Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

ith the outside world were almost completely cut off, and it had so far been impossible for us to discover what was the fate of Clayton Kratz. It was hoped that more could be learned at Moscow. It was known that a member of the American Red Cross, Captain Kilpatrick, had been taken prisoner by the Red army in the Crimea at about the same time, and that he had been imprisoned in Moscow. If Kilpatrick, captured in the region where the vindictive Bela Kun soon came into control, was safe, then surely the civilian representa- 166 FEEDING THE HUNGRY tive of a Mennonite organization should undoubtedly be spared. Besides, the Crimea was the last stronghold of the Wrangel troops, and it was to be expected that in the unhappy cities and towns of that sunny peninsula, where the last mad rush of the victor and the vanquished took place, there blind rage would vent its fury without mercy. Clayton, however, had remained several hundred miles in- land, to the north, in the quiet villages of the Mennonite countryside. Why should not he go unharmed there? Or, if not allowed to live quietly in the village, then perhaps a detention camp or a prison. But at that time we did not know of the Lett, Bagon, who as head of the local Government temporarily held the fate of a county, mostly Mennonite, in the merciless grip of his bloody and venge- ful hands. When the agreement between the American Relief Administration and the Soviet Government was made at Riga, it specifically stipulated that all Americans detained in Russia must be released and allowed to leave the coun- try if they so desired. “The Soviet Authorities having previously agreed as the absolute sine qua non of any assistance on the part of the American people to release all Americans detained in Russia and to facilitate the departure from Russia of all Americans so desiring, the A.R.A. reserves to itself the right to suspend temporarily or terminate all of its relief work in Russia in case of failure on the part of the Soviet Authori- ties to fully comply with this primary condition or with any ‘condition set forth in the above agreement.” Thus without applying pressure through diplomatic chan- nels the Soviet prison doors were unlocked and throws open for Americans. Hope for the reappearance of Clay:= ton Kratz, was greatly increased. Before leaving Riga for Moscow I had given to thx American Consulate and to the American Relief Adminis- tration all the information available concerning the dis- appearance of Clayton Kratz, urgently requesting each to UNSEALING THE CLOSED DOOR 167 take whatever steps would be necessary and possible to hasten his discovery. Several American journalists going into Russia were also appealed to. Again, in Moscow the A.R.A. was reminded at various times. I myself went to the Soviet Foreign Office at Moscow to make inquiry about his case but was not able at any time to see either Tchitcherin or Litvinov. The best