139. Walter Quiring, 1893-1983
I. Introduction
The papers of Walter Quiring were acquired for the MLA by Cornelius Krahn in 1971 or 1972. Most were purchased from Quiring himself. (Further details of these transactions may be found in the Krahn manuscript collection and in the MLA office files.) The collection occupies 4 legal-size archive boxes. No special restrictions apply.
Processing notes: Processed by John D. Thiesen in June 1989. There is some material to add.
Volume: 2 cu. ft.
II. Biographical Sketch
1893 Jakob Quiring born in the village of Friedensliebe, Ukraine
1921 fled Soviet Union to Germany with wife Maria Friesen and son Manfred
1928 Ph. D. dissertation "Die Mundart von Chortitza in Südrussland", University of Munich
1927-34 Professor at the Schlossschule at Salem am Bodensee, sometime during this period he changed his name from the Jewish-sounding Jakob to the more German-sounding Walter
1934-36 research trip to Mennonite colonies in Paraguay und Brazil
1936 publication of Deutsche erschliessen den Chaco
1938 publication of Russlanddeutsche such eine Heimat
1936-41 department manager (Abteilungsleiter) in the Deutsche Auslandinstitut in Stuttgart
1941 drafted into the German army as a translator and journalist, ended the war in a British prison
1950 emigrated to Canada
1950-53 editor of Mennonitische Welt
1953 publication of Im Schweisse deines Angesichts
1955-63 editor of Der Bote
1961 publication of Mennonites in Canada
1964 publication of Als ihre Zeit erfüllt war
1963-65 Professor of German and Slavic languages at United College, Winnipeg (now University of Winnipeg)
1965 Maria Friesen Quiring died, marriage to Helen Bartel
1970 Helen Bartel Quiring died
1971 Quiring returns to Germany, marriage to Dr. Marie Kathrin von Strotha in Calw
1982 death of Marie von Strotha Quiring 6 July
1983 death of Walter Quiring 17 January
III. Scope and Content
This collection consists of source material, notes, and drafts for books or articles Quiring wrote or planned to write. Very little of Quiring's own correspondence is included. Much extremely valuable historical and genealogical source material on the Mennonites of South America is gathered together here.
IV. Series Description
Part I is a manuscript entitled "Gott hört uns nicht mehr". This appears to be a first-person, historical novel about Mennonites in the "Gulag" in the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Previously, this item was cataloged in the MLA's library, accession #17547, acquired in 1972.
Part II is a manuscript entitled "Wenn Gott die Weiche stellt". This is another historical novel, about Mennonite refugees from the Soviet Union. This item was also cataloged in the MLA's library collection, accession #17462, acquired in 1972.
Part III is a collection of source documents and notes entitled "Material zur Geschichte der Mennoniten in Brasilien". Most of the material covers the late 1940s and early 1950s. As one can see, not all of the material is about Brazil. This material is all photocopies; the originals are in the Archives of the Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana. The arrangement of the material here corresponds as closely as possible to Quiring's own outline for it and does not follow Goshen's arrangement. Folder 22 is a manuscript by Johann Sjouke Postma entitled "Fernheim, Fernes Heim?". Folders 26-29 are not part of Quiring's outline. The MLA has 909 individually numbered pages in this section.
Part IV is a rough draft entitled "Witmarsum am Krauel". This is a more polished draft rather than a collection of documents as in Part III. These are original materials, not photocopies, arranged according to Quiring's outline. Folder 45 is not part of Quiring's outline and just contains notes, sources, and bibliography.
Part V is entitled "Material zur Geschichte der Auflösung der Ansiedlung Witmarsum in Santa Catarina". This is again a collection of source documents and notes, from the late 1940s and early 1950s. These items are photographic copies; that is, copies on photographic paper, not xerographic copies. The present location of the originals [1989] is unknown. The arrangement is according to Quiring's outline, but Roman numeral XIX from his outline, "Verschiedenes," is missing.
Part VI is a draft entitled "Canadische Mennoniten 1875-1975". The termination date of 1975 seems somewhat strange since the manuscript was acquired by the MLA in 1972 and was cataloged as part of the MLA's library collection, accession #17461. The manuscript may have been modified since 1972. This is once again a draft rather than a collection of documents. These are original materials, not photocopies. The message of this rather rough draft is a bitter denunciation of contemporary Canadian Mennonitism for being different from the Mennonitism of Quiring's childhood. The contents bear only a slight resemblance to Quiring's accompanying outline and may not be in original order.
Part VII consists of two folders of miscellaneous drafts of articles by Quiring (original, not photocopies).
V. Container List
BoxFolderContents
I. Gott hört uns nicht mehr
1 1 Gott hört uns nicht mehr
II. Wenn Gott die Weiche stellt
2 Wenn Gott die Weiche stellt, pp. 1-64
3 Wenn Gott die Weiche stellt, pp. 65-end
III. Material zur Geschichte der Mennoniten in Brasilien
4 Die Schiffstransporte nach Witmarsum
5 Die Wirtschaft
6 Zur Frage des Gesundheitswesens
7 Die Bemühungen Witmarsums um die
deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit
8 Das Darlehen Deutschlands an Witmarsum
9 Das Holländische Taufgesinnten
Emigrantenbüro
10 Bund der Mennonitengemeinden in
Brasilien
11 Das Mennonitenkomitee
12 Das MCC-Heim in Sao Paulo
13 Zur Frage der Aufspaltung der
Ansiedlung Witmarsum in Sta. Catarina
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Walter Quiring (139)
Box Folder
Number Number Contents
1 14 Berichte der Siedlungsleitung an Herrn Ält. J. J. Thiessen, Saskatoon
15 Prof. B. H. Unruh, Karlsruhe, und
Witmarsum in Sta. Catarina
16 Das MCC und Witmarsum in Sta. Catarina
17 Siedlungsleiter David Nikkel in eigenen Sache
18 Die Ansiedlung Bage
2 19 Die Bemühungen der Mennonitengemeinde
Witmarsum um eine Übersiedlung nach Rio
Grande do Sul
20 Witmarsum in Parana
21 Zeitungsartikel
22 Der "Volkstumskampf" in Fernheim
(Postma manuscript)
23 MCC als politisches Werkzeug
24 Verschiedenes
25 Denkschriften
3 26 Die Bemühungen Witmarsums um die
Wehrlosigkeit
27 Die Schulen
28 Die Tragödie von Witmarsum
(chronological table)
29 "Ein Land der Zukunft: Der Staat
Parana" by Hugo Kirchgässner
IV. Witmarsum am Krauel
30 Outline
31 Und doch wieder Wanderschaft
32 Im Kampf um den Pflugacker
33 Tischgäste des Reiches
34 Die holländische Patenschaft
35 Der Wald- und Rodungsbauer
36 Klima und Krankheitserscheinungen
37 Fabrikative Einrichtungen und Absatz
38 Selbstzucht oder Verfall
39 Geistiges Leben und Brauchtum
40 Kirchliche Zersplitterung--das
Grundübel
41 Durchbruch des Volkstums
42 Auhagen
43 Die Stadtrandsiedlung Curityba
44 Witmarsum, Stadtplatz und Ansiedlung
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Walter Quiring (139)
45 Miscellaneous notes and documentation,
including bibliography
V. Material zur Geschichte der
Auflösung der Ansiedlung Witmarsum
in Santa Catarina
46 Versuch des Ältesten Gerhard Rosenfeld,
die Mennonitengemeinde in Witmarsum
aufzusagen
47 Erster Versuch des Ält. G. Rosenfeld,
die Verwaltung der Ansiedlung Witmarsum
zu torpedieren
48 Versuch der Verschmelzung der
Mennonitengemeinde und der Mennoniten- Brüdergemeinde
49 Versuch, die Siedlungsleitung der
Kommission für Kirchenangelegenheiten
zu unterordnen
50 Ält. Rosenfelds Angriffe auf den
Siedlungsleiter
51 Separatismus der Mennoniten- Brüdergemeinde
52 Ältester Gerhard Rosenfeld
53 Prof. P. C. Hiebert in Witmarsum
54 Prediger Robert Seibels Wirksamkeit in
Witmarsum
4 61 Prediger B. B. Janz, Coaldale, und die
Vorgänge in Witmarsum
62 Brief des Ält. G. Rosenfeld an den
Missionar J. Unruh
63 "Versöhnung" David Nikkel und Ält. G.
Rosenfeld
64 "Versöhnung" der Mennonitengemeinde und
der Mennonite-Brüdergemeinde
65 Die Mennoniten-Brüdergemeinde baut eine
eigene Kirche, Beschluss auch der
Mennonitengemeinde, eine eigene Kirche
zu bauen
66 Rücktritt des Siedlungsleiters David
Nikkel, Die Wehrlosigkeitskonferenz
67 Die Predigerkonferenz der
südamerikanischen Mennoniten
68 Der Fall des Predigers Franz Heinrichs
VI. Canadische Mennoniten 1875-1975
69 Outline
70 Weltweite Bruderschaft
71 Zwischen zwei Volkstümern
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Walter Quiring (139)
72 Sein und schein
73 Demographic material
VII. Miscellaneous
74 "Die mennonitische Flüchtlinge in
China"
75 "Auhagen in Brasilien"