Zweibach Hill

Zweibach Hill enters the women’s deliberations as a specific limit on communication: according to August Epp, there is no telephone signal where they are, and anyone needing one would have to climb to the hill’s top. The detail helps distinguish a possible means of contacting the men from a reliable one, while the women weigh whether their departure can be intercepted.

Signal and Access

The hill is raised as the only nearby place from which a signal might be obtained. August Epp offers this qualification after Mejal Loewen mentions reports that men in Chortiza Colony possess telephones. His explanation is conditional: even if the Koop brothers had phones, they could not use them to call from where the women are gathered; they would need to go to the top of Zweibach Hill.

The Communication Dispute

The possibility of telephone contact is disputed rather than established. Neitje Friesen insists that the Koop brothers do not have telephones, reasoning that they would have shown them off if they did. The women accept her assurance, while Mejal adds that the men of Molotschna Colony have no telephones with which to receive a call. The hill’s signal therefore figures in a conversation about a contingency, not a confirmed means of communication.

Strategic Significance

The exchange shifts attention from whether a call can be made to how the women might be stopped. Agata Friesen proposes that the Koop brothers may be waiting for the women to move before riding to the city to inform the men, or may try to prevent the departure themselves. She further suspects that a supposed fire north of Molotschna is intended to push the women south, toward the men and into a trap. Ona Friesen recognizes the danger of that route, and Mariche Loewen says they will disregard the fire report and head north. Zweibach Hill remains a landmark in the discussion of signal access, while the decision turns on avoiding the suspected trap rather than relying on a telephone.