Part Two - Dnepropetrovsk - by co-Cruise Leader, Rudy P. Friesen
MONDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 1996 -DNEPROPETROVSK
Breakfast was at 8:00. After breakfast most tour members went on deck to watch the scenery go by. We soon approached a hydro power dam and passed through the adjacent lock, one of five along our route.
Once we were through the lock, a small ferry boat approached the ship - the passengers all climbed aboard and continued on down the river. It docked at Dneprodzerzhinsk, where we boarded the waiting tour buses which took us the 40 km. to Dnepropetrovsk.
In the meantime our ship, the Glushkov,, would wait for a bridge to open later in the day, then continue on to Dnepropetrovsk, where we would again board it at the end of the day.
This year the tour organizers had decided to use the Zaporoshye tour guides and busses for the Dnepropetrovsk city tour, because of their previous experience with Mennonite tours. The tour guide on our bus was Lyudmila Karyaka.
As our bus headed toward Dnepropetrovsk, Lyudmila provided some interesting background about the city. Originally known as Ekaterinoslav, the city was founded in 1789. It was to have been the third capital city of Russia, according to Catherine the Great's plan, and was named to honour her: Ekaterina - Catherine, slav - glory. After the revolution, it's name was changed, named after Dnepro- the river, and Petrovski - a revolutionary who had actually served in the Duma (national parliament) before the revolution, along with Hermann Bergmann.
As we drove along the highway toward Dnepropetrovsk, many of the tour members, especially those involved in farming, marvelled at the fine crops of winter wheat in the fields. We also caught a glimpse of a new Massey Ferguson combine driving along side the highway.
When we arrived in Dnepropetrovsk, our first stop was at the former Red Cross hospital. The significance of this building, build in 1910, was that many young Mennonites who served in the Sanitätsdienst during the First World War, worked here. It is still used as a hospital today.
We then continued on to the Museum where we first viewed the Scythian sculptures, dating from the 7th to the 3rd Century B.C., that surround the building. Inside the museum, we first toured the main floor which is filled with artifacts from throughout history. We then proceeded to the second floor where a dramatic display commemorates the victims of Stalin's purges. In a dark and eerie room the story is told through photos and other displays. A large pyramid of photos of victims' faces, with small candle-like lights in front of them, dominates the room. One of these photos is of Gerhard Hamm, father of Margarete Bergmann, a friend from Winnipeg. For a number of the tour members, seeing this display was a particularly emotional experience, since their fathers had been victims of Stalin's terror.
We left the museum and walked through the nearby park to the Transformation Cathedral, a small Ukrainian Orthodox church located on the site of what was once planned to be the largest cathedral in the world. A large brick fence surrounding the church suggests the outline of the proposed cathedral. It is said that Potemkin, who was the Governor-General of the region during Catherine the Great's rule, planned the construction of this large cathedral, and that Catherine the Great laid the first stone on May 9, 1787. However, Potemkin soon ran out of money and construction did not continue. Then in 1835 this much smaller cathedral was constructed.
It is also said that a monument to Catherine the Great once stood nearby. Alexander Pushkin is to have inherited the statue, his family then having sold it to local nobility. Then during the Second World War, the German Army is to have taken it back to Germany to have it melted down.
We continued on to the Potemkin Palace, established in 1787. The palace was destroyed in 1832. Only the walls remained. It was then rebuilt in the 1840's. After wandering around the grounds for a short time, we took time to eat our bag lunches that we had been provided with when we left the ship.
From here our tour bus took us to a building on the city's main street that once housed the City Duma (city council). Local historian, Alexander Besnosov, joined us to provide us with historical information about the Duma and some of its members such as Johann Esau, Johann Thiessen, and Reimer.
Johann Esau was probably the most noteworthy. He had trained as an engineer in Riga. He later established a factory in Ekaterinoslav which he sold to a Belgian company in 1894. He entered politics in the early 1900's. In 1904 he became deputy mayor and in 1905 was elected as mayor. He continued as mayor until 1909. As mayor he travelled to Paris to arrange for a 5 million ruble loan for the construction of a water system for the city. The water supply station built at that time is still in use today. Other accomplishments as mayor included the construction of a tram system, the construction of a new market building that still exists today, the establishment of two girls' schools, and the support of several museums. In 1906 he was decorated with the Order of Stanislav. In 1909 he was not re-elected due to the increase in anti-German feelings. But he did continue as a Duma member. In 1910 he was appointed head of the all-Russian exhibition held in Ekaterinoslav, an exhibition where a number of Mennonite firms such as A.J. Koop, Lepp & Wallmann, N.A. Niebuhr, and J. Thiessen (Ekaterinoslav) were awarded gold and silver medals for their products. During the First World War, Esau was the head of the Red Cross organization in Ekaterinoslav. During the German occupation he was again elected mayor but in 1918 he was forced to step down, after which he moved to California.
For the tour members it was of significance to be in the same room where Esau had presided at all his Duma meetings.
We continued on down the main street to where the building once stood that had housed the Guardianship Committee from 1800 to 1818. The building is said to have existed until 1870 and that the original foundation is still in place under the present day building. Kontenius worked in this building as a lawyer. He died in 1832 and was buried near the Mennonite village of Kronsgarten, northwest of Ekaterinoslav.
Our next stop was the former Thiessen flour mill, built in 1895. It was owned by Johann Thiessen, who was also active in the affairs of the city, and at one time a member of the City Duma. He was awarded the Order of the Red Cross for his services during the Russian/Japanese War. His mill employed 50 people. In 1903 his firm was awarded a gold medal at an exhibition in Moldavia and in 1910 it received a silver medal in the all Russian Exhibition, held almost directly across the street from the mill.
There was also a vinegar factory on the property at that time. Thiessen's house was located on the property as well. It was said that Johann Thiessen was the first one in the area to have a telephone. Today the building of the mill still exists. It is used as a residence for students.
From here we continued our walking tour, passing the former Fast Brothers flour mill, built in 1890. Today it functions as a state owned mill.
Soon we were at the dock where our ship was now located. But before boarding the ship, I decided to go look for a third former Mennonite mill. Dmitry Meshkov of the Dnepropetrovsk Archives had advised me about this mill and had sent me photos. He believed that it had been owned by a Heese family. Together with two of the tour members, I set out to look for this mill. Initially we took the wrong street, but after walking for a considerable length of time, we finally found it. After taking several photos, we returned to the ship.
Before supper I met briefly with Meshkov. He provided me with a copy of drawings for the Zentralschule in Spat, Crimea. He explained that he had visited the Archives in Simpferopol to carry out some research on Mennonite history in the Crimea. We discussed the possibility of publishing some of the information that he had found. I then presented him with a copy of my book, took "Abschied" from him, and joined the others for supper.
After supper we again gathered in the lounge on the upper deck to continue with the historical presentations. I presented a series of slides of buildings in the various former Mennonite Colonies, buildings that the tour members could expect to see over the next five days. Ted Regehr, one of the group leaders and author of the recently published book Mennonites in Canada 1939-1970, a People Transformed, then presented an overview of Mennonite history during Soviet times.
This was followed by a surprise birthday party for tour organizer, Marina Unger. She was presented with a large birthday cake, which we were able to share with her.
For most cruise passengers, this brought to an end another long day. However, I decided to take the opportunity to visit the geneology room. Three geneologists from Fresno, California, Alan Peters, Jeffrey Wall, and Jay Hubert, had brought with them their lap-top computers and database of some 130,000 Mennonite names. They set up their equipment in one of the ship's rooms, where they provided geneological assistance to those who were interested. This became known as the genealogy room.
I had recently spent some time working on my own family tree. By studying the 1835 Molotschna census I had been able to determine that my great-grandfather, Jakob Friesen, was born in the village of Blumenort, (he died in the village of Steinfeld, Molotschna, in 1913), and that his grandfather, Berend Friesen, was born in Prussia in 1752 and emigrated to Russia in 1805. Berend and his wife Susanna (nee Penner) were among the original settlers in the Molotschna village of Blumenort.
I asked Alan Peters to check his database for information about the descendants of Berend Friesen. He was able to provide me with 12 pages of names, over 850 descendants, not including the descendants of my great-grandfather. I then asked him to check for Flamings, my paternal grandmother's family. He was quite certain that we were descendants of Johann Flaming, born in Prussia, in approximately 1783, who settled in the village of Rudnerweide, Molotschna Colony. However, he was unable to confirm the connection.
After a lengthy discussion with Alan about genealogy, I finally went to bed. In the meantime the ship had set sail at midnight.
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