Susa Koop Enns 1911-1993
From an account written by Susa Enns
Our family moved to the Crimea, Boselachea. Here we lived in little villages and owned a farm. Dad was mayor of a little town and had many responsibilities. When the war broke out again, Dad was called upon to haul people and soldiers far away by horse and wagon. This left Mother to look after us again on her own. The soldiers he hauled were from the White Army. While he was away, the Red Army came and moved in. They moved into the village, into the homes, slept on our beds and on our floors, ate our food which Mother cooked, and fed our grain to their horses. They would complain if the food wasn’t to their liking. They exchanged our good horses for their sick and crippled ones.
We were lined up against the wall to be shot on numerous occasions and each time we were saved by the Grace of God. They took anything of any value away from us. I can remember on one occasion where we kids hid an old typewriter underneath the bed so that they wouldn’t find it. When they did find it, they were very angry!
After long absences, Dad would come back with tired horses and broken wagons. He would have to fix the wagon and go back again. As children I don’t think we realized how bad things really were. There was nothing left for us and so in January of 1921 we left in search of a new home. We packed up what we could onto wagons. Mother took many Gereischte Zwieback to feed us on the way.
After some time, we reached Batum where we spent one year and seven months. Many people died here of Malaria Fever and Typhoid Fever. The dead were wrapped in blankets and carried into the Caucasus mountains on stretchers. Sometimes we got to go along for part of the way. Every family had casualties and no one really cared whether they lived or died. We had money with us, but it was worthless. It took thousands of dollars to buy something. We spent four months in Constantinople. Here Jake and Mary got the red measles. No one would be allowed to go to America with any sickness and so they wanted me to get the measles at this time too. I slept between them, but to this day, never had the measles!
