Echoes of the Past: My Heritage Across Borders Part III

Hi Friends, 

Last week, I was privileged to share my life story at the 55+ Gathering at the Westpointe Community Church. Pastor Rod Masterson leads these events. As the name suggests, these people are seasoned by life’s experience. Many of them or their parents came from the same rotten socialist “paradise” background as myself. It was a comradely crowd, and we had many good conversations. 

Ed and Maria Urich were there, too. Ed is a fantastic panflute player. You can follow him on TikTok - Ed Urich. His music is listenable for hours. My son Michael Voth also came to help out. By the way, he designed the covers for my mother’s and my books. Now, he is designing the cover for my father’s book, which will be published this fall. You can also follow him on TikTok, Instagram and see his art michaelvothpainting.com. 

As last week’s newsletter described, Erna is still in Germany, attending to her mother’s needs. 

Thanks for reading!

The Survivors

My father was just 18 years old when he was arrested in Ukraine and sent to the GULAG prison labour camps. At the time, he had just completed his first year studying electrical engineering and metallurgy at a university in Donezk. Along with thousands of other ethnic Germans, he was labelled a “dangerous element” and forcibly removed from the European part of the USSR.

On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded Ukraine. By July, a wave of arrests filled cattle wagons with deportees heading to Siberia. For most, it was a one-way trip. The conditions were inhumane; survival was an afterthought. These people were treated as commodities—cheap labour and modern slaves. My father was forced to change labour camps every February for six long years. In some camps, the first task before breakfast was to carry out the bodies of those who had died during the night.

He describes this harrowing experience in his book, The Truth Will Never Die, which is set to be published at the end of this year.

My mother was 19 when she was arrested and sent to the labour camps as well. She became an orphan after her father and all of her siblings were arrested and perished in the camps. The sole exception was one brother who managed to escape across the border to China and eventually found refuge in Paraguay. My mother’s own mom had died before her arrest. For seven years, my mother toiled in the camps, first making ammunition for the war and later, after the war ended, producing agricultural equipment. She recounts her experiences in her memoir, To Me You Are Good.

Both of my parents suffered immensely in their youth, facing death many times. After my father’s release, he searched for my mother, whom he had known since childhood. While she was still imprisoned, he proposed to her in a letter. They married and went on to have six children.

The USSR was far from an ideal place to sustain a moral, Christian, and faithful marriage and family. From the beginning of the socialist experiment in 1917, the Family Code outlined in the Decree on Birth and Divorce empowered women to divorce without their husband’s consent, have abortions without the father's consent, and live independently of church or family influence. This was considered the most progressive family law in the world at the time.

Throughout the socialist reign and even in today’s Russia, every second marriage ends in divorce, and millions of babies are aborted. Yet, my parents stood as a beacon of strength and hope. They provided a safe haven for us children, even through the hardest of times and persecution. They were a constant source of encouragement and support, teaching us that marriage is not merely a human construct.

Governments often resist strong, independent families because such families diminish the state’s influence over children. Government-run schools have become indoctrination camps for godlessness. Marriage is a creation of God, and He alone defines what it is. There are many different concepts of marriage and family. Every religion, political system, and philosophy has its own take. In the Old Testament Jewish view, divorce was easy and polygamy accepted. Islam allows for up to four wives and many concubines if a man can afford it. But these and many other ideas about marriage are not Christian.

As Christians, we listen to Jesus Christ’s teachings on marriage. When His disciples heard His stance, they were scandalized and said, “It is better not to marry then.” Jesus was teaching with authority, citing no source other than His own. He is God, and what He says is the final truth. As Paul writes in Romans, “Let God be true and every man a liar.”

Jesus’ example is normative. He has one “wife,” His church. He will never divorce her and will always be faithful, even if she is unfaithful. So we, too, do not divorce or put away our marriage partners. There is but one exception when Jesus allows for a divorce. Today, marriage is under attack from demons, politicians, educational institutions, the entertainment industry, and the LGBTQ movement. But perhaps most damaging of all, married people themselves often attack and devalue marriage, making it unattractive. Fights, jokes, and unfaithfulness cause younger generations to be skeptical and reject marriage altogether. No wonder children growing up in single-parent families have no concept of what real trust is. They lack an understanding of permanent faithfulness and hope, and this affects their view of God as well.

I remember one incident when we were living in Sydney, Australia. Two young men, strangers to us, knocked on our door, saying they were tourists and that a friend in Germany had told them they could stay with us. Though surprised, we welcomed them. We just went on with our lives as usual and did not spend much time with them. After three days, Erna told them, “Three days you are guests; after that, you are part of the family and have chores. Off you go, mowing the lawns.” They were shocked but complied. Years later, during a visit to Germany, our friends told us that one of these young men had changed his life and committed to follow Christ. His reason: “When I saw how their marriage was and how they treated their sons, I saw what faith does in practice.” I believe St. Ambrose once said that there are two ways to spread the Gospel: public preaching and a faithful marriage.

One of the great tragedies of the Soviet Socialist experiment—and of those who flirt with this ideology today in Canada—is that they erode the foundation of society by attacking marriage and family. Strong families foster a sense of duty, responsibility, and respect for authority, which translates into a stable, well-functioning society. When these units are weakened, the societal fabric becomes fragmented, leading to instability. People become more self-centred, and the collective moral framework of society erodes, resulting in increased crime, social unrest, and a lack of mutual trust.

Governments then step in to take over the raising of children in single-parent families, which leads to increased welfare costs. Disrespect for marriage and family correlates with declining birth rates. See the example of China’s one-child policy. When fewer people have children, the population ages and shrinks.

Families are the primary transmitters of Christian faith, cultural identity, and tradition. When family structures are weakened, cultural continuity is disrupted. A civilization without a strong sense of its own heritage and identity is more susceptible to external influences (see the mass migrations), internal fragmentation (see the inability of a civil discourse), and eventual disintegration. Examples of that abound in history: Rome, the USSR, and, sadly, the collective Western societies today.

Faithful marriages and families are the pillars of civilization. Children raised by Christians who give their best—not perfect but faithful—grow up healthy and have the best foundation to succeed in all they do. This is the natural law of God’s design. Fathers provide, protect, and lead. Mothers nurture, care for, and remain with their children. It is ideal for children to be raised at home for some 20 years, learning God’s truth and Christian way of life. Any attempt to reverse or reinvent the order of marriage and family as God designed will end in tragedy. We can see this in both public and private spheres.

As Christians, we must uphold the biblical view of marriage and family, even when it is unpopular. For in doing so, we protect the very foundation of civilization itself.

Book I enjoyed reading:

Vishal Mangalwadi, a Christian philosopher from India, offers a compelling exploration of the profound impact the Bible has had on Western civilization in his book The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization. Drawing from his experiences growing up in India, Mangalwadi contrasts the cultural differences between India and the West, emphasizing how biblical principles have shaped critical developments in politics, technology, and societal values in Western societies.

Mangalwadi's primary aim is to illuminate the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham—that all nations would be blessed through him. This ambitious endeavour is handled with skill and insight as he navigates pivotal events and influential figures in Western history, showcasing how the Bible has been a catalyst for innovation and progress.

What makes this work particularly engaging is Mangalwadi’s anecdotes, which reveal just how deeply Christian principles are woven into the fabric of Western culture. He suggests that Westerners often overlook this influence, as it’s the very foundation of their societal norms—much like the air they breathe. By contrasting this with other cultures he describes as spiritually “empty” and “dark,” Mangalwadi doesn’t claim that the West is without flaws. Still, he does argue that God’s grace has been particularly evident in shaping its development.

Overall, The Book that Made Your World serves as both a historical and personal testament to the Bible’s transformative power, offering a thought-provoking perspective on the unique role Christianity has played in the evolution of Western civilization.

Amazon link to this book here.

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www.andrejvoth.com