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

d to wait. The door opened and the men, reduced to skeletons and white as a wall, walked in with the guard. They could visit for 30 minutes. 62 JOURNEYS There was also a barrier between them so that they could not even touch each others’ hands. One wife had taken along her children, who broke through the barrier and hugged their father. The guards naturally cursed but the children paid no attention. Neta was sorry she had not brought Marta. The child could have seen her father once more. Heinrich was so glad to get a bit of fresh air for the imprisonment had been very difficult. They had finally signed everything placed before them even if it was not true. It really didn’t matter, they would have been sentenced anyway. They had been arrested because they had read Der Heilsplan Gottes together. It was construed as a political activity — a Hitler gathering — and so they were sentenced as political conspirators. Johann Martens, as the organizer, was sentenced to five years. Heinrich, though he only attended once, was also given five years as the son of a kulak. Johann Baerg received three years. For five long years the children would be without a father, and we without Heinrich’s help and advice. If we had known then that the separa¬ tion was forever we could not have endured it. Neta came home from the trial and reported everything. Then we began to wait for a letter. We knew we had to depend on ourselves and with God’s help and support we pressed forward. Winter was approaching and we had to provide hay for the cow. Miraculously Neta was offered hay by a man from Prangenau. We obtained a hay wagon and Neta’s brother Peter went with us and we brought back a fine load of hay. We were so happy. I firmly believe that Heinrich’s prayers on our behalf greatly contributed to our success and well¬ being. We finally got a letter from Heinrich informing us that they were working in a coal mine together with Johann Baerg. We were so thankful that we could write back to him. In time they made contact with a few Russian brothers who had been there for some time. They possessed a Bible which was kept hidden. On Sundays they gathered secretly in the forest for mutual edifica¬ tion. They prayed and sang together. Heinrich wrote that he was so glad that he had memorized so much [Scripture]. At a youth meeting brother Rosenfeld had once said: “Dear people, learn por¬ tions of the Bible and the Psalms by memory for the time will come when you will only possess what you have memorized.” I also tried to send them edifying poems or important song verses. I wrote in a very small script in order to get as much as possible on the page. I even copied entire Psalms. Miraculously they received MEMOIRS OFJUSTINA MARTENS 63 everything, which the Russian brothers then translated into Rus¬ sian. One of them had attended a German Bible School. They were so happy for all the songs and poems. Late one evening when a