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

d and as the least important member of the human family. There was also the climate with its snowstorms and minus fifty degree temperatures. Many of our families brought winter clothes from the Caucasus, but they were not adequate for the northern winter. Here fur gloves and coats and felt boots were essential. Our inadequately clothed and poorly nourished people soon suc¬ cumbed to disease. People worked summer and winter . . . but the wages did not even buy enough food. Those who knew the local scene . .. knew how to survive but our Germans, consisting mostly of women and children, were not accustomed to stealing from the artel and so they exchanged bedding and clothing for food .... Physically people deteriorated and my family too became ill. Except for God’s grace they would have perished. Deathly ill they were transported to hospital by ox cart and then forced to walk the last part of the way. Classified as sure candidates for death they were placed in isolation. Mother and daughters lay on their deathbeds, yet very gradually they recovered and again took up the battle for survival. They lived in these pitiful circumstances until 1946. Meanwhile the girls grew up and went to work every day. Here they were well fed and promoted for their diligence .... Even our son of fourteen became independent.... He worked in the surrounding villages and manged to earn enough to buy some felt boots and a few other things. He dragged a small hand sleigh about and then brought home whatever people gave him. He was taken in as an apprentice by some old shepherds and like David of old learned the art. He soon became an independent shepherd 222 JOURNEYS and at the end of one year was rewarded for his diligence with some fifteen sheep. What a great help for our family .... Yes my dear Anna raised good and conscientious children who became useful members of society .... I now had to adjust to my new circumstances. According to law I had to remain where my family was currently residing. We were still under forced exile. If I wanted to change my place of residence I needed permission from the local authorities. In many villages and settlements one was not allowed to go to the neighboring village if it lay in another jurisdiction. I did not want to remain in this village. The collectivists who lived here did not receive any regular wages. They were only paid once the harvest quotas were fulfilled and often there was very little left for the average worker. I was determined to settle in a larger village where I could earn some money. I found such a position some twenty kilometers away, where there was a machine tractor station. It had a village council, post office, schools, some stores and a medical office. I managed to get a job as a janitor in a school. Both the village council and the local commandant approved my stay and I officially registered. Technically I could not bring my family and for a time this cau