev, remembered the cathedral from the time before it was destroyed. He commented, “The church never failed to impress with its splendor... The sound of the cathedral’s great bell carried and was heard in many villages in the Simferopol area. My soul rejoices in the expectation of the moment when I will hear the bells of Crimea’s main sanctuary again.’’

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University of Simferopol

Mennonite medical students in Simferopol in 1 920. 1 to r back row Hermann Neufeld, Samara; Agatha Rempel, Gnadenfeld; Johann Strauss, Spat; front row Nicholas J Neufeld, Ufa; Maria Rempel (sister of Agatha), Gnadenfeld; Anna Martins, Eupatoria, Crimea; Gerhard Neufeld (brother of Nicholas), Ufa

Students at the Lehr er seminar in 1 924, back row, 4th from left Sergy Scharkov; captain hat, Schaefer; middle row, white shirt, ° Johann (Hans) Duerksen

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SEVASTOPOL

Sevastopol is near the site of the ancient Greek colony of Chersonesus, founded in 421 BC as a democratic city state. It was the most important Greek colony in Crimea until Scythians overran the region and forced it to become a protectorate of King Mithradates VI. This lasted from 179 to 63 BC. In the first century AD the region became part of the Roman Empire and in the fourth century was renamed Korsun, being part of the Byzantine Empire.

In the Middle Ages Korsun was a large trading and political centre, playing an important role in the economic and cultural life of the region.

It was a Genoese trade colony until it was destroyed in 1399 by a Tatar invasion.

The modem city of Sevastopol was founded as a city and port by Catherine II on the site of the Tatar village of Akhtiar after Crimea was annexed by Russia in 1783. It was strongly fortified and in 1804 became the chief base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Between 1797 and 1826 the settlement actually reverted back to its original

Tatar name of Akhtiar.

In the 1820s and 1830s young Mennonite entrepreneurs such as Johann Comies loaded up produce from the Molotschna and headed south to Crimea to sell their goods. Sevastopol was one of the cities on this circuit. They would then buy manufactured goods in the cities and take them back to the colonies.

In the Crimean War (1853-1856) Sevastopol was besieged by British, French, Turkish and Sardinian troops. The Russian resistance held out for 349 days, the hero of the land defense being General E I Totleben. The Russian fleet was scuttled by the Russians themselves to block the entrance to the harbour. One of the naval heros of the war was Admiral Paul Nakhimov, commander of the Russian navy on the Black Sea. In 1 853 he had destroyed the Turkish squadron at Sinop. He was killed in the siege of the city in 1 855. Leo Tolstoy recorded the heroic efforts of the defenders in “The Tales of Sevastopol.” He himself fought in the ranks of the besieged. The French successfully stormed the fortress of Malakhov on the south shore of the bay in September of 1 855, and three days later the Russians abandoned the city.

After the cessation of hostilities the terms of peace were signed in Paris on 30 March 1 856. Sevastopol declined in importance as a military base and its fortifications were dismantled. With

Sevastopol Crest

Chersonesus - mins of a church

22

repeated conflicts in the area, however, fortifications were rebuilt after 1871, and in 1890 Sevastopol again became a chief naval base.

Starting in the mid 1800s Russia was starting to develop an extensive rail system. They tended to emphasize the regions where commodities could then easily be transported to ports. Sevastopol came into this category. The Kursk-Kharkov-Sevastopol Railway was completed by 1875. Two types of locomotives were developed specifically for this line.

In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, most battles were won by the Japanese, with a particularly significant defeat of the Russian Navy in the Battle of Tsushima Straits in 1 905. For no logical reason at all, the Jews were blamed for these defeats, so as a result pogroms broke out in many cities, with Jews being killed and their property destroyed. Such a pogrom was being incited in Sevastopol on 21 October 1905. Peter M Friesen left his sick bed, went to the market place where the mob was collecting and stepped onto a vehicle in the middle of the crowd. He pled for his fellow citizens to show love as Christians. The crowd miraculously dispersed.

The Sevastopol sailors mutinied during the 1 905 uprisings. Sailors from the Black Sea Fleet went ashore in 1918 and terrorized districts as far north as the Molotschna Mennonite Colony. In 1920 General Pyotr N Wrangel had his headquarters in the city in the last stand of the White Army against the Communists. With the Red Army closing in, he left Sevastopol aboard the cruiser General Kornilov on 14 November; in all, 146,000 people were evacuated to Constantinople.

There never was a great Mennonite presence in Sevastopol, although Peter M Friesen lived there for 13 years (1898-191 1). In 1902, in addition to his own family, Friesen indicated that they had 1 7 boarders in their house. Most of these were students in secondary schools, teacher training schools and nursing schools. For a time, 1904 to 1910, there was an officially organized Mennonite church in Sevastopol, the “Sevastopol Evangelical Mennonite Brotherhood.” The establishment of this group was at the initiative of Friesen, and they also met in the Friesen home.

Friesen was also involved in political developments. He was one of the principal movers behind the “Union of Freedom, Truth and Peace” Party which was organized shortly after the October Manifesto of 1 905, and was sometimes referred to as the “Frizen Party.” The Kadet Party, also interested in reform, had a Sevastopol central committee. By many, Sevastopol was considered to be the centre of sectarian activity.

During World War II Sevastopol was again besieged, this time by invading land-based German and Rumanian armies. It fell on 3 July 1942 after eight months of resistance, during which time the city was virtually reduced to rubble. After it was recaptured by the Red Army on 9 May 1944, reconstruction began. Sevastopol was one of nine cities named “Hero City” of the Soviet Union because of the staunch resistance it had displayed against the invaders.

In 1954 the whole Crimea, including Sevastopol, was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR, then it became part of the independent Ukraine in 1 99 1 . In 1 995 an agreement was implemented in which four-fifths of the Russian Black Sea Fleet would remain under Russian control, and in 1 997 a further agreement allowed Russia to base its fleet at Sevastopol for the next 20 years.

Sevastopol is a port and a major naval base. The harbour has been given over to the navy, which controls the Black Sea and the Bosporus, so commercial vessels no longer use the deep sea natural harbour. Industries include ship building, lumber milling, food processing and manufacture of bricks and furniture. It is also a popular tourist destination, especially for people from the CIS. A panorama, created by Franz Roubaud, depicting scenes from the Crimean War, was restored after

23

World War II, and is a site frequently visited by tourists who are interested in history.

In 2004 the population of Sevastopol was 328,600, area was 864 square kilometres, and the geographic coordinates 44“ 36 N and 33° 3 1 E. Elevation within the city is up to 1 00 metres. While Crimea has mild temperatures, in winter there can be snow in Sevastopol.

View of Artillery Bay from Cape Khrustalny

St Vladimir Cathedral

Russian Navy Day July 2005

Naval installations, Southern Bay

24

THE CRIMEAN WAR (1853- 1856)

The Crimean War was a conflict between the Russian Empire on the one side, and an alliance of France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia on the other. The hostilities were actually part of a long-standing struggle to decide the supremacy in the Middle East and the major influence over many of the territories of the declining Ottoman Empire.

The most dramatic part of the war occurred on the Crimean peninsula itself, but there was also conflict in western Anatolia, the Caucasus, the Baltic Sea, the northern White Sea and even the Pacific Ocean.

The actual underlying reasons for the conflict were vague at best. Russia wanted to continue its influence in the Balkans and the Middle East. Britain wanted to bar Russia from the Mediterranean Sea, having a pathological fear that this would jeopardize the status of British control of the area and possibly interfere with the trade route to India.

The Russian fleet destroyed most of the Ottoman Black Sea Fleet in the Battle of Sinop on 30 November 1 853. This provided the excuse for Britain and France to declare war on Russia, on the side of the Ottoman Empire, on 28 March 1854. In September of 1 854 the allied fleet started transporting armies to Crimea. Since the Russian Black Sea fleet was based in Sevastopol, the allies laid siege to this port. The Russians scuttled some of their vessels to function as block-ships, using the guns and men to reinforce the batteries on shore in Sevastopol. The allied troops landed in Eupatoria, north of Sevastopol; the Russians attacked their supply base at Balaclava on 25 October 1 854, but the attack was rebuffed. It is from this battle that “The Charge of the Light Brigade” was made famous by a poem written by Alfred Lord Tennyson; the term “ The Thin Red Line “ also stemmed from an action in this battle. Then on 5 November 1854 the Russians attempted to raise the siege of Sevastopol by attacking, but the allies were again victorious at the Battle of Inkerman.

Florence Nightingale and her 38 student nurses arrived in the area in November of 1854. They worked in a camp at Scutari, across the Black Sea from Crimea, near Constantinople, where the British wounded were sent. With improvement in hygiene, better food, and generally better living conditions, the death rate from wounds was greatly reduced among the British troops.

The allies surrounded Sevastopol and in October 1 854 began all out bombardment of the city and its defences. In February of 1 855 the Russians were defeated when they attacked the allied base at Eupatoria. Then followed a series of battles and bombardments around Malakoff Hill. On 5 September 1855 another bombardment was followed by an assault on 8 September. Sevastopol finally fell to the allies on 9 September 1 855 after a year-long siege. Peace negotiations were begun in early 1856, resulting in the Treaty of Paris, which was signed 30 March 1856 at the Congress of Paris. It made the Black Sea a neutral territory, closing it to all warships, and prohibiting the presence of armaments on its shores. This marked a considerable setback to Russian influence in this region.

The Crimean War is well remembered for the tactical errors committed by both sides during the land campaign. It was one of the first wars to be to be documented, both by written reports and photographs. It was also the first “modem” war to use railways and electric telegraphs.

The number of troops, casualties and losses suffered are of some interest.

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Russia:

Military strength: about 700,000 Losses: 220,000 dead

80,000 killed in action 40,000 died of wounds 100,000 died of other diseases

Allied Forces:

Military strength - total about 975,000 Ottoman Empire:

Military Strength - about 300,000 Losses estimated - 175,000 dead

France:

Military Strength - 400,000 Losses: 95,000 dead

10,240 killed in action 20,000 died of wounds 60,000 died of other diseases

Britain:

Military Strength - 250,000 Losses: total dead 21,097

2,755 killed in action

2,019 died of wounds (this number is low compared to the French

losses, probably because of good nursing care, as implemented by Florence Nightingale)

16, 323 died of other diseases

Treaty of Paris (1856)

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The Siege of Sevastopol by Franz Rouboud (1904)

27

The Fall of Sevastopol Capture of the Malakoff Tower

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Russo-French Skirmish

29

MENNONITES and the CRIMEAN WAR

Hostilities of the Crimean War were from March 1854 to September 1855. Mennonites had no direct involvement in the war itself; at the time there were no Mennonites living in Crimea. Any contact they had was with the Russian forces, an army of 700,000 men and about 100,000 horses. The army depended on mobilization of the local population, and requisitioned its wagons, drivers and materials. Mennonites were ideally suited for the work; they were prosperous enough, they were situated on easy trade routes, living in south Russia near Crimea, and they had finely built wagons and well bred horses.

Many Mennonites made 7-8 major supply trips from the Molotschna to the front, often in poor weather conditions. They carried mainly hay and oats for the horses, food for the soldiers, and on occasion soldiers themselves, possibly also military supplies, even including ammunition. They often carried wounded soldiers on the way back. At one time more than 5,000 soldiers stayed in Molotschna homes and in temporary field hospitals run by the colony. In 1854 a total of 4,000 wagon loads were transported, increasing to 9,627 wagons in 1855. Most of the trips were to Sevastopol, Simferopol, Duvanka and Yeshna, although there were also other destinations.

Some Mennonites had a feeling of nationalism and loyalty, but the majority simply wished for peace, and contributed through a sense of duty and to alleviate suffering. The Molotschna contributed a considerable amount of cash (silver rubles) for the war and the upkeep of the field hospitals. Wagon drivers were usually old men or young boys. Some young men unfortunately came back with bad habits, such as smoking, drinking and swearing. The drivers also learned more about life, sometimes witnessing the horrors of war.

A few Mennonites used the war to make extra money, selling goods to the soldiers at a huge profit, but most actually lost a fair bit through the war. In 1 854 a cholera epidemic struck the army; unfortunately the disease was not confined to the military, also spreading to the colonies.

The long term results of the Crimean War did directly involve the Mennonites. In analyzing the cause of the defeat, the Russian government concluded that many of the young men who would have been the best soldiers had escaped the draft. This was either because they bought their way out, or they had some special arrangement which excused them from service. The government was now moving toward implementing an absolutely universal draft. This was viewed by the Mennonites with considerable alarm.

Some Mennonites felt that a principle was a principle, and they would not waver from the non-resistant stance. Many of these chose to leave Russia before the government programs were implemented. About 8,000 migrated to Canada, where the non-resistant status was guaranteed. Another 10,000 left for the United States. The peculiarity in this move was that the United States guaranteed nothing. It seems that at least among some of the leaders, business opportunities were more important than religious principles.

Other Mennonites felt that there was some room to negotiate with the Russian government. Arrangements were made for alternate service to the country, largely in two fonns. Forestry Service (Forsteidienst) was implemented, and would be put into practice during peace or war. Medical Orderly Service {Sanitaetsdienst) was to be implemented in times of war. The Forestry Service was begun in 1880, with eight camps being established in southern Russia.

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FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE (1820- 1910)

Even though she did not set foot on the Crimean peninsula, Florence Nightingale was probably the most famous person to have been involved in the Crimean War. She is best remembered for her work as nurse, contributing to the reform of medical conditions of the military field hospitals during the Crimean War and afterwards.

Florence Nightingale was bom at the Villa Colombia, in Florence, Italy, on 12 May,

1820. Her parents, William Nightingale and Frances Smith were touring Europe at the time. Her older sister had been bom in Naples the year before. Back in England the family lived in Derbyshire and Hampshire. Her early education was in the hands of a governess, but later her Cambridge trained father took over the responsibility. Florence became well acquainted with the classics, Euclid, Aristotle, the Bible and political matters. She was probably the most interested in mathematics. While her parents were Unitarians, Florence preferred the Church of England. She developed an interest in social issues, but her family was firmly against the idea of her gaining any hospital experience. Nursing was not considered to be a suitable occupation for a well-educated woman.

On tour of Europe and Egypt in 1849 Florence studied different hospital systems, then in 1850 she began training as a nurse at the Institute of St Vincent de Paul in Alexandria. She also visited hospitals in Germany and France. Upon return to London in 1853 she was appointed superintendent at the “Establishment for Gentlewomen during Illness” at No. 1, Harley Street.

The Crimean War began in March of 1 854. A friend, Sidney Herbert, the British Secretary for War, asked Florence to oversee the introduction of nurses to military hospitals.

This request likely came as a result of newspaper criticism of British medical facilities in the war. Florence arrived at Scutari, and Asian suburb of Constantinople, where the British hospital was located, with 38 nurses, on November 4, 1854.

Florence went about reforming the hospital system. Soldiers were lying on bare floors surrounded by vermin. Unhygenic operations were taking place. These factors made it easy to understand the high fatality rate among the wounded. Diseases such as cholera and typhus were rife in the hospitals. Improvement in the sanitary conditions and better diets, clean water, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables dramatically decreased the complications. Florence’s fetish for demonstrating improvement mathematically and through diagrams undoubtedly helped the authorities to understand some of these factors. Whatever the specific statistics, the fact is that with the improvements implemented by Florence, the fatality rate of soldiers with wounds in the British Army was half that of the French Army during the same period of time.

After the conclusion of the Crimean War, Florence continued her interest in the health of soldiers, demonstrating the need for sanitary reform in all military hospitals. She even gained the attention of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, as well as the prime minister in this regard. In 1860 the Nightingale Training School and Home for Nurses was established at St Thomas’s Hospital in London, opening with 10 students. Florence also wrote a considerable number of books and pamphlets, such as “Notes on Nursing” and “Notes on Hospitals.”

Unfortunately Florence spent much of the remainder of her life bedridden, from a disease

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which she is said to have contracted in Crimea. On reviewing the actual medical evidence it is highly likely that she need not have been in bed at all. She was probably suffering from depression, which did not require bed rest.

Florence Nightingale died 13 August 1910 at the age of 90. She is buried at St Margaret’s Church, East Wellow, near Embly Park. She never married, believing that God had clearly marked her out to be a single woman.

The Crimean Monument, erected in Waterloo Place in London in 1915, was done in honor of her contributions to the Crimean War and the health of the army. There is also a memorial to Florence Nightingale in St Paul’s Cathedral.

Florence Nightingale

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BALACLAVA

Near the beginning of the Crimean War, British, French and Turkish troops had easily captured the town of Balaclava and established a base there. The Russians sent a large force from Sevastopol, about 10 km to the north-west of Balaclava, to reconquer the town. This resulted in the Battle of Balaclava, fought on October 25, 1854. The Russian attack failed, but both sides suffered heavy losses

During this battle a small brigade of British cavalry made a gallant, but tragically useless attack on a very strongly fortified Russian position. Actually less than a third of the 600 men of the famous Light Brigade made it back to their own lines. It is thought that the stupidity and personal rivalry of two high-ranking British officers were the chief cause of this tragedy. The incident was made famous by poet laureate, Alfred Lord Tennyson.

This same battle also brought another British unit to fame. The 93'*^ Highlanders stood solidly against repeated attacks by a larger Russian force. The stand led to the 93'‘* Highlanders to be remembered in history as “the thin red line.”

The Charge of the Light Brigade

1

Half a league, half a league.

Half a league onward.

All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

“Forward the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns!” he said.

Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

2

“Forward, the Light Brigade!”

Was there a man dismayed?

Not though the soldier knew Someone had blundered.

Theirs not to make reply.

Theirs not to reason why.

Theirs but to do and die.

Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

3

Cannon to right of them.

Cannon to left of them.

Cannon in front of them Volleyed and thundered;

Stormed at with shot and shell.

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Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of hell Rode the six hundred

4

Flashed all their sabers bare. Flashed as they turned in air Sab ’ring the gunners there. Charging an army, while All the world wondered. Plunged in the battery smoke Right through the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reeled from the saber stroke Shattered and sundered.

Then they rode back, but not.

Not the six hundred.

5

Cannon to right of them.

Cannon to left of them.

Cannon behind them Volleyed and thundered; Stormed at with shot and shell. While horse and hero fell.

They that had fought so well Came through the Jaws of Death, Back from the mouth of hell.

All that was left of them.

Left of six hundred.

6

When can their glory fade?

O the wild charge they made!

All the world wondered.

Honor the charge they made! Honor the Light Brigade,

Noble six hundred!

Composed in 1854 by Alfred Lord Tennyson, poet laureate of England, after reading an account of the battle in a newspaper

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MENNONITE

lETTLEMENT!

IN

CRIMEA

35

VILLAGE!

IN

CRIMEA

37

MENNONITE VILLAGES

In 1926 there were said to be 70 Mermonite settlements in Crimea Occupying about 55,000 dessiatines Population 4,900 people

We have listed 55 villages altogether, but there were not actually that many Mennonite villages at any one time; some were taken over by others, or even sold to other groups.

Muni, Sari-Bash and Baragon for example, were sold to German Lutherans.

Other villages were bought by Mennonites, for example Adshambet.

Many settlers were originally from the Molotschna, often the younger families, who otherwise would have had to be labourers or settle for other jobs in their own villages Some from Chortitza, possibly some South German Mennonites from the Palatinate Settlements began in the early 1860s, 1862 and thereafter

Settlements were not in closed colonies; instead villages and estates were scattered in many places

Spelling of the names is not consistent by different authors, so sometimes it is difficult to tell if they were describing the same or different places Design of the house architecture of most of the ordinary farms was similar to that in the Molotschna

Building materials, however, were different

special stone derived from the sea bed was used for much of the construction, including the fences

roofs were often French tiles or painted tin One could tell the Mennonite villages from the others by the large number of trees Mennonite settlements were on both rented and purchased land Most villages and estates were near transportation routes Areas where most of the villages were located:

North and Northwest (North)

Central and Southern (Central)

Eastern (East)

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1 . Adshambet

Settled originally by Lutherans, bought out by Mennonites Originally on rented land

When time came to renegotiate the lease it was considered a Mennonite village School

Ministers Komelius Warkentin and Heinrich Wedel

2. Annovka (Annenfeld) (Central)

Originally on land rented from Estate Owner Lustig Bought by Peter Janzen, and set up as a village 20 farms; good land; nice school Steam mill built by P Janzen

Founded late 1 860s by members of the Kleine Gemeinde, from whom the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church emerged Founder of the KMB Jakob A Wiebe

Together with the congregation, except for 3 families, he emigrated to the USA (Kansas) in the 1870s

3. Aratschick

South of Borongar, over the tracks Nice orchard along the Salgir River School

Minister Peter Ediger

4. Baragon (Central) a prosperous village, possibly on estate of Philipp Wiebe

10 km east of Karassan

Sold to Gemian Lutherans at the turn of the century ( 1 900)

5. Baschlitscha (Buslitscha)

Village on the estate of Peter Heinrich Schroeder

6. Beckbuslatshi (Bek Bulatschi)

Early 1890s; rented village on the estate of Peter Heinrich Schroeder

7. Borongar

Opposite station Taschlickdais Some stony land School; good teachers

8. Bruderfeld

Early 1860s about 5 families from Hierschau, Molotschna moved there In the mid 1870s they emigrated to the US, establishing the Bruderfeld Church in Nortli/South Dakota

9. Bumak (North) tenant village, rented from estate owner

Exact location not known Infertile rocky land, therefore poor

10. Bumash (North) tenant village, rented from estate owner

Exact location not known Infertile rocky land, therefore poor

1 1 . Busav (Busau?)

39

10 km from postal station Aibar 2 km east of Busav-Aktachi

A centre of the Mennonite Church, people who had come from the Molotschna

12. Busav-Aktachi (Ettingerbrunn) (North) smaller village closer to city of Yevpatoria (North)

Owned by the people who lived there

Busav-Aktachi Mennonite Church fomied when the Karassan church split Included more than 7 villages in the region First elder Friedrich Raabe, deposed 1889 Eventually new elder, H Martens, elected in 1901, died 1905 Minister P Friedrichsen elected elder 1906, continuing on for 20 years Never had a building, but met in the various villages

13. Busav-Montenai (Montonaj) (North)

Smaller village closer to the city of Yevpatoria (North)

Soon after Sari-bash was sold, one farmer from the village bought a larger piece of land for his children about 30 km away; others followed, soon forming the village of Montenai or Busav-Montenai Owned by the people that lived there

14. Buslitscha

Early 1890s; rented village on the estate of Peter Schroeder

15. Danilovka (Central) rented village on estate of Anton D Lustig

2 km from Kurman-Kemeltschi station

Rented villages usually looked poor

Rent usually reckoned 1/3 or 3/10 of the yearly harvest

The Jakob Regier family, wife Maria (nee Wall) with 4 children escaped from Crimea to Paraguay in 1930, Jakob originally migrated to Crimea, Maria was bom in Sarabaschk in 1878

16. Diumien (Djumieng) (Schottenruh) (North), 25 km from Chongar Bridge

Name changed from German during WWI

In the 1 860s a Mennonite, Abraham de Jager bought the first piece of land from a Scot

Soon others came from the Molotschna, Muensterberg and Altona

Houses in single file for over 1 km

Farms 100 dess, 60 fathoms wide

Forest planted across from the famis

Large school in the middle of the village

2 good teachers in succession, Johannes Voth and Heinrich Ediger, both from Gnadenfeld Rocky saline soil, some crop failures Good water supply, artesian wells

Suffered more than other villages during the Revolution and Civil War, since it was near the main highway and the strait

Completely pillaged by the back and forth movement of the amiies Many inhabitants victims of famine and disease

17. Dschyaga Baschi

Rented village on the estate of Peter Heinrich Schroeder

40

18. Dschav-Boryu (Dzchaga-Shekh-EIi) (Central) close to Karassan

Founded 1888 by 4 families

Before WWI three of the families bought out the share of their co-founder Philipp Jakob Wiebe

Wiebe and his sons were murdered on the estate/village about 1918

19. Ebenfeld (Kurt-Itchiki) (North) short distance east of Diurmen

1 8 km from Station Dshangoj

Founded in the 1870s by Johann and Bernhard Wall

They bought 630 dess, and rented some additional land

Salt peter soil and level landscape prevented water from draining in the rainy season Village was poor Had a school In 1 922 a revival

In 1929, 13 families (63 individuals) were able to emigrate via Moscow, the other 20 families (92 individuals) were sent back Among those who migrated to Paraguay was the Johann Wall family, wife Sara (nee Harder) and four children

20. Falantush (North) short distance east of Diunnen

Founded in the early 1870s, land purchased for 4 R per dess Village was poor 21.. Femheim

Exact location not known Probably eastern Crimea XX Franzfeld

Presumably settlers from Franzfeld, Molotschna

23. Jalatusch

7 famis, 30 km from Amijanski, cost 4R per dess Soil somewhat saltpeterish, very flat, difficult to drain Had a school

24. Kaban (North) smaller village closer to the city of Yevpatoria (North)

In the region of Busav

Owned by the people that lived there

25. Kadagai (Central) single row of fannyards

Cost 4R per dess

12 km from Station Kurman-Kemeltski, made shipping grain easy Good land and water

Good school, forest side near the south end of the village

Went to church and Zentralschule in Karassan

In 1900 there were 15 farms, with land from 50-100 dess

Steam mill built in the 1909 by Gerhard J Wall

Some people were able to escape via Moscow to Canada in 1929/1930

26. Kara (Klein-Tschakmak)

Adjacent to Hochfeld

41

Originally rented land; when lease expired the settlers bought the land School

Ministers Jakob Harder and Johann Voth

27. Karakuch (North) tenant village, rented from estate owner

Exact location not known Infertile rocky land, therefore poor

28. Karassan (Central) second largest Mennonite village in Crimea

Founded 1865, in time one of the richest villages 15 km from Kurman-Kemeltschi railway station Difficult beginnings; made trips to Molotschna to get bread Land extended to the Salgir River; said to be very good quality When established the land quota was 64 dess

Further land purchases enlarged some of the farms to between 200 to 800 dess

Some farms had land holdings outside the village

Raised cattle and strong horses

Houses large and beautiful, construction of limestone

Roofs French tiles, some green painted tin

Floor plans the same as Molotschna

Consisted of very long single row of houses

Each had orchard and vegetable garden, earlier also large vineyards Shade trees around houses and on street, acacia trees

2 large community wells; large pumps purchased in England gave running water Karassan Mennonite Church, in charge of whole Crimea prior to division in 1880s In 1905 it had 846 members (later increasing considerably)

Affiliates were Spat after 1882, Diurmen after 1884, Pasha-Chokmak after 1890 2-room elementary school

Zentralschule (the first in Crimea); two large teacherages with vegetable gardens;

founded in 1905; continued to operate with good results until the mid 1920s; for boys only

Maedchenschule with plans to build new one

Large general store, lumber and iron business, bookstore, all founded and owned by J Janzen

Large steam mill owned by Tjart and Fast before WWI

Brick factory, also produce French roof tiles - Gerhard Wall

Also some Anwohner, not enough to complete a street, many were craftsmen

29. Kasantschi

Close to and west of Kitai Possibly actually an estate

Originally rented by Jakob Konrad, then in 1908 bought by Hermann Neufeld of Halbstadt

30. Kiptschak

Established by Johann Janzen 1913

Janzen bought 2,500 dess near Station Biejuk-Onlar, also near Tschongraw

42

Consisted of 8 yards, 4 on each side of the street

School in the middle; teacher Peter Schellenberg from Memrik

Sunday services in the school

Houses built of the sea-shell material available in the area

Others living in the village Abram Janzen, Sara Janzen, Jakob Wiens

3 1 . Kutschuk (Kultschuk) near Menlerchik

Mennonites moved, settling in other villages By WWI no longer a Mennonite village

32. Kutievka (North) short distance east of Diurmen

Founded in the early 1870s, land purchased for 4 R per dess Village was poor

33. Kutjuki

10 km south of Jalatusch 1 row of houses, had a school

FamilyHeinrich Vogt, wife Elisabeth (nee Enns) and seven children, all bom in Kutjuki, were able to escape to Paraguay in 1930

Heinrich originally moved to Crimea in 1908, Wife Elisabeth was bom in Kutjuki in 1886

34. Lustigstal (Central) rented village on estate of Anton D Lustig

Near Tashlider Station

Rented villages usually looked poor

Rent usually reckoned 1/3 or 3/10 of the yearly harvest

Komelius Willms family, wife Eva (nee Wohlgemuth). Komelius attempted to escape in 1929, but was arrested and sent into exile. Wife Eva and two sons were able to escape to Paraguay in 1931

35. Menlerchik (Central)

Part of the Spat real-estate deal 7 km from Spat; 9 families settled here

Land extended across the Perekop-Simferopol highway and was good quality

Houses on both sides of the wide street

Buildings and fences constmcted of limestone

School in the centre of the village; had a number of good teachers

Good source of water from a community well, stored in high water tower

Necessary business carried out in Spat

Family Johann Duerksen, wife Kaethe (nee Heinrichs) and four children, able to

escape from Crimea to Paraguay in 1930. They had migrated to Crimea in 1919 Family Jakob Komelsen to Moscow in 1929. Jakob, wife and some of his children exiled to the north, where he died in hospital. Oldest daughter Anna married a Jakob Duerksen and died in Paraguay

36. Morre (More)

Early 1890s; rented village on the land of Peter Heinrich Schroeder Johann Dueck family, wife Katharina (nee Driediger) and ten children, escaped to Paraguay in 1930. Johann had come to Crimea in 1880

43

37. Muni (Mumij) (Wiebental) (North) close to, west of Tokultschak

1 row of farms

Cost 4R per dess

Half of the land quite stony

Entire village sold to German Lutherans

38. Novonikolsk

Rented village on the estate of Peter Heinrich Schroeder

39. Ogus-Tobe (East)

Founded 1884-1885, soon expanded by purchase of additional land

Land holding of individual farms from 200-800 dess

Very good black soil, but little rain

Summer-fallowing used; crops winter wheat and barley

Wealthy land owning village

Wide straight street over 1 km long

Large modem houses, built of stone from village owned quarry Each farm had orchard and vineyard Large school and teacherage in centre of village Early years affdiated with Gnadenfeld, then later with Karassan Did not have good water, wells had salty water; large cemented cisterns used XX. Pasha-Chokmak (Hochfeld) (Gross-Taschakmak)

Abram Braun bought the land, and together with sons-in-law and sons established a 7 farm village

Braun built and operated a steam mill Good school with good teacher

40. Sabantschi about 10 km from Menlerchik

41. Sari-Bash (Sary-Bash) (Ettingerbrunn)(North)

Named after a government official

Large village, houses on both sides of the street

A large school

Water problem; 80 m deep well did not provide enough water; supplementary well 3 km away

Ettingerbrunn Conference named after the village when the Crimean Mennonite Church split; the other was the Karassan Conference Whole village sold to the Lutherans in the 1890s, likely because of the water problem

42. Sari-Pasha-Chokmak (Hochfeld) (Central)

Well-to-do farmers regarded as master famiers A Braun built a steam mill

43. Sarona (Ssarona) (Saroni) (East) estate/village

1890 the widow of Abraham Matthies bought a large estate south of Dzhankoy-Kerch Railway

Divided equally with 3 daughters and 2 sons

Good soil, diligent people, co-operation

Bred excellent pedigreed cattle, often imported from abroad

44

Affiliated with the Gnadenfeld congregation

1930 all Sarona residents exiled to Archangel in northern Russia, Caucasus, Kazakhstan Estate/village changed into a collective farm

44. Schoenthal (Ischung-Nemetzky) (Central)

1 5 km from Kurman-Kemeltschi Station

Headquarters of the Mennonite Brethren Church of Crimea

Elder David Duerksen lived and worked here

Large house of worship erected in 1 905

Family Gerhard Wohlgemuth, wife Lena (nee Penner) and one son able to escape from Crimea to Paraguay in 1930

45. Schonuk (Schnuk) near Menlerchik

Mennonites moved, settling in other villages By WWl no longer a Mennonite village

46. Sergejewka 10 km from Menlerchik

47. Schirin (East) the railway branch line from Dzhankoy

On the shore of the Sea of Azov Said to be a lovely village

48. Spat (Central) largest Mennonite village

1881 a group of Molotschna Mennonites bought 5,000 dess from an estate owners wife, Anna Semionova

Near Sarabus Station on the newly built Southern Railway Cost 40R per dess; good water 2 villages founded. Spat and Menlerchik

31 fanns formed Spat, settlers from 17 villages mainly Halbstadt area Leaders Johann Langemann and Komelius Wall Some difficulty paying off the debt, finally settled by 1912 Most houses large and solid, mostly limestone, Molotschna pattern Good shrubs and orchards, large shade trees, rich agricultural village 2 elementary schools; in 1883 a school and teacherage built, larger school with 2 classrooms in 1884

Also a school for the poor (Armenschule)

With workers’ families needed additional school Zentralschule founded in 1906; widespread cooperation to build; accepted girls, a first for Mennonite secondary schools Good school with excellent teachers

Largest Mennonite industrial and business centre in Crimea, with Sarabus Station and Simferopol near by

Large agricultural machinery factory of Johann Langemann; 2 large steam mills owned by Langemann and Unrau; binder twine factory; Dutch windmill built by F Wiens; store and iron and lumber business Affiliate of the Rueckenau MB Church met in Spat

1897 Elder David Duerksen came from Molotschna, congregation built in Schoenthal Mill owner Peter Unrau

45

Salgir River banks often picnic site, in spring a waterfall

49. Sultan Bazar

Rented village on the estate of Peter Heinrich Schroeder

50. Temir-Bulat (Philipptal) (North)

Named after Philpp Wiebe, son-in-law of Johann Comies Land bought for 3 R per dess; remained poor because it was stony and infertile Became the centre of the Brothrechergemeinde of Hennann Peters Separated from the MB church, feeling it necessary to break the bread the way Jesus did, not cut the bread

At the turn of the century (1900) the entire congregation moved to Siberia under the leadership of Hennann Peters, some went to the US in the 1890s The village was home of the elder Heinrich B Unruh, father of Benjamin and Abraham, Elder of the Karassan Mennonite Church. He died in 1883

51. Toksaba northwest of Menlerchik, about 10 km

52. Tokultschak (Johannesfeld) (Johannesruh?) (North)

Named after Johann Comies

12 famis, paid 7R per dess; each 30 by 80 fathoms; land fertile 8 yards on one side, 4 on the other

Also houses for village smith, windmill owner and shepherd

Well 48 m deep, good water for man and animals

Had a school; good teachers

A number of Thiessen families to US in the 1870s

First years difficult, especially 1887

1890s a new school; Heinrich S Ediger teacher also choir director

53. Topalovka (Central) 10 km west of Spat in Yevpatoria district

Turn of century well-to-do Philipp Warkentin from Karassan with sons and sons-in-law bought 902 dess from estate owner Topalov 1 1 famiyards of 82 dess each were established

Father moved into the estate house while children built their farmyards Soil was good, and the village did well

54. Tschongraw (Chongrav) (Tchongrav) (Central)

Founded 1890s by Mennonites from Blumenfeld

Bible School begun 1918 by Johann G Wiens at request of MB Missions Committee Heinrich Braun second teacher; Abraham Unruh Joined in 1920 Curriculum many faceted; Three year program; men and women accepted All teachers and students arrested but released in 1920

Local authorities closed the school March 1924; had 50 students when it closed Family Gerhard Isaak, wife Aganetha Huebert, with two daughters, escaped from Crimea to Paraguay in 1930. Husband of daughter, Hans Wiens, actually died on the way, in Moscow.

Entire village ordered evacuated, leaving by a wagon train, on 16 August 1941 To Bijuk Station, then train to Zaporozhye, then on foot to the Molotschna Eventually many on the Great Trek, some arriving in Canada after WWII

46

55. Tukulchak (Johannesruh) (North)

1km from the highway

Land bought in the 1 860s for 7 R per dess

12 farmyards, 30 by 80 fathoms, 100 dess, on both sides of the street Had gardens and especially fine trees

Large village well, 48 m deep, provided good water for man and animals

At first school in a private home, built a small school, then had a fine roomy building

Teachers Peter Unruh, Komelius Warkentin, H S Ediger

Large stone quarry nearby

Family Heinrich Esau, wife Elisabeth (nee Janzen) and three children able to escape from Crimea to Paraguay in 1930

Sources:

Durksen, Martin. Die Krim war unsere Heimat, self published, Winnipeg, Canada, 1977, many pages

Goerz, H, Mennonite Settlements in Crimea, Echo Historical Series (translated into English) CMBC Publications, Winnipeg, Canada, 1992, many pages Huebert, H T, Hierschau: An Example of Russian Mennonite Life, Springfield Publishers. Winnipeg, MB, 1986 pp 324-325

Huebert, H T, Mennonite Estates in Imperial Russia, Springfield Publishers, Winnipeg, MB, 2008, many pages

47

A communal butchering day at Topalovka

The Mennonite village of Spat

Zentralschule in Spat

51

The Mennonite village of Spat

Train on bridge over the Salgir River near Spat

Station Sarabus near Spat

Salgir River flooding in Spat

52

The Mennonite village of Spat

[Mg.*?;

The yard and harvest operation of Abram Boschmann

The black-smith shop of Abram Boschmann

The mill of Peter D Unrau in Spat

53

MENNONITE

ESTATES

IN

CRIMEA

54

Perekofj;;:

55

MENNONITE ESTATES

We have listed 38 estates owned by Mennonites. They varied in size, Andreyevka, for example being only 510 dess; the estate of Peter H Schroeder on the other hand was more than 10,000 dess.

Not all of the estates existed at the same time. For example, a number ceased to exist when they were divided into component parts, each component part then was classified as an estate on its own.

Generally, Mennonites started owning estates in Crimea in the early or mid 1 860s, and had as a whole abandoned them by the mid 1920s.

Sometimes it was difficult to define what the property was - a small village or a large multi¬ owner estate? Examples would be Itschky (Ebenfeld), Sarona and Topalovka which we have classified as villages.

Some of the estates had villages on their territory, for example Baschlitscha and More on the estate of Peter Schroeder.

With the onset of the Russian Revolution and the Civil War, it became increasingly more dangerous to own estates, particularly to live on them. A number of estate owners were murdered on their estates.

It is difficult to be sure of the exact location of a fair number of the estates. Similar to the villages, they tended to be near roads or railways. Some, by the nature of their principal “product” needed to be able to transport this product to the market.

1. Akula (Akulla)

Owned by Philipp Jakob Wiebe

Philipp Wiebe and his son were murdered on either Akula or Dzhangrav in 1920

2. Alatsch (Alach)

Owned by Johann Peter Comies, son of Peter Heinrich Comies, who was nephew of Johann Comies NE Crimea, near Schirin

Originally rented 300 dess, inherited another 500 dess, eventually totaled 4,000 dess Estate buildings in large quadrangle; had manor house, houses for workers, machine shed, horse bam, blacksmith shop Artesian well

Many animals: cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, horses, oxen School started on estate 1913

Spring 1923 family left estate and moved to Ohrloff, Molotschna Apparently all buildings demolished in the early 1940s, land became part of a large cooperative farm

3. Alatsch (Alach)

Owned by Peter Heinrich Comies, son of Johann Peter Comies NE Crimea, near Schirin

56

Peter had wife Maria Martens and 6 children 1 ,200 dess, then probably up to 4,000 dess Livestock: sheep, cows, oxen, horses, pigs, chickens, ducks Crops: wheat, oats, barley, hay

Large ornamental garden, homes for farm help, granary, blacksmith shop, bams, machine shed, artesian well, hot water pipes Had artesian well and aqueduct Treated workers well Johann Fast was the manager in 1903

Had to leave 1923. 1944 Tatars were expelled and all buildings leveled

4. Alibai (Ali-Bai)

3-4 V east of village of Ogus-Tobe

Estate had 2 owners, 1 Mennonite, 1 Lutheran

Probably established 1882 or 1883

5. Andreyevka

Owned by Peter A Fast, who bought it in 1900; he previously lived in Femheim Northern Crimea, near railway, 25 v from Perekop, 3 v from telegraph line 30 V north of Tokultschak, Voinski Volost Bought 510 dess for 130R per dess; nice buildings worth 8,OOOR

6. Baesler

Owned by brothers Baesler

Conflict involving workers in 1906, one worker killed, 6 injured

Estate owner Heinrich Baesler shot (probably killed) late 1 91 7 or early 1918

7. Bay-on-lar

Owned by Komelius Epp Manor house built 1912

At least 5 children, 4 of them being Nicholas, Komelius, Johann, Dimitri Driven off their land spring of 1922, a Tatar village taking over the area

8. Bescharan

Estate with upper, mid and lower sections

25 km south of Karassan, 10 km SE of Tschongraw

In 1909 Jakob Janzen and Johann Toews bought the mid portion, 960 dess

1910 Peter Dick and 3 renters also joined

1915, when German landowners were to be dispossessed, Peter Dick and the renters left Abram Neufeld family moved in

Occupied during the Civil War by a number of families and men

9. Burulcha (Bumltscha)

20 V E of Simferopol, on Bumlcha River

Total size 4,000 dess

Owned by David Jakob Dick of Apanlee

Part of it was an orchard of 60 dess, in good years giving income of 60,000R Enough employees to require a teacher for their children

10. Bumntcha

57

Probably owned by Johann J Comics A distance from Mennonite centres 12,000 dess

1 1 . Dschav-Boryu

5 V NW of Karassan

Owned by Jakob Gerhard Martens and wife Albertine Schroeder, on estate of Peter Heinrich Schroeder

1,531 dess inherited from Albertin’s father, Peter Heinrich Schroeder, when he died in 1896

Built estate house, granaries, bams, carriage house, gardens, planted forest Developed “Martens Golden Wheat”

Driven from estate in the early 1 920s

12. Dzhangrav

Owned by Philipp Jakob Wiebe

13. Hoffnungsberg

Probably established 1 860 Owners and exact location not known

14. Igrilik

3v NW of Karassan

Owned by Johaim Schroeder; wife Margaretha Janzen

Inherited 2 pieces of land, 1,013 dess and 151 dess (total 1,1 64) from father Peter Heinrich Schroeder, who died in 1896

New building designed and erected for family, with all newest conveniences Johann died November 1913, infected appendix ruptured before doctor was able to operate

15. Isaak

Southern coast of Crimea, NE of Yalta Owned by Peter Isaak

Sold some of his land to the Molotschna Teachers Association for 1,500R, probably in 1913

Land just above the “professor’s nook” south coast of Crimea at Alushta, foot of Kastell Mountain

Teachers built a retreat centre on the property

16. Janzen, Jakob

Owned by Jakob Janzen Specific location not known

Wife was Helena Martens, daughter of Wilhelm Johann Martens

Land probably inherited from or given to Janzen by his father-in-law Martens

17. Janzen, Peter

Central Crimea, near Dzhankoy Owned by Peter P Janzen

Annovka (Annenfeld) founded by Kleine Gemeinde members in the late 1 860s Then established the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church in 1869

58

Entire congregation emigrated to North America in the mid- 1870s Peter Janzen bought the land and rented it to poorer members of the MB church at low rates

Soil good; settlement flourished

Janzen in time sold his holdings, moved south to Estate Kitai Presumably the estate disappeared at that time

18. Keneges

NE Crimea, 20 v from Dzhankoy, a few v west of village Schirin 1,562 dess

Owned by Dietrich Dietrich Esau, wife Agnes Martens Probably land inherited from Johann Wilhelm Martens Large herds purebred cattle; cereal grains grown on massive scale

19. Kitai (Kitay)

Central Crimea, a few v from main NS railway, a few v north of Spat Owned by Peter P Janzen, who moved there, having sold his estate further north in the Crimea 960 dess

Yard in 2 sections; Gasthof, estate house and yard; Arbeitshof work area and farm yard Some of the land rented out to Russian tenants, who lived in a village east of Gasthof Robbed 15 July 1918, son Dietrich shot; father Peter wounded; 19,000R taken

20. Klassen, Abraham

At Dzhav-Boryu, 1 0 v from Station Kurman-Kemeltshi Owned or rented by Abraham Klassen 240 dess

70 dess seeded with wheat

Advertized for sale, available September 1910

2 1 . Makut (Makum)

NE Crimea, near railway, SW of village Schirin Owned by Jakob Toews, long manager of the Tamak Estate Purchased about 1917

Large; herds of purebred cattle, cereal grains grown on massive scale

22. Marianovka (Dick)

Eastern Crimea, N of railway, near Sea of Azov E of Dzhankoy, NW of Feodosiya Originally part of the Tamak (Schmidt) Estate

Owned by Peter Jakob Dick, brother of David Jakob Dick of Apanlee, originally bought by Mrs Peter Schmidt II in 1875

1894 divided into 3 sections, 1 portion for each of her 3 daughters or their husbands

This part owned by Peter and Anna Dick

Size at one point 726 dess, although likely often much larger

Orchards, fruit growing business

In autumn Tatars hired to pick, sort, pack the fruit, and ship to nearest railway station Attempted robbery 1906, 2 watchmen killed

59

Peter died 18 April 1920, estate abandoned 1921

Thereafter part of collective fann; many of the buildings still stand (2004)

23. Montana!

30 km N of Eupatoria, 70 km NW of Simferopol

Established 1885 by 5 brothers, Heinrich, Wilhelm, Peter, Jakob, Johann Martins who came from Sarabasch, Crimea Initially purchased 2,740 dess from government for about 19,000R First 7 years lived together until paid for, then moved onto separate famiyards Good land, good crops of grain and fruit Had school, flour mill, deep well Members of Busav (Ettingerbrunn) Mennonite church 1910 purchased additional 1,200 dess

Anna, daughter of Wilhelm, graduated from medicine in Simferopol 1923 or 1924, to Canada in 1926 1921 taken over by Bolsheviks

Some original buildings still exist, part of the village Novoselivs’ke

2007 Willie Martins, great-grandson of Heinrich Martins, has a fami in the region

24. Neu Telentschi (Tellentschi)

South of Karassan, just S of Telentschi Estate Estate consisted of 3 farms

Jakob Dyck, wife Sara (nee Reimer) 7 sons, 6 daughters

Johann, doctor serving in White Anny, died of typhoid

Jakob, tent evangelist

Katharina, married Alexander Ediger

621 dess

Offered for sale November 1910 Jakob Reimer, 5 children

Jakob Goossen, wife Anna (nee Reimer) 8 children Peter Klassen of Spat was teacher on the estate for some time

25. Penner, Anna

About 8 V NNE of Karassan Owner Anna Penner (nee Schroeder)

Inherited 827 dess from her father Peter Heinrich Schroeder, who died in 1896

Also inherited land from her father in the Taschtschenak region

Separated from her husband Wilhelm Penner

Sold much of her inherited land and travelled extensively

Died in Berlin 1945

26. Salgirka (Salgir-Kiat)

Near Akula Estate and Karassan Owned by Komelius Wall

27. Schroeder, Heinrich

About lOv NNE of Karassan Owned by Heinrich Peter Schroeder

60

298 dess inherited from his father Peter Heinrich Schroeder in 1 896, with final disposition in 1901

Also inherited some land from his father in the Taschtschenak region Fled from his estate during the Revolution Died in Melitopol 5 December 1926

28. Schroeder, Margarethe P

Immediately N of Karassan

Owned by Margarethe Schroeder (married David Goossen 27 Febmary 1921) Inherited 2 pieces of land, 1,431 and 100 dess (total 1,531) from her father Peter Heinrich Schroeder, who died in 1896 Brother Peter and her mother lived with her in Novonikolsk Probably sold estate before the Communists confiscated everything Peter continued to live with them until he died in 1942 Margarethe and David to Paraguay, where they both died

29. Schroeder, Peter H

Central Crimea, mostly N of Karassan Owned by Peter Heinrich Schroeder (1838-1896)

Purchased large tracts of land, starting in 1867, last purchase 1891 Did not cultivate the land himself; leased out the land to Russians and Mennonites; there were at least 7 villages on his land

The villages were More, Baschlitscha, Dschav-Boryu, Bek Bulatschi, Sultan Bazar, Dschyaga Baschi and Novonikolsk He died 1896, at the time owningl0,614 dess, valued at 1,046,200R His will gave smaller portions of land to the children of his first marriage, about 1,500 dess to each of the 6 children of his second marriage

30. Schroeder, Peter P

Central Crimea, NNW of Karassan, near Station Kurman Kimiltschi Owned by Peter Peter Schroeder, son of Peter H Schroeder Inherited 2 pieces of land from his father, totaling 1,483 dess Mennonite village Baschlitscha on his property, as well as More No appropriate manor house on his property, so he lived with his sister Margarethe at Novonikolsk

Elected to Duma in 1914, traveled a lot

Sold property about 1918, converting assets to gold or jewelry

Peter died in Chortitza 6 June 1942

31. Schroeder, Wilhelm P

Immediately NE of Karassan Owned by Wilhelm Peter Schroeder

Inherited 2 pieces of land, 1,167 dess and 287 dess (total 1,454 dess) from his father Peter Heinrich Schroeder, who died in 1 896 Never actually lived on the estate; he probably managed it from Sevastopol, where he and the family lived Said to have sold the estate to a Mr Neufeld

61

He was a career officer in Czar’s forces Murdered by Bolsheviks

32. Tamak (Dick)

Eastern Crimea, N of railway, near Sea of Azov

Owned by David Jakob Dick of Apanlee, originally bought by Mrs Peter Schmidt II in 1875

1894 divided into 3 sections, 1 portion for each of her 3 daughters or their husbands One portion received by David Dick and wife Katharina (nee Schmidt)

7,000 dess; park, forest, orchards, hay fields, cultivated land, pasture

200-300 workers, paid IR per day

Simmental cattle, milk cows, oxen, sheep, horses

Winter wheat, barley, oats

School with teacher

Dick family lived in Apanlee; autumn 1918 some fled to Tamak Some employees and Dick family executed by Reds 1 April 1919

33. Tamak (Schmidt)

Eastern Crimea, N of railway, near Sea of Azov

Bought by Mrs Peter Schmidt II (Marie Wilhelm Schmidt) in 1 875

She bought it from Nikolai Shatylov for 3R per dess

Grist mill, brick and roof tile factory

Livestock and field crops

1894 divided into 3 sections, 1 portion for each of her 3 daughters or their husbands With the division into 3 sections the original estate disappeared

34. Telentschi

South of Karassan

Franz Dick family and Johann Tjart and family lived on the estate School; Gerhard Abraham Klassen teacher 1906-1909 Modem; running water and water heating

35. Termentschi (Termenchi)

NE of Simferopol

Owned by Elisabeth Abraham Thiessen 360 dess

36. Thiessen, Johann

About lOv directly N of Karassan

Owned by Johann and Marie (nee Schroeder) Thiessen, and when she died inheritance went to their 2 sons, Johann and Konstantin

Inherited 1,700 dess from Marie’s father Peter Heinrich Schroeder when he died in 1896

Konstantin died as teenager

In time sole owner was Johann Thiessen

37. Tokmak

Eastern Crimea, near railway, SE of Mennonite village Schirin

Owned by J Comies, descendent of Johann Comies

Large

62

Herds of pure-bred cattle, cereal grains on massive scale 38. Wiebe (Philipp) Crimea

Estate owner Philipp Jakob Wiebe and three other families Established village of Dzchaya-Shekh-Eli in 1888 In the years before WWI the other 3 families bought out Wiebe Wiebe and his sons murdered on the estate by bandits (possibly 1918)

Sources:

Durksen, Martin. Die Krim war unsere Heimat, self published, Winnipeg, Canada, 1977, many pages

Goerz, H, Mennonite Settlements in Crimea, Echo Historical Series (translated into English) CMBC Publications, Winnipeg, Canada, 1992, many pages Huebert, H T, Hierschau: An Example of Russian Mennonite Life, Springfield Publishers. Winnipeg, MB, 1986 pp 324-325

Huebert, H T, Mennonite Estates in Imperial Russia, Springfield Publishers, Winnipeg, MB, 2008, many pages

63

64

OAnnovka

(Annenfeld)

/ r

Kurman Kemeltschi

. . .

.	4
!
	_

Heirs of Peter Heinrich Schroeder

He died in 1896, Estate divided in 1901

1 Anna Penner

2 Heinrich Schroeder

3 Peter Peter Schroeder

4 Marie Thiessen

5 Albertine Martens

(Dschav-Boryu)

6 Johann Schroeder

_____ (Igrilik)

j 7 Wilhelm Schroeder

: 8 Margarethe Schroeder

/ ■/ \ More \

'Vi o \

j Baschlitscha

!. o _i - _

\ .V o

/• \ Bek Bulatschi

/ ° / / /\

O \ _

/ 6 ^"Sultan Bazar "\

_/

/ /

/ 1 /•■

< /

8 X

< 8 ../--N 2

•s-''

~j \_pschyaga Baschi \

Novonikolsk

Q Karassan

PETER HEINRICH SCHROEDER ESTATE

in Central Crimea Estimating boundaries from descriptions found in the Dividing Document of 1 902 Not all land areas are superimposed on a map of 1 941 diawn exactly to scale Researched and Drawn by

Gerhard Dyck, Winnipeg

65

Tamak Estate

Jakob Dicks and their guests in front of the manor house at Tamak Estate

Entrance Gate at Tamak Estate Bay-on-lar Estate

Manor building constructed in 1 9 1 2 by Kornelius Epp

66

Montanai Estate

Dr Anna Martins daughter of Wilhelm Martins

Manor house of Heinrich and Anna Martins

Funeral of Heinrich W Martins, November 1905

67

RETREAT CENTRE CRIMEA SOUTHERN COAST

For several years there had been discussion regarding a possible retreat centre in Crimea at the teachers’ conferences in Halbstadt. Particularly interested in the project were two teachers, B B Wiens and C Wiens.

In 1912 the two Wiens teachers spent their vacation time on the south coast of Crimea. They had actually been commissioned by a group of teachers to find a suitable site for a retreat centre. In their research they visited various health spas such as Gursuf, Yalta and Alupka. A Tatar agent showed them a number of properties, including in the region of Alushta. One day they explored a beautiful location situated rather high in the mountains, which had a beautiful view of the coast and of course of the Black Sea. They had found what they were looking for! They returned home to Halbstadt and started to collect money. When they had 1500 R, enough to purchase the property, they returned to Alushta to pay Peter Isaak, who owned some of the land. It was a very lovely site just above the “professors’ nook” at the foot of Kastell Mountain.

Next the retreat centre needed to be built. Abram Klassen, a wealthy religion teacher from Halbstadt was willing to lend some money to help pay for the construction. A Mr Ediger, who owned a neighbouring dacha, was willing to help. Teacher B B Wiens delayed the construction of his own house in Halbstadt to oversee the building of the retreat.

Finally the house with four rooms and veranda was completed. From the veranda there was a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains and coastline, not to mention the elaborate villas of the rich and famous. The first guests in the retreat were the families of Wiens and Klassen, who spent several weeks basking in the warm sun.

The initial structure was quite modest; it was hoped that in time project would generate enough interest to enlarge the facility. There was even some support from Crimean interests.

The village of Ogus-Tobe contributed to enable the planting of suitable trees and grass. Even the Chortitza Teachers’ Federation showed some interest!

Unfortunately the outbreak of World War I brought the wonderful plans for future use and expansion of the centre to an end. Since the property was “german” it was subject to the anti-german liquidation laws passed by the government, so it could not be used. Eventually the building deteriorated, and in time burned to the ground.

68

Retreat Centre

69

CHURCHE

IN

CRIMEA

70

CHURCHES IN CRIMEA

It is interesting that while pictures of factories, mills, schools and other buildings have been found, no picture of a church has been discovered. Undoubtedly the Crimean Mennonites were people of faith, so this lack does not necessarily reflect a lack of interest, but it is peculiar! This is the list of Mennonite churches which functioned in Crimea:

KARASSAN MENNONITE CHURCH

The Karassan Mennonite Church congregation was organized soon after the settlements began in Crimea. It was founded in 1862 by Mennonites from the Molotschna Colony.

The first elder was Jakob Wiebe (1862-1880). With his death Heinrich B Unruh was elected elder. He, in turn, died in 1883. Then Friedrich Raabe was elected. At the beginning of his term of office the congregation separated into two, the new portion founding the Ettingerbrunn Mennonite Church. Raabe actually joined the new congregation

Abraham Friesen became the elder of the remaining congregation, and served them well. When he withdrew because of old age Hermann Rempel was elected elder. When Rempel withdrew in 1921 Peter Letkemann served as elder untl the congregation was dissolved by the Bolshevik government.

Some of the ministers of the congregation were: August Strauss, Johann Tjart, Hermann Rempel, Komelius Janzen.

In 1905 there were 846 members with a total population of 1,928 people; later this increased “considerably.” They had a large church building in Karassan. There were three affiliates: Spat after 1882; Diurmen after 1884; Pasha-Chokmak after 1890

ETTINGERBRUNN (BUSAV-AKTACHI) MENNONITE CHURCH

Separated from the Karassan Mennonite Church in 1884. The first elder was Friedrich Raabe, who came from the Karassan church. There were three ministerial elections 1890-1895. Abraham Friesen of the Karassan congregation continued to serve the new branch as well. In 1901 H Martens was elected elder by a large majority. The old name was dropped; it was then called Busav or the Busav-Aktachi congregation.

Martens was well liked, but unfortunately died of dysentery on November 1 1, 1905. Minister P Friedrichsen was elected elder, and served faithfully for 20 years. He died July 26, 1926.

In the 1920s the Bolshevik authorities ordered the Busav congregation to be divided into districts. The church never did have its own building, but held services in various schools.

MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH

The Mennonite Brethren started functioning in Crimea in the mid 1880s, through the work of itinerant ministers based in the Rueckenau M B Church. An affiliate of the Rueckenau church was organized, with headquarters in Spat. The first baptism in Crimea was in the spring of 1885; 21 people were baptized by Elder David Schellenberg in the Salgir River.

Hermann Konrad was elected elder of the group in September of 1 886. Construction of a building was begun in 1887. Additional ministers were dedicated in 1890, 1894, 1895 and 1897. Heinrich Unruh was ordained in 1897.

71

Also in 1897 David Duerksen was called to the ministry. He was ordained as elder in 1899. The congregation then became independent. David Duerksen served with distinction until he died 13 years later, in 1912.

The congregation built a beautiful new building in Schoental in 1910, with a seating capacity of over 600. In 1910 the congregation consisted of 140 families, 330 members, totaling 880 persons, with later a substantial increase in numbers.

The church did not actually have affiliates, but there were separate independent groups in Spat, Annovka, Baschlitscha and Tukulchak.

During World War 1 preaching in German was prohibited, the building in Schoental being converted into a field hospital. After the end of the war the congregation again used the building as a church, likely until the Bolsheviks prohibited all religious functions in the mid 1920s.

EVANGELICAL (MENNONITE) BRETHREN

In 1921 a new congregation emerged. The founder was Hermann Rempel, originally from Gnadenfeld, Molotschna. When Rempel was elected elder of the Karassan congregation, he and several other ministers worked for spiritual awakening. There was some reaction against the methods used. This reaction induced Rempel and several other ministers to found a new congregation. The Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church.

In one year there were 137 members and seven ministers. The congregation grew steadily. However, with the onset of religious persecution by the Bolshevik authorities all religious life came to a standstill. Elder Rempel himself was an'ested and exiled.

KRIMMER MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH

The Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church was founded in Annenfeld, Crimea, on 21 September, 1869. Through a spontaneous revival most of the families of the village began to seek a more earnest Christian life, and to experience conversion. It was a group of 19 persons, including Jakob A Wiebe (1836-1931). Wiebe asked aKleine Gemeinde leader, Johann Friesen, to organize them into a congregation, which he did in 1 867. Wiebe was ordained as minister, and soon thereafter as elder. The group asked one of its own members, Komelius Enns, to baptize Elder Wiebe, who in turn baptized 18 others on 21 September 1869. Forward immersion in a flowing stream was the chosen method of baptism. They settled on the name "'Mennoniten Bruedergemeinde, ” soon adding the "’Krimmer” to distinguish it from the Mennonite Brethren Church which had just been founded in the Molotschna in 1860. The Molotschna group also baptized in a flowing stream by immersion, but unfortunately backwards!

The new church grew slowly; when it left for the United States in 1874 it numbered only about 40 members. All of the group emigrated except for three families. The travelers arrived in New York on 15 July 1874, then settled in Kansas.

The KMB church eventually had three congregations in Kansas, one in California, five in South Dakota and two in Saskatchewan. Reported membership of the 1 1 congregations in 1954 was 1,791. Outstanding leaders in the first third of the twentieth century were David E Harder, D M Hofer, J W Tschetter and missionary H C Bartel.

In 1960 most of the congregations Joined the Mennonite Brethren Church.

72

iCHOOL!

IN

CRIMEA

73

SCHOOLS IN CRIMEA

Every Mermonite village in Russia and Ukraine, regardless of location or colony, started with an elementary school {Dorfschule). The villages in Crimea followed the same pattern.

Each village started with a school in the centre of the village, together with a teacherage, and of course a qualified teacher There were Teachers’ Conferences in Crimea. Demonstration lessons were presented and discussed. The conferences stimulated and fostered professional interests.

There was a Crimean School Board, at first an affiliate of the Molotschna board, but later it became independent. The Board supervised the instruction of Religion and German in the Mennonite schools. David Gerhard Duerksen was a member of the school board and worked to raise the educational standards among the Mennonites of Crimea. J D Janzen was involved in the founding of schools in Karassan, the Zentmlschule and the Maedchenschule. Other school subjects were under the control of Russian government agencies.

It took a considerable length of time, four decades, until secondary schools were founded in Crimea. At first there was thought to be no need, but also the necessary funds were lacking. If further education was desired the students usually attended the Ohrloff or Halbstadt

KARASSAN ZENTRALSCHULE

A Zentralschule was founded in Karassan in 1905. There was originally some controversy as to whether the school should be established in Karassan or Spat. The school was for boys only. Its program of study was for three years. An added feature was a small meteorological operation where students could study the weather.

The first teachers were Karl Friedrichsen, K Bergmami and Mr Ergler, a non-Mennonite. The various churches cooperated in the function of the school. Abraham H Unruh, originally from Barwenkovo, was appointed principal and teacher of religion in 1918.

The school operated with good results until the mid 1920s.

SPAT ZENTRALSCHULE

With the controversy about where to establish a Zentralschule, the Spat group decided to go it alone, and establish their own school. A new building was constructed, and dedicated in 1906. Two teacherages were also built in 1906, and a third in 1907.

Until then Zentralschulen had been for boys only. The Spat school also accepted girls. This remarkable feature assured that the classes would always be full.

There were good qualified teachers right from the beginning: Komelius Janzen from Sagradovka, Franz Ediger and David Enns from Molotschna.

KARASSAN MAEDCHENSCHULE

J D Janzen was involved in the founding of the Karassan Maedchenschule and early on was apparently one of the instructors Sometime on or before 1910 the school was in operation

Continued on at least until 1915, when there were at 16 students, and teachers Maria Wilmsen and Maria Janzen

74

Dedication ceremony at the opening of the Karassan Zentralschule

Spat Zentralschule

75

Teacher and students of one of the classes of the Karassan Maedchenschule (1910)

Karassan Maedchenschule in 1915, with teachers Maria Wilmsen

and Maria Dyck

76

TSCHONGRAW BIBLE SCHOOL (1918-1924)

Missionary on furlough, Johann J Wiens, responded to what he felt was a need for a Bible School in Russia. The Missions Committee of the Mennonite Brethren Conference favored the project, and promised support. Notice of this idea mentioned in Die Friedensstimme showed that other Christians were also interested. With the Missions Committee acceptance, the plan was implemented in the autumn of 1918. Location was in Tschongraw, Crimea, the village where Johann Wiens had settled. Heinrich J Braun, treasurer of the MB Conference , was appointed the second teacher. Because the school and students had great difficulty getting teaching materials, Heinrich donated books to the school from his own personal library. Gerhard J Reimer was also an appointee, early in the New Year of 1919. The 35 first year students had considerable difference in educational back ground, so they were divided into two levels. Abraham H Unruh, well educated teacher at Barwenkovo, had transferred to the Karassan Zentralschule. In the autumn of 1920 he was asked to join the teaching staff of the Bible School.

Eventually the school offered three years of education, with curriculum patterned somewhat after that of the Gemran Baptist Seminary of Hamburg, which both Wiens and Braun had attended.

The number of students in the six years of operation was:

1918-1919 - 35 students

1919 - 1920 - 37 students

1920- 1921 - 40 students

1921 - 1922 - 28 students

1922 - 1923 - 37 students

1923 - 1924 - 49 students

Total numbers, calculated year by year, was 226, although, because some of the students were there for a number of years, this represented only 104 specific individuals Male to female ratio was 3:2. It was mentioned that the males were likely to be ministers or evangelists; while the females were there for self enrichment, or preparing to teach children or youth groups. Single to married ratio was also 3:2.

Graduates who completed the full course totaled 22. Of these 13 left Russia, 7 to Canada, 4 to the USA, 1 to Brazil, and 1 to Paraguay. Presumably the others stayed and worked in Russia

It was remarked that the school had a good influence in the surrounding villages and churches. The students quite willingly participated in the local church programs, ministering, evangelizing and singing. As would be typical for a Mennonite institution at the time, the school had a fair-sized and well organized choir.

In the autumn of 1 92 1 teacher Braun addressed the school and took his leave, soon after fleeing from Russia, since his life was in danger.

Operation of the school had some governmental opposition when the Bolsheviks gained full control of the region. In 1920 all teachers and students were arrested and committed to trial. At the hearings, however, it was established that the charges against the school were false, so all teachers and students were released. But the opponents simply bided their time. In March 1924, with the school having 49 students, local authorities closed it down. Despite petitions to the local Crimean government and to Moscow for permission to reopen, the requests were not granted.

77

Remarkably, three teachers of the Bible School, Wiens, Unruh, and Reimer were able to emigrate to Canada. There they founded the Winkler Bible School in 1925, under the leadership of Abraham H Unruh. He then later was also instmmental in the establishment of the Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg.

Tschongraw Bible School

Tschongraw Bible School, Teachers, Students and Committee Members

78

WELL

KNOWN

MENNONITE

PEOPLE

79

WELL KNOWN MENNONITE INDIVIDUALS WHO LIVED AND WORKED IN

CRIMEA

DUERKSEN, DAVID GERHARD (see picture at end of section)

Bom 1850, probably in Margenau, Molotschna

Largely self taught, became very successful teacher and minister

Eventually joined the MB Church and was appointed as traveling evangelist

He was called “Prince among Mennonite preachers” because of his speaking skill

In 1897 moved from Margenau, to Schoental, Crimea

The MB congregation offered him the leadership, and on 23 May 1899 he was ordained as elder of the Mennonite Brethren Church of Crimea by Elder David Schellenberg and Elder Aaron Lepp The congregation was then independent A new building, seating capacity 600, was built in Schoental Duerksen served faithfully, and with great blessing

He was an outstanding teacher; was a member of the school board and worked to raise Mennonite educational standards in Crimea In 1910 the congregation had 140 families, 330 members, with all dependents totaling 880 persons

David Gerhard Duerksen died 29 July 1910 in Spat, after a nine month illness DUERKSEN (DURKSEN), MARTIN (see picture at end of section)

Bom 8 May 1919 on the trail his parents were traveling between Terek in the Caucasus and Crimea

Parents Johann Duerksen and Katharina Heinrichs Youngest of 13 children

Lived in Menlertschik, Crimea, until the age of ten

1929 via Moscow to Gemrany, then Femheim, Paraguay, in the Chaco

Elementary and highschool education and one year Bible school

Taught six years, then 1945-1948 studied at Bible seminaiy in Argentina

1950-1964 MCC worker in Argentina

Worked periodically with the Lengua Indians in Paraguay

1967 to Canada; 1969 began Gernian ministry with “Gospel Light Hour”

Mamed Kaethe Duerksen 1 1 January 1941, seven children, including Frank, orthopaedic surgeon, specialist in leprosy surgery

Very interested in Mennonite history, especially events in Crimea. Chaired a

well attended reunion of people from Crimea in 1975, and edited a book “D/e Krim war iinsere Heimat "

Health deteriorated, died 16 February 1995 Called a “dedicated minster and missionary.”

DYCK, PETER ISAAK

Bom 20 April 1900 in Karassan, Crimea

Parents Isaak Dyck and Maria Pankratz

Probably attended Dorfschule and Zentralschule in Karassan

80

Kommerzschule in Alexanderkrone in Molotschna, then Gymnasium in Simferopol, which he completed in 1919

Medical faculty at University of Simferopol, some of the time during the famine of 1921-1922

Studies periodically interrupted by the Russian Civil War

Peter spent some of this time in a non-combatant service preparing documentation for various soldiers, including Mennonites

Interned at University of Kasany, on the Volga, and completed his medical studies in 1926

Worked at Muntau Hospital 1926-1928, where he met nurse Maria Bartel They married 5 August 1928, had four children Eventually escaped to Germany in 1930 Studied tropical medicine in Hamburg

Migrated to Brazil, where he and wife worked for many years Died 2 June 1987 at the age of 87 years FRIEDRICHSEN, PETER

Bom 10 July 1866 on the Tashchenak Estate, Ukraine His family probably originally came from Palatinate Baptized 3 June 1884 at Sarabasch, Crimea Married Sarah Martens 25 April 1891; she died Then Peter married widow Maria Wiens Fast on 23 August 1920 He was well educated; deeply grounded in the Scriptures In 1889 elected as minister by the Ettingerbrunn, later Busav congregation Ordained as minister by Elder Heinrich Martens on 15 May 1903 After the death of H Martens he was elected elder of the church, and ordained as elder 7 May 1906 by Elder Abraham Friesen of the Karassan Church His ministry extended well beyond the boundaries of his own large congregation Very active; preached 2,015 sermons in addition to all his other pastoral duties In addition to his work as minister and elder he was also a fanner, and held a number of other public positions

Peter lived in the village of Busav-Aktachi (Ettingerbrunn)

Tended to be a quiet person, preferring to reading a book to engaging in discussion When it came to witnessing, or supporting a good cause, however, he was apparently very talkative

He was considered to be a “fearless preacher of the Gospel”, free of legalism Peter died 18 July 1926, deeply mourned by his own congregation, but also the wider Mennonite community

FRIESEN, PETER MARTIN (see picture at end of section)

Bom 1 849 in Sparrau, Molotschna

Parents Martin Jakob Friesen and Helena Klassen

Fifth of seven children

Graduated from Halbstadt Zentralschule

Studied in Switzerland, then Odessa and Moscow

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Teacher in Halbstadt Zentralschule, then principal 1880-1 886 Married Susanna Fast; had six children

Son Paul served in Sanitaetsdienst To Wohldemfuerst, then Odessa, then an estate to rest 1898-191 1 lived in Sevastopol

Organized a church, involved in political organizations For years worked on extensive history of the Mennonite Brethren Church Finally completed and published in 1911 Moved to Tiege, Molotschna in 1911 Died 19 October 1914 in Tiege JANZEN, J D (see picture at end of section)

Bom 1874 in Gnadenfeld, Molotschna Graduated from Zentralschule

Age 1 7 teacher on an estate, then in 2 years in Franztal To Karassan 1905, working as accountant

Chairman of school society which founded Zentralsclnde and Maedchenschule in Karassan

He taught in the Maedchenschule in Karassan 1918 to Sevastopol as business representative 1924 to Mexico, then 1926 to Canada Died 1948 in BC KLASSEN, ABRAM JAKOB

Bom 3 December 1884 in Ohrloff, Molotschna

Parents Jakob P Klassen and Agnes Goerz, daughter of Elder Abram Goerz of Ohrloff

In 1 893 parents moved to Spat, Crimea, where they had purchased a farm Abram attended elementary school in Spat

Then he went to Ohrloff Zentralsclnde, from which he graduated in three years Appeared to be above usual intelligence

Mother in particular influenced him in character development and his Christian life Father died 18 August 1902

Abram, the eldest son, helped his mother manage the fami and raise his younger brothers and sisters

Mother married again October 1903; Abram was relieved of some of his responsibilities He studied at home and had private tutoring to prepare himself for the teachers’ exam Teacher in Ebenfeld, Samara, for two years (1904-1906)

Forstei at Alt-Berdyansk; worked as meteorologist Married Agnes A Esau October 1910

With wife spent one year in the Froese business of Barwenkovo - to learn business practice

Thereafter opened his own business in Spat, Crimea. Business did well With outbreak of World War 1 drafted into Sanitaetsdienst, serving first in Simferopol, then in a sanitorium in Szaki, a spa in Crimea

82

Was forced to close his business during this time

After the war was elected as minister by his home congregation at Spat, then ordained He was elected as Crimea representative for the churches (KfK.)

The Revolution and subsequent Civil War brought him, like many others, into financial ruin, so he turned to farming

Spring 1925 he was visited by brother Peter, who had followed Abram as teacher in Ebenfeld. Purpose was to convince Abram to migrate to Canada or Mexico But Abram felt that his obligation was to remain in Russia, he was more needed than ever

January 1926 real staiggles began. With a colleague J J Wiebe of Menlerchick, was given the option of resigning from the ministry with promise of full citizenship after that. They did not accept this offer.

November 1926 Abram wrote his brother Peter that he had spent a month visiting all members he could find - to serve them with the Word.

28 October 1928 imprisoned in Simferopol for 32 days

In 1929 Abram and J J Wiebe blamed for the rush of Mennonites to Moscow to get exit visas. He was imprisoned, tortured and beaten 12-19 hours a day.

Abram Klassen, J .1 Wiebe and three others sentenced to death. On 6 April 1930 sentence reduced to 10 years exile in the far north

In the meantime wife and children driven from their home on Feb 2, 1930. Eventually allowed to return home after a time in prison Abram’s health deteriorated; occasionally helped by food packages from Canada and from his home in Spat

Worked at an office in Archangel region, village of Jeretnaja; was trusted in supervisory capacity

Gradually weaker; coughed up blood on two occasions.

To hospital in Sibulon

Died 5 July 1931 (likely of tuberculosis)

Wife originally informed of his severe illness and wanted to visit him. She arrived two days after his death

KROEKER, ABRAHAM JAKOB (see picture at end of section)

Bom 1 1 December 1 863 in Rosenort, Molotschna Became village school teacher 1881 at the age of 18

1889 joined the MB Church and worked as missionary in Romania for 3 years 1 894 moved to Spat, taking up fanning

Became active writer, published Christliclier Fainilienkulendar and Christlicher Abreiskaleiidar, 1903 published book; Pastor Wuest, der grosse Enveckungsprediger /'/; den deutschen Kolonien Riisslands With cousin Jakob Kroeker began publishing the first Mennonite newspaper in Russia, Die Friedensstimme, first printed in Berlin in 1903 1904 moved to Halbstadt where he continued with the newspaper, but also helped establish publishing house Raduga

Continued with Die Friedensstimme until he had to flee from Russia in 1921

83

Migrated to Winnipeg, then Mountain Lake, Minnesota He continued to write articles and books until he died 22 November 1944 It is considered that he was the pioneer of Mennonite letters in Russia KROEKER, JAKOB JAKOB (see picture at end of section)

Bom 31 October 1872 in Gnadental, Molotschna; was cousin of Abraham Jakob Kroeker

Obtained teaching certificate and taught in Menlerchik, Crimea

Studied 4 years at Mission Seminary, Hamburg, Germany

Back to Crimea, ordained as minister and elder of the MB Church

Worked together with David Duerksen as itinerant minister

With cousin Abraham Kroeker founded the first Mennonite newspaper

Die Friedensstimme in 1903; continued to work with it until 1910 1906 moved to Halbstadt, where he helped to found Raduga Publishing House Worked with Dr Friederich Baedeker, traveling around Russia 1910 moved to Wemigerode, Germany; continued theological studies and writing Founded ''Licht am Osten" a missionary society which helped educate Russian preachers Maintained ties with Mennonite world; delivered talk at 1925 Mennonite World Conference in Basel, Switzerland 1945 moved to Stuttgart; died there 12 December 1948 LANGEMANN, JOHANN (see picture at end of section)

Came from Margenau, Molotschna Learned the shoe-making trade as a youth Migrated to Crimea in 1881

Played a leading role in the establishment of Spat and Menlerchik In partnership with a Mr Chimtzov, founded a factory in Spat in 1894 to manufacture agricultural machinery. When Mr. Chimtzov died his heirs sold their portion to Langemann, so he became the sole owner. He steadily enlarged the factory, by 1914 employing 450 workers

In partnership with J Janzen owned a large steam mill in Spat Died of cancer in 1908

MARTENS, HEINRICH

Head of the Agricultural Union of Crimea, starting somewhat after 1920 Union aided fanners by supplying seed grain and machinery It owned its own grain farm in Danilovka

It attempted to train tractor operators when the American relief tractors arrived in the early 1920s

All this said to be under the skilled leadership of Martens

With closing down of opportunities Martens got to Gennany via Moscow in 1929 Along with 700 refugees migrated to Brazil

He became one of the leading founders of the Witmarsum Colony in the Krauel MARTINS, ANNA (ANYA) (see picture at end of section)

Bom 10 May 1898 on the Montana! Estate, near Eupatoria, Crimea

Parents were Wilhelm Wilhelm Martins and Maria Dyck

Anna graduated from medicine at the University of Simferopol, 1923 or 1924

84

Never married Migrated to Canada in 1926

Assume that she participated in some post-graduate psychiatric training in Canada Ran a psychiatric practice in Hamilton, Ontario, with office right next to her home Died 1985 in Hamilton

Buried in Ruddel Saskatchewan, where other members of her family are buried REMPEL, HERMANN ARON

Bom 1856, Gnadenfeld, Molotschna Zentralschide in Halbstadt

To Karassan as a young man, teacher in the elementary school Elected as minister by the Mennonite Church in 1903

When Abraham Friesen retired , Hennann was elected elder, some time after 1910 He and several other ministers worked for spiritual awakening Evoked some strong opposition

Rempel and several other ministers founded a new congregation named Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church in 1921. Rempel was elected elder The church stressed repentance, conversion and sanctification Immersion baptism

In one year had 137 members and 7 ministers

Church grew rapidly, but with communist religious persecution spiritual life came to a standstill

1929 he and his family attempted to escape Russia via Moscow Instead sent to Memrik, where he worked in a coal mine During holidays he even visited his orphaned church in Crimea Exiled to Siberia where as a result of mistreatment he died Wife and sons accompanied him to exile, and also died there SAWATZKY, PETER JAKOB

Bom 14 June 1886 in Wiesenfeld, Pavlograd District, province of Ekaterinoslav Youngest of 16 children of Jakob J Sawatzky and Maria Huebert Zentralschule in Halbstadt

Two years teacher training, then taught near Gulyaipole

But preferred medicine. Studied at Gymnasium in Ekaterinoslav, then medicine at New Russian University in Odessa beginning in 1908 Married Margaretha Reimer; two children, Woldemar and Agnes

Woldemar bora 22 July 1922 in Karassan, also became physician To Bethania, then Odessa

About 1917 to Karassan despite Revolution and Civil War 1923 settled in Lutheran district at Naimann Moved to Feodosiya to help in education of children Increasing jealousy of colleagues 18 November 1937 araested and imprisoned

Released from exile and returned to family in 1946, resumed practice 1956 retired and moved to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where the children lived

85

Died 22 November 1962

SCHROEDER, PETER HEINRICH (see picture at end of section)

Bom 23 September 1838 in Sandhof, West Prussia

Family moved to South Russia likely in 1850s, probably to Molotschna

Married Katharina Martens, widow of estate owner Wilhelm Martens, about 1 861

Through Katharina he had access to part of the land in the Taschtschenak region

2 children, Anna, Heinrich

Wife Katharina died 1864. Peter married again, Maria Klassen

Had further 8 children, 6 reaching adulthood

Purchased large tracts of land in Crimea, beginning 1867 until 1891

Did not cultivate the land himself, but leased out the land to Russians and Mennonites

At least 7 villages on his land

Towards the end charged 6R rent per dess plus up to 1/3 of the crop Peter died 30 August 1896; holdings then were 10,614 dess valued at 1,046,200R His will gave 1,500 dess to each of the children of Maria Klassen, lesser amounts to the others, since they also received land elsewhere SCHROEDER, PETER PETER (see picture at end of section)

Bom 3 December 1866 in Melitopol, eldest of the 8 children bom to Peter Heinrich and second wife Maria Klassen

Spent youth on parental estate at Taschtschenak; further schooling, likely Recilscliule and Koinmerzschule in Melitopol To university in Kharkov in the field of commerce

Fairly early took up residence on his Crimean land holdings in order to supervise them Had no manor house, so he lived with his sister Margaretha in nearby Novonikolsk 1912 elected to the Duma as a “Progressive Party” member.

Worked on committees, but never actually spoke in the Duma.

Tenn ended in 1917

Disposed of his estate lands before the communists took over, likely converted into gold or jewelry

1918 to Simferopol, then in 2-3 years to Zaporozhye, then to Chortitza Lived with Margarethe and her husband David Goossen, quiet, unassuming life Died in Chortitza 6 June 1942

UNRUH, ABRAHAM HEINRICH (see picture at end of section)

Bom 5 April 1878 in Temir-Bulat, Crimea

Father died prematurely, mother unable to manage the whole family Abraham sent to live with his uncle, Komelius Unruh, headmaster of the Ohrloff Zeiitralschule

Graduated from ZentralscJmle, then teachers’ college

Age 17 village teacher at Menlerchik, Crimea, for 8 years

Converted, became MB

Married Katharina Toews of Spat

1903 to Barwenkowo, taught elementary school

Elected to ministry and ordained

86

Instructed in German by brother Benjamin and earned teaching certificate 1915-1917 served as medical orderly

Taught German and Religion in Barwenkowo Kommerzschule 1918 principal ofKarassan Kommerzschule 1920-1924 taught in Tschongraw Bible School

When Bible School was closed down, he emigrated to Canada January 1925 He was one of the founders of the Winkler Bible School

1944 one of the founders of advanced Bible School which became Mennonite Brethren Bible College. 1 954 resigned so he could more actively travel and preach 2 June 1938 Honorary Doctorate from Bethel College, Newton, Kansas Continued to write and preach Wrote history of MB Church published in 1954 Also wrote a considerable number of shorter articles Died 15 January 1961

UNRUH, BENJAMIN HEINRICH (see picture at end of section)

Bom 17 Septemberl881 in Temir-Bulat, Crimea

Gifted and eager student, elementary school in home village and neighboring Tukulchak 1895 to Ohrloff Zeiitralschule where his uncle Komelius Unruh was the principal Then teacher training, school in Basel 1900-1907

To Halbstadt, where he taught German and Religion at the Kommerzschule and the Ma edch euschule

Was very well thought of as a teacher

Elected to Mennonite congress in Ohrloff, in 1919 chair of Meunoze/itrum On Study Commission to work on Mennonite migration from Russia Published a large number of books and pamphlets on theology, church history and Mennonite history

Eventually moved to Karlsruhe, Germany

Helped in some of the migration of Mennonites through Moscow in 1929-1930 1947 honorary doctorate in theology from University of Heidelberg Was unfortunately quite sympathetic to the Nazi cause and influenced some of the Paraguayan refugees in this regard Died 12 May 1959 in Gemiany UNRUH, HEINRICH BENJAMIN

Bom 24 May 1847 in Waldheim, Molotschna

Moved with parents to Schwestertal, Crimea, then when he married he moved to Temir-Bulat

Economically struggled to raise a large family, 9 living children All the sons were involved in religious work

Gerhard and Komelius missionaries in India;

Abraham teacher and preacher.

Benjamin teacher and leader

Served Crimean Mennonite Church as minister beginning in 1874 Following the death of the first elder, Jakob Wiebe, Unruh was elected elder

87

of the Mennonite Church based in Karassan in 1880 Talented, and beloved by his congregation

Had to visit and serve the widely scattered groups of his congregation Died of pneumonia 1 7 October 1 883 at age of 36 WIEBE, JAKOB A

Bom 1836 in Margenau, Molotschna Earned his own living working as hired hand Worked as a minister in the Kleine Gemeinde

After marriage he and several others bought a Tatar village in Crimea, founded Annenfeld (Annovka)

A Kleine Gemeinde minister preached to the group of settlers, a number of settlers experienced conversion

Fornied a new group, Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church; immersion baptism, forwards, in 1869

Initially 18 members; more Molotschna Kleine Gemeinde settlers joined Most of the group migrated to the US in the 1870s, together with Elder Wiebe, settling in Kansas Resigned as elder in 1900 He died in 1921

WIEBE, JOHANN JOHANN

Bom 15 May 1884, in Schottenruh (Diunnen), Crimea

His parents were Johann J Wiebe from Altona, Molotschna, and Anna Unruh, who came from Crimea

Having completed elementary school in Schottenruh he continued his

education in Ohrloff, where he attended Zentralschule for three years His uncle, Komelius B Unruh was teacher in Ohrloff at that time Upon graduation from Ohrloff Johann attended the teachers’ college in Halbstadt, then passed the teacher examinations in Melitopol.

At first he was teacher at Busav, then in the village of Menlerchik in Crimea Here he met and married Justina Dueck, who came from Menlerchik With the onset of World War I Johann was drafted into the All-Russian branch of the Semstwo Sanitaetsclienst

After three years of service he returned to his home church, and was promptly called to be a minister, and soon after was ordained Circumstances made it difficult to continue his teaching career; he became a farmer Johann’s activities as evangelist, as a member of an inter church committee, as a legal representative for young draftees, and his frequent trips to Simferopol drew the attention of the Soviet bureaucrats. As a result he was jailed in 1928.

He was soon released, but had to regularly report to the police.

When in 1929 many Mennonites appeared in Moscow in attempts to migrate, Wiebe and others were blamed. Together with four other ministers Wiebe was jailed and condemned to death. After 27 days in solitary confinement the sentences were reduced to 10 years exile on the island of Solowki on the White Sea.

88

After these occun'ences all prisoners from Crimea were routinely sentenced to

Archangel in the north of Russia. From Archangel Wiebe and the others were transferred to Solowki.

In 1937, after 8 years of imprisonment, second-hand information was that Wiebe had been moved to the Ural region. In the meantime the Wiebe family had actually been exiled to the Urals as well.

Apparently because of his hard work and his excellent behavior his sentence had been reduced by two years. Johann wrote at the time “I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith “

Since then no more news...

WFENS, JOHANN GERHARD (see picture at end of section)

Bom 3 August 1874 in Steinthal, Molotschna

Youngest of seven children of Gerhard Wiens and Susanna Friesen

Elementary and secondary education in Molotschna

Attended Baptist Seminary in Hamburg, Germany 1899-1903

Baptized Mennonite Brethren June 1900

Married Helena Hildebrand; two sons and a foster daughter

Wife Helena died, married Helena Wiens

To India as missionary 1904-1910

1918 lived in Tschongraw; by MB Missions Committee appointed as leader and teacher of the Tschongraw Bible School 1924 school was shut down by the communist government

Migrated to Canada. Abraham Unruh established the Winkler Bible School in 1925, with Wiens as one of the teachers He taught in Winkler for 23 years, until 1949 Johann Gerhard Wiens died 2 January 1951

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David Gerhard Duerksen pastor - teacher

Martin Duerksen evangelist

Well-known individuals who lived and worked in Crimea

J D Janzen

teacher - businessman

Peter Martin Friesen historian -writer

Well-known individuals who lived and worked in Crimea

Abraham Jakob Kroeker editor

Jakob Jakob Kroeker editor - evangelist

Johann Langemann businessman

Anna Martins physician - psychiatrist

Well-known individuals who lived and worked in Crimea

Peter Peter Schroeder estate owner - Duma member

Peter Heinrich Schroeder estate owner

Benjamin Heinrich Unruh teacher - politician

Abraham Heinrich Unruh Bible teacher

Well-known individuals who lived and worked in Crimea

Johann Gerhard Wiens Bible teacher

93

MIGRATION

18734880

94

MIGRATION 1873-1880

FAMILIES LEAVING SOUTH RUSSIA

Chortitza - 580 families - 3,240 people

Bergthal - 440 families - 3,000 people (virtually the entire colony)

Molotschna - (numbers not certain) 784 families - 4,500 people Crimea - 107 families (about 642 individuals)

Two specific groups of people are known to have migrated from Crimea From Hierschau, Molotschna to Bruderfeld , Crimea, in early 1860s Then 1873-1874 - 8 families, 47 people to USA Krimmer Mennoniten Bruedergemeinde - said to consist of 20 families (likely about 120 people)

Left from Annenfeld (Annovka) near Simferopol,

arrived in New York on 15 July 1874, via S S City of Brooklyn - Liverpool to New York, settled in Kansas The others from Crimea migrated singly or in separate small family groups

HIERSCHAU-BRUDERFELD

Five families left Hierschau in the early 1860s (1861-1864), moving to Crimea, likely founding the little village of Bruderfeld in the north-east plain. Most of the people of this village then seem to have migrated to the United States in the 1870s

Tobias Unruh (50) farmer

S S Hammonia - Hamburg New York, arr 15 Aug 1873 Total 1 1 people, to Parker, South Dakota (Hiebert, p 68)

Wife Katharina (nee Sperling) (47)

Peter (22), Komelius (16), Heinrich (9), Tobias (9), Anna (8), Maria (7), Aganetha (4) Johann (26), Katharina (23)

Jakob H Pankratz (53) farmer

S S Herder - Hamburg New York arr 20 Aug 1 874 Wife Katharina (38)

Heinrich (24), Peter (21), Johann (20), Franz (18), Elisabeth (27), Abraham (9), Anna (7), Jakob (5), Wilhelm (1 U), Marie (2 mo)

S S Silesia - Hamburg New York arr 8 July 1 874

There were 28 people in all, aboard the S S Silesia who had roots in Hierschau Jakob Loewen (55) fanner Marie (50) wife

Heinrich (24), Komelius (22), Marie (16), Franz (15)

Jakob Loewen (3 1 ) fanner)

Helena (25) wife

Jakob (7), Marie (3), Helene (1 1 mo), Katharina (1 mo)

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Isaak Loewen (29) fanner Justine (25) wife Heinrich (1 mo)

Dietrich Loewen (25) farmer Sarah (25) wife Friedrich (4), Marie (6 mo)

Engbrecht, Peter (65) fanner Margaret (62) wife Anna (25)

Beier (Beyer), Johann (24) farmer

Aganetha (22) wife (daughter of Peter Engbrecht)

Altogether there were 8 families with a total of 47 people

Many of the people originally from Hierschau settled in Turner County, South Dakota

Jakob L Loewen moved to Hierschau with his parents when the village was founded in 1848.

They then moved to Bruderfeld in Crimea in the early 1 860s, then migrated to the USA, Turner County, near Parker, in 1874. Here they attended the Bruderfeld Church. In 1902 the Jakob Loewens moved to Saskatchewan, to a place near Waldheim, attending a church called Bmderfeld.

(Hierschau, pp 104, 105)

Sources:

Hiebert, Clarence, Brothers in Deed to Brothers in Need, Faith and Life Press, Newton Kansas 1974

Huebert, Helmut T, Hierschau: An Example of Russian Mennonite Life, Springfield Publishers, Winnipeg, Canada, 1986

KRIMMER MENNONITEN BRUEDERGEMENDE LIST

Said to consist of 20 families (likely about 120 people). Left from Annenfeld (Annovka) near Simferopol, departed from Liverpool, arrived in New York on 15 Julyl874, via S S City of Brooklyn. Eventually settled in Kansas

Actually there were 32 families traveling on the SS City of Brooklyn, consisting of 165 individuals. Not absolutely certain that they were all from the KMB group Definite members were:

Wiebe, Jakob (Elder), age 37 Wife Juliana (40)

Katherine (12)

Jakob (3)

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Johanna (1)

Harder, Johann, age 51

Wife Elisabeth (35) Johanna (12) Elisabeth (11) Abraham (8) Isbrand (7)

Heinrich (3)

David (1)

Berg, Peter (Elder). Age 28 Wife Anna (23) Peter (2)

Andreas ( 1 )

97

REVOLUTION CIVIL WAR COMMUNIST TAKEOVER

98

REVOLUTION, CIVIL WAR and the COMMUNIST TAKEOVER

In the Russian Revolution and Civil War General Anton Denikin was initially the military commander of the White Army. With increasing criticism and emotional exhaustion, he resigned in April of 1920 in favour of General Pyotr Wrangel. The White Arniy in time had to retreat southwards, into Crimea. With increasing pressure from the communist Red Army, General Wrangel and thousands of his forces needed to escape. They were ferried off to safety in Turkey by remnants of the Russian Imperial Navy, which became known as WrangeTs Fleet.

But much of Wrangels’s anny, and of course the civilians in Crimea, remained under Communist control. At least 50,000 prisoners of war and civilians were executed by shooting or hanging by the Communists at the end of 1920. There were undoubtedly a considerable number of Mennonites among those executed, both those who had been with the White Army, and civilians who lived in Crimea.

In the 1920s the life under the Communist regime in Crimea was much the same as that experienced by Mennonites in other parts of South Russia.

In the early 1920s all of the estate owners were either driven off their property or left of their own accord. By 1923 all of the estates seem to have been abandoned. They were taken over by the suiTounding people or were incorporated into collective or cooperative farms. In some cases the buildings were used, in others, such as Alatsch, all buildings were destroyed. A number of the estate owners were murdered, for example the Dick family, who were executed by the Reds in 1919, and Philipp Wiebe and his son in 1920.

In the early and mid 1 920s the Mennonites of Crimea had the same opportunities as those of the rest of southern Russia to escape. When the Tschongraw Bible School was closed in 1924, all of the teachers, Abraham H Unruh, Johann G Wiens and Gerhard J Reimer, were able to emigrate to Canada. J D Janzen first migrated to Mexico in 1924 then to Canada in 1926. Abraham Jakob Kroeker was able to flee from Russia in 1921, first to Canada, and then the USA.

Many of those who had not managed to migrate from Russia in the mid 1 920s then heard that it might be possible to escape via Moscow in 1929/1930. At least 15,000 Mennonites collected in Moscow, hoping for special exit visas. Actually somewhat over 6,000 did receive documents which allowed them to depart via Riga and Germany, but many bitterly disappointed people were either shipped back home or were exiled to northern Russia or Siberia. From Kadagai some people were able to flee to Canada. From Ebenfeld 13 families (63 individuals) were able to emigrate, while 20 families (92 individuals) were sent back. In 1930 all Sarona residents were exiled to Archangel, the Caucasus or Kazakhstan, and the estate/village was turned into a collective fann. Eight families, consisting of husbands, wives and a total of 34 children escaped to Paraguay. One husband was exiled, while his wife and two sons were able to go to Paraguay. Oddly, one family from Menlerchik was able to escape to Paraguay, while another was sent into exile.

In the 1930s Stalin’s brutal treatment of perfectly innocent people became more obvious. Many of the remaining Mennonite men were arrested, imprisoned, then sent into exile. Most were never seen again. In 1941, after the German invasion had begun, the Soviet policy was to transport as many of the “aliens” as far east as possible. It was as a result of this policy that entire Mennonite villages were mobilized and transported out of Crimea, with the ultimate aim of

99

sending them to the far north, Siberia or Kazahkstan. The travels of the people of Tschongraw, first northwards, then finally into the Molotschna was part of this scheme, which did not quite work out according to the Soviet plan. It is likely that all of the Mennonite villages had similar plans for moving their citizens out of Crimea.

General Pyotr Wrangel

Mennonite women working on a Kolkhoz in Crimea late 1920s or early 1930s

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THE CRIMEAN GYPSIES {DIE KRIMMER ZEGEUNER)

Tschongraw was a Mennonite village in Crimea, originally founded in 1912 by Gerhard Wiens. It was a beautiful village with houses built of stone topped by tiled roofs; ample orchards provided plums, apples, apricots, pears and chemes. Besides the usual cereal grains the farmers also grew sunflowers and cotton. Tschongraw flourished and even had a Bible School in operation from 1918-1924. With the Communist takeover the villagers suffered the same fate as did Mennonites all over the Soviet Union. The church ceased to function and the building was used by the school. A collective farm was established in the region about 1931, with the large Wiens establishment becoming the storage area for farm machinery. In the Purge of 1936-1938 a number of men were “taken” from Tschongraw. Among them were;

Jakob Janzen (taken in 1936, then released in two months)

Franz T Teichrieb (November 24, 1936)

Nicolai Huebert (January 30, 1937)

Abram Hildebrand (February, 1938)

Franz Warkentin (1938).

Most were never seen again.

On August 16, 1941, all Mennonites were ordered to leave Tschongraw; they were sent to the station at Bijuk in wagons. As the wagon train lumbered along, the villagers joined voices in the hymn...”Fc>/7 der Erde reiss niich los, mciche meinen Glauheu gross...” At Bijuk they were put on trains which headed north. Their train was stopped at Melitopol for two days, where there were another 17 or 18 trains of refugees, then headed further north to Zaporozhye, where it arrived August 24. They were obviously near the war zone (Germany had invaded Russia on June 22, 1941, and the front was rapidly moving eastward), since the refugees could hear the rumble of cannons. The train was halted near the railway station and basically could not move, since German shells from across the Dniepr would straddle it when it tried to pull away. The Tschongraw group felt that things were just too dangerous, so they fled on foot, carrying from the train only what they had grabbed in panic. A group of overlOO people, including children, walked about four kilometres to the Russian village of Balabino. In general they headed south and east. They tended to stay out of villages, sending children to ask for permission to sleep in the bams and beg for food.

In this way the Tschongrawers wandered for about a month, finally reaching the Molotschna Mennonite Colony. They divided into two groups, making it easier for people to help them, then walked from village to village. Their reception was generally good - they were given food and occasionally even work. At Fuerstenwerder they were divided among the homes, and the collective fami cooked and baked for them and gave the men jobs.

When they reached the next village, Gnadenheim, the Tschongrawers were taken into custody and ordered to go to the neighbouring village, Friedensdorf Here they were all registered on September 28 or 29, then ordered to board trains at Tschemigowka, to be sent to Siberia. The group was taken by wagons, through Landskrone and Hierschau. Possibly because of poor weather and muddy roads they stopped in Waldheim, where they were put up in the club house of the Neufeld mill. The Tschongrawers all stayed in one building, with a guard at the

101

door who registered them as they came and went. They were told to prepare for a three-day train trip, and since they had nothing, they started begging to obtain supplies. Waldheim had already been covered by many beggars, so they went to the neighbouring villages, including Hierschau, to obtain food, blankets and pillows.

The group was informed that all men 16 to 65 years of age were to collect at the headquarters in Waldheim at 10 AM September 30. The men went, were taken into a room, then marched away. Some were never seen or heard from again. Presumably they were sent to Siberian or northern Russian labour camps and died there.

Of the Tschongraw group these men were taken:

Jakob Janzen - husband of Anna Janzen Gerhard Janzen - son Jakob Janzen - son

Gerhard Toews - husband of Olga Toews

Peter Wiens - son of Justina Huebert (formerly Wiens)

Franz Klassen - husband of Aganetha Klassen Nicolai Enns - husband of Maria Enns Heinrich Enns - son Nicolai Enns - son

Gerhard Huebert - brother of the Huebert girls Johann (Hans) Warkentin - husband of Maria Warkentin Johann (Hans) Hildebrand - brother of Abram Hildebrand Gerhard Warkentin

The remaining refugees stayed in Waldheim a few more days, still trying to beg for supplies, although it was becoming increasingly difficult to get anything.

On October 2 they were taken to the railway station Stulnewo by wagon. From there they were to be loaded onto trains and transported further behind the Russian lines. Every day more people arrived from the surrounding villages, until there were about 7,000 collected at Stulnewo - all camping out in the open. They used simple tin cans, which had been collected from the neighbouring villages, for cooking. They washed their clothing in the near-by river, then bathed in the river till their clothes dried.

It soon became obvious that the Russians would not be able to evacuate all the refugees. Explosions could be heard in the distance when the various major buildings and factories were blown up, such as the Neufeld mill in Waldheim. The retreating Russians tried to bum down some of the granaries near Stulnewo - the refugees could see the fires blazing through the night.

The morning of October 6 was very still, not even the trees moved. Since no one seemed to be in charge, the refugees scattered away from Stulnewo. The Tschongraw group went south into the Molotschna and settled in Hierschau. That day German and Rumanian troops occupied the area.

The native Hierschauers had themselves also been sent to Stulnewo to be evacuated, and were now also returning home. The buildings of the village had been left intact, so they simply moved back into their own homes. The Tschongraw group was housed in a creamery building - a total of nine families (39 people) crammed into two rooms. The families were (with most of the men missing by now);

102

Jakob Janzens Gerhard Toews’s Franz Teichriebs Heinrich Hueberts Franz Klassens Nicolai Enns’s Nicolai Hueberts Franz Warkentins (Jr)

Franz Warkentins (Sr)

Some of the Tschongraw group moved in with relatives in the surrounding villages, the Abram Hildebrand family staying with Warkentin relatives in Lindenau. In the creamery each family chose a comer of a room in which to sleep. Since they had no furniture, and very little in the way of belongings, and no blankets, they slept on straw and used their coats to cover up against the night cold. The refugees scoured the sumounding fields, and found a few tomatoes which the frost had spared. These made excellent sauce on the potatoes they managed to dig out. Cooked in tin cans the food was enough to make them thank their heavenly father that he had saved them from the hand of the enemy.

Probably because the refugees had very little, and what they possessed they had begged for, the Hierschauers nick-named the Tschongraw group ‘‘Daut Kjrimsc/te Tsigjonerpak” (Die Krimmer Zegeuner, or the Crimean Gypsies). In Hierschau the local population was itself struggling for existence, so there was little surplus food, fuel or other provisions for the “Gypsies.”

The Soviets had not been able to complete the evacuation in the Hierschau- Waldheim region, but had been more successful in other areas of the Molotschna. Ohrloff, Tiege,

Blumenort and Rosenort were found virtually abandoned. In Tiege there remained only one man and a few Russian families. Even food had been left standing in some of the houses. The “Crimean Gypsies” decided to move to Tiege. A wagon was loaded with all their worldly possessions, their meagre supplies of bedding, pots and tin cans, burned wheat and potatoes. The Tschograwers had amived in Hierschau on October 6, then moved into their more expanded new home October 26, 1941 . They stayed in Tiege for almost two years.

But even the home in Tiege was only a temporary stop. The Russian Army was now pushing back the Gemian forces, so eventually the front came closer and closer to the Molotschna. On September 12, 1943 everyone was advised to flee westward. Their possessions again loaded onto wagons, the “Crimean Gypsies” joined the long stream of refugees of the “Great Trek.” Eventually, after tremendous hardships, they reached the Warthegau region of Poland in February 1944, then in January 1945, fled even further west, many of the Tschongawers reaching the zones of Allied occupation.

A substantial number of Tschongrawers now live in Canada, and at one time fifteen were members of the Portage Avenue Mennonite Brethren Church in Winnipeg.

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104

MENNONITE

ALTERNATE

105

MENNONITE ALTERNATE SERVICE IN CRIMEA

In the Mennonite negotiations with the Russian government regarding service to be offered instead of direct military involvement after the humbling defeat of the Crimean War, a number of avenues of alternate services were discussed. Various types of work in the forest regions was one option (Forsteidienst). Medical services (Sanitaetsdienst) was another way in which Mennonites could participate, especially in times of war.

The Forsteidienst began in 1880, with 1,000 Mennonite men being drafted. In short order there were eight forestry camps in southern Ukraine, most of them fairly close to the Mennonite colonies. It is not specifically mentioned in most of the literature, but there are pictures of Mennonite men participating in forestry work and road construction projects in Crimea. New roads were built in the mountainous regions of the south, and existing roads were widened.

There does not seem to be a record of nor pictures of Mennonite men actually planting trees in Crimea. There is no specific record of a forestry camp in Crimea, although the men working in southern parts of Crimea must have had some facilities for sleeping

Part of the Forsteidienst was combating the phylloroxea infestation in the vineyards of southern Crimea. It is not certain when this aspect of the work began, but it seems to have been in operation by 1886. Peter C Heidebrecht was drafted as a Phylloroxea Commando in that year. The little aphid like insect was actually introduced to a number of areas in southern Russia and Crimea, but the Mennonite contribution to combat this destructive infestation was restricted to Crimea.

The men of the phylloroxea unit lived in tents which were rather primitive, since the work required frequent moving around to the different areas. Since the men had no training for the work they were sent to Odessa, where infestation by this insect was also found. Here they were taught about this insect, learned how to spray the plants, and the dissection of the roots so that they could be examined under magnification. Severely infected plants, particularly their roots, were then dug up and destroyed. The men of the unit worked only six months in the summer, presumably because that was the most effective time of the year to combat the infestation.

There was no obvious battlefront contribution by the Sanitaetsdienst, even in time of war. There were, however, a considerable number of nurses, male and female, who worked at hospitals in Simferopol. There are pictures of groups of nurses taken in 1915 in Simferopol, during World War I. It is presumed that the wounded from the battlefront were transferred there for further extended care.

As well, a number of other men were drafted directly into the Sanitaetsdienst. Abram .lakob Klassen, businesman and minister, was drafted at the outbreak of World War I. He first serv'ed in Simferopol, then in a sanitorium in Szaki, a spa in Crimea. Johann Johann Wiebe, teacher and minister, was drafted into the All-Russian branch of the Semstwo Sanitaetsdienst, also at the onset of World War I. He served for three years. Abraham Heinrich Unruh, teacher and minister, served as a medical orderly from 1915-1918, before he moved to Crimea to teach at the Karassan Zentralschule.

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Mennonite Alternate Serviee in Crimea

Part of the Forsteidienst in Crimea consisted of actual forestry work and working on the roads, especially in the southern mountainous regions

Forestry workers in Crimea

The home of the forester

Road construction in Crimea

Road construction in Crimea

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Mennonite men on road construction during World War I

108

Phylloxera team heading out with shovels and pick-axes

109

Medical Corps in Simferopol 1915. Front row 1 to r, Anna Wiens, Anna Dyck, the next nurse Helena Kroeker, then Abram Friesen

no

THE

YALTA

CONFERENCE

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THE YALTA CONFERENCE FEBRUARY 4-11, 1945

The Yalta Conference was the second war-time meeting of the heads of government of the United States, represented by president Franklin D. Roosevelt, Great Britain, represented by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the Soviet Union represented by the General Secretary Joseph Stalin. It was held in the Livadia Palace, near Yalta in Crimea.

The conference started off with lies. Stalin wanted the conference to be in Crimea, ostensibly because his doctors had told him that he should not travel too far. The real reason was that the Soviets wanted to “bug” the rooms of the other participants.

The principal intention of the conference was to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-tom Europe after the close of hostilities. Yalta was the second of the wartime conferences, the first having been the Tehran Conference of November 28 - December 1 in 1943; it was later followed by the Potsdam Conference of July 17- August 2, 1945. Besides the main agenda, each leader also had a number of pet projects and operated on a number of suppositions. Roosevelt foolishly felt that he could get Stalin to do almost anything he wanted. He asked for Soviet support in the American Pacific War against Japan and wanted the Soviets to join the United Nations. Churchill very much wanted free elections and democratic governments in Cental and Eastern Europe. Stalin made all kinds of promises to allow the development of democratic governments in Eastern Europe, but never allowed any country any freedom, and eventually enslaved most of central and all of eastern Europe for over forty years. The “ Iron Curtain” did not come down until the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1989.

Key points discussed were:

1 . Demand for unconditional surrender of Nazi Gemiany

2. Germany would undergo demilitarization and denazification

3. Nazi war criminals were to be hunted down and brought to justice.

4. At the conclusion of the war, Gennany and Berlin were to be divided into zones. After some

adjustment, the American, French, British and Russian zones were designated, both in Germany as a whole, and in Berlin (see maps)

5. German reparations, partly in the form of forced labour

6. Polish borders shifted westward. Some eastern sections of Poland were simply annexed by

Russia, while western territory was taken from Germany and incorporated into Poland. Churchill alone pushed for free elections in Poland

7. Citizens fleeing from the Soviet Union and Y ugoslavia were to be handed back to their respective

countries regardless of their consent. It took several years until the Americans and British discovered that this was actually a form of enslavement of people who had desperately wanted to escape the brutality of Stalin’s holocaust. Many Mennonites were caught in this net and were sent to the far north or Siberia, only to die slow lingering deaths

8. It was agreed that democracies would be established in all liberated European and former Axis

satellite countries. Order would be restored, and there would be free elections It soon became apparent that none of this would happen in any territory occupied by Stalin’s forces.

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Big Three at the Yalta Conference - Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin

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Livadia Palace at Yalta

Yalta Conference meeting table in Livadia Palace

Yalta Conference meeting table in Livadia Palace British, American and Soviet flags

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114

Alupka Palace, used to house some of the guests who

participated in the Yalta Conference

Alupka Palace, or Vorontsov Palace, built 1828-1848 for use as the summer residence of Mikhail Vorontsov. Built in the Englsh Tudor style

One of six Medici lions decorating the grounds of Alupka Palace

One of the six Medici Lions at Alupka Palace was sleeping. Stalin remarked that this possibly represented the sleeping British Empire

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DENMARK

NORTH SEA

BALTIC SEA

NETHER¬

LANDS

HAMBURG#

• BREMEN

BRITISH

ZONE

SOVIET

a

POLAND

BERLIN

ZONE

FRENCH

AMERICAN

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

FRANCE

ZONE

ZONE

MUNICH#

POST-WAR ^ GERMANY ACCORDING TO YALTA AGREEMENT

AUSTRIA

116

117

BERLIN ESCAPE JANUARY 30 - EEBRUARY 1, 1947

Yalta is a beautiful Crimean resort city on the shore of the Black Sea. Here the major leaders of the Allies, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, met on February 4-11,1 945, to decide the fate of Europe after the demanded “unconditional surrender” of Nazi Gemiany would go in to effect. A few words and signatures affected the lives of millions of people, condemning many to endless suffering or death. The Elbe River was designated as one of the dividing lines between East and West. There were to be American, British, French and Russian zones of occupation. Berlin itself, while well within the Russian zone, would also be divided into similar zones. The principle of repatriation of citizens was accepted. The assumption was that of course all displaced people would want to return to their country of origin. It did not seem to enter the thinking of the Western Allies that there might be thousands, likely millions of refugees who would rather escape from their oppressive “homes.”

When the war ended it finally dawned on some of the occupying forces that the relationship between the Soviets and many of the displaced refugees was anything but cordial! The Russians were, of course, sending everyone from within their own zone back to their homes or into exile. They were also swooping through the western zones and repatriating citizens, usually definitely against their will, and often by force. The American military then began putting into force the actual stipulations of the Yalta Conference. This clearly stated that forced repatriation could only take place for those refugees found in German military uniforms, those who had deserted the Soviet armed forces after the start of the war, those who had provided direct aid to the Gemian military, and those who had committed war crimes. The Soviets would have to provide written proof of these charges in each individual case.

A continual problem for refugees in the confusion of post-war Europe was that few knew the actual facts of the Yalta Conference. The newly restated guidelines were not effectively enforced until early in 1 946, and certainly were not common knowledge among the refugees. The Soviets, knowing both, tended to ignore them whenever they could get away with it. Rumour and fear abounded.

While many of the 35,000 Mennonites who had managed to get to central Europe on the Great Trek were forcibly repatriated, there were still those who had escaped the Soviet net, even in the Eastern zones.

It is in this context that the “Berlin Escape” occurred.

*

H:

John Kroeker, son of the Russian Mennonite theologian, Jakob Kroeker, had moved to the United States, and married there. He returned to Germany in 1939 to visit his aging

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parents, then was unable to leave because of the start of the war. He had lived in Berlin since 1940, working for the SS in some clerical capacity. In 1944 he visited many of the recently arrived Mennonite evacuees, likely in the Warthegau area. At the end of the war he continued his contacts with the Russian Mennonite refugees, and worked hard to register as many of them as he could. He established a small office in Berlin, called it the “Menno Centre,” and gave himself the title of “Provisional Representative of the Mennonite Central Committee.” Through his personal contacts and extensive travel throughout the Soviet zone Kroeker managed to collect a large number of refugees in the relative safety of the American zone. He had a card printed with his name and office on it, which seemed to function as identity card to help the refugees in their travels. Kroeker housed the increasing number of refugees in a partially destroyed building at Viktoria Luise Platz, but also obtained help from the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration [UNRRA], as well as the American and British military officials. He contacted the Mennonite Central Committee headquarters in North America. Kroeker, however, could not solve the long tenn problem for the Mennonites, especially arranging for transport to another country.

C. F. Klassen came to Berlin in December of 1945, and promised that the MCC would do what was possible, particularly in the sending of relief supplies. Robert Kreider visited in April of 1946 and negotiated with the American military authorities and with Kroeker. He pointed out that Kroeker could not be officially appointed by the MCC because of his blemished SS related work record, and his problem with alcohol. Kreider assumed that the American military was not about to turn the refugees over to the Soviets, despite the demands for repatriation. He also felt that someone needed to be appointed by the MCC to work on the only satisfactory long tenn solution, emigration.

In the meantime more and more refugees were collecting in Berlin. A total of 21 1 had been admitted to a UNRRA camp in Zehlendorf in Berlin, but more were arriving at Viktoria Luise Platz all the time, by June of 1946 another 125.

One day Peter Dyck received a telephone call at the MCC office in Amsterdam. It was from an American, Lieutenant Colonel W. B. Stinson, Chief of the Displaced Persons division in Berlin. He had cut the red tape for Peter to get a temporary permit to come to Berlin to help solve the refugee problem. This would entail looking after the refugees while they were in Berlin, but more importantly arranging for a country for them to emigrate to, and transportation to get them there. Peter arrived in Berlin on June 12, 1946, his wife Elfrieda followed on July 4.

Peter and Elfrieda set about their almost unsurmountable task with enthusiasm. Elfrieda stayed at the camp, and played a key role in its day to day management. Peter tried to achieve the long tenn goals, making arrangements for the eventual emigration.

As the number of refugees grew, more and more housing was required. The American military simply took Peter to an area of Berlin and asked him which houses he wanted. The first was Ringstrasse 1 07, but eventually a total of 1 2 houses were needed for the camp. An office was arranged, a central kitchen was set up. Since they had no ovens, arrangements were made with a local baker to bake bread. His payment, much more useful than money, was with MCC flour. Obtaining relief supplies from the Amsterdam MCC warehouse was a problem until a deal was made with the Dutch Red Cross. Their

119

ambulances needed to go to Berlin to pick up patients, but they travelled there empty! So now they went to Berlin loaded with MCC supplies, then went back to Holland with patients. Refugee watchmen were arranged - who also kept an eye and an ear open to anyone who might be lurking on the surrounding streets. If they spoke Plautdietsch they were undoubtedly “ours.” Elfrieda worked on the menus, to vary them as much as possible within the scope of the MCC supplies.

There were 300 children in the camp, as well as refugee teachers. A bombed out school in the area was obtained. The teachers worked out curriculum and lesson plans. All children from age six to fifteen were in classes every week day. But there were no supplies. Younger students began by learning to count and memorizing the alphabet, the teachers illustrated history and geography to the older ones by telling stories of the countries they had come through. They memorized scripture passages and songs, and did mental arithmetic.

One of the smallest houses was converted into a hospital, with one room for men, another for women, one for children and one for infectious diseases. Refugee nurses and some additional girls volunteered their services. Seriously ill patients were sent to the regular city hospitals.

While Peter Dyck was not a minister, he was still asked to officiate at funerals, and even at a wedding. With continued stay at the camp religious life needed to be organized more officially. There were few ministers among the refugees, since they had been special targets of Communist suppression. Added to this was the complication of having two major groups represented - Kirchliche and Mennonite Brethren. A church council was elected consisting of five ministers, 3 Kirchliche, 2 Mennonite Brethren. After lengthy discussion it was decided that communion should be celebrated together, but that Peter Dyck should preside. They could not obtain wine or grape Juice, and did not want to use ersatz coffee, milk or water, so they settled on something they could easily purchase at the US Army PX store - Coca Cola!

The group planned a Thanksgiving service, decorating an old gym. Sunday morning, November 21, 1946 was an exciting time. Children and young people recited poems, there was special music and a sermon. Even more special was the celebration of Christmas. The women obtained pemiission to use the bakery from 12 midnight to 4 AM to bake cookies and peppemuts. Dough was mixed in the camp kitchen, then every night a different group went for the special privilege of baking. Young adults made gifts for the children with the very limited tools and materials they had. Large boxes of gifts had also arrived from a Click family in Pennsylvania. On Christmas Eve the choirs sang, youngsters recited poems, there was a short drama, the Christmas story was read from Luke chapter 2 and there was a semion. For many of the younger people this was their first Christmas program ever. Two Americans, Colonel Stinson and Major Thompson, who were standing at the back of the gym, could not keep their eyes dry.

But the time had come to resettle the refugees. Peter Dyck had left no stone unturned for all possible negotiations, but there were difficulties at all levels - to get the refugees out of the Russian zone, to find a country for them to go to, and to find transportation to get them there. Dyck and Colonel Stinson sent in lists of the refugees to

120

the Russians, pointing out that if they could not individually prove that there were war criminals, deserters or collaborators they should, according to the Yalta Conference, be allowed to leave. Not a word from the Soviets.

In December of 1 946, with an ever increasing number of mouths to feed, it was time for action. C. F. Klassen and Peter Dyck went to the US Army headquarters in Frankfurt. After a long meeting a three part deal was hammered out. The military would transport the refugees by train, through the Soviet zone, to any port in Europe that would be designated. The MCC would find a country that would accept the refugees, and would arrange for ocean transportation. As soon as the MCC was ready they were to notify Stinson, and “Operation Mennonite” would begin.

Klassen, Dyck and the MCC office in Akron, Pennsylvania, immediately went into action. First choice of the refugees was Canada, but Canada refused to accept them without careful individual scrutiny. The reactions of USA and Mexico were the same. Only poor Paraguay, having had good experience with previous Mennonite immigrants, accepted the challenge.

Now to find an ocean transport.

Ships were hard to come by, a large amount of shipping having been sunk by submarines during the war.

Finally, through the intervention of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, arrangements were made with the Holland-America

Line to charter the Volenclam. The ship was large, with a capacity of several thousand passengers. The charter fee was $375,000. The MCC would not, even if every Berlin refugee were aboard, send a ship across the ocean only half full. Dyck and Klassen went to the Funkkaseme camp operated by UNRRA at Munich and asked the Mennonite refugees ifthey were willing to go to Paraguay. Suiprisingly there were soon 1 ,000 names on the list of those prepared to go. This thousand, plus several hundred from Holland and the Berlin refugees would nicely fill the Volendam. Things were falling into place.

Back in Berlin work started on preparing travel documents. Peter and Elfrieda were called in to see the American military, and the arrangements were confirmed. The military would obtain the train, the MCC would have the travel documents completed and have the people packed, ready to go -- but to keep the plans secret. The following Sunday all the baggage was inspected just to be sure.

Six days later, on Saturday, Colonel Stinson called with the shattering news, “The

The Ocean Liner Volendam

121

deal is off!” At a subsequent meeting Peter was infonned that General Lucius Clay, a higher ranking four-star general, had called off the deal. Peter drafted a careful letter to General Clay, pointing out the events that had led up to the situation, mentioning that in 400 years of Mennonite history there had been key individuals that had determined the fate of many people. He requested that General Clay now be the person to help the 1 ,200 refugees trapped in Berlin. Peter hand delivered the letter to General Clay’s office, and waited. After an hour or two he was invited in. Clay pointed out the risks of an “incident’ ’if the train rescue were attempted, with the possible loss of lives. Airlift was discussed, but when all the obstacles were reviewed, was abandoned. Finally the mutually agreed upon decision was to consult Washington. The answer came back quickly, “You have pennission to move the Mennonite refugees, who are Russian citizens, through the Soviet zone, provided the Russians agree.” Was this a “yes” or a “no”? Would the Russians ever agree?

Then Peter and Elfrieda went back to the refugees in Berlin and outlined what had happened. The meeting began with prayer, then Peter discussed the problem, breaking down crying. Three hundred or so refugees had already boarded the Volendam before it left Rotterdam for Bremerhaven. A train was carrying 1,000 refugees north from Munich, and they were to board the ship at Bremerhaven. As it stood the Berlin group would obviously not reach Bremerhaven. Peter was comforted by the very disappointed refugees. Some spoke of God’s leading in their lives, of the blessed time they had in Berlin, and that they ought not despair.

The next morning Peter took a train to Bremerhaven. The Volendam was already docked, with the Dutch refugees and MCC personnel on board. Soon the Munich train arrived and those refugees were added to the passengers. Would the Volendam have to leave half empty? Should the MCC find other refugees to fill the empty berths? The captain announced that he was ready to lift anchor. But there was still time - they had 36 hours in port before penalties had to be paid. The people were gathered on the top deck for a farewell service - without the Berlin group. It was to be a joyous occasion, but the singing was half-hearted, with many people crying. C. F. Klassen and Peter found it hard to find appropriate words.

Meanwhile in Berlin Elfrieda had tried to carry on. Sadness overshadowed all

Peter and Elfrieda Dyck, pictures from an MCC brochure printed in 1 946

122

activities in the camp. At a meeting with Colonel Stinson, Elfrieda was asked that just in case they should still go, how long would it take the refugees to be ready? “Just give me one hour!” she replied.

That evening the people asked Elfrieda around supper time if it would be alright to have a prayer meeting. “That’s a very good idea,”she answered. The refugees earnestly prayed for a miracle. The Volemkun was to leave the next day, so only a miracle would do! That night, as Elfrieda was going from house to house she noticed an elderly man, a Mr. Sawatzky, setting his suitcases out into the corridor. She asked him what he was doing. He replied that since he had prayed for a miracle he may as well get ready for it to happen. Word of Sawatzky’s faith spread, so others also began packing.

The next day, Thursday, January 30, Colonel Stinson called early in the morning. General Clay was going to see Marshal Sokolovsky, his Russian military counterpart, that day. Stinson suggested that Elfrieda should stay in her apartment near the telephone. Finally at 3:40 PM a call came from Captain Allen, General Clay’s secretary, asking for Peter Dyck. Told that he was in Bremerhaven, she hung up. If they could not reach Peter Dyck there, they would call back.

In Bremerhaven the joyless farewell service had just concluded when about 4 PM two American Military Police came marching up. “Are you Mr. Dyck?” they asked. They took him down the gangplank, onto a jeep and to a hotline telephone at their harbor post. The woman on the telephone asked if the Volendam was still there. “Yes,” Peter replied, “the Volendam is still here...” “Can you hold it?” she asked, “...your Mennonite people in Berlin are cleared. They can go along on your ship. Just hold it. Wait for them!” Peter raced back to the ship with the news. The captain was asked to delay departure until further notice. Peter announced over the ship intercom so everyone could hear, “God is now going to do a miracle. The Berlin group is coming!”

Then Peter and a number of others hopped onto a car and raced for Berlin, happy that the autobahn had no speed limit. They were stopped at the Border crossing at Helmstedt. “Is one of you Peter Dyck?” enquired the British officer. “I have a message for you,” he continued, “The train is gone.” Nothing more. Not sure of exactly what was meant they raced on.

In Berlin Elfrieda had waited. Since nothing seemed to be happening, and it was almost 6 PM, she ran wami water for a bath. The telephone rang. It was Colonel Stinson’s secretary. “You are to report to headquarters immediately!” When she got to the office over the icy streets she was ushered in. Ten or twelve officers were already in the room. Stinson said, “Mrs. Dyck, you probably won’t even want to sit down before I tell you what it’s all about. The Mennonites are leaving Berlin tonight. You asked for one hour to get your people ready; I’ll give you one and a half” He continued, “At 8:00 PM tonight you will have all your people with their baggage standing outside their houses. Army trucks will pick them up and take them to the railroad station Lichterfelde West. Please have men organized into work groups to help with the loading and unloading of the baggage... and please tell your people to be quiet: if possible no talking in the streets.”

Stinson then announced to the men in the room, “This is Operation Mennonite, and two things are of utmost importance: speed and a low profile.” Lichterfelde West railroad

123

station was to be cordoned off, twelve ten-ton trucks were to report to Ringstrasse 107 not later than 8:00 PM. Two days rations were to be made available for 1,115 passengers. Large cans were to be supplied so that each train car had an “emergency” toilet. As Elfrieda was leaving the office C. F. Klassen telephoned. He informed her that Peter was on his way to Berlin.

Elfrieda sped to the camp; she had to notify 1,115 people in a hurry. At the first house everything was dark - electricity had been turned off in that sector of the city to conserve energy. In the darkness she informed the refugees of the good news. God had answered their prayers! Now they had to abandon their half eaten suppers and pack in darkness, to be ready with their suitcases, out on the street, by 8 PM. All the houses and the sick bay were notified, and work gangs were organized. The group was ready when the trucks and two ambulances arrived. One ambulance was sent to a city hospital to pick up a Mrs. Janzen, who was on the maternity ward, in labour. Perhaps the appearance of the soldiers frightened her so much that the labour pains stopped. She delivered a week later.

A technical problem delayed departure. The trucks were too big. They could not tum around at the railroad station, so smaller ones were sent for. Then one of them developed a flat tire, and blocked the way to the station. Robert Kreider was at the station, fitting batteries into forty flashlights, to be distributed to the forty boxcars. He telephoned the border with the message for Peter Dyck, that the train was leaving. Stinson and Elfrieda went back to the camp to make sure that nobody was left. Every house was empty. They arrived back at the station; all the people were on board. Departure was set for 1 2 midnight.

Having received the message of the train departure at Helmstedt, Peter had continued on to Berlin. When he arrived at Ringstrasse 107 it was empty. He and his companions woke up the German housekeeper at the office and asked her to cook them a fast meal. They were going to head back to Bremerhaven, hopefully beating the train to its destination. Suddenly the telephone rang. It was Robert Kreider. “We’re at the Lichterfelde West railroad station. If you hurry you’ll make the train.” he said. Rushing past the astonished house keeper, who had plates full of food in her hands, they headed for the station. Peter greeted Colonel Stinson and jumped onto the train.

Large loaves of bread were stacked inside the boxcars. There were bails of straw and cans of water. Stove pipes stuck through the partially open doors. Just behind the locomotive was the only passenger car, with the sick people and Elfrieda on it. Moments after Peter boarded there was a short whistle, a jerk, and they were off! It was 2 AM, Friday, January 31.

Peter Reimer, a 17 year old boy at the time, remembers that evening. “The last evening we were eating supper. Suddenly, bang, it came. You can go! It didn’t take long. The military trucks came by and we were loaded on, and away we went to the train station. We were loaded onto train boxcars. An American soldier was standing at the door of each car. The train left late in the evening.”

The train stopped; it was bright sunshine outside. Peter jumped out of the train and landed knee-deep in snow. He inquired of the engineer where they were. “Helmstedt,” he answered. Peter asked “...how far are we from the border?” The engineer replied, “Two metres... if I go two more metres my cow catcher will be in the British zone.” Peter then

124

wondered out loud if it would not be possible to go ahead just a little further. He received a long lecture about the meaning of red and green lights, and that there was the additional safety of a little arm that gave signals. Peter suddenly thought that even engineers might be hungry, and tossed him a few loaves of bread. He still did not move the train, but was much more friendly.

Up ahead on other tracks the Dycks could see men wearing heavy coats and broad lapels checking the trains, car by car. What would these Soviet inspectors say when they reached the Mennonite refugees?

Then there was a click. The ann came down, and the light turned green! The engineer nodded and reached for the throttle. A slight jerk, and the train moved ahead. Peter jumped onto the train, and it moved ahead perhaps half a mile, then stopped. They were now in the British zone. Peter jumped off the train again and ran from boxcar to boxcar. “We are out!” he shouted forty times. The entire train started singing ‘'"Nun danket idle Gott" [Now Thank We All Our God].

By 2:30 AM the next morning the train pulled alongside the Volendam in Bremerhaven. It was decided to let the passengers and the ship crew sleep until morning. They boarded early on Saturday, February 1 . This time it was truly a happy event. Each person received a hot steaming mug of cocoa, and was escorted to the appropriate berth. The Munich and Holland groups were eager to meet their relatives and friends. In all, of the 1,115 people who escaped from Berlin, 928 boarded the Volendam for Paraguay, the others remaining in West Germany. At 4 PM on February 1 the Volendam lifted anchor and sailed out of Bremerhaven, heading for Buenos Aires. On board were 2,203 refugees, accompanied by Peter and Elfrieda Dyck.

Siegfried Janzen stayed in Berlin to clean up after the hurried departure. MCC food supplies were disposed of Houses were de-requisitioned, and airangements were made for any late stragglers who might show up.

Peter Dyck sent a letter of thanks to General Lucius D. Clay, and received this reply, “Your letter of 9 July made me very happy, not because I was able in a small way to help the Mennonite refugees to leave Berlin, but to know they have found a home. They are fine people and deserve the opportunity to live as free men.”

*

*

*

To Peter and Elfrieda Dyck, and to the 1,115 Mennonite refugees, it appeared that God had directly intervened, and had done a miracle. The Red Sea had been parted and crossed. Exactly how God accomplished this miracle is not certain. Others feel that there is a logical explanation of the anatomy of this miracle. The best explanation is that God did a miracle, and used ordinary human beings to do it!

125

126

INDEX

Villages, estates or people with bold numbers indicate that this is the prime description of that item or person

All map designations are not listed individually, for example with a map of the Molotschna, only those locations specifically mentioned in the text will be listed, not all of the 57 villages

A

Adshambet 38, 39 Agricultural Union 84 Aibar, postal station 40 Akhtiar 22 Ak Mechet 18 Akron 121

Akula (Akulla) 56, 60 Alatsch (Alach) 56

Alatsch (Alach) (neighboring estate) 56-57, 99 Albert, Prince 3 1 Alexanderkrone 81 Alexandria 31

Alexandrovsk (see Zaporozhye)

Alibai (Ali-Bai) 57 Allen, Captain 123 Alt-Berdyansk 82 Altona 40, 88 Alupka 9, 68 Alupka Palace 1 15 Alushta 9, 58, 68 Amsterdam 119 Anatolia (Western) 12, 25 Andreyevka 56, 57

Annovka (Annenfeld) 39, 58, 65, 72, 95, 96

Apanlee 57, 59, 62

Aratschick 39

Archangel 45, 83, 89, 99

Archive, Central State of Crimea 20

Argentina 80

Aristotle 31

Annenschule (Spat) 45 Annjanski 41 Artillery Bay 24 Asia 31

127

Azov, Sea of 7, 8,9, 45,59, 62

B

Baedeker, Friederich Dr 84

Baesler 57

Baesler, Heinrich 57

Bakhchisaray 8, 9, 15, 17

Balabino 101

Balaclava (town) 33

Balaclava, Battle of 25, 33, 34

Balkans 25

Baltic Sea 12, 25

Baptist Seminary 89

Baragon 38, 39, 48

Bartel, H C 72

Bartel, Maria 81

Barwenkowo 74, 77, 82, 86, 87

Baschlitscha (Buslitscha) 39, 56, 61, 72

Basel 84, 87

Bay-on-lar 57, 66

Beir, Aganetha 96

Beir (Beyer), Johann 96

Bek Bulatschi 39, 61

Bekbuslatschi (Bek Bulatschi) 39

Belarussia 14

Berdyansk 8

Berg, Anna 97

Berg, Peter (Elder) 97

children; Peter, Andreas Bergmann, K 74 Bergthal 95 Berislav 8

Berlin 60, 83, 112, 116, 117, 118, 121

Berlin Escape 118-125

Bescharan 57

Bethania (hospital) 85

Bethel College 87

Bible 31

Biejuk-Onlar Station 42 Big Three 1 13 Bijuk Station 9, 46, 101 Black Death 14

Black Sea 7, 8,9, 12, 13, 14, 20, 22,23,25,68, 118

128

Black Sea Fleet 22, 23, 25 Blumenfeld 46

Bolshevik, Communist, Soviet (Reds) 13, 60, 61, 62, 71, 72, 77, 85, 86, 88, 99, 100, 101, 120

Borongar 39

Boschmann, Abram 53

Bosporus 23

Bosporan kingdom 12

Braun, Heinrich .1 46, 77

Braun, Mr 44

Brazil 77, 81, 84

Bremerhaven 122, 123, 124, 124, 125

Britain (Great) (England) (British) 12, 14, 22, 25, 26, 31, 33, 34, 42, 112, 114, 115, 118, 119, 123, 124, 125 British Columbia (BC) 82 Brooklyn, City of (ship) 95, 96 Brotbrechergemeinde 46 Bruderfeld 39, 95, 96 Bruderfeld Church, Parker 96 Bruderfeld Church, Saskatchewan 96 Buenos Aires 125 Bulgars 12 Burnak 39 Bum ash 39

Burulcha (Burultscha) 57 Burulcha River 57 Buruntcha 57-58

Busav (Busau?) 39, 39-40, 41, 60, 88 Busav-Aktachi (Ettingerbrunn) 40, 71,81 Busav-Montenai ( Montonaj) 40 Buslitscha 39, 40 Byzantine Empire 12, 22

C

Caffia (Feodosiya) 14 California 72 Cambridge 3 1

Canada 13, 30, 41, 46, 60, 77, 78, 80, 82, 83, 85, 87, 89, 99, 121

Cathederal, St Alexander Nevsky 19, 20

Cathedral, St Paul’s 32

Cathedral, St Vladimir 24

Catherine II (Czarina) 18, 20, 22

Caucasus 12, 25, 45, 80, 99

Chaco 80

129

Chekhov, Anton 1 4

Chersonesos 12, 22

Chimtzov Mr 84

Cholera 30

Chonar Bridge 40

Chortitza 7, 8, 38, 61, 68, 86, 95

Christmas 120

Churches 71-72

Churchill, Winston, Prime Minister, 13, 112, 113, 118

Civil War, Russia 13, 19, 40, 56, 57, 81, 83, 85, 99

Clay, General Lucius 122, 123, 125

Columbia, Villa, 31

Constantinople 23, 25, 31

Comies, J 63

Comies, Johann 14, 18, 22, 46, 56, 62 Comies, Johann J 58 Comies, Johann Peter 56 Comies (nee Martens) Maria 57 Comies, Peter Heinrich 56 Crimea 1-130 Crimean Monument 32 Crimean School Board 74 Czar 62

D

Dakota North/South 39, 96 Danilovka 40, 84 Denikin, Anton General 99 Derbyshire 3 1 Dick, Anna 59 Dick, David 62

Dick, David Jakob 57, 59, 62, 66, 99 Dick, Franz 62

Dick, (nee Schmidt), Katharina 62 Dick, Peter 57 Dick, Peter Jakob 59

Diumien (Djunneng) (Schottenruh) 40, 41, 42, 43, 71

Dniepr, River 7, 8, 18, 101

Dschav-Boryu (Dzchaga-Shekh-Eli) 41

Dschav-Boryu (estate) 58, 61

Dschyaga Baschi 40, 61

Dshangoj, Station 41

Dueck, Johann 43

130

Dueck, Justina 88

Dueck (nee Driediger), Katharina 43

Duerksen (nee Komelsen) Anna 43

Duerksen, David Gerhard Elder 6, 45, 72, 74, 80, 84, 90

Duerksen, Frank Dr 80

Duerksen, Jakob 43

Duerksen, Johann 80

Duerksen Johann (Hans) 21, 43

Duerksen (nee Heinriehs) Kaethe 43

Duerksen, Kaethe 80

Duerksen (Durksen), Martin 6, 80, 90

Duma 61, 86

Duteh, Netherlands, Holland 45, 119, 120, 121, 122, 125

Duvanka 30

Dyck, Anna 1 1 0

Dyck, Elfrieda 119-125

Dyck, Isaak 80

Dyck, Jakob 60

Dyck, Jakob 60

Dyck, Johann 60

Dyck, Katharina 60

Dyck, Maria 76

Dyck, Maria 84

Dyck (nee Pankratz) Maria

Dyck, Peter 119-125

Dyck. Peter Isaak Dr 80-81

Dyck (nee Reimer) Sara 60

Dzchaya-Shekh-Eli 63

Dzhangrav 56, 58

Dzhankoy 9, 15, 58, 59

Dzhankoy-Kerch Railway 9, 15, 45

Dzhav-Boryu 59

E

Ebenfeld (Kurt-Itchiki) 9, 41, 56, 83, 99

Ebenfeld , Samara 82

Ediger, Alexander 60

Ediger, Franz 74

Ediger, Heinrich S 40, 46, 47

Ediger, Mr 68

Ediger, Peter 39

Egypt 3 1

Ekaterinoslav City 85

131

Ekaterinoslav Province 85 Elbe River 1 18 Embly Park 32 Engbrecht, Margaret 96 Engbrecht, Peter 96

daughter Anna England, Church of 3 1 Enns, David 74 Enns, Komelius 72 Epp, Dimitri 57 Epp, Johann 57 Epp, Komelius 57, 66 Epp, Komelius (Jr) 57 Epp, Nicholas 57 Erlger Mr 74

Esau (nee Martens), Agnes 59 Esau, Agnes A 82 Esau, Dietrich Dietrich 59 Esau (nee Janzen), Elisabeth 47 Esau, Heinrich 47 Ettingerbrunn 40, 44, 71

Ettingerbrunn (Busav) Mennonite Church 71, 81 Euclid 31

Eupatoria 14, 21, 25, 60, 84

Europe 14,31, 112, 118, 121

Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church 72, 85

F

Falantush 41

Fast, Johann 57

Fast, Maria Wiens 81

Fast, Mr 42

Fast, Peter A 57

Fast, Susanna 82

Feodosiya 8, 9, 14, 16, 59, 85

Feodosiya Castle 16, 85

Femheim 41, 57

Femheim 80

Fleet, Russian Black Sea 13 Florence, Italy 31

Forsteidienst (Forestry Service) 30, 82, 106-108 France (French) 12, 14, 22,25,26,29,31,33, 112, 118 Frankfurt 121

132

Franzfeld 41

Franzfeld, Molotschna 41 Franztal 82 Friedensdorf 101 Friedensstimme, Die 77, 83, 84 Friedrichsen, Karl 74 Friedrichsen, P, Elder 40, 71, 81 Friesen, Abraham Elder 71, 81, 85 Friesen, Abram 1 10 Friesen, Johann 72 Friesen, Martin Jakob 81 Friesen, Paul 82

Friesen, Peter Martin 6, 23, 81-82, 90 Frizen Party 23 Froese (Barwenkowo) 82 Fuerstenwerder 101 Funkkaserne 121

G

General Kornilov, Cruiser 23 Genoa 12, 14

German (Germany) 12, 13, 19, 23, 31, 38, 39, 40, 44, 57, 68, 72, 74, 80, 81, 84, 87, 89, 99, 101 112, 116, 118, 124, 125 German Baptist Seminary 77 Glick 120

Gnadenfeld, 21, 40, 44, 45, 82, 85 Gnadenheim 101 Gnadental 84 Goertz, H 6

Goerz, Abram Elder 82

Goerz, Agnes 82

Golden Florde 12

Goossen (nee Reimer) Anna 60

Goossen, David 61, 86

Goossen, Jakob 60

Goths 12, 18

Greece (Greek) 12, 14, 18,22 Gulyaipole 85 Gursuf 68

Gypsies, The Crimean 101-104 H

Halbstadt 42, 45, 68, 74, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88

133

Hamburg 77, 81, 84, 89, 95 Hamilton 84 Hammonia (ship) 95 Hampshire 31 Harder, David E 72 Harder, Elisabeth 97 Harder, Jakob, Minister 42 Harder, Johann 97

children: Johanna, Elisabeth, Abraham, Isbrand, Heinrich, David Harley Street, London 31 Heidebrecht, Peter C 106 Heidelberg, University of 87 Heinrichs, Katharina 80 Helmstedt 123, 124 Herbert, Sydney 3 1 Herder (ship) 95 Hero City 23 Hierschau39, 95,96, 101 Hildebrand, Abram 101 Hochfeld41, 44 Hofer, D M 72 Hoffnungsberg 58 Holland (see Dutch)

Holland-America Line 121 Hospital, Dr Muehlenthal 18 Hospital, Dr S Levin 18 Huebert, Aganetha 46 Huebert, Maria 85 Huebert, Nicolai 101 Huns 12

I

Igrilik 58 India 25, 87, 89 Inkerman, Battle of 25 Iron Curtain 1 12 Isaak, Gerhard 46 Isaak Estate 58 Isaak, Peter 58, 68 Isaiev, Borys 20 Italy, 3 1

134

J

Jager, Abraham de 40

Jalatusch 41, 43

Janzen, Abram 43

Janzen, Dietrich 59

Janzen (nee Martens) Helena 58

Janzen J 84

Janzen, J D 74, 82, 90, 99 Janzen, Jakob 19 Janzen, Jakob 57 Janzen, Jakob 58 Janzen, Jakob 101 Janzen, Jakob Estate 58 Janzen, Johann 42 Janzen, Komelius 71 Janzen, Komelius 74 Janzen, Maria 74 Janzen, Mrs 124 Janzen, Peter 39 Janzen, Peter Estate 58-59 Janzen, Peter P 58, 59 Janzen, Sara 43 Janzen, Siegfried 125 Japan 23, 112 Jeretnaja 83 Jews 20, 23 Joffe, Adolph 20 Johannesfeld 46 Johannesmh 47

K

Kaban 41

Kadagai 41, 99

Kadet Party 23

Kansas 39, 72, 87, 88, 95, 96

Kara (Klein Tschakmak) 41

Karaganda 85

Karassan, 8, 9, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 46, 48, 49, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 65, 74, 80, 82, 85, 87

Karassan Conference 44

Karassan Maedchenschule 42, 74, 76, 82

Karassan Mennonite Church 46,71, 81, 85, 88

Karassan Zentralschule 10, 42, 74, 75, 77, 80, 82, 106

Karakuch 42

135

Karlsruhe 87 Kasantschi 42 Kasany 81

Kastell Mountain 58, 68 Kazakhstan 45, 85, 99, 100 Keneges 59 Kerch 44 Kerch 8

Kerch Peninsula 9 Kerkinitis 14

Keystone-Elgin Watches 19

Khan’s Palace 15

Kharkov 18,20,23,86

Khanate (Crimean) 12, 15

Khazar 14

Khazars 12

Kherson 7, 8

Khrustalny, Cape 24

Kievian Rus 12

Kipchaks 12

Kiptschak 42

Kirchliche 120

Kitai (Kitay) 42, 59

Klassen, Abraham 59

Klassen, Abraham Estate 59

Klassen, Abram 68

Klassen, Abram Jakob 19, 82-83, 106

Klassen, CF 119, 121, 122, 124

Klassen, Gerhard Abraham 62

Klassen, Helena 81

Klassen, Jakob P 82

Klassen, Maria 86

Klassen, Peter 48

Klassen, Peter 60

Klassen, Peter 83

Kleine Gemeinde 39, 58, 72, 88

Klochkova, Yana 20

Kolkhoz 100

Kommerzschule 8 1

Kommission fuer Kirchenangelegenheiten (KfK) 83 Konrad, Hemiann Elder 71 Konrad, Jakob 42 Kornelsen, Jakob 43

136

Korsun 22 Krauel 84

Kreider, Robert 119, 124

Krimmer Mennonite Brethren 39, 58, 72, 88, 95, 96 Krivoy Rog 8

Kroeker, Abraham Jakob 6, 83-84, 91, 99 Kroeker, Helena 1 1 0

Kroeker, Jakob Jakob Elder 83, 84, 91, 1 18 Rroeker, John 118, 119 Krushchev, Nikita 20

Kurman-Kemeltschi Station 9, 40, 41, 42, 45, 59, 61, 65 Kursk 18,23 Kutievka 43 Kutjuki 43

Kutschuk (Kultschuk) 43

L

Landskrone 101 Langemann, Johann 45, 84, 91 Langeniann, Martin 5 1 Lengua Indians 80 Lepp, Aaron Elder 80 Letkemann, Peter Elder 71 Licht am Osten 84 Lichterfelde West 123 Light Brigade 25, 33-34 Livadia Palace 14, 112, 114 Liverpool 95, 96 Loewen, Dietrich 96

children: Friedrich, Marie Loewen, Helena 95 Loewen, Isaak 96

son Heinrich Loewen, Jakob 95

children: Heinrich, Komelius, Marie, Franz Loewen, Jakob 95

children: Jakob, Marie, Helene, Katharina Loewen, Jakob L 96 Loewen, Justine 96 Loewen, Marie 95 Loewen, Sarah 96 London 31, 32

Lustig Anton D, Estate Owner 39, 40

137

Lustigstal 43

Lutheran 38, 39, 44, 57, 85

M

Makhno, Nestor 13 Makut (Makum) 59 Malakhov, Fortress of 22 Malakoff (Malakov) Hill, 25, 28 Margaret’s St, Church 32 Margenau 80, 84, 88 Marianovka (Dick) 59-60 Mariupol 8

Martens (nee Schroeder), Albertine 58

Martens, Anna 86

Martens Golden Wheat 58

Martens, Heinrich 84

Martens, Heinrich, Elder 40, 71,81

Martens, Heinrich 86

Martens, Jakob Gerhard

Martens, Katharina 86

Martens, Sarah 81

Martens, Wilhelm Johann 58, 59, 86

Martins, Anna, Doctor 21, 60, 67, 84-85, 91

Martins, Anna (wife of Heinrich) 67

Martins, Heinrich W 60, 67

Martins, Jakob 60

Martins, Johann 60

Martins, Peter 60

Martins, Wilhelm Wilhelm 60, 67, 84

Martins, Willie 60

Matthies, Abraham 44

Medici 1 1 5

Mediterranean Sea 25

Melitopol 8, 61, 86, 88, 101

Melitos 14

Memrik 43, 85

Menlerchik 9, 43, 44, 45, 46, 80, 83, 84, 86, 88, 99 Menno Centre 1 1 9 Mennonite 1-130, 118, 119

Mennonite Brethren (Church) 6, 45, 46, 59, 71-72, 77, 80, 82, 83, 84, 86, 87, 89, 120 Mennonite Brethren Bible College 78, 87 Mennonite Brethren, Krimmer 6, 13

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) 119, 120, 121, 122, 125

138

Mennonite World Conference 84 Mennozentrm 87 Mexico 82, 83, 99, 121 Middle East 25 Minnesota 84 Mithradates IV, King 22

Molotschna 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 22, 23, 30, 38, 39, 40, 42, 45, 46, 56, 58, 71, 72, 74, 80, 81, 82 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 95, 100, 101 Molotschna Teachers Association 58 Mongols 12 Montana! 60, 67, 84 Montonaj 40 Morre (More) 43, 56, 61

Moscow 41, 43, 46, 77, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, 99

Mountain Lake 84

Muensterberg 40

Muni ( Mumij) 38, 44

Munich 121, 122, 125

Muntau 81

N

Naimann 85

Nakhimov, Paul, Admiral 22 Naples, 31 Nazi 87, 112, 118 Netherlands (see Dutch)

Neufeld Abram 57 Neufeld, Gerhard 19, 21 Neufeld, Hermann 21, 42 Neufeld Mill 101 Neufeld, Mr 61

Neufeld, Nicolai (Nicholai) 19, 21 Neu Telentschi (Tellentschi) 60 New Russian University 85 New York 72, 95, 96 Newton

Nicholas II Czar 14

Nightingale, Florence 6, 25, 26, 31-32

Nightingale, William 31

Nikolayev 8

North America 1 19

Novonikolsk 44, 61, 86

Novoselivs’ke 60

139

Nurse 31

O

Odessa 7, 81, 82, 85, 106 Ogus-Tobe 14, 44,57,68 Ohlendorf, Otto 20 Ohrloff56, 74, 82, 87 Ohrloff Zentralschule 86, 87, 88 Olympic Medals 20 Ontario 85

Operation Mennonite 123 Ottoman Empire 12, 25, 26

P

Pacific Ocean 12, 25 Pacific War 1 12 Palatinate 38, 81 Pankratz, Elisabeth 95 Pankratz, Jakob H 95

children; Heinrich, Peter, Johann, Franz, Abraham, Anna, Jakob, Wilhelm, Marie Pankratz, Katharina (wife of Jakob) 95 Paraguay 40, 41, 43, 45, 46, 47, 61, 77, 80, 87, 99, 121, 125 Paris 22

Paris, Congress of 25 Paris, Treaty of 25, 26 Parker 95, 96

Pasha-Chokmak ( Hochfeld) (Gross-Taschakmak) 42, 44, 71

Pavlograd District 85

Penner, (nee Schroeder), Anna 60

Penner, Anna Estate 60

Penner, Wilhelm 60

Pennsylvania 120, 121

Perekop 9, 18, 43, 57

Perekop Isthmus 9, 12

Perekoper Way 18

Peters, Hermann 46

Philipptal 46

Phylloroxea 106, 109

Phylloroxea Unit 106

Plautdietsch 120

Poland 112

Potsdam Conference 1 12 Professor’s Nook 58, 68

140

Progressive Party 86 Psychiatry 85 Purge, Great 19, 101

R

Raabe, Friedrich, Elder 40, 71

Raduga Publishing House 83, 84

Red Army 13, 19, 23

Red Cross 1 19

Red Sea 125

Regier, Jakob 40

Regier (nee Wall) Maria 40

Reimer, Gerhard J 77, 78, 99

Reimer, Jakob 60

Reimer, Margaretha 85

Reimer, Peter 1 9

Reimer, Peter 124

Rempel, Agatha 2 1

Rempel, Hermann Aron Elder 71, 85

Rempel, Hermann 71, 72

Rempel, Maria 21

Retreat Centre 68-69

Revolution (Russian) 40, 56, 61, 83, 85, 99 Riga 99

Ringstrasse 107, 119, 124 Roman (Romans) 12, 22 Romania 83

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, President 13, 112, 113, 118

Rosenort 83

Rotterdam 122

Roubaud, Franz 23, 27

Ruddel 85

Rueckenau MB Church 45, 71 Rumania 23

Russia Russians (also Soviet Union) 7, 8, 12, 13, 15, 18, 20, 23, 25, 26, 29, 33, 34, 45, 59,61, 74 77, 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 95, 101, 106, 1 12, 114, 118, 121, 122, 123, 125 Russian Imperial Navy 99 Russo-Japanese War 23

S

Sabantschi 44 Sagradovka 7, 8, 74

Salgir River 9, 18, 39, 42, 46, 52, 65, 71

141

Salgirka (Salgir-Kiat) 60 Samara 21, 82 Sandhof 86

Sanitaetsdienst (Medical Orderly Service) 19, 30, 82, 87, 88, 106, 1 10 Sarabus, Station 18, 45, 52 Sarabaschk (Sarabasch) 40, 60, 81 Sardinia 12, 22, 25

Sari-Bash (Sary-Bash)(Ettingerbrunn) 38, 40, 44

Sari-Pasha-Chokmak (Hochfeld) 44

Sarona (Ssarona, Saroni) 44-45, 56, 99

Saskatchewan 72, 85, 96

Sawatzky, Agnes 85

Sawatzky, Jakob J 85

Sawatzky, Mr 123

Sawatzky, Peter Jakob, Doctor 14, 85-86

Sawatzky, Woldemar 85

Schaefer, Mr 21

Scharkov, Sergy 21

Schellenberg, David Elder 71, 80

Schellenberg, Peter 43

Schirin 45, 56, 59, 62

Schmidt, Mrs Peter 11 (Marie Wilhelm Schmidt) 59, 62

Schoenthal (Ischung-Kemeltzky) 45, 72, 80

Schonuk (Sclmuk) 45

Schottenruh (Diurmen) 40, 88

Schroeder, Heinrich Estate 60-61

Schroeder, Heinrich Peter 60

Schroeder, Johann 58

Schroeder, Margaretha P 61, 86

Schroeder (nee Janzen), Margaretha 58, 61

Schroeder, Peter Heinrich 39, 40, 43, 44, 46, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 65, 86, 92

Schroeder, Peter H Estate 56, 57, 61

Schroeder, Peter Peter 40, 61 , 86, 92

Schroeder, Peter P Estate 56, 61

Schroeder, Wilhelm Peter 61

Schroeder, Wilhelm P Estate 61-62

Schwestertal 87

Scot 40

Scutari 25, 31

Seminonova, Anna 45

Sergejewka 45

Sevastopol 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 18, 20, 22-24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 61, 82 Sevastopol Evangelical Brotherhood 23

142

Shatylov 62 Shirin 45

Siberia 19, 46, 85,99, 100, 101, 112 Sibulon 83 Silesia (ship) 95

Simferopol 8, 9, 12, 14, 18-21, 30, 43, 45, 57, 60, 62, 81, 82, 83, 86, 88, 95, 96, 106, 110

Simferopol University 19, 21, 81, 84

Simmental

Sinop 22, 25

Sevastopol 82

Skyliir, King 1 8

Smith, Frances 3 1

Sokolovsky, Marshal 123

Solowki 88, 89

South Dakota 72, 95

Southern Bay 24

Sparrau 81

Spat 8, 9, 18, 19, 21, 42, 43, 45-46, 50, 51, 52, 53, 59, 60, 71, 72, 74, 80, 82, 83, 84, 86

Spat Zentralschule 45, 51, 74, 75

Stalin, Joseph 1 3, 99, 1 1 2, 1 1 3, 1 1 5, 1 1 8

Steinthal 89

Strauss, August 71

Stauss, Johann 21

Stinson, WB 119, 120, 121, 123, 124

Stuttgart 84

Sultan Bazar 46, 61

Switzerland 81, 84

Sythians 12, 18, 22

Szaki (spa) 82, 106

T

Tamak 59, 62 Tamak (Dick) 62, 64, 66 Tamak (Schmidt) 59, 62, 64 Taman Peninsula (Russia) 12 Taschlickdais, Station 39 Taschtschenak 60, 61, 81, 86 Tashlider Station 43

Tatars (Crimean) 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 57, 59, 68, 88 Taurida Mountains 9 Taures 12

Taurida (province, governate) 9, 12, 18, 20 Tehran Conference 1 12

143

Teichrieb, Franz T 19, 101 Telentschi 60, 62

Temir-Bulat (Philipptal) 46, 86, 87 Tennyson, Alfred Lord 25, 33, 34 Terek 80

Termentschi (Termenchi) 62 Thanksgiving 120 Thiessen, Elisabeth Abraham 62 Thiessen families 46 Thiessen, Johann 62 Thiessen, Johann 62 Thiessen, Johann Estate 62 Thiessen, Konstantin 62 Thiessen (nee Schroeder), Marie 62 Thomas’s Hospital, St 31 Thompson 120 Tiege 82

Tjart, Johann 62, 71 Tjart, Mr 42 Toews, Jakob 59 Toews, Johann 57 Toews, Katharina 86 Tokmak 8

Tokmak Estate 62-63 Toksaba 46

Tokultschak (Johannesfeld)(Johannesruh?) 44, 46, 57, 87

Tolstoy, Leo 14, 22

Topalov, estate owner 46

Topalovka 46, 48, 56

Totleben, E 1 General 22

Trek, Great 46, 1 1 8

Tschemigowka 101

Tschetter, J W 72

Tschongraw 8, 9, 13, 42, 46, 77, 89, 100, 101

Tschongraw, Bible School 6, 13, 19, 46, 57, 77-78, 87, 89, 99, 101

Tsushima Straits, Battle of 23

Tuberculosis 83

Tudor 115

Tukulchak (Johannesruh) 47, 72 Turkey (Turkish) 13, 14, 22, 33 Turner County 96 Typhoid 60

144

u

Ufa 19,21

Ukraine 7, 8, 12 , 13, 20, 74, 106 Union of Freedom, Truth and Peace 23 Unitarian 31

United Nations 112, 119

United States of America (USA, America) 13, 30, 39, 46, 59, 72, 77, 84, 88, 95, 96, 99, 112, 114 118, 119, 120, 121, 123, 124 Unrau, Peter D 45, 53

Unruh, Abraham Heinrich 6, 46, 74, 77, 78, 86-87, 89, 92, 99, 106 Unruh, Benjamin Heinrich 6, 46, 87, 92 Unnih, Gerhard 87 Unruh, Heinrich 71

Unruh, Heinrich Benjamin Elder 46, 71, 87-88

Unruh, Johann 95

Unruh, Katharina 95

Unruh (nee Sperling) Katharina 95

Unruh, Komelius B 86, 87, 88

Unruh, Peter 47

Unruh, Tobias 95

Unruh children: Peter, Komelius, Heinrich, Tobias, Maria, Aganetha Ural (mountains) (region) 89 Uspensky Cave Monastery 1 5

V

Venice 12

Victoria, Queen 31

Victoria Luise Platz 1 19

Vincent de Paul, St 31

Vogt (nee Enns), Elisabeth 43

Vogt, Heinrich 43

Voinski Volost 57

Volendam (ship) 121, 122, 123, 125

Volga River 81

Vorontsov, Mikhail 1 15

Vorontsov Palace 1 15

Voth, Johann 40, 42

W

Waldheim, Molotschna 87,101 Waldheim, Sask 96 Wall, Bernhard 41 Wall, Gerhard J4 1,42

145

Wall, Johann 41 Wall, Komelius 45 Wall, Komelius 60 Wall (nee Harder) Sara 41 Waterloo Plaee, London 32

War, Crimean 6, 12, 13, 14, 18, 22, 23, 25-29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 106

War, World War 1 13, 19, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 63, 68, 72, 82, 88, 106, 1 10

War, World War 11 13, 19, 23, 24, 46

Warkentin, Franz 101

Warkentin, Komelius 39, 47

Warkentin, Philipp 46

Warthegau 1 19

Washington 122

Wedel, Heinrich 39

Wellow, East 32

Wemigerode 84

West Pmssia 86

White Arniy 13, 19, 23, 60, 99

White Sea 12,25, 88

Wiebe (nee Unmh), Anna 88

Wiebe, Jakob Elder 71, 87, 96

children: Katherine, Jakob, Johanna Wiebe, Jakob A 13, 39, 72, 88 Wiebe, J J 83

Wiebe, Johann Johann 88-89, 106 Wiebe, Johann J 88 Wiebe, Juliana 96 Wiebe (Philipp) 63

Wiebe, Philipp Jakob 39, 41, 46, 56, 58, 63, 99

Wiebental (Muni) 44

Wiens, Anna 1 10

Wiens, B B 68

Wiens, C 68

Wiens, F 45

Wiens, Gerhard 89

Wiens, Gerhard 101

Wiens, Hans 46

Wiens (nee Hildebrand), Helena 89 Wiens (nee Wiens) Helena 89 Wiens, Jakob 43 Wiens, Jakob J 77, 78 Wiens, Johann Gerhard 46, 89, 93, 99

146

Wiens, (nee Friesen) Susanna 89

Wiesenfeld 85

Wilhelmina, Queen 121

Willms (neeWohlgemuth) Eva 43

Willms, Komelius 43

Wilmsen, Maria 74, 76

Winkler Bible School 1 3, 78, 87, 89

Winnipeg 84

WitmarsLim 84

Wohldemfuerst 82

Wohlgemuth,