The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites to Central Asia, 1880-1884, Fred Richard Belk, 1976

auding, Refuge Becomes a Trap 165 they let it be known that the devil the Mennonites feared had com- manded them to steal and even murder if they resisted. If the Turk- omans were not shown the error of their way, the young men insisted, they would cheerfully destroy the entire colony.‘ They demanded weapons for self-defense. But the leaders of the community were not willing to go that far. Instead, they merely granted permission for the young men to form a nightly guard, to arm themselves with canes, clubs, and sticks, and to use them in a defensive way. Later, when the Turkomans attacked a house, seven young men stood in front of it to block the way, hold- ing their makeshift weapons. The robbers demanded that they move, but the night watch adamantly refused. The result was that all seven defenders were wounded. Another young Mennonite hiding on a roof became so agitated that he yelled at a Turkoman, who wheeled around, fired his rifle, and hit the young man in the head with buck- shot. Another group of guards tried to draw these same bandits away from their homes by riding some distance away. They were intercepted by a large band of riders who stole their horses.’ These diversionary tactics simply did not work. Murder of Heinrich Abrahms Unchecked in their brigandry, the Turkoman raiders at last com- mitted a truly serious crime. One day some of the natives from the tent village near ‘the hill’ had jokingly offered to buy Heinrich Abrahms’ pretty young wife, Elizabeth. This was a bad omen indeed. For the next night, a band of Turkomans crept into the Abrahms home at the far end of the village to steal Mrs. Abrahms. The pregnant wife woke up first after she heard some noise and saw lights in the living room. Abrahms himself then jumped out of bed, and hurried to the door to frighten the robbers away. But they shot him on the spot and repeatedly stabbed his body. Meanwhile his wife hurriedly slipped out of the bedroom window to take refuge in a neighbor's home across the street. Glancing back, she saw a man she recognized from the tent village with a light in one hand and a sword in the other, stealthily entering the Abrahms bedroom. Terrified, she hid under the neighbor’s bed and could only whisper, “Be quiet, they are com- ing. When the men of the village arrived at the Abrahms home, the robbers had gone. Abrahms was lying in a pool of blood with 20 to 166 The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites 30 stab wounds and a gunshot in the head. Numerous household items were missing, and the men at first feared that the Turkomans had kidnapped Mrs. Abrahms. After satisfying themselves as to her safety, they formed a search party of all the men from the flat to track down the cowardly mur- derers. As they were riding around the hill, they surprised the ban- dits in the process of dividing the Abrahms possessions. Though un- armed, Peter Unruh angrily called, ““You thieves and murderers. Wh