Figure 1.--This is the prosperous looking Peters family. The photograph was taken in Mennonite Chortitza colony, a Russian Mennonite settlement on Kortytsia Island, an island in Dnepper. We can see Jakob Peters (1859-1920) and Sara Funk (1863-1935) with their children, children in law, and grandchildren. The photograph was taken just before World War I, about 1910. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest of the family.

The Mennonites were one part of a larger German emigratioin into Eastern Europe. The motivatyioin was both religion land. The Ukraine at the time the Volksdeutsche arrived was a art of the Tsarist Empire, seized from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Ottoman Empire. Mennonites who were being perscecuted began to move from the Low Countries (especially Friesland) and Flanders east into the Vistula delta region of Poland where it emptied into the Baltic. Here with special dispensations they were able to find both religious freedom and exemption from military service. They gradually lost their Dutch and Frisian languages (both similar to German) and began speaking the Plautdietsch dialect spoken by the larger Volkdeutsche community in the area. Some elements of their original languages were incorporated into their Plautdietsch. As a result, Plautdietsch as it developed over a period of 300 years in the Vistula delta region and southern Russia/Ukraine. Russian Emperess Catherine the Great, of German origins, issued a Manifesto inviting Europeans to come and settle land within Russia, especially in the poorly developed Volga River region (1763). Germans more than any other nationality responded in large numbers. The attraction was rich farm land. The Mennoites in the Vistula region came under the control of Prussia as a result of the First Polish Partition (1772). King Frederick William II of Prussia became soon shortly after (1786). He was willing to continue the military exemptions they enjoyed under milirary rule, but imposed heavy taxes. As a result, members of the community moveed further east beyond Prussian control. Mennonites in the Vistula delta approached Russian officials to negotiate an extension of Catherine's 1763 Manifesto. Crown Prince Paul signed a new agreement with the Mennonites (1789). This began the Mennonite migration to the southern regions of the Tsarist Empire. Jacob Hoeppner and Johann Bartsch led the migration. The first Mennonite settlements were northwest of the Sea of Azov, an almost enclosed sea northeast of the Black Sea. The Russians had just acquired the area from Ottoman Empire as a result of the Russo-Turkish War (1768-74). A substantial part of the Vistula Menninites accepted the Tsarist invitation. Their first colony was Chortitza on the Dnieper (1789). They founded a second, larger colony at Molotschna (1803). Beginning in the late-19th century as a result of Alexander III russification effort, some of the Mennoites began emigrating to countries offering more political freedom. We do not yet know much about happened to the Mennonites during the Russian Civil War and early Soviet period. Nor do we know what transpired durung Stalin's collectivization campaign (early-1930s). The Mennonites that remained were forcibly deported to the East by Stalin after the German World War II invasion of the Soviet Union (1941). he Mennonites were not specifically targeted, but were part of aarger ation against ethnic Germans. Very few Mennonites are Germans in general are now found in the Ukraine.

The Baltics

Mennonites who were being perscecuted began to move from the Low Countries (especially Friesland) and Flanders east into the Vistula delta region of Poland where it emptied into the Baltic. Here with special dispensations they were able to find both religious freedom and exemption from military service. They gradually lost their Dutch and Frisian languages (both similar to German) and began speaking the Plautdietsch dialect spoken by the larger Volkdeutsche community in the area. Some elements of their original languages were incorporated into their Plautdietsch. As a result, Plautdietsch as it developed over a period of 300 years in the Vistula delta region and southern Russia/Ukraine.

Prussia

The Mennoites in the Vistula region came under the control of Prussia as a result of the First Polish Partition (1772). King Frederick William II of Prussia became soon shortly after (1786). He was willing to continue the military exemptions they enjoyed under milirary rule, but imposed heavy taxes. As a result, members of the community moveed further east beyond Prussian control.

Ukraine

The Ukraine at the time the Volksdeutsche arrived was a art of the Tsarist Empire, seized from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Ottoman Empire. Russian Emperess Catherine the Great, of German origins, issued a Manifesto inviting Europeans to come and settle land within Russia, especially in the poorly developed Volga River region (1763). Germans more than any other nationality responded in large numbers. The attraction was rich farm land. Mennonites in the Vistula delta approached Russian officials to negotiate an extension of Catherine's 1763 Manifesto. Crown Prince Paul signed a new agreement with the Mennonites (1789). This began the Mennonite migration to the southern regions of the Tsarist Empire. Jacob Hoeppner and Johann Bartsch led the migration. The first Mennonite settlements were northwest of the Sea of Azov, an almost enclosed sea northeast of the Black Sea. The Russians had just acquired the area from Ottoman Empire as a result of the Russo-Turkish War (1768-74). A substantial part of the Vistula Menninites accepted the Tsarist invitation. Their first colony was Chortitza on the Dnieper (1789). They founded a second, larger colony at Molotschna (1803). Beginning in the late-19th century as a result of Alexander III russification effort, some of the Mennoites began emigrating to countries offering more political freedom. We do not yet know much about happened to the Mennonites during the Russian Civil War and early Soviet period. Nor do we know what transpired durung Stalin's collectivization campaign (early-1930s). As far as we can tell, they ewere affected, but not destroyed like the Ukranian peasantry. Mennionite leaders in particular were arrested as part of the Atheism camapaign and largely perished in the Gulag. Some of the Mennonites who survivd remained were forcibly deported to the East by Stalin after the German World War II invasion of the Soviet Union (1941). The Mennonites were not specifically targeted, but were part of the larger Soviet action against ethnic Germans. Some were untouched and during the NAZI occupation of the Ukrraine (1941-43) were treated favorably by the NAZIs and featured prominently in NAZI propaganda trying to incrrease interest in the East. NAZI occupoation officials made a concoderable effort to NAZIfy the Mennonites. We are unsure how sucessful they were, but is likely that the Mennonits saw the NAZIs as libedrators after several decades od Soviet oppression. After Stalingrad and the Red Army drive west, most of the Mennonites, familar with Stalinist policies, evacuated west with the German Army. Very few Mennonites ore Germans in general are now found in the Ukraine.

Created: 8:39 PM 11/8/2011
Last updated: 1:20 AM 5/8/2021