The article discusses the causes of illegal emigration
of the Mennonites from the Black Sea region, identifies
the main routes and shows the role of Mennonite
mutual aid in the implementation in the 1920s–1930s.
Mennonite memoirs show that the main causes
of emigration were repressions against the wealthy layers
of the village, the anti-religious struggle that affected
wide circles of Mennonites. Young Mennonites suffered
from the inability to obtain a higher or secondary
specialized education, while maintaining their religious
beliefs; they were afraid to be arrested as members
of the families of the anti-Soviet element. The main
routes of illegal emigration passed through the western
regions of Russia to the Baltic countries, to Poland and
Germany; through Central Asia to China, through
Transcaucasia to Turkey and Iran, through the Far
East to China and further to the countries of North
and South America, to Germany. The Far East was
the most successful channel of illegal mass emigration
in the region of Blagoveshchensk, where refugees were
supported by local Mennonite communities, the Harbin
Refugee Assistance Committee, Protestant missionaries,
the German consulate in China, and co-religionists
in the United States and Canada. Mutual assistance
at the interpersonal level, as well as between relatives
and communities in different regions, continued to play
the role of an effective support mechanism, maintaining
ties within the Mennonite community.