THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IN RUSSIA (1789 - 1910), P. M. Friesen, 1911

a) Monument in Neu-Halbatadt, 1854 (during the time of Podwod). 582 THE STATE b) Centennary monument of the Chortitier Mennonltee in Chortitza (1789-1889). Preamble 583 and scolds the crying injustice of his situation (in hearty Swabian). At home his young wife Anne-Marie is crying her eyes out and here he stands with this d— wheel. Who can fix it for him? The nearest wagon smith lives in Hoffental (perhaps also in Nassau) several hundred versts removed. If only the Tsar were aware of this situation, he would put a very speedy end to this cursed injustice, but these “gentlemen” ... In the meantime a crowd of drivers, soldiers and officers had gathered around this scolding, philosophizing and warmhearted young newlywed. At that point a commotion arises, everyone salutes very respectfully and quietly so that even "our Swabian brother” becomes attentive. Two eminent officers, slim and youthful, step out of a carriage. One of them addresses the man whose wagon wheel is broken and whose heart longs fondly for Anne-Marie, to determine what has gone wrong. The young man recounts all his grief and irritation, “If only the Tsar . . . .” “Well, my boy,” replies one of the slender officers, "It’s true, the Tsar is not here, but nevertheless you shall return to your Anne-Marie.” (The two officers were the Grand-Dukes Konstantin and Nikolai Nikolaievitsch.) One of them tears a page out of his note book, writes a few lines, and hands the paper to the young man. “There,” he says, “present this to that gentleman over there!” And in very short order Hans Georg was reunited with his Anne-Marie. What happened to the wheel is more than uncle H. in Sch. of Sagradovka can remember. If the author is unable to retell uncle H.’s story verbatim it is due to a failing memory. The substance of the story, however, is guaranteed. c) During the Turkish War of 1877-78, also, the Mennonites from Molotschna and Chortitza offered generous amounts of supplies voluntarily. As a result, the people of the Chortitza Volost possess a memorial for their patriotism in the form of a document 5 which reads as follows: “To the Chortitza Volost Administration “By order of the head of this province, as outlined in a directive dated December 19 (Number 3936) I am informing the volost administration, who will notify the settlers, of the following: Through the Minister of the Interior, a report has been made by His Excellency to Her Majesty the Tsarina who has taken very special notice of the willingness to serve on the part of the Chortitza Colony settlers (District of Ekaterinoslav). Her Majesty has been informed of the settlers’ eagerness to prepare, free of charge, a 20 bed hospital in the communal garden not far from the village of Chortitza where sick and wounded soldiers were treated and fully supported for the duration of this present war— in addition to 487 military persons who had already been dismissed from local hos