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

laint to crown counsel. A few days later 1 was brought before another investigating judge Levtschenko. A pile of documents lay on the table. He handed one to me and I saw a long list of accused persons. Most were unfamiliar, but at the end appeared the names of several school friends - Berg, Janzen and two Redekopp brothers. I was allowed to read everything the people at “Rosovka” said about me. It was all positive. The minutes of one interrogation dealt with my uncle in Ger¬ many. It bore my forged signature. The document stated that I had carried on counter revolutionary propaganda at his bequest. I was shocked and amazed. When could I have signed the docu¬ ment? My cell mates and I discussed this when I returned. The investigating judge informed me that the trial was sched¬ uled for May 14, 1936. I was very agitated and could not sleep, pacing up and down in my cell. In the morning the “eye” opened and the guard ordered me to come with him, but to leave my things. He was the supervisor whom we called Ivan the Good. All of our guards had nicknames — Ivan Machinegun (because he spoke fast), Ivan the No-good, Ivan the Double (he happened to be very tall). Meanwhile other doors were opened and I could hear footsteps. A row of men stood in the corridor. All watched in silence. Then I saw Paul and instinctively walked towards him. “Hi Paul!” but already the command to keep silent had been given. I stood beside him and pressed his hand. On the other side I saw my teacher Pavel Friesen. He appeared extremely distraught but managed a weak smile. A number of us stood in front of the court building with armed guards in front and behind. One heard crying and noise. Person¬ ally I had not expected to be regarded as a criminal. No spectators were present in the large courtroom. “Please stand, the judges are ISLAND IN THE STEPPE 107 coming!” The special three-man tribunal sat down. The chief jus¬ tice was Romanenko. All wore miliary uniforms. It took all day to read the charges .... Zavalni was the first to be called to the witness stand. He was head of the chemical laboratory at the Peda¬ gogical Institute in Melitopol. He was accused of organizing a counter-revolutionary group at the Institute whose aim was to over¬ throw the Soviet regime. He ostensibly made explosives for this purpose in his laboratory. Zavalni, a young blond man with an athletic build, confessed to all with an agitated sometimes whin¬ ing voice. It was madness. By confessing he betrayed many of his colleagues. He later ended up in a psychiatric hospital. My friend Paul answered in a collected and calm fashion. He admitted that we possessed weapons during the civil war, but so did everyone else. Yes, we thought of escaping from Russia, but that was in 1929-30 when we were still silly village lads. Now that we were educated and working the thought never crossed our minds. Our former teacher Friesen responded to the lawyers’ and ju