Mennonite Life in Pre & Post-Revolution Russia
These articles are mostly, but not only, about life experiences of my extended family. It includes several that focus on life in Pretoria (birthplace of my father), between 1905 and 1926, the year the family emigrated to Canada. Four articles describe the sad and very challenging last years in Russia of four of my grandparents’ siblings, who fell victim to Stalin’s Collectivization and his methodical plan to eradicate the Kulak class. These can be found under “No More Summers, No More Sundays” (following). Excerpts from the Aron Funk memoirs provide a good insight into the effect that de-kulakization had on families that fell victim to this policy.
One story, that of my uncle, Jacob (Loewen) Leven, recounts the life of one Mennonite who successfully navigated the challenges of the Stalinist era and lived out a relatively happy and satisfying life in the UdSSR.
The daily challenges of most during the 1930s & 1940s, however, is reflected in the “Letters from Tante Anna”,
A set of four articles, featuring four families that felt the full impact of Stalin’s de-kulakization and collectivization policies.
Excerpts from Aron Funk’s memoirs, in which he recounts his experiences and those of his parents, David and Elizabeth Funk, as a result of de-kulakization and their relocation from Ukraine to the east.
Pretoria, Orenburg was the last place of residence in Russia for the Abraham J Loewen family and the birthplace of Martin Loewen (my father).
This collection of essays provide a brief view of life in Pretoria in the early 1900s.
(The article will be found on page 47 of ‘Preservings’.)
When Abraham and Maria (Eitzen) Loewen emigrated to Canada from Orenburg, Russia in 1926, one member of the family stayed behind by choice so that he might complete his university studies. His promise to follow later was never realized, and therefore, he lived out his 99 years in the Soviet Union. This is his story, based on his autobiography and submissions from his son, Ernst.
Letters From Tante Anna
The Pain of Separation
Timing Is Everything
Living With Little
Tragedies And Suffering
Following the emigration of Mennonites, in the 1920s, from Russia to Canada, those who chose to stay due to misplaced optimism, soon realized their error and suffered the deep pain of permanent separation from their beloved family members.
Among those who failed to emigrate was my grandmother’s older sister, Anna (Eitzen) Bergen. Her correspondence with my grandmother reflects the pain and hardship she and others like her suffered. Her letters are not the only ones that have been preserved, but she certainly was the more prolific writer of them all.
The adult children of Maria (Eitzen) Loewen’s older sister, Aganetha, and husband Heinrich Peters were on their own after their parents’ passing. This is the story of how most of them made their way to Canada – five in 1929 and two following WWII.
This is the story of teenage best friends and cousins, separated following marriage, Maria (Eitzen) Loewen and Anna (Eitzen) Sawatzky, who were reunited in Canada 40 years later.
Maria Rempel Schmidt was born in Schoendorf in 1873, the fourth child of Aaron & Katharina (Loewen) Rempel. When Maria was only 1 year old, her father died. Her mother remarried to Jacob Schellenberg, relocating to Heuboden, Borozenko Colony, where Maria spent her years of childhood and youth. At this point, her story begins to intertwine with mine in that my paternal grandfather, who was orphaned at age 9, came to live with his aunt and uncle, Jacob and Katharina (Loewen) Schellenberg1. Maria and Abraham Loewen were one year apart and would therefore have grown up in the same household, and would likely have regarded each other as a sibling. They were separated for about 50 years before a reunion in Canada in the 1950s.