Preservings $20 No. 25, December, 2005 - Plett Foundation

Articles
Borosenko - A Traditional Mennonite Home
Schöndorf-Nikolaithal (Nowosofijewka), Borosenko, Ukraine, Russia
Adina Reger and Delbert Plett
Introduction
Ever since my first visit to the Mennonite
settlements in the former Soviet Union in 1995,
I have wanted to do an article about a traditional
Mennonite house-barn (although the barns were
dismantled during collectivization in the 1930s
and no longer exist). What I mean is, I was hoping
to get an opportunity to visit and inspect the
inside of one of these magnificent structures and
to document such a visit with photographs. To
my pleasant surprise several prize specimens are
still standing in the Borosenko Colony, 30 km.
northwest of Nikopol. I say “to my surprise”
because until recently relatively little has been
known and written about Borosenko.
Borosenko Colony, 1865
The colony was founded in 1865-66 by the
Kleine Gemeinde from the Molotschna and
Old Colonists from Chortitza on the Dnjepr. An
Old Colonist, Jakob Fehr (1859-1952), Haskett,
Manitoba, wrote that “Many Old Colonists
wanted to join the Kleine Gemeinde in establishing
a new settlement where they could institute
a better Ordnung for the Gemeinde.”
The tract of 12,000 desjatien was purchased
from the nobleman Boros, hence the name
Borosenko. The Old Colonists founded the
villages of Schöndorf, Nikolaithal, Ebenfeld,
Felsenbach, Eichengrund and Hochstadt. The
Kleine Gemeinde acquired 6137 desjatien for
184,110 ruble and established the villages of
Blumenhoff, Heuboden, Annafeld, Steinbach,
Rosenfeld, and Neuanlage, later adding Grünfeld
and Friedensfeld (5400 acres) to the north and
the estates Hochfeld and Sawitzky.
By the early 1870s, 120 Kleine Gemeinde
families lived here, and the Borosenko Colony
and surrounding area had become its heartland.
In 1874-5, the Kleine Gemeinde emigrated en
masse to America in 1874-5. Seven families
from the village of Steinbach along the Basavluk
River founded the modern City of Steinbach
in the Province of Manitoba, making it one of
the few cities in Canada that can claim a European
community as its birthplace and direct
predecessor.
The residents of Steinbach and Ebenfeld
were massacred by the Mahknovsky on November
17, 1919, a tragedy documented by several
articles in Preservings. Felsenbach is known for
the large Froese flour mill once proudly serving
the region. In Heuboden is found the stately
home with its green-painted window frames featured
on the cover of Diese Steine. Eichengrund,
which belonged to the Colonists (as the German
Catholic and Lutheran settlers were known),
still has an elegant worship house with Gothic
windows now used for storage. South, across the
Soljonaja River, are the hills from which iron ore
is being mined. The 12 villages of the settlement
had 600 residents (120 families) in 1915.
Vistas
The Borosenko Colony is distinguished
by several striking vistas, reminiscent of the
picturesque valleys and elevated plateaus of the
Chortitza Colony. The traveller driving north
along Highway 56 from Nikopol is encouraged
to stop for a moment at the peak of the hill just
before the Soljonaja River, gaining a spectacular
panorama from this vantage point. 1
Humbly one stands on these heights, breathing
the fresh clean air, gazing over the distant
vistas, the hayfields, enjoying the aroma of
the legendary region with its many varieties
of flowers and grasses. One dreams about the
days when our ancestors traversed these hills
with their horses and wagons. Underneath to
our left, the waters of the Soljonaja River weave
their way among the ravines and fields severing
the landscape like a silver scalpel.
Nikolaithal-Schöndorf.
After turning east, enroute from Ebenfeld
or Felsenbach, the road traverses a distinct rise
in elevation and then - suddenly - Nikolaithal-
Schöndorf lie before the traveller, sprawled
out in the gentle valley swale below. The twin
villages are dissected only by a small brook
meandering its way south to meet the Soljonaja
River. On all my tours, the farmers in
the group have been unanimous that the quality
of farmland in Borosenko exceeded that of the
Molotschna Colony. Nikolaithal-Schöndorf
is located in the middle of some of the finest
ground in the area.
Nikolaithal was the seat of the Nikolaithal
Volost founded in 1872. This event
had threatened the loose alliance between the
Old Colonists and Kleine Gemeinde. The Old
Colonists, under their leader, minister Gerhard
Ens (1828-88), Schöndorf (the great-grandfather
of Professor Adolf Ens and Rev. Gerhard Ens
of Winnipeg), were in favour of the formation
of a separate Volost for the Mennonites of the
region. The Kleine Gemeinde, on the other hand,
objected, as they would be obligated to serve as
jurors and judges - meaning they would have to
impose punishments against offenders. In September,
1871, the two Kleine Gemeinde Ältesten,
Abraham L. Friesen, Heuboden and Peter Toews,
Blumenhoff, travelled to Ekatherinoslav, to
make representations regarding their concerns.
A mediator-judge ruled in favour of the Kleine
Gemeinde, exempting them from obligations
regarding such offices. The first Oberschulz of
the Borosenko Colony was a Rempel. 2
Founding
Some information about the founding and
early history of the village of Schöndorf is found
in The Penner Family book by Katy Penner:
“Because of limited land available to the
Mennonites of Chortitza, and the rapid population
growth, many young people were left without
land. Search for new settlements resulted in
founding new colonies. These colonists were
required to purchase their land. One of these
colonies was Borozenko in 1865-66. A description
of this is given by Jakob Klassen, from
Blumenort, near Gretna, Manitoba, and placed in
the archives by his grandson Ben Sawatsky. 3 He
writes: ‘Together with 12 other families, my father
migrated out of the Old Colony Schönhorst
and purchased 800 desjatien of land for 23 rubles
per desjatien, including all the properties, as well
as a large number of sheep. Since the land owners
name was Borsa, this new colony was named
after him, Borozenko. The first year they lived
communally in the existing buildings. Then they
built a village and called it Schöndorf, because
some of them came from Schönhorst, and other
settlers came from Neuendorf. Combining the
two names they came up with Schöndorf.’
“`The settlers built their houses in one row
in the following order: Aron Funk, Johann Funk.
Jakob Klassen, (author’s parents), Dietrich
Rempel, Bernard Rempel, (he was the father
to Franz Rempel from whom the author bought
his farm), Gerhard Enns, (the author’s wife’s
parents), Heinrich Penner and Kornelius Peters
lived in one yard, each having 1/2 a farm, Aron
Rempel (grandparents to the teacher, Peter Rempel),
Kornelius Penner, Klaas Krahn, Wilhelm
Wiebe (who is here in Blumenort, grandparents
to Jakob Rempel) and Gerhard Funk. These villages
had great success with their farming and
were able to terminate their debt well ahead of
the designated term. The former owner, through
an irresponsible life style became very poor,
became mentally ill, was hospitalized in a mental
hospital where he was supported by the farmers
from Schöndorf until he died.”
“The layout of Schöndorf along one side
of the street (given in 1867 and in 1910):
1867 1910
Gerhard Funk Gerhard Funk
Wilhelm Wiebe Kornelius Wiebe
Klaas Krahn Klaas Krahn
Kornelius Penner Aron Rempel
Aron Rempel Dietrich Rempel
Kornelius Peters Johann Penner
Heinrich Penner
Gerhard Enns Abram Wiebe
Bernard Rempel Kornelius Penner
Dietrich Penner David Loewen
Preservings No. 25, December 2005 - 83