Mennonite Hitlerism or Communism ?
I write this as a personal opinion only and in no way does this link the Mennonites to Hitler's evil rule or Marxist revolutionaries.
Anyways, among German-speaking "Russian" Mennonites, like the KG and Old Colonists, there seems to be a certain trend, thought or mutual understanding that, as Germans with white skin and fair hair, they are somehow superior to other cultures and races. This actually goes much farther back in time than just here in Belize.
For those of you who enjoy reading historical fiction, you could check out some children's storybooks written by Mennonites such as Henry's Red Sea, The Earth is Round, and Pig Boy. These books do not discriminate against anyone, they simply yet vividly describe life among the Mennonites in Russia and the characters' words and actions reveal their superiority complex to the Russian locals around them.
One thing is true, during WW2, Russian soldiers had very low morale in their ranks and looted and raped as they marched.
But back to our subject.
The tradition of building colonies existed before Karl Marx. Colonies were for spiritual reasons and to help keep each other equal in status, with everyone belonging to one church whose rules and doctrines were hammered out by the community leader. As time passed and the Mennonites fled their colonies in central Europe due to persecution and to seek religious freedom, they kept their practice of staying together and building colonies rather than merging in with the locals. Governments granted them autonomous rights and this created even more distance.
In first world countries like Canada and the US, the autonomous colonies quickly became a thing of the past. Not so in Mexico, Belize, Bolivia and Paraguay, where up to now Mennonites still have closed communities.
Now all this time when I've used the word Mennonites in this article, I'm referring to 2 groups, the KG and Old Colonists, called "Russian" Mennonites since the majority of them were from East Prussia and Ukraine. In Belize, the KG group probably went the farthest in expressing their superiority to the locals, most likely due to the poverty-stricken state of British Honduras, yet they were the first to start breaking up their resistance to Hispanic and Creole influence. Modernization helped in crumbling the resistance.
Anyways, among German-speaking "Russian" Mennonites, like the KG and Old Colonists, there seems to be a certain trend, thought or mutual understanding that, as Germans with white skin and fair hair, they are somehow superior to other cultures and races. This actually goes much farther back in time than just here in Belize.
For those of you who enjoy reading historical fiction, you could check out some children's storybooks written by Mennonites such as Henry's Red Sea, The Earth is Round, and Pig Boy. These books do not discriminate against anyone, they simply yet vividly describe life among the Mennonites in Russia and the characters' words and actions reveal their superiority complex to the Russian locals around them.
One thing is true, during WW2, Russian soldiers had very low morale in their ranks and looted and raped as they marched.
But back to our subject.
The tradition of building colonies existed before Karl Marx. Colonies were for spiritual reasons and to help keep each other equal in status, with everyone belonging to one church whose rules and doctrines were hammered out by the community leader. As time passed and the Mennonites fled their colonies in central Europe due to persecution and to seek religious freedom, they kept their practice of staying together and building colonies rather than merging in with the locals. Governments granted them autonomous rights and this created even more distance.
In first world countries like Canada and the US, the autonomous colonies quickly became a thing of the past. Not so in Mexico, Belize, Bolivia and Paraguay, where up to now Mennonites still have closed communities.
Now all this time when I've used the word Mennonites in this article, I'm referring to 2 groups, the KG and Old Colonists, called "Russian" Mennonites since the majority of them were from East Prussia and Ukraine. In Belize, the KG group probably went the farthest in expressing their superiority to the locals, most likely due to the poverty-stricken state of British Honduras, yet they were the first to start breaking up their resistance to Hispanic and Creole influence. Modernization helped in crumbling the resistance.
