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

e under the supervision of Mennonite clergymen, and there would be no need to carry arms. In closing, Todtleben pointed out that they were already receiving special consideration in the matter. He added that if Russia had more Mennonites as citizens there would not be as many problems nor even a need for a military machine.‘ Many at this meeting were moved to tears because of the ap- parent governmental compromise, and others, including some aspiring Turkestan migrants, abandoned their plans to leave European Russia. Nevertheless, many who trusted neither the Russian govern- ment nor its promises preferred to be free rather than be forced to serve the government. Particulars concerning their prospective journey were beginning to come into the news. As early as April 7, 1880, a German-American newspaper, Zur Heimat, gathered reports about ‘‘migration fever’ to Turkestan. About one hundred families on the Volga, led by Claas Epp, and one hun- dred families in the Molotschna, led by Abraham Peters, were pre- paring to leave their homes. They did not want to move to the west, nor did they want any kind of alternative service. Yet they had no official sanction to migrate anywhere. Consequently they appealed to influential people in St. Petersburg to obtain aid to go to Turkestan. Their requests were repeatedly denied. ® Deputation to St. Petersburg Deputies from both regions had been elected by the people to seek advice and help. Johann Epp and Martin Klaassen from Kop- pental and Abraham Peters, a dedicated minister, and Franz Buller from Molotschna had earlier gone to the governor of the Plans and Hopes 17 Caucasus asking for an order from the czar granting them freedom from alternative service and the right to go to Turkestan. The czar, they were told, rejected their appeal.* Then several other delegations were chosen to go to St. Peters- burg to request specific permission to journey to Turkestan.’ Hearing that Governor-General Kaufmann might speak in their behalf, they went to St. Petersburg to see him. He stated that he would appre- ciate their presence in Turkestan and promised to ask the czar to suspend the draft law for several years and give them the right to migrate to Turkestan. This first attempt failed, however.’ It was after this failure that they decided once again to petition General Todtleben, who had always been sympathetic to their needs. On November 1, 1879, they appealed to him for permission to go to Turkestan under the provisions of the migration law of June 1871. Todtleben is reported to have answered somewhat equivocally: I love and esteem the Mennonites. I represented them as if | had been a Mennonite and had a difficult time because of it. But now the situation is this: you now wish to escape army duty and establish a project like you wished to find when you came to Russia. Let the young men plant a forest under guidance of a clergyman as you desired before. Then