Clayton Kratz (November 5, 1896 – presumed 1920) was a

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

relief worker Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

,'Public diary'
of

Goshen College Goshen College is a Private college, private Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana. It was founded in 1894 as the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts, ...

president Shirley Showalter, retrieved 2007-09-02 best known for his disappearance from the village of Halbstadt in the German Mennonite settlement of

Molotschna Molotschna Colony or Molochna Colony was a Russian Mennonite settlement in what is now Zaporizhzhia Oblast in Ukraine. Today, the central village, known as Molochansk, has a population less than 10,000. The settlement is named after the Molochna Ri ...

during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

Biography

Kratz was sent by the then-newly established

Mennonite Central Committee Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a relief service, and peace agency representing fifteen Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Amish bodies in North America. The U.S. headquarters are in Akron, Pennsylvania, the Canadian in Winnipeg, Manitoba. ...

,"Clayton Kratz: Went to Russia 1920"
written by Paul Toews, mbhistory.org, retrieved 2007-09-02 Kratz and fellow volunteers Arthur Slagel and Orie Miller were sent to investigate the needs of Mennonites who were living in the areas of the former

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, and to bring relief assistance if needed. All three people sent by the committee to serve the relief effort were still in their 20s. Kratz was 24-years-old, and younger than Slagel and Miller. He had finished his third year at

and was already engaged to be married. The trio left the United States on September 1, 1920, heading for

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

(later renamed

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

) in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. American Mennonites had already participated in the

American Committee for Relief in the Near East The Near East Foundation (NEF), founded in 1915 as the American Committee on Armenian Atrocities, later the American Committee for Relief in the Near East (ACRNE), and after that Near East Relief, is a Syracuse, New York-based American internation ...

and were familiar with the area. The trio were expected to gather supplies in Constantinople and transport them to the areas of southern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Due to the ongoing

, the operations of paramilitary bands, epidemics of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

and

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

, and an extended

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

, the local populations in southern Ukraine were running out of food supplies. In Constantinople, it was decided that Slagel would remain in the city to organize the shipment of relief supplies, while Kratz and Miller would travel to Ukraine in person. Their destinations were Halbstadt (

) and

Khortytsia Khortytsia ( uk, Хортиця, Hortycja, translit-std=ISO, ) is the largest island in the Dnieper river, and is long and up to wide. The island forms part of the Khortytsia National Park. This historic site is located within the city limit ...

(which has since been absorbed by

Zaporizhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zapor ...

), settlements which served as administrative centers for the local colonies of Mennonites. Both settlements were in areas contested in battles between the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

and the

White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв� ...

. The borders between the areas held by the two rival forces were at the time unstable. A paramilitary force under

Nestor Makhno Nestor Ivanovych Makhno, The surname "Makhno" ( uk, Махно́) was itself a corruption of Nestor's father's surname "Mikhnenko" ( uk, Міхненко). ( 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ("Father Makhno"),; According to ...

was also active in the area. Kratz and Miller reached Molotschna as expected, and were able to assess the needs of the local population. They then headed north towards Khortytsia. However, military conflicts in their area made it impossible for them to reach their destination, and they retreated back to Molotschna. Miller soon left for Constantinople, but Kratz remained in Ukraine. Kratz was reportedly urged to depart the area and head for

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, where he would be safer. He considered such a move to be cowardly and elected to stay in Molotschna. The Red Army soon captured Molotschna, and Kratz was arrested by the military authorities. He was released without incident, but days later Kratz was arrested for a second time. He was held with other

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

s of the Red Army, and may have been suspected of serving as a

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

for the

Federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

. He was transferred with other prisoners outside the area of his capture. His further fate is unknown, but he never returned to the United States.

Legacy

The story of Kratz served as an inspiration among the international Mennonite community, with a

residence hall A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

"Residence life at Goshen College"
, Goshen College website, retrieved 2007-09-02 and an educational grant program (sponsored by the Delaware Valley chapter of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), formerly known as the Clayton Kratz Fellowship)
, from

Franconia Mennonite Conference Franconia Mennonite Conference was a conference of Mennonite Church USA based in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, with 45 congregations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Vermont, New York and California and 19 conference related ministries. In February 2020, Fr ...

website, retrieved 2007-09-02 named after him. Kratz's story is recounted in the 1971 book ''When Apples Are Ripe: The Story of Clayton Kratz'',Alibris
retrieved 2007-09-02 and the 2001 documentary ''A Shroud for a Journey''.Videos
available from the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

, 2007-01-30, retrieved 2007-09-02 Kratz attended Blooming Glen Mennonite Church in Blooming Glen, Pennsylvania as a child.

References

External links

Clayton Kratz
in ''Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kratz, Clayton 1920s missing person cases 19th-century American people 20th-century American people 1920 in Ukraine Missing person cases in Ukraine

Biography

Legacy

See also

References

External links