Russia and Ukraine - Kazan and Zaporozhye
June 14th, 2009It’s hard to describe the contrasts of the last several days. Just yesterday we left beautiful St. Petersburg, an Imperial city of vast canals and rivers that interconnect a series of islands on the Gulf of Finland. Highlights there included the hovercraft ride we took to the palace of Peterhof with its cascading fountains, or the opportunity to visit the Orthodox church service in the Kazan Cathedral. This was all the more significant as “Kazan” was the sight of a rather tasteless Museum of Atheism during the Soviet period. There was so much more, including visits to the famed Hermitage with its priceless art collection, and the Peter Paul Fortress where we visited the burial place of the Tsars. Indeed, the splendor of this city helps explain why Mennonites took such pride in being part of the Russian empire.
But as of yesterday we’ve been based in the Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye in the Mennonite heartland. We spent this day exploring the settlement of Khortitsa (Chortitsa in German). We spent time at some of the large Mennonite-built churches and schools that have survived, and even visited the famed “oak tree”. While there several from our group actually met a Ukrainian grandmother who had had a Mennonite mother. And although her mom had died when she was only 4, she still remembered “Gott ist die Liebe”. It was moving to see her embrace Mary Dick from our group, who is returning to this land after having fled it in the 1940s, just as it was moving to see the Riediger siblings walk down the street of Nikolaifeld last evening - the home village of their father and grandfather.
So it goes! We head for Molotschna tomorrow as our visit to Russia and Ukraine continues.
~ Len Friesen
