Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

South Russia, was called upon to give his fresh young life while helping his brethren who had fallen among mur- derers. “Tn as much as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me.” “He that loses his life for my sake, shall find it.” Early in the fall of 1920 the first two brethren from America, Orie Miller and Clayton Kratz, arrived in Halb- 344 FEEDING THE HUNGRY stadt, to begin the relief work of the American Men- nonites among our brethren of the household of faith. At that time the need of the Molotschna colonies was not especially great, although some villages were already suffering, particularly those through which the front (the White Army against the Bolsheviks) had shifted, and which in that anxious time, had lived from day to day as they could, moving to safety when necessary, so that they had gathered little of their harvest. Frequently their remaining possessions had been taken away from them, so that in many homes there was real need. Everywhere local committees had been appointed, whose intention it was to relieve as much of this need as possible. At that time the Molotschna colonies were also still able to send some of their reserve supplies to the Old Colony—(Chortitza, about a hundred versts to the North), where the need was much greater. There the Machnow robbers had literally destroyed everything, leaving behind them only ruin and death. A relief committee had been called into existence in Halbstadt some time earlier, for the purpose of giving relief locally, and in other Mennonite settlements, as far as that lay in their power. But on account of the battle- front which since the end of March had been drawn be- tween the Molotschna and the Old Colony, it was impos- sible for the Committee to give help there, or to take over other districts, but plans were kept ready to begin again as soon as possible. (Before General Wrangel’s advance in the spring of 1920, when the district was under the Reds, and still in communication with the Old Colony, the Molotschna had helped there in various ways. But with the reopening of hostilities the relief had to be dis- continued. ) One day, when our committee had again come to- gether, to discuss the situation, some one reported that two CLAYTON KRATZ The man who lost his life in the effort to help the needy PERSONAL REMINISCENCES 345 American brethren were on their way from Constantinople to Halbstadt, in order to help their brethren in Russia. The committee had earlier sent an appeal to all Menno- nites in Russia and abroad, because most of us realized that need and hunger, with their whole host of spirits of destruction, approached by forced marches, and that the little means that we still had left must soon be gone. And now the American brethren hastened to the rescue. That was more than we had hoped for. We saw in this the answer to our prayers, and the fulfillment of our hopes in a ve