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"Born 1914, d. on 16 July 2002 in Ittersbach near Karlsruhe, Germany; Physician and German Honorary Consul in Paraguay.

In the history of the Fernheim colony, the name of no other doctor in the field of health care has become as well known as that of Dr. Gerhard Dollinger. His activity began here in 1951 and lasted for thirteen years. This makes him one of the doctors who have worked here for the longest time in a responsible position.

Towards the end of the Second World War, Dollinger was taken prisoner by the Americans. There he had met Dr. Wilhelm Rakko, who was also a prisoner and came from the Mennonite settlements in the Ukraine and later worked in the Neuland colony. The Fernheim colony was looking for a doctor, preferably a surgeon. Through the mediation of Dr. W. Rakko, contact was established between him and the →Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Frankfurt. Since the beginning of the war, the MCC had supplied the Fernheim colony with doctors wherever possible. The necessary arrangements were made, and the Dollingers, then still without children, began the journey, first by ship to Buenos Aires, then by river boat to Asunción and from there by plane to Filadelfia, Paraguay. The physician Dr. A. Wägele, who had previously worked in Filadelfia, left his position and went to Brazil.

Dollinger's task was to continue the hospital's operations. This also included the nursing courses, the sole area of responsibility of the doctors at that time. Some graduates stayed in the company, others soon married, and so there was a constant need for sisters on mission stations or in other colonies. Dollinger ensured a good working atmosphere and no less variety in leisure activities – previously unknown here.

Due to their spontaneous, friendly way of approaching everyone, the couple soon had a large circle of acquaintances and friends. The Dollingers, who had become "family" in the meantime, were fully integrated into the colony community. Dollinger contacted the doctors of the neighboring colonies and developed a thoroughly efficient cooperation. They met at monthly intervals. Dollinger always used his holiday stays in his home country to learn something new from friends with colleagues from other disciplines. In this way, he kept himself up to date medically and otherwise.

His income here was disproportionate to what his peers earned in the Federal Republic of Germany. One time he was paid with money, the other time with cattle. Apparently, both parties were satisfied, because it was said (not verifiable today) that the agreement was to be valid for life.

From his non-professional activity, his commitment at that time to the settlers of the colony, who were listed as stateless, should be mentioned. Thus, through his mediation, some of the citizens were able to obtain German citizenship. At the same time, he was officially appointed honorary consul by the German authorities – with the coat of arms above the door and the German flag in front of the house entrance.

After thirteen years of activity, the Dollingers decided to return home. This was followed by a job in a German hospital, an assignment in a mission hospital in Syria, and then the Dollingers settled in a private practice in Ittersbach, near Karlsruhe. Dollinger then worked very intensively here for more than two decades, only to spend the last years of his life in seclusion on the outskirts of the village. He told of his experiences in the Chaco Paraguay in several books."

~ Auto-translated from German text on https://www.mennlex.de/doku.php?id=art:dollinger_gerhard

"Wilhelm Rakko (1912 – 2006) was born in Waldheim, Ukraine, and died in Brazil after a fulfilled life. In Russia, he had attended primary school in Waldheim and the central school in Halbstadt. He was first trained as a field surgeon (paramedic) and later completed medical studies in Odessa.

In the following years, he practiced the medical profession in several places in the country.

In 1933 he married Anna Dück, a nurse. Two children, Elfriede and Arnold, were born to them. When the German troops withdrew from Ukraine in 1943, the Raqko family also fled. In Germany, they were naturalized and Dr. Raqko was drafted into the German Wehrmacht. After the collapse of the German Reich, he was in American captivity for more than two years.

Although Dr. Rakko was able to emigrate to Canada with his family, he decided at the request of the >MCC to go as a doctor to the newly founded settlement >Neuland in the Paraguayan >Chaco. Here he did pioneering work in the construction of the Concordia Hospital. The hospital was built according to his suggestions and inaugurated in 1951. A nurse training course was set up to train nurses for their own hospital. He worked here as a doctor for 30 years and was available to the patients day and night, as he was the only doctor on site. His wife supported him as a midwife and head nurse. Mennonites and Indians as well as Latin Paraguayans came from a wide radius to seek help at Hospital Concordia.

When Rakko retired in 1978, he and his wife moved to Brazil to live with their children, who lived there with their families. A tragic event marred her well-deserved retirement when her son Arnold Rakko mysteriously disappeared on a trip and never reappeared. For many years they lived in their house in Curitiba and took an active part in community life. In 1996, his wife Anna died. He stayed in their house for a year, then moved into the Mennonite retirement home Betesda for a year. But for the last seven years he lived with his daughter Elfriede and her husband Heinz Ehlert. On January 15, 2006, he passed away in the S. José dos Pinhais Hospital.

For the Neuland > colony, Dr. Wilhelm Rakko and his wife Anna, née Dück, have rendered very valuable services in the field of health care for three decades. Together with the head mayor Peter >Derksen, who remained in the service for 25 years, Dr. Rakko was one of the supporting pillars in the colony, who stood firm and believed in the future of the colony when most of the newcomers left the colony to seek better earning opportunities abroad.

Jakob Warkentin

Elfriede Rakko Ehlert: Mennoblatt 78 (2006) 4, p. 9f; Walter Regehr (ed.): 25 Jahre Kolonie Neuland. Karlsruhe, 1972." ~ auto-translated page from https://menonitica.org/lex/rakko-wilhelm/