Deutsch-Wymysle 5

Two posts ago (here) we surveyed the Bullers who left the Deutsch Wymysle congregation for some other locale: the first eleven Bullers went to Russia, while number twelve (Karl) moved to Volhynia. Number thirteen moved to another city in Poland, and the last six Bullers listed moved to the United States.

The shift we see here—Mennonites first moving to Russia, then later to the U.S.—was not unusual. In fact, the rest of register 2 in the Deutsch Wymsyle records reflects the same dynamic. Before we delve into that in greater detail, we begin with a few minor observations about the list.

The list of Deutsch Wymysle members who left the area, and thus the church, comprises 241 people of all ages. Twenty-four of these 241 also appear on register 1, the list of Mennonites who moved to the church. This is not a large percentage, but we should stop for a moment to recognize the transient nature of life for many Mennonites of that era. During their lifetimes, these twenty-four Mennonites moved from some other region (many from Neumark) to Deutsch Wymysle in Poland and then from there to some other region or country (most of these twenty-four went to Russia). Preparing for and making two long-distance moves under those circumstances is not something that many of us would want to do.

More interesting is what we see in the pattern of locations to which the Mennonites moved. One way to view this is by totaling where people moved on each page of this seven-page list. This list follows a rough chronological order (in general, the first families listed were the first families to move), so we can see the pattern in the shifts from page to page.

Page	Russia	Volhynia	Poland	Germany	United States	?
1	20	1	—	—	—	12
2	13	3	—	—	4	13
3	21	—	—	—	12	—
4	1	—	—	—	18	13
5	2	2	1	5	22	—
6	3	—	3	1	25	—
7	—	—	—	—	26	—

Another way to see the pattern is by listing how many Deutsch Wymysle congregants went where during a given year. We know what year roughly a fourth of the people left (for most we know only where they went), so we can list the years of emigration and the destinations to see the pattern from another angle.

Year	Destination	Emigrants
1857	Russia	9
1858	Russia	24
1878	United States	9
1884	United States	8
1892	United States	2
1897	United States	2
1899	United States	2
1901	United States	3
1903	United States	2
1905	United States	2
1908	United States	2
1909	United States	2
1910	Russia	1
	United States	1
1913	United States	2
1914	United States	2

The shift in destination is striking in this table and deserves some comment.

1. It is interesting to note that about the same time as Peter D and Sarah Siebert Buller were leaving Kleefeld in Molotschna colony for the good life of Nebraska (1879), Deutsch Wymsle congregants were likewise turning their attention from Russia to the United States.

2. Curious also is the pace of emigration: all but one of the dated Russian emigrations took place over a two-year period, during which 33 people left Deutsch Wymysle; in contrast, the emigrations to the United States extended over thirty-six years (and likely longer), and most years saw only two or three people leave. This raises the question: What circumstances prompted so many congregants to pull up stakes and move in 1857 and 1858? Perhaps further study of Polish history will reveal an answer.

3. Is is also noteworthy, perhaps, that the last year for which emigration is recorded is 1914, which was also the first year of World War I. Was there some connection between the war (the Eastern front did stretch across this area of Poland for at least part of the war) and a interruption in emigration, or is this simply a matter of the record ending at that point for no particular reason? Time spent with the history part of the church records will probably reveal the answer.

4. As far as Bullers go, the first nine listed (Heinrich and Anna Penner Buller plus seven children) were part of the 1858 group; none of the other ten are given a date, although the five Buller sisters who emigrated together probably sailed for the U.S. sometime in the 1880s through the early 1900s.

There is little else we can glean from this list, but it is enough to learn how the emigration pattern shifted so dramatically from one favored destination (Russia) to another (the U.S.). It is also helpful to be reminded of how the larger forces of history often played a decisive influence on the lives and choices of our ancestors. More often than not, these Mennonites who sought to live as the quiet in the land had to change lands in order to enjoy that quiet.

In spite of what we have learned from this list, the question of why so many Mennonites left Deutsch Wymysle for Russia in 1857 and 1858 remains unanswered (for now).