Notizen zu dieser Person
Heinrich is a half-brother to David, but we do not know if they sharea mother or a father. Heinrich was sent to Siberia in the 1930s andassume that he died there. He had a gift with languages, speakingEnglish, German and Russian very well. He studied Philology andHistory at the University of Moscow and taught at the Central Schulein Chortitza. Later he became its principal. His nickname wasTschitschikow, after a character in a novel by Gogol. One record sayshe died in 1939. Epp, Heinrich H. (1873-1938) Heinrich H. Epp, teacher: b. 9 May 1873 in Chortitza, ChortitzaColony, South Russia, the eldest of three children of Heinrich Epp(1827-1896) and his second wife, Elisabeth (Perk) Lepp (1830-1904).His father had six children from his first marriage to Anna Siemens(1831-1863). Heinrich was married for the first time on 5 September1896 to Helena Koop (b. 13 October 1873, Chortitza, Chortitza Colony d. 13 February 1920, Chortitza, Chortitza Colony), daughter of AbrahamJacob Koop (1838-1920) and Katharina (Paetkau) Koop (1839-1910). Theirchildren were: Katharina, Liese, Helena, and Heinrich. After Helena'sdeath from typhoid fever, Heinrich was married for the second time in1920 to Agnes Klaassen (b. 25 March 1883, Rosenthal, Chortitza Colony d. 3 June 1974, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), daughter of Jacob Klaassen(1847-1919) and Agnes (Sudermann) Klaassen (1850-1934). They had twochildren: Agnes, and Ernst (killed in 1945 while serving in the GermanArmy). Heinrich d. 11 January 1938 in the USSR. Upon completion of the Zentralschule he attended the Gymnasium inEkaterinoslav two years, and completed the work for his A.B. degree inhistory and philology at the University of Moscow in 1900. He thenbecame a teacher in the Chortitza Zentralschule and devoted his entirelife and work to it. In 1905, when A. A. Neufeld withdrew, he becamethe principal of the school and gave instruction in the field ofeducation in the teacher-training program operated in connection withthe Zentralschule. These courses were taught much better here than inthe corresponding Russia schools, for Epp kept himself informed on thenew pedagogical currents. He equipped the Zentralschule library, whichhad been begun by Neufeld, with all the newer books. He stimulated inhis students a desire for further education, thus producing a streamof ambitious young teachers for the Mennonite elementary schools. Heused to say that good elementary schools were of greater value thangood secondary schools or universities. He therefore declined theproposal made to him by some prominent persons to establish anintermediate school. His ideal was a three-year normal school inaddition to the Zentralschule to offer all the courses of value toelementary teachers. Thanks to his efforts, such a school was openedin 1913. But the curriculum he had planned was reduced by thegovernment, since it surpassed that of the government-operatedschools. After the Revolution, persistent unrest made it impossible tointroduce these courses. As chairman of the Chortitza Teacher's Association Epp conducted themonthly and annual meetings; his influence was the more deeply feltsince most of the teachers had once been his students. He wasappointed inspector of the final examinations of the elementaryschools, thus acquiring direct influence on their instruction, andsince he was also chairman of the committee in charge of the finalexamination of the Zentralschule, he was able to unify the system fromthe elementary schools through the Zentralschule and the educationalcourses. In 1920, when the new government tried to remodel the Russianeducational system on the Western plan, the Russian teachers werefrustrated. But Epp, aware of Western currents, was able to lecture athome and in other German colonies and to reconstruct his curriculumalong the new lines. The commissariat for elementary educationrecognized Epp's contribution and gave him the title of "professor"which was ordinarily reserved for teachers at the universities, with asuitable salary. Epp participated in all movements for the common welfare. Like hisfather, he was authorized by the Chortitza Mennonites to representtheir causes to the governments. In 1919 he resigned from theleadership of the school and representation to the government in favorof his younger brother and colleague, Dietrich H. Epp. However, heremained as a teacher and the soul of the institution. When the Sovietgovernment approached him with the question "Do you believe in God?"and he replied affirmatively, he had to withdraw from the school in1929. After 29 years of devoted and fruitful service, he left thisMennonite school, which was then fitted into the communistic pattern. In 1925 Epp's students and colleagues celebrated the 25th anniversaryof his successful work. His wish and hope to spend the closing yearsof his life in peace was not to be fulfilled. In the mass evacuationof intellectuals from the Ukraine in 1937, Heinrich Epp was alsoarrested on 8 September 1937 by the Zaporozhie City Division of theNKVD and without benefit of trial sent away. Since these exiles werenot permitted contact with their families, nothing more was heard ofhim. It was later learned that he was executed on 11 January 1938. Hiswife Agnes was able to immigrate to Canada in July 1948 along withdaughters Katharina and Agnes. Bibliography Der Bote (25 Jun 1974): 7. GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry)Database, 4.19 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite HistoricalSociety, 2005. Herald Press Information logo Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, andWaterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 236-237.All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopediavisit the Herald Press website. ©1996-2009 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Allrights reserved. To cite this page: MLA style: Epp, Dietrich H. and Richard D. Thiessen. "Epp, Heinrich H.(1873-1938)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. July2006. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 28July 2009 APA style: Epp, Dietrich H. and Richard D. Thiessen. (July 2006)."Epp, Heinrich H. (1873-1938)." Global Anabaptist MennoniteEncyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.Retrieved 28 July 2009
Charles
Hansen
