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Gerhard Lohrenz fonds USSR With digital objects
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Mennonites in Red Army

This is a photo of young men serving in the Red Army who because of their refusal to take the gun were employed for various physical work. Seated (left to right): A. Neufeld, J. Wiens, de Jager, Wittenberg. Standing: A. Fast, J. Rempel, J. Klassen. Later on such refusal became unthinkable. [HR 73]

Grade 7 class, including many Mennonite children

This is a photo of a grade 7 class. The children are attending school in which the language of instruction is naturally Russian and the world view that is being taught is Marxist. The teacher is a Russian lady. Most of the children, but not all, are children of Mennonite parents. The red neckerchief that some of the children are wearing indicates that they are members of the Young- Pioneers (Marxist). [HR 270]

Two Mennonite women in Siberia

This is a photo of two Mennonite women, whose home at one time was in Southern Russia, have been transplanted to Siberia. Today they have bread and also the necessary clothing. [HR 274]

Mennonite residence

This is a photo of a Mennonite residence. One can notice a certain similarity with the traditional Mennonite courtyard. [HR 272]

Mrs. Margareta Sawatzky and family

This is a photo of Mrs. Margareta Sawatsky, (centre), formerly of Felsenbach, and her family, all living in Russia. The photo, as far as appearance is concerned, could just as well have been taken here in Canada. [HR 274]

Unidentified family

This composite of seven siblings was used by Gerhard Lohrenz on the second last page of his book, Heritage Remembered, to illustrate the story of a typical Mennonite family from the Molotschna between 1935 and 1970.
Their fate could serve as an example as to what has happened to many other families. The father was torn from the family. When the war began the older two children too were taken. The mother with the small children was dumped in the empty steppe of Kasachstan. Three Mennonite women with their fourteen children found refuge in a small miserable hut. In the first winter, hunger and typhoid fever caused the death of all three mothers, the youngest children also died. What has happened to the other children? The oldest son is an engineer. The second child, a girl, all alone, has reached Canada. Another of the girls, after her service in the labour army, is now a member of a collective in Siberia. Two of the boys, still children, were brought to a coal mine in Karaganda. Here they had to work very hard. They studied after working hours and today are trained specialists. The youngest two children, both girls, at that time 3 1/2 and one year old, were brought up in an orphanage. The one today is a teacher and the other a metallurgist. Both are married to Russians; both men are teachers by profession. For 23 years these siblings did not know about each other, each believing that the others were dead. Now they are corresponding. Names and addresses cannot be given. What is important here is to see the fate of many Mennonite families from Russia. [HR 277]

Mennonite residence

This is a photo of a home of a Mennonite family. The exiles at first lived under conditions that mock description. In the course of time, things improved. Our hard working folks, acquired their own homes. They were not like the ones they were born in, but they were not too bad. [HR 269]

Mennonite wedding

This is a photo of a Mennonite wedding in the Soviet Union, now that the economic situation has improved. [HR 266]

Kalmiks and their dwelling

From the south of Russia our people were forcefully moved to the north or the east of the large country and scattered among strangers. Here we see the tent dwelling of Kalmiks and the family of the owner of the tent in front of it. But the Kalmiks too were forced to give up their traditional ways and accept a new way of life. HR 268

Cultural group

This is a photo of participants at a meeting. This meeting too takes place under the elevating quotation from Stalin. "Life is better; life now is merrier". As long as the great father Stalin was around, there was not a soul in this great realm that could have dared to dispute loudly the truth of the above quotation. [HR 267]

Musical group

This is a photo of a musical group sitting in front of a banner with the inscription, a quote from Stalin, "Life now is better; life now is merrier". Those that remained in the Soviet Union had to adjust to the new set-up as well as they could. While thousands were sent into exile and thousands starved to death and most people had to go to bed hungry, cultural and musical circles had to be organized, something like the above. [HR 267]