JOURNEYS Mennonite Stories of Faith and Survival in Stalins Russia, John B. Toews, 1998

y fish gave us a terrible thirst. We almost died. We were crowded into the freight cars and it was impossible to walk about, stand or sit. When we reached the city of Vostov three days later our older men Boldt and Epp could no longer walk and stumbled about. During transport the Rostov prison officials treated us like dangerous criminals. We were not only accompanied by heavily armed guards but by several fierce watchdogs. Such treatment was an ill omen for us. We still knew nothing about our loved ones, left in the most difficult of circum¬ stances in the cold Moscow winter. These thoughts weighed heavily upon our spirits. To our surprise the head of the prison received us rather cor¬ dially. He understood what kind of prisoners we were and was sympathetic to our cause. He allowed each of us to send a request for money to Suvorovka, some four hundred kilometers distant. Furthermore, we could buy what we needed from the prison food store. A few days later we each received ten to fifteen rubles and our starvation ended .... We now knew that our wives and children had returned home safely after a thirteen-day journey. After two months in the Rostov prison we were transported to Pyatigorsk. One Saturday evening the train drove by the stations Suvorovka and Nikolaifeld. What deep feelings that evoked! We could not even look out, so a stopover was out of the question. Next day before noon we arrived at the Pyatigorsk state prison .... All of us except Mr. Boldt were disenfranchised and we had to count on the fact that we would probably be sent into exile. When our wives learned that we were nearby they arrived the next day with food parcels. From the notes which they had en¬ closed we knew they were all well and, like us, wished to be reu¬ nited. They were not allowed to visit us because our cases were still pending. In Pyatigorsk we found ourselves in a much better situation. Compared with Moscow and Rostov the prison was larger and better run. We also received at least one food parcel per week and so did not starve. Brother Wiebe and I were given spe¬ cial positions. He became the head manager and I was put in charge of health. Now we were no longer behind lock and key and the change did us good. For an entire month it seemed as if the administration did not know we existed. Finally at the beginning of May we were trans- MEMOIRS OF ARON WARKENTIN 151 ferred to the secret police barracks and placed in different cells. Our interrogation began in a few days. I had a special experience. I dreamt I had driven my hay rake on to the rails between two oncoming trains at the Suvorovka station. Miraculously both trains swerved the other way and I was spared. I happily drove back to the hayfield where the hay harvest had begun. Later I told Mr. Boldt I thought I would be home for the hay harvest. I was the first person to be interrogated. Three men sat on three sides of the table. I was seated at the