Misplaced Pages

#697302

98-591: The Bergthal Colony is a former Russian Mennonite settlement in what is now Ukraine . The colony consisted of five villages - Schoenfeld, Heuboden, Bergthal, Schoenthal, and Friedrichsthal - which were settled during the years 1836 to 1852 by 149 landless families from the Chortitza Colony . The settlement was located on the Bodni, a small tributary of the Berda River about 200 km southeast of Zaporizhia . During

196-585: A Constitutional Democratic party member from Crimea, was a member of the fourth Duma. At a time when compulsory education was unknown in Europe, the Mennonite colonies formed an elementary school in each village. Students learned practical skills such as reading and writing German and arithmetic. Religion was included as was singing in many schools. The teacher was typically a craftsperson or herder, untrained in teaching, who fit class time around his occupation. In 1820

294-465: A Manifesto inviting Europeans to farm Russia's unoccupied agricultural lands. Though land opportunities were scattered throughout Russia, the largest tracts available were along the banks and watershed of the Volga River south of Saratov . Colonization by non-Russians in that area also served as a buffer zone against invading Mongol hordes to the east. Colonization attempts were intensified in 1774 after

392-490: A Mennonite congregation was required to enjoy the special benefits the Russian government provided to colonists, excommunication had broader implications. This was softened by the various internal factions, which allowed a person banned from one congregation to join another. As nationalism grew in central Europe, the Russian government could no longer justify the special status of its German-speaking colonists. In 1870 they announced

490-519: A Russification plan that would end all special privileges by 1880. Mennonites were particularly alarmed at the possibility of losing their exemption from military service and their right for schools to use the German language, which they believed was necessary to maintain their cultural and religious life. Delegates were sent to Petersburg in 1871 to meet with the czar and appeal for relief on religious grounds. They met with high officials, but failed to present

588-418: A book while seated at a table. Frisian pastors stood while delivering the sermon. Pastors were untrained and chosen from within the congregation. Unpaid pastors were selected from among the wealthier members—large landowners, sometimes teachers—allowing them to make a living while serving the congregation. The combined effect of respect for their position and material wealth gave them substantial influence over

686-421: A business or farm sufficient for support. Because only the poorest Mennonites had been allowed to leave Prussia, there were no ministers among the settlers. Initially families built temporary shelters such as sod dugouts and tents while a few tried to live in their wagons. Höppner and Bartsch were able to build substantial homes. Land was divided among the families and each lived on their own land. In response to

784-612: A commission to North America in the summer of 1920 to alert American Mennonites of the dire conditions of war-torn Ukraine. Their plight succeeded in uniting various branches of Mennonites to form the Mennonite Central Committee in an effort to coordinate aid. The new organization planned to provide aid to Ukraine via existing Mennonite relief work in Istanbul . The Istanbul group, mainly Goshen College graduates, produced three volunteers, who at great risk entered Ukraine during

882-684: A delegation of twelve explored North America, seeking large tracts of fertile farmland. This group consisted of Leonhard Sudermann and Jacob Buller of the Alexanderwohl congregation representing the Molotschna settlement; Tobias Unruh from Volhynia settlements; Andreas Schrag of the Swiss Volhynia congregations; Heinrich Wiebe, Jacob Peters and Cornelius Buhr from the Bergthal Colony ; William Ewert from West Prussia; Cornelius Toews and David Klassen of

980-403: A democratic state, enjoying freedoms beyond those of ordinary Russian peasants. In addition to village schools, the Mennonite colonies established their own hospitals, a mental hospital and a school for the deaf. They cared for orphans and elderly and provided an insurance program. By being largely self-sufficient in these local matters, they were able to minimize their burden on and contact with

1078-428: A family. The confiscated land was given to peasants from outside the Mennonite communities, often communist party members. These new villagers soon controlled the local government, further confiscating land and rights from the Mennonite majority by labeling landowners and leaders kulaks and sending them into exile. The government taxed the remaining landowners so heavily that they could not possibly produce enough to meet

SECTION 10

#1732844279698

1176-675: A large tract of land divided into two "Reserves". The Mennonites settled mostly in Manitoba in areas east and west of the Red River , called East Reserve and West Reserve . Chortitza Chortitza Colony ( Khortytskyi District , Zaporizhzhia) was a volost , a subdivision of the Yekaterinoslav uezd within the Yekaterinoslav Governorate . During the times of Catherine the Great ,

1274-504: A march toward structural discord. The chaos that followed the collapse of the Russian Provisional Government was devastating to much of Ukraine, including the Mennonite colonies. The Red and White armies moved through the region, confiscating food and livestock. Nestor Makhno 's anarchist army generally targeted Mennonites because they were thought of as " Kulaks " and an entity generally more advanced and wealthy than

1372-485: A reputation for outstanding efficiency and quality and were noted across Russia for their agricultural and organizational abilities. The precedent of non-resistant national service had been established years before and the Mennonites therefore had a system to handle military service requests at the outbreak of war. During World War I , 5000 Mennonite men served in both forestry and hospital units and transported wounded from

1470-578: A restrictions against proselytizing among Russian Orthodox Church members and revocation of privileges for anyone leaving or marrying outside of the colony. Land could be inherited, so long as it remained part of the settlement. A farm could not be subdivided among heirs in order to keep intact and not to degrade the model farming practices that were the intention of the government. Upon their return, Höppner and Bartsch found that four families had already departed for Riga and hundreds more were eager to immigrate. The West Prussian authorities, though restricting

1568-481: A separate institution in 1914, expanded what had been a two-year extension of the secondary school to a three-year program. Third year students did their practice teaching at the nearby model elementary school (Musterschule). By the early twentieth century, a growing number of students extended their education to gimnaziia , schools of trade and commerce, and universities in Switzerland, Germany, as well as Russia. As

1666-530: A total population of 12,000 were exiled to hard labor in the far north or Siberia. As World War II began in 1941, the Soviet government intended to deport all the residents of Chortitza to Siberia, but the German Wehrmacht advanced so quickly, the plan could not be executed. Under German occupation, the population made a degree of recovery. But by 1943 German people were evacuated to Reichsgau Wartheland , and

1764-607: Is anecdotal and based on family memoirs and letters from the Gulags. Peter Letkemann of University of Winnipeg characterizes the casualties and abuses of this period as "victims of terror and repression in the Soviet Union during the 40-year period from 1917–1956." This would overlap somewhat with the "Siberian Germans" deported to that region who have lost touch entirely with the Mennonite mainstream worldwide. Between 1987 and 1993 about 100,000 persons of Mennonite origin emigrated from

1862-851: The Fernheim and Friesland Colonies. A group of Mennonites from western Siberia who subsequently settled along the Amur in unrealized hopes of better living conditions, escaped over the frozen river to Harbin , China. A few hundred were allowed entry into California and Washington. The majority remained as refugees until the Nansen International Office for Refugees of the League of Nations intervened and arranged resettlement in Paraguay and Brazil in 1932. Those that remained in their home villages were subject to exile to Siberia and other remote regions east of

1960-754: The Holodomor in Ukraine, there was active persecution of German-speaking people as a potential threat to the state, and a ban on organized religion. The hostilities of World War I had increased tensions with ethnic Ukrainians, and Mennonites with family members living abroad were targeted during the Great Purge . The Mennonites suffered persecution by the Stalinist regime, which advocated state atheism . As pacifists within an increasingly military regime under Stalin and then (after invasion of Ukraine and parts of Russia by Hitler )

2058-740: The Kleine Gemeinde and Paul and Lorenz Tschetter representing the Hutterites . This group returned with positive reports of good land available in Manitoba , Minnesota , South Dakota , Nebraska and Kansas . The more conservative groups—those from Kleine Gemeinde , Bergthal and Chortitza—chose Canada, which promised privileges equal to those previously held in Russia and a large tract of land to reestablish colonies in Manitoba ( East Reserve and West Reserve ). The more liberal groups—those from Molotschna—and

SECTION 20

#1732844279698

2156-575: The Low German language spoken in the area, blending into it elements of their native tongues to create a distinct dialect known as Plautdietsch . Today Plautdietsch is the distinct Mennonite language that developed over a period of 300 years in the Vistula delta region and south Russia. The Mennonites of Dutch origin were joined by Mennonites from other parts of Europe, including the German-speaking parts of

2254-678: The Russo-Turkish War when Potemkin was appointed governor general of South Russia which included territory recently won from the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire . Colonization agents advertised the availability of crown lands to people throughout Europe. One of these was Georg von Trappe, who visited the Mennonites of Danzig in 1786. The Mennonite congregations elected two delegates, Jakob Höppner and Johann Bartsch, who von Trappe arranged to send to Russia at government expense. They departed in

2352-581: The Soviet Union , the colony was converted into Khortytsia Raion, a predecessor of Zaporizhzhia Raion . In 1929–30 as part of the Soviet policy of korenizatsia , it was converted into a national district promoting development of the German language culture. Vistula delta Mennonites , mostly of Dutch descent, had lived in the Vistula delta in the Kingdom of Poland from the middle of 16th century. Because of their fast growing population, finding more arable land

2450-576: The Swiss Confederacy . In 1772, most of the Vistula delta was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the First Partition of Poland . Frederick William II of Prussia ascended the throne in 1786 and imposed heavy fees on the Mennonites in exchange for continued military exemption. The remainder of the Vistula delta was annexed by Prussia in the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. Catherine

2548-479: The Urals . From 1929 to 1940, one in eight men were removed, usually under the pretext of political accusations, to labor camps from which few ever returned or were heard from again. With the onset of economic and agricultural reforms, large estates and the communal land of the Mennonite colonies were confiscated. The next step was to reduce the model farms by 60% and then another 50% percent—an insufficient size to support

2646-626: The Vistula near Warsaw , Kazuń Nowy and Nowe Wymyśle , came under Russian control after Mazovia was annexed by Russia at the Congress of Vienna (1815). Some of these families emigrated to the Molotschna settlement after it was established. Deutsch-Michalin near Machnovka was founded in 1787. Many families from this settlement moved to nearby Volhynia in 1802. Swiss Mennonites of Amish descent from Galicia settled near Dubno , Volhynia province in 1815. Other Galician Mennonites lived near Lviv . When

2744-708: The 1870s, their leader, Bishop Gerhard Wiebe, persuaded the entire colony, consisting of about 500 families, to emigrate to Manitoba , Canada . The most conservative factions of the Bergthal Colony later established new colonies in Mexico , Paraguay , and Bolivia , while the remainder spread out through Western Canada and the Midwestern United States . Some descendants of the colony, particularly those in Mexico, continue to be known as Bergthaler , but most have dropped

2842-619: The 1880s, where they expected Christ's imminent return. They settled in the Talas Valley of Turkestan and in the Khanate of Khiva . For those who remained in Russia, the military service question was resolved by 1880 with a substitute four-year forestry service program for men of military age. During the period of the 'Great War', the Mennonites in Russia were well advanced socially and economically. Many large agricultural estates and business entities were controlled by Mennonite interests. They had

2940-632: The Americas rather than their ethnic heritage. The term "Low-German Mennonites" is also used in order to avoid this conflation. In the early-to-mid 16th century, Mennonites began to flee to the Vistula Delta region in the Kingdom of Poland in order to avoid persecution in the Low Countries —especially Friesland and Flanders —seeking religious freedom and exemption from military service . They gradually replaced their Dutch and Frisian languages with

3038-507: The Bergthaler identity. The current names of the five villages are: Ksenivka, Serhiivka, Respublica, Novoromanivka, and Fedorivka. The central village of Respublica is located at 47.251528 N, 37.198849 E . 47°15′04″N 37°11′05″E  /  47.25111°N 37.18472°E  / 47.25111; 37.18472 Russian Mennonite The term "Russian Mennonite" refers to the country which they resided in before their immigration to

Bergthal Colony - Misplaced Pages Continue

3136-478: The Chortitza and Molotschna settlements which, with population increase, numbered about 45,000. Forty daughter colonies were established by 1914, occupying nearly 12,000 square kilometres (4,600 sq mi), with a total population of 100,000. The colonists formed villages of fifteen to thirty families, each with 70 ha (175 acres) of land. The settlements retained some communal land and a common granary for use by

3234-653: The Chortitza settlement prospered. In the course of the 19th century the population of Chortitza multiplied, and daughter colonies were founded. Part of the settlement moved to Canada in 1870. Since Chortitza was the first Mennonite settlement, it is known as the Old Colony . Those who moved from Chortitza to North America are often referred to as Old Colony Mennonites and are more conservative than most other Russian Mennonites in North America. The settlement received income from communal land and enterprises. A public ferry across

3332-430: The Chortitza villages formed one district; Molotschna was divided into two districts: Halbstadt and Gnadenfeld. A district superintendent headed a regional bureau that could administer corporal punishment and handle other matters affecting the villages in common. Insurance and fire protection were handled at the regional level, as well as dealing with delinquents and other social problems. The Mennonite colonies functioned as

3430-481: The Dnieper earned between two and three thousand rubles annually, the municipal merino flock totaled about a thousand animals in 1820 and a distillery provided additional community income. These funds were used for large undertakings, such as forming daughter colonies for the growing population. The settlement's first economic setback was overcome through the effort of skilled craftsmen. Industry in Chortitza developed in

3528-504: The Great of Russia issued a manifesto in 1763 inviting all Europeans to come and settle various pieces of land within New Russia (today Southern Ukraine ) and especially in the Volga region . Mennonites from the Vistula delta region sent delegates to negotiate an extension of this manifesto and, in 1789, Crown Prince Paul signed a new agreement with them. The Mennonite migration to Russia from

3626-529: The Hutterites chose the United States. Entire communities such as Alexanderwohl and Bergtal prepared to move as a unit as well as many individual families from among the other Mennonite villages. They sold their property, often at reduced prices and worked through the red tape and high fees of procuring passports. Realizing that 40,000 of Russia's most industrious farmers were preparing to leave for North America,

3724-424: The Mennonite people and their institutions. Property and possessions began to be confiscated for the war effort and certain industrial complexes turned to military production (some voluntarily). Much of the Mennonite hope at that time was based on the preservation of the existing Russian Provisional Government . However, as the war progressed, the social tide turned against the existing power structure and Russia began

3822-979: The Molotschna colony started a secondary school at Ohrloff, bringing a trained teacher from Prussia. The Central School was started in Chortitza in 1842. Over three thousand pupils attended the Central School with up to 8% of the colonists receiving a secondary education. A school of commerce was started in Halbstadt employing a faculty with full graduate education. Those who wanted to pursue post-secondary education attended universities in Switzerland, Germany as well as Russia. Typically each village or group of villages organized an independent congregation . Cultural and traditional differences between Frisian and Flemish Mennonites were also reflected in those of their churches. They all agreed on fundamental Mennonite beliefs such as believer's baptism , nonresistance and avoidance of oaths . Pastors of Flemish congregations read sermons from

3920-581: The Nazis, and as "Volga Germans" whose abuse Hitler had used as a pretext to invade, Mennonites were subject to special pressure to join military units. Mennonites played a central role in managing the labor force at Stutthof concentration camp , and some, recruited into SS units, served as guards at concentration camps or carried out shootings of prisoners. Other Mennonites were conscripted by force into German units as support and shock troops and some participated in anti-partisan operations. Most history of this period

4018-694: The Prussian government eliminated exemption from military service on religious grounds, most of the remaining Mennonites were eager to emigrate to Russia. They were offered land along the Volga River in Samara Governorate and exemption from military service for twenty years, after which they could pay a special exemption tax. Two settlements, Trakt and Alt-Samara (to distinguish it from Neu Samara Colony ), were founded in 1853 and 1861 respectively. By 1870 about 9000 individuals had immigrated to Russia, mostly to

Bergthal Colony - Misplaced Pages Continue

4116-631: The Prussian-annexed Vistula delta was led by Jacob Hoeppner and Johann Bartsch. Their settlement territory was northwest of the Sea of Azov , and had just been acquired from the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War, 1768–1774 . Many of the Mennonites in Prussia accepted this invitation, establishing Chortitza on the Dnieper River as their first colony in 1789. A second larger colony, Molotschna ,

4214-550: The Russian government sent Eduard Totleben to the colonies in May 1874. Meeting with community leaders, he exaggerated the difficulties that would be encountered in North America and offered an alternative national service that would not be connected in any way to the military. His intervention convinced the more liberal Mennonites to stay. Between 1874 and 1880, of the approximately 45,000 Mennonites in South Russia, 10,000 departed for

4312-611: The Russian government. Mennonites stayed out of Russian politics and social movements that preceded the Russian revolution. After the Russian Revolution of 1905 they did exercise their right to vote. Most aligned themselves with the Octobrist Party because of its guarantee of religious freedoms and freedom of the press for minority groups. Hermann Bergmann was an Octobrist member of the Third and Fourth State Dumas ; Peter Schröder,

4410-466: The Soviet authorities and issued new standards and expectations. Education was to be controlled according to these new directives by the State, and families were eventually to be separated, with children sent to various live-in schools, while parents were to be assigned according to State needs. These directives were described by a Volga German teacher, Henry Wieler, who attended these State meetings and related

4508-668: The Soviet authorities. The impacts of the trauma experienced during World War I and the Russian Revolution had lasting impacts on Russian Mennonites. Even though Mennonites who emigrated to North America experienced drastically less violence and the privilege of land ownership, many still showed very high levels of psychological distress. First through third generation Mennonites in North America were found to have high levels of depression, hysteria, psychasthenia, post traumatic stress disorder, ego strength, anxiety, repression, and over-controlled hostility. Mennonites of Molotschna sent

4606-399: The Soviet government to do relief work among the villages of Ukraine (see Russian famine of 1921 ). Kitchens provided 25,000 people a day with rations over a period of three years beginning in 1922, with a peak of 40,000 servings during August of that year. Fifty Fordson tractor and plow combinations were sent to Mennonite villages to replace horses that had been stolen and confiscated during

4704-654: The Soviet government, Moscow would not deal with them directly. Emigrants bound for Canada were processed through Riga . Those who could not pass the medical exam—usually because of trachoma —were allowed to stay in Germany and Southampton in England until they were healthy. By 1930, 21,000 Mennonites had arrived in Canada, most on credit provided by the Canadian Pacific Railway . Another group went to Paraguay where they founded

4802-534: The US where the majority over a period of several decades assimilated more or less into the mainstream society. Russian Mennonites settled much of South Central Kansas , which owes its reputation as a wheat-producing state in large measure to its early Mennonite settlers. Winter wheat was introduced to Kansas in 1873. The following year the Mennonites, who had experience with dry land farming in Russia, quickly took advantage of its characteristics, resulting in rapid expansion of

4900-757: The USSR to Germany. Today in Ukraine there are three Mennonite communities in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and Kherson Oblast and a Mennonite community in Ternopil Oblast . After 1870 about 18,000 Russian Mennonites, fearing conscription into military service and state influence on their education systems, emigrated to the Plains States of the US and the Western Provinces of Canada. The more liberal went in general to

4998-563: The United States and 8,000 for Manitoba. The settlement of Mennonites, primarily in the central United States, where available cropland had similarity to that in the Crimean Peninsula, coincided with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. Others looked east, and in one of the strangest chapters of Mennonite history, Claas Epp, Jr. , Abraham Peters and other leaders led hundreds of Mennonites to Central Asia in

SECTION 50

#1732844279698

5096-445: The Wehrmacht retreated from the Soviet Union. As the Red Army entered German territory they seized refugees attempting to flee the Soviet Union. Some escaped by going deeper into Germany, but as Soviet citizens, the Allies delivered them back to the Soviets. With a few exceptions, the former residents of Chortitza were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan . There they were simply released on the bare steppe. Many did not survive. They shared

5194-488: The anarchist army warring throughout the colonies. Based on the tragedy unfolding around them, some of the avowed pacifist Mennonites turned to self-defense and established militia units ( Selbstschutz ) to ward off raiding forces with the help of the German Army. This was regarded as a failure of spiritual commitment by many within the community (currently and at the time). The forces initially achieved some military success in defending Mennonite colonies and families while

5292-440: The area was annexed by the Russian Empire after liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich . It was granted to Plautdietsch -speaking settlers (better known as Russian Mennonites ) for colonization northwest of Khortytsia Island . The territory of the former colony is now split between the city of Zaporizhzhia and its adjacent Zaporizhzhia Raion , within Zaporizhia it is part of Voznesenskyi and Khortytskyi districts. Chortitza

5390-440: The banks of the Dnieper, near present-day Kherson . Their original destination was now a battlefield because of renewed Russo-Turkish hostilities , necessitating an alternate location. They received land at a new site on Khortytsia, a small tributary of the Dnieper, near Alexandrovsk (present-day Zaporizhzhia ). The pioneering years were extremely difficult. The more prosperous Mennonites brought their possessions by wagon, while

5488-418: The battlefield to Moscow and Ekaterinoslav hospitals. The Mennonite congregations were responsible for funding these forms of alternative service, as well as supporting the men's families during their absence, a burden of 3.5 million rubles annually. During this time there was a progressive breakdown in the autonomy of the Mennonite colonies and social and financial pressure began to take their effect on

5586-421: The communists tried to take power. Things were chaotic in Ukraine during this period of constant revolution. Nestor Makhno 's army would target the Mennonite colonies. Initially the villages attempted to protect themselves with the help of the self-defense force. After Makhno entered into one of his alliances with the Red Army , it was no longer possible to resist his forces. During the period mid October 1919 to

5684-495: The communities tried to escape and/or relocate. Ultimately the self-defence militia was overwhelmed once Makhno's anarchists aligned themselves with the Red Army early in 1919. While the resistance certainly helped defend Mennonite communities against initial attacks, it may also have served to inflame some of the atrocities that followed. After this period, many Mennonites were dispossessed and ultimately their remaining properties and possessions were nationalized ( collectivization ) by

5782-423: The community. Church discipline was exercised in the form of excommunication against those who had committed sins and refused to repent and ask for forgiveness. The most conservative congregations practiced " avoidance ", which entailed cutting all business and most social ties with an unrepentant member, but members still had the obligation to help the shunned person if he was in grave need. Because being part of

5880-444: The czar with their petition. A similar attempt the next year was also unsuccessful, but were assured by the Tsar's brother Grand Duke Konstantin that the new law would provide a way to address the concerns of the Mennonites in the form of noncombatant military service. The most conscientious Mennonites could not accept any form of service that supported making war, prompting their community leaders to seek immigration options. In 1873

5978-549: The eight largest Mennonite-owned factories produced 6% of the total Russian output (over 3 million rubles), shipped machinery to all parts of the empire and employed 1744 workers. The annual output of Lepp and Wallman of Schönwiese was 50,000 mowers, 3000 threshing machines , thousands of gangplows in addition to other farm equipment. Flour and feed mills were originally wind-powered, a skill transplanted from Prussia. These were eventually replaced with motor- and steam-driven mills. Milling and its supporting industries grew to dominate

SECTION 60

#1732844279698

6076-451: The events in his detailed Journal, Tagabook, which today is partially translated but available in the published book, The Quiet in the Land, by Henry Wieler. In 1937 and 1938 the NKVD carried out ethnically motivated purges of German descendants and German language speakers, including Mennonites. As Stalin fomented cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church in World War II, Mennonites and Protestants were seen as more dangerous. During

6174-413: The expansion of Mennonite settlements locally, did not want the wealth of the Mennonites to leave the country. Only the poorest families were granted passports. Mennonite settlers, 228 families in all, set out for Russia in the winter of 1787, arriving in Dubrovna (today in Belarus ) in fall of 1788, where they over-wintered. Early in 1789 they traveled down the Dnieper River to the settlement site, on

6272-446: The fall of 1786, sailing first to Riga , then traveling cross country, arriving at the Dnieper in late November. From here they sailed down the river looking for a suitable site. They met Potemkin at Kremenchuk and were presented to Catherine in May, as she was inspecting her new territories. They found a suitable settlement location, then returned home by way of Saint Petersburg , where they met with Crown Prince Paul , who confirmed

6370-435: The fate of other Germans from Russia . After the restriction of free travel was eased in 1956, a few returned to their old home of Chortitza. Today mostly Ukrainians and Russians live there. A few Mennonites, who have either a Ukrainian parent or spouse, resettled there. Mennonite churches and ministries can now be found in Zaporizhia oblast. In Kazakhstan, Mennonites have gathered in industrial cities such as Karaganda . At

6468-448: The industrial economy of the colonies and nearby communities. Mennonite colonies were self-governing with little intervention from the Russian authorities. The village, the basic unit of government, was headed by an elected magistrate who oversaw village affairs. Each village controlled its own school and roads, and cared for the poor. Male landowners decided local matters at village assemblies. Villages were grouped into districts. All of

6566-404: The last week in December of that year, Makhno's army occupied all the colony's villages and much of the district up to Ekaterinoslav (current Dnipro ). The Makhnovists invaded the colonists' homes, murdered, raped, and spread venereal diseases and typhus. The latter epidemic ultimately infected roughly 95% of the local population, of which more than 10% died. After communists gained control over

6664-411: The lawlessness of the region, they found that it was more practical to group themselves together in villages of fifteen to thirty families. As their difficulties mounted, the settlers accused Höppner and Bartsch of keeping government money intended for colony use. Both men were excommunicated from the Flemish church and the authorities were convinced to arrest Höppner. Bartsch confessed his wrongdoing and

6762-539: The lives of Chortitza's residents. Mennonites served as medics during the war, caring for injured soldiers. For a short time after the war, the German army occupied Ukraine, including Chortitza. After the Armistice at the end of 1918 the German soldiers withdrew. A self-defense force was organized within the villages, perhaps with help and weapons from the German army. Some of the Mennonites took part in this force, even though they traditionally opposed military service on religious grounds. Civil war raged from 1917 to 1921 as

6860-434: The middle of the 19th century, mainly milling and production of agricultural machinery and clocks. The growing landless population found work in these factories. Three large factories, Lepp & Wallmann, Abram J. Koop, Hildebrand & Pries and two smaller factories, Thiessen und Rempel produced agricultural machinery in Chortitza and Rosental. The machinery was used not just by Mennonites, but all over Russia. In later years,

6958-506: The milling industry in the state. It is planted in the fall and harvested in June and July of the following summer, and is therefore ideally suited to cold winters and the hot, dry Kansas summers. Kansas remains a top producer of wheat in America to this day. The more conservative Old Colony , Bergthal Mennonites and Kleine Gemeinde went to Canada which promised privileges equal to those previously held in Russia (no conscription into military service and German language private schools) and

7056-673: The next wave of Mennonite settlers came to Russia In 1803, they over-wintered in Chortitza Colony before moving on to form the Molotschna settlement. The money spent by the new group during their stay in turn helped the Khortytsia settlement. Mennonite colonies were self-governing with little intervention from the Russian authorities. The village, the basic unit of government, was headed by an elected magistrate who oversaw village affairs. Each village controlled its own school, roads and cared for

7154-493: The next. Since agriculture was the main economic activity, an expanding class of discontented, landless poor arose. Their problems tended to be ignored by the village assembly, which consisted of voting landowners. By the early 1860s the problem became so acute that the landless organized a party that petitioned the Russian government for relief. A combination of factors relieved their plight. The Russian government permitted farms to be divided in half or quarters and ordered release of

7252-511: The obligation and their land was confiscated as payment. As collectivization proceeded, there was some hope that Mennonites could run their own collective farms , but with the introduction of Stalin's first five-year plan there was no hope that such a scheme would be allowed. Starting in 1918 religious freedoms were restricted. Churches and congregations had to be registered with the government. Ministers were disenfranchised and lost their rights as citizens. Ministers could not be teachers, which

7350-555: The ongoing Russian Civil War . They arrived in the Mennonite village of Halbstadt in the Molotschna settlement just as General Wrangel of the White Army was retreating. Two of the volunteers withdrew with the Wrangel army, while Clayton Kratz , who remained in Halbstadt as it was overrun by the Red Army, was never heard from again. A year passed before official permission was received from

7448-408: The other Mennonite settlements, functioned as a democratic state, enjoying freedoms beyond those of ordinary Russian peasants. At a time when compulsory education was unknown in Europe, the Mennonite colonies formed an elementary school in each village. Students learned practical skills such as reading and writing German and arithmetic. Religion was included as was singing in many schools. The teacher

7546-423: The others sent them by barge. When the barges arrived they found that the containers had been ransacked and valuables removed or ruined by rain. Similarly, building material sent down-river was stolen before it arrived. Many of the settlers were city laborers and tradesmen with no knowledge of farming, and the farmers among them found the dry steppes unsuitable to their former farming methods. Internal friction among

7644-442: The poor in lean years. Income from communal property provided funding for large projects, such as forming daughter colonies for the growing population. Insurance was also organized separately and outside of the control of the Russian government. Initially the settlers raised cattle, sheep and general crops to provide for their household. The barren steppes were much drier than their Vistula delta homeland and it took years to work out

7742-419: The poor. Male landowners decided local matters at village assemblies. All of the Chortitza villages formed a district headed by a superintendent and regional bureau that could administer corporal punishment and handle other matters affecting the villages in common. Insurance and fire protection were handled at the regional level, as well as dealing with delinquents and other social problems. Chortitza, along with

7840-545: The population of the colony grew and land became scarce, new areas for resettlement were sought. In 1864 land was rented from Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia to form Fürstenland, which by 1911 consisted of five villages with 1800 residents. Borozenko was formed in 1865 and by 1915 totaled five villages with a population of 600. Further colonies were established at Bergthal (1836), Yazykovo (1869), Nepluyevka (1870), Schlachtin and Baratov (1871), Ignatyevo (1888), and Borissovo (1892) Eventually an economy developed and

7938-550: The promises made by von Trappe. The special privileges included guarantees of religious freedom, exemption from military service , 70 ha (175 acres) of free land for each family, exemption from swearing oaths in legal proceedings, ability to establish their own schools and teach in their own language, the right to restrict the establishment of taverns and the ability to make their own beverages. These rights and privileges were beyond those enjoyed by common Russian peasants. There were restrictions that applied to all colonists, such as

8036-445: The proper dry-land farming practices. They grew mulberries for the silk industry, produced honey, flax and tobacco , and marketed fruits and vegetables for city markets. By the 1830s wheat became the dominant crop. Expanding population and the associated pressure for more farmland became a problem by 1860. The terms of the settlement agreement prevented farms from being divided; they were required to pass intact from one generation to

8134-421: The region, they began to appropriate grain from the landowners. Eventually the population began to starve and epidemics spread. During this time Mennonites began organizing to immigrate to Canada. In 1923 many of the former large landowners, ministers and internal refugees migrated to Canada, mainly to Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with credit provided by the Canadian Pacific Railway . In 1926 the village of Einlage

8232-437: The settlers, rooted in a long-standing division separating Frisian and Flemish branches of the church who lived in different ways, was compounded by the lack of ministerial leadership. Church leaders are traditionally selected from among the lay brothers of the congregation and were expected to serve for life as unpaid pastors. Because pastors were expected to support themselves, they were usually chosen from among those who had

8330-599: The surrounding Ukrainian peasants. The Mennonites' Germanic background also served to inflame negative sentiment during the period of revolution. It is also rumored that Makhno himself had served on a Mennonite estate in childhood and harbored negative feelings based on treatment he received while employed there. Hundreds of Mennonites were murdered, robbed, imprisoned and raped during this period, and villages including (and around) Chortitza, Zagradovka and Nikolaipol were damaged and destroyed. Many more people died from typhus , cholera and sexually transmitted diseases , spread by

8428-546: The three largest factories were combined into a single business and, after the Russian Revolution of 1917 , produced tractors and automobiles under the Saporoschetz brand. The business was confiscated from the former Mennonite owners shortly after the 1917 revolution and today is part of AvtoZAZ - Daewoo . A long period of prosperity was broken by World War I (1914–1918), which led into the Russian Civil War , interrupting

8526-485: The village's communal land. The colonies themselves purchased land and formed daughter colonies on the eastern frontier extending into Siberia and Turkestan . These new colonies included Bergtal , Neu Samara Colony and the Mennonite settlements of Altai . As wheat farming expanded, the demand for mills and farm equipment grew. The first large foundry was established in Chortitza in 1860 and other firms followed. By 1911

8624-535: The war. The cost of this relief effort was $ 1.2 million. As conditions improved, Mennonites turned their attention from survival to emigration. Though the New Economic Policy appeared to be less radical than previous Soviet reforms, thousands of Mennonites saw no future under the communists. After years of negotiation with foreign governments and Moscow, arrangements were made for emigration to Canada, Paraguay and Argentina. Because Canada had not recognized

8722-511: Was a concern. When the region became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772 through the First Partition of Poland , the Prussian Government enacted a law making it difficult for Mennonites to acquire land. This compelled a significant part of the Mennonite population to seek better opportunities in nearby cities, Danzig in particular. Believing agriculture to be the backbone of the Russian economy, in 1763 Catherine II of Russia issued

8820-497: Was abandoned to make way for the flooding from the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station dam. Many other Chortitza Mennonites suffered under the dekulakization programs of the 1920s and the collectivization of 1930. Confiscated land was given to peasants, usually Communist Party members. In May 1931, with these newest citizens of Chortitza village voted out the remaining Mennonite landowners. From 1929 to 1940, 1500 men of

8918-487: Was founded in 1789 by Mennonite settlers of Dutch ancestry from the Vistula delta and consisted of many villages. It was the first of many Mennonite settlements in the Russian Empire . Because the Mennonites living in these villages emigrated or were evacuated or deported at the end of World War II , or emigrated after the collapse of the Soviet Union , few Mennonites are living in the area today. After establishment of

9016-489: Was founded in 1804. Mennonites lived alongside Nogais —semi- nomadic pastoralists—in the Molotschna region of southern Ukraine starting from 1803, when Mennonites first arrived, until 1860, when the Nogai Tatars departed. Mennonites provided agricultural jobs to Nogais and rented pasture from them. Nogai raids on Mennonite herds were a constant problem in the first two decades of settlement. Two Mennonite settlements on

9114-588: Was prohibited. Sunday was abolished as a holiday. During World War I the Russians had permitted Mennonites to serve in non-combat capacities in the military. This practice was not continued. Following the Russian withdrawal from World War I, the Russian Civil War ensued, with an ultimate Red victory. The Russian Mennonites, many of whom were also known as being part of the one million or so Volga Germans living in their own established communities, were approached by

9212-968: Was reinstated into his congregation. Höppner was soon released from prison, moved to Alexandrovsk and joined the Frisian group. In 1889 a monument commemorating the colony's centennial was placed on Höppner's grave. It has since been moved to Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Manitoba . Initially eight villages were organized with Khortytsia as the governmental center. They included Khortytsia ( Chortitza  [ uk ] ), Einlage ( Kichkas  [ uk ] ), Insel Khortytsia (Ostriv Khortytsia ), Kronsweide ( Volodymyrivske  [ uk ] ), Neuenburg ( Malyshivka  [ uk ] ), Neuendorf ( Shyroke  [ uk ] ), Rosental ( Kantserivka ), and Schönhorst ( Ruchaivka  [ uk ] ). Another 180 families arrived in 1797–1798 to found Kronsgarten (Polovitsa) and Schönwiese (Shenvitse). The latter

9310-715: Was started in Chortitza in 1842. Over three thousand pupils attended the Central School with up to 8% of the colonists receiving a secondary education. A decree by the Ministry of Education in 1881 prohibited coeducation in secondary schools necessitating the foundation of a separate high school for girls (the Mädchenschule) in 1895. The four-year secondary programs taught religion, history, arithmetic, science, Russian and German language and literature, geography, penmanship, and art. Girls received instruction in needlecraft as well. The co-educational teacher training seminary, founded as

9408-443: Was the livelihood of many Mennonite pastors. They and their family members could not join cooperatives or craft guilds. Because of these restrictions, ministers had a strong incentive to emigrate, and few were willing to replace them. Congregations could no longer do charitable work of any kind, which destroyed the well developed social institutions with the Mennonite colonies. Villages lost control of their schools; all religious content

9506-411: Was the sole village established on the east bank of the Dnieper. Nieder Chortitza ( Nyzhnia Khortytsia  [ uk ] ) and Burwalde ( Baburka ) were founded in 1803, Kronstal ( Dolynske ) in 1809, Osterwick ( Pavlivka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast  [ uk ] ) in 1812, Schöneberg ( Smoliane  [ uk ] ) in 1816, and Blumengart (Kapustiane) and Rosengart ( Novoslobidka ) in 1824. When

9604-416: Was typically a craftsperson or herder, untrained in teaching, who fit class time around his occupation. The curriculum evolved as professional teachers gradually took their place. By the late Nineteenth Century the six grades included classes in religion, German, Russian, arithmetic, geography, history, and natural science, with difficulty appropriate to the grade. The Central Secondary School (Zentralschule)

#697302