In Loving Memory of our Dear Aunt Anna

In des Hirten Arm und Schoß, Amen ja, mein Glück ist groß!

                                                                                    -Weil ich Jesu Schäflein bin-

                    

Es hat dem Herrn über Tod und Leben gefallen, unsere liebe Schwester, Anna Waldner zu sich zu rufen.

Am 27. Oktober 2016 our Anne Basel passed away peacefully at home in Elm River, surrounded by family.

Ihr im Tode vorangegangen sind ihre Eltern, Zacharias and Anna Wald-ner: Brüder: Zacharias (in infancy), Edward, Harold, John, David, Martin and brother-in-law, Jake Maendel.
Sie hinterlässt ihre Geschwister: Asnath Maendel, Elm River; Mike (Christy), Solomon (Linda), and Joseph (Anita) of Holmfield Colony; sisters-in-law Susan, Riverdale Colony and Cheryl, Gladstone, as well as many nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

Anna Waldner was born on June 5, 1940 at James Valley Colony, Elie, MB. In 1946 the family moved to Riverdale Colony at Gladstone, where Anna grew up and was baptized upon her confession of faith. In 1975 the family moved again, this time to the newly established Holmfield Colony at Killarney, MB.
Our lieba Anne Basel was a quiet, humble sister, who spent many years caring for ailing family members, namely her parents and her three unmarried brothers in addition to reaching out to help her married brothers and sister and their families whenever possible. When Anne Basel’s health failed, her sister-in-law, Christy, faithfully cared for her for six years.

During the past year, after a lengthy hospital stay, we knew Anne Basel would need constant care, so we, the family of her sister Asnath, offered to help and invited her to live with us at Elm River. It was not an easy decision for Anne Basel, but in time she agreed that it would be best, and embraced her new home as much as her failing health allowed. We are grateful that both Holmfield Colony and Elm River colony supported Anne Basels decision: we cherish the six months she lived with us. Our sincere thanks to the nieces who lovingly stayed with Anne Basel while she was in the hospital!

In her final days the family drew comfort in observing how Anne Basel faced death with grace, peace and quiet faith. “This world is not my home”, she reminded us. “I’m going to a better place. God can take me home whenever he chooses.” Another time she said, “Die Ankela und der Olvetter riefen mich schun.”

Geh in Frieden, liebe Anne Basel.

Die Begräbnisfeier (Leicht) fand am 30. Oktober 2016 in der Elm River Gemeinde statt. Beerdigung im Elm River Friedhof.

   The Caregiver

    Elma Maendel

 As a young Dien, she cared for her mom
Became her eyes
Kept house, brought meals
Tied shoes,
Injected insulin.

Through her Mom’s cancer diagnosis
Her care continued –
Sips of water,
Cool cloths for feverish skin
A German hymn softly sung –
During bedside vigils of
Weary days and cruel nights
Caring to the end.

Too soon Dad needed care,
Though his tall, stalwart figure never stooped,
His health steadily faded,
Still her care never faltered
Accompanying her brothers 

to dialysis appointments and
Kidney treatments
Caring, encouraging, supporting,
Preparing tasty salt-free dishes.

Finally, Anne Basel herself needed care:
Medication, dialysis, puffers, oxygen,
Tasteless gels – for swallowing ease –
Offered no relish and even less satis-faction
Family, nurses, doctors
Gently provided the Loving care
She bestowed on others.

Now our loyal caregiver –
Rests peacefully
Reunited with loved ones –
In her heavenly home
Auf Wiedersehen, lieba Anne Basel!

Danke schön für jedes stille Gebet während Anne Basels letzter Tage. Euer Dasein und euer Beistand waren Balsam auf unserer trauernden Seelen. Das Schönste ist, dass wir in dieser so traurigen Zeit, das Wunder der christlichen, brüderlichen Liebe erleben durften, 1 Petrus 3:8.

Die Hutterer

(This article was first published in the March 2014 edition of the Deutsche Rundschau.)

Die Hutterer sind eine christliche Glaubensgemeinschaft , die auch Gűtergemeinschaft pflegt – wie es von der apostolischen Urgemeinde vorgelebt wurde: Alle aber, die gläubig waren geworden, waren beieinander und hielten alle Dinge gemein. Ihre Güter und Habe verkauften sie und teilten sie aus unter alle, nach dem jedermann not war. Apostelgeschichte 2, 44 - 45.

Zudem glauben die Hutterer, dass man brűderliche Liebe in der Gemeinde am Besten pflegen und leben kann: Dabei wird jedermann erkennen, daß ihr meine Jünger seid, so ihr Liebe untereinander habt. Johannes 13, 35

            Ursprünglich aus Deutschland und Ősterreich stammend, leben die Hutterer seit 1874 in den Vereinigten Staaten und seit 1918 in Kanada. Wegen Verfolgung flohen sie von einem europäischen Land zum anderen  – von Deutschland und Ősterreich nach Tschechien, Ungarn, Rumänien und schlieβlich nach Russland. Nach hundert Jahren in Russland, verliessen sie auch dieses Land, da die damalige Regierung gebot, dass in allen Schulen Russisch unterrichtet werden sollte. Ausserdem wurde es ihnen auch nicht mehr erlaubt, aus Gewissensgründen den Kriegsdienst abzulehnen. 

Also wanderten die Hutterer in die Vereinigten Staaten aus, wo man sie einlud in dem Dakota Territory zu siedeln. So konnten sie sich auf der Präirie - die der russischen Steppe ja so ähnlich ist - ein neues Zuhause schaffen. Nach dem ersten Weltkrieg, wo es den Hutterern in den Vereinigten Staaten nicht gut ging, beschlossen sie, nach Kanada auszuwandern. Später zogen manche Hutterer wieder in die USA zurűck.

            Jede Hutterer Gemeinde hat ihre eigene Schule,  wo u. a. Deutsch und Englisch unterrichtet wird. Viele Gemeinden haben eigene ausgebildete LehrerInnen, aber in manchen Kolonien werden die Kinder von nicht- hutterischen Lehrkräften unterrichtet. 

            Die alltägliche Sprache der Hutterer, die sie Hutterisch nennen, ist eigentlich ein Dialekt aus Ősterreich. Wenn fünfjährige Kinder mit der Schule anfangen, können sie nur dieses Kärtnerdeutsch. 

Heute leben ungefähr 45,000 Hutterer in etwa 450 Kolonien in den Vereingten Staaten: Nord Dakota, Süd Dakota, Minnesota, Washington, Montana und Oregon; in Kanada: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta und British Kolumbien. Eine Hutterer Gemeinde sieht  wie ein riesig groβer Bauernhof aus. Die Männer sind mit Landwirtschaft und in den verschiedenenen Ställen beschäftigt – sie züchten Kűhe, Schweine, Hühner, Truthühner und Gänse. Manche Kolonien betreiben andere Industrien sowie Schreinerei-Werkstätten, Ventilation- und Fensterfabriken. Dazu werden verschiedene Gegenstände hergestellt, wie Stűhle und eine Vielfalt an Eisenwaren.

Die Frauen sind in der Gemeindekűche, in der Schule als Lehrerinnen, beim Kinderpflegen und im Haushalt tätig. Neuerdings wurden in Manitoba vier Krankenschwestern ausgebildet. Im Sommer gibt es im Geműse- und Obstgarten und mit Einkochen viel zu tun. Sie sind ausgezeichnete Handarbeiterinnen: Nähen, Stricken, Häkeln, Sticken und Steppen u. a.

Schloss Taufers, Sűd Tirol, wo Hans Krael gefangen lag.

Vor kurzem hatte ich eine besonders schöne Gelegenheit eine europäische Reise anzutreten. Als eine Kollegin und ich ein Stipendium gewannen, entschieden wir,  vor dem Beginn des Kurses, zusammen mit drei anderen Hutterern die Spuren unsrer Vorfahren zu folgen.  Diese brachten uns in die Schweiz, Ősterreich, Sűd Tirol, die Slovakai, die Tschechische Republik und Deutschland. Manche von diesen historischen Orten, wie Veľké Leváre in der Slovakei,  waren vor vielen Jahren Hutterergemeinden. An vielen Orten, wie  z.B.  auch Rattenberg, in Tirol, wurden sie traurigerweise wegen ihres Glaubens unbarmherzig gefoltert und hingerichtet.   Das Große Geschichtbuch der Hutterischen Brüder,  berichtet dass im Jahr 1528,  ‘An diesem Ort bis in die 70 Personen mit ihrem Blut gezeugt haben.' 

Also kam ich nach Kanada zurűck mit einem Gefűhl von tiefster Dankbarkeit. Unsere Vorväter, stark im Glauben,  litten und kämpften fűr die Wahrheit, obwohl sie wussten, dass es ihnen ihr Leben kosten könnte. Wir hingegen, leben in Ländern mit Religionsfreiheit, wo wir ein ungestörtes, ruhiges Leben geniessen. Ob unser Glauben heute auch so kräftig wirkt wie damals bei unseren Vorfahren?

Sentenced to Alkatraz

During their stay in the Dakotas, Americans barely noticed the Hutterites, that is, until World War I broke out in 1914. But then they were viewed as foreigners because they spoke German and refused to participate in the war. Nor did they contribute any money towards the financing of the war. Of course, this did not go over well with the English-speaking neighbors, who raided the colonies and stole livestock and supplies to help finance the war.

Since it was compulsory, Hutterites sent their young men to military camps, but they didn’t allow them to obey any military commands or wear a uniform. At Camp Funston, the men were beaten and tortured, dragged by their hair, and even chased by motorcycles until they dropped from exhaustion. They were hung by their feet above water so that they nearly drowned.

One famous case of such brutal torture involved Jacob Wipf and three Hofer brothers, Joseph, Michael and David. During the hottest time of the year, they spent four months in a dungeon at Alkatraz where they were severely mistreated. The first twenty-four hours they were given half a glass of water. Because the western wall of the dungeon faced toward the sea, the full force of the often-stormy Pacific constantly beat against it. Therefore, water seeped through the cell walls, making the heat even more oppressive. Without bedding, the brothers slept on the cold cement floor, chained to each other by the ankles.

For nine hours each day, their hands were forcibly raised above their heads and chained crosswise to the iron bars of their cells above the door. This meant that they couldn’t even defend themselves against mosquitoes and other insects.

When they refused to don the military uniform, they were placed in solitary confinement. On Sunday they were brought to the upper level and permitted to walk around the enclosed compound with the other prisoners, one of who exclaimed with tearful eyes, “Is this a way to treat human beings?” The brother’s arms were terribly swollen and they were covered with a ghastly rash.

When morale sank far deeper than sea level, the loss of home and family was particularly painful, because solitary confinement made speaking to each other impossible. Miraculously, they discovered an unexpected source of encouragement and strength – the German songs of faith they knew from back home! Softly one of the men would start a morning or evening hymn. In their cells, the others heard and joined in, each rejoicing to know that the others were still alive – like our forefathers had done centuries before in the dungeons of Europe.

Later they were transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where they were continually mistreated. It was here that Joseph and Michael Hofer fell very ill and had to be hospitalized. The other two brothers, still in prison, were allowed to send a telegram home to tell the families of Joseph and Michael about their illness. Shortly thereafter, they both died in the hospital at Fort Leavenworth, just before their wives, a minister and another brother arrived.

Maria, Joseph’s wife insisted on seeing her husband, when the officer at the desk told her that he had died two hours previously. Distraught and grief-stricken, she stood before his coffin. Raising the lid, she gasped in horror, “You would insult him by dressing him in death in a military uniform he refused to wear in life.”

David too, was permitted to visit his dying brother, Michael and was later unexpectedly released. By that time the Hutterites had lost faith with the American government and decided to investigate the possibility of immigrating to Canada. Finally, the Hutterite leaders received word from the Canadian government that they were welcome to settle on the prairies. Thus, they emigrated to Canada in 1918. The Schmiedenleut established six colonies in Manitoba, the Dariusleut five in Alberta, and the Lehrerleut also founded four colonies in Alberta.

Meanwhile, Jacob Wipf was kept in solitary confinement for another year. He was finally released on April 12, 1919, long after the Armistice had been signed.

After WWII, some Hutterites returned to South Dakota establish colonies there once more and were able to purchase several of the former colony sites. Today, there are Schmiedenleut in the Dakotas and Minnesota, US and in Manitoba, Canada. The Darius- and Leherleut live in SK and AB Canada and in Montana, Washington, Oregon, US.

We’re deeply grateful for religious freedom in both Canada and the United States, especially when we’re reminded that our forefathers steadfastly fought for and gave their lives for their faith. To God be the glory!

 (My humble thanks to Mark Waldner and Dora Maendel who kindly allowed me to use part of their work for this article.)

 

 

The Amana - Hutterite Connection

Amana women at work
 (photo courtesy of the Amana Heritage Society.)

The Amana Colonies in America were founded in 1843-44, when a group of about 1,200 Inspirationists, led by Christian Metz fled Germany because of persecution and an economic depression. They first settled in Buffalo, New York. However, when more farmland was needed in 1855,  they moved to Iowa, farming and living in community of goods along the Iowa River. At that point they were known as Ebenezer Society. Later, they renamed their village 'Bleib Treu', a name derived from Song of Solomon 4:8 - Amana, which means 'remain true'. On 26,000 acres of land, six villages were established in close proximity to each other; only a mile or two apart: Amana, East Amana, West Amana, South Amana, High Amana, Middle Amana and Homestead. They gave up community of goods during the Great Depression in 1932.

Today, according to their website: 'the seven villages of the Amana Colonies represent an American dream come true; a thriving community founded by religious faith and community spirit. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, the Amana Colonies attract hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, all of whom come to see and enjoy a place where the past is cherished and where hospitality is a way of life.
Evocative of another age, the streets of the Amana Colonies with their historic brick, stone and clapboard homes, their flower and vegetable gardens, their lanterns and walkways recall Amana yesterday. But a vibrant community, celebrating both its past and its future, is here today for you to experience.'

I'm not even sure when I first became interested in this group, but recently was inspired to take a closer look at the Amana - Hutterite connection, after reading an historical fiction book, A Hidden Truth by Judith Miller. My interest also stems from the fact that there are quite a few similarities between Amana and the Hutterites, including a German background, having to flee to America because of persecution and the fact that they too lived 'all things common' for many years. While Hutterites still live in Christian community and are largely farmers, Amana now contributes more to the tourism industry in Iowa.



Hutterite women at work
(Photo: The Golden Years of the Hutterites - Leonard Gross)

Besides all that, having been well established in America, by the time the Hutterites arrived from Russia between 1874-79, the Inspirationists of Amana, kindly helped the Hutterites, who had settled in the Bonne Homme County, South Dakota. Along with supporting them financially, Amana gave them supplies from their stores. On one occasion they provided the Hutterites with bolts of black and white polka dot fabric, which was used for Tiechlen (headcoverings) for the women, like that of the one woman in the picture. Thus, a Hutterite tradition was born, which in some colonies is still alive today. Prior to that, plain black was used, which interestingly enough, many Hutterites have gone back to.

It's quite possible that the use of sunbonnets while working in the garden in earlier years was something the Hutterites learned from Amana Colonies as well, since this type of headcovering is what Amana women traditionally wore.

I've never visited the Amana Colonies, but it's on my bucket list. Have you been to this Historic Site? Or maybe you have ancestors who grew up there. Have you written about them? No matter what your connection is, I'd love to hear about it!

(There's a further Amana - Hutterite connection, which I will post at a later date. This one I find even more fascinating.)