Remembering Russia 1928-1938: Collectivization and Mass Arrest

This DVD documents the spiritual battles and sufferings of Mennonites in Soviet Russia from the introduction of the first Five-Year Plan in October 1928 to the end of The Great Terror in 1938. Soviet plans for the complete collectivization of agriculture, the elimination of so-called 'kulaks' and the closing of all churches struck a hard blow to the traditional Mennonite way of life. Thousands fled to Moscow in a desperate attempt to leave the Soviet Union; others risked the perils of crossing the Amur River into China in order to escape the 'Red Paradise.'

Some 6000 Mennonites were able to leave the Soviet Union. Of those who remained, many suffered the fate of exile to the forests and mines of Northern Russia, Siberia and Kolyma, where they provided cheap, unpaid slave labour for the state.

Life in the collective farms was a constant struggle. Hundreds died during the terrible famine of 1933. Thousands of men and even some women were rounded up by the secret police and exiled to labour camps or simply shot.

Winnipeg film-maker Otto Klassen tells the story of these terrible years from personal experience and through the use of never before seen film footage and photographs of the period.

Also available in DVD, Remembering Russia 1914-1927

Also available in German.