Migration and transnational networks of German Mennonites from Central Asia

With the end of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, significant migration movements began in the former Eastern Bloc. The group of so-called Russian Germans in particular played a significant role in the context of immigration movements to the Federal Republic of Germany. As a result of emigration from the successor states of the Soviet Union, complex networks of relationships of migrant cultures developed between Germany and this region, which continue to play a central role in the lives of the Russian Germans today. A small group of these Russian Germans who immigrated to Germany and have received little scholarly attention to date are the Mennonites from Kyrgyzstan.

The origins of the Mennonite religious community, which can be traced back to the Anabaptist movement of the Reformation period, lie in the North German-Dutch cultural area. Central to them are believers' baptism and the complete rejection of violence, which includes, among other things, the rejection of military service. The movement was named after the reformer Menno Simons, who came from West Frisia. Expelled from the Netherlands in 1521, they migrated via East Frisia to the Vistula delta, which they reclaimed.

After increasing pressure from the Mennonites, who were now living under Prussian rule, large groups of them emigrated to Russia from 1763 at the invitation of Catherine the Great. Here they enjoyed privileges such as religious freedom and exemption from military duties. Agricultural colonies such as Khoritza and Molotschna near today's Zaporizhzhya were established, especially in today's Ukraine, which expanded to the Volga River in the following decades. The increasing Russification policy and the pressure on the Mennonites' religious principles led to several waves of emigration: While the majority of the Mennonites left their homeland for the USA and Canada, a smaller group was invited to Turkestan, which had only recently been conquered by Russia, under guarantee of exemption from military service. In 1882, this group of about 500 Mennonites - made up of families from Trakt (Volga region) and Molotschna - founded the villages of Gnadenfeld, Gnadental, Köppental and Nikolaipol (today combined to form the community of Bakaiata) in present-day Kyrgyzstan.

Due to the growing population, the village of Bergtal was founded in 1927 by landless inhabitants of villages that had already existed since the 1880s. Soon after, this settlement was renamed Red Front by Soviet authorities and kept this name until today. Under Soviet rule, the situation of the Mennonites in the Talas Valley deteriorated dramatically. Due to collectivisation, the general standard of living fell and the practice of religion was severely restricted. With the beginning of the war, the inhabitants were at the mercy of reprisals and the terror of the regime because of their German origin. Due to their peripheral location, the Kyrgyz-Mennonites were not deported; however, they were forced to work in the Trudarmija (labour army), which cost many members of the community their lives.

Only in the course of the 1950s did the situation slowly normalise for the emigrated Germans. Nevertheless, the majority of the Mennonites took advantage of the possibility, which had existed since the 1970s, to apply for emigration to the FRG. At the latest with perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union, most of the inhabitants left the colonies in Central Asia. They emigrated to Germany and settled mainly in East Westphalia. In Rot-Front, however, some families remained who still use the German language in everyday life. Another special feature - which underlines the connection to Germany - is the seasonal migration that takes place between Rot-Front and Germany. Former inhabitants of the village spend the summer in Kyrgyzstan, although they have actually been living in Germany for years.