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

ns and sent them to his family .... One day we recieved the terrible news that we were to come to a funeral: brother Peter had died! It was hard to believe! I had received a letter from him not long before in which he told me he was high in the mountains with his cattle. He had managed to keep his Bible and his songbook. He wrote, “I am so close to heaven on these high mountains. I read the Psalms of David who was also a shepherd and I sing the hymns. I am so happy.” He had pricked himself on some bushes and had an infected foot. He could barely get his boots on. He noted that he wanted to go to the prison doctor the next day. Then came the news of his death. Since Jakob had a wagon I drove with him to Paulsheim. I could hardly believe it, there in the coffin was my brother Peter. He looked so friendly and peaceable! He had found rest after a stressful life. He did not need to be pitied or cried over .... The doctor appar¬ ently realized there was no hope for him and let him go home .... Peter had the good fortune to meet a man from Paulsheim at the railway station who had taken him along. He arrived home at noon on Saturday. He was exhausted and tired. He had looked at the garden .... In the evening his wife cooked a bean soup but Peter only ate a few spoonfuls .... Mariechen told him that he should rest while she cleaned up. Later she looked at him and thought how thin and pale he was. He had put his hand under his head and gone to sleep. The next morning she got up early to prepare breakfast but felt an urge to check on Peter. He still lay as he had the evening before. She took the lamp in order to have a closer look. She leaned over him and called his name, but his forehead 58 JOURNEYS was cold and Peter did not hear .... Peter was buried and life went on ... . In this same year Jakob bought a house in Alexanderkrone because they had to leave Schoenfeld. Meanwhile all the disen¬ franchised and kulaks were expelled from Memrik and so our par¬ ents, who had been with Mariechen, moved on. Jakob wrote and told them to come to Alexanderkrone. Twins were born in Jakob’s family — now there were seven children in all. The Bartels also returned to Schoenfeld. Kornelius Bartel and Lena had a small wedding in our house. The ceremony was in the church. It was the last time we had a service. Lena lived with the Bartels, I lived with Heinrich and Neta and our parents with Jakob. Father could not attend Lena’s wedding. The Committee of the Poor in the village continued to protest and decided that our parents must leave the village within three days. That was on a Thursday. They were to leave by Sunday. Lena’s wedding was on a Saturday. Mother lay in bed with malaria fever. Our parents decided that father should leave alone for the Caucasus and go to Sara and Kornelius. Father travelled into an uncertain future one day before the wed¬ ding. Lena’s wedding was an impoverished affair. She was mar¬ ried