Blog #3

March 27, 2018

INTEREST IN MENNONITE HISTORY

Each time we visit Ukraine, new experiences await us.  This time we have been overwhelmed with requests from mayors, museum curators, students and teachers, to tell the Mennonite story.  Sometimes the question has simply been:  “Who are the Mennonites?”  Other times they have asked for our personal stories, how our families are connected to Ukraine.  This has been an exciting development for us to experience.

Mennonite Centre

On Sunday afternoon the Tokmak and Molochansk mayors, Tokmak Museum staff and a group of about 20 students visited the Mennonite Centre.  Dave gave an overview of Mennonite history from the 1500’s until the time when our families emigrated from Ukraine.  They seemed very interested and were adding this event to a video they were entering into a history competition.  The purpose of the competition was to research the history of their particular region, and learn about the past in the area in which they live.

Shirokoye (Neuendorf)

We were warmly welcomed at the “Palace of Culture” in Shirokoye  on March 22 with the traditional bread and salt.  Various officials, school principal, and students from villages of that region were present.  Here we also gave the history presentation and shared our stories.  We were extremely pleased to hear the personal stories of two of the local women whose grandmothers had had contact with Mennonites.

Olena told of her grandmother and her two children, ages 3 and 6,  who were extremely poor.  She had lost her husband and four children.  They were without food, trying to stay warm in a pile of straw, feet bound with cloth because they had no shoes.  Out of desperation they came to the home of a Mennonite family, who  shared what little they had with them, saving them from starvation.

A deputy, Irina, shared the story of her grandmother whose parents were killed, leaving five children.  The parents had Mennonite friends who took in her grandmother when she became orphaned and was very ill.  They loved her and treated her as one of their own.  She grew up in that family, learned how to prepare their traditional foods, and was given a Singer sewing machine as a wedding gift.  Because she had become fluent in the German language, she was asked to interpret for the German soldiers, which helped to save her life.  Her ‘adopted’ brothers, who had eventually moved to Germany, returned to visit Irina’s grandmother.  As a little girl, Irina remembers receiving a doll as a gift, which she still treasures today.

Boris Letkeman, the director of the Mennonite Family Centre in Zaporizhzhia, also shared his heart-wrenching story.  Boris is a Mennonite who never left Ukraine and loves his country dearly.  Before he was born his father was taken from the family.  His mother and brothers retreated with the German soldiers to Germany, but were sent back,   not to their former home but to a concentration camp in Siberia.  Unbelievably, there they were re-united with their father after many years.   This was where Boris was born.  Life was difficult beyond imagining!  Many people froze to death.  His father was a good mechanic and so his life was spared.  Without their faith they could not have survived.  Boris encouraged the young people to trust God and love each other, saying that this is the only way.

School # 90, Zaporizhzhia

A third event took place at School # 90.  Students and teachers from 17 schools were invited to participate.  Again we and Boris L. shared our stories.  Many students brought questions they had prepared but others approached us after the meeting.  They asked questions about Mennonite faith, traditional foods, what are the requirements for church membership, where is there a Mennonite Church, etc.

Why this interest?  From what we understand the Soviet system systematically restricted information about the minority groups that lived here prior to World War Two.  The history of the Mennonite villages was not available to the people for decades.   A keen interest is developing which is being fostered at many levels.