October 26, 2008
surviving the soviet

stories from the gulag. a commemoration
of survivors, and the church is packed tonight..
grey hair, bent backs, formal dress from
decades past, and shared grief, gnarled,
halting, mennonite refugees from the
soviet holocaust. stalin, she says, is still
trendy after all these years, you can
buy the hammer and sickle downtown.
near the end of the video, i help
an old man to his feet. memories,
says his wife, it's too much for him.

the intention is a secular event. the video
finishes. thanks are uttered across generations.
the lights go down, candles are lit.
a cellist plays a hymn in the dark,
unaccompanied, a deep voice searching
for home. a mennonite hymn.
wehrlos und verlassen, defenceless,
forsaken, my heart longs for peace,
and your sheltering wings ...

defenceless. forsaken. the congregation,
spontaneously, hums along in four part
harmony. the insistence of a hungry
god. a refugee, in tears, kneeling
at a crossroads. if we could know
such joy. if i could pay ancestral
debts. from weariness is built a
bright new land, and sorrow
unfolding in a german hymn.

eyes blink in the light. the emcee
closes the evening. shaken hands,
gossip, goodbyes. ushers at the door,
the chill draught of the city, a drive
home through the refuge of night.

In an interview I conducted last week, 95 year old Helen Federau Boschman described her escape.  With her parents and 10 siblings, she fled from Stalin's grip by escaping through a covert border crossing.  Helen remembers her family preparing for weeks - smoking meat, roasting bread, and drying fruit.  She remembers sleeping with all her winter clothes on for three nights, she remembers the secrecy and fear, the guards surrounding their village, the wagons loaded in the barns and the horses ready.

One night was much colder than usual.  This was their chance.  The guards went indoors to keep warm.  Their Chinese guide was called, the horses tied to wagons and they were off -- 56 sleds with families and supplies sped quietly across the fields.  They did not travel along the road, but drove through deep snow "up to the horses' bellies".  The moon was bright, but too bright on the white snow and their fear increased.  They could be seen.  The NKVD watchtowers at the border were unmistakably visible.  Then suddenly a fog rolled in.  The shroud covered the watchtowers and the guards posted at the border.  The 56 wagons were indistinguishable.  They crossed over the Amur River into the security of China.

Word about their escape spread quickly.  Others hoped for a similar passage to safety.  Jasch and Maria, writing letters from their prison camp in the Ural Mountains, must have heard of this escape too.  In one letter, Maria asks, "Write us what is happening in China.  Could it come to us too?" (p. 95).  In another letter Jasch asks "How do things look with the Zoepfigen [those with pigtails]? Ach, if only it could change here overnight!" (p. 142). Although these words and their direct meaning are confusing to us, Jasch and Maria's curiosity about China was not trivial.  They longed for a change in their plight.  They knew something about China, but as is clear in many letters, they wrote masked messages.  They likely hoped that an escape route through China was still possible for them.

Ruth Derksen Siemens
posted by: jsiemens

Both my daughter and I could not agree more.  Not only this, but to compare the star to the swastika is a manipulative and emotive methodology that squashes anyone being able to dialog freely and openly about both the Nazi and the Soviet eras.  We must defend free thought and free speech even of those who are holding to repugnant ideology.  We cannot and should not outlaw the symbols themselves, nor the free speech and interchange of idea concerning what they represent.  This is why it is evil to see what is done in Germany and Austria concerning discussions of the Nazi era and its crimes.  The only way to confront the Holocaust deniers, and the deniers of the evils of the Soviet regime, is to encourage and embrace the exchange of ideas and opinions.  This was the only dissent you had out of an otherwise very good presentation.

One other note, the Gulags did not disappear in the 1950s.  They were used until 1989, until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Kruschev and Breshnev sent millions to the camps as well.  They were the most horrific during Stalin.  At the same time as the five year plan in the early 1930s, Stalin also purged the military, that by 1937-38, the Soviet general staff was so compromised that it offered next to no resistance and very poor leadership in the Soviet military as it tried to hold the Nazis at bay in 1941, 1942 and early 1943.  His own purges of the 1930's cost the Soviets dearly in WWII.

Thanks again for a great evening.

Sam & Erinn Buick
Waterloo

Take this opportunity to share with your friends and family, Peter Bargen's story.

My father came on his own from the Ukraine to Canada in 1924.  He was able to persuade an older half brother and family to come to Canada the next year.  But the members of his younger half siblings remained in Ukraine.  In 1997 my sister and I visited members of those families now living in Neuwied, Harsewinkel in Germany and heard their stories.

It was very moving to hear the stories of their time in Russia, ending with their lives in Karaganda.  One cousin must have talked for over an hour to us in German of their experiences, very moving, and I wished, at the time, that we had recorded his account. I was so delighted to read in this week's Sunday Times magazine the review and feature of your book -- quite overwhelmed.   My father finally had news of his family in the 1950s -- he'd never known if any had survived.  Unfortunately he died in 1988 and so didn't know about the moves to Germany, or Glasnost and never met any of his family.

In 1964 I came to England to work, for a year, then married an Englishman, and have been here ever since.  Our daughters are very interested in this side of their ancestry so I thank you for providing one of the missing links.

EB
Submitted by J. Siemens
Project Administrator
Letters from Stalin's Russia

To some, history is not important -- a boring school subject. Understandable. But how do we know who we are if we don't know what has shaped us? What has shaped our parents in raising us? What shaped them? "If we remember, we can respond" is the phrase used in the book. Is this not important?

Ruth DS

Just wanted to thank you for your excellent presentation in Virgil, Ontario last December. We took my 94 year old mother-in-law. She was so pleased to be able to attend the presentation with us and her grandson, David Penner.

Thank you for making sure Margaret had a copy of your book, despite the short supply.

She was able to read about half of the book, before failing health prevented further reading. She kept saying, this is my history, my relatives. Margaret passed away peacefully on May 19, 2009.

Thank you so much for giving an elderly lady some pleasure. She remembered the school where the museum is. Her Aunt Sophie taught there and her sister attended that school.  Thank you.

The Margaret Penner family.

Posted by J Siemens
Project Administrator
Letters from Stalin's Russia

Saturday night I attended the book and film launch of Gulag letters. Ruth Derksen Siemens has completed her project and it is indeed a labour of love and an insight into a very difficult period of time for the Mennonite people. The evening was inspiring as the packed house paid close attention to all that was said. After the video was shown, the cellist, Joel Stobbe, played two of the favourite hymns from that era and a faint accompaniment was detected as those in attendance reminisced almost silently with their muted humming. By the last stanza of the final hymn, the sound had grown to a beautiful four part harmony. It was an emotional moment and unforgettable. The stories must be kept alive, and with endeavours such as Through the Red Gate and the book Remember Us the coming generations will have no excuse.

T.Friesen

posted by:
Jennifer Siemens
Project Administrator
Letters from Stalin's Russia

I did not pass through the "Red Gate" and based on all I have read and heard, I'm glad I didn't have to. I am a first generation Canadian. My father, at the age of 20, passed through these gates with his parents, three siblings, and a cousin (whose mom died of the typhoid fever) They left Chortitza on July 24, 1923 traveling about 14 days to reach Riga.

I am doing as much reading and research as my time allows, and every source provides me with a greater insight of all the events and a better understanding of why they did not talk about this part of their life.

My Grand father had a brother, brother in law and nephews killed in the October 26, 1919 Eichenfeld massacre. Grandfather and his family and his family were spared because they lived across the creek on what my Dad refers to as "Peter's Koota". They helped in the preparation and mass burial. I remember my Dad saying, "That night I lost all my boyhood friends".

Posted by:
Jennifer Siemens
Project Administrator
Letters from Stalin's Russia

For more detailed information about the book, please visit the Gulag Letters website where you will find a description of the book.

You can also read some Media Reviews of the book.

Where can I buy a copy of the book?

The book is published by Pandora Press. Copies of the book can be purchased at the Pandora Press online store.

Where can I find more information about the Gulag Letters?

A sample of the letters written by the Regehr family can be found at the Gulag Letters website.

Is the book the same as the documentary?

No, the documentary is complementary to the book. The documentary is about Peter Bargen and his family’s escape out of Russia, while the book is about the letters written by the Regehr family.

Who wrote the book?

The book was written by Ruth Derksen Siemens, an instructor at the University of British Columbia and a first-generation Canadian of Russian Mennonite descent.

The documentary recounts the story of Peter Bargen and his family’s narrow escape, through the Red Gate, out of Russia. The story begins by explaining how Peter had found the 463 Gulag letters and how this discovery has changed their lives, revealing to them, that which was almost forgotten.

The documentary continues as Peter retells, in vivid detail, the events that took place when he and his family fled for their lives.

Where can I buy a copy of the documentary?

The documentary DVD can be purchased online at the Store page. You have the option of purchasing just the DVD or purchasing it as a bundle with the book.

Where can I find more information about Joseph Stalin?

Joseph Stalin is a notable character in the history of Russia and the World. Information about Joseph Stalin can be found many online resources, such as Wikipedia, the Joseph Stalin Internet Archive and Encyclopedia Britanica, to name a few.

Is the documentary the same as the book?

No, the documentary is complementary to the book. The documentary is about Peter Bargen and his family’s escape out of Russia, while the book is about the letters written by the Regehr family.

Who produced the documentary?

The documentary was produced by the award-winning company, Out To See Entertainment Inc.

Produced and Directed by Moyra Rodger
Executive Producers: Ruth Derksen Siemens and Moyra Rodger

Alf Redekopp, Editor
Mennonite Historian
600 Shaftesbury Blvd
Winnipeg, MB R3P 0M4

Dear Mr. Redekopp,

I have read Peter Letkemann’s review of the book “Remember Us”: Letters from Stalin’s Gulag (1930-37) by Ruth Derksen Siemens. I was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and have a postgraduate degree in Theory of Language (Translation Theory) from Odessa University, Ukraine.  Having lived in Ukraine for over 40 years, I am fluent in both Ukrainian and Russian and knowledgeable in the socio-political history of Ukraine and Russia. With the knowledge and experience I gained from being educated and employed in this culture, I assisted Ruth Derksen Siemens in translating some of the terms used by the writers of the letters in her book. 

What really surprised me in Mr. Letkemann’s review, besides its extremely negative tone, is that his knowledge of Ukrainian history is inaccurate. For example, on p. 8 he refers to Kherson as "the former capital of Ukraine". This is simply not true. In 1917-1934 the capital of Ukrainian Republic was the city of  Kharkiv (my home town). Compared to Kiev and Kharkiv, Kherson was (and is) a minor administrative centre. It has never been "the capital of Ukraine".

Also, in his attempt to "define" and explain Russian and Ukrainian words, Mr. Letkemann makes some questionable comments. More importantly, he misses the point. Most of the words (and concepts) he is defining would have been as unknown to the writers (the Regehr family) as they were to the readers (the Bargen family) in Canada. The writers were forced to live and work in a different and new reality -- the unnatural, brutal world of "Archipelag Gulag". I doubt that this "new world" was clear and understandable to them. They would have had very little prior knowledge or "common ground" with their readers because their reality was changing every day. This might very well have been one of the purposes of the camp-world: to drain and destroy the prisoners by immersing them into this unknown, frightening, and repressive reality.

So "defining" each word for the reader and supplying our present-day, encyclopedic understanding of these words might actually detract from the story. If we follow Mr. Letkemann’s reasoning, it would seem as if the words and concepts of the camp-world were explicit, well-known, and completely understandable for the Bargen family in Canada.

Ruth, thank you again for signing your book for me at Springfield Heights Mennonite Church last Sunday.  I have not yet read the book completely but it starkly conveys the desperate and terrible conditions the Regehr family (and all others in those camps) faced from day to day in the prison camp. Thank you for writing this book. A lady from our church visited the Ukraine perhaps ten years ago or so and told us that in a museum there they indicated that 70 million people perished during the Stalin era. Such unspeakable horror is mind numbing. Your book puts actual people and events in this horror and thereby makes it all the more vivid. And yes, it is our story.

Thank you again.

Shalom.

Menno Enns

posted by:
Jennifer Siemens
Project Administrator
Letters from Stalin's Russia

I had the opportunity to attend Ruth's evening when she presented her findings, launched the book of letters, and showed the documentary movie to her own Mennonite community. It was an extraordinary event and an opportunity to see what a powerful gift her project is to that community, as well as how proud they are of her. She was very, very good; the movie is powerful and very well done. The audience, which included a number of Gulag survivors and several of her informants, were totally engrossed and incredibly moved.

Professor Richard Coe, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia

posted by:
Jennifer Siemens
Project Administrator
Letters from Stalin's Russia