Russian Mennonites

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Russian Mennonites

Mennonite family in Campeche, Mexico
Total population
450,000+ (2014)
Regions with significant populations
America (notably Mexico, Bolivia, Paraguay, Canada, Belize and United States)
Religions
Anabaptist
Scriptures
The Bible
Languages
Plautdietsch, German, English

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Anabaptism
A 1685 illustration by Jan Luyken, published in Martyrs Mirror, of Dirk Willems saving his pursuer, an act of mercy that led to his recapture, after which he was burned at the stake near Asperen in the present-day Netherlands
Background Christianity Radical Reformation Sermon on the Mount
Doctrines and practices Theology of Anabaptism Believer's baptism Lovefeast Nonconformity to the world Nonresistance Free will Freedom of religion Priesthood of all believers Separation of church and state Foot washing Holy kiss Plain dress Shunning Simple living
Documents Schleitheim Confession Dordrecht Confession Ausbund Martyrs Mirror
Key people George Blaurock Hans Denck Conrad Grebel Melchior Hoffman Balthasar Hubmaier Hans Hut Jakob Hutter Alexander Mack Felix Manz Pilgram Marpeck Melchior Rink Michael Sattler Menno Simons
Largest groups Amish Apostolic Christians Brethren in Christ Bruderhof Conservative Mennonites Hutterites Mennonite World Conference Mennonites Mennonite Brethren Old Colony Mennonites Old Order Mennonites River Brethren Russian Mennonites Schwarzenau Brethren
Related movements Schwenkfelders Baptists Pietism Radical Pietism Moravians Inspirationalists Quakers Neo-Anabaptism
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The Russian Mennonites (German: Russlandmennoniten [lit. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire]) are a group of Mennonites who are the descendants of Dutch and North German Anabaptists who settled in the Vistula delta in West Prussia for about 250 years and established colonies in the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine and Russia's Volga region, Orenburg Governorate, and Western Siberia) beginning in 1789. Since the late 19th century, many of them have emigrated to countries which are located throughout the Western Hemisphere. The rest of them were forcibly relocated, so very few of their descendants currently live in the locations of the original colonies. Russian Mennonites are traditionally multilingual but Plautdietsch (Mennonite Low German) is their first language as well as their lingua franca. In 2014, there were several hundred thousand Russian Mennonites: about 200,000 live in Germany, 74,122 live in Mexico,^[1] 150,000 in Bolivia, 40,000 live in Paraguay, 10,000 live in Belize, tens of thousands of them live in Canada and the US, and a few thousand live in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.

The term "Russian Mennonite" refers to the country which they resided in before their immigration to the Americas rather than their ethnic heritage.^[2] The term "Low-German Mennonites" is also used in order to avoid this conflation.^[3]