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

lower seed to the oil press I included theirs as well. My host was very pleased and never made life difficult for us. One day when I arrived home the older girls came running and announced that we were moving to the larger room. Our MEMOIRS OF ARON WARKENTIN 163 hosts had decided to switch rooms with us and insisted we have the best room .... For an entire week our hostess spoke of celebrating Easter with us. She had plenty of flour and oil for baking, her husband would supply some wine, the eggs were already cooked and colored — and so we celebrated together. It was the first time we celebrated Easter according to the Russian custom. Their love overwhelmed us and we experienced a special blessing on this resurrection day. Unhappily it was the last time we celebrated Easter and ate with those good people. Not long after I went to Melitopol on business for the sovkoz. I also wanted to use some money we got from Canada in the Torgsin. Our hosts were curious — their family left them some gold ear¬ rings, finger rings, a silver spoon and other items. I explained how the store operated, where [in Melitopol] it was located and how the actual value of the objects depended on the purity of the metal. I also explained that I could not exchange their valuables using my permit. They left for Melitopol. When they did not return we became concerned. Upon further investigation we learned they had been found under a bridge — murdered. On this earth we were forever separated from these simple, good people. I think the words “What you have done unto the least of these, you have done unto Me” apply to them. In all their simplicity they were motivated to help their neighbors, to share, to shelter, to give a cup of water. Yet two boys and two young girls remained behind as orphans and that in a difficult time of famine. We don't know what happened to them later on. Our own situation steadily improved. We were assigned new housing consisting of two rooms and a large cherry orchard. If properly cared for it promised to be a productive garden. I weeded it several times with the help of the children. During the course of the winter they adopted us and clung to Mother as though they were her own children. Later they were taken away from us. In addition to our orchard we worked as large a garden plot as we were able and planted vegetables, sunflowers, corn and mel¬ ons. We were content with our lot. I enjoyed the confidence of the [sovkoz] administration and especially the director. Before the harvest my two brothers Peter and Jakob, studying in Odessa, suddenly visited us ... . They were deeply depressed. They had been expelled from the school because someone in the Nikolaifeld village soviet accused them of being the sons of a kulak . 164 JOURNEYS They could not go home [to Nikolaifeld] nor back to their stud¬ ies. I explained the situation to our director and he hired them as ordinary laborers in the sov