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

hile the southern half of the settlement was almost completely evacuated. When the German armies reached Kleefeld for example, only twelve men, eight women and five children remained. At least 556 villagers had been deported eastward. They would never return. The translated text of Justinas memoirs begins in 1930. The translation tries to make some allowance for the “oral style” of the narrative. Frequent digressions were left out if they significantly interfered with the flow of the story. I tried to include all the events which Justina felt were central to her personal journey. She speaks frankly and openly of her Christian perspectives and expe¬ riences which sustained her amid the impossible life situations she encountered. There is nothing contrived about her simple faith and forthright spirituality. 53 Memoirs of Justina Martens T he year 1930 brought a new chapter in all of our lives. We were designated as kulaks and progressively assessed higher and higher taxes. When we could no longer pay them we were threatened with expulsion .... The first families expelled in 1930 were the Esaus, the Abrams and the Warkentins. Thanks to the intervention of the local Committee of the Poor, we were al¬ lowed to stay. The three families could only take food and cloth¬ ing for the journey — everything else had to be left behind. They were loaded on the train on April 1, 1930, and sent to Siberia. Some of Abrams’ and Esaus’ children died on the long journey .... We sensed that after the harvest was finished we were next in line .... What we feared was not long in coming. A commission arrived on October 4 which listed all our fam¬ ily possessions .... It was the last night in our family home. The next day, Sunday, the commission chairman came with the poor people of the village. We were ordered to carry all our belongings on to the yard, so they could be auctioned. Only mother’s bed (she was ill) remained in the house. It was not long before the Russians from Vollnierk came with wagons and loaded up every¬ thing and drove away — there was not even an auction since no one made any bids .... We were homeless and have remained homeless until the present day. Now came the command: “Get out of the house!” But where to? We had no money. There was fortunately a solution. Jakob who lived in Schoenfeld was with us when our inventory was be¬ ing listed and took our two-year-old horse away with him. After Jakob and father took the horse to Melitopol and sold it, there was enough money for the parents to leave. This was fortunate for any delay may have proved dangerous. The authorities wanted to tear down our house the next day and so Mariechen and I tried to find accomodation for the night. No one would take us because we were considered dangerous per¬ sons. We finally returned to our house in the rain but, of course, it was no longer home. It seemed like heaven was crying with us ... . We got some straw