Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

sentative of the American Mennonites to come to Kharkow to ne- gotiate a contract there. They had impressed it on Janz that the settlements he represented could not hope for assistance from the American organization unless a con- tract would be made. We met at the home of Peter F. Froese and Cornelius F. Klassen, on the Vladimirsky Chausse, on the very edge of Moscow, and about four miles from the Savoy Guest House. Froese and Klassen were the officially appointed representatives at Moscow for the Mennonites of Russia outside of the Ukraine. The four of us discussed the situation and it was consid- ered best that I accompany Janz to Kharkow. To go from Moscow in the North to Kharkow in the South was much like going across any political boundary. The visa of the Ukrainian Government representative in Moscow was necessary. As I had no passport, only a Consular Receipt and my Mennonite credentials, the latter document was visaed by the Ukrainian official. It was now past the middle of October, and the chilliness made it necessary for both of us to have heavy overcoats to travel on the unheated trains. Frequently window panes were missing on the cars, and the cold was very penetrat- ing. ‘Two fur overcoats were procured, some food sup- UNSEALING THE CLOSED DOOR BS plies, and we took our places in the sleeping car of the special Moscow-Rostow train. We started at seven in the evening and arrived at four the next afternoon in Kharkow, the capital of the Ukraine. Here again no hotels, and the Guest House with the reputation for discomforts. Janz took me with him to the home of a friendly Jewish doctor, who had previously given him valuable assistance. His medical practice was small. Doctors were not permitted to make a charge for their services. We occupied his office, and took our meals with the family. Dinner was usually served between twelve-thirty and two o’clock at night. Breakfast con- sisted of bread and tea, sometimes with butter. One or two members of the much-feared Tcheka also roomed and boarded there. These secret agents occasionally brought food supplies that were not available for the ordinary individual. We helped to eat some chocolate bars which they generously shared with us. Before leaving Moscow I had prepared two contracts, one for the American Mennonite Relief, and the other for the Holland Mennonite Relief, each worded so as to guarantee practically all the favorable conditions of the Riga agreement of the American Relief Administration. Arrived at Kharkow, the following letter was sent to the Foreign Office in answer to their invitation: Kharkow October 13, 1921. To the Peoples Commissariat for Foreign Affairs Mr. Kowaljew, Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, Kharkow, Sir: In response to the cordial invitation sent to me through Mr. Janz, I have come to Kharkow. It affords me great pleasure as the representative of the American Mennonite Relief and of the H