After the expulsion from Moravia after 1621, the anabaptists found refuge in neighboring Slovakia and part of the brothers went to Transylvania at the invitation of Gabriel Bethlen. They built a yard in Alvinec (today Vintu de Jos, Romania). The situation changed after 1762, when, like their brothers in Slovakia, they were given a choice between conversion to Catholicism or emigration. The minority, who remained faithful to the ancestor, first moved to Wallachia and in 1770 left for Ukraine.
They settled in Višenko on the property of Field Marshal, Count Peter Alexandrovich Rumjacev-Transdanubia. Here the hutterites from the Slovak courts joined them. In 1801 they moved to Radičeva to the Czar’s land. In the first half of the 1860s, a reform movement came to life and demanded a return to shared management. Before the internal Rusification applied by the Emperor Alexander II. In August 1874 the first groups moved to the US.
According to the leaders of the three communities that came to America, hutterites are divided into three groups: Schmiedeleut (Blacksmith People) , Dariusleut and Lehrerleut.
After the US joined the war in 1917, most hutterites decided to move to Canada, where most of the brothers live in colonies to this day. Currently, each of the colonies has about 80 members, usually about 14 families. If the colony is larger, usually a part of its citizens move away and start a new one. In the American colonies, the brothers returned to Hutter’s principles of shared ownership. The leadership of the colonies is in the hands of the elders who make decisions on the economic and bussines affairs of the community. Individual members by sex, age and ability have their jobs in the colony. Each branch of the hutterite (Schmiedeleut, Dariusleut, Lehrerleut) has its own elders (this designation is used in place of the earlier designation “bishop” of Vorsteher), who is responsible for the spiritual formation of all the colonies of his branch.
After the relocation to Ukraine, the brothers adapted to the local natural conditions and agriculture became the main source of income instead of the crafts of the time, although the craft production was preserved. In America, agriculture has remained the sole source of livelihood and income of communities.
So far, the Hutterites have retained their specific language to communicate with each other. It is basically conserved and adapted in Tyrolean German. Children are educated in schools directly in colonies, where in addition to hochdeutsch also learn English.
