Frank Klassen

born 1926 Neu Halbstadt, Ukraine

I was born in 1926 to Frank and Anna Klassen, nee Klassen in Neu Halbstadt, Sagradovka, Ukraine. My siblings were Anna, Maria and Henry. The younger two died at an early age. I also had two half-siblings from Mother's first marriage - Susanna and Peter Zacharias.

Neu Halbstadt was one of 16 villages in Sagradovka; there was a school, a Mennonite Brethren church and a Mennonite church. I remember that my maternal grandfather was Vorsänger (song leader) in the Mennonite church. The church was well-built of red brick and had a beautiful balcony. During the communist takeover no worship services were allowed. After 1930 the churches were used for grain storage. The pulpit was torn down and large doors were installed to accommodate farm equipment.

Religion could not be taught in the schools. The local school, with teachers Otto Rausch and Mr.Woelk taught grades 1 through 4. Grades 5, 6, and 7 were taught in middle school in Orloff. I finished school in Orloff at 15 years of age and went to work on the Kolchos (collective farm) to help support my mother and siblings. Neu Halbstadt had been divided into two collective farms that sometimes worked together.

In 1929, my grandparents went to Moscow to get visas; they were sent back to Blumenort, stripped of their citizenship, with all rights taken away. They were not allowed to stay in any one place for more than a day and no one was allowed to give them work or board. I remember seeing my grandparents around 1933 when I awoke late one night from a commotion in our home. My sister told me to keep quiet, that our grandparents were in great danger of being seen here; they were considered enemies of the State. Grandfather died at 72 years in Blumenort. Grandmother Klassen then stayed with her children, promising not to be a burden to the Kolchos. She died in 1938.

By 1933, our Klassen family, along with many others, had nothing left to eat; even the tulip bulbs had been consumed. Then, early in spring, a 40 pound bag of flour was sent us by our uncle in Orenburg which saved our lives. Mother stirred the flour into boiling water for the family to eat and thus we survived until summer when sorrel leaves, nettle and mushrooms were available. Our family was allowed to stay in our house and we could keep one cow. The land, horses, and all else was taken from us. Of the approximately 500 people in Neu Halbstadt in 1933, 56 died of starvation. Most people were too weak to attend the funerals. We looked through the windows while the processions went by; the cemetery was a half-mile away.

In the meantime my father was night watchman; by day he repaired horse harnesses. When the authorities told him he should carry a gun, he refused and explained that his dog would scare away the thieves. My father died when I was nine, in 1935, and so escaped being sent to Siberia.

At that time, I was the one of our family who was chosen to receive one meal daily at our school from the "American Kitchen", later MCC.

 

In 1941, during World War II, the German army occupied Ukraine. All the anti-tank trenches we had dug did not stop them. Then for two years we had relative peace and worship services took place. At one of these I accepted the Lord as my Saviour. Soon the Russian army was on the offensive; the German army retreated and our village needed to pack up and head west in covered wagons. When we arrived in Poland, I was conscripted into the German army. After six months' rigorous training, I said farewell to my family and reported to the front lines in Hungary. I thank God I didn't have to fire a single shot. In a trench near the Plattensee in Hungary a grenade exploded, injuring my lower leg. I was left for dead, but the New Testament I carried in my back pocket had kept me from serious injury. The clothing on my back and the New Testament were shredded. When I regained consciousness, I crawled to the first aid station where a doctor removed the shrapnel; I was hospitalized in Bad Aussee. I was still there when peace was declared in May of 1945. Then I was taken prisoner by the American army for 3 1/2 years. The last 18 months I worked in France, clearing mine fields of unexploded bombs.

I found Mennonites in France who gave me farm work and treated me like a son. While there I found out that my family had been sent to Siberia to work in labour camps. This was a dark time in my life. After 12 years as farm manager there, I found an uncle and aunt living in Saskatchewan, and cousins in Ontario, Canada. Then I reconnected with my sister in Tomsk, Siberia.

In 1957 I emigrated to Canada where I received a warm welcome from my cousins in Ancaster, Ontario. I worked as a welder in the Hamilton area for two years after which I married Anna Dick in Leamington, Ontario.

AK 2008

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