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

risoners were collected and taken to camp number nineteen. It was a difficult transfer. Over one hun¬ dred men were loaded on to small red railway cars and arrived half dead at their destination. The doctor gave us three days off. I was in no condition to begin work on the fourth day so I went back to the health clinic. The attending physician scolded me and de¬ clared there was no way I could be freed from work. The camps in 218 JOURNEYS those days were really experimental stations for medical workers. They simply could not free all the sick and weak prisoners from work because we were all in that condition. Though the doctors were reluctant to free them, the prisoners did not give up easily. If an exemption was not granted, staying in the barracks was out of the question. Men sent by the camp administration forci¬ bly and brutally dragged you out of the camp to the work site. Those who obtained a certificate granting a one or two day ex¬ emption and rested or patched their clothing, considered them¬ selves the most fortunate of beings .... Meanwhile I objected loudly to the presiding doctor about my treatment. The head doctor overheard the commotion and came out to see what was going on. She listened patiently to my story then asked whether I should like to go to the convalescent home in Sangorok. A group was being sent there as soon as the quota was complete. Then she classified me among the “weak.” Now I received better food and was placed under medical care. For me it was a message from heaven, ... at a time when I faced hell on earth. My sorrow was turned to joy ... . Before I left the waiting room I went to thank the doctor. Why had she been so merciful? She explained that she had previously worked in camp eighteen and learned to know me there. [I had] allowed her to fill her straw sacks with the best hay at a time when even the camp boss could not have authorized this. Moreover when the wood transport came home in the evening they always left dry wood for heating at the hospital. In short I was reaping what I had sown in good times. For one brief mo¬ ment we were able to look into each others heart .... After many dark and difficult days I experienced the warmth and light of the sun. Now I spent some carefree days in camp number nineteen .... After several weeks a group actually left by train for the Sangorok Wesnyand. What joy it was to leave this place of many humiliations. It was a warm spring day as we lay silently at the railway depot contemplating our future pathway. We reached our destination where each, depending on his illness, was assigned to one of many hospitals or convalescent homes. We were each allowed to bath in the bathtub and received clean clothes and linen. It was all so lovely and unexpected .... Unfortunately no one was allowed to stay here longer than necessary. As soon as the sick recovered they were sent back to their camp .... I re¬ mained a prisoner until Ja