The book is devoted to the history of the Khortitsky and Molochansky colonies of southern Ukraine in the period 1914-1931. The study analyzes the state of settlements and the community as a whole at the most important moments in the history of this period: during the first world and civil wars, the famine of 1921-23, NEP, collectivization. The book also reflected the joint charitable activities of foreign Mennonite centers aimed at preserving the Mennonite diaspora in Ukraine.