The Mennonite Colonies in Paraguay. Origin - Ibero-Amerikanisches ...

most of which was shipped by boat to Asunción, and the selling of fence poles, which were exported
to Uruguay.
From 1960, the colony was receiving outside assistance of major significance. An organisation of
North American Mennonite businessmen known as MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates)
had interested itself in providing administrative advice, financial support, and expert personnel
in an effort to reorganise the colony and stabilise it economically. 18
20
Table 9: Data showing the development of the colony of Volendam (1948-1958)
Ibero-Bibliographien 5
1948 1953 1958
Villages 12 15 13
Inhabitants 1,172 1,683 1,067
Families 295 403 253
Farms 295 397 241
Crops planted (ha)
Corn 49.8 187.8 282.1
Kaffir 42.9 271.6 52.6
Trees planted (number)
Fruit trees n.d. n.d. 6,814
Shade trees n.d. n.d. 1,701
Domestic animals
Horses 307 846 582
Cattle 514 2,779 6,951
Pigs 110 998 385
Chickens 1,697 8,538 7,405
Farm implements
Farm wagons 42 246 145
Buggies n.d. 0 25
Plows 48 n.d. 167
Harrows 6 n.d 87
Cultivators 1 n.d. 158
Source: Fretz (1962: 64, 65).
2.2.3 Bergthal and Sommerfeld
Although Bergthal and Sommerfeld were separate colonies, the members making up the two groups
came to Paraguay on the same ship and planned their immigration and colonisation ventures cooperatively.
Bergthal and Sommerfeld were the most recent of the seven Mennonite colonies established in
Paraguay up to 1960s. According to Fretz, they constituted the most socially and religiously conservative
element of the seven Mennonite colonies.
In contrast to the colonies Fernheim, Neuland, Friesland and Volendam, the Bergthal and Sommerfeld
colonists did not come to Paraguay as penniless refugees. Like the migrants who came 20 years
earlier, they deliberately chose to come to Paraguay. When the Mennonite colonists left Canada in
1926 to settle in Paraguay, where they felt their religious freedom would be unmolested, some of their
co-religionists decided to remain in Canada. By 1948, however, they also had come to the conclusion
that their way of life was being threatened by encroaching secularism and so decided to migrate.
Rather than settling in the Chaco, they decided to locate in Eastern Paraguay, where natural conditions
looked more favourable.
The Bergthaler and Sommerfelder, like the Menno colonists, were among the prosperous Canadian
prairie farmers. They had sold their farms at peak post-war prices and therefore had substantial sums
in the bank. They were also acquainted with mechanised farming and aspects of scientific agriculture.
Thirteen tractors and a large bulldozer were among the first pieces of equipment brought along on the
initial migratory trip. The social solidarity of the groups was reflected in a fund that was raised to assist
the poorer members.
18 The section on Volendam is based on Fretz (1962: 61-66), Mueller (1998: 68-69), and Quiring (1954: 302).