The Konstantinovka 4 post published earlier (here) referenced an article titled “Der Cornies-Verband, Pawlodarer Ansiedlung,” which appeared in a German-language periodical named Der praktische Landwirt. Since then I have been able to look more closely at both the article and the journal; I have also learned more about Der praktische Landwirt from a recent article in the Journal of Mennonite Studies. This post will survey both the journal and the article to learn more about what Mennonites living under Soviet rule faced on a daily basis.
In “Modelling Mennonites: Farming the Siberian Kulunda Steppe, 1921 to 1928,” Hans Werner explains that the journal Der praktische Landwirt (The Practical Farmer) was the newsletter of the Allrussischer Mennonitischer Landwirtschafter Verein (AMLV), or the All-Russian Mennonite Agricultural Association. Werner writes:
The AMLV was established by Mennonites in 1922 to stimulate reconstruction after the Russian Revolution and Civil War. It was granted legal status by the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee in 1923 and established offices in Moscow. The AMLV served Mennonites in the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, while its counterpart, the Verband der Mennoniten Sudrusslands [Association of Mennonites of South Russia], later the Verband der Burger Hollandscher Herkunft [Association of Citizens of Dutch Descent] dealt with Mennonite settlements in Ukraine. The AMLV was dissolved by the Soviet government in 1928. (Werner 2017, 269)
Werner explains that the AMLV’s efforts to revitalize Mennonite agriculture failed in the Kulanda Steppe region, which included the Barnaul/Slavgorod colony, that is, the Mennonite area adjacent to where Heinrich son of David Buller lived, and by the late 1920s many of the Mennonite farmers in the area thought only of emigrating to North America or some other locale where they could live in freedom.
Although the AMLV was short-lived, existing only from 1923 to 1928, the issues of its journal Der praktische Landwirt offer an interesting look at the Mennonite experience within the Soviet Union. The masthead, for example, provides basic information about the journal plus a possible hint about the ethos in which it was published.
The journal title is given, of course, but also its sponsor: “Organ des Allrussischen Mennonitschen Landwirtschaftlichen Veriens.” Below that we learn that this is the second volume (2. Jahrgang) and that it was published in Moscow (Moskau) in June–July 1926, numbers (Nummer) 6–7 of the current year and 13–14 since the journal began. The lead article reports on the ninth council meeting of the AMLV (Die 9. Ratssitzung des A. M. L. V.).
The journal motto is intriguing: “Einigkeit macht stark,” or “Unity makes strength.” The motto itself is common enough, being used by various nations and organizations down through history in various forms. Still, one wonders why it was chosen for this Mennonite periodical. Was this a quiet reminder to readers that members of the Mennonite community shared a common commitment? Was it perhaps a nod toward the unity promoted by the communist authorities, embodied in the call for the workers of the world to unite? Did it have any significance at all? That question must remain unanswered for the moment.
The opening paragraphs to the later article of interest to us, “Der Cornies-Verband, Pawlodarer Ansiedlung,” are equally instructive. I am not certain I have translated all the German exactly right (see below for the original), but the sense is clear enough.
Although several terms are uncertain, the first paragraph sets the tone for what follows by sounding a number of key Marxist notes. The German word Räte, translated “Councils” here, is equivalent to the Russian term soviet, so it would also be legitimate, I think, to translate the opening as follows:
Whatever the best translation of the opening clauses, the remaining sentiments are clear—and clearly Marxist in orientation. Reference is made to the two classes whose interests the communists claimed to promote: peasants and workers. The goal of the Soviet sacrifices is also mentioned: to “unite” the two classes; the use here of another form (vereinigen) of the term that appeared in the journal motto (Einigkeit) may hint at its significance within that context. Finally, the emphasis on cooperation for the sake of the greater, corporate good also reflects the ethos that the Soviets sought to engender.*
The Mennonites of Kazakhstan, which included the Mennonites of the Pavlodar colony where David Buller’s son Heinrich lived, are located within this geographical and political context. Further, the establishment of the AMLV is subsumed under the Soviet agenda: the Cornies Association, it is said, was formed in order to fight for the economic well-being of the Mennonite peasants whom it served.
This is the world in which the Mennonites of Kazakhstan lived during the 1920s. Some, we know, became communists in ideology, but all had to operate within the confines and constraints of the Soviet state. Even their efforts to rebuild the agricultural economy after the setbacks of the 1917 Revolution and ensuing civil war, so ably described by Werner (2017), became a tool in the hands and the mouths of the Soviet authorities. It is no wonder that, generations later, their descendants fled the region at the first opportunity.
The journal title is given, of course, but also its sponsor: “Organ des Allrussischen Mennonitschen Landwirtschaftlichen Veriens.” Below that we learn that this is the second volume (2. Jahrgang) and that it was published in Moscow (Moskau) in June–July 1926, numbers (Nummer) 6–7 of the current year and 13–14 since the journal began. The lead article reports on the ninth council meeting of the AMLV (Die 9. Ratssitzung des A. M. L. V.).
The journal motto is intriguing: “Einigkeit macht stark,” or “Unity makes strength.” The motto itself is common enough, being used by various nations and organizations down through history in various forms. Still, one wonders why it was chosen for this Mennonite periodical. Was this a quiet reminder to readers that members of the Mennonite community shared a common commitment? Was it perhaps a nod toward the unity promoted by the communist authorities, embodied in the call for the workers of the world to unite? Did it have any significance at all? That question must remain unanswered for the moment.
The opening paragraphs to the later article of interest to us, “Der Cornies-Verband, Pawlodarer Ansiedlung,” are equally instructive. I am not certain I have translated all the German exactly right (see below for the original), but the sense is clear enough.
Thousands of inhabitants, peasants of the Councils of Union [?], thanks to the tireless efforts [?] of the Councils of Government [?], which sacrificed everything to unite the peasants and workers through cooperation, recognized and grasped the deep-seated, valuable, idealistic nature of cooperation, and now we see how throughout the SSSR the peasant masses strive to improve their economic life through it.
If you travel through all the autonomous republics of the Soviet Union, we also find a not-so-large Mennonite colony in Kazakhstan (Kyrgyzstan), whose inhabitants decided already in 1923 to create an organization that would overcome all economic difficulties.
This is how the Cornies Association came into being! (1926, 8)
If you travel through all the autonomous republics of the Soviet Union, we also find a not-so-large Mennonite colony in Kazakhstan (Kyrgyzstan), whose inhabitants decided already in 1923 to create an organization that would overcome all economic difficulties.
This is how the Cornies Association came into being! (1926, 8)
Although several terms are uncertain, the first paragraph sets the tone for what follows by sounding a number of key Marxist notes. The German word Räte, translated “Councils” here, is equivalent to the Russian term soviet, so it would also be legitimate, I think, to translate the opening as follows:
Thousands of inhabitants, peasants of the Soviet Union, thanks to the tireless efforts [?] of the Soviet government, which sacrificed everything…
Whatever the best translation of the opening clauses, the remaining sentiments are clear—and clearly Marxist in orientation. Reference is made to the two classes whose interests the communists claimed to promote: peasants and workers. The goal of the Soviet sacrifices is also mentioned: to “unite” the two classes; the use here of another form (vereinigen) of the term that appeared in the journal motto (Einigkeit) may hint at its significance within that context. Finally, the emphasis on cooperation for the sake of the greater, corporate good also reflects the ethos that the Soviets sought to engender.*
The Mennonites of Kazakhstan, which included the Mennonites of the Pavlodar colony where David Buller’s son Heinrich lived, are located within this geographical and political context. Further, the establishment of the AMLV is subsumed under the Soviet agenda: the Cornies Association, it is said, was formed in order to fight for the economic well-being of the Mennonite peasants whom it served.
This is the world in which the Mennonites of Kazakhstan lived during the 1920s. Some, we know, became communists in ideology, but all had to operate within the confines and constraints of the Soviet state. Even their efforts to rebuild the agricultural economy after the setbacks of the 1917 Revolution and ensuing civil war, so ably described by Werner (2017), became a tool in the hands and the mouths of the Soviet authorities. It is no wonder that, generations later, their descendants fled the region at the first opportunity.
***
Note: The acronym SSSR stands for Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, which is the transliterated form of the Cyrillic title Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (CCCP), or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Original
Tausende von Einwohnern, Bauern der Räteunion haben dank der unermüdlich bestrebten Räte-Regierung, die alles opferte, um die Bauern und Arbeiter durch die Kooperation zu vereinigen, den tieflagernden, wertvollen, ideellen Sachverhalt der Kooperation erkannt und erfaßt, und nun sieht man, wie in ganz S. S. S. R die Bauernmassen sich bestreben, ihr Wirtschaftsleven durch dieselbe zu verbessern.
Durchstreist man nun alle autonomen Republiken des Räte bundes, so finden wir im Kasakstan (Kirgisien) ebenfalls eine nicht allzugroße Mennonitenkolonie, deren Einwohner schon anno 1923 den Entschluß faßten, eine Organisation zu schaffen, mit deren hilfe alle wirtschaflichen Schwierigkeiten überwältigt werden sollten.
So entstand der Cornies-Verband!
Durchstreist man nun alle autonomen Republiken des Räte bundes, so finden wir im Kasakstan (Kirgisien) ebenfalls eine nicht allzugroße Mennonitenkolonie, deren Einwohner schon anno 1923 den Entschluß faßten, eine Organisation zu schaffen, mit deren hilfe alle wirtschaflichen Schwierigkeiten überwältigt werden sollten.
So entstand der Cornies-Verband!
Work Cited
Werner, Hans. 2017. “Modelling Mennonites: Farming the Siberian Kulunda Steppe, 1921 to 1928.” Journal of Mennonite Studies 35:269–85.
Werner, Hans. 2017. “Modelling Mennonites: Farming the Siberian Kulunda Steppe, 1921 to 1928.” Journal of Mennonite Studies 35:269–85.
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