kit volume xxi no 3 december 2009 pictures improved

Keep In Touch Newsletter Volume XXI No 3 December 2009 The KIT Newsletter editorial staff welcome all suggested contributions for publication in the Newsletter from subscribers and readers,

but whether a given submission meets the criteria for publication is at the sole discretion of the editors. While priority will be given to

original contributions by people with past Bruderhof connections, any letters, articles, or reports which the editors deem to be of his-

torical or personal interest or to offer new perspectives on issues of particular relevance to the ex-Bruderhof Newsletter readership

may be included as well. The editors may suggest to the authors changes to improve their presentation.

Have you made your KIT Newsletter subscription/donation payment this year? Please find details on last page.

Contents

Balz Trümpi is Ninety Five 1

Yes Strange Things are Happening 1

Poem: Back in England – Expectation 1

A Wonderful KIT Issue! 2

Tim and Amanda Harries‘ Wedding 2

Bulstrode Gathering in April 2010 3

Annelene Wiegand 3

Remembering Teresa Hsu 3

Paul Brookshire 1950-2009 4

Rest in Peace 5

Memories of Cotswold and Primavera – Part 1 6

Bessie Harries in Her Early Life 6

The Confrontation Between The Bruderhof And The

German National-Socialist Government 1933 to 1937 – 7 9

Contact Details of KIT Volunteers 12

Supplement: KIT Address List December 2009

Balz Trümpi is Ninety Five

By Erdmuthe Arnold

On December 4th

2009 Balz Trümpi became ninety five. I had a

nice chat with my uncle Balz and aunt Monika on the phone and

heard that several of their children came to celebrate the day with

them; they did the cooking, serving, dish washing: everything; so

the old couple could relax and really enjoyed this family day. To

cope with life at that age in one‘s own home is hardship, pure

and simple; but for Balz and Monika an old people‘s home is no

option. They want to keep on living in their house, 54 Horseshoe

Drive, Hyde Park, NY 12538 USA. All the same, they are de-

pendent on daily help.

Balz asked me to tell everybody he and Monika really would

like to keep in contact – but that it is no longer possible; strug-

gling through the day occupies all their time and strength. Mo-

nika will become ninety two on the 20th

of February, 2010. I‘m

passing on their good wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy

New Year.

Yes Strange Things are Happening

By Stanley Vowles

Thank you so much for the September KIT; it is most interesting

and informative. It was lovely getting various family news; al-

though not without some tragedies due to illness and death.

The report on Friendly Crossways was fine. I am more than a

little surprised that only forty per cent of KIT recipients pay for

it. This is either due to forgetfulness or meanness. Why at ten

pounds a year is only twenty pence or less per week!

Yes strange things are happening on the hofs, as set out by

Bette. Not surprising. Timothy‘s review of ―No Lasting Home‖

was quite perceptive. The letter to Emmy Barth by Ingmar really

hit some nails on the head, but was appreciative. I always find

the story of the community leaving Germany for England etc.

quite moving.

Back in England; - Expectation

By Belinda Manley, Advent 1995, Blean Cottage*)

I have a duvet that keeps me warm at night,

I turn the heating up, for there’ll be frost tonight.

So what will all those do who have no home or bed?

Where will they go, and where will they be fed?

The food kitchen’s there, with sandwiches as well,

Some do go there - you never can tell.

And some find corners where they huddle, so they say,

Sleeping in shop doorways at the end of the day.

“God in heaven above, come down to earth tonight,

And help us all to know how to put things right!”

For what does Advent say when it comes next week,

About the Baby Jesus, whom Kings came to seek?

“Shepherds and Kings - what did you find?

What is the message for all mankind?”

“Peace on earth, good will to men”, we sing

And from the belfry tower the church bells ring.

“O God of Peace! Come down tonight

And help us put these things right!”

*) Submitted by Linda Jackson who owns a booklet of poems by Belinda

Manley

With this poem KIT Staff would like to wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Having read ―No Lasting Home,‖ ―Why Forgive,‖ and ―Homage

to a Broken Man‖ (Heini), leaves me with reflections. I can rela-

tively understand the first with its limitation of subject. However

―Why Forgive‖ is an apologetic of the subject, culled as it is

from many different sources. Hence it gets the praise of those

who have never lived in, or may not even understand, what

community means, or should mean, in its emphasis on all things

in common (apart from women) on the practical side alone, quite

apart from the inner context. Where Johann Christoph reports on

his experiences it is impossible to see he ever lived in commu-

nity or wanted to. He glosses over so many things, I am truly

flabbergasted. There is so much in it of self justification, all un-

der the guise of forgiveness: a truly worldly view.

―Homage to a Broken Man‖ is far from the truth, and I am al-

so amazed at what can be written in a slanted way out of adu-

lation. I will not try to analyze the life from a psychological point

of view, but I am not (sadly) at all surprised that Heini became

(if indeed he really did) a broken man. We humans cannot use

Keep In Touch Newsletter 2 Vol. XXI No 3 December 2009

power over rather than power to do, without destructive conse-

quences – either for the individual, or the group, society or na-

tion, and internationally throughout the millennia, and this, even

from the time of the Sumerians and before. All history proclaims

it.

Dear Erdmuthe. Good to have the news about Balz and Mo-

nika ahead of time. I also have the problem of keeping up, even

at four years younger [Stanley will celebrate his ninety second

birthday on the 28th

of next May]. It is all relative. For many

years I have been a member of Amnesty International. Modestly

I have just completed sending off to thirty one countries around

the world, words of hope, encouragement and support to Prison-

ers of Conscience where people are most terribly ill treated for

peacefully standing up for what they believe or advocate. Some

facts are scarcely believable, but it is not happening to us, and all

we want to do is help. Historically the method works.

I also want to stay at home as long as possible. Greetings!

A Wonderful KIT Issue!

By Miriam Holmes

Dear Charlie, Erdmuthe, Linda, Joy, Dave, Anthony and Tim!

A huge, heartfelt "thank you" for a wonderful KIT issue! I

can only guess how much work all of you put into KIT and sus-

pect you don't always feel appreciated as much as you surely are.

I certainly do not take all your work for granted, but don't ex-

press my gratitude often enough!

I especially enjoyed reading Bill Bridgewater's letter to Em-

my Barth and cheered him on as I read it. I thought that the edi-

tors' choice of putting the picture of Cyril's family into that KIT

issue, along with Bill's letter, was a stroke of brilliance.

Thank you again for a great KIT issue. It is great to keep in

touch.

Tim and Amanda Harries' Marriage

By Andy Harries

Tim Harries (forty-two), the youngest of our three children, got

married to Amanda Stewart (about thirty five) on August 4th

2009. Amanda is the older of two children of a family from

Cheshire. Gudrun and I booked a cottage for two weeks in the

Gower Peninsular which is on the south coast of Wales, a very

nice area where we have been on holiday many times. Tim and

Wedding photo – front row from left: parents Andy and Gudrun

Harries, bride Amanda, best man Jim, granddaughter Laura. Back

row: Grandson Daniel, groom Tim, Steve and Veronica Cresswell

nee Harries.

Amanda and Tim setting off in the carriage, cheering with glasses of

champagne.

Amanda had been planning their wedding for a long time. They

put a lot of effort into making it a very special day. The groom

spent the last night before the wedding with us in our cottage.

The bride, with some of her family spent the night in the Fairy

Hill Hotel, a rather nice named place for that occasion. The

women had their hair done, clothes fitted and make-up on the

wedding day morning. We were all told what to wear; we men a

brown coloured suit, some dark and some light ones, an ivory

Victorian Dress shirt, brown shoes and socks, with a Tuxedo

dark orange tie and dark orange waistcoat. We were all told what

to get and where, for instance also for each of us a specific

flower buttonhole.

The service was in a lovely little Church in the village of

Rhossili, right on the west coast of Gower. We had a rehearsal

the day before, and the Vicar was very good. He is blind and had

a white stick and a long bushy beard, but he certainly managed to

keep everybody under control, and made sure we all knew what

to do and where to be. It was a little strange experiencing our son

making these vows and promises, though he doesn‘t belong to

any Church himself and nor does she. A few people read poems

or words. Other very nice arrangements were a soloist singing

and a string quartet playing hymns and tunes chosen, instead of

the usual organ. I enjoyed this very much.

After the service the usual photos were taken, and then Tim

and Amanda were picked up by a two horse carriage and driven

the short distance to Worms Head on the coast, for more photos

of the couple and immediate family. It was a beautiful

background, looking in one direction to the famous Worms Head

jutting out into the sea and in the other direction to the long

curving sweep of Rhossili Bay with its three miles of lovely

sandy beach, backing up to a high ridge of a hill behind.

All the guests traveled to the Oxwich Bay Hotel for the

reception. Tim and Amanda went all the way (8.12 miles or 13

km) in the horse carriage, mostly along tiny country lanes with

hardly any traffic. They really enjoyed it, especially the wild

hedges and flowers and also the reactions of other horses grazing

alongside, often coming close to have a look.

The reception was in a large, splendidly arranged marquee

next to the hotel. Tim had requested we sing some songs in

recognition of our Bruderhof background and some African

songs for his brother and Best Man‖ Jim. First Gudrun, Jim,

Amanda‘s mother and I sang ―My bonnie lies over the ocean‖

and ―Edelweiß‖. We were standing by the entrance to the dining

hall and a whole group of the people going in stopped to listen.

Many said afterwards how they enjoyed it. Gudrun, Annette (a

German friend of Tim‘s), Renate (Hanfried Pfeiffer‘s wife),

Adriana Eyl (Grace and Klaus Pfeiffer‘s daughter) and I sang


two German love songs, ―Auf der Lüneburger Heide‖ and ―Stehn

zwei Stern am hohen Himmel‖.

This is my favorite wedding song from our Bruderhof days:

Stehn zwei Stern am hohen Himmel,

leuchten heller als der Mond,

Leuchten so hell, leuchten so hell,

leuchten heller als der Mond.

Ach was wird mein Schätzlein denken,

weil ich bin so weit von ihr,

weil ich bin, weil ich bin,

weil ich bin so weit von ihr.

Gerne wollt ich zu ihr gehen,

wenn der Weg so weit nicht wär,

wenn der Weg, wenn der Weg,

wenn der Weg so weit nicht wär.

Gold und Silber, Edelsteine,

schönster Schatz, gelt, du bist mein;

ich bin dein, du bist mein,

ach, was kann denn schöner sein!

The usual speeches were followed by some delicious food.

Before dessert was served Jim, Gudrun, Tim and I sang two

African songs from the Ki-Kaonde tribe in Zambia, which Jim

had taught us many years ago, lovely songs with some beautiful

Left to right: Gudrun, Andy, Annette, Adriana and Renate singing

German songs

harmonies and rhythms. After the cutting of the cake and a

break, a young Japanese woman gave a demonstration of Tai

Chi; Amanda had invited some good friends of hers from Japan.

An Irish band for Ceilidh dancing invited all for something like

American square dancing where a caller calls out the different

moves. That was a lot of fun. Then everybody walked the short

distance to the beach for lanterns to be lit and let go so they rose

gently into the night sky — quite a sight. After that there was a

late buffet: high time for Tim and Amanda to leave. Gudrun and

I left too and drove back to our cottage, still hearing from afar

the disco inviting those with enough energy to dance some more

rounds.

The whole event was very enjoyable. We just hope the couple

lives happily ever after. It was obviously a lot different from a

Bruderhof wedding, but it was also a great experience. Weddings

on the Bruderhof were something unique; I think for many of us

they were the best days we had in community life.

Bulstrode Gathering in April 2010

By Andy Harries

To all Ex-Bruderhofers and friends: I have been able to book the

room at Bulstrode, which we had last year and a few times be-

fore, again.

Date: Saturday, April 24th

2010

The room is available for us from 10.30am to 5.30pm.WEC In-

ternational have kindly allowed us the use of the dining room at

the back with access to hot water so we can make our own drinks

there. We will bring basic milk, sugar, tea and coffee. Please

bring some food along to share. Just as we did last time we can

sit outside on the veranda with free access to the lovely Bul-

strode Park and grounds. Please do not smoke indoors. No alco-

hol and no littering anywhere.

We will have a collection for a voluntary contribution which

we can give to the people from WEC International as a thank you

for kindly allowing us the use of the room and grounds.

I will put out a sheet of paper at the reception for everybody

to sign on arrival. This is a legal requirement in case of fire. If

you enter through the main front door, the reception will be on

the right. Also on the right are toilets.

Please pass this information on to others who might be inter-

ested in joining us on our day at Bulstrode.

Annelene Wiegand

KIT: In the course of preparing the new Address List we learned

that Annelene Wiegand (sixty nine), oldest daughter of Waltraut

and Gerhard Wiegand, suffers from severe Alzheimers. She now

lives with her youngest sister, Waltraut (Trautel) Hagel, in the

lovely countryside near Schwäbisch Hall. They live in the same

house the Wiegand family occupied ever since they were asked

to leave the Bruderhof in1961. Annelene still remembers old

times and will be happy to receive greetings (Annelene Wiegand,

c/o Waltraut Hagel, 74542 Braunsbach-Tierberg, Hausnummer

10.)

Remembering Teresa Hsu By William (Ingmar) Bridgwater

For many years Teresa Hsu, a trained nurse worked in the Hos-

pital in Loma Hoby; she was, according to what Cyril Davies

told me many years later a very qualified, loyal and hard working

person.

I had forgotten about Teresa until an article appeared in the

local Singapore paper stating that she had received the Insurance

Associations Award 1993 ―for her charitable work‖. My wife

and I were living in Singapore at the time (1992-1994). We

checked to make sure this was the right Teresa and sure enough,

there she was living in an old people‘s home which she had built.

My wife and I visited Teresa several times. She was 82 years

old [born June 1st 1912 according to an old Bruderhof Family-

List], but still in good health, delighted to see me and talk about

her years in Primavera and common friends.

She told us she had grown up in Singapore and had trained to

be a nurse. Before and during World War II she worked as a vol-

unteer in China, where she got to know Delf Fransham who was

doing similar work there.


Teresa Hsu was working as nurse in the Primavera hospital.

(Photo: Constantin Mercoucheff Archive)

After the war she went to the United Kingdom where, at some

point [1948, according to Arthur Lord‘s Wheathill dates], she

made contact with the Bruderhof and was sent to Primavera. I

don‘t know which year, but probably around 1950. I remember

her from my last school years in the early fifties.

Teresa became a member, performed her work diligently, and

learnt to speak Guarani. Early 1961 Theresa was approached by

Christoph Boller who told her, without giving any specific rea-

son, that her services were no longer required. She was dropped

off in Asunción. There she worked for a local convent. It soon

dawned on her that, at the rate she was being paid, it would take

her decades to save for the trip back to Singapore. As Singapore

at the time was still ruled by the British, she approached the Brit-

ish Ambassador, asking for help.

The reply was negative. The Embassy could not arrange to

pay the trip to Singapore. However the Ambassador said: ―I will

talk to these rascals and see to it that they pay your passage back

to England.‖ The Bruderhof conceded and paid her a one way

ticket to England. In London she met her sister, who paid for the

fare back to Singapore.

In Singapore Teresa worked as a nurse and did charitable

work. In her spare time she approached companies to request do-

nations for an old people‘s home for the poor, which she was

planning to build. The plan succeeded. When we met her, the

home had many beds. The occupants were old poor people.

The year we left Singapore (1994), Teresa was no longer

leading the old folk‘s home, but had found a home for the rest of

her lifetime within it. But she was still making her rounds col-

lecting money and goods. Every Saturday she would distribute

the thingss she had collected during the week among the poor

and needy. At 82 (!) she also gave yoga lessons and made fund-

raising speeches. My wife arranged for her to speak to the Scan-

dinavian Ladies Association in the Norwegian Seaman‘s Church

in town. A good contribution resulted.

[Note by the editors: William Bridgwater had sent the Singa-

pore newspaper report about Teresa being awarded for her chari-

table work to Clementina Jaime in Paraguay, and she most

probably passed it on to the KIT-Staff in San Francisco, who

published the good news in the KIT Newsletter of July 1994;

there was no news from her since then.]

Paul Brookshire, 1950-2009 By Tim Johnson

In mid November I heard from our old friend Katherine Brook-

shire of the death of her elder son, Paul who passed away on

November 11th

. Kathy, whom some of you may remember from

Woodcrest and Oaklake days called me to pass on the sad news. I

had reconnected with her when she lived in north Georgia, from

which however she left some years ago for Arizona, mainly for

health reasons after her retirement.

Paul died at his Florida home. The exact cause of death is

unknown, but he had been in quite fragile health for some time

Paul (14), Kathy and Tommy (12) celebrating Christmas together at

Oaklake 1964 (private photos)

with serious respiratory problems and it appears to have been

some respiratory episode which finally took his life without

much warning. Indeed, though he had been reluctant to proceed

with the radical surgery involved, he was on some sort of lung

transplant waiting list. He was found at home, at first appearing

just to be asleep or reclining on his couch by the person who

went to check on him after he failed to show up at work, and also

failed to respond to a call from his mother. Paul was fifty-nine

years old at the time of his passing.

Paul did not grow up on the Bruderhof, though he visited it a

few times. He grew up with his dad after he and his mother

divorced, while younger brother Tommy stayed with Kathy at the

Bruderhof until she left and returned to Georgia (near

Macedonia, actually). Let‘s keep her in your thoughts, as this is a

difficult time for her, and also for Tommy and his family.

Kathy Brookshire [asked us to share the following with her KIT

friends and acquaintances]:

―Paul Russell Brookshire was born on August 2nd

, 1950, in

Miami, to Jerry and Kathy Brookshire. His brother Tommy

arrived two years later. However, the marriage did not last, and ...

Paul, Tommy and I left Miami about 1954 to stay with my

parents in Georgia. Jerry came to Georgia and took Paul from the

yard where he was playing. I went to Miami with him. I thought

he would bring him back, but he would not. Tommy and I moved

to Macedonia, and Paul was allowed to visit us there.

―Paul visited Woodcrest and Oaklake while we were there.

When Tommy and I left Oaklake for Georgia we met Paul there,

and had a wonderful camping/road trip west to Texas and


Paul Brookshire at home in Miami 2008, a year before he died.

Arizona to visit my sisters and their families. Paul returned to

Miami to attend college as music major. Music was always a

large part of his life. He played drums and also piano and various

other instruments, and was good at anything musical. He had an

excellent hi-fi music system and hundreds of CDs. Paul went

into piano tuning to help his Dad, who was a piano tuner.

―My son was married for a number of years, but had no

children. After they separated/divorced he continued in Miami,

but after Hurricane Andrew (1992) he sold his house and tried

San Francisco for a time. He returned to Miami, purchased a

UPS store franchise, and returned to piano tuning, this time on

cruise ships, which he enjoyed.

―Paul had developed a tendency to have respiratory problems

over the years, and this was finally correctly diagnosed as

bronchiectasis/pseudomonas. His system had developed

resistance to all the usual antibiotics, and his condition worsened,

though with periods of partial remission. His doctors told him he

needed a complete lung transplant. He wanted to put this off as

long as possible. The last few weeks he was ill, and had a fever

with coughing. His co-workers and friends and I had been trying

to call him that last day. At the end they went to check on him,

and found him sitting on the couch, peacefully asleep, they

thought. But he was already dead.

―We will all miss him terribly. He was a good, fun person to

be around, cheerful in spite of his pain.‖

Rest in Peace

Keep In Touch got news of the death of several Bruderhof

members who died in 2009. Many KIT readers will know them

from old times and remember them with love. If anyone wants to

publish his/her personal memories in our Newsletter, please do

so.

Nancy Trappnell, nee Watkins died February 2009 and was

buried next to her husband Brian on February 23rd

in Maple

Ridge. Brian died twenty-one years earlier, in 1988 aged eighty-

three. Nancy would have been one-hundred years old had she

survived to the 22nd

of September this year. The Trappnells were

a real Primavera family. The young couple crossed the Atlantic

from England with their first born Peter and Grandmother Elisa-

beth Watkins in the large group which set off on the 7th

of Febru-

ary, 1941 on the Avila Star. They first lived in Isla, then in

Loma, and most of the years in Ibaté. Their seven children are:

Peter, Mark, John, David, Caleb, Sheila and Brian junior. Many

of us have fond memories of Nancy, Brian, and their kids – our

class mates.

Elisabeth (Lizzie) Boller, nee Maendel died on June 26th

, 2009,

aged 75. She was born to Jacob and Rachel Maendel on January

19th

1936. Her family had moved to the Forest River Community

from another Hutterite Colony. There Lizzie met Bruderhof

youngster Hans-Uli Boller. They became engaged, and married

in October 1956. This was most probably the first wedding of a

Hutterite and Bruderhof couple. Lizzie was the only child of her

family who decided to join the the Bruderhof. Her parents and

siblings belonged to those Hutterites who would not accept the

uniting of Forest River members with the Bruderhof.

Lizzie and her eight children Veronica, Michael, Constance,

Hans Jörg, Hannah, Margaret, Simeon and Christine, lost Hans

Uli very early in their family life; he died suddenly in May 1972

from bronchial asthma. – Sadly, Michael, who left the Bruder-

hof, was not invited to the funeral of his mother, and he was not

allowed to visit her before she died.

Victoria (Vicki) Rattenbury, nee Agius, aged eighty-five died

during the month of June. She and her husband Norman had two

children: Patricia and Paul.

Dorothy Scott, nee Spencer, aged eighty-eight, also died in

June. Her husband William Scott died in 1975 at the age of 89.

The British couple had six children: Sarah, Richard, Theresa,

Julian, John and Anthea. – Richard is one of the Bruderhof Eld-

ers today.

Harry Magee, died in July aged eighty-nine. He was married to

Lotti Ahrend, who came to the Rhönbruderhof as a child with her

mother Ulrike. Harry and Lotti had five children: Catherine,

Myra, Heather, Mathew, and Ian. Primavera, El Arado and Bul-

strode were the hofs the family lived in before the big crisis in

1961. They stayed truthful to community life, and most probably

moved to the States later on.

Marjorie (Madge) Wardle, nee Hollingdrake died in Septem-

ber, aged ninety-four. Madge had lost her husband Derek ten

months prior. Their six children are Christopher, Francis, Anne,

Joan, Aileen, and Stephen. – Tim Johnson remembered this Brit-

ish couple fondly in his Memories about Derek Wardle, whom he

experienced as Headmaster in Wheathill of April, 1948 and the

following few years. (KIT Newsletter, April 2009.)

Daniel Paul died in November at Darvell, aged sixty-four. He

was born on August 27th

, 1945 to Thomas and Cecilia Paul in

Wheathill. At the age of about eleven years Daniel had a bad ac-

cident, ―when cooking pancakes on the family‘s paraffin room

heater.‖ Matt Ellison shared this in a contribution for KIT in

April-May, 2001: ―… He (Dan) caught fire. His attempts to beat

out the fire caused the material to stick to his bare arms and legs

while it continued to burn. The stove got overturned and it was

pandemonium. Tommy, his father had the presence to wrap him

in a rug and get the fires out. Dan was hospitalized for a long

time suffering from large areas of deep burn…‖

Two years later the Paul family lost their oldest son James,

aged fourteen in another bad accident. Matt‘s memory: ―We used

to sledge down the first Bank, a steep field with a wicket gate at

the bottom leading to the stream. On this occasion slushy snow

had frozen overnight and the track was like an Olympic bob sled

run. James and Dieter [Holz] raced down the hill for the wicket

gate, and James hit the gate post broadside. He died of internal

injuries. The Paul family had it pretty tough. …‖


Memories of Old Cotswold and

Primavera Days – Part 1 By Bessie Harries

KIT received the memories by Edith (Bessie) Harries from her

son Andy. She had found the time to write them down on one of

the Bruderhofs in 1983, just three years before she died on No-

vember 21st, aged 82. Andy has included parts of a tape which

his parents made in 1985 at Woodcrest. Together with his wife

Gudrun he transcribed his mother’s tiny handwriting. She and

Cyril Llewelyn Harries were one of the first couples who joined

the Cotswold Bruderhof in 1936. Her memories add to the report

of Hans Zumpe about the years 1933 till 1937. They also are

good counterpoint to the book by Emmy Barth about the exodus

of the Bruderhof people from England to Paraguay and the first

years in Primavera. In 1945/1946 the Harries family moved back

to England to be part of the Wheathill Bruderhof. A short intro-

duction about the pre Bruderhof years will help in understanding

why the author and her husband joined the community.

I went to a day college in London, catching a train at 7.57am.

Granted a scholarship, I didn‘t have to buy books, and was given

£24 a year for clothes. We had to study every subject – it was ac-

tually very interesting, but pretty hard. We had music, for in-

stance, in an old theatre. When we were cold we had to stand up

and bang each other on the back. We enjoyed our teacher, Rook,

who taught me to sing alone – to sight read and so on. There

were students from every belief and unbelief and I became criti-

cal of Christianity and thought I knew better. This must have

caused my parents pain. I think the psychology and theory of

evolution and other issues were very prevalent at that time. One

of my six sisters became an anthropologist and a believer in the

theories of Rudolf Steiner. At one time my sisters and I decided

to try all the different churches and chapels in our town. The one

I remember best was the Roman Catholic one which seemed to

us very formal and elaborate. It seems to me that all this was

merely a kind of intellectual searching and very unrewarding. It

was a time when many people were questioning the churches, al-

so asking why there were so many different ones; for example, in

our town were both Wesleyan Methodists and United Method-

ists.

I left college in 1921 and taught for four years in a very poor

part of London, starting with about twenty children, mostly three

years old. I made a bad beginning: The very first morning I

spilled red ink on the attendance register – which had to be kept

in perfect condition! I don‘t know what the Head Mistress did,

but she was in an awful state about it; she probably had to get

another register. I was full of idealism and ideas how to teach

young children. I was told the children had to learn their ABC –

to count up to five and so on. During the next six months the

class increased to 60. However the head mistress was very happy

about the P.E lessons (physical exercises) – we went around im-

itating animals and really enjoyed ourselves, also with the piano.

The children were loveable and many were responsive.

After four years I transferred to a junior school, starting out

with seven year olds and moving up with them until they were

ready for senior school. Here the teachers were young and keen

and I enjoyed the next four years until I left to get married, in

1929. I also experienced joy in helping with Sunday school for

little ones. It was at Easter 1928 during a Sunday school confe-

rence that I met Llewelyn; he was a Wesleyan too. We had a

number of common interests and arranged to go to a summer

holiday house in August, arranged by the Wesleyans. We had

various questions, which we wrote about to one another in the

meantime.

Bessie Harries (sitting, 2nd from right) as a 15 year old with her

parents Frederick and Charlotte Clift, her five sisters and brother,

probably 1916. (Most of the photos submitted by Andy Harries)

Bessie Harries in her Early Life By Andy Harries

My mother, Elisabeth (Bessie) Harries, was born on April 9th

,

1901 in Yorkshire — the oldest of seven children — to Frederick

Arthur and Charlotte Nellie Clift, nee Thomas. Soon after her

birth the family moved to Lincolnshire and later to St Albans,

near London. Her father, Frederick was a printer who worked for

the Salvation Army, though he wasn‘t a member. He was

secretary of the printers‘ trade union. He belonged to the Liberal

Party, and supported Prime Minister Lloyd George. Around 1900

the British were building railways in Argentina and two of my

Mum's uncles went there to work.

Her parents were Wesleyan Methodists; they took refugees

from France and Germany into their home. With her father, a

Wesleyan lay preacher, Mum sometimes biked on a tandem to

one of the villages several miles away where he would take the

Sunday services. He used to read books by John Wesley and

Spurgeon. The family liked to go out on bike rides or country

walks, often taking a picnic. They picked blackberries and many

other fruits and enjoyed the flowers. Mum said that her mum

would tell them that the name ―daisies‖ comes from ―day‘s eyes‖

because they closed in the evening.

Mum went to High School in St Albans with a scholarship.

She then got a job as a governess to two boys in the afternoons.

It was 1918, and the High School had been evacuated for the

military. Lessons were held in a ―drill hall‖. A year before

college Mum was offered a job as a ―monitress-in-training‖

(teacher‘s assistant) in an infant‘s school. – There will be more

about the following years as a teacher in her memories.

In 1928 my parents met for the first time at a Wesleyan

Methodist conference near London.

Cyril Llewelin Harries was born in Cardiff, Wales, also in

1901 (on August 29th

). After World War I there was virtually no

work, but my father managed to get a job near Swansea for a

colliery company, being in charge of the office. My parents met

again at another conference. They then got engaged, but were

still living two-hundred miles apart. They married the following

August (1929) and went to mid Wales for their honeymoon, then

settled near Swansea, south Wales. While they were having a

house built, they rented another house, but with no furniture.

Jennie was born in September 1931. Llewelin lost his job 1932,

so my Grandmother Charlotte Clift invited the small family to

live with her in St. Albans. Grandfather Frederick had died some

years before. Soon after, my parents joined the Quakers. They

also joined the ―Peace Pledge Union‖ and campaigned for peace

and against war. Then they heard of the Bruderhof.


Bessie on honey

moon in Mid-Wales

The place, which

was called Willers-

ley Castle, was in

the mountains, the

Pennines, and we

had some good

walks together and

became engaged.

Then we were sepa-

rated for another

year, except for a

couple of visits

from Llewelyn to

my home; I was

teaching, and Lle-

welyn did account-

ing. We both began

to save what we

could, but it wasn‘t

very much. We were married very quietly as my father was ill,

and only my family was there. We went to Mid-Wales for our

honeymoon and spent our time mostly in the mountains and on

the river Wye. Two years later Jenny was born, which was a very

joyful experience, and meant very much to us. Llewelyn took

many snap shots of her and would play on his violin to help her

to sleep. We had a folding pram and took her with us for walks

and by bus to the sea and had great joy in every new develop-

ment.

One Monday morning Llewelyn came home and said he was

―sacked‖ – he had lost his job. He had refused to do something,

which was dishonest in the bookkeeping. It was 1932, a time of

great depression and unemployment in Wales. There was no

hope of getting another job, and we had not saved much and

were not eligible for unemployment money. My mother invited

us to share her house in St. Albans – she was a widow by then.

We were very grateful and moved. It was a long journey in No-

vember or December. On this journey I got out of the train to buy

a bottle of milk for Jenny, but nearly missed the train that way! I

ran along the already moving wagons and signaled to the guard.

The train slowed

down and I was able

to get on.

First Cotswold visit

in June1936

In February 1933

Anthony was born.

Meanwhile Lle-

welyn answered

many, many adverts

or wrote to firms but

there was no re-

sponse. I did some

supply teaching. Fi-

nally Llewelyn got a

job in the office of a

stocking factory

where he came in

contact with some

Bessy with Jenny

1931

Quakers. They were very warm and friendly and we started

going to their meetings, which appealed to us. It was always

quiet, but a warm friendly atmosphere. Soon we were joining a

group of people who, like us, were concerned to find a different

way of life. We had ideas of co-operating with other families,

preferably in the country. A few years passed by. We read the

―Friend‖ – the Quaker monthly paper – and one day found a let-

ter from Jack Hoyland about his visit to the Rhönbruderhof. Two

things struck us especially, the way they would struggle for unity

and the joy they had together in country dancing. So we wrote

asking if we could visit for two weeks during Llewelyn‘s holiday

in June, 1936. An answer came saying the Bruderhof had now

started in England at Ashton Keynes and we would be very wel-

come. We asked about bringing the children and the answer

came, ―Oh bring them, we have a little boy here who has no

playmates!‖ (That was Jakob Gneiting.) So we went on June the

20th

1936.

Everybody spoke German except for Arnold and Gladys Ma-

son and Freda Bridgwater, and neither of us knew a word except

―Ich dien‖, stamped on the English coins. Prince Albert came

from Sachsen-Coburg in Germany. We travelled on a very hot

day and had arrived pretty exhausted and met Gerd Wegner who

jumped off his bike and directed us to the Cotswold house. There

Annemarie Arnold welcomed us very warmly with a big pot of

tea, which was very welcome. We were given a room in the grey

Cottage with four iron beds and straw mattresses, a table and

four chairs, something to eat – very simple, but we were so

thankful to be there. We felt very strongly a warm atmosphere.

There was much to do, as the farm was very run down – mud

everywhere. Llewelyn worked with Hans-Hermann Arnold in the

garden, making homemade concrete blocks for the buildings

along with Joseph Stängl. I was with Freda in the laundry which

was very primitive. We had to pump all the water we used and

heat it in a copper. We also boiled all the white things in the

copper. The dining room in the Cotswold house was quite small,

heated by an open fire when it was cold. At mealtimes something

was read or reported in German and we sang songs from the

―Sonnenlieder.‖ Sometimes Arnold translated what was said.

We were invited to afternoon snack by couples – Hardy and

Edith Arnold with Bubi, Arnold and Gladys Mason with ―Jonny

boy‖, Heini and Annemarie Arnold, Alfred and Gretel Gneiting,

who had three children. I think Michael was a bit of a rascal but I

am not quite sure. All couples answered our questions and we

appreciated it very much that they gave us their time. I think we

didn‘t realize how much they all had to do.

There seemed to be always many guests on the Cotswold

Bruderhof, some deeply interested, some very critical, so there

were often guest meetings, which were pretty lively and helpful.

I remember one meeting with us, which must have been with the

Brotherhood. We were asked if we had any questions. I said I

couldn‘t see how the parents could have a good contact with

their children when they were separated all day. The children did

not come home at the midday. Heini said, after a pause, ―Love

will find a way.‖ I felt satisfied that that was so.

At the end of the fortnight we both felt this life is what we

wanted, but I was a bit hesitant about giving a definite answer;

one thing being that I wouldn‘t see much of the children (Jenny

now nearly five, and Anthony over three years old). I found that

very hard. Another thing bothering me: Why had everyone to

dress alike; the women in long, long skirts and with headscarves?

Llewelyn went home because he had to go to his job and I stayed

on for a few weeks. No one tried to persuade me in any way.

When I felt quite certain, I went home to Llewelyn and left the

children behind – Jenny with Freda, and Anthony with Hardy

and Edith.


We were packing up, preparing to go, but we were also very

keen for our friends to hear about the Bruderhof, especially some

who had also been looking for a different, more brotherly and

more sharing way of life. Various brothers came to our house in

St. Albans near London to talk with our friends, or to do ―Wer-

bung‖ [mission], or learn English (Hans-Hermann). Hardy and

Arnold came, as well as Herman Arnold – he went to London to

learn publishing. Another task of these visiting brothers was to

go to London to help the young brothers of military age into

England, since some had no passports. They had a good friend in

Alexander Maxwell, the Home Secretary. We looked forward

eagerly to their visits and incidentally hoped they had enough to

eat. I was so used to cooking very simple, small meals. They

were trying so hard to get money for the community as they had

so little.

The main house on the Cotswold Bruderhof (photo from Friede-

mann archive)

After some weeks at home we received a message that it would

be good to come back. I guess we had done quite a bit of talking

about the life. So we sent our furniture and stuff by rail and went

on bikes, spending one night somewhere on the way. Now we

were there for good and very happy. Our two children had picked

up many German words and we knew none and couldn‘t under-

stand them. They had been glad to have playmates and were very

much at home.

Groups from the continent arrived

Everywhere preparations were being made for the arrival of

groups from the continent. The brotherhood consisted mainly of

single young men – Gerd Wegner, Werner Friedemann, Wilhelm

Fischer, Hermann Arnold, and more – who were finding their

way to England to avoid military service in Germany. The main

Cotswold house was cleared – all sorts of things were thrown

down from the attic windows. The bungalow was made habita-

ble, also the grey cottages.

The hard working brothers made cement blocks with which

to build. First of all a cow stall was reconstructed. All who were

keen picked up a hammer and banged on the foundation stone – I

think Tommy Paul, Llewelyn and me. Afterwards Ria Kiefer

said, ―Now we have three new Novices!‖ Victor and Hilda

Crawley arrived, also Sylvia Walker, she came with little Clare.

(Sylvia‘s husband had died.)

I worked a lot in the Kindergarten with Gretel Gneiting, Mar-

got Savodelli [later Davies], sometimes Annemarie Arnold, Nan-

cy Watkins [later Trapnell], Gertrud Arnold, Ursel Boller and on

shower days Lotti Ahrend [later Magee]. In the shower room was

a square concrete basin, sunk into the floor. The thirty children

were washed and then played under the shower in the big basin

(Planschbecken). This they all enjoyed very much and we then

had to dry them, hair as well, and see they got dressed. On those

days Ria sent us a special snack – coffee and perhaps sausage –

to strengthen us for the task. I was so amazed to see Annemarie

Arnold standing there, knitting away and giving instructions to

the children. We sang a lot, the children drew pictures. There

was a sand heap, a paddling pool; every child had a little garden.

One or two children had watering cans. After lunch the children

had their rest in a special room with a counter on three sides.

Each child had a blanket and a special place, and one sister had

watch. Afterwards we had to comb and plait the little girl‘s hair

and give them each a cup of milk.

I enjoyed working in the Kindergarten very much. We were

singing quite a lot, mostly nursery rhymes and sometimes simple

hymns. We played ring games and action songs with the children

in German and English. Our favorite was ―Dornröschen war ein

schönes Kind,‖ ―Here we go looky loo,‖ ―Do you know the muf-

fin man,‖ ―Zeigt her eure Füßschen,‖ ―Nun zieht Hampelmann

sein kleines Hemdchen an,‖ For one wedding we learnt ―Dashing

away with the smoothing iron.‖ Evening and morning songs we-

re also popular: ―Guten Morgen lieber Sonnenschein, ―Die Son-

ne schlief die ganze Nacht.‖ We went out for walks a lot, for in-

stance to the Thames, to Ashton Keynes, or just across the fields

to enjoy the wild roses and honeysuckle. In the autumn we en-

joyed gathering blackberries along the hedgerows.

In the play area behind the Kindergarten bungalow there was

a big sand box, where the children played very happily, making

all sorts of things: cakes, animals, castles and rivers, often expe-

riencing what was happening in the community or remembering

something from a story they listened too. There was also a pad-

dling pool for hot days, but I don‘t remember any swimsuits. We

just tucked their clothes up as well as we could. If a child was

naughty it had to come out of the group for a little while. The

children didn‘t like lettuce – you‘d always find it under the table.

Early in 1938 Llewelyn and I were baptised by Hardy Vetter

in a group with Ursel Boller, Gerrit and Cor Fros. That was a

very serious and solemn occasion, but I feel I did not go deep

enough. I certainly meant it very seriously.

I remember very well the visit of two Hutterian brothers, Da-

vid and Michael Vetter. They were very warm and very firm. We

were Novices and sometimes met with them. They lived at the

top of the Cotswold House and at breakfast time we could hear

them singing and praying. We lived on the floor below them, but

when their window was open you could also hear them singing

outside the house. They then crossed the channel to the Rhön-

Cotswold soon became lively: Dorli Bolli and Gertrud Braun

(Wegner), taking a children group for a walk/ride 1939.

(Photo submitted by Elisabeth Bohlken-Zumpe)


bruderhof. As we all know, they were a great help to the group

there, also with the German authorities and were able to visit and

comfort the three brothers in jail (Hans Meier, Hannes Boller and

Karl Keiderling). Later on the group of brothers and sisters, who

had fled to Holland, came to the Cotswold Bruderhof, also those

from the Almbruderhof. This was a great joy,

Living on the Telling Farm

Many new people came and we moved with several other fami-

lies to the Telling Farm, about a mile away. I remember Hans

and Margrit Meier and Danny as a baby, also the Fischli family.

We had an old-fashioned coach, drawn by a strong horse, to take

the families from the Telling Farm to the Cotswold Bruderhof

each morning after breakfast and take us home at 5.30pm. This

we all enjoyed very much. We used to go out early and pick

blackberries for breakfast – delicious juicy ones.

There were always many guests, and many of them joined. In

1938 we bought the Oaksey Farm. I only remember going there

once for an afternoon. It was a beautiful place. The day we took

over Oaksey Farm was, I believe, the Sunday morning when Ki-

lian Zumpe and Andrew Harries were presented in the Gemein-

destunde.

The Birmingham group came Easter Sunday. Jabez and Elisabeth

Watkins were part of that group. There probably was a fire then.

I know I was very struck by this frightening event.

In 1939 the Second World War broke out and we experienced

quite a lot of hostility from the people in the neighborhood. If we

were out with the children and the siren gave a warning, we used

to get into the thick hedges and ditches for hiding when the ene-

my planes came over. At night we would go down stairs to the

Marchants, because there was no cellar in that house to go to.

The brothers and the children were in the corridors – that was the

best protection we could find; the lower down in the house the

safer – and away from the windows. At this time we had the

wooden dining room.

One evening, in the middle of supper, I had to go to the mo-

therhouse. Everything was blacked out and the bombers were

flying over. I think Phyllis Rabbits [later Woolston] was with

me; Ruthie was born that evening. All over the country people

had to have gas masks, we too, as protection from the poison gas

the Germans were spreading. We always had to have them with

us. There were large concrete blocks placed in our fields, so that

planes could not land. We had a five mile limit and other restric-

tions. To be continued

The Confrontation Between The Bruderhof And The German

National-Socialist Government 1933 to 1937 – Part 7 By Hans Zumpe

During March one after another all those scheduled to come, ar-

rived in England. For some the journey was quite eventful; it was

difficult to obtain transit permits through France for everyone.

Different routes had to be explored. After Werner Friedemann

had flown to England, only to be returned by the same route, a

group set out via Italy, Spain and France.

In the meantime the Almbruderhof heard from the NSDAP-

local [Ortsgruppe] Liechtenstein in Vaduz. On the 11th

of March

1936 they wrote ―to the military service eligible German nation-

als in the Principality of Liechtenstein‖: ―Enclosed find notifica-

tion from the German General Consulate in Zurich regarding

registration for military service. The requisite application forms

are to be obtained from the undersigned. The regulations with re-

spect to military service are to be observed here as well. The ap-

plication forms, photographs and detailed curriculum vita are to

be delivered personally to the leader of the local group

[Ortsgruppenleiter] by the 27th

of March 1936. Heil Hitler,

[signed by:] Karl Vermbreck, Vaduz, Ortsgruppenleiter.‖

Stamped beneath this notification: ―National Socialists Ger-

man Working Party, Country Group Switzerland, Local Group

NOTES BY THE EDITOR: Hans Zumpe presented a con-

densed version of this report during meetings in Primavera on

26th

and 28th

July 1945 for the 25th

anniversary of the Bruderhof.

While quotes from Eberhard Arnold and newspaper clippings

etc. are reproduced verbatim, the Hans Zumpe report has been

edited using modern terminology, but eliminating none of the

content. More about the history of this account and its translation

into English can be found in the ― Introduction to Hans Zumpe‘s

Report from 1945‖ in the Keep In Touch Newsletter No 3 Dec.

2007, page 8, which also contains the first part of this report.

Comments in angled brackets [ ] are explanations by the edi-

tors.

SA: Nazi Sturmabteilung/Braunhemden

SS: Nazi Schutz-Staffel/Schwarzhemden

Liechtenstein‖ [―Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei,

Landesgruppe Schweiz, Ortsgruppe Liechtenstein.‖] – This

stamp indicated the significance of the NSDAP in countries out-

side Germany at that time.

ONE PROBLEM AFTER ANOTHER IN GERMANY

But there was no one there who had to register. God had once

again helped us out in a wonderful way, at just the right time.

Once everyone was reunited on the Cotswold Bruderhof, Hans

Meier and I returned, Hans to the Rhönbruderhof and I to the

Almbruderhof. The third problem would be solved later! The

Home Office granted us all residence permits.

In the mean time, German troops had moved into the Rhinel-

and. Could that possibly have consequences for us? What would

happen to anyone in Germany who opposed dictatorial power?

What would happen to our Rhönbruderhof? Initially we contin-

ued wrestling with all the old problems and new ones that

emerged. We were suddenly informed that a long term mortgage

had to be paid up. Furthermore a new measure was introduced by

the authorities aimed at curtailing our small income. We were

not granted the door-to-door sales permits necessary to sell tur-

nery and books in Germany. We sent a complaint to the Admin-

istrative Court in Fulda. The following will explain details:

―The publishing house applied to the Mayor of Veitsteinbach,

to supply authorization permits to several Bruderhof members as

travelling salesmen: Hans Meier, August Dyroff, Adolf Braun

and Karl Keiderling. Our application was turned down on Febru-

ary 27th

1936 by the Mayor in his capacity as Chief of the Veits-

teinbach Police. He was ordered to refuse our application by his

superior officer in agreement with the Secret Police in Kassel.

The refusal occurred in reference to paragraph.44a section 2, as

well as paragraph 57 section 1 no. 2a, of the Reichsgewerbeord-

nung [national trade order]. According to which a sales permit

should be refused, ‗if there is evidence that the applicant would

misuse his business for activities against the state.‘ In the above

statement by the Mayor it is further stated: ‗This condition ap-

plies to you.‘


―It was left to us to appeal to the Administrative Court in Fulda

against this decree within two weeks of receipt, which is effected

herewith.

―We ask the Administrative Court in Fulda in conjunction

with the Secret Police Station in Kassel to re-examine the con-

cerns of the Neuwerk Bruderhof in Neuhof-Fulda, which is con-

nected to the publishing house. We don't know of any predisposi-

tions which would lead us to act as enemy of the state. …

―Because of the closure of the children‘s home, the Neuwerk-

Bruderhof e.V. has had a considerable cash shortfall. We will

endeavour to send contributions to our Neuwerk-Bruderhof

through our Almbruderhof in Liechtenstein, as well as through

our wide circle of friends in a variety of European and non Euro-

pean states. This, also in the interest of the foreign exchange for

Germany, as was fully recognized by the Commissioner for For-

eign Exchange Control in Fulda, Mr. Rothe. Nevertheless, it is

important that the Neuwerk-Bruderhof e.V. has a regular income

through the sale of books from our publishing house.‖

The District Councilor and Chairman of the Administrative

Court wrote the following reply to the publishing house Eberhard

Arnold Verlag GmbH, Gemeinde Veitsteinbach, on the 12th

of

March 1936, under the reference L.P.0260, signed by Dr. Burk-

hardt:

―The Mayor, as chief of the local police has followed the in-

structions of the State Police when rejecting the authorization of

permits for your members. Orders from the State Police cannot

be appealed against through the administrative courts, but must

be addressed by a complaint to the Secret Police Department in

Berlin. The notification given to you by the Mayor [to appeal to

the Administrative Court in Fulda] is incorrect. However I have

forwarded your submission of the 9th

of March this year, together

with enclosures, as a complaint to the State Police.―

During the month of July we invited the Hutterian brothers in

North America to visit us and to help us. But it took over six

months before they sent someone.

THE MENNONITES WORLD CONFERENCE WAS

DISAPPOINTING

At the beginning of July the Mennonite‘s World Conference took

place in Amsterdam and Elspeet. Emmy [Arnold] and I had got-

ten ourselves invitations in the hope of finding new friends.

The conference was attended by about four hundred Menno-

nites, mostly German and Dutch. Only ten came from America.

We hoped to find understanding for our views and faith based on

the Anabaptist movement, and to give testimony to what had be-

come important for us in the present days. However the German

Mennonites were all totally in favor of the German regime and

the Dutch extremely reticent. They all agreed to speak about eve-

rything except ―politics‖. By politics they meant any position to

be taken based on faith towards the state and military service.

In response to a talk about "Mennonites and culture" a few

revolutionary elements, in particular our Dutch friend Fritz Kui-

per, commented on the public responsibility Baptists must take

against the violence of present times. That was the moment for

me to make a clear statement about our commitment to ―not

owning personal property‖ and ―pacifism‖. I combined this with

a call to all to return to the faith of the forefathers. My testimony

was sharply rejected by the German Mennonites.

Only here in Paraguay did I get hold of the printed report of

the conference from the Mennonites. It is edited by Christian

Neff in the publishing house Heinrich Schneider, Karlsruhe. In it,

this meeting is described.

Amongst other things, on page 143 it states: ―Hans Zumpe

from Liechtenstein elucidated that the world renouncing stance

of the Bruderhof was a requirement for the present time for all

whose beliefs are based on Anabaptist principles!― How this

Hans Zumpe, author of this report, on a visit in the German town

Rottenburg probably in 1970 or 71.

(photo submitted by Andy Harries)

happened will become clear to the attentive reader in the follow-

ing sentences, in which the answer of the German Mennonites is

described:

―Brother Dyck II, Ladekopp, represented the opinion of the

German Mennonites who long for peace between nations as do

all sincere Christians, but who obey the government with regard

to military service, ready to sacrifice themselves alongside their

national comrades!‖

So on the whole the World Conference was a disappointment

for us, although we did establish important connections with in-

dividual Mennonites. After the official conference a ―secret‖ fol-

low-up meeting took place on July 4th

1936 at a different location

in Fredeshiem. Here the ―anti war‖ Mennonites met under the

leadership of our friend ter Meulen. There were barely twenty

people present: all the American conference delegates, a few

Dutch, a man from Danzig, a Mr. Fast from Wernigerode, and

the two of us from the Bruderhof. This meeting was more impor-

tant for us than the whole of the rest of the event. Here there was

understanding of our attitudes towards the demands of the state

based on our faith. Here were our true friends. After various dis-

cussions about the need to testify for peace in the present times,

and to the world, we came to a joint statement of all those

present to the effect that we would promote pacifism in all cir-

cumstances, and help those eligible for military service that are

in inner conflict. The exact wording of the statement is some-

where in our archives, but unfortunately could not be found to

date. This meeting put us in contact with Orie Miller, who was

later again of great help to us. Through him we came to Para-

guay.

After the conference I visited our old friend Kees Boeke, who

unfortunately no longer stood by his past Christian-Anarchist

conviction. He was no different than any other ordinary inhabi-

tant of the state.

OUR FUTURE IN GERMANY SEEMS DIRE

I was apprehensive traveling back across the Dutch border into

Germany. I expected my public declaration to the Mennonites

would have consequences, because a representative of the Ger-

man government was present at the meeting. The German Men-

nonites had brought along Principal Kundt from the Foreign Of-

fice. But nothing happened.

After a visit to the Rhönbruderhof I tried, through various ac-

quaintances to find out about our future prospects in Germany. I

visited Johannes Warns, who is known to some of us through his


book about baptism. His Bible school in the Rhineland had been

taken over by the N.S.D.A.P. He viewed the national political

situation pessimistically, and predicted there was no chance that

we could stay in Germany any longer. Curiously, he thought that

the safest place for us would be in the Balkan States.

During a visit to the German Foreign Institute in Stuttgart, an

employee, Dr. Kaser, who had just returned from a study trip to

Slovakia, told me he had come across the Habaner, the Hutterite

followers in Lewär and Sabatisch. They interested him as ―dis-

persed Germans.‖ I tried to remind him of the beliefs and faith

of the early Hutterians in an attempt to get him to understand our

problems, but it was not possible. A department head at the insti-

tute, Dr. Hans Kloss, who turned out to be the brother of a guest

at Sannerz (Gerhard Kloss) was a little more open. As he already

knew us, Kloss promised to give us a good testimonial if the

threat to dissolve the Rhönbruderhof should recur. But he did not

believe we would get through with our attitude about military

conscription. Later letters to him remained unanswered.

It was an extremely difficult time. We had to fight for the in-

ner and outer existence of our community life on three Bruder-

hofs in three different countries. Every day we feared the worst,

especially for those members who stayed behind at the Rhönbru-

derhof. The prospects for us in Germany were getting ever more

hopeless, although we didn‘t hear much about dissolution. It was

strangely quiet. But all the time the National Socialist State tried

slowly and relentlessly to strangle our life existence. It was a dif-

ferent approach than we had expected, but no less gruesome. It

went way beyond our strength, and it showed especially in our

inner unity.

THE AUTHORITIES REFUSE OUR RIGHTS OF

ADOPTION AND GUARDIANSHIP

Of particular interest to the authorities were the children on the

Almbruderhof who did not originate from our own families.

When Else [Tata] died, the guardianship of her adopted child,

Walter von Hollander, was transferred to Eberhard Arnold. After

his death, Emmy Arnold tried to take his place. However, the

guardianship was not transferred to her, but to officer Rodemer

from the district administration office in Fulda. He demanded

that the child return to Germany. But just in time, we sent Walter

to the Cotswold Bruderhof in England.

Marie Eckardt wanted to adopt our Rudi Hildel. The Munici-

pal Court in Nürnberg spent a long time dealing with this appli-

cation. In the end the court asked the District Child Welfare Of-

fice in Fulda for an expert opinion. They suggested the adoption

be refused: Quote:

―The circumstances of the Bruderhof‘s social-pedagogic

working community have not changed in any way. International-

ism and pacifism are now as before the ideological foundations

of the Bruderhof community. All German Brotherhood members

eligible for military service have been moved to their second set-

tlement in Liechtenstein, while locally there are now a large

number of foreigners in residence. There is no reason at all to

make concessions to the Bruderhof or any of its members. I am

therefore requesting that the confirmation of the adoption agree-

ment Eckardt/Hildel should be declined on the grounds stated

previously (see the letter of the Govenor in Kassel on May3rd

1934 – A 1 a A 61 – 011 B –).‖

Thereupon the Municipal Court declined the guardianship on

the 2nd

of July 1936. Their reasoning was as follows:

―Until the end of 1933 ward ship was granted to the Bruder-

hof. During December, 1933, he was moved to the children‘s

home Sonnenblick in Trogen, Kanton Appenzell, which be-

longed to the Bruderhof. This happened after the permit to take

in foster children was withdrawn from the Bruderhof community

by the Governor in Kassel. The withdrawal occurred because a

Nationalistic education cannot be guaranteed by the generally

pacifistic attitude of the Brudehof. According to the opinion of

the District Councilor in Fulda, family ties could be established,

but judging by past community life on the Bruderhof it cannot be

expected. The properties owned are communal. Therefore the

child‘s education and training follows after the sense of the

community. The Councilor cannot regard the adoption in any

other light than as a means of raising new Brotherhood members.

So long as the Bruderhof community intentionally nurtures an in-

ternational atmosphere it cannot guarantee that their members are

able to deliver a National Socialist education for the children

they care for, in accordance with the state requirements. ...

Speaking from the point of view of public interest, there are good

reasons for not establishing family ties between the contractors.

From this it is questionable why family ties should be established

by permitting a parent-child-relationship.‖

AUTHORISATION PERMITS ARE DENIED

A further official document dated 1st of June 1936 was belatedly

delivered to us on the 8th

of September. This time the subject was

the peddler‘s licenses for our brothers who wanted to sell books.

The notification, which had the signature of Mayor Zeiher, a

farmer from Veitsteinbach, who could not have written it him-

self, reveals the attitude of the authorities. The letterhead identi-

fies the ―Mayor as Chief of the Local Police‖; it is stamped by

the District Committee in Fulda, and addressed to the Adminis-

trative Court in Fulda. At the end of the letter is the stamp of the

Mayor as Chief of the Local Police in Veitsteinbach, district of

Fulda. The letter is ―signed: Mayor Zeiher.‖

―Rebuttal regarding the administrative dispute by Eberhard

Arnold Verlag GmbH in Veitsteinbach against me because of the

refusal of the sales permits for four members of the Bruderhof.

―My refusal in respect of the members of the Bruderhof,

Hans Meier, August Dyroff, Adolf Braun and Karl Keiderling is

not based on the individual unreliability and unsuitability of the

individuals, but on the fact that the propaganda initiated by the

Bruderhof is hostile to the state. The Eberhard Arnold Verlag

GmbH is nothing more than a part of the Neuwerk-Bruderhof

e.V. in Veitsteinbach, which owns over half of the shares in the

Eberhard Arnold Verlag. The rest are almost exclusively in the

hands of the leaders of the Bruderhof e.V. Therefore without

doubt the Eberhard Arnold Verlag is involved in exactly the

same activities as the Bruderhof e.V itself whose activities are

hostile to the state.

―I am referring to documented events of the last three years.

There can be no doubt that the members of the Bruderhof, who

once called themselves ―Noble Communists‖, stand by the prin-

ciples of this ideology today and promote it actively. They have

an entirely communist ideology in complete opposition to the

principles of the National Socialist State. For example, they re-

ject the essential prerogatives and interests of the national com-

munity and the state, and they do not acknowledge the National

Socialist Basic Law regarding blood and race. It is also a fact

that the Bruderhof community declines all involvement in mili-

tary service. When the new Conscription Law came into effect,

they quickly sent all Bruderhof members of German nationality,

especially those, who might be the right age for military service,

to their branch community Silum in the Principality of Liech-

tenstein in order to escape compulsory military service.

―The members of the Bruderhof have stated they could never

become National Socialists. It is not my intention to restrict indi-

vidual members of the Bruderhof in their freedom of conscience.

As chief of the local police I could see no grounds for police in-

tervention if the Bruderhof community would concern them-

selves only with their own group, and cease their endeavors to

recruit new members. But they do not do so. The regular increase


in membership demonstrates that they are developing most effec-

tive strategies for promoting their ideas. The activities of the

Eberhard Arnold Verlag serve only to promote their ideology,

which in my opinion is hostile to the state. I am not therefore in a

position to issue the authorization permits. I ask you to withdraw

the appeal.‖

The Administrative Court had encouraged us to submit a

counter statement. We did so on 26th

of September 1936, in a ten

page letter. In the meantime, however, a new problem had come

up. During the past year several of our families, especially from

the older generation had returned to the Rhönbruderhof. Also

some new German nationals had become members. This led to

another short letter from the Mayor of Veitsteinbach Zeiher on

the 11th

of September 1936:

―All males born 1900-1905 must report for entry into the mil-

itary service register. I ask you make a list of all affected indi-

viduals.

To be continued

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------

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