To Hutterites and members of other pacifist sects, serving the military in any way goes against the biblical commandment "thou shalt not kill" and Jesus’s admonition to turn the other cheek when confronted with violence. Pacifists in Chains tells the story of four young men—Joseph Hofer, Michael Hofer, David Hofer, and Jacob Wipf—who followed these beliefs and refused to perform military service in World War I. The men paid a steep price for their resistance, imprisoned in Alcatraz and Fort Leavenworth, where the two youngest died. The Hutterites buried the men as martyrs, citing mistreatment.
Using archival material, letters from the four men and others imprisoned during the war, and interviews with their descendants, Duane C. S. Stoltzfus explores the tension between a country preparing to enter into a world war and a people whose history of martyrdom for their pacifist beliefs goes back to their sixteenth-century Reformation beginnings.
Duane C.S. Stoltzfus is a professor of communication at Goshen College and the copy editor of The Mennonite Quarterly Review. Before joining the faculty at Goshen College in 2000, he worked as a staff editor at The New York Times. Before that, he was a reporter and an editor for several newspapers in New York and New Jersey.
His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Indianapolis Star, American Journalism, Newspaper Research Journal, Media Ethics and The Common Review.
He is also the author of Freedom From Advertising: E.W. Scripps’s Chicago Experiment (University of Illinois Press, 2007). He lives in Goshen, Ind.
My Review:
Initially, I wasn't reading this book to review, however, before I was half way through, I felt strongly compelled to tell the world about it. Then I had the opportunity to attend a book signing and listened to Duane and others talk about this heart-wrenching story, which sealed my resolve to share "Pacifists in Chains" with my readers. Which I should have thought of doing so, in the first place, alone on the basis that this story is a horrific chapter from of my own Hutterite history, and it bears telling.
This narrative is well-researched, richly detailed and has an amazing amount of background information - all of which helps the reader get a better understanding of the complexities of this terribly sad, but true story. The various perspectives the author presents, enhances this historic account, giving it depth while creating interesting angles and a broader view of that particular era. 'The nation was going to war with one-third of Americans having been born overseas or being the child of an immigrant and with one of every five soldiers having been born overseas.' Turned out, that history was repeating itself for some of those children of immigrants, just like their forefathers in Europe, their faith was being severely tested in their relatively new homeland.
The letters included in this book, provide not only authenticity but also poignancy. The voices of the three Hofer brothers and Jacob Wipf , draw you into the story and enable you to get a feeling of their love and concern for family and community, their emotional state, and their firm faith in God, even though the letters were censored. Their longing to be with their loved ones is evident in every letter, but they believed that will likely not happen in this life. For two of the four, that was true; they came home in a coffin.
The book is written in such a fashion that it gets the reader thinking about how perhaps things could have gone differently, on a number of levels, including the timing of some events that closed a door for them: Shortly after the four Hutterites arrived at Camp Lewis, and were sent to the guardhouse for refusing to obey orders, the furlough program was approved. Because they were awaiting trial this opportunity came to late for them. One cannot help but wonder if their treatment had been less harsh, had they agreed to work during imprisonment, as some other conscientious did: After being court-martialed, one Mennonite decided to work, reasoning that 'he was no longer a soldier' and the work at Leavenworth did not include services in support of the war. That being said, it's likely the Hutterites were also strongly opposed to supporting any organization that would use torture methods on fellow human beings who, because of their faith, dared to take a stand against war.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WWI history and the unsung brave souls who steadfastly endured horrendous torture and deplorable living conditions all because their conscience would not allow them to kill fellow human beings.
This book is available at HB Book Center, Amazon, and McNally Robison in Winnipeg.
His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Indianapolis Star, American Journalism, Newspaper Research Journal, Media Ethics and The Common Review.
He is also the author of Freedom From Advertising: E.W. Scripps’s Chicago Experiment (University of Illinois Press, 2007). He lives in Goshen, Ind.
My Review:
Initially, I wasn't reading this book to review, however, before I was half way through, I felt strongly compelled to tell the world about it. Then I had the opportunity to attend a book signing and listened to Duane and others talk about this heart-wrenching story, which sealed my resolve to share "Pacifists in Chains" with my readers. Which I should have thought of doing so, in the first place, alone on the basis that this story is a horrific chapter from of my own Hutterite history, and it bears telling.
This narrative is well-researched, richly detailed and has an amazing amount of background information - all of which helps the reader get a better understanding of the complexities of this terribly sad, but true story. The various perspectives the author presents, enhances this historic account, giving it depth while creating interesting angles and a broader view of that particular era. 'The nation was going to war with one-third of Americans having been born overseas or being the child of an immigrant and with one of every five soldiers having been born overseas.' Turned out, that history was repeating itself for some of those children of immigrants, just like their forefathers in Europe, their faith was being severely tested in their relatively new homeland.
The letters included in this book, provide not only authenticity but also poignancy. The voices of the three Hofer brothers and Jacob Wipf , draw you into the story and enable you to get a feeling of their love and concern for family and community, their emotional state, and their firm faith in God, even though the letters were censored. Their longing to be with their loved ones is evident in every letter, but they believed that will likely not happen in this life. For two of the four, that was true; they came home in a coffin.
The book is written in such a fashion that it gets the reader thinking about how perhaps things could have gone differently, on a number of levels, including the timing of some events that closed a door for them: Shortly after the four Hutterites arrived at Camp Lewis, and were sent to the guardhouse for refusing to obey orders, the furlough program was approved. Because they were awaiting trial this opportunity came to late for them. One cannot help but wonder if their treatment had been less harsh, had they agreed to work during imprisonment, as some other conscientious did: After being court-martialed, one Mennonite decided to work, reasoning that 'he was no longer a soldier' and the work at Leavenworth did not include services in support of the war. That being said, it's likely the Hutterites were also strongly opposed to supporting any organization that would use torture methods on fellow human beings who, because of their faith, dared to take a stand against war.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WWI history and the unsung brave souls who steadfastly endured horrendous torture and deplorable living conditions all because their conscience would not allow them to kill fellow human beings.
This book is available at HB Book Center, Amazon, and McNally Robison in Winnipeg.
Linda, one part that I would have liked Duane to touch on a bit more was why the Hutterites refused to "work" at Alcatraz. In part this had to do with a special program that the Alcatraz officials had in place in which they said that all these young men just needed some basic discipline and guidance and they would become good soldiers. Therefore, it was reasoned that they should wear army uniforms just as if they were still in their units. The four Hutterite COs therefore saw this as just another branch of the army and therefore refused to wear the uniforms or participate in the work programs which the prison was running.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Ian. I told him later it would have also been good to talk about the fact that the Hutterites, due to their lack of English, had a hard time understanding some of the basic questions when on trial. But we should have brought those things up, right? Another time, maybe.
ReplyDeleteI'll add this to my long list of books to read. I'm trying to understand this period in our history a little better. My wife's father remembered being harassed when going to town, because the family still spoke German. Some people his age in that part of the world didn't just get called names, they got the sticks-and-stones treatment, too. Most churches and church schools gave up their German or Danish at that time and switched to English. And then there were these Hutterites who refused to serve, and who got the full treatment. I like to learn more about what both sides were thinking.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I'm positive you'll learn a lot from this book. I know I did. I especially appreciated the various perspectives presented. This was a tough time for the Hutterites, not only because of these four men, but right on the colonies there were a lot of hardships, just because they were German speaking people. Which is why they moved to Canada.
ReplyDeleteAnother great book that gives you a different perspective on the whole Conscientious Objectors issue is: Conscience: Two Soldiers, Two Pacifists, One Family--a Test of Will and Faith in World War I by Louisa Thomas. It tells the story of four brothers, each of them who took a different path (two became soldiers and two pacifists). Both of these pacifist brothers' lives touched the lives on these 4 Hutterites in some way.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ian! Will have to get that one. Unless I can borrow it from you.
DeleteA great preview! I can kind of relate to that story as my maternal grandfather was also imprisoned in the states at the same time. But he wasn't treated that horribly. He was from Kutter in the States and then moved to Rosebud Alberta with his family. My mom was born in Canada. Rosebud Colony is still called "Kutter" by the colonies. His name was Peter Hofer.
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ReplyDeletethanks for sharing about this book Linda, I am going to have to get it for myself, love these types of books......also the one Ian recommended I didn't know about that one either, thanks also for sharing....
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