Grandfather and the Czar

8/9/2019 Grandfather and the Czar

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Grandfather

& THE c z A ROnce upon a time, in the early 1900s, my

grandfather, Aaron Rempel, and his wife, Susanna,

lived in Russia.

Grandfather was one of the later Mennonites to

enter Russia at the invitation of Katherine the

Great, Empress of Russia. She wanted to modernize

Russia, and improve its economy. Her plan was to

bring in Western Europeans, including Mennonites,

to establish factories and to teach the Russians

how to farm. Prior to this, the Russian economy was

very backward compared to Western Europe. Many of

the Russian people were simple nomadic herdsmen,

living in crude huts and following the herds in

their vast migratory paths.

Because Aaron owned one of the most magnificent

estates in all of Russia, Czar Nicholas often came

to Aarons estate for a visit.

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Aaron became Nicholas hunting guide. Nicholas

loved to hunt, and hunted with Grandfather Aaron

often.

Aaron was a very skillful hunter, having

learned his hunting skills from the Huntsmen of the

Kirgis, with whom he hunted frequently. They formed

a close bond amongst themselves. The huntsmen were

skilled horseback riders and marksmen, and taught

Aaron well.

The huntsmen loved Aaron and, to show their

friendship toward him, gave Aaron a wolf pup which

they captured on one of their hunts. As the wolf

grew older, it lunged at a woman one day, scaring

her badly. It grieved Aaron, to realize that the

young wolf wasnt safe to have as a pet and must be

put down.

Eventually, the Czar appointed Aaron as the

Czars liaison to his own Russian subjects.

Aaron had a good life in Russia. He owned a

very big factory which made large farm equipment

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that was highly prized throughout Europe. Since his

factory employed 150 Russian workers, Aarons

factory helped feed a lot of families.

All too soon, their lives changed drastically

and forever. World War I started. Soon it moved

into Russia and greatly impacted for Aarons and

most other Russians lives. The fighting blocked

the trains and other means of transportation

throughout Russia. That meant that payment for some

of the heavy farm equipment which he sold through-

out Western Europe could not reach Aaron quickly

enough.

Although Aaron had always been fair and prompt

about paying his workers, he had no control of

this. In retaliation for not paying his workers on

time, they burned down his factory.

Sadly, the workers didnt think about how their

act would impact their own lives, but in getting

even with Aaron, they sent their own jobs up in

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flames. They no longer had the means to earn wages

to provide for their families.

Aaron now had to find another way to make a

living. He thought about the soldiers in the

trenches out in the bitter cold Russian winter.

Each soldier would probably like to warm himself

with a hot cup of tea.

So, Aaron took a train to China and bought

bales of tea and sold them to the White Russian

Army to feed their soldiers. Thus, Aaron started a

new business venture as a tea merchant.

Before the Bolshevik Revolution started, the

Huntsmen of the Kirgis elected Aaron to the Duma.

It was a very august body of men with whom the czar

consulted about how he should run the country. The

Duma was started by the Czar in order to show his

people that he was concerned about their welfare

and to get feedback from them about how to help

them. The Czar probably met Aaron for the first

time during Aarons service in the Duma.

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In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution started and

everyone in the Hunters Union (which consisted of

all the huntsmen of the Kirgi) were conscripted

into the White Russian Army. About this time Aaron

was also conscripted, and became the commander of

the White Russian Armys Air Force, leading the

former hunters he had hunted with as pilots

fighting against the Bolsheviks.

For a long time, it was anybodys guess who

would win the Revolution. The Bolsheviks (Reds) won

battles, then the Whites (The Czars forces). Back

and forth it went. For a long time it looked as if

the White Russians could win.

After the war continued for a long time, many

people became very hungry because the food supplies

dwindled greatly. Also, a gypsy named Machno, and

his band of robbers rode through towns and farms

demanding food for themselves and for their horses.

They ate whatever food they chose and took the

grain which the Mennonites stored in the attics to

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keep their houses warm through the long, cold

Russian winter and to provide food for themselves

and their animals.

When Machnos men were finished feeding

themselves and their horses, they shoveled out the

rest of the grain from the attics onto the ground

below and let their horses trample it underfoot to

make it unfit for use anymore.

Machnos men looted and plundered, taking the

beautiful treasures the Mennonites had carefully

laid away into trunks for safe-keeping.

Grandmother Susannas most prized possession

was her grandmothers cap made of fine hand-made

lace, silk, and ribbons, handed down to her by her

own mother. In Russia, the older women wore these

caps venerating their age and that they had raised

children.

One of Machnos men rooted around in her trunk

and pulled out Susannas grandmothers cap. He

placed it on his head, did a silly little dance,

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and rode off with it , the ribbons streaming behind

him. Grandmother laughed and cried at the same

time. She laughed at his funny antics, and cried

because her revered grandmothers cap was gone.

The war came closer and closer. The nearer it

came, the hungrier the people in Aaron and

Susannas area became, because war interrupts the

growing and distribution of food. When Susanna

boiled down a bone to make soup for her family, she

had to stuff newspapers and rags in the cracks

around the doors and windows to prevent the aroma

from wafting out and attracting a line of beggars,

who would pound on the door and demand some of her

watery broth.

Starvation was now a familiar way of life for

Grandfather Aaron, Grandmother Susanna, and every-

one else around them. Some of their neighbors had

swollen bellies typical of those who had starved

for a long time and were nearing death. Vast num-

bers of people across Russia died of starvation.

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Many grew weak from hunger and died of terrible

diseases such as cholera, diptheria and typhus.

For these Mennonites, This was a time of great

testing of their faith. Some of them turned their

backs on God and became Communists in order to

survive. Aaron and Susanna were severely tested,

too.

Aaron must have had second thoughts about not

leaving Russia when the first wave of emigration

left for America prior to the outbreak of the

Bolshevik Revolution. Until then, Aaron had a very

good life in Russia, and thought things would

surely get better. Those that left in the late

1800s didnt have to suffer the hard times and

heartaches as did those who left after the Revolu-

tion started.

Sometimes God lets us know bad times are coming

and we can choose to act, or to ignore him. Aaron

didnt want to leave his fabulous home, his life as

it was in Russia, and the people and culture he

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dearly loved. He was an important man and a very

close friend of the Czar. No, things would get

better. They had to get better.

Leaving was unthinkable, but as conditions grew

steadily worse, the unthinkable, leaving Russia,

became Aarons only hope.

As Aaron returned home from one of his tea-

buying trips by train from China, he disembarked

when they stopped for a dinner break in a small

town. In Russia the trains didnt serve meals to

the passengers. They had to climb off the train at

stops along the way to buy food for their journey.

Aaron was fortunate this time, for in the town

where the train stopped, plenty of good food was

available. As he walked back to the train along the

tracks with his arms full, he heard a mans voice

calling to him... Hello, sir...over here.

Aaron looked in the direction of the voice and

saw a scrawny arm waving at him from inside a

barred window. He walked over to that window.

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As Aaron approached the building, he could see

that it was a makeshift prison. The man inside said

We are Bolsheviks prisoners. Were starving. Our

captors, the Whites havent given us anything to

eat. Can you give us some of your food?

I dont believe the Whites were deliberately

trying to starve their prisoners, but the Whites

were also starving.

Aaron stuffed a soccer-ball-sized loaf of bread

in through the bars of the window, and also cheeses

and sausages

Aaron had to walk fast to catch the train

before it pulled away from the station. How nice it

would have been to bring that entire bounty of food

home to his hungry family, but God commanded us to

feed our enemies, and God would repay us. As a

Christian, Aaron believed Godthat God would meet

his needs.

The fighting was getting closer and closer to

their home. One day bullets and mortar shells

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whizzed through the house next door. (10,000 will

fall at your right hand, but it will not come near

to you. You will only see with your eyes the

destruction of the wicked.)

Aaron spent a lot of his time out fighting the

war as head of the White Russian Air force. One day

the war took a definite turn for the worse and

Aarons troops all gave up, landed their fighter

planes, and walked home. As Aaron witnessed their

defeat, his heart dropped, like a rock from the

sky, into the pit of his stomach.

He hung his head and trudged towards home. On

the way, Aaron passed a sign on a fence post with a

quote from Trotsky, leader of the Bolsheviks If

you are in the white Russian Army, turn yourselves

in at the regional Bolshevik Headquarters, and we

will how mercy to your families.

Aaron thought about what would happen to his

family if he didnt. They would be ravished and

brutalized by the Bolsheviks--perhaps killed. In

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that instant, Aaron knew he must see the general

referred to on the sign.

The sign said nothing about showing mercy to

those who had opposed them in battle. They would

probably shoot Grandfather or take him off to the

salt mines to die of starvation and forced labor

for the crime of being a Kulak (an employer), a

friend of the Czar, a member of the Duma, and

Commander of the White Russian Air Force.

According to the Bolsheviks way of thinking,

these were the issues they had against Aaron, and

nothing in his favor. Surely, turning himself in

would be the end of him, but he had no other choice

if he wanted the best for his family.

The next day Aaron found the building mentioned

on the sign and walked inside. He asked to see the

general, but was told that he couldnt see him.

Aaron spoke up louder. I want to see the general.

Again, this request was met with refusal. The third

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time, having lost control, Aaron started to yell

his request.

A voice boomed out from down the hallway. Show

the man in. The officer in the foyer escorted

Aaron down the hall and into an office. The officer

sitting at his desk was writing furiously on some

papers.

Without looking up he asked Aaron how many

people he wanted to take with him out of Russia.

Aaron stood with head hung, mute. He couldnt speak

a word, not understanding why the commander should

ask him such a question, because it was completely

off point. Aarons objective in making this visit

was to obtain mercy for his wife, Susanna, and his

three chidren, Mischa (Marie), Aaronka (Aaron), &

Gonja (Agatha).

Again the officer demanded, as he continued his

writing, How many people do you wish to take with

you out of Russia? Still, Aaron couldnt find his

voice. His tongue seemed stuck to the roof of his

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mouth. He just stood there for a few moments,

dumbstruckunable to speak or move

The officer looked up as he questioned Aaron,

Were you ever in (such & such) a town?

Yes, I was there

And did you hand some bread, cheese and

sausages to a man confined in a prison along the

railroad tracks?

Why, yes, I did, sir.

And, did you say anything to that man? the

Officer demanded.

I told him God bless you.

You dont recognize me, do you? I am that

man. Heretake these papers with you. I have just

made you an officer in the Red Army. You may take

as many people with you out of Russia as you want.

They will be your prisoners. These papers will

get you all safely through the Red lines.

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With the stroke of a pen, Aaron was made an

officer in the Red Army while he was still an

officer in the White Army.

With these papers, Aaron took a company of

eighty eight out of Russia, to freedom. Proverbs

Commands us to Cast your bread upon the waters,

and you shall find it again after many days.

This is a true story, and it happened to my

grandfather. His daughter, Gonja, was my mother.

God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to

behold. I wouldnt even have been born, except for

that simple gift my grandfather gave to his enemy.

The things we do in our lives are like ripples

in a pond. You never know how many lives may be

affected by your deeds, good or bad. Grandfather

died in the 1950s before I even had a chance to

meet him. Yet, his gift profoundly touched and is

still touching my life and, the lives of countless

others.

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Grandfather and the Czar