After Peter and Anna married several changes took place that would determine their future significantly. In 1914 David and Agatha Pankratz and Anna's best friend, her sister Maria, decided return to the Ukraine. Things had not gone as well as expected in Siberia so they decided to return to the warmer climates of the Ukraine. They did not return to Hamburg in the Molotschna colony, but settled in Ebenthal in the Memrik settlement instead. Suzanna, oldest daughter from Johann's first marriage, stayed living in Hamburg but would visit the family in Memrik.
The Ebenthal village, with the Russian name Nikolayevka, is where David and Agatha settled. Ebenthal had 30 farms with 81 acres in each farm. It was very near the Kharkov/Mariupol Railroad line. In 1914 when David and Agatha arrived in the settlement it had about 3,500 inhabitants.
Map courtesy of "Smith's Story of the Mennonites" p.354
The Memrik settlement was founded in 1885 by the people of the Molotschna colony. It was 100 miles east of Molotschna and had 32,400 acres of land where 10 villages had been developed. The Ebenthal village, with the Russian name Nikolayevka, is where David and Agatha settled. Ebenthal had 30 farms with 81 acres in each farm. It was very near the Kharkov/Mariupol Railroad line. In 1914 when David and Agatha arrived in the settlement it had about 3,500 inhabitants.
The inset in the map gives the Mennonite population as 120,000 living in 50 settlements by around 1910.
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