Mennonites Expelled from Lithuania in 1724

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Mennonites from various Frisian congregations in West Prussia began settling in what is now Lithuania in 1713. They settled along the Memel river near the town of Tilsit. At that time this region was part of East Prussia, and under the control of the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm. Sometime in early 1724 several young Mennonite men were forcibly taken by recruiting officers of the royal Prussian army. Naturally the pacifist Mennonites strongly protested, asking for their return. The king responded by ordering the Mennonites expelled. A total of 115 families had to leave on very short notice. As a result they were forced to sell their property at significant loss. Even though they were partially compensated for their contributions towards public infrastructure (dams, dikes, windmills etc.) they still required financial assistance from the Dutch Mennonites. The following document includes the names of the heads of the households who were expelled from Lithuania, the amount of money loaned to them by the Dutch Mennonites, and their destination in West Prussia.

Although some of the expelled Mennonites remained in the Danzig and Elbing regions, or the Gross and Klein Werders, many later returned to Lithuania. Those who were recorded as moving to the Stuhm region established the Tragheimerweide congregation, known in the early years as the Schweingrube Gemeinde.

Note that names ending with “sche” indicate a female head of the household, most likely a widow. This list is found on pages 407 and 408 of Horst Penner’s book Die ost- und westpreußischen Mennoniten, published in 1978. The original is presumably in the archives of the Dutch Mennonite church in Amsterdam.

Page created 28 December 2003; html by Richard D. Thiessen

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