This photo is of a former Mennonite teacher's college (Chortitza Zentralschule) in the village of Chortitza. It is still being used as a school. It is made of red bricks and has pictures of Lenin beside the door. Green shrubs and trees hide part of the building.
This photo is a composite of 6 photos of the famous Chortitza oak tree. It includes photos of the whole tree as well as photos of the individual leaves and a close-up of the trunk. Included are negatives.
This photo is a combination of three photos pieced together by photographer Bill Schroeder on one of his trips/tours of the Ukraine. A road is in the foreground and a low fence surrounds the oak tree. Inside the fence is a few boulders and grass. Behind the grass in the background are smaller trees and a woman a small structure. A modern building can be seen through the trees on the far right in the back. -- Note: this photo is over sized. Bill Schroeder's comments on this picture are: The famous old oak in the village of Chortitza provided shelter for the first Mennonite immigrants from the Vistula Delta in 1789. The tree is estimated to be about seven hundred years old. It had a height of thirty-six meters (115 feet). The crown had a diameter of forty-three meters (137 feet ), and the trunk had a diameter of about 3.4 meters (about 11 feet). The shape of its leaves was similar through slightly smaller then the leaves of the burr oak common in the prairie states and provinces in North America. Because of its size, great age and unusual shape the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who live in that area till 1774, considered this oak to be sacred. The practice of worshiping an oak tree was a carry-over from per-Christian times (988) when Slavic people worshiped Perun and Svantovit. This magnificent oak served as a natural monument for many years. It was protected by the state and served as a popular tourist attraction. Unfortunately the old oak died during the 1990s. (William Schroeder). See MHC 631.6 for enhanced version.
This photo is of members on the tour lead by William Schroeder to Russia on a boat going around the Isle of Chortitza. People are sitting in benches on the top deck.
This photo is of the junction of the Dnieper and Chortitza river. Arid looking hills with a few trees are seen along the shoreline. A small shelter can be seen on the rocky shore.
This photo is a colour photocopy of two young boys feeling the trunk of the Chortitza Oak tree. A building and a large group of people are in the background. There is some Russian writing on the bottom right hand side.