Because of this our history is a history of continued persecution, martyrdom and flight.  Hutterites migrated from Moravia (today in the Czech Republic) to Slovakia, (then in the Kingdom of Hungary) from Slovakia to Moravia, from Moravia to Slovakia, from Slovakia to Transylvania,  in Rumania) to the Wallachia district of Rumania, to the Ukraine in the neighborhood of Kiev, to the Molotschna district north of the Black Sea, in 1874 to the United States and finally to Canada in 1918.  In most of these countries, the nobles and landowners welcomed them and were glad to have them as they proved to be good workers. However on orders from the emperor, authorities, or persecution they ended up vacating their country and their colonies and starting anew in a different country.

We see God's hand in the move to Transylvania in 1621 and in the renewal of our church in 1755.  During war between the Holy Roman Empire and the Turks, the Hungarian sided at times with the Empire and at other times with the Turks, depending on which side offered more benefits to them at the time.   

In one of these wars, Bethlen Gabor, Prince of Transylvania, a Protestant who usually sided with the Turks against the Catholic Empire, came in contact with the Hutterites.   Gabor welcomed the Hutterites to Transylvania, but they declined his offer.   In 1621 instead of letting the matter drop, he sent wagons and forced close to 200 Hutterites to come to his realm where he promised them religious freedom.  During the 30-Years-War, 1618-1648, the Hutterites in Transylvania were relatively untouched, whereas the colonies in Slovakia were virtually wiped out.  Most of the Hutterites eventually evacuated to Transylvania.

When Empress Maria Theresa displaced all non-Catholics to the outskirts of her domains in 1755, Lutherans from Carinthia in Austria, named Waldner, Wipf, Hofer, Stahl, Kleinsasser, Gross, Wurtz and other common names under the Hutterites today, came in contact with the old Hutterites.  They reinvigorated this group of remaining Hutterites who had been coerced to join the Catholic Church by the Jesuits.  Ccommunal living, which had been given up, was revived and survived.

Times didn't improve for the Hutterites after this, and they lived in constant fear of Turkish captivity.  In 1770, they moved north to Russia where they had a few years of peace.  However, by 1819 internal dissent had caused the Hutterites to abandon community of goods for the second time in their history. However, they still shared some pasture and buildings communally and still considered themselves a brotherhood.

Economic and spiritual problems pressured the Hutterites to seek outside help.  Johann Cornies, a Mennonite government employee, stepped in and organized their move to a new village called Huttertal, near the Molotschna Mennonite settlement. (Mennonites share a common Anabaptist history with the Hutterites.)  They were finally able to reestablish themselves financially and spiritually and several more Hutterite villages were established over the ensuing years.  

Several men were instrumental in reestablishing community of goods among the Hutterites.  Minister Michael Waldner (a blacksmith, called Schmied-Miechel), Jakob Hofer, Jakob Wipf (Lehrer), and Darius Walter were four of them.  Because the Hutterites were still preaching the old Hutterian sermons which emphasized community of goods, they felt compelled to do act on the message they were preaching. 

In 1859, Rev. Michael Waldner (Schmied-Michel) reinitiated community of goods in the village of Hutterdorf.  The following year, Darius Walter (Darius) established community of goods on the other end of the village.  In the center of the village lived those "Hutterites" who didn't practice communal living. 

In 1868, Schmied-Michel's group established a new colony at Scheromet with members from Hutterdorf and Johannesruh.  Schmied-Michel's followers were called "Schmiedeleut" (leut means "people") and Darius Walter's followers were called "Dariusleut".

In 1871, when the Russian government repealed the military exemption status that  Hutterites and Mennonites had enjoyed, they decided to look for a new home.  Even though the Russian government later changed its position, ALL of the Hutterites and many Mennonites left Russia for America. 

The Hutterites immigrated to the United States from Russia between 1874 and 1879. 

In 1918, due to a tragic incidence in which two members died at the hands of by the US military, most Hutterites emigrated to Canada.  After the war, many resettled in former colonies in  the USA, but by then Hutterites had a foothold on the Canadian Prairies.  Today almost 75% of all Hutterites live in Canada.