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

courtesy of R. J. Ensz, Washington, D.C. The map on page 65 is from Central Asia: A Century of Rus- sian Rule, edited by Edward Allworth, published by Columbia Uni- versity Press, New York, 1967. The illustration on page 67 is from Turkestan: Notes of a Jour- ney in Russian Turkestan, Bukhara, and Kuldja, by Eugene Schuyler, published by Schribner, Armstrong and Co., New York, 1876. The illustration on page 69 and the map on page 71 are from The Heart of Asia, by Francis H. Skrine and Edward D. Ross, published by Methuen and Co., London, 1899. The portrait on page 73 is from The Modern History of So- viet Central Asia, by Geoffrey Wheeler, published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1962. The original of the diary page shown on page 93 is owned by H. W. Jantzen, Lodi, California. The photograph on page 127 is from Church History, Beatrice, Nebraska. The photographs on pages 125, 151, 181, and 185 are used cour- tesy of Mr. and Mrs. Ernst Claassen, Whitewater, Kansas. A NOTE ON USAGE The following abbreviations will be used throughout: BM, Bartsch Map CBB, Christlicher Bundesbote DB, Der Bote GB, Gemeindeblatt HB, Heimatbuch ME, Mennonite Encyclopedia ML, Mennonitisches Lexikon MHLA, Mennonite Historical Library and Archives, Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas MR, Mennonitische Rundschau ZH, Zur Heimat The Mennonitische Rundschau was entitled Die Rundschau between June 1881, and December 1883. It appeared in both: weekly and semimonthly editions during the year 1883. Dates referring to Russian or Russian territories are expressed ac- cording to the Julian calendar then in use. Place names are spelled according to the accepted usage in The Men- nonite Encyclopedia rather than following the newly developing, but not standardized orthography as, for example, Molochnaya instead of Molotschna. I MENNONITE BACKGROUNDS Introduction During the nineteenth century, a great exodus of European peo- ples to other parts of the world took place. Especially after the revo- lutions of 1848, tens of thousands of Germans joined this remarkable migration from their homeland every year in search of greater freedom and economic opportunity. But this was by no means a new phe- nomenon among Europeans. Beginning in the sixteenth century, many Germans migrated eastward from the Holy Roman Empire because of religious persecution.! The Mennonites, named after the Anabaptist (Wiedertdufer) leader, Menno Simons,’ were one such group. Driven by deepening religious convictions which required separation from secu- lar state control, they continued their restless search for freedom from Prussia to Poland to Russia. By the mid-nineteenth century thousands of Mennonites could be found in the Ukrainian colonies of Molotschna and Chortitza. To the northeast in the flourishing Volga River colony of Samara, the Trakt communities became outstanding agricultural settlements that were pra