Tragedies and Suffering
Tragedies and suffering, followed by more tragedies and more suffering. For those who failed to emigrate before the doors closed shut, that was the life that members of our extended families could expect in Stalin’s new society. Martin Loewen’s family was not an exception, but the norm. Following the eviction from his property, Martin and family found themselves desperately struggling to survive the harsh living conditions of the work camps and elements of the Ural Mountain environment.
Among my grandparents’ correspondence were countless letters from siblings, nephews, nieces, and other extended family members. Between 1931 and 1933, numerous letters from Martin Loewen’s children and from Maria Loewen’s sisters’ were received by Abraham and Maria Loewen in Alberta.
Shortly after the deaths of Martin’s two sons, and within months of their arrival at the Ural Mtn workcamp, Martin’s health deteriorated quickly. He had been ill since their arrival. Abram, age 15, had died of starvation on November 11, 1931. His older brother, Isaac had frozen to death while fetching wood. In a letter of January 4, 1932, written to her sister, Marie Penner, in Canada, Katharina Loewen writes:
Papa became sick in the beginning of November. He was very sick, the mouth open, high fever. We had only some bread and potatoes. We three took turns staying up all night. I prayed and cried a lot. He was unconscious. God did a miracle. He gave us our Papa back. Thank you Lord! He said he had been in Hell, and now he is still very weak. But he helps to bring wood in for our own use.
Our brother, Abram, did not eat. He waited so badly for a parcel which other families received. For us there was none. He wanted so very badly for some dry fruit or a biscuit or a candy for Christmas. Abram wanted four big potatoes with some kind of gravy. I went to the neighbours to put the bread in the oven and when I came back, mama said, “Look at Abram”. He was 15 years old; his eyes did not see, and he lay this way for five hours, very peaceful. Papa unconscious; Abram dead.
Our house is 4 metres long and 4 metres wide, two doors, and four windows. We live together with another family. So far it was not too cold – 9 to 24 degrees. The snow is up to our knees. On our feet we have Laptje, made from the bark of the Linden tree. Sometimes I am so discouraged and in despair. I have no energy. Today I am happy, and I don’t want to grumble, for there are people worse off. With the lighting, it is not very good; I am sitting in front of the oven to write. God will supply and I am hopeful. – Love Katharina
Katharina Loewen
That hope was not unfounded, as they did receive a food parcel from Martin’s brother, Abraham, in Canada, in February 1932, shortly after sending the previous letter. Unfortunately, that food package came too late for brother Martin, and his son, Abram. In a letter, dated 19 February 1932, Katharina Loewen writes:
Dear Uncle Abram, aunt and cousins in Canada,
Today we received a parcel from you. Thank you very much. May the Lord bless you. It contained sugar, rice, oatmeal, flour, some ham, a flannelette shirt, and a blanket. It was very good. Just too bad that our dear papa didn’t live long enough to see it.
Papa got sick the second time. He did not communicate and ate very little. When he came home from the hospital, he asked if there was a parcel. When he was still in Gnadental and farming, he had helped the Ukrainian widows with grain and other things. He had also helped his brother. He told his family to pray aloud, and we do. We have devotions every day. On February 9 in the morning, he started to have cramps. I was working that night. He became peaceful and his breath was slower, and he became weaker. At 9:00 pm he passed away.
I am the only one working right now. It’s not bad. I bring wood with a horse to the heating room where I can warm myself. If we had not been so sick, we could have earned money and food, but now there is almost nothing to buy. But God can help us out, even if no men can help. I don’t want to complain; I would like to be thankful because some are worse off than we. – Katharina
On April 29, 1932, Katharina writes to Abraham and Maria Loewen:
The first package we received on February 19. On the 20th I immediately sent a letter dear uncle and aunt. We are still living here in the distant Ural district. We long to return to our home; we are very lonely since we are the only Mennonite family here.
Papa is no longer with us to exhort us, so today, May 1, Sunday and also at Easter, we read a sermon which he would’ve liked. The text was from John chapter 16: 23 to 30. Very truly I tell you, my father will give you anything you ask in my name. That is a good word of comfort for us so we pray that he will bring us back to be among fellow believers. It would be a great blessing for us rather than to be stuck here with these drunkards.
The material you sent I used for sewing trousers for my brothers. The shirt fits Martin just barely, in that it is too long. Dear uncle and aunt please don’t be angry; we want all the best even though I write that we are unable to satisfy our hunger. We have enough money. May God protect us all until we see each other again in heaven. Perhaps God will grant us that here on earth, that we might see one another personally.
Martin & Katharina Hildebrandt/Froese Loewen Family, 1925
Even though the letter was dated in February 1932, there is no indication of when it was received. A letter dated February 1933, from Martin’s daughter, Marie Penner, in Saskatchewan, essentially repeats what had already been communicated by Katherina in a previous letter.
“Once again I pick up my pencil and come to you with this plea. If possible, please send my mother’s siblings some help or assistance. I received a letter today from my sister Katherina. Isaac froze to death on December 29, 1931; the temperature was -50°C. He went to the neighbour’s house to fetch wood, and when he didn’t return, they went to search for him. He said a few words that were not understandable. They brought him in, but it didn’t help. He lived until noon the next day.
Of my brothers and sisters only Tina and Martin are there in exile and both are so weak that they won’t live very much longer. Tina was once so frozen at work that when she came home she thought she would no longer be able to stand up.” (Feb 17, 1933, Heinrich Penner, Sask.)
Left to fend for themselves now were Katharina and Martin Loewen, Jr., the three youngest Froese sisters, Katje, Greta, and Liese, and their mother, Katharina. One year later, Katharina died of starvation, and later that same year, on November 11, 1933, their mother, Katharina (Hildebrandt, Froese) Loewen also died. Martin left the girls for a short time, but returned and later married his stepsister, Katje Froese in May 1935. In 1937, they fled the area for Felsenbach, Ukraine, where they lived with Katje’s brother, Aaron Froese.
On September 28, 1937, Martin was arrested by the NKVD and sent to East Chabarowsk and then to Lenkoran, near Baku, Azerbaijan. His wife was on her own. Tragedy struck again when Martin died October 15, 1941, in Azerbaijan. In October 1943, Katja joined a group of 20, evacuating with the German army to Germany, but on October 23, 1945, they were repatriated by the Soviet army to Kirov city, Slobodskoj. The suffering would continue.
Life for Katje and her daughter was “…very hard; nothing to eat; the only thing they found in spring was stinging nettle. They poured boiling water to kill the sting and then ate it like a salad, or cut up as a vegetable. They were assigned to difficult work in the forests, and experienced a difficult existence (from the Katie Bergen Koslowsky memoirs).
From the time of their parents’ death, it had been approximately 55 years – years filled with struggle and suffering, but that all came to an end on April 11, 1989, when Katje, daughter Maria and her husband, with 5 children, along with Katje’s sister, Liese Froese Ens and her families, emigrated to Neuwied, Germany, where she died at the age of 91 in 2001. Her sister, Liese, had died in 1995.
The Customs receipt for food parcel sent to family in the UdSSR by Abraham & Maria Loewen in 1932.
The four items listed are: rice, flour, sugar, and bacon.