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Comprehensive collection of Krahn's correspondence, research notes, lecture notes, etc. from his student days up to his death.

See also elecrec/acc276 for items on Krahn’s student days at the university of Heidelberg.

Elma E. Esau was born September 14, 1917, to Edward and Clara (Claassen) Esau near Whitewater, Kansas. She graduated from Whitewater High School in 1935 and attended Bethel College for two years. She returned to Bethel and completed her BA degree in 1969. From 1943 to 1981 she volunteered and then worked for MCC and its subsidiary, MTS (Menno Travel Service). Elma Esau began her MCC service at the Ypisilanti, Michigan, relief training unit in 1943. She then worked to set up and manage relief clothing centers in Ephrata, Pennsylvania; Kitchener, Ontario; and Newton, Kansas. In April, 1945, she went to the MCC Center in London, England, and from there on to serve in Amsterdam and Copenhagen. In the summer of 1947 she traveled around the US speaking to women’s groups at Mennonite churches about MCC’s relief work in Europe, and then she remained at Akron until April, 1949, when she went to Gronau, Germany, for additional relief service. In 1951 she escorted Mennonite refugees to Brazil and Uruguay. After two years in the MCC Personnel Office in Akron, she began her work for MTS in Newton in 1953 and continued there until 1958. In 1959 she ran the MTS office in Amsterdam. From 1962 through 1965 she directed the MTS office in Beirut, returning from mid-1966 to 1967, when the office was evacuated during the 6 Day War. She worked in numerous other locations for brief terms before returning to the MTS Akron office from 1969 to 1980, where she directed the tour department and lead many tours. She retired to her family farm near Whitewater in 1981 and moved to Kidron-Bethel in 1991. She was a lifelong member of the Emmaus Mennonite Church. She passed away on November 16, 2009. The collection provides unique and extensive documentation, including original correspondence and photographs, of the MCC work with refugees during and after World War II. In her MTS career she kept diaries and photographs from the numerous tours she directed. She also collected tourist literature from the dozens of countries she visited, and during the steamship area, kept items like menus and tickets. This collection also contains the papers (1 cubic foot) of Edward Esau (Elma’s father), who was born in Hohendorf, Am Trakt, Russia, on November 27, 1887. He immigrated to the United States in 1908 to avoid the Russian Forestry Service. He lived for a year with family in Bessie/Cordell, Oklahoma, and then moved to the Whitewater/Potwin area of Kansas. From 1908 through 1936 (except 1918-1920) he received frequent letters from his family and friends in Russia, primarily from his brother, Gerhard, and sister, Renate. The letters he received constitute almost the entirety of his papers and are all in German, but many have been translated and published by Elma in Russia Letters, 1995.

The bulk of the collection is a photocopy of a record book created by Dietrich Thiessen and given to his daughter Katharina Thiessen in February 1909. It contains information taken from church registers in the Borozenko Mennonite colony in Russia. The data is also posted at http://mennonitegenealogy.com/russia/felsen.htm

extensive collection reflecting contacts in Mennonite communities in Russia, Germany, Canada, United States, Paraguay; business papers, writing and translating projects including work for Gerald Winrod; some diaries; some material related to his father Jakob Kroeker and the Licht im Osten mission

Diary begun in 1839 and continued by descendants.
Also English translation of 1976.

The fonds consists of the following series:
1) Maps - 51 maps of Europe and Asia created by Karl Stumpp and some unknown cartographers. - Map Cabinet.
2) Manuscripts -three manuscripts written by Abraham H. Unruh, Henry Ekkert and an unknown author. - (1 file) Box 431
3) Photographs

1) Reports - Tribute to H.A. Neufeld & Peter Toews, by J.J. Wiens. Submitted by Maria Kroeker - (1 file) Box 374
2) "Ein Jahr Gefaengnis" (One year in Prison) by Franz Martin Hamm (1901-1971) Written in German, includes English translation - (1 file) Box 374
3) Lists - Mennonites in Politics, 1997 - (1 file) Box 374
4) Medical Text - Anatomie und Physiologie! Menno Colony, Paraguay 1959, by Anny Giesbrecht. A German language, handwritten, bound medical textbook with diagrams. Some handwritten notes and exam papers are included - (1 file) Box 374
5) P. Thiessen - Journal of Poetry & Music, 1917. A handwritten journal in Russian & German (some Gothic script) which includes musical score written in Ziffern. Writer could be Peter Isaak Thiessen. - (1 file) Box 374
6) The Fresno Bee - "Call Em Muppies" & "If there wasn't guilt, you'd just be a Yuppie" 1986 - (1 file) Box 374
7) David Duerksen, translation of Der Bote article "Reise Prediger" - (1 file) Box 374
8) Military Exemption, Prussia 1868: An account by Aeltester Peter Bartel - (1 file) Box 374
9) John A. Harder - Travel Diary March 14 - July 25, 1955 to Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay & Uruguay. German Language. - (1 file) Box 374
10) The Story of Peter Franz Froese, "Begegnungen, Zusammenarbeit und engere Bekanntschaft mit P.F. Froese" by Cornelius Reimer N.D. - (1 file) Box 374
11) Shapansky, Maria (Barwich), Hardbound Journal of handwritten songs in Ziffern and a diary of the journey to Canada from Adelsheim, 1943-1948. - (1 file) Box 374
12) Report on Sagradowka by D. Wiebe, Berlin 1946 (in English) - (1 file) Box 374
13) Echo Verlag - Constitution N.D., October 1959 edition and a list of books by Arnold Dyck. - (1 file) Box 374
14) Walter & Mary Balzer, letter from D & L Pauls, 1962; Poem: The Blessings that Remain, Memorial bulletin for Mary Balzer, 2015 - (1 file) Box 374
15 Hans Kasdorf, "Flammen Unausloeschen, 1991 - (1 file) Box 374
16) Agnes Huebert, Recipe Book from Steiglitz-Berlin, (in German Gothic script), 1913 - (1 file) Box 374

"Strangers in a Foreign Land" by Nicholai Goossen. This story appeared as a series of articles in the Mennonitische Rundschau. Originals of the articles as well as photocopies and an English translation are included. - (1 file) Box 421

The fonds consists of the following series:
1) Foth Family, 1926. Passports for Maria Jacob Voth age 31, Katharina Peter Foth, age 5, Liese Peter Foth, age 3. Correspondence from the Ukrainian State Security Service and a personal letter. - (1 file) Box 433
2) Abram Wiens, 1929. Includes a map of Ukraine, in two pieces, in very fragile condition. - (1 file) Box 433
3) Jacob P. Dyck, 1926. Includes Russian passport; immigration ID card; Certificate of Natualization, 1933; Farmer's Ordinary Firearms Licence, 1938 - (1 file) Box 433
4) Abraham J. & Anna Sawatzky, Russian Passports, 1925, Canadian Naturalization document (Abraham) 1931 - (1 file) Box 433

This fonds consists of 35 photographs, mostly taken in Russia, of the extended Goossen family that lived on the Wintergruen estate, founded by Jacob Goossen (1858-1920). The photos are of high quality and show a wealthy Mennonite family in Russia. Included is a rare photograph of the interior of the Schoensee Mennonite Church.

The fonds consists of the following files:
1) Diaries - two volumes by Jacob I. Regehr, 1919-1923 & 1925-1930 - (1 file) Box 430
2) Diaries - Tina Regehr, 1921-1923 - (1 file) Box 430
3) Diaries - Tributes to Mariechen Regehr, died 1922 & Tina Regehr, died 1926 - (1 file) Box 430d
4) Photographs

membership record book, digitized from microfilm MF CHR 43 http://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/cong_312/
We also have the original book, Bd. Ms. 42