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

t another woman and myself were completely emaciated. The cook took pity on us and told us we could clean up his yard by shovelling the dirt and dumping it into a large hole. Although we were able to take frequent rests, we only received sick rations which were not enough to revive us. At lunch one day the cook told us to come and bring our dishes to the kitchen. He explained that his workers received food from (his) kitchen. Before long we were in the kitchen peeling potatoes and eating our fill. I quickly recovered and was soon washing the dishes. I had more than enough to eat and was able to give a lot of food to my friends and relatives .... This situation lasted throughout the winter and into the sum¬ mer. I was then sent to a location near the Mongolian border. The journey was extremely difficult. Although we had been given some food, the cooks sold most of our supplies in order to make money and we almost starved. The trip took nearly a month .... We were relieved to be in barracks where we could move about, even if we found ourselves surrounded by fences and barbed wire. The freight cars transporting us were packed, leaving no room to lie down. The barracks had their problems too: besides the lice which were literally consuming us there were always those who would lie on their top bunks and spit, with little consideration for those below .... After working here for seven months, we were sent elsewhere. First to Kratiarski and from there we were taken by ship north¬ ward to Nurivsken. It was a difficult journey. Six-hundred of us 38 JOURNEYS were packed Together in the bottom of the ship next to the equip¬ ment. What added to our discomfort were the women who took charge and who tormented the rest of us. We spent nine days on the ship and finally arrived in Nurivsken. I had become so weak that I stumbled over even the smallest stones. We were sent to work in the coal mines. It took two hours to walk from the bar¬ racks to the worksite and back each day .... When things became difficult, I would always think of the fact that the Lord s way is the best way, and that I would follow where He would lead me. Gods grace was present and I could always cling to my Lord. One day when I came home from work and was reaching to get a towel from under my pillow (working in the mine left me completely black) I saw to my surprise that some¬ one had left a pail filled with rich food and covered with gravy ! So often I had yearned for just a slice of bread with lard to spread on it. Now here was food along with gravy and bread ! I found out that the food had been left by a sister in Christ with whom I had been speaking the night before. She had stopped by my barracks asking: “Are you a German?” “Yes.” “Are you a believer?” “Yes.” “I am too!” She walked away and that was the extent of our conversation. Her job was washing dishes for the camp kitchen. Every evening when I came home from work