We have been writing about how and
when the Amish and Mennonites came to America and the unique challenges they
faced. At the same time that these
Anabaptists were coming to America, others were moving eastward. While not connected as closely to the history
of the Amish, these people are a part of our Anabaptist community both
historically and in the present day.
From the beginning of Anabaptism in the 1520s, there had
been Anabaptists in Holland. Two of the
principal leaders of those early Dutch Anabaptists were Dirk Philips and then
Menno Simmons. It is from Menno that
these Mennonites got their name. Some of
these Dutch people had moved eastward in the 1560s and settled in lands in the
Vistula Delta near Danzig, which is located in modern-day Poland. Here they
drained the river lowlands using the wooden windmill and dike technology that
had developed in Holland.
Here these Mennonites lived and worshiped for over two
centuries. As is often the case, they
had moved here in search of the religious freedom to worship, and, because of
their belief in nonresistance, to not be conscripted into the military. The ruler of the area promised them this
freedom, and the communities grew and prospered in both numbers and
wealth. In the later half of the 1700s
there was considerable opposition to the special freedoms granted these people,
and the wealthy estates they developed.
At the same time, the ruler of Russia, Catherina the Great,
invited German and Dutch people to settle lands in southern Russia, in what is
modern day Ukraine. These Mennonites
arranged a scouting party and many soon decided to settle in Russia. Catherina the Great promised special
privileges to the Mennonites, including an exemption from having to serve in
the Military. The first group of 55
people in five wagons settled on the left bank of the Dnieper River and named
their settlement Chortitza.
Many more families of Mennonites made the journey from the
Vistula Delta southward and by 1819 Chortitza had 560 families and 2,888
souls. The Russian government sold them
the land as unit and it was then sub-divided into farms for each family. A few years later another settlement was
started about 100 miles southeast of Chortitza, which they named
Molotschna. By 1835 this settlement had
a total of 1,200 families and an estimated population of 6,000 people living in
villages throughout the settlement.
This migration of Mennonites eastward was different than the
migration of Amish and Mennonites to North America. The colonies were sold large chunks of land
and distributed them to the families from within. In the case of Molotschna,
the colony owned 324,000 acres of rich land, while Chortitza had approximately
405,000 acres! In addition, the colonies
rented some lands surrounding their own lands for agriculture usage. The
colonies were self-governing in that they choose their own leader in both
religious and civil affairs. Within the
colonies were village leaders and other authorities that helped govern the
lands and peoples.
In
effect, these settlements became “little” pockets of German-speaking,
self-governing lands that looked very different from the Russian people around
them. They also became very wealthy and
led all of Russia in agriculture output and development. Here these Mennonites were safe from the
world around them, could function as they thought fit, and worship freely as
they desired. It seems like all would be
well in their world. But this would
change rapidly in a few short years.