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

authorities. Local autonomy of schools was ended and student organiza- tions restricted. Primary education was once again returned to the Orthodox Church.?' These reactionary moves greatly affected the Mennonites in Turkestan. The new emphasis upon orthodoxy was not in accordance with their belief in complete religious freedom, and the new education program could destroy their German-language education. Some Mennonites sensed an impending change in policy toward them.” Mennonite Patron Kaufmann Dies The loss of their czar was soon compounded by the loss of their sympathetic patron. In May 1881, during negotiations for land, a special meeting with Kaufmann had been called. Because Kaufmann was ill with a sore throat and headache his secretary asked them to come the next day. When they arrived the surgeon general did not allow the meeting with Kaufmann because of his continued sore throat. The following day it was reported that he could not talk at all. Then they learned he had suffered a stroke and was partly paralyzed. The next day he died. The entire populace, in- cluding the Mennonites who had as yet not signed a contract for land, began a period of mourning for the beloved leader. A black flag flew at half-mast over the governor-general’s palace.” On May 16, 1881, the Mennonites attended Kaufmann’s funeral to show their respects. The funeral procession began at the palace where a great throng of people assembled. Two hearse wag- ons, one with the open casket and the other with the casket lid decked with flowers, began the slow procession as all the church bells of the city rang out. Following the wagon were Kaufmann’s widow, young girls carrying wreaths of flowers, Cossacks on horseback, a large band, cannons, and a multitude of people: Turks, Sarts, Chinese, Trouble and Dispersion of the Brethren 11! Indians, Jews, Kirghiz, Turkomans, Armenians, Bukharans, Russians, and Mennonites. After a brief memorial service in the largest Russian Orthodox Church, the bells began to chime once again. The ringing itself was deafening, and then the cannons boomed a response at Kaufmann’s graveside. The Mennonites were awed by the funeral and never forgot it.” Successor’s Attitude After this elaborate funeral the Mennonites soon learned that Kaufmann’s successor, General Vladimir Kolpokowsky, an ardent Russophile, was not sympathetic toward German Mennonites in Turk- estan. When he met with Kaplan Bek and Tashkent representatives, he flatly told them they should not have taken such a long journey and that he would expect them to demonstrate their “superior abilities’ before he decided what to do with them. This new official reaction toward Mennonites brought a new fear that perhaps this area was not the place of refuge they had hoped it to be. In fact, when Kolpokowsky further refused their pleas for assistance, they realized they must again move.”° Anti-Epp Dissension Causes Split This chang