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

n were put in and they crawled about on the sacks. Finally we got on as well. Then the soldiers closed the door and we were packed like herrings in a barrel. It was dark. Only small openings on either side — without glass — served as windows. There were five families to a freight car. Once we were in the train cars the other villages, including Schoensee and Wernersdorf, were incarcerated in the granary. When we left in the evening the railway station was full of Germans (Mennonites), all of whom were about to be deported. These were overrun by German troops, however, and so these people were able to re¬ turn to their houses. They found many of their homes vandal¬ ized by the Russians. Later we learned that my parents and Edi were also at the railway station. Lena was at the trenches and was taken captive by the Germans. She had walked along the front as far as Melitopol. There they told her that the Germans had been taken away and that Altonau and Munsterberg were vacant. Then she heard that several villages including Schoensee had not been deported. Lena was happy to hear that. Her house, however, had been burned during her absence. Our parents and Edi were so glad when Lena returned. It was too difficult for mother — she never recovered and always remained sickly. Meanwhile our train rushed onward almost as if they were afraid that the ‘Hitlers’ would overtake us. Food became a real problem. The few provisions we took with us were soon con¬ sumed. We had a few raw potatoes and some dried fruit. When¬ ever the train stopped everyone ran out to find stones for a hearth, on which a kettle or pot was placed. The fire was started and the search for water was on. Anything at all was used for fuel — boards, fences etc. “Necessity knows no laws.” At times we had just be- MEMOIRS OF JUSTIN A MARTENS 7 1 gun to cook when we had to return to the train. It looked like a gypsy camp. Everyone was running about .... Sometimes the train left and some remained behind. They followed us three days later. At some places we stood for a long time and only the venti¬ lators, but not the doors, were opened. There was no toilet, only a pail for everyone. Some had taken pots along which were used by both children and adults. Whenever these were full they were poured out of the window. Sometimes the contents of such cham¬ ber pots were poured out when people were standing [alongside the railway] because we could not look out to see where we were. On occasion such artillery fire hit people, not fatally but nevertheless with unpleasant effects. We encountered a large number of bombed freight cars which had been loaded with cattle. We saw parts of cows, sheep, pigs — all entangled. Ahead of us the rail tracks were often torn up by bombs. Sometimes we waited on the tracks for hours. We were extremely dirty because we had no water to wash. How we longed for fresh air! Day and night we sat listlessly on the sacks in the