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

his policy brought direct retaliation. Party extremists as well as police and army units were ordered into the countryside in December 1929. Villagers were coerced to denounce the kulaks (wealthy peasants) in their midst, whose numbers now included the religious leaders of the commu¬ nity. Many peasants resisted by burning crops and destroying live¬ stock. In response local collectivization committees were granted sweeping powers and judicial committees of three ( troiki ) were free to confiscate and deport at will. Widespread economic dislo¬ cation and seizure of grain by the state eventually generated the second great famine of the Soviet era which may have killed as many as ten million people. In a Pravada article (March 2, 1930) UNDERSTANDING THE MEMOIRS 7 entitled “Dizziness with Success” Stalin, who sensed tensions had reached a breaking point, blamed overzealous officials for the ex¬ cesses. Collectivization remained fully operative, however, and most of the same policies continued to be implemented. Mennonite villagers were especially vulnerable when it came to collectivization. As prosperous, independent farmers many of them fitted the definition of a kulak extremely well. Failing that, arbitrary criteria were easily manipulated to suit any intended vic¬ tim. Letters and memoirs from this period identify delivery quo¬ tas of farm produce and tax assessment as the favorite weapons. The formula was arbitrarily manipulated until the intended vic¬ tim was ruined. Disenfranchisement, property confiscation and exile usually followed. The kulak formula was also easily applied to the destruction of the Mennonite clergy, both lay ministers and elders. Meanwhile another event increased Mennonite susceptibility to arrest and exile. In October of 1929 thousands of German colonists, many of whom were Mennonites, left their villages throughout the Soviet empire and travelled to Moscow seeking exit visas. This mass hysteria, based on information that a small group had been permitted to emigrate, filled Moscow’s suburbs with thousands of refugees. Complicated international negotia¬ tions finally saw the exodus of some five thousand Mennonites. When no western country agreed to accept any further immigrants the Soviet government, embarrassed by the adverse international publicity, forcibly deported the Mennonites either directly into exile or back to their home villages. Once home, an additional charge could be levied against them - attempted emigration. An¬ other factor played into the mix, the so-called Torgsin stores. These establishments, mostly located in towns or larger villages, only accepted payment in foreign currency drafts, gold, silver or pre¬ cious stones. Though their prices were usually excessive, they car¬ ried basic survival items like flour and lard. Utilizing the Torgsin stores usually meant monies sent from abroad. Not unrelated were relief parcels dispatched from Canada or German