Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

s colony of some seven or eight villages had suffered very heavily through crop failures, but less from oppression than some others. Through the influence of their Mr. Riesen, who was on the good side of the officials, they had been declared a model agricultural colony. On the basis of this they received all the seed grain that they could plant, which made their future brighter. “New Samara” is another once prosperous colony several hundred miles to the southeast of the city of Samara. Conditions there were bad, especially in some of the villages. Practically all the stock had perished for want of feed, even though the people had uncovered the roofs of buildings in order to obtain and use the age-old straw as feed for their stock. A number of houses had only one small corner of roof, under which the family found shelter. If a kind Providence had not directed that these villages obtain help from America as early as Christmas, and regularly after that, many would have died of hunger. As it was, only a relatively small number had actually starved to death, even though the famine was grievous. “Orenburg” is the name of another Mennonite colony about seventy-five miles northwest of the city of Orenburg, on the Ural River. Here the need was especially great. 80 FEEDING THE HUNGRY Quite a number of the Mennonites died of starvation be- fore help was brought. Although arrangements were made with the A.R.A. as early as Christmas, to send food to Orenburg, through some mismanagement or misunder- standing the first shipment did not arrive until May. The famine was so severe that field mice furnished a large part of the ration in April and May, until the A.R.A. estab- lished kitchens there some time before our supplies ar- rived. Just at the time of our visit, the brethren were very much encouragd by the arrival of a large amount of the supplies earlier allocated. At this place we also met our Bro. D. R. Hoeppner, who, though in poor health, was busily engaged in a most self-denying and faithful service. Old Samara saw the possibility of raising enough grain for its needs that summer, but New Samara and Orenburg would need to be, supported another year. What they all needed for building up again was horses or tractors. For the latter they seemed very anxious, and Miller and I felt it advisable to push this matter ener- getically and systematically in America, provided that money for reconstruction purposes be advanced only on a Joan basis, which plan was also satisfactory to the people there. d. A Final Visit with the Mennonites of the Ukraine. Immediately upon my return from the Volga District I made a hurried trip to South Russia, where Slagel and I first made a brief call at the Memrick and New York settlements. Then J bade farewell to friends in the Chor- titza and Molotschna colonies, had an interview with a number of the leaders, drove to ‘‘Fuerstenland,” and then back to Alexandrowsk.