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

le in the kitchen, which also meant ample food for all of us. The very next morning the business manager came to our barrack and requested that we go to the nearby village to buy the necessary foodstuffs, especially potatoes. We were given breakfast and then, accompanied by our guards left for the village. There was not only the exhilaration of physical exercise, but the joy of potatoes roasted over an open fire. It seemed as if a new breath of life permeated our being. We also found out where we actually were. Here [in the village] were free people who lived in their own houses with normal human needs, concerns and joys. Here we could survive. The potatoes [we ate] were grown in this soil and even rye, oats and barley flourished .... There was even a small food store where our guards bought sugar and a few other things. Yes we were in distant exile, but all around us were living, normal 186 JOURNEYS people .... We felt so content when we started for home. At the main gate of the camp we were superficially searched, but nothing was taken from us. We felt like brothers. We talked about what we had seen and heard. Feeling calm and relaxed we went to sleep. In the days which followed some of our group continued to work in the village. I was given so much work in the camp that I didn't get to the village very often .... After one week ninety-five German men were added to a group of one thousand five hun¬ dred men from the Caucauses and sent into the “interior.” Our group, with me as their leader, were to build the new barracks. On November 6, 1937, one day before the anniversary of the October Revolution, we began the march towards our new des¬ tiny. We had only walked a few kilometers when the northern night enveloped us and the dark, high forest enfolded us in its arms .... A large group of armed soldiers ensured our steady forward progress. It seemed we walked many kilometers accom¬ panied by the shouts of the soldiers and the barks and howls of the ever-straining guard dogs. Only now and then did we see the twinkle of a star above the dark clouds. The large mass of men marched onward like deaf-mutes, groan¬ ing and breathing heavily, but not speaking. Many suffered from severe stomach ailments which caused them great pain and cramps. After the long rail and water journey [with little food] they sud¬ denly ate well during the seven days in camp. As a result many of them were completely constipated and bleeding. This night also extracted its toll. Many of them were soaked to the skin. There were no rest stops or warm fires. Suddenly section by section, the people refused to go further. The more the guards shouted and threatened, the less this mass of humanity responded. They sim¬ ply stood there, absolutely quiet and unmoving. Our pathway was piled high with discarded bundles and food provisions. Mean¬ while the human column of many kilometers began to press to¬ gether. Even the stragglers caug