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

st clothes to be stolen?” I followed her and we knelt down behind a bush and prayed: “Lord if it is your will that we remain alive you can do it without our stolen clothes.” Everything hidden eventually comes to light. This was also true in this case. It became clear that there had been no man like the woman claimed. A neighbor had observed how our landlady had hidden the suitcase in the hay. She told me to report it to the police and that she would be a witness. This was done and recorded but nothing came of it. The landlady bribed the police. We were helpless and had to keep silent. She even threatened to denounce me as a Hitler sympathizer and wanted to send me to the far north where, she felt, all Germans belonged. We and the children were thrown out of her house. I went to the village chairman and asked where I was to go. Luckily it was summer. He gave us an empty earthen hut into which we could move and place our few belong¬ ings. We were happy to have a roof over our head. I had an almost new kerchief which I wanted to exchange for milk. One morning as we went to work it was so cold that I decided to wear the kerchief until the day became warmer. It was a long way to the hay field. I felt warm, took off my kerchief, 80 JOURNEYS folded it and put it in my jacket which I later took off and carried under my arm. When we arrived at our destination, I looked for my kerchief It was gone! I told the ladies, who were all Germans, that I had to go back for it. They said I’d never find it again because we had cut across the fields. I told them that the Lord knew I needed the kerchief and that I would find it again .... Trusting the Lord I went to the next hay stack, knelt and asked the Lord for his guidance and help. Sadly I returned. I was tired and discouraged. Suddenly a few steps in front of me I saw my kerchief. I could not believe it, I fell on my knees and amid tears thanked God for the miracle. I forgot all about my tiredness and quickly walked back to the women who were waiting for me. I waved with my kerchief and they were happy for me. Fall came and with it the gruesome Siberian winter. Again we did not know what to use for fuel. We raked straw together and always carried a rope to tie it up and take it home, even though this was forbidden. In August, Heini and I contracted a severe case of malaria. We had no medicine and sat and shivered until our teeth rattled. Heini was thin and yellowish and always had his eyes closed. I could not go to work and so we received no products and had nothing to eat. We froze terribly because we had no bed frame and had to place our bedding on the moist earth floor. One day I had a great craving for watermelons and thought of them day and night. Yet I was so weak that I could hardly walk alone. I finally went over to our neighbor lady who had always been good to us ... . I barely got to her door when I collapsed. She helped me in, got a watermelon