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The Mennonite Story in Poland and Ukraine

September 18-29, 2012

Photo of the last Mennonite in Ukraine


With tour leader Audrey Voth Petkau

This tour takes you to Poland and Ukraine where we will explore the Mennonite story from the past, through the present, and into the future. Perhaps half of all Mennonites with European roots came from the northern part of Poland (once Royal Prussia or West Prussia). For four centuries this area offered tolerance, in contrast to much of the rest of Europe where religious persecution was the norm. At the end of the 18th century, many Mennonites moved to Russia but some stayed in Poland until the World War II. Ukraine also has a rich history for Mennonites. Our visit to the Zaporozhye district will offer us a glimpse of the rural past of Mennonite colonies. We will also have a chance to meet present-day Mennonites in both Poland and Ukraine. We will also have a glimpse of the future for these countries and the role Mennonites are playing.

Click here to view past blog posts from this tour.

Tuesday & Wednesday, September 18 & 19
The group will depart from Toronto or Newark on an overnight flight to Warsaw, connecting through Frankfurt. We will arrive early Wednesday morning and meet our local Polish guide, Kasia, who will travel with us during the Poland portion of the tour. We will begin our pilgrimage by taking a guided tour of the Old Town, including the Cathedral of St. John, the Barbican and city wall as well as the monument to the 1944 uprising, before we return to our hotel for the evening.

Traveling along the beautiful Vistula River
Traveling along the beautiful Vistula River
Thursday, September 20
Today we will begin our visits to Mennonite sites by driving along the Vistula River. In Deutsch Kasun, once home to several hundred Mennonites, we will see the former Mennonite church and cemetery and then on to the villages of Wilkow, Wisla and Wymysle where many Mennonite homes and a former church still stand.



Tracing family roots in old cemetaries
Tracing family roots
Friday, September 21
En route to Gdansk today we will drive along the Vistula Valley and pass through a variety of towns, including Przechowka, Nieder Ausmaas, Schoensee, Graudenz, and Neudorf. In Montau, formerly a prosperous Mennonite community, we will see a church that now serves a Catholic parish. We will also stop in Kulm, once the centre of Teutonic Knights administration. If time permits, we will stop in Montauerwide. We will be lodged in Gdansk for four nights.

Saturday, September 22
Saturday is the day to tour Gdansk. We will walk through the old city center, visiting the Church of St. Mary, the oldest brick church in northern Europe. We will visit the Westerplatte view point, the Solidarity Museum and the former Mennonite church in Gdansk (now a Pentecostal Church). In the afternoon, we will drive to Marienwerder (Kwidzym) and the Tragheimerweide area.

Malbork Castle
Malbork Castle
Sunday, September 23
Our tour today includes a variety of historic Mennonite centres including Fuerstenwerder, where the last surviving Mennonite log church burned in 1990 and where the cemetery is maintained by a local farmer. We will stop at the Beurwaldea cemetery, and enjoy the stately arcaded farm homes of Neumuensterberg and the town of Heubuden, once the center of a large Mennonite community, where we will walk through its restored cemetery. In the afternoon, we will tour Malbork Castle, once the fortress of Teutonic knights.

Monday, September 24
There are more Mennonite centers to visit: the two former Mennonite churches in Elbing (one of which is now home to a Polish National Catholic congregation), the restored cemetery and former church site at Ellerwald, the Mennonite Museum in Nowy Dwor, Tiegenhagen’s lapidarium and the former concentration camp at Stutthof, where we will have a guided tour.

Famous Oak Tree
Famous Oak Tree
Tuesday, September 25
This morning we will say farewell to Poland as we board our flight from Gdansk to Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. We will arrive Tuesday afternoon and together with our dear friend and guide, Olga, we will drive to our hotel in Zaporozhye. She will be our guide in Ukraine.

Wednesday, September 26
This morning we will visit Zaporozhye and Chortitza, beginning with storytelling under the historic oak tree where Mennonites first settled. We will visit the cemetery and then will enjoy traveling by boat around the Island of Chortitza. We will also enjoy fellowship at our hotel with members of the Zaporozhye Mennonite Church.

Visiting a Ukrainian Church
Visiting a Ukrainian Church
Thursday, September 27
Today we will set out on an exploration of the Mennonite story in Ukraine in some of the former colonies in the Molotschna area including Petershagen, Rosenthal, Gnadenfeld and others. We will see former estates, churches, mills, factories and schools, as well as a visit to the newly-established Mennonite Center in Halbstadt.

Friday, September 28
This will be a free day to explore Zaporozhye on your own. You may choose to shop, meet with the Mennonite Central Committee representatives, have a rest or travel with a local guide to one of the Mennonite villages of special interest to your family. This evening we will join together for our farewell dinner.

Saturday, September 29
Today we will return to North America via Frankfurt. Our journey in Poland and Ukraine will be a trip to be long remembered.


For further information regarding the complete tour fare, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . We would be happy to be of assistance.
 
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