Stahl, Raul (d. 1947)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1948 Jan 15 p. 8

Birth date:

text of obituary:

Four Members of Mennonite Family in Paraguay Died at Hands of Indians

MAKE SURPRISE ATTACK ON ISOLATED HOME IN THE CHACO

EDITOR'S NOTE: This account of a tragedy in the Paraguayan Chaco is from the newspaper, "The Mennoblatt" published a the Mennonite colony there. it was translated and somewhat condensed by Emma Schlichting, M.C.C. relief worker, and appeared in the Washita County Enterprise, Corn, Okla.

Twenty-two kilometers north of Philadelfia between the villages of Rosenort and Auhagen lies a lone yard on which the family Raul Stahl with seven children had been living for some time.

On the morning of November 28 the two oldest boys, Alfred 11 and Rudolf 10, had been sent to Philadelfia with two wagons and oxen to get bricks for the buildings of the new village Kronsweide which lies about two kilometers away. Six farmers are planning to settle here, but no one lives there yet. The remainder of the family wen [sic] about their work as usual.

Disregarded Warnings

For several weeks our Lengua Indians had reported seeing tracks of strange wild Indians, the Chamococs [sic Chamococos], who had been looking for honey in the bush. The story goes that several Lenguas had driven the intruders quite some distance to the north and then retreated to the colony. they advised Stahl to do likewise, instead of staying out there alone, but he took all these stories to be based on nothing more than the fears of the Lenguas, because for 17 years the settlers had heard similar warnings.

Just a short time previous a cow had come home with a broken arrow in her side, and, although Stahl removed the arrow, and the wound was small, the animal died soon afterward. The Lenguas said it was a Chamococos arrow and feared that it was poisoned. Stahl did not heed the repeated warnings.

Forced Way Into Home

While three children were playing in the yard, the house father had already lain down to rest and the mother was busy with the two youngest children. Suddenly they heard an infernal cry and through the window they could see the dark naked figures of the Indians wildly dashing toward the house. All attempts at holding the door were in vain. As two Indians forced themselves into the house, Mr. Stahl jumped out of the window. The two men then began beating Mrs. Stahl with pointed wooden spears. She was tortured mercilessly as she tried to protect little Elsie who was on a bed in a corner. When the blood was streaming from many wounds they left off the beating and attacked three year old Dorothy who was in her crib and did not quit until the bed was demolished. Then they slipped out.

As soon as the Mother could pull herself together, she went out into the yard and when the Indians saw her they disappeared into the nearby bush with a wild cry. It is supposed that they feared ghosts since they thought they had killed her.

The horrible sight that met the poor mother is indescribably. Near the window lay her husband with a crushed skull. He had already ceased breathing. In the yard she found five-year-old Gunther, bleeding seriously from the nose. She carried him into the house where he died immediately. Six-year-old Erhard she found in the garden also with a shattered skull. Last of all she found the oldest child, twelve-year-old Selma, lying dead near the well. All this happened in a few minutes between one and two o'clock in the afternoon. Whether there were ten, fifteen or more murderers, Mrs. Stahl cannot say.

Awaited Boys' Return

The next duty of the mother was to take care of Dorothy's bruises and then her own wounds. She wanted to flee, but feared she was too weak to hitch the horses to the buddy; so there was only one thing left to do and that was to wait. Ten long, agonizing hours she waited amid the corpses before the bark of the dog at midnight told her that the unsuspecting boys had returned with their loads of bricks. the mother greeted them with the tragic story "we have been overtaken by the Indians; Papa, Selma, Erhard and Gunther are dead, and Dorothy is wounded."

The weeping boys were encouraged to hitch up the horses and the fearful group of five drove eight kilometers to Auhagen where the people were wakened. Here fresh horses were taken and the family driven to Lichtfelde to the parents of Mr. Stahl. These then took the wounded to hospital early the next morning.

The government at Mar, Estgaribia was notified of the tragedy and before evening a military truck had arrived in Philadelphia to follow the tracks of the marauders.

Funeral Following Day

Caskets were hurriedly built, wagons were sent after the bodies, and at seven o'clock that evening the funeral was held at the Lichtfelder cemetery with a large number of people present.

The weapons used by the Chamococos are spears made of brown hard wood with a point at one end and flattened at the other. They are about four or five feet long. The Lenguas say that Chamococos always leave their weapons at the place of the murder.