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

kept His eye on us. By morning there was no evidence of the fire and it was some months later before the camp fire inspec¬ tors heard about the incident. We were well-prepared for the winter. In some areas of the camp we installed electricity. Naturally we made sure all the stoves were in working order. The boys were behaving better than ever and I was quite satisfied with our situation. When one of my men was freed he observed that he was somewhat sad to leave such a good prison camp. Each of us experienced a deep longing as we watched him leave. Winter began in earnest. It was the second winter of our imprisonment. Now and then there was news from home. I learned my good friend and fellow worker Nikolai Engbrecht as well as Mr. Richert were arrested and sentenced to six- and ten- year imprisonment terms respectively. Furthermore Abraham Konrad and Mr. Fast who were imprisoned from 1930 to 1935 were re-arrested and never returned. We still hoped our cases would be reviewed and we would be granted an [early] release. Naturally our hopes for a reunion with our loved ones were dashed when we received such news from home. We had no choice but to make the best of it. Whenever we heard from other camps we realized how fortunate we were .... In our [division of the] camp everyone knew their task and consequently order and good morale prevailed. This meant occa¬ sional leisure and so I sometimes read until late at night or spent time in conversation with my Russian roommate .... We had a clean room and a warm stove . . . but this was not destined to last. One evening my supervisor asked me why I was unhappy and why I wanted to leave? This was news to me and I told him so. He informed me a letter arrived a few days earlier indicating that I, the horse foreman, was looking for a new position. This came as a complete surprise. My supervisor nevertheless assured me that if I really wished to stay, he would do his best to keep me. In 200 JOURNEYS the meantime he suggested I remain calm. Now came the [communist] October celebrations. A guard came on the evening of October 6 and asked me to follow him. He informed me that I could not remain here for the holidays. My objections were curtly dismissed. I was led into the office where my superior informed me that he could do nothing for me since his orders came from high up ... . Apparently I was politi¬ cally unreliable. The boys whom I had trained were more highly valued than their superior. They attended the October festivities while I was forced to remain indoors. After the celebrations ended the barn looked like it did when I first began .... My days here were at an end. I was forced to leave but did so with a heavy heart.... After we transferred the necessary documents I acquainted my successor with the details of our operation. I packed my things and was about to leave . . . when I met my friend Gerhard Harms, who worked as a harness repair¬ man