In spring 1998, the editorial committee of the California Mennonite Historical Society Bulletin suggested that it would be timely to have an issue devoted primarily to recent developments relative to the Mennonite story in Poland and Prussia. I was glad to accept the invitation to serve as guest editor.
Through articles and photos we wish to present a collage of information that demonstrates the growth of interest in the Polish/Prussian Mennonite scene during the past two decades. New organizations, historical events, scholarly conferences, study tours and a series of publications all reflect a growing interest in the Mennonite drama that unfolded in the delta and valleys of the Vistula River, from the lowlands between Danzig and Elbing, up the Vistula, to communities in Montau, the Graudenz and Schwetz regions, Thorn, Deutsch Wymsyle, Deutsch Kazun and other places.
For more than four centuries beginning in the 1530s and extending beyond World War II Mennonites were influenced by their Polish-Prussian environment, and, in turn, left their indelible imprint on that area. Ironically, until recently the Polish-Prussian segment of the Mennonite heritage was relatively ignored, at least in North America. Today, it is refreshing to see that groups, individual visitors and researchers from Canada, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as from several countries in South America, acknowledge the significance of this story.
In the United States, the California Mennonite Historical Society and the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies (Fresno) have played a major role in this historical and cultural renaissance. In 1979, the society sponsored a study tour of important former Mennonite centers along the Vistula River, from Gdansk (the former Danzig) to Warsaw. The experiences of this group demonstrated that local tour guides, as well as civic and church leaders, knew very little about the Mennonite role in the history of the region. Efforts were made to establish connections with local government officials, pastors and interested community persons. The result has been a series of activities and projects that have brought significant Polish community and media attention to the Mennonite contribution to local history. Articles on this theme have appeared in the Gazeta Gdanska and in the national news magazine, Rzeczpospolita, published in Warsaw. Over time, these efforts have produced collaborative activities that have involved persons from Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States.
Efforts have also been made to make more literature available so that information about the Mennonite contribution to Poland and Prussia will become more widely known. Thus, in 1989 the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Fresno published A Homeland for Strangers: An Introduction to Mennonites in Poland and Prussia, by Peter J. Klassen. Also, in 1998 Dutch Mennonites published attractive brochures about early Mennonite settlement in the Vistula Delta. These were published in Polish, Dutch and German; an English version is in preparation.
This issue of the Bulletin depicts some of the remarkable metamorphosis that has characterized Mennonite awareness of this aspect of their heritage. The reader is invited to a journey into an important part of the Mennonite past. Thousands of Mennonites today trace their history back to ancestors who lived in the part of Poland that later became part of Prussia. Subsequently, many of these moved to Russia, and still later, to North and South America. Despite these migrations, however, it must be emphasized that Mennonites maintained an unbroken presence in Poland-Prussia for more than four centuries—twice as long as in Russia, and also longer than in North America.