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

er when some of the leaders of the collective came in demanding that she dump the food so they could take the cooking pot and sell it. She refused, and although she was allowed to keep the pot, the consequence of her non¬ cooperation resulted in Abrahams imprisonment. His seven chil¬ dren were then turned out onto the street with the threat that anyone who helped them would be similarly treated. They were on the street without their parents or a home .. . the youngest was four years old. The school-age children were not allowed to at¬ tend school. The older boys, approximately ages sixteen or seven¬ teen, were tortured and beaten so that they would reveal the loca¬ tion of the family’s hidden grain supply. A good-hearted family man discovered them on the street and said to them, “I have some empty rooms, come live with us.”. . . My husband explained to me later that his sister-in-law had written to him saying: “I think I have found a mother for your children in Bergtal.” It was soon after this that he came to see me. At that time he told me, “I can give you nothing but ragged chil¬ dren.” I did not take him seriously at first but after he explained to me what had happened to his family how he once had more than enough and how now he felt so poor, I realized how wrong I had REMINISCENCES 27 been not to take his proposal seriously. In every corner poverty showed its ugly face, yet I was thankful to God for I knew this was the place for me. Materially, things got a little better .... Abraham was a good farmer and we were soon able to buy a cow, several sheep, and wheat for flour. I was watching the children when the cow was brought home. We were just having an evening snack when we heard the cow bellow. With what seemed like springs under their feet, the children jumped up and ran outside to greet the cow. She was patted and petted from her horns to her hooves. Over and over again the children repeated, “Now we have a cow once more.” In all earnestness the two youngest children asked me, “Mother, can we have milk to drink now ?” I replied, “Of course, you children can drink as much as you like.” . . . In 1938 the Lord led us through a deep valley.. . my husband who had already been in prison, feared a second arrest. When my uncle visited us, I heard the two of them talking about this in the next room. Uncle Jacob said, “I wonder if God will not lead us into ex¬ ile.” “I don’t want to be imprisoned again,” my husband replied. “But brother Kroeker, what if God wills it?” countered my uncle. “Brother Wall, I don’t want to go to prison again.”. . . A few days after this conversation, on April 1, 1938, my dear hus¬ band was arrested. He was gone — father, husband, provider. I remained alone with the children .... When my Abraham was arrested I knelt down and brought my sorrow to my Saviour. Suddenly the verse came to mind : “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet m