THE GERMAN IDENTITY OP MENNONITE BRETHREN 
IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA, 1930-1960 

by 

BENJAMIN WALL REDEKOP 

B.A., Fresno Pacific College, 1985 

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF 

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF 

MASTER OF HISTORY 

in 

THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES 

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY 

We accept this thesis as conforming 

to the required standard 

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 

September 1990 

©BENJAMIN WALL REDEKOP, 1990 



In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced 

degree at the University of British C o l u m b i a , I agree that the Library shall make it 

freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive 

c o p y i n g of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my 

department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or 

publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written 

permission. 

Department of l 4 i £ 4 p / ' 

The University of British C o l u m b i a 
Vancouver, Canada 

Date 

DE-6 (2/88) 



i i 

ABSTRACT 

L i t t l e scholarly research has been done on the function of Germanism 

among Mennonites who immigrated to Canada from Russia in the 1920's, and what 

has been done often relies on an oversimplified "desire for separation" to 

explain the phenomenon. At the same time, i t has been argued that the 

enthusiasm for Nazi Germany among Mennonite immigrants in Canada is to be 

understood as part of a larger "Volks-German awakening". 

In fact, the Mennonite experience of brutal treatment during the 

Bolshevik Revolution, the economic conditions of the Great Depression, and 

assinflationist pressures from Canadian society put them in a naturally 

receptive position for the cultural, p o l i t i c a l and ethnic ideas associated 

with the "new Germany". The Mennonite ethno-religious culture which had 

emerged in Russia appeared to be breaking down, more rapidly in some areas 

than others; at the same time, distinctions between p o l i t i c a l and cultural 

Germanism were just beginning to be understood, as they were bound up in a 

single "package" which seemed to offer answers to the problems of 

fragmentation, i n s t a b i l i t y and loss of identity. 

Germanism, and the German language in particular, functioned as an 

instrument of socio-religious integration for the Russlaender Brethren in the 

30 years after their a r r i v a l in Canada. In the interwar years, Mennonite 

Germanism took on certain p o l i t i c a l , "Volkish", and nationalistic overtones; 

by the end of the Second World War, these elements had largely faded. In the 

postwar period Germanism becomes more clearly identifiable in i t s primary 

role as symbol and agent of the distinctive configuration of religious faith, 



i i i 

sense of peoplehood, and way of l i f e which had emerged in Imperial Russia. 

The Germanism which was expressed in the Canadian context was in large part a 

conservative response to the challenges posed by the forces of assimilation 

and acculturation, the effects of anti-Germanism brought on by two World 

Wars, and an inherent tendency of the Brethren to identify with North 

American "English" evangelicalism and to denigrate their cultural heritage 

because i t was f e l t to detract from effective evangelism. 

A variety of sources have been used in writing this thesis, including 

church records, newspapers, personal papers, interviews, conference minutes 

and school committee minutes, as well as a wide range of secondary sources, 

including unpublished theses, dissertations and papers. In addition to 

outlining the contours of Brethren Germanism i t s e l f , efforts have been made 

to portray adequately the context in which Brethren Germanism was expressed, 

including that of the Brethren constituency as a whole, other "evangelical" 

groups, and the larger social and p o l i t i c a l currents of Canadian society. 

Extending the analysis into the decades after 1945 adds conclusive evidence 

that the Brethren Germanism of the 1930's was related more to Mennonite goals 

and aspirations than those of Nazi Germany, despite the presence of a 

significant (misguided) sympathy for the Hitler regime. 



iv 

CONTENTS 

Abstract i i 

Acknowledgements v 

Introduction 1 

CHAPTER ONE: The Canadian Context and the Impact of 
National Socialism 18 

CHAPTER TWO: Germanism in the Mennonitische Rundschau. 
1930-39 45 

CHAPTER THREE: Some Comparisons: Per Bote and Germanism in 
Other Settings during the 1930's 93 

CHAPTER FOUR: Germanism and Brethren Congregational L i f e : 
The Struggle for Socio-Religious Integrity 115 

CHAPTER FIVE: Postwar Developments in Higher Education and 
German Language Preservation 162 

CHAPTER SIX: Conclusion: Some Theoretical and Comparative 
Perspectives 190 

Bibliography 212 



V 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

Warm thanks to Paul Toews and Kevin Enns-Rempel at the Centre for 

Mennonite Brethren Studies in Fresno, California, for their encouragement, 

help and friendship. Ken Reddig at the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies 

in Winnipeg, Manitoba provided courteous assistance as well. I am grateful 

to Lawrence Klippenstein at the Mennonite Heritage Centre in Winnipeg for his 

helpful and relaxed attitude. Joe Springer at the Mennonite Historical 

Library of Goshen, Indiana gave me a place to stay while there, as did 

Gilbert and Susan Brandt while I was in Winnipeg. Richard and B i l l i e Wiebe 

also provided friendly accomodations on one of my trips to Fresno. Thanks to 

John B. Toews for helping to conceptualize this project. Finally, special 

regards to John Conway, who has been a good friend, c r i t i c , interlocutor and 

hiking companion. His support has been greatly appreciated. 



1 

INTRODUCTION 

Mennonites trace their origins to Reformation Europe and two primary 

ethnic groups, Dutch North-German and Swiss South-German. Menno Simons was a 

leader of Dutch origin who brought a number of Anabaptist groups together, 

through his leadership and writings. The earliest Anabaptists emerged in the 

context of the Zurich Reform and the "social-revolutionary movement" 

associated with the Peasants' War (1525), and strove to effect a radical 

transformation of prevailing socio-religious structures following the New 

Testament example of the early church, and Christ's teachings. It was only 

with considerable opposition and persecution that they became conscious of 

themselves as an alternative community, a fellowship of the redeemed.1 The 

congregation or "worshipping community" became the "organizing principle" of 

Anabaptist-Mennonite l i f e , and has remained so to this day.2 While i t is 

perilous to try to locate a doctrinal core of the early Anabaptist vision, 

principles such as adult baptism (voluntarism), nonresistance, a n t i -

clericalism, the renewal of the Christian l i f e , discipleship, and bearing the 

cross of Christ have a l l been a part of the movement, which is based on a 

l i t e r a l i s t biblicism. 

Extreme persecution caused the various strands of the movement to turn 

inward and migrate to areas where they were tolerated. Many of the Dutch 

North-Germans gathered in Prussia, before moving on to Russia in the late 

18th century. The Mennonites in Prussia maintained Dutch as their 

congregational language for 200 years after their a r r i v a l , switching to 

German shortly before their migration to Russia in the late 18th century.3 

Closed settlements were founded in the Ukraine, and Mennonites prospered 



2 

there for the next 150 years primarily as agriculturalists. By the turn of 

this century a rapid cultural and economic expansion was taking place,4 and 

by the F i r s t World War a population of 120,000 was spread across 50 colonies 

and 2,300,000 acres of land.5 The colonies were essentially self-governing 

and autonomous u n t i l the 1870's, when Russification pressures began to 

increase, and service in state forestry camps was demanded in l i e u of 

military service. At this point 18,000 Mennonites migrated to North America, 

with 10,000 settling in the United States and 8,000 in Canada. 

The attempts at Russification tended to reinforce Mennonite identity, and 

i t s Germanic aspects.6 Mennonites conversed in High German in church and at 

school, and spoke a Low German dialect at home; Russian became the compulsory 

language of the schools between 1897-1899. The relationship with Germany was 

of a cultural and s p i r i t u a l nature, as a steady supply of German educational 

and devotional materials flowed into the colonies. Mennonite p o l i t i c a l 

allegiance, when i t was acknowledged, rested with the Czar and the Russian 

fatherland, as events surrounding the outbreak of the F i r s t World War 

demonstrated.7 

The Mennonite Brethren were a religious subgroup within the larger 

Russian Mennonite society. German-Baptist and -pietist influences had 

reached the colonies by the 1850's, and in the early 1860's a renewal 

movement began simultaneously in the two largest colonies, stressing personal 

religious experience, conversion, evangelism, and a cohesive religious 

brotherhood (sic), hence the Brethren name. Mennonite Brethren church 

historian J.A. Toews has l i s t e d Brethren theological distinctives thus: 1. 

Practical Biblicism 2. Experiential Faith 3. Personal Witnessing 



3 

4. Christian Discipleship 5. Brotherhood Emphasis 6. Evangelism and 

Missions 7. Christ-centred Eschatology.8 Theology as a Mennonite Brethren 

l i t e r a r y genre has been sparse u n t i l recent years; traditionally Mennonites 

have distrusted theologizing, focussing instead on the ethics, morals and 

l i f e s t y l e of the body of believers as the most significant expression of 

religious principles. 

The traditional explanation for the Brethren movement cites a decline in 

voluntarism, religious experience and morals in the colonies as having been 

the grounds for renewal. Colony power structures had become intertwined with 

congregational l i f e , and birth rather than belief had become the determining 

element in church membership.9 While ideological factors were undoubtedly 

central in the emergence of the movement, i t has recently been argued that 

the Brethren belonged to an educated, landless, upwardly mobile group which 

had been excluded from colony and congregational power structures, and hence 

sought to find i t s own niche in c i v i l and religious affairs.10 

In any case, by the turn of this century the Brethren were becoming 

increasingly reintegrated into the socio-economic and cultural l i f e of the 

larger Mennonite community, and participated in the general "era of 

prosperity and progress" which took place between 1895 and 1914.11 

Previously there had been some harrassment and oppression of Brethren by the 

larger Mennonite society, brought on largely by a negative reaction to early 

Brethren emotional excesses, fanaticism and despotism.12 One interesting 

aspect of early Brethren identity was the use of the more informal Low German 

dialect in worship services, clearly aimed at breaking down the perceived 

formality and r i g i d i t y of Russian Mennonite r e l i g i o s i t y . This eventually 

gave way to High German, as the movement s o l i d i f i e d and became more 



4 

systematic.13 The Brethren displayed a "genius" for organization, forming 

the f i r s t all-Russian Mennonite church conference body in 1872, twelve years 

after the movement began. They also exhibited an ongoing concern with 

evangelism, and an openness to non-Mennonite groups like the German Lutherans 

and Baptists. By 1925, the Brethren constituted 15% of the population of the 

two original Mennonite colonies, and 40% of the many daughter settlements.14 

The F i r s t World War and the Bolshevik Revolution were disastrous for the 

Mennonites in Russia, as i t was for a l l successful farmers, or "kulaks". 

Although there were many twists and turns in this period of their history, 

the overall effect was a steady destruction of a l l that had been b u i l t in the 

previous 150 years, and the loss of the Russian Mennonite fatherland.15 By 

the early 1920's, serious efforts were being made to allow for the emigration 

of Russian Mennonites to Canada. Although many more wished to leave, 20,201 

Mennonites were able to escape the USSR between 1923 and 1930, and settle in 

Canada. The bulk of the immigrants came to Canada between 1923 and 1926.16 

Their primary reasons for leaving were loss of economic and socio-religious 

freedoms; the latter loss, especially, convinced Mennonites that there was no 

future for them in Soviet Russia.17 The majority of the immigrants settled 

in the prairie provinces; migration trends during the 1930's and after were 

to Ontario and British Columbia. By 1939, 17% of immigrant families were 

l i v i n g in Ontario, 71% resided in the three prairie provinces, and 12% in 

B r i t i s h Columbia.18 

The Canadian Mennonite population prior to the 1920's migration numbered 

59,000, and was concentrated in the five westernmost provinces.19 This 

number was divided into 18 congregational families, with Mennonites of Swiss 

South-German origin predominating in Ontario, and those of Dutch North-German 



5 

stock (i.e. former Russian colonists) inhabiting the prairies.20 The Swiss 

Mennonites had generally adopted the English language,21 while the Russian 

Mennonites on the prairies conversed in Low German among themselves, 

reserving High German for church, school and written communication.22 The 

Mennonite immigrants of the 1920's, or "Russlaender", tended to speak more 

High German, although the dialect was s t i l l very much in use. They had 

become increasingly Germanized, culturally, in the period after their more 

conservative members emigrated from Russia in the 1870*s.23 No precise 

figures exist on Low German/High German usage. Interviews indicate that some 

Russlaender families spoke High German in the home, and that Low German was 

perceived to be a threat to the maintenance of the High German in Canada.24 

E.K. Francis found high rates of High German usage in the homes of the 

Russlaender, with a tendency to replace the Low German dialect with High 

German as time passed.25 The Russlaender "had come to view Low German as a 

language too low and uncultivated to pass on to their children," according to 

Frank Epp.26 Some of the Russlaender f e l t that the 1870's immigrants to 

Canada, or "Kanadier", spoke a lower-grade High German.27 This study w i l l be 

concerned primarily with the role that High German played in the maintenance 

of Mennonite Brethren identity. The relationship between Low German and High 

German is further discussed in Chapter Six. 

In 1931 the total number of individuals in Canada l i s t i n g German as their 

mother-tongue was 362,000, or about 3.5% of the Canadian population. On the 

prairies the ratio was higher, with Manitoba German-speakers comprising 8% of 

the total population, in Saskatchewan 15%, and Alberta 9%.28 Thus the 

majority of the Russlaender settled in areas with relatively large numbers of 

German-speakers. 



6 

It is estimated that 5,000 of the 20,201 Russlaender were of Mennonite 

Brethren affiliation.29 Prior to this influx, there were approximately 1800 

baptized Brethren in Canada;30 the addition of family members would have 

meant the total Brethren community numbered between 3000-5000 individuals. 

These Brethren were the result of the missionary efforts of American Brethren 

from the 1870's Russian emigration among Canadian Mennonites and other 

German-speakers. Four-fifths resided in Saskatchewan, although the church in 

Winkler, Manitoba, was the f i r s t and largest of the Canadian Brethren 

congregations, having been founded in 1888. The year 1924 "marked the rapid 

expansion of the Mennonite Brethren church throughout Canada."31 The 

aggressive Russlaender soon assumed positions of leadership in the Canadian 

Mennonite community, "taking over" many of the existing institutions, and 

starting many more themselves.32 A prominent example is the Winkler Bible 

School in Winkler, Manitoba, started by Brethren Bible expositor A.H. Unruh 

and others, upon their a r r i v a l from Russia in 1925. 

The Brethren rapidly integrated themselves into the existing North 

American Brethren conference structures, which included an American General 

Conference and a Canadian Northern D i s t r i c t Conference, which was both a 

division of the American General Conference and a semi-autonomous Canadian 

body. The Canadian Brethren counted over 6300 baptized members by 1939;33 

this growth was due both to the recent immigration and normal familial 

growth, and to the Brethren a b i l i t y to absorb other Mennonites. As Frank Epp 

put i t , 

Russlaender Brethren soon knew where they belonged, and so impressive 
and attractive was the Mennonite Brethren sense of missionary 
purpose, the c l a r i t y of their doctrine, and the predictability of 
their church discipline that they not only won a l l their own but 
absorbed...(other Mennonites as well). The Brethren were more 
numerous, had stronger leaders, and offered a more l i v e l y , committed, 



7 

and simple religious experience.34 

The Russlaender of a l l congregational families found themselves in a 

society which had recently become suspicious of both Mennonites and Germans. 

Prior to the F i r s t World War, ethnic Germans had generally been considered 

among the best of citizens;35 but the war and the Mennonite education c r i s i s 

of the late 'teens and early twenties combined to discredit pacifist and 

German-speaking "enemy aliens" in the minds of many.36 Close to 8,000 

conservative Mennonites from Manitoba and Saskatchewan emigrated to Latin 

America during the 1920's, due to increasing pressures for Anglo-conformity 

in the schools brought on by the F i r s t World War. Anti-Mennonite feelings 

had become so intense that a l l Mennonite immigration to Canada was forbidden 

from 1919-22, by a special government Order-in-Council. Declining nativist 

sentiment37 and the renewed desire for economic expansion helped to pave the 

way for further immigration in the mid and later 1920's, which was carried 

out under the Railways Agreement of 1925-30. The Russlaender were part of a 

larger migration of 165,000 central and eastern European immigrants who came 

to Canada under this agreement. 

By the later 1920's another nativist reaction set in, especially towards 

sectarian groups like the Mennonites, who had become "locked together" in the 

public mind with "unassimilable" groups like the Doukhobors and Hutterites a 

decade earlier.38 By 1930, with the onset of the Great Depression, attitudes 

toward immigration had become t o t a l l y negative, and immigration was reduced 

to a t r i c k l e for the next decade.39 Mennonites who had immigrated from 

Soviet Russia had cause to feel both grateful to their hosts for being l e t 

in, and alienated towards them, when only a small number of their desperate 

co-religionists who had assembled in Moscow during 1929-30 were admitted into 



8 

Canada, amidst a loudly negative public reaction to the prospect.40 

The Russlaender were not able or willing to duplicate the closed colonies 

of Russia. A strong element of individualism and the lack of consensus on 

land-settlement policy ensured the demise of various attempts to duplicate 

the Russian experience. Mennonite "clustering" was due more to the 

unconscious adhesion to other Mennonites than to conscious policy.41 This 

lack of physical integration would make cultural and ideological factors more 

important. The Mennonites who had migrated from Russia to western Canada in 

the 1870's were much more successful in forming closed settlements, due at 

least partly to the fact that their migration was a voluntary, conservative 

phenomenon, as well as to the emptiness of the prairies upon their a r r i v a l . 

In the intervening years the Mennonites remaining in Russia had, as already 

indicated, become relatively prosperous, educated, and sophisticated. And as 

E.K. Francis observes, the "better and more enterprising classes" of these 

were primarily the ones who were able to emigrate in the 1920's.42 

Thus the Russian Mennonite immigrants of the 1920's were known to be 

"progressive" and interested in finding a niche for themselves in the larger 

society, in contrast to the indigenous Mennonites from previous migrations. 

They were positive towards education and relatively eager to learn English, 

at f i r s t primarily for economic benefits. As well, they displayed a greater 

tendency to urbanize, despite the fact that the conditions of their entry 

into Canada required they settle on farms.43 The majority were in fact 

settled on farms, but Depression crop conditions and high unemployment rates 

among recent immigrants44 caused a high degree of mobility among Mennonites, 

paralleling the general trend on the prairies.45 

It is the aim of this study to chart the contours and meanings of the 



9 

German identity for the Russlaender immigrants, particularly the Mennonite 

Brethren, in the t h i r t y years subsequent to their a r r i v a l in Canada. It i s 

an important but little-studied aspect of Canadian Mennonite history.46 The 

Germanism issue evoked great emotions and was a factor in many of the 

developments which took place in this period among the Brethren. In the 

f i r s t three chapters, the Brethren are considered alongside other Mennonites, 

because a strong sense of belonging to a larger Mennonite community 

prevailed, especially in the period immediately following immigration, and 

periodicals like the Mennonitische Rundschau were read by a l l types of 

Mennonites. Brethren often worshipped with other Mennonites in the early 

years of settlement, u n t i l numbers and resources were sufficient to form 

separate congregations. The Brethren have been selected for particular 

scrutiny because they were a cohesive, rigorous, identifiable sub-group 

within Mennonite society, and because I feel that the inherent Mennonite 

problem of reconciling theological beliefs and aspirations with earthly needs 

and r e a l i t i e s is v i v i d l y and poignantly illustrated in their experience. 

In the most recent and comprehensive treatment of Mennonite society, 

Calvin Redekop argues that at the root of Mennonite identity is a Utopian 

ideology, and that instead of becoming solely an ethnic group, as some have 

argued,47 Mennonites developed into a "religious people...that maintained i t 

was keeping the truth and the vision of Christianity alive."48 Ethnicizing 

tendencies have always been present, but the consciousness of l i v i n g out a 

"faithful original Christianity" has remained a powerful ideological animus 

which distinguishes Mennonites from groups which are constituted primarily by 

ties of culture, kinship and common history.49 On the other hand, there is 

much to the assertion by another Mennonite sociologist that: 



10 

A common history, a collective biography, a transgenerational 
cultural legacy and a shared fate constitute the ethnic glue which 
fuses Mennonites together above and beyond religious experience...A 
powerful t r i b a l memory recalls that "we were in this together," and a 
collective anxiety worries about the common future "that we face 
together."50 

The present study w i l l indicate that both religious and " t r i b a l " or ethnic 

factors were involved in the concern over the German identity, and that as 

such they were both important components of Canadian Mennonite identity for 

the period under study. 

While the German identity of the Mennonite Brethren in i t s various forms 

is the general topic of this study, the German language was the most 

important component of this identity, and garners the most attention. Edward 

Sapir lucidly described the communal function of language thus: 

Language is a great force of socialization, probably the greatest 
that exists. By this is meant not merely the obvious fact that 
significant social intercourse is hardly possible without language 
but that the mere fact of common speech serves as a peculiarly potent 
symbol of the social solidarity of those who speak the language.51 

H. Richard Niebuhr echoes this assertion in analyzing European immigrant 

churches in America, and notes further that; 

Conservatives in...(immigrant) churches have always maintained that 
the abandonment of the old, European tongue and the adoption of 
English as the language of worship and instruction involved the 
abandonment of a l l the ways of the fathers and introduction of a new 
"English or American religion."52 

The insights of Sapir and Niebuhr provide an important theoretical background 

for understanding the Russlaender experience in Canada. During the 1930's, 

other forms of Germanism, in addition to the language, performed the function 

of maintaining the social and religious integrity of the group. After 1945, 

these other elements declined, leaving the German language as a primary 

reference point for Russlaender Brethren socio-religious identity. 

Finally, a few terms require definition. "Germanism" is generally used 



11 

to refer to a conscious affirmation of any of a vide range of actual or 

perceived components of the German culture, nation, "race", and way of l i f e . 

"Militant Germanism", a term which is used primarily in the 1930's context, 

has nationalistic and m i l i t a r i s t i c connotations and implies a strong feeling 

that Germanism, in one form or another, provided solutions to pressing 

problems and f u l f i l l e d certain inherent personal or communal needs. As 

indicated, "Russlaender" were immigrants of the 1920's migration, and 

"Kanadier" were primarily those who came in the 1870's from Russia. The term 

"Volk" has been l e f t untranslated. It implies a group of people sharing a 

unique history, landscape, culture, s p i r i t u a l i t y , ethnicity and way of l i f e . 

For the Mennonites i t could mean a l l these things, or more simply, "our 

people". The term "Volkish" refers to the 19th and early 20th century 

ideology of Volk which originated in Germany and tended to exalt the Germanic 

"race", and was anti-modern and -Semitic.53 

In regards to the terms "assimilation" and "acculturation" I have 

followed E.K. Francis, who defines the former as the process "whereby 

individual members of a minority (group) are transferred into the host 

society with permanent loss to the...group;" and the latter as "the 

acceptance of culture t r a i t s from the large(r) society."54 Each term implies 

a certain measure of the other, although "assimilation" is clearly the more 

general term, implying a large degree of acculturation. A distinction is 

sometimes made in the text between Brethren "membership" and " a f f i l i a t i o n " . 

Baptized adults were members, while their families vere Brethren by 

a f f i l i a t i o n . This distinction, vhich can also be used for other Mennonites, 

vas especially important to the Brethren, vho stressed individual conversion 

and baptism by total immersion as crucial conditions for inclusion in adult 



12 

Brethren churchly society. At other points the ethnic side of Mennonitism is 

acknowledged by use of the terms "Brethren" and "Mennonite" to denote the 

t o t a l i t y of the Mennonite community. 

Although I argue that the Germanism which was expressed in the Canadian 

context is best understood as a function of the attempt to maintain the 

socio-religious integrity of the Russlaender Brethren, I do not wish to imply 

that Mennonite l i f e in Russia was monolithic. There were differences in 

class, status, wealth, education and dialect among Mennonites, and a certain 

degree of "regionalization" had begun to take place among the scattered 

Russian colonies by the turn of this century.55 

However, i t is undeniable that the Russian Mennonites, and perhaps 

especially the Brethren, belonged to a relatively integrated and cohesive 

society in which a distinct configuration of language, religious faith, way 

of l i f e and sense of peoplehood had emerged. In addition, i t has been argued 

that the common experience of migration and settlement in Canada helped to 

bind the Russlaender closer together.56 

As to the actual ethnic background of the Russian Mennonites, the 

majority originated in the Netherlands, while a smaller percentage of 

Germanic and other central and eastern European peoples joined the Mennonites 

along the way.57 What is important for this study is less the actual genetic 

makeup of the Mennonites than their own perceptions of their origins. 



13 

NOTES, INTRODUCTION 

1. Hans-Juergen Goertz, Die Taeufer: Geschichte und Deutung (Munich: 
CH. Beck, 1980), pp. 16-19; 98-103. 

2. Calvin Redekop, Mennonite Society (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins 
University Press, 1989), p. 62. 

3. Jack Thiessen, "A New Look at an Old Problem: Origins of the 
Variations in Mennonite Plautdietsch," Mennonite Quarterly Review (July 
1989):290-92. 

4. John B. Toews, Czars, Soviets and Mennonites (Newton, Kansas: Faith 
and Life Press, 1982), p. 6 f f . 

5. Frank H. Epp, Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940 (Toronto: Macmillan of 
Canada, 1982), pp. 140-41. 

6. John B. Toews, Czars, Soviets and Mennonites, p. 45. 

7. John B. Toews, Czars, Soviets and Mennonites, chapters 3-5; John B. 
Toews, "The Russian Mennonite Intellect of the Nineteenth Century," paper on 
f i l e at Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies (CMBS), Winnipeg, Box 7, Folder 
14, No. 4; Harry Loewen, "The German-Russian Tensions Among the Mennonites 
in Russia (1789-1917)," paper on f i l e at CMBS, Winnipeg, Box 7, Folder 14, 
No. 5; E.K. Francis, In Search of Utopia: The Mennonites of Manitoba 
(Altona, Manitoba: D.W. Friesen & Sons Ltd., 1955), pp. 197-98. 

8. John A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church (Fresno, 
CA: Board of Christian Literature, 1975), pp. 368-74. 

9. Jbid., Chapters 1-3. 

10. James Urry, "A religious or a social elite? The Mennonite Brethren 
in Imperial Russia," paper on f i l e at CMBS, Winnipeg, Box 15, Folder E., No. 
1. Urry's analysis, while helpful, undervalues the religious dimension of 
the Mennonite Brethren movement. 

11. John A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, chapter 
7 . 

12. Harry Loewen, "Echoes of Drumbeats: The Movement of Exuberance 
Among the Mennonite Brethren," Journal of Mennonite Studies 3 (1985):124-25. 

13. Peter M. Friesen, The Mennonite Brotherhood in Russia (1789-1910) 
(Fresno: Board of Christian Literature, 1978), p. 395; John A. Toews, A. 
History of the Mennonite Brethren Churchf p. 70. 

14. John A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, pp. 76-
77; Harry Loewen, "Echoes of Drumbeats," p. 125. 



14 

15. See John B. Toews, Lost Fatherland: The Story of the Mennonite  
Emigration from Soviet Russia. 1921-27 (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1967). 

16. Eighty percent came in this period. Frank H. Epp, Mennonite Exodus:  
The Rescue and Resettlement of the Russian Mennonites Since the Communist  
Revolution (Altona, Manitoba: D.W. Friesen & Sons Ltd., 1966), p. 282. 

17. John B. Toews, Lost Fatherland, pp. 89-90, 200-204. John A. Toews, 
A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, p. 120. 

18. Epp, Mennonite Exodus, p. 307. 

19. Sixth Census of Canada, 1921 (Ottawa: The King's Printers, 1924), 
vol. I, pp. 568-69. 

20. Epp, Mennonites in Canada. 1920-1940, pp. 20-21. 

21. Ibid., pp. 62-63. 

22. E.K. Francis, In Search of Utopia, pp. 163-68; CA. Dawson, Group  
Settlement: Ethnic Communities in Western Canada (Toronto: The Macmillan Co., 
1936; Reprinted by Kraus Reprint Co., 1976), pp. 158-59. Frank H. Epp, 
Mennonites in Canada. 1786-1920 (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1974), p. 225. 
Epp, Mennonites in Canada. 1920-1940, p. 244. 

23. The movement towards more High German usage probably began as part 
of the reaction to Russification pressures beginning in the 1870's, and the 
general trend towards greater sophistication during the "golden years" of 
1895-1914, which was accompanied by a "conscious cultural-intellectual 
journey in the direction of Germany." See John B. Toews, Czars. Soviets and  
Mennonites, chapter 3. Quote from p. 45. See also Frank H. Epp, Mennonites  
in Canada. 1920-1940 pp. 242-47. 

24. Interview with Gerhard Ens, editor of Der Bote. Winnipeg, Manitoba, 
June 20, 1989; Interview with Jack and Eleanor Dueck, Waterloo, Ontario, 
July 6, 1989; Interview with Anne Brandt, Kelowna, B.C., June 3, 1989; 
Interview with David Schroeder, Professor at Canadian Mennonite Bible 
College, Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 20, 1989. 

25. Francis, In Search of Utopia, pp. 275-77. 

26. Epp, Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940, p. 530. 

27. Epp, Mennonites in Canada. 1920-1940, p. 292, note 14. 

28. Seventh Census of Canada. 1931 (Ottawa: The King's Printers, 1935), 
vol. I l l , pp. 1182-84. 

29. John A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, p. 120. 

30. Yearbook of the General Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Church  
of North America. 1921-22 (Hillsboro,KS: MB Publishing House), pp. 83-85. 



15 

31. John A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, p. 161. 

32. Epp, Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940f p. 417. 

33. Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook for the year 1939-40 
(Hillsboro, KS: MB Publishing House), p. 37. 

34. Epp, Mennonites in Canada. 1920-1940. p. 402. 

35. Howard Palmer, Patterns of Prejudice: A History of Nativism in  
Alberta (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1985), pp. 26-27; Arthur 
Grenke, "The Formation and Early Development of an Urban Ethnic Community: A 
Case Study of the Germans in Winnipeg, 1872-1919," (Ph.d. dissertation, 
University of Manitoba, 1975), p. 401; John Norris, Strangers Entertained: A  
History of the Ethnic Groups of British Columbia (Vancouver: British Columbia 
Centennial '71 Committee, 1971), pp. 98-102. 

36. Donald Avery, "Dangerous Foreigners": European Immigrant Workers  
and Labour Radicalism in Canada, 1896-1932 (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart 
Limited, 1979), p. 13ff, 76, 92; Palmer, Patterns of Prejudice, p. 19, 
47ff.; Epp, Mennonites in Canada, 1786-1920, p. 391ff.; Norris, Strangers  
Entertained, p. 103; M.K. Mott, "The 'Foreign P e r i l ' : Nativism in Winnipeg, 
1916-1923," (M.A. thesis, University of Manitoba, 1970), p. I l l ; Grenke, A 
Case Study of Germans in Winnipeg, p. 403ff; Aron Sawatzky, "The Mennonites 
of Alberta and Their Assimilation," (M.A. thesis, University of Alberta, 
1964), p. 69; Dawson, Group Settlement, p. 104; Interview with Gerhard Ens, 
editor of Per Bote. Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 20, 1989. 

37. Palmer, Patterns of Prejudice, p. 61, 72; Mott, "The 'Foreign 
P e r i l , ' " p. i i i , 111. 

38. Palmer, Patterns of Prejudice, p. 53, 111, 116; Avery, Dangerous  
Foreigners, pp. 108-112; Epp, Mennonite Exodus, p. 242ff; Alan B. Anderson, 
"Assimilation in the Bloc Settlements of North-Central Saskatchewan," (Ph.D. 
dissertation, University of Saskatchewan, 1972), p. 73. 

39. Avery, Dangerous Foreigners, pp. 111-12; Palmer, Patterns of 
Prejudice, p. 127; Gerald Friesen, The Canadian Prairies: A History 
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987), pp. 247-48. 

40. A total of 1344 of the estimated 13,000 individuals who had 
gathered in Moscow were allowed into Canada. Another 4600 migrated to South 
America, and the rest were banished to Siberia or exiled elsewhere in the 
Soviet Union. Epp, Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940, p. 327; Palmer, 
Patterns of Prejudice, pp. 118-19. E.K. Francis writes of a "collective 
resentment" by the Russian immigrants toward Canada, due to the hardships and 
injustices suffered during the immigration process, as well. While cases of 
this must have existed, Francis has overstated the case. Francis, In Search  
of Utopia, p. 207. 



16 

41. Peter F. Bargen, "Mennonite Land Settlement Policies," Mennonite  
L i f e , October 1960, pp. 187-90; Aron Sawatzky, "The Mennonites of Alberta," 
pp. 108-09, 137-39. See further discussion on this topic in Chapter Three 
below. 

42. Francis, In Search of Utopia, p. 187. George K. Epp estimates the 
migration to have included at least 60% of the Russian Mennonite 
"intelligentsia". George K. Epp, "Mennonite Immigration to Canada after 
World War II," Journal of Mennonite Studies (1987):109. 

43. Epp, Mennonites in Canada. 1920-1940. p. 188, 242-45; Sawatzky, 
"The Mennonites of Alberta," pp. 113-14, 134; Epp, Mennonite Exodus, pp. 
207-09; Francis, In Search of Utopia, pp. 208-12; Dawson, Group Settlement, 
p.. 158. 

44. Avery, Dangerous Foreigners, p. 114; Jonathan F. Wagner, Brothers  
Beyond the Sea: National Socialism in Canada (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier 
Press, 1981), p. 19. 

45. Epp, Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940. p. 352ff; Friesen, The  
Canadian Prairies, p. 272, 388-89; Sawatzky, "The Mennonites of Alberta," p. 
132. The Great Depression h i t the Russlaender especially hard, as they had 
both personal and collective debts, the latter incurred in their migration to 
Canada. See E.K. Francis, In Search of Utopia, p. 209. 

46. The one significant work on the topic is Frank Epp's analysis of 
the Mennonite newspaper Der Bote during the 1930's, which is discussed in 
Chapter Three. Gerald Ediger, professor at Mennonite Brethren Bible College, 
is currently writing a doctoral dissertation on the Brethren German identity. 
Otherwise, l i t t l e has so far been done which goes beyond cliches and 
generalizations based on personal experience or individual cases, to analyse 
the topic in any depth. 

47. E.K. Francis, "The Russian Mennonites: From Religious to Ethnic 
Group," The American Journal of Sociology LIV (September 1948):101-107. 

48. Calvin Redekop, Mennonite Society, p. 322. 

49. Ibid., p. 323. 

50. Donald B. Kraybill, "Modernity and Identity: The Transformation of 
Mennonite Ethnicity," in Calvin Redekop, ed., Mennonite Identity; Historical  
and Contemporary Perspectives (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 
1988), pp. 157-58. 

51. Edward Sapir, "Language," Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences IX 
(New York: Macmillan, 1933), p. 159. 

52. H. Richard Niebuhr, The Social Sources of Denominationalism 
(Hamden, CT: The Shoestring Press, 1954), p. 212. 

j 



17 

53. A good review of the intellectual origins of this movement is 
George L. Mosse, The C r i s i s of German Ideology (New York: Grasset & Dunlap, 
1964). 

54. Francis, In Search of Utopia, p. 275. 

55. Francis, In Search of Utopia, p. 206; H.A. Peters, "Das 
mennonitische Volkstum: Eine Skizze seiner Entstehung und des Verfalles," Per  
Bote. 8 December 1964, p. 10; Thiessen, "A New Look at an Old Problem: 
Origins of the Variations in Mennonite Plautdietsch," pp. 285-97; James 
Urry, "Through the Eye of the Needle: Wealth and the Mennonite Experience in 
Imperial Russia," Journal of Mennonite Studies (1985):7-35. 

56. Francis, In Search of Utopia, p. 206; Frank H. Epp, "Problems of 
Mennonite Identity," in Leo Driedger, ed., The Canadian Ethnic Mosaic: A  
Quest for Identity (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1978), p. 284. 

57. Epp, Mennonite Exodus, p. 30; J.A. Toews, A History of the  
Mennonite Brethren Church, p. 11; Epp, Mennonites in Canada, pp. 526-27; 
Thiessen, "A New Look at an Old Problem". 



18 

CHAPTER ONE 

The Canadian Context and the Impact of National Socialism 

Historical circumstances had brought about the dissolution of the Russian 

Mennonite commonwealth at the same moment that a powerful movement of Volk-

unification was emanating from Germany. It was very easy to appropriate the 

ideas and rhetoric of this movement and apply them to Mennonites scattered 

across 2000 miles of western Canada. Pro-Germanism in this context meant not 

only the separation from the "worldly" Canadian environment, but the possible 

reintegration of the scattered remnant on a linguistic, religious, and 

ideological basis. Thus while Germany did become a surrogate fatherland for 

some, the pro-German and Nazi-Volkish rhetoric espoused by Mennonites during 

the 1930's must be interpreted within the framework of s p e c i f i c a l l y Mennonite 

concerns and aspirations. As the forces of assimilation and acculturation 

absorbed them into Canadian society with great rapidity, 1 the Russlaender 

saw their ethno-religious community not only fragmented, but dissolving 

before their very eyes. 

The most important event of the 1930's for people of German ethnic or 

linguistic a f f i l i a t i o n was the rise of the "nev Germany" under Adolf Hitler 

and the National Socialists (NSDAP). This movement seemed to hold great 

promise for Germans, and i n i t i a l l y brought substantial benefits to many 

German people, i f i t also persecuted others. As v e i l , i t inspired Germans 

everywhere to be proud of themselves and their a b i l i t i e s , and to rise above 

the shameful image engendered by the defeat of the F i r s t World War and the 

negative interpretation placed on the treaty of Versailles. 

The movement meant different things to different people; cultural, 



19 
psychological, religious, economic, ethnic and national renewal vere a l l 

associated vith National Socialism under Hitler.2 At a basic level, the 

pride in a l l things German which vas a part of the movement vas an important 

encouragement to German-speakers vho, living in non-German environments, 

feared for the loss of their cultural and linguistic identity. The 

unconscious emotional attachment to the German language and customs should 

not be underestimated as an important impetus for Mennonite Germanism in the 

1930's and beyond. In addition, German benevolence toward Mennonites, along 

vith Nazi anti-communism, vere key factors in Mennonite pro-Germanism during 

the 1930's.3 For many Mennonites, Hitler became a divinely appointed figure 

vho vas sent to right past wrongs and save Germany and the vorld from 

communism; thus the "cognitive dissonance" created by the tension between 

Mennonite faith and trust in God, on the one hand, and the apparent success 

of the "godless communists" and the subsequent persecution of Christians in 

the Soviet Union, on the other, could be alleviated.4 

It vas the combination of a l l these factors vhich gave Canadian Mennonite 

Germanism its particular intensity during the 1930's. After 1945 the desire 

for socio-religious solidarity and integrity remained a potent factor in 

Mennonite Germanism, vhile the other elements quietly evaporated. Harsh 

economic conditions and a high rate of mobility during the Great Depression 

undoubtedly contributed to the unease and uncertainty vhich gave rise to pro-

German sentiments, but cannot in themselves be conclusively cited as causing 

them.5 

The National Socialist movement in Canada vas itself weak and never able 

to gain a large following among German-Canadians. In the most extensive 

study of the National Socialist movement in Canada, Jonathan Wagner concludes 



20 

that although "significant numbers" of ethnic Germans probably sympathized 

with Hitler's cause in one way or another, Nazism was too unrelated to 

Canadian social and economic realities, and ethnic Germans identified too 

heavily with Canadian institutions, for i t to appeal to large numbers of 

them, despite the efforts of the approximately 100 Nazi-Party members to gain 

a following.6 According to Gerald Priesen, ethnic Germans were "divided into 

so many parts and so affected by the events of world politics that they never 

achieved a pan-German identity in Canada."7 

The "focal point" of Nazi activity was on the prairies, which had 

absorbed some 70,000 German-speaking immigrants (including most of the 20,000 

Mennonites from Russia) during the 1920's.8 There were seven German-

language newspapers published on the prairies during the 1930's, and of 

these, five expressed pro-Nazi sentiments. Three of these were Mennonite 

publications, and a fourth, Der Nordwesten, was widely read by Mennonites.9 

Before the large 1920's influx of German-speakers, German culture had been in 

decline in Canada, acculturation and assimilation having been aided by the 

anti-Germanism engendered by the First World War.10 The majority of the new 

immigrants, like the Mennonites, were "Volks-Germans", i.e. those who had 

settled outside Germany as part of the widespread diaspora throughout eastern 

Europe, and were agriculturalists.il But the Mennonites differed from many 

of their German-speaking counterparts in that they were not, as Jonathan 

Wagner has argued, previously a part of a central and eastern European 

"Volks-German Awakening", with its nationalistic and expansionist overtones. 

Wagner's attempt to explain Mennonite support for National Socialism solely 

in terms of the larger Volkish movement is spurious and based on l i t t l e 

research or understanding of Mennonites.12 

http://agriculturalists.il


21 

The migration of German-speakers to the prairies during the 1920's was 

part of a larger influx of immigrants in the f i r s t three decades of this 

century. With a sixfold increase in prairie population between 1901 and 

1941, cultural diversity was, as Friesen has shown, a "striking feature of 

prairie society" in these decades. It resembled a "stew" of different ethnic 

groups simmering in the same pot, each retaining i t s own flavour. Most 

immigrants conversed in their mother-tongue, as "ethnic identity remained a 

real and important factor in the l i f e of many prairie Canadians in the 

1930's."13 By 1931, 35% of the western Canadian population was of central 

and eastern European origin.14 

The "British" character of the prairies predominated, however, the 

typical town existing as "an outpost of British-Canadian civilization."15 

P o l i t i c a l parties, schools and churches exhibited a "militant view of B r i t i s h 

c i v i l i z a t i o n , " and were instruments of Anglo-Canadian conformity and 

assimilation.16 Public schools, in particular, were important in this 

regard, as "The lessons of the education system in each province were 

consciously directed at the creation of a new British-based Western-Canadian 

race."17 Although anti-Germanism was often superseded by negative sentiment 

towards labour "radicals" of eastern-European origin,18 i t was s t i l l a 

prevalent feature of the interwar period and beyond.19 The Great Depression 

also exacerbated negative feelings toward "foreigners" who were thought to 

take jobs away from Anglo-Canadians and swell the r e l i e f rolls.20 

The general Canadian reaction to National Socialism was negative or 

indifferent. Although the influential editor of the Winnipeg Free Press, 

J.W. Da foe, repeatedly warned that a world c r i s i s was looming, Canadians were 

largely apathetic to the deteriorating international situation of the 



22 

1930's.21 I t vas unthinkable for Canadians that they might again have to 

send t h e i r sons to f i g h t Europe's b a t t l e s , and thus i s o l a t i o n i s t sentiment 

grew as "gangsterism" increased i n Europe. While t h i s isolationism would, i n 

the event of war, prove to be i l l u s o r y , 

I t took Canadians a very long time to come to the understanding that 
I t a l y and e s p e c i a l l y Germany vere on an unalterable c o l l i s i o n course 
v i t h the international interests and domestic values of B r i t a i n , many 
of vhich Canada shared.22 

In 1936 the Canadian Olympic team gave H i t l e r the Nazi salute at the B e r l i n 

games, and Canadian f a s c i s t a c t i v i t i e s vere l a r g e l y ignored by the Canadian 

public u n t i l a number of newspaper and magazine a r t i c l e s covering t h e i r 

a c t i v i t i e s began to appear i n e a r l y 1938. I t vas only v i t h the provocative 

events of 1938-39 that H i t l e r began to generally be viewed as a menace, and 

that serious anti-Nazism emerged i n Canada. The A n t i c o s t i a f f a i r , Munich and 

the Sudeten c r i s i s confirmed the growing anti-German, p r o - B r i t i s h sentiment; 

the Royal v i s i t of May-June 1939, vhich evoked great emotion from Canadians, 

sealed the Commonwealth connection.23 

On the other hand, i t i s incorrect to give the impression that Canadians 

vere unconcerned v i t h Nazi Germany u n t i l the l a t e 1930's, as some historians 

have done.24 The Canadian press, as perceived by German-Canadians, vas a 

source of "constant adverse c r i t i c i s m of Germany. "25 A cursory perusal of 

the Saskatoon Star Pheonix and Winnipeg Free Press indicates that the dangers 

and excesses of the Nazi regime vere publicized from the beginning of i t s 

tenure.26 On the p r a i r i e s , at least, Nazism vas consistently portrayed as a 

threat to democracy and human r i g h t s . Nor vas the public response to these 

events e n t i r e l y apathetic. Shortly a f t e r the outbreak of the f i r s t Jevish 

pogrom i n late March and e a r l y A p r i l of 1933 (the so-called "Jevish 

Boycott"), 7000 Winnipeg c i t i z e n s converged on the C i v i c Auditorium " i n one 



23 

of the biggest single-purpose demonstrations in the history of the city." 

Over 60 organizations were represented at this "firm protest" against Nazi 

persecution of Jews.27 

It was in this context that Russlaender Mennonites found themselves 

during the 1930's. A recent analysis of the Coaldale, Alberta Mennonite 

community during the intervar period provides an excellent view into 

Russlaender l i f e at this time. Coaldale is significant because the 

Mennonites who settled there were exclusively Russlaender, and i t became home 

to one of the most prominent Brethren communities in Canada during this 

period. The Coaldale Brethren church counted 350 members by the mid-1930's, 

and had grown to almost 500 by the end of the decade.28 Part of the reason 

for this growth stemmed from Coaldale being located in an irrigation district 

which didn't suffer as heavily as some communities during the Depression, and 

hence attracted those looking for work. There had been no Brethren 

communities in Alberta prior to the 1920's; besides Coaldale, other 

congregations were started at Gem, La Glace, Lindbrook, Namaka and Vauxhall. 

By 1939 Coaldale was home to over 50% of Alberta's Brethren population.29 

Alberta's 800 Brethren and their families were among 63,000 native German-

speakers in Alberta, or about 9% of its population (1931).30 

In her study of the Coaldale Mennonite community, Joanna Buhr found that 

"controlled accomodation" to the norms of Anglo-Canadian society was a 

dominant feature of Mennonite identity maintenance. This entailed both the 

accentuation of certain aspects of Mennonite ethno-religious identity, 

including Germanism, as well as the formation of "certain symbiotic social 

and economic ties with the Coaldale establishment."31 Mennonite immigrants 

were anxious to acquire land of their own, and were well-represented at the 



24 

local "English" farming demonstrations. There was immediate interest in 

learning the language, as i t quickly became clear that command of the 

language was an economic asset. The predominantly Anglo-Saxon host community 

was "generally congenial" towards the newcomers, and offered enticing social 

and economic prospects, especially to the young people. Generous debt-terms 

extended to the Mennonites during the decade gave them hope that they could 

succeed in Canada despite the effects of drought and depression, and they 

were eager to prove themselves worthy of the confidence placed in them by the 

Canadian establishment. 

It vas in this milieu that Mennonite leaders recognized the need for 

well-defined boundaries to maintain the essential contours of Mennonite 

identity. As the language of religious communication, German was perceived 

to be a crucial component in the long-term persistence of the group and i t s 

vision: "To many Russian Mennonites, the replacement of German with English 

represented a crucial step in a movement toward alignment with the 

'world'."32 A German lending-library vas established in Coaldale in 1927, 

and the Brethren started a German "Saturday school" in 1930. 

The language issue became divisive among Coaldale Mennonites by the later 

1930's, as i t became clear that an almost complete language transition (from 

German to English) vas taking place in one generation. One side f e l t that 

group cohesion and integrity vas dependent upon retaining the German 

language, while the other saw the imminent alienation of the youth i f more 

wasn't offered to them in English. The Brethren emphasis on religious 

conversion and evangelism, combined with a desire to relate to the host 

community in an acceptable way, gave rise to some interaction vith local 

English-speaking evangelists and the staging of an English outreach program 



25 

by the youth on Sunday evenings. These a c t i v i t i e s were eventually stopped 

because of the threat they posed to Brethren identity.33 

P o l i t i c a l l y , Coaldale Mennonites were "keenly loyal" to the Canadian 

government, and supported William Aberhart in provincial politics.34 Yet 

culturally and s o c i a l l y they remained aloof; gratitude towards Canada and the 

hope of becoming economically successful did not deter Mennonites from their 

goal of maintaining a specific ethno-religious identity. The greatest threat 

to the Mennonite vision "lay in i t s destruction from within through internal 

fragmentation."35 The second generation was rapidly becoming "Canadianized" 

through the public school system; this, coupled with the stress of immigrant 

economic l i f e , tended to outweigh the effects of the German Saturday school 

and other such institutions in promoting a positive identification with the 

Mennonite heritage and i t s accompanying Germanic aspects.36 

There seems to have been an inherent tension between the desire for 

economic success and social respect, on the one hand, and the maintenance of 

a distinct Mennonite identity, on the other. The predominantly Anglo-

Canadian host community put pressure on Mennonites to assimilate, and the 

second generation responded. This in turn brought on a more self-conscious 

Germanism which was directed towards the maintenance of ingroup unity and 

doctrinal integrity. Indeed, "To some, Germanism and opposition to war were 

inseparable tenets in the ethno-religious package...In the process of de-

emphasizing German cultural loyalties (during WWII), nonresistance also came 

into jeopardy. "37 

This helps to c l a r i f y the relationship between Germanism and the 

principle of nonresistance. Militant Germanism challenged nonresistance 

among some first-generation immigrants who hadn't been socialized in Canada 



26 

(see Chapter Two); on the other hand, the loss of the German identity 

threatened the principle among the second generation, because i t implied 

absorption into Anglo-Canadian society, and participation in its military 

endeavours. Buhr's study indicates that pro-Nazi sympathies, when held in an 

environment like Coaldale's, would have been muted. More importantly, i t 

demonstrates that most new arrivals vere eager to find a niche for themselves 

in Canada, vere responsive to the host society, and felt that their future 

lay in Canada. This fact, coupled vith the rapid acculturation of the second 

generation, indicates that the pro-Germanism of the 1930's vas largely a 

reaction to the threatened dissolution of the remaining contours of Russian 

Mennonite society. 

Parallels exist between the experience of Coaldale Mennonites and those 

vho settled in Ontario. Approximately 1000 Russlaender settled there;38 of 

these, around 25% vere of Brethren affiliation.39 The Kitchener Mennonite 

Brethren Church became the mother-church for the Brethren in Ontario, 

counting 150 members, or approximately 50% of the Ontario Brethren church 

membership, by 1935.40 There had been no Mennonite Brethren in Ontario prior 

to this migration. Many also settled on the Niagara peninsula, in the areas 

of Vineland, St. Catherines and Virgil. These Brethren joined approximately 

80,000 other native German-speakers in Ontario, or 2% of the total population 

(1931).41 

In his study of the Russlaender in Ontario during the intervar period, 

Henry Paetkau found that "Without the familiar structures of the Mennonite 

commonwealth to give form and content to their lives, the immigrants vere at 

the mercy of the forces of acculturation and assimilation."42 Economic 

considerations brought about the rapid acquisition of English and influenced 



27 

settlement patterns, causing a third of the immigrants to locate in c i t i e s 

and towns, despite pressures from both the host community and immigrant 

leaders to find rural occupation. Schools were a powerful force of 

acculturation for the scattered immigrants, and thus "A language c r i s i s 

ensued in many families as early as the mid-thirties, precisely when 'das 

Deutschtum' was becoming increasingly meaningful to older immigrants."43 

It was in this familiar context that leaders and organizations like the 

Ontario Provincial Immigrant Assembly (Vertreterversammlung)44 attempted to 

draw Mennonites together and perpetuate a common identity, which included the 

important components of "German and Religion". Saturday and Sunday schools, 

Bible schools, youth groups and German lending-libraries were instituted, but 

economic and geographic factors caused only "sporadic support" of these 

endeavours by the immigrants.45 The rise of Germanism, according to Paetkau, 

"appears to have been more sympathetic than overt, more ideological than 

real."46 Despite the general desire on the part of most immigrants to become 

established Canadians, there was enough of a pro-German feeling present to 

give rise to rumours in some areas that Mennonites were Nazi sympathizers, 

and that they stored weapons in their churches. One Ontario church was set 

on f i r e by anti-Nazi arsonists and later raided by police, while another was 

vandalized as an anti-Nazi protest.47 

Declarations by Mennonites of loyalty to Canada in the later 1930's were 

common, and the degree of assimilation into Canadian society was proven by 

relatively high enlistment figures, for Mennonites, at the outbreak of the 

Second World War. Germanism was delivered a "devastating blow" by the war, 

and "Only the influx of another group of Russian Mennonite refugees after 

1945 prevented a complete language transition within a single generation."48 



28 

In a recent a r t i c l e , Paetkau has argued that a general feature of the 

Russian Mennonite immigrant experience was a tension between a desire to 

reestablish the lost unity of the Russian settlement, and an individualistic 

impulse toward economic and social success in Canada. "While a few leaders 

strove valiantly and eloquently to rebuild a people...individuals sought 

primarily to rebuild their lives and their families."49 The general thrust 

of Paetkau's work has been to indicate that although the Russlaender may have 

desired to reestablish in some way a lost community, i t was not to be at the 

expense of participation in Anglo-Canadian social and economic structures. 

Buhr's study also illustrates this, i f to a lesser degree, given the more 

rural and isolated atmosphere of southern Alberta. 

Thus i t may be more profitable to see the Russlaender as being primarily 

concerned with in-group reintegration, on various levels, than with 

separation from the host society per se. Separation could at most be 

ideological; geographic dispersion, coupled with assimilationist trends, 

tends however to make the ideological medium, Germanism, look as much like an 

agent of group cohesion and doctrinal integration as of separation from 

Canadian society.50 It was a carrier of an identity which had meaning in 

i t s e l f ; thus i t did not merely set one apart from the rest of Canadian 

society, although this was clearly important. Germanism, especially during 

the 1930's, brought with i t a whole host of associations which helped to 

define what i t meant to be Mennonite, and i t held out the p o s s i b i l i t y of 

being the source of communal and religious perpetuation and renewal. 

The prairie provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan evidenced similar 

trends as in Alberta and Ontario, with the possible difference that the 

generally more isolated, homogeneous communities fostered a stronger sense of 



29 

pro-Germanism and -Nazism.51 Discussion here w i l l centre on Manitoba, owing 

to the a v a i l a b i l i t y of sources. Mennonites from Russia had settled on two 

large blocs of land in southern Manitoba during the 1870's, and when some of 

them l e f t in the 1920's for Latin America, a number of Russlaender took their 

place. Figures vary, but i t is clear that a sizeable number of immigrants, 

perhaps a few thousand, settled on farms abandoned by the emigrants on the 

West Reserve.52 Winkler was an important Brethren centre there, and 

attracted some of the newcomers. Other congregations were formed in Arnaud, 

Niverville, Steinbach, Morden, Newton Siding and Manitou, among others. 

Winnipeg also absorbed a number of Brethren, with three congregations meeting 

by the mid-1930's. 

The total Manitoba Brethren church membership increased sixfold with the 

immigration, numbering 2000 baptised members by 1934.53 These Brethren and 

their families were part of a larger population of 30,000 Mennonites in 

Manitoba, and a total German-speaking population roughly double that, or 8% 

of the provincial population (1931).54 A total of 2081 Russlaender families, 

or a third of the Russian migration, i n i t i a l l y settled in Manitoba.55 

Studies by C.A. Dawson and E.K. Francis have outlined the general trends 

of acculturation and assimilation among Russian Mennonite immigrants already 

discussed. Dawson, writing in the 1930's, saw a class of Mennonite "small 

townsmen" coming into existence, and f e l t that the influx of the " l i b e r a l " 

Russian Mennonites during the 1920's, along with the emigration of the most 

conservative Mennonites to Latin America, helped to speed the process of 

secularization and assimilation among Manitoba Mennonites.56 He found that 

young people in Mennonite towns like Winkler and Gretna spoke English to each 

other on the streets, and that the Brethren, especially, were tolerant of 



30 

"new ideas." Mennonites were currently midway in the transition from 

sectarian to secular culture, and their absorption into Canadian society was 

seen to be inevitable.57 

E.K. Francis, writing 20 years later, agreed that acculturation had taken 

place, but argued that widespread assimilation had not. The Russlaender in 

particular had been eager to learn English, promote public schools, and adopt 

Canadian ways; but by 1945 a "newly gained pride" in Mennonite traditions was 

evident, and the Manitoba Mennonite community showed no signs of breaking 

up.58 This is understandable given the fact that by 1931 a third of the 

prairie population was of non-English (mostly continental European) origin, 

that a large influx of German-speakers accompanied the Mennonite migration to 

the prairies in the 1920's, and that Manitoba was home to over a third of a l l 

Canadian Mennonites.59 One half-hour to one hour of German instruction was 

given in some public schools, and in some of the predominantly Mennonite 

communities, Low German was spoken by everyone, including non-Mennonites.60 

Even urbanization did not have the same impact as in other areas: Mennonites 

moving to Winnipeg tended to congregate on the North Side and in East 

Kildonan, both predominantly non-English European immigrant communities.61 

Interviews indicate that pro-German and -Nazi feelings ran high among 

southern Manitoba Mennonites during the 1930's and into the Second World War; 

individuals who were children at the time have vivid memories of the pro-

Hitler atmosphere, primarily among the Russlaender, and of the impression 

that "great things were happening in Germany."62 Wagner reports that 

Steinbach Mennonites turned out in significant numbers to hear the travelling 

Nazi-propagandist Karl Goetz in 1936, and that some Mennonites were present 

at the provincial "German Day" in Winnipeg.63 Francis notes that the 



31 

"ideological dividing-^ ine" on the issue of pro-Germanism among Manitoba 

Mennonites was drawn essentially between the Russlaender and the Kanadier. 

The Russlaender evidenced a stronger sense of German nationalism, while the 

Kanadier "were more sensitive to public opinion and more emphatic about 

loyalty to Canada."64 

There also appears to have been some Mennonite involvement with 

indigenous fascist organizations. The high-water mark for this a c t i v i t y was 

reached in 1934. In early 1934 a Brethren leader from Winkler reported in 

the Mennonitische Rundschau that: 

Here in our l i t t l e town a movement is becoming noticeable. Hitler is 
known as a striving, Christian young man, and we hope that the same 
qualities are present in the local organization of the Canadian 
Nationalists.65 

The "Canadian Nationalist Party" was a fascist organization led by William 

Whittaker and centred in Winnipeg. As the quote indicates, direct links were 

made between Nazism and this Canadian movement.66 It appears that attempts 

were also made to organize in the largely Brethren community of Yarrow, B.C., 

in early 1934.67 It is d i f f i c u l t to estimate what degree of success such 

efforts had at this time, but the comments of one Brethren leader in early 

1934 are significant: 

The rush of p o l i t i c a l waters, that quickly becomes a wild flood, is 
coming ever closer to us...this flood has come so close that i t has 
begun to wash a portion of our Volk away with i t . Therefore i t i s 
our duty to warn our people against participation in p o l i t i c a l and 
nationalistic organizations.68 

It was in Winnipeg during the summer of 1934 that the most notorious 

Canadian Mennonite encounter with fascism took place. As reported in Per  

Bote, young Mennonite "hotheads" had taken part in a June 5 scuffle between 

Whittaker's "Brownshirts" and Communists, and had sustained some injuries. 

The most significant aspect of the whole a f f a i r was that, according to the 



32 

writer, there was widespread sympathy among Mennonites for the Brownshirts. 

This was due, in his opinion, to the general wish to see the communists "get 

their just deserts".69 

Concern over participation in fascist organizations was indicated by a 

resolution taken at the Canadian Brethren Conference (the Northern D i s t r i c t 

Conference) meeting in early July of that year. In the context of a 

resolution on nonresistance, i t was stated: 

It must be stressed that i t is contradictory for the Conference to 
work towards guaranteeing freedom of conscience for us (in regards to 
military exemption), while at the same time some Brothers take part 
in Volk-movements in which force is used.70 

In addition to the above cases, there are reports that a few young men 

enlisted in the National Socialist cause and travelled to Germany sometime in 

the 1930'.s,71 and that an undisclosed number of Ontario families who 

sympathised with the Third Reich also migrated there.72 It should also be 

mentioned that in 1934 Bernard Bott, who was a Nazi Party member and editor 

of the Deutsche Zeitung fuer Kanada. organized a "Saskatchewan German 

Committee" which included the Saskatchewan Mennonite provincial organization 

in i t s membership.73 These instances should not be ignored, but overt 

involvement of Canadian Mennonites with fascist groups was minimal, although 

constituting enough of a threat to bring forth condemnations. A more 

pervasive and widely cited occurrence was the purchase of shortwave radios to 

tune in to broadcasts from Germany.74 

In general, the trend toward acculturation and assimilation into Anglo-

Canadian society was present on the prairies, but counter-forces were also at 

work which mitigated i t . These included a greater concentration of 

Mennonites, German-speakers, and non-English Europeans in general; greater 

homogeneity of Mennonite communities; a large proportion of Russlaender 



33 

immigrants; and in Winnipeg a centre of western Canadian Nazism.75 A broader 

use of the German language, a more prevalent support for the "new Germany", 

and even a few cases of involvement with fascist groups were a few results of 

these factors. 

There were no Mennonites in B r i t i s h Columbia prior to 1928. At that 

time, ten families settled at Yarrow in the Fraser valley, i n i t i a t i n g a 

migration which would see over 5000 Mennonites l i v i n g in the province by 

1941, and three times that number by 1951.76 A majority of these were 

Russlaender Mennonite Brethren, and they were concentrated in Yarrow, Sardis, 

Chilliwack and Abbotsford. The Yarrow Mennonite Brethren congregation formed 

in 1929, and grew to 365 members by 1939. A Brethren congregation with over 

100 members had also formed in Vancouver by this time.77 The 1000 Mennonites 

present in B.C. in 1931 were among 12,000 German-speakers in the province, or 

about 2% of the total provincial population.78 

By a l l accounts, the 1930's were years of hard work and many pressures on 

the newcomers. Young g i r l s worked as maids in Vancouver (as Mennonite g i r l s 

did in most Canadian urban areas), and many Mennonites worked as labourers in 

local hopfields or in Vancouver. Delegates from B.C. present at the annual 

Brethren Canadian Conference meetings lamented the unwholesome contact with 

"worldly" influences brought about by this, and the strong assimilationist 

pressures present.79 

The Mennonitische Rundschau reported in late 1934 that a number of Anglo-

Canadian nativist meetings had taken place in the Fraser Valley, with concern 

being expressed over the high immigration rate of "poor Europeans" from the 

prairies, and the high birthrate of the oriental population. The Mennonites 

were clearly objects of concern, and motions were even made proposing B.C. 



34 

become an independent nation, in order to control the "flood" of unwanted 

newcomers. The host community was obviously quite open about i t s nativist 

and racist feelings.80 

Peter Ward has argued that the "structurally plural" nature of the 

British Columbia population gave rise to a longing by Anglo-Canadians for 

r a c i a l homogeneity, which was openly expressed in terms of racial 

prejudices.81 Although Asians were the targets of most harassment, the fact 

that Anglo-Canadian nativism was a "cultural norm" means that there was an 

inherent psychological tension between Anglo-Canadians and a l l non-British 

immigrants.82 John Norris downplays these tensions, but does point out that 

both Germans and Mennonites were objects of h o s t i l i t y by the host community 

in the interwar years.83 Rumours circulated in the 1930's "to the effect 

that Mennonites were similar to Doukhobors and detrimental to the state,"84 

and during the Second World War there was resentment at Mennonite 

unwillingness to join the armed forces.85 Recollections by a Mennonite in 

the mid-1940's reveal the extent to which Mennonites wanted to be seen as 

successful members of B.C. society.86 It was ironically this success which 

engendered resentment toward the Mennonites.87 

A study of B.C. Mennonites done in 1955 by John Krahn indicates the 

typical set of responses to this environment. The Brethren started German 

"Saturday schools" in nearly every community, and eventually two high schools 

and three Bible schools.88 Retention of the German language was generally a 

goal in a l l such educational efforts, and not just the Saturday schools (see 

Chapters Four and Five). Krahn argues, like Buhr, that a basic goal of 

leaders was "controlled integration" with the larger Canadian society.89 

Urbanization, acculturation and assimilation were basic trends from the 



35 

1930's onward; by the 1950's Low German was s t i l l spoken by older Mennonites, 

but the younger people spoke English among themselves and at home. High 

German was s t i l l used in church services, but that too was headed for 

decline. 

Krahn feels that Brethren integration into Canadian society was "perhaps 

attributable to educational and missionary contact with the environment."90 

A recent study by Robert Burkinshaw adds weight to the notion that the 

Brethren missionary emphasis had an effect on other aspects of Brethren 

identity. Burkinshaw locates the Brethren in the general growth of 

evangelicalism in B.C. from the late 1920's onward. The Brethren p i e t i s t i c 

and evangelistic emphases led i t s members and churches to identify gradually 

more with the wider evangelical community in the province than with their own 

heritage. The Brethren were s t i l l a distinct group in 1941 from others like 

Baptists and Pentecostals, due to remaining linguistic and cultural 

"barriers", but they displayed characteristics which would "encourage 

increasing cooperation and identification with the wider evangelicalism."91 

While Burkinshaw underestimates the strength of attempts to preserve the 

Mennonite socio-religious identity, he has identified a key element in 

bringing about rapid acculturation and assimilation among the Brethren. The 

fact that the less evangelically-oriented General Conference Mennonites were 

also more conservative on linguistic and cultural issues adds weight to this 

conclusion.92 In B r i t i s h Columbia, the Brethren tendency to identify with 

North American evangelicalism, along with strong assimilationist pressures, 

the presence of nationalistic schools which wouldn't hire Mennonites,93 and a 

small non-Mennonite German community with a weak base of support for the "new 

Germany",94 mitigated strong and open identifications with Nazi Germany. 



36 

On the other hand, these trends were the background to those Germanist 

reactions which did occur. Wagner provides part of the reason why Canadian 

Nazism would have appealed to groups like the Mennonites: i t was a n t i -

assimilationist, and appealed to those who f e l t inferior or the victims of 

injustice or discrimination.9 5 The Mennonite experience of brutal treatment 

during the Bolshevik Revolution, the economic conditions of the Great 

Depression, and the threat of rapid assimilation put them in a potentially 

receptive position for the cultural, p o l i t i c a l and ethnic ideas associated 

with the "new Germany". Russian Mennonite ethno-religious culture appeared 

to be breaking down, more rapidly in some areas than others; at the same 

time, distinctions between p o l i t i c a l and cultural Germanism were just 

beginning to be understood, as they were bound up in a single "package" which 

seemed to offer answers to the problems of fragmentation, i n s t a b i l i t y and 

loss of identity. 

The essential argument of this thesis is that Germanism, and the German 

language in particular, functioned as an instrument of socio-religious 

integration for the Russlaender Brethren in the t h i r t y years after their 

a r r i v a l in Canada. In-the interwar years, Mennonite Germanism took on 

certain p o l i t i c a l , "Volkish", and nationalistic overtones; by the end of the 

Second World War, these elements had largely faded. In the postwar period 

Germanism becomes more clearly identifiable in i t s primary role as symbol and 

agent of the distinctive configuration of religious faith, sense of 

peoplehood, and way of l i f e which had emerged in Imperial Russia. 



37 

NOTES, CHAPTER ONE 

1. It is generally agreed that the Russlaender were more prone to 
assimilation than most other Mennonites had been. A few general studies 
which acknowledge this are George G. Thielman, "The Canadian Mennonites," 
(Ph.D. dissertation, Western Reserve University, 1955), pp. 195-96; E.K. 
Francis, In Search of Utopia (Altona, MB: D.W. Friesen & Sons Ltd., 1955), p. 
208; Frank H. Epp, Mennonites in Canada. 1920-40 (Toronto: Macmillan of 
Canada, 1982), p. 243. 

2. George L. Mosse, The C r i s i s of German Ideology (New York: Grosset & 
Dunlap, 1964); Martin Broszat, "Die voelkische Ideologie und der 
Nationalsozialismus," Deutsche Rundschau 1 (January 1958):53-68; Ernst-
Christian Helmreich, The German Churches Under Hitler: background, struggle,  
and epilogue (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1979), Chapter 6, esp. 
pp. 128-32; John S. Conway, The Nazi Persecution of the Churches 1933-45 
(Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1968), pp. 142-57; Jonathan Wagner, Brothers  
Beyond the Sea: National Socialism in Canada (Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier 
Press, 1981), pp. 14-15. 

3. The appeal,which Hitler's anti-communism held for Mennonites i s 
widely citeid. John A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church 
(Fresno, CA: Board of Christian Literature, 1975), p. 327; Frank H. Epp, 
Mennonite Exodus (Altona, MB: D.W. Friesen & Sons Ltd., 1966), p. 323; 
Watson Kirkconnell, Canada. Europe and Hitler (Toronto: Oxford University 
Press, 1939), p. 120; Francis, In Search of Utopia, p. 207; Interview with 
Anne Funk, Vancouver, B r i t i s h Columbia, May 6, 1990. 

4. The theory of cognitive dissonance was f i r s t proposed by Leon 
Festinger in 1957. The theory has been defined thus: 

An emotional state set up when two simultaneously held attitudes or 
cognitions are inconsistent or when there is a conflict between 
belief and overt behavior. The resolution of the conflict is assumed 
to serve as a basis for attitude change in that belief patterns are 
generally modified so as to be consistent with behavior. 

From Arthur S. Reber, The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology (New York: Viking 
Penguin, 1985), p. 129. For Mennonites, one way of making sense of what had 
happened to them was to interpret events as a battle between the forces of 
good and e v i l , embodied in Hitler and the Bolsheviks, respectively. 



38 

5. It is beyond the scope of this study to document a correlation 
between Mennonite economic conditions during the 1930's, and Germanism. The 
discussion contained in the rest of this chapter indicates, however, that 
Mennonites f e l t positive about their economic prospects in Canada at this 
time, and worked hard to "make i t " in Canadian society. It should be added 
that the typical Mennonite response to problems was mutual assistance, and 
thus they looked f i r s t to the larger Mennonite group for solutions, rather 
than nation-states. For Mennonite efforts at mutual aid during the 1930's 
see Epp, Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940. Chapter 8, "Overcoming the 
Depression," esp. p. 361ff. 

6. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, pp. 59, 145-46; See also Elizabeth 
Gerwin, "A Survey of the German-Speaking Population of Alberta," (M.A. 
thesis, University of Alberta, 1938), pp. 120-25. The author was intent on 
distancing German-Canadians from the Nazi regime, arguing that the majority 
of German-speaking immigrants in Alberta had "the mixed feelings of a 
sympathetic bystander," but no real nationalistic feeling for Germany. 

7. Gerald Friesen, The Canadian Prairies: A History (Toronto: 
University of Toronto Press, 1987), p. 262. See also Alan B. Anderson, 
"Assimilation in the Bloc Settlements of North-Central Saskatchewan: A 
Comparative Study of Identity Change Among Seven Ethno-Religious Groups in a 
Canadian Prairie Region," (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Saskatchewan, 
1972), p. 102. 

8. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, pp. 7-9; Kirkconnell, Canada.  
Europe and Hitler, p. 119. 

9. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, p. 102; Kirkconnell, Canada.  
Europe and Hitler, pp. 120-33. In the Russlaender community of Coaldale, 
Alberta, Der Nordwesten was as popular as Der Bote, a paper published by and 
for Russlaender. Epp, Mennonite Exodus, p. 317. 

10. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, pp. 3-6; Arthur Grenke, "The 
Formation and Early Development of An Urban Ethnic Community: A Case Study 
of the Germans in Winnipeg, 1872-1919," (Ph.D. dissertation, University of 
Manitoba, 1975), pp. 403-20; Anderson, "Assimilation in the Bloc Settlements 
of North-Central Saskatchewan," p. 66; Kirkconnell, Canada. Europe and  
Hitler, p. 119; John Norris, Stranger's Entertained: A History of the Ethnic  
Groups of B r i t i s h Columbia (Vancouver: British Columbia Centennial '71 
Committee, 1971), p. 104. 

11. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, pp. 10, 20-21. 



39 

12. Jonathan F. Wagner, "Transferred C r i s i s : German Volkish Thought 
Among Russian Mennonite Immigrants to Western Canada," Canadian Review of  
Studies in Nationalism 1 (1973):202-220. There is l i t t l e evidence that 
Russian Mennonites had any part in the Volkish movement prior to coming to 
Canada. See John B. Toews, Czars, Soviets and Mennonites (Newton, KS: Faith 
and Life Press, 1982), p. 31ff., 76; Francis, In Search of Utopia, pp. 197-
98; Alan B. Anderson, "Assimilation in the Bloc Settlements of North-Central 
Saskatchewan," p. 102; Harry Loewen, "The German-Russian Tensions Among the 
Mennonites In Russia (1789-1917)," paper on f i l e at the Centre for Mennonite 
Brethren Studies (CMBS), Winnipeg, Box 7, Folder H, No.5, pp. 15-16; John B. 
Toews, "The Russian Mennonite Intellect of the 19th Century," paper on f i l e 
at CMBS, Winnipeg, Box 7, Folder H, No. 4; H.A. Peters, "Das mennonitische 
Volkstum: Eine Skizze seiner Entstehung und des Verfalles," Per Bote. 8 
December 1964, pp. 10-11. 

13. Friesen, The Canadian Prairies, pp. 272-73. 

14. Donald Avery, •Dangerous Foreigners': European Immigrant Workers  
and Labour Radicalism in Canada. 1896-1932 (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 
1979), p. 95. 

15. Friesen, The Canadian Prairies, p. 273, 325; See also Howard 
Palmer, Patterns of Prejudice: A History of Nativism in Alberta (Toronto: 
McClelland and Stewart, 1982), pp. 22-23. 

16. Friesen, The Canadian Prairies, pp. 341-47; Palmer, Patterns of  
Prejudice, pp. 41-47 and passim. 

17. Friesen, The Canadian Prairies, p. 346, 290; Palmer, Patterns of  
Prejudice, p. 46, 139; Epp, Mennonites in Canada. 1920-1940. p. 97. CA. 
Dawson, Group Settlement: Ethnic Communities in Western Canada (Toronto: 
Macmillan, 1936, reprinted by Kraus Reprint Co., 1974), pp. 144-59. 

18. Avery, 'Dangerous Foreigners', p. 76; Palmer, Patterns of  
Prejudice, pp. 132-37. 

19. Interview with Gerhard Ens, editor of Per Bote. Winnipeg, Manitoba, 
June 20, 1989; Interview with Anne Brandt, Kelowna, B.C., June 3, 1989; 
Gerwin, "A Survey of the German-Speaking Population of Alberta," p. 125 and 
passim. 

20. Avery, 'Dangerous Foreigners', pp. 91, 108-12; Palmer, Patterns of  
Prejudice, pp. 126-32. 

21. John Herd Thompson with Allen Seager, Canada 1922-39: Decades of  
Discord (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1985), p. 303. Examples of Dafoe's 
feelings toward Nazism include "Germany and the World," Winnipeg Free Press. 
1 April 1933, p. 11; "Hitler's Reichstag Speech," Ibid., 2 February 1937, 
p. 11. 

22. Thompson and Seager, Decades of Discord, p. 322. 



40 

23. Ibid., p. 320ff; Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, pp. 124-28. 

24. This is the general impression given by Thompson and Seager, 
Decades of Discord, Chapter 13, "Canada on the Road to War". 

25. Gervin, "A Survey of the German-Speaking Population of Alberta," p. 
125; Wagner, "Transferred C r i s i s , " p. 203. Lita Rose Betcherman, The  
Swastika and the Maple Leaf: Fascist Movements in Canada in the Thirties 
(Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1975), p. 72. My analysis of the 
Mennonitische Rundschau confirms the existence of this general feeling of 
German denigration by the Canadian press. 

26. e.g. "German Massacre Widely Rumoured: Nazi Plot to Wipe Out 
Leftists Reported," Saskatoon Star Pheonix. 1 March 1933, p. 1; "Editorial", 
Ibid., p. 13; "Democracy, Communism Doomed as Nazi Vote Assures Big 
Majority," Ibid., 6 March 1933, p. 1; "Hitler and the Jewish People," Ibid., 
29 March 1933, p. 11; "Catholics Face Nazi Campaign," Ibid., 18 July 1935, 
p. 1; "Dictators Partners: Mussolini and Hitler May Have Agreement on 
Locarno Issue," Ibid., 10 July 1936, p. 1; "Hitler Plans New Anti-Jewish 
Drive," Winnipeg Free Press. 7 April 1933, p. 1; "Nazis Strip, Chain and 
Torture Distinguished Jew, Reporter States," Ibid., 3 April 1933, p. 1; 
"Germany and the World," Ibid., 1 April 1933, p. 11. 

27. "Huge Winnipeg Gathering Protests Alleged Attack upon Jews in 
Germany," Winnipeg Free Press. 3 April 1933, p. 2. 

28. 1934 Mennonite Brethren Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook 
(Hillsboro, KS: MB Publishing House), p. 85; 1939 Northern D i s t r i c t  
Conference Yearbook, p. 74; John A Toews, A History of the Mennonite  
Brethren Church. (Fresno, CA: Board of Christian Literature, 1975), p. 165. 

29. 1939 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, pp. 74-75. 

30. Seventh Census of Canada. 1931, vol. IV (Ottawa: King's Printers, 
1935), p. 1184. 

31. Joanna R. Buhr, "Pursuit of a Vision: Persistence and Accomodation 
Among Coaldale Mennonites from the Mid-Nineteen.Twenties to World War II," 
(M.A. thesis, University of Calgary, 1986), p. 3. 

32. Ibid., P- 152. 

33. Ibid., pp. 206--13. 

34. Ibid., pp. 197--201. 

35. Ibid., P- 218. 

36. Ibid., P- 231. 

37. Ibid., P. 241. 



41 

38. Epp, Mennonites in Canada. 1920-1940r p. 191. 

39. Anna Wiebe, "The Mennonite Brethren in Ontario: a short history," 
Mennogespraech. 4 (March 1986):4. Wiebe counts 1340 individuals of Brethren 
a f f i l i a t i o n ; this would have worked out to around 250 families/households. 

40. Ibid., pp. 6-7. 

41. Seventh Census of Canada. 1931. vol. IV (Ottawa: King's Printers, 
1935), p. 1180. 

42. Henry Paetkau, "A Struggle for Survival. The Russian Mennonite 
Immigrants in Ontario, 1924-39," (M.A. thesis, University of Waterloo, 1977), 
p. 146. 

43. Ibid., p. 149. 

44. Each province had such an assembly, where a wide range of issues 
and concerns relevant to the Russlaender were discussed. Economic and 
agricultural issues tended to dominate during the 1930's, although issues 
like the German identity were discussed as well. The Central Mennonite 
Immigrant Committee, located in Rosthern, Saskatchewan, tied the provincial 
assemblies together and, as mentioned, featured a cultural section. Through 
the German VDA (Society for Germanism Abroad) the Committee was able to 
procure books to start German lending-libraries in various communities. As 
Epp reports, 

The CMIC was...active in the promotion of the German language. From 
time to time i t was reported that not enough was being done for "das 
Deutschtum". To promote German language and German culture a 
representative was appointed to work with the German Canadian Central 
Committee in the promotion of a "German Day" in Regina on July 27, 
1930. (Epp, Mennonite Exodus, pp. 209-210.) 

45. Paetkau, "A Struggle for Survival," p. 177. 

46. Ibid., p. 178. 

47. Ibid., pp. 181-82. 

48. Ibid., p. 184. 

49. Henry Paetkau, "Russian Mennonite Immigrants of the 1920's: A 
Reappraisal," Journal of Mennonite Studies 2 (1984):83. 

50. Frank Epp's work has tended to emphasize the desire for separation 
among Canadian Mennonites. See Epp, Mennonites in Canada. 1920-1940, p. 
503ff. While this may have been appropriate for some groups, the Russlaender 
brought with them a weaker separatist mentality. The Brethren stress on 
outreach and evangelism further detracted from the traditional isolationist 
stance. 



42 

51. Sociologists have observed that ethnic assimilation in rural 
contexts is retarded, especially where ethnic communities exist. See 
Kathleen Neils Conzen, "Historical Approaches to the Study of Rural Ethnic 
Communities," in Frederick C. Luebke, ed., Ethnicity on the Great Plains 
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980), pp. 4-5. 

52. CA. Dawson reports the figure at 1500 individuals, while E.K. 
Francis claims that 2000 families, or 5000-6000 individuals, settled on the 
Reserve. Frank Epp's figure of 2081 families for the whole province seems 
most accurate, and supports a figure closer to Dawson's for the West Reserve. 
Dawson, Group Settlement, p. 149; Francis, In Search of Utopia, p. 205; 
Epp, Mennonites in Canada. 1920-1940. p. 191. 

53. 1921 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, pp. 84-85; 1934  
Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, pp. 79-82. 

54. Seventh Census of Canada, 1931 (Ottawa: King's Printers, 1935), 
vol. I l l , p. 322; vol. IV, p. 1182. 

55. Epp, Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940. p. 191. 

56. Dawson, Group Settlement, pp. 144-49. 

57. Ibid., 151-71. 

58. Francis, In Search of Utopia, pp. 208-42; 264. 

59. Avery, %Dangerous Foreicmers'. p. 91; Wagner, Brothers Beyond the  
Sea, pp. 7-9; Seventh Census, 1931,.vol. I l l , pp. 320-28. 

60. Interview with Gerhard Ens, editor of Der Bote, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 
June 20, 1989; Interview with Herb Brandt, Mennonite Brethren pastor and 
Conference leader, Kelowna, British Columbia, June 3 and December 19, 1989; 
Dawson, Group Settlement, p. 159. 

61. Francis, In Search of Utopia, p. 249; Gerhard Lohrenz, "The 
Mennonites in Winnipeg," Mennonite L i f e . January 1951, pp. 16-20. 

62. Interview with Herb Brandt; Interview with Peter Neudorf, 
Mennonite Businessman, Vancouver, B.C., December 10, 1989; Interview with 
Jack and Eleanor Dueck, Kitchener, Ontario, July 6, 1989. 

63. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, pp. 46-48; 95. 

64. Francis, In Search of Utopia, pp. 233-34. 

65. P.H. Penner, Mennonitische Rundschau, 7 February 1934, pp. 5-6. 

66. Canadian Nationalist Party leaders wore swastika pins and openly 
identified themselves with the Nazi movement. Betcherman, The Swastika and  
the Maple Leaf, p. 66. 



43 

67. H. Klassen, Mennonitische Rundschau, 7 March 1934, p. 5. 

68. H. Toews, Mennonitische Rundschau, 31 January 1934, p. 3. 

69; "Um hohen Preis," Der Bote, 27 June 1934, pp. 2-3. 

70. 1934 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 77. 

71. Epp, Mennonite Exodus, p. 324. 

72. Paetkau, "A Struggle for Survival," p. 169. 

73. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, p. 85. 

74. Epp, Mennonite Exodus, p. 324. Interviews have confirmed the 
f a i r l y common use of shortwave radios. Interview with Herb Brandt; 
Interview with Peter Neudorf. Mr. Brandt remembers walking into a room 
f i l l e d with Mennonites reverently listening to Hitler. Peter Neudorf f e l t 
that most of the Russlaender Mennonites in the area of Manitoba where he grew 
up were "for" Hitler, both before and during the Second World War. 

75. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, p. 37ff. 

76. Eighth Census of Canada. 1941 vol. II (Ottawa: King's Printers, 
1944), p. 520; Ninth Census of Canada, 1951 vol. I (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 
1953), table 38-1. 

77. 1939 Mennonite Brethren Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook 
(Hillsboro, KS: MB Publishing House), pp. 75-76. 

78. Seventh Census of Canada. 1931 vol. IV (Ottawa: King's Printers, 
1935), p. 1184. 

79. 1934 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, pp. 20-21; 1939  
Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, pp.34-35. 

80. Mennonitische Rundschau, 26 December 1934, p. 14. 

81. W. Peter Ward, White Canada Forever: Popular Attitudes and Public  
Policy Toward Orientals in B r i t i s h Columbia (Montreal: McGill-Queen's 
University Press, 1978), pp. 3-22; 118-19. 

82. See Ward, White Canada Forever, pp. 118-19; 168. 

83. John Norris, Strangers Entertained, pp. 53; 98-105; 187-89. 

84. John J. Krahn, "A History of the Mennonites in British Columbia," 
(M.A. thesis, University of British Columbia, 1955), p. 35, 41. 

85. Norris, Strangers Entertained, p. 187. 



44 

86. B.B. Wiens, "Pioneering in B r i t i s h Columbia," Mennonite L i f e , July 
1946, pp. 9-13. 

87. Norris, Strangers Entertained, pp. 185-87; P.W. Luce, "Unwelcome 
Mennonites Making Model Farms by the Fraser," Saturday Night. 12 February 
1944, p. 32. 

88. Krahn, A History of the Mennonites. pp. 46-47. 

89. Ibid., p. 114. 

90. Ibid., p. 48. 

91. Robert K. Burkinshaw, "Strangers and Pilgrims in Lotus Land: 
Conservative Protestantism in British Columbia, 1917-1981," (Ph.D. 
dissertation, University of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1988), p. 218. 

92. Krahn, "A History of the Mennonites," p. 45. 

93. 1939 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, pp. 34-35. 

94. 

95. 

Norris, Strangers Entertained, p. 105. 

Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, pp. 29-30; 102; 146-47. 



45 

CHAPTER TWO 

Germanism in the Mennonitische Rundschau. 1930-39 

One of the best sources of information for a broad picture of Mennonite 

concerns and identity during the 1930's is the Mennonite press. It 

functioned as an important medium of communication and connection for the 

relatively educated and literate Russlaender.1 The papers featured a high 

proportion of contributions by readers, functioning as open forums for the 

dissemination of a l l types of information, and the discussion of any and 

every topic of concern to Mennonites. The Mennonitische Rundschau 

(henceforth Rundschau) has been selected as a central source on account of 

these attributes, and for other reasons as well. The primary one is that 

after 1923 the paper was edited in Winnipeg by a Mennonite Brethren, and was 

essentially identified as serving the Canadian Brethren (most of whom had 

immigrated in the 1920's), in 1946 becoming a semi-official Canadian 

Conference organ. As well, i t had a more cosmopolitan character than i t s 

counterpart, Per Bote, which appealed more s t r i c t l y to General Conference 

Mennonites who immigrated to Canada in the 1920's. The Rundschau did appeal 

to Canadian Mennonite immigrants, but i t reflected the fact that these people 

were connected to other Mennonites l i v i n g in Canada, the United States, 

Europe and South America. 

The Rundschau had been published in Elkhart, Indiana from 1880 to 1908, 

and in Scottdale, Pennsylvania from 1908 to 1923, when i t was moved to 

Winnipeg. A "European Edition" of the paper had circulated widely in Russia 

prior to the f i r s t world war, and when H.H. Neufeld took over as editor in 

1923 he helped to preserve i t s international, Russian Mennonite character.2 



46 

The paper was twice as large as Der Bote, generally containing 16 pages of 

material, was published weekly, and i t s circulation of 4000-5000 was at least 

double that of Der Bote.3 

Thus the Rundschau would seem to present a broader and more 

representative picture of Canadian Mennonite and s p e c i f i c a l l y Brethren 

attitudes. My reading of the paper indicates that i t s broader readership and 

longer history gave i t a s t a b i l i t y and range lacking in the newer paper, 

whose editor exercised complete control over it.4 That the Rundschau was 

read and contributed to by American Mennonites is appropriate, as well, since 

the Canadian Brethren related quite closely to the American Brethren, , 

adopting the American Brethren's Zionsbote as their o f f i c i a l organ, and 

joining the American Brethren's General Conference as a "Northern D i s t r i c t " . 

The Zionsbote w i l l not figure in this study because i t had a d i s t i n c t l y 

American flavour and was primarily devotional, treating a much narrower range 

of issues than the Rundschau. 

In my analysis, I have indicated those individuals whom I have positively 

identified as being Brethren; many others were undoubtedly Brethren as well. 

It is also to be assumed that in the majority of discussions of Germanism, 

the individuals involved were Russlaender.5 Many of the a r t i c l e s cited were 

submitted anonymously, or had no t i t l e , in which case reference has been made 

to issue and page number. The study consists of a relatively comprehensive 

reading of the Rundschau for the years 1930-36, and 1939; I have divided i t 

into periods occurring before and after Hitler's assumption of power in 

Germany. The following is an attempt to summarize and interpret the 

Germanist content and i t s context. 



47 

1930-1932 

The issue which dominated the pages of the Rundschau in the early 1930's 

was the continuing tragedy in Soviet Russia. The f i n a l act of the drama saw 

over 13,000 Russian-Germans, mostly Mennonites, gathering at the gates of 

Moscow during the winter of 1929-1930, hoping to be granted exit visas. 

About half eventually made i t out, thanks to Germany's temporary willingness 

to take them in, and i t s pledge of considerable financial support for their 

relocation.6 It was becoming clear that those Mennonites remaining in Russia 

had nowhere to go, and were doomed to virtual extinction as a religious 

people. Pathetic letters from Mennonites sent to Siberia appeared in the 

Rundschau,7 along with reports of horrors in the colonies themselves8 and 

general articles abhorring the atheism and communism of the new Soviet 

regime.9 Some of the editor's siblings wrote from Germany, glad to be out of 

Russia; one of Neufeld's sisters, however, didn't make it.10 

It would be d i f f i c u l t to overemphasize the importance of these events in 

affecting the Russian Mennonite psyche. The sense of tragedy and loss was 

overwhelming.il Understandably, Germany emerged as the great saviour and 

protector of the Mennonites, and expressions of gratitude were unbounded: 

In heaven i t w i l l be reckoned/the great things Germany has done. 
By i t the poor, the persecuted/were pulled from the clutches of the 
e v i l one./O bless, God, the German land,/protect i t with your 
almighty hand.12 

A refugee wrote from Hamburg that Germany had provided for a l l possible 

needs, and that Germans had even shown love to the refugees. "It is 

impossible to describe. There is no way we'll be able to pay them back."13 

A letter of thanks to Hindenberg (who had personally donated 200,000 

Reichsmarks for Russian-German r e l i e f ) was drafted at the 1930 Mennonite 

World Conference in Danzig.14 The fact that Germany was actively involved in 

http://overwhelming.il


48 

furthering donations for Russian r e l i e f could only add to the general sense 

of gratitude towards Germany.15 Mennonites were admonished never to forget 

what the Germans had done for them.16 

German efforts under Hindenberg to aid Russian Mennonites moved Rundschau 

editor Neufeld to trace his ancestry back to Prussia and apply for German 

citizenship.17 Although very few people went this far, i t is clear that 

Germany's positive example helped to make i t a strong reference point for 

Mennonite identity in the aftermath of the breakdown of the Russian 

commonwealth. Expressions of concern over the fragmentation of Mennonite 

society were present throughout the 1930's,18 and were coupled with laments 

over being a "people without a homeland".19 A poem illustrates well how 

Germanism was identified as a positive, unifying characteristic, and how the 

German nation was seen as a kindly father welcoming home his wayward 

children: 

When in every land/the German Volk is scattered/so hold tight the 
bonds/of loyalty and unity./Great among the nations—the German 
homeland./It reaches gladly from afar/to i t s own the hand./To nurture 
unity/in Joy or pain,/that is the German blessing.20 

The "German" ethnic background of Mennonites was cited as being responsible 

for the qualities which carried Mennonites through their wanderings, helping 

them to make improvements on the land wherever they settled.21 This kind of 

claim was frequently made;22 what is of interest here is that German 

qualities were seen to be a stabilizing factor in Mennonite identity. 

The emerging German Volkish movement also had an impact on Mennonites. A 

prominent elder of the newly formed Schoenwiese congregation in Winnipeg 

submitted an a r t i c l e in 1931 by a German writer which argued that the German 

Volk could only be helped through a rebirth of s p e c i f i c a l l y German culture 

and r e l i g i o n — a l l non-German elements were to be expunged.23 The implication 



49 

for Mennonites vas clear. The Rundschau followed events in Germany quite 

closely, indicating that the "Volkish rebirth" of the German nation was of 

prime interest. Even rather m i l i t a r i s t i c nevs concerning Germany vas 

featured, like reports that the Stahlhelm Veterans Organization and the SA (a 

Nazi paramilitary organization) vere being allowed to wear uniforms again, 

and that Hitler had proclaimed that Germans would have to be ready to 

sacrifice their lives i f Germany vere to regain i t s place in the sun.24 

There vere many such pieces vhich ran as "news", without comment.25 

The fascination with Germany extended to a l l manner of nevs. There vere 

a r t i c l e s on Hindenberg,26 German shipping,27 times of German shortvave 

transmissions,28 and above a l l reports on German politics.29 Hitler's 

progress vas followed,30 as were the results of the 1932 election between 

Hindenberg and Hitler.31 Part of the interest and identification with 

Germany vas due to the perception that the success or failure of communism in 

the West vould be decided in Germany. Mennonites' immediate experience vith 

communism gave them a very strong bias against i t , and fear vas evident that 

Germany too might f a l l to the atheistic communists, vith the rest of the 

vorld soon to follov.32 An individual v r i t i n g in 1932 held that Hitler vas 

the only bulwark against communism.33 A speech given by former Canadian 

Prime Minister Arthur Meighen, in vhich he called for revisions of 

reparations payments demanded of Germany and cited Germany as being the 

linchpin in vorld resistance to Bolshevism, vas covered in detail by the 

Rundschau.34 Harsh actions taken by the Berlin government against communists 

vere reported approvingly.35 The unrest in Germany was seen as being 

"instigated and covered up by Moscow."36 

High feelings for Germany are further indicated in the number and range 



50 

of strongly militant or p o l i t i c a l a r t i c l e s relating to Germanism and Germany 

printed during this period. It was in response to such articles that voices 

were raised in caution, as well, but at this point they were few and 

isolated. An example of a militantly German a r t i c l e from a non-Mennonite 

source was the 1930 "German Day" announcement for Manitoba. These were 

festivals which had begun to be staged in the late 1920's on the prairies as 

primarily cultural events, eventually becoming controlled by National 

Socialists.37 The 1930 notice was anti-slavic, -communist, and - p a c i f i s t . 

The "indestructible power and majesty of the German nature" was heralded as 

the only hope of mankind.38 The apex of heterodoxy was reached in the 

Rundschau via the reprinting of a r t i c l e s from Nazi Julius Streicher's 

"obscene"39 Der Stuermer. One of the a r t i c l e s had been sent in by two 

Mennonite men who stated that "It is high time that p o l i t i c a l issues be 

c l a r i f i e d to the people." The a r t i c l e maintained that Jesus was not a 

p a c i f i s t , and that the way to greatness lay in "aggressive struggle for the 

German Volk and fatherland."40 

Another contribution argued that Mennonites had been pacifists during the 

F i r s t World War only because they hadn't wanted to fight against fellow-

Germans; at the end the editor asked, "Is i t true?"41 In addition, Prussian 

militarism was heralded as being the backbone of "Deutschtum", and in direct 

opposition to the s p i r i t of marxism.42 These sorts of views garnered l i t t l e 

response. More people were exercised by the possiblity that born-again 

Christians could lose their salvation.43 Loyalty to Germany at this time 

seems to have overridden any concern about these challenges to the historic 

Mennonite adherence to the principle of nonresistance. 

It was only in regard to the doctrines espoused by the German General 



51 

Ludendorff and his wife that some opposition vas voiced to militant 

Germanism. The debate on Ludendorff, a top General during the First World 

War and subsequent collaborator vith Hitler, vas initiated by a reviev 

article on a book of "prophecies" by the General. Typical of editorial 

policy at the time, the reviev did not take a position on Ludendorff's 

strange and extreme ideas.44 A reader, hovever, pointed out that Ludendorff 

vas "attempting to build a nev Germany in vhich the Christian faith, the 

Freemasons and the Jevs are simply done avay vith." Ludendorff vanted to 

invoke the old pagan, German gods like "Wotan, Baldur and Frya".45 This 

writer vas harshly attacked by a German in Berlin for painting a false 

picture of Ludendorff, vho vas a "burning patriot".46 An anonymous letter 

followed vhich attacked Ludendorff, especially for his anti-Semitism.47 The 

original c r i t i c then clarified his point further: "Christ or Wotan?"48 A 

"simple farmer" took Ludendorff's side, arguing that Ludendorff's heterodoxy 

should be excused, since intolerance in matters of faith vas more a Jevish 

than a German trait.49 Support for Ludendorff's critics folloved.50 

There was f u l l agreement, on the other hand, that the treaty of 

Versailles, in its treatment of Germany, vas "the crime of the century".51 

Opinions on Hitler and the National Socialists at this time vere either 

positive or undecided. One of the f i r s t positive assessments of Hitler vas 

written in early 1931 by a Mennonite living in Germany. The vriter predicted 

an impending victory for the Nazis, vho displayed a "healthy national and 

Christian spirit", and asserted that the question of communism and vorld 

domination by the Jevs vould be decided on German soil.52 Heinrich 

Schroeder, a teacher from the Russian colonies vho had settled in Germany and 

vho espoused National Socialist and Volkish ideas throughout the 1930's, 



52 

helped to "introduce" Hitler to Canadian Mennonites in 1932, claiming that 

Hitler was in favour of "positive Christianity" and the furtherance of 

"Deutschtum" throughout the world. When Hitler came to power, he would 

remember Germans everywhere, helping to right past wrongs against them so 

they could breathe easier.53 

The f i r s t statement of pro-Nazi views by a Canadian Mennonite occurred in 

1932,54 and non-Mennonite writers also supported the new movement.55 In late 

1932 a reader complained that the news on p o l i t i c a l events was too one-

sided: a perspective broader than that of one race or Volk was called for.56 

Earlier, the editor stated that he had been asked about his position on 

Hitler, and had responded that he didn't have one, since Mennonites were 

called to higher things than meddling in p o l i t i c s . He merely wanted "to 

observe how things stand in world p o l i t i c s , without taking a position on 

them."57 Yet the tone and content of the paper in the 1930's contradicted 

this assertion of neutrality. Just one example is an a r t i c l e on Hitler by 

Houston Stewart Chamberlain, one of the progenitors of the Nazi ideology, 

which appeared in the "News" section in 1932 without comment. Thus the 

opinions of a powerful advocate of Nazi ideas and the "Volksmensch Adolf 

Hitler" were featured as objective reportage.58 

It is important to remember, however, that the outcome of events was 

unknown at this time, and that the majority of contributions to the Rundschau 

made no comment on these issues. The foregoing illustrates the turmoil and 

uncertainty of the early 1930's: the effects of the 1929 Wall Street crash 

were beginning to be f e l t ; the door was being closed to the remaining friends 

and loved ones in Russia, as Stalinization set in; and communism seemed to be 

not only threatening Germany, but also had i t s representatives in places like 



53 

Winnipeg.59 In addition, Anglo-Canadians had for various reasons again 

become hostile to "foreigners'* l i v i n g in their midst.60 

Russian Mennonite identity vas in flux. An example of the struggle vith 

outside influences is seen in the prominent Brethren Abraham J. Kroeker, 

former editor of the Friedensstimme in Russia, the semi-official organ of the 

Brethren church there. Kroeker had settled in Minnesota, and vas a frequent 

contributor to the Rundschau. Among his many submissions to the paper vas a 

long a r t i c l e series written by a violently anti-semitic member of General 

Ludendorff's m i l i t a r i s t i c "Tannenberg Bund", vho had recently visited the 

German colonies in Soviet Russia.61 On the other hand, Kroeker maintained 

that his policy on book reviews had been to avoid books v i t h a "German-

patriotic and m i l i t a r i s t i c tendency"; Mennonites should only read good, 

Christian material.62 Kroeker appeared most comfortable dealing v i t h 

p i e t i s t i c topics.63 

An issue vhich was closer to home for most Canadian Mennonites was the 

value of German Volkish ideas in unifying Mennonites and helping to 

perpetuate their socio-religious culture. What affected people the most vas 

the idea that German qualities and language vere important aspects of being 

Mennonite, and that preservation of the language vas essential in maintaining 

the unity and integrity of the Mennonite Volk and i t s faith. A poem vritten 

by a "German father to his son" linked German virtues and the German language 

to good citizenship and the maintenance of the "old, true faith", and 

encouraged the son to "stay German" even i f "a thousand fools mock you".64 

C F . Klassen, a leading figure in the Mennonite vorld, and a Brethren, wrote 

in 1931: "It is good i f ve always remember that religion and Deutschtum vere 

the sources out of vhich ve have, u n t i l nov, been able to accomplish much, 



54 

and remain the sources for future accomplishments."65 Klassen was the chief 

collector for the Mennonite "travel-debt" incurred in the migration to 

Canada, and came into contact with many of the widely scattered immigrants. 

The issue of language was the most pervasive and enduring aspect of 

Canadian Mennonite Germanism during the entire period under study. The 

discussion of "German and Religion" instruction in the schools was l i v e l y 

during the 1930's in the Rundschau, and w i l l be dealt with in Chapter Four. 

General articles such as J. John Friesen's "Spotlight oh the German Language" 

also appeared. Friesen maintained that "If a Volk trades i t s language for 

another, i t loses i t s own l i f e — i t s soul."66 He also asserted that the loss 

of the German language would entail the loss of traditional Mennonite 

religious distinctives.67 H.H. Ewert, a leading Mennonite educator of the 

Kanadier, who had earlier encouraged the use of English, was cited in 1930 as 

saying much the same thing.68 Other individuals called for a "surer 

foundation" in German and religion instruction in the schools: "We don't have 

anything against the public schools, we only want to make our children into 

pious Mennonites and thereby good citizens of the land."69 A "strong desire 

for good German literature" was beginning to be f e l t among Mennonites, 

another reported.70 A minister of the German government informed Mennonites 

that loss of the German language would mean absorption into a non-German 

"Volkstum".71 

Thus, most of the elements relevant to the German identity of Mennonites 

were already present in the early 1930's, before the the National Socialist 

revolution had f u l l y taken place. The shattering experience under the 

Bolsheviks had prepared the way for German identification in two interrelated 

ways: on the one hand, Germany was seen as a rescuing and caring parent 



55 

which promised to stand up to the communists and make German-speakers 

everywhere proud. At the same time, the German language and culture was 

recognized as a force of unification, integration and perpetuation of 

Mennonite socio-religious culture. 

1933-1939 

From the time Hitler came to power in Germany in January 1933, u n t i l the 

outbreak of the Second World War, the related issues of Germanism, National 

Socialism and Mennonite unity were intensely discussed in the Rundschau, as a 

number of competing claims were made on Mennonite identity and purpose. A 

clamor of voices put forward a whole host of ideas and opinions on these 

topics, many of them remarkable for their extremism and deviation from the 

stereotypical view of Mennonites as being quiet, a p o l i t i c a l and nonresistant 

people. It began to appear to some that Russian Mennonites were at a fork in 

the road: one way seemed to lead to some kind of rapprochement with 

themselves, their past, and even the German fatherland, as a German Volk with 

German ways and a religion intimately tied to the German language. The other 

road seemed to lead to anglicization, assimilation, and loss of personal, 

communal and religious integrity. While i t is obvious that the majority of 

Canadian Mennonites did not take part in the discussion in any real way, and 

that some in leading positions stayed on the sidelines because "silence is 

golden",72 i t must be asserted that there was widespread and deeply-held 

interest in these issues.73 The Rundschau continued to exhibit a strongly 

pro-German attitude, to the point of supporting German militarism, and an 

openness to a l l but the most heterodox points of view. At the same time, a 

significant opposition emerged to some of the more extremist ideas and 



56 

fanciful projects, and a moderated German identity was articulated. 

Although the horrors of the situation in the Soviet Union continued to 

garner attention,74 the rise of Nazi Germany became the focus of 

international events. In early 1933, a number of a r t i c l e s were printed which 

aimed at combatting the alleged "hate propaganda" in the English-language 

press directed against Hitler and the Nazis. The uproar was due to the Nazi 

boycott of Jewish goods, commencing April 1, and accompanying acts of 

violence against Jews.75 Hitler's accession to power did not bring about 

great jubilation, but from October of 1933 through February of 1934, speeches 

given by Hitler, and edited by Goebbels, were featured on the back pages of 

the Rundschau.76 The twenty-five point programme of the National Socialists 

appeared in September of 1933.77 Throughout this period letters were sent in 

by Mennonites and others either travelling or l i v i n g in Germany which 

extolled the great changes taking place there, including the suppression of 

communism.78 News a r t i c l e s on the communists "getting their comeuppance" 

from the Nazis would have been read with approval.79 One Mennonite, whose 

family had been exiled somewhere in the Soviet Union, shared the widespread 

i l l u s i o n of many Germans that Hitler carried a Bible in his breast-pocket, 

was trusted by everyone, and had done a good job of cleaning up the "social-

democratic, atheistic communist mess."80 

There continued to be much news on developments in Germany, and almost 

a l l of i t had a positive slant. Press releases from the German consulate 

were printed,81 and statements by the German Consul in Winnipeg, Heinrich 

Seelheim, appeared frequently.82 Much of the "news" must have originated 

from pro-German and -Nazi sources.83 The Rundschau reprinted a speech given 

at the 1933 "German Day" in Winnipeg by Consul Seelheim, who spoke of the 



57 

"voice of the blood" drawing Germans together, and of the need for Germans 

everywhere to be true to their "Volkstum". He spoke highly of the "national 

revolution" happening in Germany, of i t s moral and s p i r i t u a l renewal, and of 

strengthening "true Volksgemeinschaft" (Volks-community) .84 One Mennonite 

reader was transported "a thousand years into the past" to his Gothic roots 

by the speech.85 

This response is paradigmatic, I believe, of the overall Mennonite 

feeling toward Germany and Germanism at this time. Hardly anyone disputed 

the importance of the German identity in perpetuating the Mennonite 

"Volkstum" as i t had emerged in Russia; but differences existed as to the 

degree people were willing to make Germanism the defining feature of 

Mennonite identity. A few became ardent German nationalists, advocating 

renunciation of traditional Mennonite principles such as nonresistance, and 

even incorporation into the German Reich. More f e l t that some kind of 

reintegration along the lines of a German-Mennonite "Mennostaat" was in 

order, to prevent the complete dissolution of "Mennonitentum". The majority 

identified with events in Germany, and promoted non-political forms of 

Germanism at home as an important element in maintaining Mennonite identity 

and solidarity, but drew the line at threats to Mennonite doctrinal integrity 

and half-baked ideas of some kind of new Mennonite commonwealth. 

The strong, almost rabid pro-Germanists and -Nazis were given much space 

in the Rundschau throughout this period.86 Heinrich Schroeder was allowed to 

hold forth on his ideas of a synthesis between Nazism and Christianity, and 

of a Mennonite "traditions-colony" named "Priesenheil", to be located 

somewhere in Germany. Hindrances like the principle of nonresistance were to 

be cast off, and divisions within Mennonitism would be ignored to ground a 



58 

single "Volks-church" of " r a c i a l l y pure Knights of the Third Reich".87 

Schroeder was drawing on the Volkish tradition of a "Germanic utopia" for his 

ideas, which had some parallels with Mennonites' own Utopian vision.88 

Although Schroeder's ideas were dismissed incredulously by some,89 others 

f e l t compelled to remonstrate c r i t i c s for being too "scornful" of Schroeder's 

proposals.90 For some, excitement over events occurring in Germany combined 

with vicious, often biblically-grounded anti-semitism.91 It is significant 

for this study that most a r t i c l e s dealing with the topic in this period 

shared the basic Nazi position, arguing that Jews were at the root of most of 

the world's problems, and that German treatment of them was f a i r , in contra-

diction to reports from the "Jewish-controlled" press.92 

This sad aspect of Canadian Mennonite history is underscored by the fact 

that some went so far as to j u s t i f y Jewish suffering,93 and that a synopsis 

of the phony "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" was printed in the paper.94 

In 1934 a l i b e l suit was brought against the editor, Neufeld, for publishing 

fascist leader William Whittaker's violently anti-seraitic paper The Canadian  

Nationalist.95 The general Mennonite feeling towards Jews is indicated by 

the fact that the paramount Brethren leader B.B. Janz, after comparing German 

patriotism with that of the Jews, f e l t compelled to write another a r t i c l e in 

which he delineated the many perceived evils for which some Jews were 

responsible, the prime one being the Bolshevik terror.96 

Besides providing an identifiable scapegoat—the Jews—for Russian 

Mennonite suffering, the National Socialist ideology also seemed to offer 

much to a group which had traditionally been based on the separation of 

church and state, and which was in the process of trying to ensure i t s 

survival as a homogeneous people. One writer, intent on illuminating 



59 

National Socialism from a "Mennonite" perspective, misguidedly argued that 

the Nazi state had advanced two crucial p o l i c i e s — r a c i a l purity and the 

separation of church and state.97 Another Mennonite complained b i t t e r l y 

about the sad effects of the American "melting-pot" ideology: mixing the 

blood of differing races led inevitably to a lowering of physical, s p i r i t u a l 

and moral standards. The only answer was the nurture of Germanism, which 

represented the highest culture and language in the world.98 

A prominent and respected proponent of Volkish and Nazi ideas was 

Benjamin H. Unruh, who had been a Mennonite leader and teacher in Russia and 

came from a Brethren family. He had been a Russian patriot during the F i r s t 

World War;99 thereafter his loyalties and love of fatherland were transferred 

to Germany, where he had settled. Once there, he established the 

organization "Brothers in Need" to assist Russian-Germans fleeing the 

Ukraine, and sedulously b u i l t up contacts with high Nazi o f f i c i a l s , including 

Heinrich Himmler, so that he could procure special treatment for Mennonites 

in Germany and Russia.100 Unruh, who cared deeply for his "Volk", considered 

himself to be a scholarly and objective authority on every issue he treated; 

his writings belie this assumption. He wrote d i l i g e n t l y of the "German" 

ethnic background of the Mennonites, of the German church struggles, of 

Volkish ideas and National Socialism, among other things, doing his best to 

lead Mennonites down the garden path of r a c i a l intolerance, support for 

Nazism, and the general renunciation of those principles which had given 

Mennonites their good name in the f i r s t place. He supported the idea that 

r a c i a l purity was part of the order of creation as explicated in the Old 

Testament, and that Hitler was merely heeding the command to keep the peoples 

of the earth r a c i a l l y separate.101 



60 

Unruh likened the heterodox "German Christians" to the early Ana-

baptists, 102 and the struggle within the German churches to the 

Reformation.103 Besides emphasizing the relevance to Mennonites of the 

supposed Nazi tenets of separation of church and state, and r a c i a l purity, 

Unruh made direct connections between Mennonite communalism and the Nazi 

Volkish ideology; in this regard, as in the others, Mennonites had always 

been National Socialists.104 The Nazi slogan "Geroeinnutz ueber Eigennutz" 

(the good of the group before that of the individual) was trumpeted as a 

special point of correspondence between Mennonite and Nazi ideals: 

For Hitler "national" means boundless love for the Volk, and "social" 
means to act for the Volksgemeinschaft. Gemeinnutz ueber Eigennutz1 
A true patriot always thinks on the good of his Volk.105 

Put in this way, i t would be very easy for Mennonites to think of themselves 

as National Socialists. Russian Mennonite immigrants to Paraguay (from the 

1929-30 c r i s i s ) erected a banner with the "Gemeinnutz ueber Eigennutz" motto 

on i t in the Fernheim Colony Hall.106 A Brethren former student of Unruh who 

became a prominent Winnipeg doctor visited Unruh in Germany, and eagerly 

asked Unruh's opinion of the new Germany. Unruh said that he was "100% for 

Hitler", comparing him to the Russian-Mennonite "Oberschulzen" or mayors, who 

were men of action and not piety.107 To his credit, Unruh argued against the 

ideas of Rosenberg and the "German Faith Movement".108 Unruh's high standing 

among the Canadian Brethren is confirmed by the fact that they sent him an 

o f f i c i a l greeting in 1936 through his brother A.H. Unruh, the respected 

Brethren Bible teacher, for his work in r e l i e f and resettlement.109 

It is evident, by the wide range of a r t i c l e s appearing which tied 

Germanism to militarism, that Mennonites were indeed open to the p o s s i b i l i t y 

of adjusting their traditional principles to accord with their new-found 



61 

German identity. An odd piece honored "Friedrich Friesen, the ideal German 

nation-builder and freedom fighter," a German who apparently had been k i l l e d 

resisting Napoleon.110 Other historical pieces dealt with "the ancient 

German tribes",111 and "the role of the Friesens (i.e. proto-Mennonites) in 

the Crusades."112 These articles differed in content but not in direction 

from a r t i c l e s which supported the German perspective on rearmamentll3 or gave 

glowing accounts of what a fine individual Hitler was.114 Particularly 

repugnant is the gloss given to the June 30, 1934 Nazi blood purge and the 

wave of indiscriminate assassinations which followed, in which the best 

possible light was thrown onto the brutal affair.115 Mennonites1 cynicism 

toward the Bolshevik revolution was more than compensated by naivete toward 

the Nazi one. 

During the 1930's there is considerable evidence of a growing pan-German 

consciousness among the Russlaender, in contradistinction to traditional 

Mennonite exclusivity and i n a b i l i t y to work together with other German-

speaking peoples.116 German-speaking pastors met on occasion at the Winnipeg 

Jewish Mission,117 and Mennonites took part in the inter-German memorial 

service for Hindenberg, who died in 1934. The United Mennonite Church choir 

sang at the event, and Schoenwiese Mennonite Church leader J.P. Klassen read 

a poem praising Hindenberg.118 Winnipeg Mennonites cabled twenty dollars to 

B.H. Unruh for a wreath for Hindenberg's gravesite.119 

On May 1, 1935, a celebration of the German "National Labour Day" was 

held in Winnipeg, and again J.P. Klassen spoke, praising Hitler for having 

brought unity to the German Volk, and wishing the Third Reich "great 

success".120 At this event consul Seelheim spoke, the German Baptist choir 

sang, and the German Cross was given out to F i r s t World War veterans. 



62 

Advertisements announcing the e l i g i b i l i t y of veterans to receive the Cross 

appeared in the paper,121 as did announcements for meetings of the pro-Nazi 

"German League"122 and the fascist "Canadian National Party".123 

The editor appears to have been accused by a non-Mennonite of p o l i t i c a l 

leanings in the printing of such material, but he defended himself by stating 

that some were paid announcements, and that he was merely giving the reader a 

broad review of items crossing his desk.124 His involvement with fascist and 

pro-Nazi leaders is indicated by the fact that in addition to publishing 

William Whittaker's The Canadian Nationalist, he printed Nazi party-member 

Bernard Bott's Deutsche Zeitunq fuer Kanada. which was the o f f i c i a l organ of 

the German League.125 Various other German-oriented events were advertised 

in the Rundschau, l i k e the showing of Nazi propaganda films in Winnipeg,126 

German "song clubs",127 and contests sponsored by the German League for best 

German essays.128 As well, conscription notices for "Reichs-Germans" began 

to appear in early 1936, as the German war machine came to life.129 

Mennonites themselves indicated their growing consciousness of a familial 

relationship to Germans in various ways, including the very common use of 

"German" in the place of "Mennonite" (as in "we Germans"), or in combination 

with i t ("we German Mennonites"). One Mennonite argued that i t was necessary 

for a l l German Canadians, regardless of confessional or cultural differences, 

to cooperate in preserving German language and culture: "We should...nurture 

what binds us, brings us closer, joins us together...We Germans of Canada are 

truly called to a higher task than to be cultural fodder of this land:"130 

Pan-Germanism was espoused from Germany by B.H. Unruh and Heinrich 

Schroeder, who worked hard at "proving" the Germanic roots of the Russian 

Mennonites.131 This was done at least partly in response to the (for them) 



63 

embarrassing fact that Russian Mennonites had claimed to be of Dutch descent 

during the F i r s t World War and immediately thereafter. Walter Quiring, 

another Russian Mennonite teacher who had settled in Germany and who 

vigorously supported National Socialism, argued stridently in Per Bote that 

the Dutch identification had been a big mistake, and that the Mennonite 

exodus from the Soviet Union had been made possible by the German-engineered 

treaty of Brest-Litovsk of 1918.132 The debate over this untruth s p i l l e d 

over into the Rundschau,133 and blended with an emerging i f partial consensus 

among Canadian Mennonites, and Mennonite Brethren in particular, which 

rejected the ideas of the German triumvirate of Quiring, Unruh and Schroeder 

and attempted to steer a middle way between extremist Germanism and the 

renunciation of the German identity. What follows is an analysis of this 

trend, and some of the core elements of Russlaender Germanism during the 

1930*s: fears of assimilation and acculturation, the desire to reunify 

Mennonites, and the notion that the German identity was a key component in 

maintaining doctrinal and communal integrity. An affection for the mother-

tongue and German culture is taken for granted, as being a basic motivation 

for Germanist sentiments. 

One type of response to the highly p o l i t i c i z e d atmosphere of the 1930's 

which should not be overlooked, especially among the Mennonite Brethren, was 

p i e t i s t i c or apocalyptic. In 1933 one Brethren saw Christian conversion as 

being the only answer to the foreboding future, as opposed to the enter-

tainment of certain p o l i t i c a l or economic ideas.134 Other Brethren echoed 

the belief that Christian conversion was the single most important issue of 

the day. 135 A classic example of the genre, by another Brethren, stated: 

Our time is an extraordinary, d i f f i c u l t one. Much is said of the 
changing times, the revaluation of a l l values...Great unrest exists 



64 

today in the world. The storm of our time makes mankind restless in 
p o l i t i c a l , economic, intellectual and s p i r i t u a l ways...the world 
despite i t s high culture is going bankrupt, because God has been shut 
out.136 

The issues of militant Germanism and related p o l i t i c a l involvement were 

rebutted on their own terms as well. The Anabaptist historian Cornelius 

Krahn attempted to quell excitement for the new Germany in mid-1933 by 

exposing the heterodoxy of the "German Christians" and pointing out that 

Judaism and Marxism could not be blamed for a l l of the world's i l l s . 

Anabaptist principles were not harmonizable with either Bolshevism or 

fascism.137 Later in 1933 a "schoolmaster" chided Mennonites to stop looking 

to the past and participating in German "beer-patriotism"; instead, they 

should look to the future, and make Canada their home.138 Heinrich Toews, a 

Brethren congregational leader from Manitoba, warned Mennonites against 

getting involved in p o l i t i c s and nationalism, both being based on the use of 

force.139 Winnipeg resident J.J. Hildebrand, who f e l t strongly about the 

German identity of Mennonites and was the foremost promoter of the 

"Mennostaat" idea then floating around (autonomous Mennonite state, discussed 

below), also warned Mennonites away from p o l i t i c s , with i t s " e v i l 

undercurrents".140 Hildebrand's position is significant because i t 

illustrates that in the Canadian context, Germanism was largely directed 

inward, toward other Mennonites and the perpetuation of their socio-religious 

culture. 

The most important individual to take issue with the r i s i n g Germanist 

sentiment, and plot a course for Canadian Mennonites through the various 

p o l i t i c a l and Volkish thickets of the time, was the eminent Brethren leader 

B.B. Janz. Janz was widely respected by a l l Russian immigrants for his 

unparalleled efforts in bringing about the exodus from Russia in the 1920's, 



65 

for which he was called "the Mennonite Moses". He was leader of the large 

and influential Brethren congregation in Coaldale, Alberta, and was extremely 

active in Brethren and inter-Mennonite organizations.141 His writings are 

the single most important documents for understanding the dilemmas of the 

period, as they provided a reference point for many Mennonites, especially 

the Brethren. 

Janz's f i r s t contributions to the discussion appeared in late 1934, with 

two articles printed in the same edition of the Rundschau. One quoted from 

Brethren historian P.M. Friesen on the Dutch origins of the Mennonites.142 

The other a r t i c l e , "Was Menno Simons a National Socialist?", took issue with 

Heinrich Schroeder's intimation that Menno Simons would have approved of Nazi 

steps to rearm Germany.143 Janz drove home the point that Simons was no 

Nazi, and that the doctrine of nonresistance was not to be wrested from 

Simons' mantle, where i t rightly belonged. Janz mentioned that Schroeder's 

father had been an officer in the controversial Mennonite "Selbstschutz" 

(self-defence) units in the Ukraine, which were organized in the time of 

chaos following the Bolshevik revolution. The senior Schroeder had demanded 

that Janz and another preacher be expelled from the colonies because of their 

opposition to these self-defence units.144 Thus the roots of Schroeder's 

militant Germanism went back to the "Selbstschutz" debacle in the Ukraine. 

John Horsch, the eastern U.S. Old Mennonite leader, was also drawn to the 

defense of Menno's principles.145 Isaak Toews, a Brethren preacher from 

Saskatchewan, wrote in praise of Janz's a r t i c l e on Menno Simons and National 

Socialism,146 and a r t i c l e s supporting the principle of nonresistance 

followed, one having been read at a Brethren conference, and one by another 

Brethren leader.147 B.B. Janz followed his short opening volleys with a 



66 

15,000 word a r t i c l e series entitled "Wherefrom and Whereto: Spotlights on the 

Mennonite Past, Present and Future", which ran in the Rundschau during April 

and May of 1935. This article-series was a watershed in the Germanism 

debates of the 1930's, as Janz posed the historic "faith of the fathers" 

d i r e c t l y against the National Socialist ideology and Germanism as normative 

for Mennonite identity, c l a r i f y i n g in the process the issues at stake. 

However, although Janz made a strong distinction between the universality of 

the Christian faith and the particularity of cultures, he was in the end 

subtly ambivalent about the superiority of the German language and culture as 

a special carrier of Mennonite identity. As well, the defensive tone of the 

piece indicates that he f e l t he was treading on rather thin ice. 

The a r t i c l e begins with a polemic against the more extremist statements 

made in the Canadian Mennonite press (this would include Per Botef discussed 

in Chapter Three) in support of the Nazi ideology of blood, race, and nation. 

These aspects had been emphasized too strongly by the "hurrah-patriots" from 

overseas, according to Janz, when they are peripheral to Mennonite identity. 

The f i r s t argument Janz uses to disengage Mennonites from the Nazi ideology 

is that one has to "rape" history in order to endow Mennonites with truly 

German blood. In what must have been a cold slap in the face to his 

opponents, Janz asserts that there is only one relatively pure blood on the 

earth, and that is Jewish.148 

Salvation does not come from the German nation, but from Jesus. God's 

kingdom reaches over a l l nations. Much of the a r t i c l e is devoted to 

recounting the experiences Janz had while travelling among American Mennonite 

communities in 1927. These people are now more English than German, yet they 

exhibit a strong piety and have done many good works, including r e l i e f work 



67 

for the Russian immigrants themselves. It is wrong for the more recent 

immigrants to look down upon earlier ones who have changed their language as 

having "degenerated".149 Janz points out that attempts to cooperate with the 

non-Mennonite Germans in Russia had failed, despite honest attempts to work 

together—why was this so, i f "Deutschtum" was the key to Mennonite 

identity?150 

Janz also critiques the "Mennostaat" idea via a critique of the Mennonite 

"state" which had emerged in Russia. He argues that in the Russian 

"Mennostaat" the c i v i l realm often interfered with the s p i r i t u a l realm, to 

the latter's detriment. Mennonite self-governance only led to persecution 

and division.151 Also, those who had found their salvation in the Mennostaat 

were now finding i t in the Third Reich.152 Janz's a f f i l i a t i o n with the 

Brethren, a dissenting minority in the Russian colonies which emphasized 

personal religious experience and conversion, is evident here. Another 

aspect of Janz's distinctive Brethren identity present in the a r t i c l e is an 

emphasis on faith of the "heart" as an indicator of true s p i r i t u a l i t y , and as 

being something which is discernible without knowing the same language or 

having the same blood.153 In this case Brethren pietism contributed to a 

universalist rather than a nationalist point of view. 

In his discussion of nonresistance Janz is most forthright, as i t was the 

threat to that tenet of the faith which had f i n a l l y compelled him to respond: 

Again and again came articles from over there (Germany), trying to 
mix our Volk...into the p o l i t i c a l batter, where nonresistance no 
longer has a place. For that reason I could no longer be 
silent...Our inner being has been attacked.154 

Janz concedes that he is not attacking Germany i t s e l f , just those who were 

"overeager" to convert Mennonites to the "new Gospel" emerging out of i t . In 

fact, Janz lauds Hitler as having been sent from God to save the world from 



68 

Bolshevism, and warmly remembers the help Germany extended to Russian 

Mennonites. This was the essential dilemma in which Russian Mennonites found 

themselves—what kind of a person would turn against the nation which had 

done much for him, and which had presented i t s e l f as bulwark against the 

forces which had destroyed his idyll? 

The problem of personal integrity again comes to the fore in Janz's 

discussion of the German language. On the one hand he makes i t clear that no 

language is holy, and distinguishes quite strongly between the form or 

expression of faith, and i t s content.155 On the other hand, his love of the 

German language and culture, as his own point of reference, is evident: he 

writes of the importance of "German manners and morals" in the schools, and 

of the Low German dialect for "trust and unity" amidst the unsettling mix of 

nationalities in North America. The mother who doesn't teach her child 

German starves i t s s p i r i t and contributes to the ruination of the family. 

Those who bow to the inevitable and give up the German language are traitors 

to their home, church, and their precious German Bibles, i f they do so 

needlessly. In the end, Janz argues for a cultural Germanism separate from 

the p o l i t i c s of Berlin: 

Like a farmer I need markers to plow a straight course. Thus I point 
myself in the direction of my mother, the home, the German school, 
the German sermon, my German Bible...(etc.) but not towards the 
German Reich with i t s p o l i t i c a l centre Berlin.156 

In the context of this distinction Janz posits a "conscious" and an 

"unconscious" Germanism: the conscious form is p o l i t i c a l , while the 

unconscious variety includes a l l the other forms of Germanism, which he 

supports.157 Whereas earlier in the a r t i c l e Janz had emphasized the faith of 

the fathers as being l i n g u i s t i c a l l y translatable, and that Mennonites should 

change their language instead of losing their youth,158 now he encourages a l l 



69 

efforts to maintain the German language and culture.159 Although he asserts 

at various points that salvation is not dependent on a specific cultural 

medium, at others he denigrates both the Slavic and English cultures, the two 

options he had been faced with in his lifetime.160 

In general, the a r t i c l e exhibits most of the elements which made the 

Mennonite encounter with Nazi Germany an ambivalent one. On the one hand, i t 

contains a vision of the Mennonites as a people of faith which had largely 

remained obedient to God in the face of the conflicting demands of nation-

states. On the other hand, there are indications that the German way was 

f e l t to be in fact superior, functioning as a bulwark against such degenerate 

influences as communism, and English and Slavic culture, and acting as a 

medium of discourse which had a special meaning and function for Mennonites. 

At the beginning Janz essentially equalizes a l l cultural forms of religious 

l i f e , but in the course of the a r t i c l e some ground is granted to the 

Germanists. But he remains quite firm in his distinction between p o l i t i c a l 

and cultural Germanism, and in his insistence that his primary loyalties are 

with God and the traditional Mennonite doctrines of nonresistance and the 

separation of church and state. 

At least two correspondents hailed the series as a "milestone" in the 

history of the Russian Mennonites. One stated that Janz's lines had an 

"enduring effect" upon him, "and certainly also many others." He thanked 

Janz for sharpening his conscience and c l a r i f y i n g the issues, noting that: 

A battle has raged among us in the last few years over certain 
essential goods. On the one side is the national, Volkish idea, more 
s p e c i f i c a l l y the German National Socialism (what do...wandering 
Mennonites have to do with that?), and on the other side is the 
congregational principle—the idea of the kingdom of God. The 
Volkish orientation has i t s justification...regrettable, however, is 
the threat i t poses to the kingdom of God idea.161 



70 

The other writer, besides supporting Janz's general contribution, praised him 

for not rejecting cultural aspects of the Mennonite identity—Janz's love for 

the German mother-tongue was evident and gratifying and to him.162 

Correspondence between Janz and Rundschau editor H.H. Neufeld reveals 

that they were on good terms, and that they stood together against 

"opponents" to the a r t i c l e series. D.H. Epp, editor of Per Bote, had refused 

to print i t , for reasons d i r e c t l y related to Janz's anti-Volkish and 

-Germanist comments (discussed below in Chapter Three). Janz's comments to 

Neufeld are indicative of the depth of pro-German feeling present among 

Mennonites: 

You have shown real courage this time (in printing the series), as i t 
is seldom done. But for that reason we should hold fast to each 
other. As to whether our opponents w i l l grab us by the collar? 
However, you know i t is to me extremely important for the health of 
our Volk...I'm glad we're standing on the same side of the 
barricades.16 3 

Neufeld allowed Janz to preview responses to the series by Walter Quiring, 

and never did print them, raising a cry from Quiring of censorship.164 

Neufeld told Janz to write what he believed he should, even i f i t was hard 

for some to take: "The boil must be lanced for the health of our Volk."165 

This exchange helps to c l a r i f y Neufeld's position somewhat. There were 

limits to his support of militant Germanism, especially given the leadership 

of his co-religionist Janz. 

Another prominent Brethren who espoused a qualified Germanism was Abraham 

Kroeker. Kroeker f e l t that although Hitler had been sent by God to repel the 

threat of Bolshevism in Germany, Mennonites did not need to say "yes and 

amen" to a l l of the events taking place there. Nonresistance, especially, 

couldn't be compromised. In general, though, he f e l t quite strongly that the 

German culture was higher than the English, that Mennonites were German, and 



71 

that they should stay that way. "However, we are not Reichs-Germans and not 

Nazis."166 

A.A. Toews, a Brethren congregational leader from Alberta, combined the 

same elements of warmth for the German cultural and linguistic identity with 

staunch rejection of i t s p o l i t i c a l aspects, in this case the Hitler Youth.167 

In early 1936 a contributor maintained that Mennonites, who had exhibited an 

"exceptional allegiance" to the Russian Czar, should now turn their patriotic 

loyalties to Canada, and not get a l l worked up over English opposition to the 

German dictatorship.168 A letter written in 1933 had given the other side of 

the picture: this individual wanted to make Canada his home, but had a hard 

time with Canadian "defamation" of the new Germany, which he f e l t had broken 

the back of communism in central Europe. The high cultural and moral values 

which Mennonites had inherited from Germany were important, but i t was now 

necessary to become f u l l citizens of Canada.169 Given the fact that the 

majority of Mennonites became Canadian citizens in relatively short order,170 

this would seem to be a representative point of view. In fact, as Chapter 

One has made clear, the Russian Mennonite emigrants of the 1920's were 

generally more eager to assume a place in Canadian society than those who 

l e f t Russia in the 1870's, and this must be seen as one of the primary 

reasons for the strong Germanist reaction by some Russlaender.171 

The fear of assimilation and acculturation, of "Verenglischung", was a 

prevalent feature of Canadian Mennonite l i f e throughout the period covered by 

this thesis,172 and was very evident in the Rundschau. In 1933 a Mennonite 

wrote b i t t e r l y of the effects of Canadianization and the "melting pot" on 

Mennonites: together with the loss of a closed community, these forces were 

responsible for a growing Mennonite crime-rate and the imminent demise of 



72 

Mennonite organization and discipline. A "worldly" (English) literature 

flooded the land while theaters, dance halls and bars seemed to spring up out 

of the earth like mushrooms. Mennonites no longer had effective ways of 

controlling their proximity to such things, and this was leading to a general 

moral and s p i r i t u a l decline.173 A mother complained that although she had 

spoken in German to her children from the cradle onward, they s t i l l ended up 

speaking English among themselves. Not only that, but the older ones were 

being tempted away to English Bible schools. How would youth be able to join 

the Mennonite church i f they lost the German?174 

Others picked up the theme of the "wild" and "unhealthy" aspects of the 

"modern" English evangelicalism, like nighttime meetings and a generally 

superficial approach.175 A Winnipeg Brethren leader warned of modernism and 

the teaching of the theory of evolution in English schools, which had turned 

four "German youth" (most l i k e l y Mennonites) at the University of Manitoba 

against the faith of their fathers to atheism. The neglect of "our 

magnificent mother-tongue" was a further danger for Mennonite youth, who 

consequently found English "fun spots" more attractive than German Mennonite 

church services.176 This was but an opening volley in what was to become a 

long battle against the encroachment of the English language. Another 

concerned individual pointed out that in addition to the fact that the loss 

of the German language would be a great loss for Mennonites, German books 

published in the U.S. had an "English s p i r i t " , and were to be avoided.177 By 

1936 both the German-English Academy at Rosthern, Saskatchewan, and the 

Mennonite Collegiate Institute at Gretna, Manitoba, were reporting problems 

with student knowledge of, or willingness to learn, German.178 It is safe to 

say that within ten years of their a r r i v a l in Canada, the threat of 



73 

anglicization had become very real for the Russlaender.179 

At the 1939 British Columbia Provincial Immigrant Assembly, the 

"assimilation process" was a topic of discussion; a speaker stated that i t 

had proceeded to the point where parents were beginning to speak with their 

children in English, as resolve to keep the language waned. This was very 

regrettable, since so much of the Mennonite uniqueness was bound up with the 

German language.180 British Columbia seems to have been a particularly 

d i f f i c u l t place to maintain the German language, due to a strong sense of 

English nationalism among the host population.181 

Less than a month before the outbreak of the Second World War, a rather 

strident Germanist from Winnipeg, who had been involved in youth work, 

asserted to Rundschau readers that a decision would have to be made—either 

Mennonites give up their "Deutschtum" and assimilate into Canadian society, 

or return home to the great German motherland.182 After the outbreak of war, 

i t became easier for individuals like Gerhard Lohrenz, future principal of 

the Brethren High School in Winnipeg (1947-52), to argue that the solution to 

the problem of retention of the youth consisted in the a b i l i t y of Mennonite 

churches to offer English church services to them.183 

During the 1930's this solution was s t i l l generally unthinkable for 

Mennonites, even i f they suspected that anglicization was inevitable. The 

result of B.B. Janz's a r t i c l e series, for example, was to cause people to 

think in terms of bilingualism, not the total adoption of English.184 At 

this point in time, the German language and culture was one of the remaining 

common attributes of Mennonites from the lost Russian commonwealth. Laments 

for this lost unity, coupled with fears of the imminent demise of the 

Mennonites as a distinct "people", were uttered throughout the t h i r t i e s . 



74 

J.J. Hildebrand wrote: 

Scattered must we perish,/as happens to us in a l l the world/ when in 
brother-love our unity/does not hold us together.../Systematically 
they take/our mother-tongue away/which our Creator gave to us/to 
harmonize what we say. 185 

A Mennonite who had settled in Holland reflected sadly on the loss of a 

world: "0, this feeling of being cut o f f — e x t e r n a l l y but not internally—with 

such uncertainty as to whether we'll not eventually d r i f t away or become 

foreign to each other..."186 Others echoed this basic desire for 

reunification.187 Some turned an envious eye to the emerging sense of 

community in the new Paraguayan Mennonite colony,188 while others praised 

Hitler for bringing unity to the German Volk.189 

A particularly concerned individual asserted that through "hundreds" of 

private conversations he had sensed the longing for Mennonite reunification. 

He noted that a l l Mennonites had watched Hitler's success with expectation 

and joy. Hitler had taught Germans to be true to themselves, and 

strengthened their self-assurance and feeling of common identity. Germans 

everywhere were holding fast to the motherland like never before—perhaps 

when Germany regained some of her lost colonies, Mennonites should start an 

"independent colony under German protection?"190 In this case important 

aspects of the complex relationship between Mennonites and the new Germany 

are very clearly expressed: Germany provided a positive example of Volk-

renewal and -unification, i t gave a sense of rootedness and pride, and was 

seen as a nurturing/protective parent. In general, there is a feeling of 

both common identity and of separateness from "Reichs-Germans": Germanism 

had both a wider, externalized dimension, and a narrower, inner-directed, 

meaning for Mennonites. 

J.J. Hildebrand and the above individual, B. Warkentin, advanced a f u l l -



75 

blown proposal for a new "Mennostaat" in 1933, making the retention of the 

German language and culture a prime component of the projected autonomous 

Mennonite state.191 Hildebrand continued to try to generate excitement over 

this idea during 1933 and 1934,192 u n t i l his writings were suppressed in June 

1934 at the request of a group of Manitoba Mennonite preachers, on account of 

the fact that he was on record attacking the Canadian government, that he was 

"distorting" Mennonite history (in other a r t i c l e s ) , and because of his 

repeated harping on the Mennostaat idea.193 

Hildebrand's plan evinced a fair amount of support in some quarters,194 

while others liked the idea but f e l t i t to be impracticable.195 At least one 

other individual put forth an all-encompassing vision for a Mennonite 

society, this one not necessarily geographically separate, but economically 

and culturally independent. Here, too, the German language and culture 

figured as "a completely indispensable factor in our *Mennonitentum'."196 

The general response to such schemes, however, was negative. One person 

argued that such ideas were the beginning of nationalistic thought and went 

against basic Mennonite principles.197 Another said that Mennonites* calling 

was to be sojourners in the world, not nation-builders,198 while others 

accused Hildebrand of having leadership ambitions and an inflamed sense of 

personal mission.199 One person dismissed his ideas as so much "blather" and 

"twaddle",200 while s t i l l others f e l t that Mennonites were called to 

confront the "world" in some way, rather than flee from it.201 B.B. Janz 

also rejected the idea, as stated earlier. 

Although there was a general rejection of some of these more fanciful 

ideas, most individuals would not have taken issue with the basic notion of 

Germanism being an important ingredient in Mennonite identity. Even 



76 

individuals like the highly regarded Brethren Bible teacher A.H. Unruh, who 

did not seem to have much to say on the topic during the 1930's, had kind 

words for the German heritage twenty years later, when i t was being 

completely lost.202 C.F. Klassen, another highly-regarded Brethren figure, 

applauded the National Socialist "housecleaning" in 1933,203 and in 1939 went 

on record in the Rundschau as being proud of Winkler Bible School graduates, 

who "weren't ashamed of either the Gospel or their Deutschtum."204 

David Toews, a General Conference Mennonite leader equal in stature with 

B.B. Janz, f e l t the instruction of German and religion to be "enduring 

goods",205 and also gave his qualified support to the National Socialist 

transformation of Germany, after a v i s i t there in 1936.206 Jacob H. Janzen 

was a leading General Conference figure who strongly supported cultural 

Germanism, writing extensively and passionately on the topic.207 F.C. 

Thiessen, a prominent Winnipeg Brethren preacher, teacher and chorister, 

clearly f e l t that German language and culture contributed to high moral and 

s p i r i t u a l character, and was an important agent in the retention of youth 

within the Mennonite tradition.208 There were others who f e l t that Germanism 

bore a positive relationship to Mennonite religion,209 and that loss of the 

German language led to loss of character.210 

The relationship between Mennonite faith and Germanism was double-edged, 

however, as should already be clear. The more militant variety of Germanism 

threatened basic Mennonite principles such as nonresistance. Yet i t was 

widely perceived that with the loss of the traditional language and culture 

of the Russian Mennonites, the Mennonite "uniqueness", which included such 

principles, would also be lost. The former aspect posed a real "problem" by 

1935,211 while the latter was an underlying current of most statements 



77 

concerning the close relationship between Mennonite faith and the German 

language and culture made throughout the period covered by this study.212 

By 1939 the Rundschau s t i l l featured most of the currents of opinion and 

debate presented earlier in the decade. If B.B. Janz was s t i l l writing anti-

Nazi broadsides,213 i t was because others continued to argue that National 

Socialism deserved Mennonite support,214 and that Nazi principles were 

harmonizable with Mennonitism.215 Mennonite individuals continued to try to 

counteract the " l i e s " circulating about Nazi actions and the German church 

struggle,216 and speeches given by Hitler were again printed on a back page 

of the Rundschau.217 It was argued publicly as late as July 1939 that 

Germanism was the essence'of the Mennonite "uniqueness", which i f lost would 

spell the end of Mennonites' historic identity, including doctrinal and 

ethical aspects.218 

However, articles encouraging nonresistance and loyalty to Canada also 

appeared.219 The English Royal Family, touring Canada during May and June of 

1939, was warmly welcomed and reported on in English, as were Mennonite 

pledges of loyalty to the Crown.220 When war broke out in September, English 

and Canadian declarations of war were printed in English,221 and the editor, 

in one of his f i r s t substantial editorial comments on citizenship, stated 

that a l l of the Rundschau workers were Canadian citizens, that i t was a 

privilege to be l i v i n g in freedom in Canada, and that Mennonites should be 

true to their heritage as the "quiet in the land".222 After the outbreak of 

war the Germanist debate departed from the pages of the Rundschau. 

In conclusion, the Mennonitische Rundschau displayed a remarkable degree 

of openness to foreign ideas and a broad spectrum of positions on the 

Germanism question during the 1930's. The communal consciousness of the 



78 

Mennonites, as well as the important function of the newspaper as a 

"Bindemittel" or medium of binding Mennonites together, is illustrated in the 

energetic and widespread participation in debates on issues of common import, 

like the Germanism question. It must be remembered, however, that the 

majority of Russlaender immigrants were simply struggling along with everyone 

else in trying to provide for themselves in the midst of economic depression 

and poor crop conditions. 

Reports of the great things happening in Nazi Germany may have stimulated 

wistful thoughts in many, but relatively few individuals actively promoted 

the Nazi cause, and they made much noise. One gets the sense of a receptive 

majority looking on in interest and affirmation, but eventually rejecting the 

more militant expressions of Germanism and Nazism. Commenting in 1939 on the 

continued insistence by one individual that a person could be both a Nazi and 

a Mennonite, a Kanadier Mennonite wrote that this combination was "impossible 

and unthinkable" for Kanadier as well as Russlaender Mennonites, "with very 

few exceptions".223 However, the communal, cultural, and religious 

associations of Germanism with Mennonitism would continue to be made into the 

1950»s. 



79 

NOTES, CHAPTER TWO 

1. E.K. Francis, In Search of Utopia (Altona, MB: D.W. Friesen & Sons 
Ltd., 1955), p. 269; Abram Berg, Dietrich Heinrich Epp 1875-1955 (Saskatoon: 
Heese House of Printing, 1973), p. 39; Henry Paetkau, "A Struggle for 
Survival: The Russian Mennonite Immigrants in Ontario, 1924-39," (M.A. 
thesis, University of Waterloo, 1977), p. 157; John A. Toews, A History of  
the Mennonite Brethren Church (Fresno, CA: Board of Christian Literature, 
1975), p. 283. 

2. John A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, pp. 290-
91. Frank H. Epp, "An Analysis of Germanism and National Socialism in the 
Immigrant Newspaper of a Canadian Minority Group, the Mennonites, in the 
1930's," (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1965), pp. 310-11. 

3. During the late 1920's and 1930's, Der Bote is reported to have had 
a circulation of around 1500 to 1600, while the Rundschau had a circulation 
of about 4000 to 5000. These figures are from Berg, Dietrich Heinrich Epp, 
p. 52; Jonathan F. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea: National Socialism in  
Canada (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 1981), p. 104; CA. Dawson, Group  
Settlement: Ethnic Communities in Western Canada (Toronto: The Macmillan Co., 
1936; reprinted 1974, Kraus Reprint Co.), p. 167. A survey of periodicals 
read by the exclusively Russlaender Mennonites of Coaldale, Alberta, in 1935 
revealed that the Rundschau was almost exactly twice as prevalent as Der  
Bote. Frank H. Epp, Mennonite Exodus (Altona, MB: D.W. Friesen & Sons Ltd., 
1966), p. 316. Some homes subscribed to both periodicals. Interview with 
John B. Toews, Mennonite Historian, Regent College, Vancouver, British 
Columbia, January 31, 1990. 

4. For a discussion of editor D.H. Epp's persistent efforts to keep the 
paper f u l l y under his control see Berg, D.H. Epp, p. 35ff. See also the 
discussion below of Epp's editorship of Der Bote, Chapter Three. 

5. If the contributors were not identifiable as recent immigrants by 
name, they usually indicated as much through the content of their a r t i c l e s . 
If "Kanadier" joined the discussion, they would often indicate that fact as 
well. As mentioned in Chapter One, E.K. Frances found the "ideological 
dividing line'' on the Germanism question to follow "rather closely the 
natural division between the Kanadier and Russlaender groups." Francis, In  
Search of Utopia, p. 234. 

6. Epp, Mennonite Exodus, p. 233ff. 

7. e.g. Mennonitische Rundschau, 16 April 1930, p. 9. Henceforth in 
this chapter the t i t l e of the newspaper w i l l not be cited when i t is the 
obvious reference. 

8. e.g. 14 May 1930, p. 8; 21 May 1930, pp. 8-9. 

9. e.g. 26 March 1930, p. 11; 18 February 1931, p. 12. 



80 

10. 1 January 1930, p. 6. 

11. Articles with t i t l e s like "In the Land of Tears" were common. 4 
March 1931, p. 11. For more see John B. Toews, Lost Fatherland: The Story of  
the Mennonite Emigration From Soviet Russia, 1921-27 (Kitchener: Herald 
Press, 1967). Also helpful is Harry Loewen, "Canadian Mennonite Literature: 
Longing for a Lost Homeland", in Walter E. Riedel, ed., The Old World and the  
New: Literary Perspectives of German-Speaking Canadians (Toronto: University 
of Toronto Press, 1984). 

12. J.P. Klassen, "Dem deutschen Volk," 26 March 1930, pp. 2-3. 
Similar sorts of poems appeared in Ibid., p. 6; Abram Jac. Loewen, "Unser 
Dank," 25 June 1930, pp. 8-9; P.P. Isaak, "Dem deutschen Volk!," 23 July 
1930, p. 5. 

13. 15 January 1930, p. 13. Other examples include 1 January 1930, p. 
6; 22 January 1930, p. 12; 18 November 1931, p. 4. 

14. 1 October 1930, p. 6. 

15. This included both the German Consulate in Winnipeg and the German 
government. 22 January 1930, p. 12; 12 February 1930, p. 6; 5 October 1932, 
p. 11. 

16. B.H. Unruh., "Unsere Pakethilfe nach Russland," 5 October 1932, 
p. 11 

17. H.H. Neufeld, "Euer Editor," 10 June 1931, p. 4. 

18. Examples for the 1930-32 period include: 5 March 1930, pp. 1-3; 
Peter Dirks, "Unser Volk," 16 April 1930, pp. 1-2; P.P. Isaak, "Dem 
deutschen Volk!," 23 July 1930, p. 5; B.D., "Ein Mennonitisches Problem," 19 
October 1932, pp. 1-2. 

19. P.P. Kornelsen, "Volk ohne Heimat," 19 February 1930, p. 8; 
"Mennoniten," 16 April 1930, p. 4; 6 May 1931, pp. 6-7. 

20. P.P. Isaak, "Dem deutschen Volk!," 23 July 1930, p. 5. 

21. P.P. Kornelsen, "Volk ohne Heimat," 19 February 1930, p. 1. 

22. Examples for the 1930-32 period include: "Chilenischer General 
ermahnt zum Festhalten am Deutschtum," 30 July 1930, p. 5; "Bleib Deutsch," 
1 October 1930, p. 4; D.A.J., "Das vierte Gebot," 6 July 1932, p. 4. 

23. E. Sengler, "Die voelkische Bewegung," 8 July 1931, pp. 2-3. 

24. 29 June 1932, p. 8; 17 December 1930, p. 15. 

25. e.g. 16 April 1930, p. 14; 30 April 1930, p. 14; 25 June 1930, p. 
14; 28 January 1931, p. 14; 7 September 1932, p. 12; 21 September 1932, p. 
16; 19 November 1932, p. 11. There were many more. 



81 

26. 17 December 1930, p. 12. 

27. 1 July 1931, p. 8. 

28. 8 June 1932, pp. 4-5. 

29. A tew examples include: 29 July 1931, p. 11; 4 May 1932, p. 12; 
8 June 1932, p. 14. 

30. 24 February 1932, p. 12; 9 March 1932, p. 12. 

31. 16 March 1932, p. 14. 

32. "Wie steht's in Deutschland?", 26 February 1930, p. 3; 16 July 
1930, p. 5; 7 January 1931, p. 6; 22 July 1931, p. 12; J.P. Klassen, "Die 
groesste Schande des 20. Jahrhunderts," 20 January 1932, pp. 1-2. 

33. Heinrich Schroeder, "Judenangst", 10 August 1932, pp. 4-5. 

34. 25 November 1931, p. 12. 

35. 22 January 1930, p. 7. 

36. 12 February 1930, p. 7. 

37. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, p. 94ff. 

38. "Deutscher Tag", 16 July 1930, p. 11. The soteriological power of 
the German essence was also cited in another a r t i c l e in the same issue, p. 5. 

39. William L. Shirer, The Rise and F a l l of the Third Reich (New York: 
Simon and Schuster, 1959), p. 26. 

40. Dr. Theo Haeuser, "Ein Apostel der Wahrheit," 4 February 1931, pp. 
11-13. Another Stuermer a r t i c l e was reprinted two weeks later, covering 
Christmas f e s t i v i t i e s of the Hitler youth in Nuremberg. 18 February 1931, 
p. 5. 

41. "Die Mennoniten und der Kriegsdienst," 11 March 1931, p. 12. 

42. "Preussenl" 13 May 1931, p. 10. 

43. Discussions of these issues were present in 27 May 1931; 3 June 

1931. 

44. 26 November 1930, p. 12. 

45. G.G. Wiens, "Ein neues Deutschtum?", 30 September 1931, p. 4. 

46. 16 March 1932, p. 4. 

47. "Zum 'neuen Deutschland'", 30 March 1932, p. 11. 



82 

48. G.G. Wiens, "Christus Oder Wotan?", 6 April 1932, p. 4. 

49. "Das neue Deutschland", 18 May 1932, p. 3. 

50. 19 October 1932, p. 4. 

51. J.P. Klassen, "Die groesste Schande des 20. Jahrhunderts," 20 
January 1932, pp. 1-2; 16 March 1932, p. 2; T.G., "Das neue Deutschland", 18 
May 1932, p. 3. 

52. "Deutschland und unsere Brueder in Russland," 14 January 1931, p. 8. 

53. Heinrich Schroeder, "Die Juden", 3 August 1932, pp. 3-4. 

54. C. M., 27 July 1932, p. 5. 

55. Hans Schmidt, "Dds neue Deutschland11, 26 October 1932, pp. 2-3. 

56. 19 October 1932, p. 5. 

57. "Hitler", 4 February 1931, p. 11. 

58. Houston Stewart Chamberlain, "Volksmensch Adolf Hitler", 28 
September 1932, p. 12. 

59. For a discussion of Canadian communism during the 1920's and 1930's 
see Donald Avery, 'Dangerous Foreigners': European Immigrant Workers and  
Labour Radicalism in Canada 1896-1932 (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 
1979), Chapter 4. During the 1920's, the North End in Winnipeg had provided 
a base for CPC a c t i v i t i e s , and the systematic suppression of the movement by 
government authorities during 1929-34 was indicative of i t s feared influence. 
In 1934 a Mennonite dourly reported that a communist had won a seat on the 
North End City Council, and urged Mennonites to get organized so this 
wouldn't happen again. J.K., "Am Morgen nach dem Wahlen," 12 December 1934, 
p. 8. In 1936 another warning was made about growing communist influence, 
and support was urged for mayoral candidate R.H. Webb, a staunch a n t i -
communist. "Deutsche treten fuer R.H. Webb ein," 18 November 1936, p. 7. 

60. The dire economic situation was at the root of the problem, as 
_ immigrants were linked to unemployment and labour agitation. General Anglo-
Saxon nativism, exemplified most v i v i d l y by the growth of the Ku Klux Klan on 
the prairies in the later 1920's, was also present. Howard Palmer, Patterns  
of Prejudice: A History of Nativism in Alberta (Toronto: McClelland and 
Stewart, 1982), pp. 100-110, 126ff; Gerald Friesen, The Canadian Prairies: A  
History (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987), p. 247, 404-05; Avery, 
'Dangerous Foreigners', pp. 111-15; Joanna Buhr, "Pursuit of a Vision: 
Persistence and Accomodation Among Coaldale Mennonites from the mid-Nineteen 
Twenties to World War II," (M.A. thesis, University of Calgary, 1986), p. 82. 

61. Beginning 1 June 1932, p. 10, by Herman Anders. 

62. A. Kroeker, "Das Buch", 21 September 1932, p. 3. 



83 

63. e.g. A. Kroeker, 28 September 1932, pp. 2-3. 

64. "Bleib Deutsch", 1 October 1930, p. 4. 

65. C.F. Klassen, "Der Weg der praktischen Hilfe", 18 February 1931, 
p. 2. 

66. J. John Friesen, "Streiflichter auf die deutsche Sprache," 30 April 
1930, p. 2. Other examples for this period include: "Die deutsche Sprache 
in Amerika," 26 November 1930, p. 4; "An das deutsche Elternhaus," 24 
February 1932, pp. 3-4; A.J. Fast, "Einige Bemerkungen ueber Wert und 
Bedeutung der deutschen Sprache," 8 June 1932, p. 4; 

67. J. John Friesen, 18 June 1930, p. 1. 

68. "Ein Aufruf an Lehrer", 18 June 1930, p. 5. 

69. "Religion und deutsche Sprache in unseren Schulen," 29 June 1932, 
pp. 4-5. Other examples include: "Bericht des Schulkomitees", 9 September 
1931, p. 3; 23 September 1931, p. 3. 

70. 17 September 1930, p. 4. 

71. Dr. Uoelitz, "Muttersprache", 29 April 1931, pp. 8 9. 

72. "Einc Ehrcnuchuid", MeiinuniLische Rundsclictu. 1U June 1936, p. 6. 

73. As one individual stated, the issues of nonresistance, mother-
tongue, and Germanism were "extraordinarily important questions...questions 
of l i f e and death (for Mennonites)." W.K.W., "Unsere Volkshochschule", Der  
Bote 14 November 1934, p. 3. The general intensity and range of discussion, 
as should become clear, indicate that many shared this feeling of urgency. 

74. e.g. "Die Systematische Vernichtung der Russland-deutschen durch 
die Sowjetmachthaber," 1 February 1.933, pp. 2-3; J.H. Wiens, "Warum? meinem 
lieben Bruder, der im Sowjetland umkam," 18 April 1934, p. 9; 2 September 
1936, p. 15. 

75. e.g. "Greuelmeldungen und ihre Entlarvung," 12 April 1933, p. 3; 
H. Seelheim, "Wie Hetzpropaganda gemacht wird," 19 April 1933; A.J. Fast, 
"Noch einmal, gegen die geistlose Judenhetze," 3 May 1933, pp. 3-4; 17 May 
1933, p. 11. 

76. The f i r s t Hitler text printed in the Rundschau occurred earlier and 
was entitled, appropriately enough, "Kampf gegen den Bolschewismus". 13 June 
1933, p. 4. An a r t i c l e by Goebbels on Hitler appeared earlier yet, in March 
1933. Joseph Goebbels, "Jeder, der ihn wirklich kennt," 22 March 1933, p. 12. 

77. 13 September 1933, p. 12. 



84 

78. Heinrich Schroeder, "Der Bolschevismus bedroht Deutschland!", 15 
February 1933, p. 11; Hans Weber, 12 July 1933, p. 5; J.W. Simoleit, "Wie 
es im neuen Deutschland aussieht," 10 January 1934, pp. 2-3; "Das neue 
Deutschland," 24 January 1934, p. 3; C. Martens, "Nicht enttaeuscht", 3 
October 1934, p. 3; Frau K. Esau, 13 March 1935, p. 6; Frau Neufeld, 9 
December 1936, pp. 2-3. 

79. e.g. 15 March 1933, p. 13; "Wie Deutschland vor Buergerkrieg 
bewahrt wurde," 1 November 1933, pp. 3-4. 

80. C. Martens, "Meine Beobachtungen und Eindruecke in Deutschland," 30 
September 1933, pp. 6-7. 

81. e.g. 4 January 1933, pp. 6-7. 

82. 8 February 1933, pp. 1-2; 12 July 1933, pp. 11, 14; 14 November 
1934, p. 8. 

83. Wagner documents the relationship between Rundschau editor H.H. 
Neufeld and the Nazi Foreign Press Office in Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, 
p. 104. A few examples of the many pro-German news pieces include: 25 
January 1933, pp. 12-13; 26 April 1933, p. 16; 17 September 1933, p. 13; 
11 July 1934, p. 12; 6 February 1935, p. 5; 25 March 1936, p. 10; 23 
February 1939, p. 15. 

84. H. Seelheim, "Festreden des deutschen Konsuls auf dem deutschen Tag 
in Winnipeg," 12 July 1933, pp. 11, 14. 

85. G.G. Wiens, 2 August 1933, p. 6. 

86. The suppression of some writings by Walter Quiring, and a l l of J.J. 
Hildebrand's after June, 1934, w i l l be discussed below. 

87. Heinrich Schroeder, "Entwurf fuer die Begruendung einer 
Erbhofsiedlung," 12 September 1934, p. 3. Other examples of Schroeder's 
many contributions include: "Hakenkreuz und Kreuz C h r i s t i , " 15 February 
1933, p. 11; 5 September 1934, p. 5; 3 June 1936, pp. 2-4. 

88. For more on the Volkish "Germanic Utopias" see George L. Mosse, The  
C r i s i s of German Ideology (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1964), chapter 6. The 
sense of community and ideological mission and purity were some of the 
parallels between these two very different movements. 

89. Ein Beobachter, "Zu dem Schroederischen Projekt einer Erbhofsied-
lung," 3 October 1934, p. 3; Isaak Warkentin, "Etliche Bemerkungen," 17 
October 1934, pp. 5-6; J.A. Wiebe, "Was s o l i das bedeuten?", 12 August 1936, 
pp. 1-2; 

90.. Frau M. Klassen, 17 October 1934, p. 6; 31 October 1934, p. 12. 



85 

91. B. Schellenberg, "Zur Judenfrage", 25 October 1933, pp. 2-3; 
Walter Quiring, "Zur Judenfrage," 5 June 1935, pp. 4-5; C. Martens, "Die 
Ungerechtigkeit wird ueberhand nehmen," 23 October 1935, p. 10. 

92. Examples in addition to the three given in note 91 above are: C. 
Martens, "Meine Beobachtungen," 20 September 1933, pp. 6-7; A. Kroeker, 
"Bolschewismus und Judentum," 4 October 1933, pp. 3-4; J.J. Janzen, 
"Russland auf dem Wege zum National-Sozialismus?", 18 October 1933, p. 13; P. 
Heinrichs, "Frei-mauertum und Abruestung," 6 December 1933, p. 4. Dr. 
Dinter, "Deutsche Volks-kirche," 1 May 1935, p. 8. There were also some 
defenses of Jews printed, but most were rather apologetic, and framed largely 
in terras of b i b l i c a l understandinqs: "Etvas ?.\w Judenfrage," 5 .July 1933, p. 
7; "Die Stellunq des Christen zur Judenfrage," 12 July 1933, pp. 2-3; 26 
July 1933, p. 2. 

93. B. Schellenberg, "Zur Judenfrage", 25 October 1933, pp. 2-3; A. 
Kroeker, "Zum Judenproblem", 14 March 1934, pp. 2-3. 

94. "Daemonismus—eine Weltgefahr!", 19 September 1934, p. 4. 

95. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea, p. 104. Lita Rose Betcherman, The  
Swastika and the Maple Leaf: Fascist Movements in Canada in the Thirties 
(Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1975), p. 74. 

96. B.B. Janz, "Vorlaeufige Antwort zur 'Judenfrage'", 5 June 1935, 
p. 5. 

97. B. Warkentin, "Der National-Sozialismus in mennonitischer 
Beleuchtung," 1 May 1935, p. 8. 

98. J. John Friesen, "Randglossen Deutschtum," 26 August 1936, pp. 1-2. 

99. John B. Toews, Czars, Soviets and Mennonites (Newton, KS: Faith and 
Life Press, 1982), p. 74. 

100. Dieter Goetz Lichdi, Mennoniten im Dritten Reich: Dokumentation  
und Deutung (Heilbronn: Gustav Hoelbe GmbH & Co., 1977), pp. 61, 69, 140-41. 

101. B.H. Unruh, "Grundsaetzliche Fragen," 16 October 1935, pp. 2-3. 
Unruh was even caught by a discerning Der Bote reader changing the b i b l i c a l 
text to suit his interpretation. "Bitte um Aufklaerung," Der Bote, 6 
November 1935, p. 3. 

102. B.H. Unruh, "Grundsaetzliche Fragen," 29 April 1936, p. 9. 

103. B.H. Unruh, "Grundsaetzliche Fragen," 16 September 1936, pp. 1-2. 

104. B.H. Unruh, "Grundsaetzliche Fragen," 14 August 1935, p. 4; Ibid, 
21 August 1935, p. 4. 

105. B.H. Unruh, "Grundsaetzliche Fragen," 21 August 1935, p. 4. 



86 

106. Gerhard Ratzlaff, "An Historical-Political Study of the Mennonites 
in Paraguay" (M.A. thesis, California State University, Fresno, 1974), 
p. 151. 

107. N.J. Neufeld, "Unsere Rueckreise von Europa nach Amerika," 18 
November 1936, p. 13. 

108. B.H. Unruh, "Grundsaetzliche Fragen", 25 March 1936, pp. 2-3; 
Ibid., 16 September 1936, pp. 1-2. 

109. 15 January 1936, p. 1; Herb Brandt confirms the respect and 
standing which Unruh commanded. Interview with Herb Brandt, Mennonite 
Brethren pastor and Conference leader, Kelowna, B.C., 3 June and 19 December, 
1989. 

110. A.G.C., "Ftiedxich Friesen," 24 June 1936, p. 3. 

111. Prof. Heyck, "Geschichtsstudium: Die alten deutschen Staemme," 11 
November 1936, p. 12. 

112. G.W.C., "Die Teilnahme der Friesen and den Kreuzzuegen," 9 
September 1936, p. 12. 

113. e.g. 11 July 1934, p. 12; "Was w i l l Deutschland," 1 May 1935, pp. 
12-13; 

114. "Hitler als Mensch," 2 May 1934, pp. 5-6; "Begegnung mit Hitler," 
29 April 1936, p. 10. 

115. 25 July 1934, p. 12. 

116. B.B. Janz remarks on the i n a b i l i t y of Mennonites in the Molotschna 
to work together with the Germans of the neighboring German volost of 
Prischib, in Russia, and that there was almost no intermarriage between the 
two communities. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin," 10 April 1935, pp. 2-3. See 
also H.A. Peters, "Das mennonitische Volkstum: Eine Skizze seiner Entstehung 
und des Verfalles," Der Bote, 8 December 1964, pp. 10-11. 

117. 22 March 1933, p. 4. 

118. 15 August 1934, pp. 2-6. 

119. 8 August 1934, p. 3. 

120. "Der Tag der nationalen Arbeit," 8 May 1935, p. 7. 

121. e.g. 14 November 1934, p. 8; 13 March 1935, p. 6. 

122. e.g. 3 January 1934, p. 11; 24 January 1934, p. 12. 

123. 6 December 1933, p. 16. 



87 

124. 10 January 1934, p. 5. 

125. Betcherman, The Swastika and the Maple Leaf, p. 73. 

126. T i t l e s included "Deutschland Erwacht" and "Tag der nationalen 
Arbeit". 19 September 1934, pp. 7, 15. 

127. e.g. 24 June 1936, p. 13. 

128. 4 December 1935, p. 6; 8 January 1936, p. 11. 

129. 26 February 1936, p. 12; 18 March 1936, p. 10. 

130. J. Kroeker, "Kulturbestrebungen", 15 May 1935, p. 3. 

131. An example of Schroeder's work is "Zur Abstammung der Russland-
Friesen," 22 July 1936, p. 5; For Unruh, see his a r t i c l e series beginning 
May 29, 1935, entitled "Vorfragen"; See also his book, Die niederlaendisch- 
niederdeutscnen Hintergruende der mennonitischen Ostwanderungen. (Karlsruhe, 
1955). 

132. Walter Quiring, "Hollaenderei als Lebensretter?" Der Bote, 31 July 
1935, pp. 2-3. 

133. H. Kornelsen, "Es war doch anders," 8 April 1936, pp. 4-7; "Zum 
Artikel *Es war doch anders'," 29 April 1936, p. 13. 

134. H.H. Enns, "Die gegenwaertige Weltlage," 8 March 1933, p. 3. 

135. Abraham Neufeld, 11 October 1933, p. 5; J.G. Thiessen, 
"Weltfriede?", 24 January 1934, pp. 2-3. 

136. Isaak Ediger, "Die Aufgabe der Boten des Evangeliums in den Noeten 
der Gegenwart," 6 June 1934, p. 4. 

137. Cornelius Krahn, "Des deutschen Volkes Eigenkraft, sich seinen 
Heiland selber schafft," 19 April 1933, p. 13. 

138. "Sind wir dem Namen oder dem Herzen nach Buerger Canadas 
geworden?" 6 December 1933, pp. 2-3. 

139. H Toews, 31 January 1934, p. 3. 

140. J.J. Hildebrand, "Notwendige Warnung," 4 April 1934, p. 5. 

141. For an excellent account of Janz's l i f e see John B. Toews, With  
Courage to Spare: The Life of B.B. Janz. (Winnipeg: The Christian Press, 
1978). 

142. B.B. Janz, "Die Herkunft der Mennoniten Russlands," 26 December 
1934, pp. 1-2. 



88 

143. For Schroeder's comments, see 5 December 1934, p. 6. 

144. B.B. Janz, "Kommt Menno Simonis unter die National-sozialisten?", 
26 December 1934, pp. 2-3. 

145. John Horsch, "Menno Simonis ueber die Gottheit C h r i s t i , " 9 January 
1935, p. 4. 

146. Isaak Toews, 23 January 1935, p. 6. 

147. "Wehrlosigkeit," 30 January 1935, pp. 2-3; P.P. Epp, 
"Wehrlosigkeit noch einmal," 27 l-'ebruary 1935, pp. 3-4. 

148. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin: Streiflichter auf die mennonitischen 
Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft," 3 April 1935, p. 2. 

149. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 3 April 1935, p. 2; Ibid., 17 April 
1935, p. 17. 

150. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 10 April 1935, p. 3. 

151. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 10 April 1935, p. 3. 

152. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 24 April 1935, p. 3. 

153. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 17 April 1935, p. 17; Ibid., 24 
April 1935, p. 3; Ibid., 1 May 1935, p. 2. 

154. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 15 May 1935, p. 3. 

155. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 1 May 1935, p. 2; Ibid., 8 May 
1935, p. 3. 

156. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 8 May 1935, p. 3; Also Ibid., 1 May 
1935, p. 2. 

157. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 15 May 1935, p. 3. 

158. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 24 April 1935, pp. 2-3. 

159. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 8 May 1935, p. 3. 

160. B.B. Janz, "Woher und Wohin", 8 May 1935, p. 3; Ibid., 22 May 
1935, p. 3. 

161. "Eine Ehrenschuld," 10 June 1936, p. 6. 

162. "Leiden des deutschen Schulmeisters," 12 June 1935, pp. 2-3. 

163. Letter to D.H. Epp of April 7, 1935. B.B. Janz collection, CMBS 
Winnipeg, Box 7 Folder 97. 



89 

164. Walter Quiring, "Hollaenderei als Lebensretter?", Der Botef 31 
July 1935, pp. 2-3. 

165. Letter of May 7, 1935. B.B. Janz Collection, CMBS Winnipeg, Box 6 
Folder 95. 

166. Abraham Kroeker, "Wie stehen wir zu der deutschen u. englischen 
Sprache?", 22 May 1935, p. 5; "Unser Vaeter Glaube oder National-
Sozialismus," 13 May 1936, p. 6. 

167. A.A. Toews, "Was koennen wir tun fuer die religioese resp. 
christliche Erziehung unserer Kinder, unserer Jugend?", 14 November 1934, 
p. 5. 

168. "Die neue Heimat," 11 March 1936, pp. 6-7. 

169. H. Thiessen, "Unser Kampf," 8 November 1933, p. 5. 

170. See Epp, Mennonite Exodus, p. 319ff. Practically a l l Russlaender 
became citizens within five years of their a r r i v a l in Canada. 

171. Frank H. Epp, Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940 (Toronto: Macmillan 
of Canada, 1982), p. 242ff. See Introduction; Chapter One note 4; and 
Chapter Three for more on this. J.B. Toews, a prominent Brethren pastor, 
leader, and educator who lived through most of the events dealt with in this 
paper, feels that i t was the rapid transition from German to English which 
was at the root of the often strong Germanist sentiments in Canada. "There 
was a great difference" between language transition periods of the earlier 
and later immigrants. Interview with J.B. Toews, Brethren educator and 
leader, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 10 June 1989. 

172. Interview with Herb Brandt; Interview with J.B. Toews. 

173. B. Warkentin, "Mennoniten und Verbrechen," 22 February 1933, 
pp. 2-3. 

174. "Zu, De goadi o l i Tied," 4 July 1934, pp. 3-4. 

175. "Ungesundes in der modernen Evangelisationspraxis," 1 May 1935, 
p. 4. 

176. F.C. Thiessen, "Offener Brief," 12 September 1934, p. 5. 

177. 1 March 1933, p. 3. 

178. 22 July 1936, p. 3; 18 November 1936, p. 7. 

179. Examples of consciousness of this c r i s i s appearing in the 
Rundschau include: 30 May 1934, p. 7; J.J. Hildebrand, 29 March 1933, p. 4; 
H. Janzen, "Deutscher Abend in Neu-Hamburg, Ontario," 25 March 1936, p. 9. 



90 

180. Johann D. Jantzen, "Die deutsche Sprache, ihre Erhaltung und 
Pflege," 19 July 1939, p. 3. 

181. J.W. Neufeld, "Schulen und Schulgesetze in B.C.," 9 May 1934, p. 
5. In 1939 the B.C. contingent to the Canadian Brethren Conference reported 
a strong "English-nationalistic current" in the schools, and no way of 
counteracting i t , since teachers of non-English nationality weren't allowed 
to teach. 1939 Mennonite Brethren Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook 
(Hillsboro, KS: MB Publishing House) pp. 34-35. 

182. J.P. Classen, "Wehrlos," 9 August 1939, pp. 4-5. 

183. G. Lohrenz, "Die Wichtigkeit der Sonntag-Schularbeit," 8 November 
1939, p. 4. 

184. In response to the series, a schoolteacher concluded: "Alright 
then, learn two languages—that should and must remain our solution." 
"Leiden des deutschen Schulmeisters," 25 June 1935, pp. 2-3. 

185. J.J. Hildebrand, 19 April 1933, p. 12. 

186. Jak. Thiessen, "Sind wir Mennoniten einander entfremdet?", 17 July 
1935, pp. 4-5. 

187. J.B.W., 26 April 1933, p. 4; J.C., 10 May 1933, p. 1; "Nachtrag 
zum Plautdietsch," 25 July 1934, pp. 4-5. 

188. "Deutscher Geist in Chaco," 29 April 1936, p. 7. 

189. J.P. Klassen, "Tag der nationalen Arbeit," 8 May 1935, p. 7. 

190. B.W., "Analyse zum mennonitischen Problem," 4 April 1934, p. 2. 

191. B. Warkentin and J.J. Hildebrand, "Mennostaat", 29 March 1933, 
pp. 4-6; J.J. Hildebrand, 28 February 1934, pp. 4-5. 

192. J.J. Hildebrand, "Unser Problem," 21 June 1933, pp. 2-3; Ibid., 
"Vereinigung des Mennonitentums," 30 May 1934, pp. 4-5. 

193. "Die mennonitische Predigerversammlung," 20 June 1934, pp. 4-5. 

194. J.B.W., 26 April 1933, p. 4; 23 May 1934, p. 6. This person 
thought others supported Hildebrand as well; 30 May 1934, p. 7; L.M., "Zu, 
De goadi o l i Tied," 4 July 1934, pp. 3-4. 

195. R.C. Sauer, 3 May 1933, p. 11; Jac. Thiessen, "Ueber die Einheit 
der Mennoniten," 10 October 1934, p. 3. 

196. J.P. Dyck, 30 October 1935, pp. 5-7. 

197. G. Lohrenz, 22 February 1933, p. 3. 



91 

198. 10 May 1933, pp. 3-5. 

199. 10 May 1933, p. 11; C F . Klassen, "Eine Bitte," 2 May 1934, p. 7. 

200. 30 May 1934, p. 4. 

201. Jac. Thiessen, "Wir Mennoniten," 26 April 1933, pp. 1-2; 10 May 
1933, pp. 12-13; J.W. Neufeld, "Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Mennoniten," 
6 June 1934, p. 3. 

202. See Chapter Five. 

203. C F . Klassen, "Gegen die geistlose Judenhetze," Der Bote, 19 April 
1933, p. 2. 

204. C F . Klassen, "Das war gut," 5 April 1939, p. 7. 

205. David Toews, "Unsere Probleme fuer 1935," 16 January 1935, p. 5. 

206. David Toews, "Einige Reiseeindruecke," 30 September 1936, pp. 5-6. 

207. e.g. J.H. Janzen, 23 August 1933; Ibid., "Deutsches," 23 
February 1939, p. 7. 

208. F.C Thiessen, "Offener Brief," 12 September 1934, pp. 5-6; 
"Deutsches Konzert," 12 April 1936, pp. 6-7. 

209. e.g. 1 March 1933, p. 3; G.G.K., 4 December 1935, pp. 10-11. 

210. CH. Friesen, "Haltet fest an der Muttersprache!", 1 August 1934, 
p. 2; "Auf dem Wege der P f l i c h t , " 6 November 1935, pp. 6-7; H. Janzen, 
"Deutscher Abend," 25 March 1936, p. 9. 

211. J.J. Klassen, 28 August 1935, p. 4. 

212. An example of an e x p l i c i t connection made between the retention of 
Mennonite distinctives l i k e nonresistance, and Germanism, is a speech given 
by D.J. Duerksen at the B.C. Provincial Immigrant Assembly in 1935. D.J. 
Duerksen, "Protokoll," 9 January 1935, p. 9; Ibid., 16 January 1935, p. 9. 

213. B.B. Janz, "Bin ich National-sozialist? Bewahre!", 11 January 
1939, p.4. 

214. J.P. Classen, "Gedanken ueber Gemeindebau," 24 May 1939, p. 9. 

215. J.P. Dyck, "Was ich bin," 1 March 1939, p. 12. 

216. C. Martens, 28 June 1939, p. 12; J.J. Kroeker, "Nackte 
Wirklichkeit," 26 April 1939, p. 3. 

217. 10 May 1939, pp. 12-13; 17 May 1939, pp. 12-13; 24 May 1939, pp. 
10-13. 



92 

218. Johann D. Jantzen, "Die deutsche Sprache, ihre Erhaltung und 
Pflege," 19 July 1939, p. 3. Speech given at the B.C. Provincial Immigrant 
Assembly. 

219. "Stecke dein Schwert in die Scheide," 15 February 1939, p. 4; 
CH. Friesen, "Die Wehrlosigkeitsprinzip," 12 July 1939, p. 2; J.J. Koop, 
"Zu dem Artikel 'Wehrlos'," 30 August 1939, pp. 9-10. 

220. These items f i l l e d the Rundschau from 17 May 1939 through 14 June 
1939. 

221. 

222. 

223. 

6 September 1939, p. 7. 

"Eine Aufforderung," 20 September 1939, p. 1. 

P.P.H. "Es interessiert mich," 15 March 1939, p. 7. 



93 

CHAPTER THREE 

Some Comparisons: Germanism in Der Bote and in 
Other Settings during the 1930's 

In this chapter a brief look at the other major immigrant newspaper, Der  

Bote, w i l l be followed by an analysis of the response of Mennonites in other 

countries to National Socialism. The German Catholics residing in St. 

Peter's Colony in Saskatchewan w i l l also be examined as a further point of 

comparison. 

Der Immiqranten-Bote began publication in 1924, i t s name being shortened 

to Der Bote in 1925. This was primarily a Russian Mennonite immigrant 

newspaper, sponsored i n i t i a l l y by the Central Mennonite Immigrant Committee 

in Rosthern, Saskatchewan, where a number of Russlaender had settled.1 The 

editor, D.H. Epp, was a former "Zentralschule" (Russian Mennonite secondary 

school) teacher and a General Conference Mennonite. The paper, while aimed 

at a l l the Russian immigrants, appealed more to General Conference 

Mennonites, eventually becoming the o f f i c i a l GC organ in 1947.2 The 

intention of the paper was to serve specific immigrant interests and bind the 

scattered remnants of the Russian colonies closer together.3 

Frank H. Epp undertook a quantitative analysis of Germanism content in 

Der Bote for the 1930's, and found that over five percent of a l l published 

space was devoted to Germanism, with 83% favourable and 17% unfavourable. He 

c l a s s i f i e d Germanist contributions in terms of p o l i t i c a l , cultural and ethnic 

subject matter, finding that 54% of Germanist writings dealt with p o l i t i c a l 

subjects, 29% was culturally oriented, and 17% dealt with ethnicity.4 Of 

the p o l i t i c a l Germanism, Epp found that 71% was favourable in some way toward 

German p o l i t i c a l events, while the balance was unfavourable.5 The cultural 



94 

content vas almost completely pro-German, vhile the ethnic segments vere 92% 

pro, and 8% con. The majority of space devoted to cultural Germanism vas 

concerned vith preservation of the language, a "missionary zeal" often being 

evident.6 The importance of the German language for Mennonite religious 

identity is indicated by the fact that 38% of a l l references to the language 

used the phrase "German and religion".7 In a vord, the German-language 

question vas seen by many as a basic existential dilemma for Mennonites.8 

Of the 29% unfavourable p o l i t i c a l content, 26% vas contained in tvo 

a r t i c l e series, according to Epp. That the opposition vas so narrovly-based 

seems questionable, and in either case vas at least partly due to D.H. Epp's 

editorial policy (discussed below). Frank Epp notes that c r i t i c s of 

p o l i t i c a l Germanism seemed to feel "uneasy" about what they were doing, often 

making concessions of one type or another to their opponents. On the other 

hand there were, like in the Rundschau, defenses of nonresistance, and 

injunctions for Mennonites to stay out of p o l i t i c s and be loyal Canadian 

citizens.9 

Epp counted reprints from 15 German-language periodicals in Der Bote, and 

contributions from 21 non-Mennonite, ethnic Germans, including Adolf Hitler 

and Joseph Goebbels. Many of the press releases for German-oriented events 

in Canada came from the German League, while Bernard Bott, chairman of the 

German-Canadian Central Committee and editor of Deutsche Zeitunq fuer Kanada. 

contributed much on cultural Germanism. The German Consul Seelheim also 

contributed articles.10 

Interestingly, 26% of a l l Mennonite contributions espousing Germanism 

came from two individuals l i v i n g in Germany, B.H. Unruh and Walter Quiring.11 

Although my study of the Rundschau was not quantitative, the combination of 



95 

Unruh and Heinrich Schroeder assumed a similar proportion of pro-Germanist 

content in that periodical. Schroeder also printed a number of a r t i c l e s in 

Der Bote, i f not as many as in the Rundschau.12 Epp concludes that 

The immigrant newspaper was a f a i r l y representative reflection of the 
Mennonite immigrant mind, which in the 1930's was very strong on 
nurturing and preserving cultural Germanism as essential to the 
Mennonite way of l i f e , strong...in i t s identification with (ethnic) 
Germanism, and though ambivalent on the question by and large also 
sympathetic to the p o l i t i c a l Germanism of the Third Reich.13 

While Epp's analysis is informative and his conclusion seems generally 

correct, his quantitative method yields partial understanding at best, and 

skews the picture at worst.14 A brief interpretive look at the Germanist 

discussions taking place during 1934-35 w i l l help to put Epp's results into 

better perspective. 

A central feature distinguishing Der Bote from the Rundschau during the 

1930's is that Walter Quiring tended to dominate i t s pages, openly 

challenging Mennonite principles like nonresistance,15 espousing Volkish and 

National Socialist ideals,16 and viciously attacking anyone who disagreed 

with him.17 Quiring argued that Mennonites were not a separate Volk, rather 

they were a segment of the German Volk with a particular religious 

perspective. Mennonites, he f e l t , were missing the chance of their lives by 

not actively taking part in the great rebirth of the German nation; they were 

surely going to lose their "Deutschtum", their religion, and their identity 

as Mennonites because of this neglect.18 

Of Russian Mennonite origin, Quiring had migrated to Germany, receiving 

his doctorate in Munich in 1927. Besides teaching German history and 

geography, he wrote books on Mennonite settlements in South America and 

worked with the DAI (German Foreign I n s i t i t u t e — a n organization which came 

under Nazi control and which distributed primarily cultural propaganda to 



96 

Germans in foreign countries). He eventually served as a soldier in the 

German army, becoming highly decorated and r i s i n g to the rank of Lieutenant 

in the Nazi Propaganda Corps.19 Epp counts 45 separate entries by Quiring in 

Der Bote during the 1930's, which works out to about one a r t i c l e for every 

ten issues published throughout the decade.20 

While at least one other individual besides Heinrich Schroeder challenged 

nonresistance,21 there was a significant negative response to Quiring and his 

ideas, in contradiction to the impression given by Epp's analysis. For one 

thing, at least two individuals protested, during the heated debates of 1934-

35, that Quiring's views were not the least b i t representative for North 

American Mennonites.22 Two others implored Canadian Mennonite leaders to 

join the debate: important issues were being discussed primarily by 

"outsiders".23 Another contributor stated that "I and many others would 

appreciate i t i f Dr. Quiring would keep his ideas to himself."24 One person 

took issue with Quiring's Germanism, arguing that i t was "worldly" and thus 

different than true Mennonitism,25 and B.B. Janz openly challenged Quiring's 

"fanatical, one-sided and scornful attitude."26 Privately, Quiring made 

contact with Janz and acknowledged Janz's leading position among Mennonites. 

He argued that Mennonites, now scattered a l l over the world, were safer from 

unhealthy influences i f they rooted themselves in their German "Volkstum". 

Janz replied that Mennonites needed to be rooted in the Gospel.27 

Jacob H. Janzen, prominent GC leader and Germanist himself, f i r s t gently 

upbraided Quiring for his National Socialist views,28 but eventually became 

frustrated and answered Schroeder and Quiring's diatribes with one of his 

own. He made a strong distinction between cultural and p o l i t i c a l Germanism, 

asserting that Mennonites were cultural Germans only. As well, "We a l l 



97 

firmly believe that Hitler is the right man for Germany, but we are becoming 

troubled by the way people are divinizing him." Further, Nazism was a 

violent movement which appealed to mass instincts; and behind Quiring's 

writings stood the "Nazi-fist" challenging the reader to disagree with him.29 

Other contributors made the same distinction between p o l i t i c a l and cultural 

Germanism, and between wishing Germany well and bowing down to the altar of 

National Socialism.30 

Finally, i t should be noted that other prominent Mennonites like the 

historian Cornelius Krahn and eastern Old Mennonite leader John Horsch joined 

the many voices rejecting militant Germanism and the renunciation of 

nonresistance.31 Most of the individuals writing in favour of nonresistance 

in 1934-35 did i t in the context of the fierce Germanism debates then taking 

place, which were instigated primarily by Quiring, and thus were responding 

negatively to the militant Germanism advanced by Quiring, whether i t was 

mentioned or not. This is not to say that defenses of the principle had no . 

relevance to the Canadian context, i.e. to young Mennonite men joining the 

Canadian army in the event of war. Nor should the depth of pro-Germanist 

feeling be underestimated. It must be asserted, however, that there was a 

significant negative reaction to some of the more militant views coming out 

of Nazi Germany. 

Der Bote editor D.H. Epp was partly responsible for the ambivalent tenor 

of the paper on these questions. He printed two of B.B. Janz's early 

rebuttals of the militant Germanists,32 but balked at running the "Wherefrom 

and Whereto" series. He was uncomfortable with the early sections, which 

were c r i t i c a l of the Third Reich, militant Germanism, and attempts to make 

Mennonites into r a c i a l Germans. His main argument was that such utterances 



98 

would impair the chances of German financial aid for the Paraguayan colonies, 

in the same way that the Mennonite renunciation of German roots in the F i r s t 

World War period had hindered B.H. Unruh's attempts to canvas support among 

Germans for the refugees who had gathered in Moscow in 1929. Epp also 

expressed unease at the prospect of the series appearing in the Rundschau.33 

When Janz angrily demanded the a r t i c l e back, Epp gave further indication of 

the source of his hesitancy: "If I defend Germanism, i t ' s because I am 

utterly convinced that we are Germans, not Dutch, and I myself am a German." 

He himself supported the principle of nonresistance, but had allowed i t to be 

debated along with Germanism in Der Bote to see where the congregations 

stood. "You would be amazed, i f you were to read a l l the private letters I 

receive on these two themes. You don't get off easy." The "Wherefrom and 

Whereto" series, then running in the Rundschau, had also brought a number of 

letters: "Up to now I haven't received one positive response."34 

While this may have been the immediate case, in general the evidence 

suggests that Epp's personal inclinations and the f r i c t i o n with Janz may have 

clouded his view of the larger Canadian Mennonite picture. Janz was not the 

only Brethren denied a reply to Quiring and Schroeder. In a lengthy a r t i c l e 

appearing in the Rundschau in April of 1936, a Brethren from Coaldale, 

Alberta complained b i t t e r l y that Der Bote "had made i t clear from the 

beginning" that i t wouldn't publish replies to certain articles by Quiring 

and Schroeder, and thus he had been forced to reply in the Rundschau to 

articles printed in Der Bote. Amidst various critiques and historical 

corrections, the writer blasted "those gentlemen from afar" for recommending 

Mennonites give up their principles and Dutch heritage: "No, gentlemen, our 

foundation is Christ and only Christ—and not Deutschtum, not Myths (let's 



99 

say paganism)."35 

D.H. Epp's personal story, which is also the story of many others, helps 

to put his ambivalence into perspective. He had learned to love German 

literature as a student in Russia, and had participated in the cultural and 

intellectual "Aufschwung" (upswing) which took place in the Mennonite 

colonies after 1895, as a we11-respected teacher in the Chortitza 

Zentralschule. He taught, among other things, German and Russian, and 

experienced the excesses wrought in the name of "freedom, equality and 

brotherliness" by the "uneducated" Russian peasantry during the Bolshevik 

Revolution.36 Although he found i t very hard to leave the remnants of the 

Russian Mennonite i d y l l , he simply could no longer accept the Russian nation 

and people. Once in Rosthern, Epp started the newspaper not only as a way to 

make a living, but also to bind Mennonites together and retain the German 

language "at a l l costs", since "so many of the cultural goods brought along 

from Russia were intimately linked" to it.37 His faith was the "holiest" of 

goods he brought with him, and thus was also linked to his German past.38 

Epp was active in the Central Mennonite Immigrant Committee's "Cultural 

Section", and remained widely respected and loved as the teacher of many of 

the leading Russian Mennonite men.39 Epp's love for German culture, his 

positive experience in the Russian colonies and his affection for his people 

combined to shape his attitude of intolerance toward those who challenged 

Germanism. 

Epp's strong position on the Germanism question was born out of a strong 

sense of loss, which was shared by other Mennonite intellectuals. Students 

of Russian-Mennonite literature have shown that the experience of loss and 

homelessness connected with the Bolshevik Revolution was the impetus for the 



100 

emergence of the genre after the F i r s t World War, and gave i t i t s character 

and unity. Some of the writers expressed pro-German views of one sort or 

another (e.g. Arnold Dyck, Jacob H. Janzen, F r i t z Senn), and this has been 

seen as part of the longing for a homeland.40 Some writers even travelled to 

Germany, either before or after the Second World War, but none found their 

homeland there, further confirming the notion that German nationalism was 

never really an "option" for Canadian Mennonites.41 

In a study of the American Mennonite encounter with National Socialism, 

John Thiesen concluded that there is " l i t t l e evidence" that American 

Mennonites were attracted to the movement in any substantial way.42 There 

was, however, debate on the issue in both General Conference periodicals, the 

Christlicher Bundesbote and The Mennonite. The Bundesbote, which served 

Russian Mennonite immigrants from the 1870's migration, expressed pro-Nazi 

leanings until 1937 when the editor became c r i t i c a l of Nazi treatment of Jews 

and the Confessing Church. At about this time the English-language The 

Mennonite turned from a c r i t i c a l to an approving stance toward the Nazi 

regime, due to a new editor who was the "foremost Nazi sympathizer among 

Kansas Mennonites."43 The Christian fundamentalist Gerald Winrod, known as 

an anti-semite and Nazi sympathizer through his virulent publication The  

Defender, was widely supported by mid-western Russian Mennonites (1870's 

migration). In general, American-born Mennonites were c r i t i c a l of Nazism, 

while foreign-born individuals were more positive, especially i f they had 

some connection to the Russian settlement and i t s tribulations in the F i r s t 

World War period and after. 

The Mennonites who migrated to Paraguay in 1929-31 expressed the 

strongest pro-Nazism and -Germanism of a l l Russian Mennonite emigrants. The 



101 

majority of these individuals, who settled primarily in the Fernheim and 

Friesland colonies, embraced National Socialism in one way or another before 

1939.44 A total of 188 of Fernheim's approximately 2000 inhabitants45 signed 

petitions for German citizenship and patriation; given the fact that most of 

these individuals were heads of the typically large Mennonite households, i t 

seems clear that a significant proportion of the colonists, perhaps a 

majority, seriously considered migration to Germany.46 Hitler's picture was 

posted in the colony's main h a l l , and the high-school came under the 

influence of ardent Nazi sympathizers. A number of "the most able 

personalities of the colony" were behind the Volkish movement, as the s p i r i t 

of National Socialism inspired the colony economically, socially, and 

culturally.47 

The movement appears to have been limited to Mennonites from Russia, and 

did not significantly penetrate the Menno colony, which was begun by 

conservative Mennonites fleeing Canadianization of the schools in the early 

1920's. The Volkish movement in Fernheim was part and parcel of the f l i g h t 

from communism, the German nation's "rescue" and resettlement aid, and thus 

the grounding of the colony i t s e l f . Hard pioneer conditions and the longing 

for national and cultural security in the empty Paraguayan Chaco contributed 

to the identification with Nazi Germany.48 The great success of the Nazi 

movement in Germany, i t s appeal to Mennonites' Christian and communal 

s e n s i b i l i t i e s , and the p o l i t i c a l naivete of the unsuspecting Mennonites 

further added to the wholesale acceptance of National Socialist ideals.49 

The young people, especially, seem to have been captured by the idealism of 

the movement, embodied in the person of F r i t z Kliewer, a highly capable high-

school teacher and leader of the colony's Volkish movement.50 



102 

Kliewer, who was a member of the Mennonite Brethren Church u n t i l 1947, 

c l e a r l y f e l t that Mennonite "confessional barriers" hindered fellow-feeling 

for other "Volks-Germans".51 Evidence indicates that opposition to the 

Volkish movement in Fernheim came primarily from the Brethren, and that 

Kliewer's a c t i v i t i e s brought about sharp divisions among the Fernheim 

Brethren.52 Opposition to the movement began to emerge around 1935, and was 

centred on the desire to retain the principle of nonresistance.53 It 

remained small until 1939; thereafter, although the war sparked great 

expectation and excitement, the opposition grew, and by 1944 there were open 

divisions in the colony, with the leaders of the Volkish movement being 

eventually forced out of the colony, in a rather ugly incident.54 

The foregoing is a striking example of the potential extent of Russian 

Mennonite immigrant involvement in the Nazi movement, given the right 

conditions. That they emigrated from Russia under conditions of extreme 

duress, and were aided by Germany in the migration and resettlement, were 

crucial elements in their fervor for Nazi Germany. Individuals from this 

migration who were allowed into Canada evidenced the same degree of support 

for Hitler and the "new Germany".55 The total isolation and extremely 

d i f f i c u l t conditions in the early years coincided with Germany's meteoric 

recovery under Hitler, and were also key factors in the wholesale 

appropriation of the Volkish ideology by the settlers. F r i t z Kliewer himself 

emphasized the hardships and impending disintegration of the colonies in a 

1937 article;56 the Nazi-Volkish movement, as i t did to a lesser degree in 

Canada, became a glue which helped to bind Mennonites together and inspire 

them toward achieving their goals of survival and the perpuation of their way 

of l i f e as an ethno-religious Volk. When this movement threatened the 



103 

doctrinal integrity of the group, i.e. the principle of nonresistance, there 

was a negative reaction which eventuated the rejection of the imported 

ideology. Thus the Paraguayan experience paralleled the Canadian one in most 

respects, i f in a much more extreme and thoroughgoing manner. 

That Paraguayan Mennonites seriously considered migration to Germany does 

not mean that they wanted to give up their status as Mennonites. The desire 

to go to Germany must be seen as a direct response to the d i f f i c u l t 

conditions in Paraguay and the perceived a f f i n i t i e s between the "new Germany" 

and Mennonitism. Heinrich Schroeder's idea of a Nazi-Mennonite colony in 

Germany ("Friesenheil"—see Chapter Two) indicates that even the most extreme 

proponents of Nazism f e l t that Mennonites belonged together. In outlining 

the hardships facing the Paraguayan colonists, F r i t z Kliewer wrote: "At 

times i t seemed as though the entire colony would break up, but ever and 

again the strong sense of solidarity saved the colony from the danger 

threatened by the centrifugal forces."57 Thus even though Kliewer, who had 

drunk deeply at the well of National Socialism while studying in Germany, and 

who f e l t that Mennonites had much in common with other Volks-Germans, saw 

Mennonite "solidarity" as a positive good which helped to prevent the 

"danger" of the breakup of the colonies. 

In a recent study of Mennonites l i v i n g in Germany during the Third Reich, 

James Lichti found that although there was general support for Hitler and 

National Socialism, loyalty to the state was not unconditional, and prominent 

Mennonites distanced themselves from the "German-Christian" movement, with 

i t s extreme racism. The German Mennonites had previously given up the 

principle of nonresistance, and had essentially lost the more distinctive 

aspects of their identity. Support for the Third Reich was tempered by an 



104 

insistence upon Mennonite institutional independence, on the other hand, 

which was a carryover from their more sectarian past. Anti-Bolshevism was a 

strong source of support for National Socialism, as German Mennonites 

identified with their Russian cousins and feared a communist takeover of 

Germany.58 Hitler's agrarian reforms were also well-received by the 

primarily land-based Mennonites: one individual remembers a special church 

service held to thank God for sending Hitler, in which a formation of SA 

(Nazi storm-troopers) paraded into the church in f u l l uniform and carrying 

banners, along with a detachment of Hitler Youth.59 There seems to have been 

significant Nazi-party membership among some Mennonites.60 

Lichti concludes that the German Mennonite response to Nazism was not so 

much due to the abandonment of principles such as nonresistance, as to the 

more general process of assimilation and the appropriation of mainstream 

German religious and social values.61 Clearly, the abandonment of the 

principle of nonresistance would have been a part of this d i a l e c t i c a l 

process. Others have argued persuasively that acceptance by Mennonites of 

military service after the Franco-Prussian War "represented a basic 

reorientation of values" which l e f t l i t t l e basis for a c r i t i c a l stance toward 

National Socialism.62 

In a cursory comparison of the Mennonitische Rundschau to the German-

Mennonite Gemeindeblatt. Lothar Fromm found that the German periodical 

exhibited a more cautious and "evangelical" attitude toward Nazism than did 

the Rundschau. This may have been due in part to the firmly cautious 

position of the German periodical's editor, in contrast to Rundschau editor 

H.H. Neufeld, who Fromm feels to have exhibited a much looser, open policy.63 

It is significant that German Mennonites, who had largely become acculturated 



105 

i f not f u l l y assimilated into German society, expressed reservations about 

Nazism; with some Mennonites wholeheartedly joining i t s ranks, and the 

movement posing a threat to Mennonite institutions, i t is understandable that 

some unease would have been present. The Canadian Mennonites differed from 

their German counterparts in that they had personally suffered at the hands 

of the communists, and they were farther away from the actual apparatus of 

National Socialism, affording them a vicarious participation in the movement 

without any of the costs. S t i l l , the fact remains that significant 

opposition to militant Germanism and National Socialism did emerge in the 

Canadian context. 

The experience of German Catholics of St. Peter's Colony in Saskatchewan 

provides another point of reference for Canadian Mennonite Germanism. In the 

f i r s t decade of this century, German Catholics from the United States settled 

in an area east of Saskatoon which comprised 50 townships, under the guidance 

of Benedictine priests from Minnesota. St. Peter's>Colony was "the most 

s o l i d l y closed German Catholic community" in Canada.64 Many of these 

settlers had originated in Russia, and they joined other Russian-Germans who 

had been migrating to the Canadian prairies from the 1880's onward.65 The 

German Catholics who had resided in the United States had been part of a 

larger midwestern German Catholic community that had developed a sense of the 

importance of the German identity in preserving Catholicism.66 The original 

purpose of the migration, besides the quest for land, had been to form a 

homogeneous community which would protect against loss of the traditional 

language and religion.67 In Russia, on the other hand, the German culture 

and identity had been in decline among Lutheran and Catholic colonists 

there.68 



106 

By the early 1930's, the colony counted over 11,000 inhabitants, in a 

community structure which differed l i t t l e from the prevailing prairie pattern 

of scattered homesteads.69 During this decade the colony's periodical, the 

St. Peter's Bote, expressed anti-Nazi sentiments. This was largely due to 

concern over Hitler's treatment of Catholics in Germany, and of the religious 

challenge represented by the "new heathenism" of the Volkish movement.70 The 

colony had been declared an "abbacy nullius" in 1921, receiving status as a 

Bishopric directly responsible to the pope. Thus any incipient German 

nationalism was tempered by a direct relationship with the Pope, and a long 

sojourn outside of Germany.71 Less than 10,000 Russian-Germans migrated to 

the prairies during the 1920's, and they tended to scatter and urbanize, 

having l i t t l e effect on the overall shape of communities like St. Peter's.72 

Prior to the F i r s t World War, the colony had boasted the strongest 

concentration of private German schools among German Canadians. After the 

war, most such schools were eventually dissolved, and English-language 

public schools were "peacefully accepted".73 CA. Dawson concluded in the 

1930's that these German Catholics were "far more tolerant", towards English 

culture than the Mennonites;74 the general consensus among scholars is that 

they were f a i r l y individualistic, and became acculturated and assimilated to 

Canadian society quite rapidly.75 In a comparative study, Alan Anderson 

found that German Catholics were the least conservative, in terms of ethnic 

identity, of nine ethnic groups who had settled in Saskatchewan.76 There was 

a resurgence of German cultural a c t i v i t i e s in the interwar period, but these 

were generally weak and ineffective. While the religious leaders were 

i n i t i a l l y the main proponents of the German language, within one generation 

they had become the strongest supporters of the adoption of English.77 



107 

The Russian Mennonites had always displayed superior organization, 

efficiency and sense of common purpose than their German-speaking neighbors, 

evident most clearly in the fact that they led the way out of Russia in both 

the 1870's and 1920's.78 Their b i b l i c i s t faith, and ongoing attempts to 

become a "true people of God", had given rise to a cohesive, p a r t i c u l a r i s t i c 

community with both ethnic and religious sanctions for perpetuating i t s way 

of l i f e . The sudden breakup of the highly successful and integrated Russian 

community, coupled with the lack of a genuinely universalistic church 

orientation, such as Catholics have, l a i d Mennonites wide open to expanding 

their concept of group identity beyond language and culture to include 

nationalistic and racialist-Volkish aspects. 

It has been the essential argument of the foregoing chapters that a l l 

these forms of identification had more to do with the specific Russian 

Mennonite experience, and the perpetuation of Russian Mennonite identity, 

than with the aims and ideals of the Third Reich. There were clearly other 

factors at work, as well, including the "cognitive dissonance" created by the 

gap between Mennonite beliefs and the success of their persecutors, the 

"godless communists". The desire for a homeland to replace the one which 

Mennonites had just lost also contributed to pro-German feeling, since many 

Russlaender settling in Canada i n i t i a l l y f e l t closer to Germany, for various 

reasons, than they did to Canada. But there was opposition to militant 

Germanism, and the principle of nonresistance was the most important factor 

in this; as such, i t displays the central role of that tenet of the faith, 

and religious or ideological factors in general, in conditioning Mennonite 

identity. 

The Canadian Brethren, with their p i e t i s t i c and evangelistic emphases, 



108 

strong church discipline, conservative doctrinal stance, and close relation-

ship with their American counterparts, constituted perhaps the most v i s i b l e 

bloc of opposition to militant Germanism. The leadership of B.B. Janz was 

the single most important factor in this. Otherwise, they were sympathetic 

to many of the Volkish and Nazi currents of the 1930's. A linguistic and 

cultural Germanism would continue to play an important role in maintaining 

Brethren identity in the postwar period, as the battle to preserve the socio-

religious integrity of the Brethren fellowship went on. 



109 

NOTES, CHAPTER THREE 

1. Alan Anderson estimates that13,000 of the recent immigrants settled 
in the Rosthern area. Alan B. Anderson, "Assimilation in the Bloc 
Settlements of North-Central Saskatchewan: A Comparative Study of Identity 
Change Among Seven Ethno-Religious Groups in a Canadian Prairie Region," 
(Ph.D. dissertation, University of Saskatchewan, 1972), p. 72. 

2. Frank H. Epp, "An Analysis of Germanism and National Socialism in 
the Immigrant Newspaper of a Canadian Minority Group, the Mennonites, in the 
1930's," (Ph.d. dissertation, University of Manitoba, 1965), p. 208, 310. 

3. Abram Berg, Dietrich Heinrich Eppr 1875-1955. (Saskatoon: Heese 
House of Printing, 1973), p. 45. 

4. Epp, "An Analysis of Germanism and National Socialism," pp. 60-62. 

5. Ibid., p. 116. 

6. Ibid., pp. 75, 103. 

7. Ibid., p. 85. 

8. Ibid., pp. 87-88. 

9. Ibid., pp. 150-60. 

10. Ibid., pp. 189-98. 

11. Ibid., p. 224. 

12. Schroeder was published at least 12 times in the Rundschau during 
the 1933-36 period alone; this was the total number of a r t i c l e s he published 
in Der Bote for a l l of the 1930's, according to Epp. Ibid., p. 220. 

13. Ibid., p. 291. 

14. For example, the fact that five percent of a l l column space was 
devoted to Germanism does not indicate the degree of interest with which 
these items were read. As well, the pro and contra s t a t i s t i c s measure long-
windedness, but not the stature of the person writing. The quantitative 
method is also insensitive to how certain terms in the context of a discourse 
may cross neat categorical boundaries, e.g. a Mennonite writing in favour of 
nonresistance may be rejecting p o l i t i c a l Germanism without ever mentioning 
i t . My reading of the paper indicates a stronger rejection of p o l i t i c a l 
Germanism than Epp's study implies. 

15. Walter Quiring, "Kampf oder Friedhofsruhe?", Der Bote, 21 November 
1934, p. 2; "Bankrott der Wehrlosigkeit?", 5 December 1934, p. 2; 
"Wehrlosigkeit als Wuenschbild?", 20 February 1935, pp. 1-2. Hereafter, 
obvious references to Der Bote w i l l not c i t e the newspaper's t i t l e . 



110 

16. Walter Quiring, "Der deutsche Gruss," 24 October 1934; 13 June 
1934, p. 1. 

17. Walter Quiring, "Im fremden Schlepptau," 5 September 1934, p. 3; 
"Warum Schlaegst du deinen Naechsten?", 31 October 1944, pp. 2-3. 

18. Walter Quiring, "Mennonitisches 'Volk'?", 23 May 1934, p. 2. 

19. Meir Buchsweiler, Volksdeutsche in der Ukraine am Vorabend und 
Beginn des zveiten Weltkriegs—ein F a l l Doppelter Loyalitaet?, (Gerlingen: 
Bleicher Verlag, 1984), p. 93. 

20. Epp, "An Analysis of Germanism and National Socialism," p. 220b. 

21. "Wehrlosigkeit auf Kruecken," 22 August 1934, p. 2. 

22. John Horsch, "1st unsere Wehrlosigkeit preiszugeben?", 6 March 
1935, p. 1; "Stumme Wacht," 26 June 1935, p. 1. 

23. W.K.W., "Unsere Volkshochschule," 14 November 1934, p. 3; J. 
Friesen, "Widerspruch als P f l i c h t , " 28 August 1935, pp. 2-3. 

24. F., "Zur Volkshochschule," 9 January 1935, p. 4. 

25. 4 July 1934, pp. 1-2. 

26. B.B. Janz, "Warum schlaegst du Deinen Naechsten?", 19 September 
1934, pp. 2-3. 

27. Letters of January 28, 1935, and February 13, 1935. B.B. Janz 
Collection, Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies (CMBS), Winnipeg, Box 7, 
Folder 97. 

28. J.H. Janzen, "Ein Bekenntnis," 7 November 1934, p. 2. 

29. J.H. Janzen, 30 November 1925, pp. 2-3. 

30. "Zu 'Kampf Oder Friedhofsruhe'", 5 December 1934, pp. 2-3; "Dem 
Fragesteller in Nr. 50," 2 January 1935, pp. 3-4. 



I l l 

31. Cornelius Krahn, "Menno Simons' Kampf fuer die Reinheit des Wortes 
Gottes," 20 February 1935, p. 1; Also "Noch einmal: mennonitisches 
Volkstum," 27 March 1935, p. 1; John Horsch, "Menno Simons ueber die 
Gottheit C h r i s t i , " 9 January 1935, p. 1; Also, "1st Unsere Wehrlosigkeit 
preiszugeben?", 6 March 1935, p. 1; Other a r t i c l e s defending nonresistance 
and either implicitly or e x p l i c i t l y rejecting militant Germanism include: 
"Um hohen Preis," 27 June 1934, pp. 2-3; "Wehrlosigkeit," 17 October 1934, 
p. 3; "Zu *Kampf oder Friedhofsruhe?'," 5 December 1934, pp. 2-3; Johann 
Rempel, "Die Wehrlosigkeit aufgeben?", 20 March 1935, p. 1; J. Epp, "Ein 
mennonitisches Irrtum," 3 April 1935, p. 1; P.P. Dyck, "Wehrlosigkeit", 15 
May 1935, p. 1; "Unser Deutschtum," 15 May 1935, p. 1; J.J. Klassen, "Die 
biblische Begruendung der Wehrlosigkeit und ihre Durchfuehrung im Leben," 21 
August 1935, p. 1. 

32. B.B. Janz, "Die Herkunft der Mennoniten Russlands," 12 December 
1934, pp. 1-2; Ibid., "Kommt Menno Simons unter die National-Sozialisten?", 
26 December 1934, p. 1. 

33. Letter of March 30, 1935. B.B. Janz Collection, CMBS Winnipeg, Box 
7 Folder 97. 

34. Letter of May 6, 1935. B.B. Janz Collection, CMBS Winnipeg, Box 7 
Folder 97. 

35. H. Kornelsen, "Es war doch anders," Mennonitische Rundschau, 8 
April 1936, p. 5. 

36. Berg, D.H. Epp. pp. 6-27. 

37. Ibid., p. 39. 

38. Ibid., p. 45. 

39. Ibid., pp. 68-76. 

40. Harry Loewen, "Canadian Mennonite Literature: Longing for a Lost 
Homeland," in Walter E. Riedel, ed., The Old World and the New: Literary  
Perspectives of German-speaking Canadians (Toronto: University of Toronto 
Press, 1984); Victor Doerksen, "Post-War Developments In Canadian Mennonite 
Literature," unpublished paper on f i l e at the Centre for Mennonite Brethren 
Studies (CMBS), Winnipeg, Box 17, Folder F, no. 1. 

41. Doerksen, "Post-War Developments," p. 10. 

42. John D. Thiesen, "The American Mennonite Encounter with National 
Socialism," unpublished paper for History 615, Wichita State University, F a l l 
1987, in my personal possession, p. 57. 

43. Thiesen, "The American Mennonite Encounter," p. 19. 



112 

44. Gerhard Ratzlaff, "An H i s t o r i c a l - P o l i t i c a l Study of the Mennonites 
in Paraguay," (M.A. thesis, California State University, Fresno, 1974), 
p. 156. 

45. Fernheim's population reached a high of 2147 in 1937 before dipping 
down to 1330 thereafter, due to the migration to east Paraguay and the 
Friesland colony. Winfield Fretz, Pilgrims in Paraguay (Scottdale, PA: 
Herald Press, 1953), p. 28. 

46. Ratzlaff, "An H i s t o r i c a l - P o l i t i c a l Study," pp. 185-87. 

47. Ibid., p. 172. 

48. See F r i t z Kliewer, "The Mennonites of Paraguay," Mennonite  
Quarterly Review IX (January 1937):92-97, for a discussion by a leading Nazi 
sympathizer in the colony of the threat of disintegration because of the 
tough conditions. 

49. Ratzlaff, "An H i s t o r i c a l - P o l i t i c a l Study", pp. 152, 219-220. 

50. Ratzlaff, "An H i s t o r i c a l - P o l i t i c a l Study," p. 221. 

51. F r i t z Kliewer, Die Deutsche Volksgruppe in Paraguay: Eine  
siedlungsgeschichtliche. volkskuendliche und volkspolitische Untersuchung 
(Hamburg: Hans Christian Verlag, 1941), p. 163. 

52. Heinrich Schroeder, "Was geht im Chaco vor?" Der Bote. 30 October 
1935, pp. 2-3; Ratzlaff, "An H i s t o r i c a l - P o l i t i c a l Study," pp. 179-82; John 
B. Toews, With Courage to Spare: The Life of B.B. Janz (1877-1964) (Winnipeg: 
The Christian Press, 1978), pp. 120-25; Letter from F r i t z Kliewer to the 
leader of the Fernheim Mennonite Brethren congregation, 1 November 1950, B.B. 
Janz collection, Box 7, 1950 folder, CMBS Winnipeg. 

53. Toews, With Courage to Spare, p. 123; Ratzlaff, "An Historical-
P o l i t i c a l Study," pp. 174-75. 

54. Ratzlaff, "An H i s t o r i c a l - P o l i t i c a l Study," pp. 179-99; Toews, With  
Courage to Spare, pp. 120-21. 

55. Interview with Anne Funk, social worker, Vancouver, B.C., May 6, 
1990. Ms. Funk came to Canada with her family in this last, desperate 
migration, and recalls that her family, especially her father, was "very pro-
Hitler" u n t i l the end of the Second World War. They were part of a program 
in which they were put into contact with a person l i v i n g in Germany, who sent 
them a l l manner of reading materials, including Nazi propaganda. 

56. Kliewer, "The Mennonites of Paraguay," pp. 92-97. 

57." Ibid., p. 94. 



113 

58. James I. L i c h t i , "Religious Identity vs. 'Aryan" Identity: German 
Mennonites and Hutterites Under the Third Reich," (M.A. thesis, San Francisco 
State University, 1989), pp. 107-26. 

59. Interview with Erwin Cornelsen, retired pastor, Vancouver, B.C., 
November 14, 1989. L i c h t i cautions against sweeping generalizations about 
the effect of Nazi land policy on Mennonite support for the regime, pointing 
out that there were reasons for discontent among farmers as well. L i c h t i , 
"Religious Identity vs. 'Aryan' Identity," pp. 120-23. However, i t seems 
clear that the perception that Hitler was going to save the farmers was 
f a i r l y widespread among Mennonites, especially in the beginning of his 
tenure. 

60. The largest North-German congregation reportedly had a membership 
rate over ten times the national average. L i c h t i , "Religious Identity vs. 
'Aryan' Identity," pp. 125-26. Figures for the more rural, p i e t i s t i c a l l y -
inclined southern Mennonites were undoubtedly much lower. 

61. Ibid., pp. 170-72. 

62. John Friesen, "The Relationship of Prussian Mennonites to German 
Nationalism," in Harry Loewen, ed., Mennonite Images: Historical. Cultural  
and Literary Essays Dealing with Mennonite Issues (Winnipeg: Hyperion Press 
Limited, 1980), p. 61ff. 

63. Lothar Fromm, "Nazistische Einfluesse in mennonitischen 
Zeitschriften," 1961, unpublished paper on f i l e at the Mennonite Historical 
Library, Goshen, Indiana. 

64. Edmund Heier, "A Study of the German Lutheran and Catholic 
Immigrants in Canada, Formerly Residing in Tzarist and Soviet Russia," (M.A. 
thesis, University of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1955), p. 144. 

65. Ibid., pp. 103-11; CA. Dawson, Group Settlement: Ethnic  
Communities in Western Canada (Toronto: The Macmillan Co., 1936; reprinted 
1974, Kraus Reprint Co.), pp. 275-76. 

66. Robert Leckie, American and Catholic (Garden City, New York: 
Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1970), pp. 218-26. 

67. Bede Hubbard, "St. Peter's: A German-American marriage of monastary 
and colony," in Benjamin G. Smillie, ed., Visions of The New Jerusalem:  
Religious settlement on the Prairies (Edmonton: NeWest Press, 1983), p. 156; 
Dawson, Group Settlement, p. 278; Heier, "German Lutheran and Catholic 

Immigrants," pp. 144-45. 

68. Heier, "German Lutheran and Catholic Immigrants," p. 185. 

69. Dawson, Group Settlement, p. 298; 279. 



114 

70. Jonathan F. Wagner, Brothers Beyond the Sea: National Socialism in  
Canada (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 1981), p. 129; Watson Kirkconnell, 
Canada. Europe and Hitler (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1939), 
pp. 133-34. 

71. Dawson notes that the universality of the Catholic Church also 
mitigated Germanism, through German Catholic interaction with other Catholics 
like the French. Dawson, Group Settlement, p. 320. 

72. Heier, "German Lutheran and Catholic Immigrants," p. 120-22. 

73. Ibid., p. 171ff. 

74. Dawson, Group Settlement, p. 291. 

75. Hubbard, "St. Peter's," pp. 156-57; Heier, "German Lutheran and 
Catholic Immigrants," p. 185 and passim; Dawson, Group Settlement, pp. 291-
323; 136. 

76. Anderson, "Assimilation in the Bloc Settlements of North-Central 
Saskatchewan," p. 200. 

77. Heier, "German Lutheran and Catholic Immigrants," pp. 164-70. 

78. Ibid., pp. 100-103; 115. See also John B. Toews, Czars. Soviets  
and Mennonites (Newton, KS: Faith and Life Press, 1982), p. 6. 



115 

CHAPTER FOUR 

Germanism and Brethren Congregational L i f e : 
The Struggle for Socio-Religious Integrity 

The congregation is the centre of Mennonite l i f e . l The Mennonite 

Brethren identity found i t s most immediate expression and relevance in the 

context of the local congregation, and efforts to maintain the social and 

religious integrity of the group, including German "Saturday" schools and 

Bible schools, originated there. Congregations resisted the encroachment of 

secular "English" influences, with the moral and s p i r i t u a l decline which was 

perceived to accompany them, as well as the loss of younger Brethren to the 

forces of the prevailing North American evangelicalism. The German language 

functioned as a kind of "church Latin"2 which not only maintained 

"boundaries" between Mennonites and the outside world, but also served to 

perpetuate a sense of closeness and solidarity with each other and their God, 

acting as a special form of expression for traditional doctrines and a symbol 

of the Mennonite Brethren way of l i f e . 

But the Brethren faced the dilemma of entertaining an evangelical 

theology which tended to undermine Germanism and hence the ethno-religious 

identity which had developed in Russia, which was already under siege by the 

forces of urbanization, assimilation and acculturation. Despite strenuous 

efforts, much soul-searching, and not a l i t t l e pain and frustration, the 

German identity was in irreversible decline by the 1950's, as churches 

gradually adopted English as the language of congregational l i f e . By 1960 

Germanism had ceased to function as an instrument of socio-religious 

integration for the Brethren, having become a source of division and an 

unwanted r e l i c , at least in younger eyes, from a bygone era. 



116 

My purpose in this chapter is to present a brief picture of the above-

mentioned constellation of factors in Mennonite Brethren German identity 

during the t h i r t y years following their a r r i v a l in Canada, with the 

congregation functioning as the centre of gravity in the discussion. It is 

beyond the scope of this paper to treat any one element in a comprehensive 

fashion. Analyses of at least one sizeable congregation from each of the 

five western Canadian provinces provide a significant portion of the data for 

this chapter.3 

In the period leading up to the Second World War the Brethren maintained 

a relatively strong German identity, amidst a growing awareness that i t was 

endangered, and a growing perception that i t s loss would be accompanied by 

alienation from traditional moral and religious principles, and the 

disintegration of the Mennonite "Volk" i t s e l f . While congregations continued 

to function in German, children began to converse among themselves in 

English. Most congregations instituted some sort of "German school" or 

"Saturday school" in which the German language was instructed, using a few 

basic primers, soon after they were organized. The Winnipeg North End 

congregation started a Saturday school in 1927, and the Coaldale, Alberta 

Brethren had done the same by 1930. The Vineland, Ontario congregation was 

supporting German instruction in conjunction with other Mennonites by the 

mid-1930's, and the Yarrow, B.C. congregation was supporting a school by the 

later 1930's. The congregation at Hepburn, Saskatchewan began to hold a 

three-week "summer vacation school", which instructed children in German and 

religion, in 1937.4 

D.P. Esau, a preacher in the Hepburn church, articulated in 1938 the 

rationale for teaching German and religion to Mennonite young people. 



117 

Congregational l i f e , according to Esau, is dependent on the quality and type 

of training received in the schools. After outlining the important function 

of teachers in teaching religious principles and exhibiting a strong 

Christian character, Esau describes the role of the German language. It is 

an important "cultural good" (or possession) for the Mennonites, who are of 

"German stock", just as other languages are important to other peoples. As 

soon as the language is lost, Mennonites w i l l be robbed of intellectual, 

national, and s p i r i t u a l aspects of their character. Some Mennonite teachers 

and parents are beginning to deny the German language to the younger 

generation, which is a misfortune for the entire Mennonite "Gemeinschaft" 

(community). 

We German Mennonites are a religious community. An extremely 
important stream of religious thinking flows through the 
congregations via the German language. This bears f r u i t for 
congregational and family l i f e . With the demise of the German 
language the flow w i l l stop and the congregational l i f e w i l l become 
dry. The youngsters cannot be properly introduced to the train of 
thought (Gedankengaenge). And he also isn't used to the English 
Bible-language.5 

While most statements were not quite as sophisticated as this one, i t is 

paradigmatic of the sentiments held by many of the advocates of Germanism, 

and helps to delineate the close connection between the congregations, 

Germanism, and the many educational efforts which were made in the 1930's and 

1940's. 

The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren churches (the Northern 

District Conference) recommended in 1926 that Mennonites assume d i s t r i c t 

school-board posts in order to further the instruction of German and religion 

in the time allotted by the government to such subjects.6 Clearly, the need 

for some input into public school education was f e l t from the beginning of 

their residence in Canada by the Russlaender, who had previously maintained 



118 

their own schools in Russia. In 1933 and 1935 the Conference went on record 

that i t was "deeply convinced that our congregations would be greatly served 

i f in a l l District Schools there were (Mennonite) teachers who themselves had 

a good background in religion and German."7 At the Brethren Conference 

School Committee meetings the instruction of German and religion was a 

frequent topic of discussion; at a 1931 meeting a speech was given which 

emphasized the role of the German language in bringing up "churchly" 

Mennonite youth. The speaker asked, "Was Moses ashamed to speak Hebrew to 

his people?", before stating: "Therefore let us seek to nurture and maintain 

the mother-tongue among the children, so that we don't allow the best, 

deepest aspects of ourselves to be taken from them!"8 

There was widespread interest in expanding the instruction of German and 

religion in public schools. A "German School-Superintendant Committee" met 

annually to deal with this question,9 and various individuals supported the 

idea in articles in the Mennonitische Rundschau, which featured a column 

entitled "Joys and Sorrows of the Schoolmaster" beginning in 1935.10 In 1932 

i t was reported that there had been increasing discussion in Mennonite 

c i r c l e s concerning the instruction of German and religion in public schools; 

this particular individual advocated petitioning the government on the 

matter, and reminded the churches to do more to encourage the use of the 

German language in the home.11 A Brethren indicated in 1935 that battles to 

teach German and religion in public schools in his area were yielding 

results,12 while in the same year another person cited a general growth in 

interest among Mennonites for instruction in German and religion.13 

Despite the apparent success of Mennonite teachers in introducing German 

and religion as subjects of instruction in some areas,14 there were also 



119 

problems. As previous chapters have illustrated, there were strong pressures 

of assimilation and acculturation on the Russlaender, and they were generally 

eager to find a niche for themselves in Canadian society. Pressure was 

exerted through the British-based school system, as well as by various other 

subtle and not so subtle means. In 1928 the Brethren in Coaldale, Alberta 

attempted to teach German to their children in the building in which they had 

been holding church services, which was owned by the United Church. The 

larger Coaldale community reacted to this evidence of the Mennonites* 

unwillingness to assimilate, and forbade the use of the building for such 

purposes, even posting a policeman at the door one Saturday morning.15 In 

the mid-1930's Coaldale school o f f i c i a l s were reported to be wholly 

uninterested in allowing German instruction in the school, causing some 

Mennonites to feel that more emphasis should be placed on the Saturday 

school.16 

Mennonites themselves did not always support efforts to promote German 

and religion in public schools. In a report on school matters to the 1935 

Canadian Conference meeting, William Neufeld complained that some Mennonites 

simply did not feel bound to maintain the German language any more.17 In one 

school d i s t r i c t , an attempt to introduce German language instruction, by 

electing a Mennonite to the school board, failed because some of the local 

Mennonites voted for the "English" candidate instead. In the face of being 

charged with impairing the "Deutschtum" of the local Mennonite community, one 

of those who had voted for the English candidate stated that Mennonite 

Germanism had led to the "hatred" of Germans by the English in their 

d i s t r i c t , and that lines should be drawn between Christians and non-

Christians, rather than between English and Germans.18 A similar scenario 



120 

seems to nave been present in Coaldale in 1936.19 An English candidate was 

elected in another d i s t r i c t with a large Mennonite population because, as one 

Mennonite commented, the atmosphere had become too partisan when they elected 

one of their own. This person was also not so worried about the language 

issue.20 

Although there was some ambivalence in dealings with host communities on 

the issue of German and religion in public schools, there was widespread 

support for privately-sponsored Mennonite Bible schools, which emerged in 

numerous communities in the fifteen years after the Russlaender arrived in 

Canada. These schools were normally begun and supported by one or more 

congregations, and were the single most important institutions in maintaining 

the kind of congregational l i f e which Brethren had known in Russia. Here the 

Bible and d i s t i n c t i v e l y Mennonite doctrines could be taught unhindered in the 

German language, thus perpetuating both the traditional faith distinctives 

and linguistic solidarity. While religious instruction from a Mennonite 

viewpoint was the leading raison d'etre for these schools, the role of the 

schools as perpetuators of the German language should not be overlooked.21 

At least sixteen Bible schools were started by Mennonite Brethren between 

1925 and 1940, with another five being added in the 1940's.22 The Bible 

school in Herbert, Saskatchewan had been in existence since 1913. Many of 

them were small, growing out of the needs of local congregations. The Bible 

school in Coaldale, for example, began in a member's home in 1929.23 The 

opening of a Bible school by the Stelnbach, Manitoba Brethren congregation 

was unceremoniously announced by a small notice in the Mennonitische  

Rundschau.24 In the f a l l of 1933 F.C. Thiessen invited "eager German youth" 

to the "German Bible school in Winnipeg," which met evenings in the North End 



121 

Brethren church. A German language course would be added for those who did 

not have a good command of the language.25 

Some schools were larger, such as Bethany Bible School in Hepburn, 

Saskatchewan, and Winkler Bible School in Winkler, Manitoba. Both were begun 

in the mid-1920's, and provided lodgings for students. A l i s t of goals for 

the Bethany school from 1937 would probably have been shared by most Bible 

schools: 

1. To give our...youth foundational Bible instruction in the German 
and English languages... 2. To wrench our youth away from frivolous 
pursuits and the contemporary "Zeitgeist". 3. To nurture the German 
language as a special possession handed down from our fathers. 4. To 
raise believing youth for the battle of the faith...5. To take into 
account the needs of the congregations in the methodical training of 
Sunday School teachers and sundry (church) workers.26 

The strong Bible school movement among the Brethren p a r t i a l l y had i t s roots 

in the traditional informal "Bibelstunde" (Bible Study) in Brethren homes in 

Russia.27 And as the above l i s t of goals suggests, the Bible school was seen 

as a bulwark against negative influences and a way to perpetuate the 

traditional faith perspective and the German language. At Brethren Canadian 

Conference meetings during the 1930's the Bible schools were repeatedly 

affirmed on these counts.28 

Although the theory of evolution and other forms of "godless modernism" 

were aspects of the "Zeitgeist" which some Brethren f e l t should be avoided at 

a l l costs,29 a more insidious and increasingly troublesome challenge to the 

socio-religious integrity of the Brethren was the strong upsurge of 

evangelical fundamentalism which took place in North America in the late 

1920's and the 1930's, and the "Bible school movement" which went with i t . 

The effects of these developments on Brethren congregational l i f e began to be 

significantly f e l t in the 1940's and 1950's (dealt with further below), but 



122 

had their roots in the 1930's. Besides drawing Mennonite Brethren young 

people into a non-Mennonite, English environment, and in some cases into 

other denominations, this movement tended ultimately to discourage Germanism, 

which was perceived to hinder attempts at outreach and the incorporation of 

new converts into the Brethren church.30 On the other hand, such Bible 

schools, with their strong missionary emphasis, reinforced the Brethren 

commitment to go forth and preach the good news of the Gospel. 

The Brethren Bible schools thus emerged in the context of a larger 

phenomenon, and were partly a defensive reaction to i t , and also part of i t ; 

the larger movement had both a positive and a negative role in starting 

Brethren schools and thus in furthering the primary goal of socio-religious 

integration already described. The Bethany Bible School, for example, was 

founded when a Brethren individual who had graduated from the American Bible 

Institute in Chicago arrived in Hepburn at a time when the desire to 

establish a local Mennonite Bible school was growing.31 Therefore the 

general contours of western Canadian evangelicalism merit closer scrutiny. 

During the late 1920's and the 1930's, new religious movements grew 

rapidly in western Canada, especially in Alberta, which experienced something 

of "religious awakening" at that time. The growth of the Social Credit Party 

was a part of the general strengthening of sectarian religious forces in the 

Alberta community. The majority of sectarian growth was evangelical and 

fundamentalist in nature, and was rooted in a revivalist tradition in the 

prairie West, shifting social and economic circumstances, a reaction to 

religious "modernism" in the wake of the F i r s t World War, and the i n a b i l i t y 

of the mainline Protestant churches to adjust to the needs of mostly lower-

middle class, rural people. The fundamentalist sects shared a belief in the 



123 

l i t e r a l truth of the Bible, a fiery h e l l , the necessity of a dramatic 

conversion experience, as well as an aversion to the theory of evolution, the 

"higher" b i b l i c a l criticism, and the pleasure-oriented a c t i v i t i e s of the 

"world". There was much lay participation, informality, hearty singing and 

evangelical fervor at their meetings, which usually ended in a c a l l for 

repentance and conversion.32 The parallels between this sort of r e l i g i o s i t y 

and that of the Brethren are obvious, and would have contributed to the 

relative ease with which many Brethren identified with such groups. 

The emergence of a number of evangelical Bible institutes and colleges in 

western Canada was a part of this "awakening". Between 1930 and 1949 t h i r t y 

such institutions were founded, including eight of the more prominent 

Mennonite schools. The largest schools were "non-denominational"; Prairie 

Bible Institute (PBI) of Three H i l l s , Alberta, and Briercrest Bible Institute 

of Caronport, Saskatchewan were the trendsetters. PBI was founded in 1922, 

and became the model for many subsequent schools, with i t s missions emphasis, 

s t r i c t moral standards, and strong music program. As such i t held a strong 

fascination for Brethren youth, drawing many of them to i t by the 1950's.33 

This evangelical movement began to encroach upon the Mennonite Brethren 

already in the 1930's. References were made at Canadian Conference meetings 

to the fact that a number of Brethren youth were attending "English" Bible 

schools,34 and in 1936 the Brethren in Coaldale found themselves dealing with 

the effects of local "English" evangelistic meetings on their young people. 

B.B. Janz f e l t that there were some good things about these meetings, but 

that things seemed strange; 

a) When our Brethren proclaim the Word to our youth in a strange 
tongue, and a strange place, b) When they try to copy the English 
evangelists, c) ...Sometimes you see young couples go off (alone) 
into the night, d) You don't notice these itinerant English 



124 

evangelists dealing with seeking souls...rather they come, they speak 
and leave, e) There is the extortion of funds; the scolding of other 
denominations; the careless tone and questionable posture of some of 
these speakers—that is objectionable.35 

There were other effects of this movement. Because of the lack of 

leaders and teachers with formal theological training, and the lack of 

written material from their own theological frame of reference, Brethren 

Bible schools became dependent upon the literature of North American 

fundamentalism and evangelicalism.36 Traditional Brethren pietism and 

biblicism was easily combined with i t , which along with the example of such 

schools as PBI strengthened the traditional Brethren stress on outreach.37 

The prominent fundamentalist Canadian Sunday School Mission found i t s 

Brethren counterpart in the Western Children's Mission, which emerged out of 

the Bethany Bible School. The Winkler Bible School promoted missions, 

including Daily Vacation Bible Schools, but was known to also be oriented 

towards producing teachers. Thus a tension began to emerge between a stress 

on evangelism, which clearly undermined Germanism, and the formation of good, 

German-speaking church workers and members.38 

As the 1930's came to a close, the Brethren could look back on a decade 

in Canada in which much had been accomplished, despite drought, depression, 

and being strangers to Canada. Congregations had become organized, churches 

were b u i l t , and a wide array of institutions, including German Saturday 

schools and Bible schools, had been started. But there was a growing sense 

that religious integrity and social solidarity were becoming threatened, and 

increasing alienation from the German language was taken to be a major 

indication. Reports concerning the lack of interest in the German language 

in Mennonite schools began to be heard, along with double-edged statements 

that everything possible was being done to satisfy the wishes of the 



125 

congregations on this matter.39 

For example, a reassuring report made in 1939 by a teacher at the Bethany 

Bible School held that "great weight" was being laid on the German language 

at the school, and that "intense interest" in learning the language was 

present among the students; i t was belied by faculty discussions which took 

place in early 1940. In the context of discussing disciplinary problems, two 

teachers pointed out that the Brethren constituency f e l t more emphasis should 

be placed on German instruction, and that too much was being taught in 

English. The principal stated that students did not learn as easily when 

instruction was in German, and therefore the temptation existed to revert to 

English. One teacher faulted the "homes" for not i n s t i l l i n g a f a c i l i t y with 

the language into Mennonite children, while another had perceived a "hidden 

aversion" to the language among the students, and that was the source of the 

problem.40 

This "hidden aversion" was at least partly due to the fact that Canada 

had once again gone to war with Germany, causing increased pressures on 

German-speaking Mennonites and other "enemy aliens". The Bible school 

operated by the Vineland, Ontario Brethren congregation was forced to close 

in 1941 due to public pressure; besides being conducted in German, the school 

had offered a course in the German language itself.41 Although the Coaldale 

congregation had f e l t free to affirm the work of i t s Saturday school in late 

1939, pressure began to be exerted on the church's schools in 1940 by 

Edmonton school o f f i c i a l s , causing the congregation to close the Saturday 

school in order to keep the Bible school open.42 In September of 1940 the 

Bethany Bible School quietly locked away any books i t had from Germany, and 

in 1942 the principal voiced fears that the school, like some in other 



126 

provinces, would be closed; consequently instruction in German was 

temporarily dropped.43 The Hepburn congregation discontinued i t s summer-

vacation German school,44 while Saturday schools operated by the Yarrow, B.C. 

and Winnipeg North End congregations appear to have remained open during the 

war years.45 No o f f i c i a l attempt was made by the Canadian government during 

the war to stop German instruction in private schools, although i t was halted 

in state-controlled elementary and secondary schools.46 

Wartime anti-German pressures obviously differed in degree by locale, but 

were clearly present in most Canadian communities. The Kitchener, Ontario 

Brethren congregation went so far as to debate, in early October 1939, the 

p o s s i b i l i t y of switching over to the use of English during church services; 

the "impassioned" discussion concluded however that "The congregation does 

not wish to have anything other than the mother-tongue used in church 

services."47 In addition to the cases of harassment of Mennonite churches 

cited in Chapter One, three Mennonite churches in Alberta and Manitoba were 

set on f i r e in the early war years (two of them belonging to the Mennonite 

Brethren), causing the Coaldale congregation to post a watchman at the door 

of their new church building for a time. As B.B. Janz put i t , "Although the 

war was thousands of miles away, we f e l t the ungrounded mistrust towards us 

as new immigrants with a strange tongue."48 

The events of the Second World War had a profound impact upon Canadian 

Mennonites. The existing trends of accomodation and assimilation to the 

norms of Canadian society were accelerated by the war, which revived a n t i -

German and -Mennonite sentiments among the Canadian public. The principle of 

nonresistance was severely challenged, as at least one-third or 4500 of the 

e l i g i b l e Mennonite men joined the armed services, while 7500 or one-half 



127 

chose alternative service, as arranged by Mennonite leaders and government 

o f f i c i a l s . The Russlaender were generally eager to prove their loyalty to 

Canada, i n i t i a l l y advocating noncombatant service in the army medical corps, 

an option rejected by the Kanadier. Thus the war marked a "turning point" 

for the Russlaender; the doctrinal and cultural identity of the group was . 

severely shaken, as a broad movement of alignment with the ideological and 

cultural norms of Anglo-Canadian society suddenly became unmistakeable.49 

The greatest anti-German and -Nazi pressures were exerted by the Canadian 

public in September 1939 and mid-1940. Many thousands of German-Canadians 

were forced to register as "enemy aliens" under the Defense of Canada 

Regulations (DOCR), and 1200 German-Canadians were interned. These 

internments generally occurred during the early high-points of anti-

Germanism, when a fearful public demanded that the RCMP take action against 

alleged domestic "subversives". The police themselves remained unconvinced 

as to the actual danger posed to Canada by the individuals they f e l t 

compelled to intern.50 There is no indication that any Mennonites were 

interned. After the scares of 1939-40 the government relaxed pressure on a l l 

"enemy aliens" except the Japanese,51 but suspicion towards the (partially) 

p a c i f i s t , German-speaking Mennonites persisted among the general public.52 

There were various indications during the war years that changes were 

under way. While B.B. Janz spoke out strongly in support of nonresistance, 

even threatening excommunication for those who joined the military,53 

Russlaender young men enlisted in the army in unprecedented numbers.54 

Increasing use of English in the Sunday schools and Bible schools became 

apparent, and in 1943 i t was admitted on the floor of the Canadian Conference 

meeting that "We are in a (language) transition period, and have to reckon 



128 

with that."55 The 1944 meeting noted that "many of our young people are 

turning away from our Bible schools and entering English schools." The 

pressure on Mennonites had obviously relaxed enough to allow the Conference 

to recommend that congregations begin anew with their "religion schools";56 

the Kitchener Brethren responded by opening a "religion school" on Saturday 

mornings "so that the children could better understand the Bible in the 

mother tongue."57 

If the younger generation moved in the direction of anglicism and 

Canadianism, the older generation exhibited more ambivalence. On the one 

hand, Mennonite leaders like B.B. Janz and David Toews did their best to 

disengage Mennonites from any association with Nazi Germany, and declarations 

of loyalty to Canada were widely made.58 Also, 1941 Canadian Census records 

show a sharp drop in German ethnic identification at that time. In 1931, 42% 

of Canadian Mennonites had claimed to be of Dutch ethnic origin, and 39% 

German.59 In 1941, only 28% claimed Germanic origin, while Dutch 

identification had gone up to 58%.60 

On the other hand, the support for Nazi Germany outlined in Chapters Two 

and Three did not evaporate overnight. Interviews indicate that there was 

some support for the German cause during the early war years, and E.K. 

Francis found divided national loyalties during wartime among the Manitoba 

Russlaender.61 A report made to the 1941 Canadian Conference meeting by the 

American editor of various Brethren periodicals stated that i t was d i f f i c u l t 

to walk the line between publishing material which would be allowed into 

Canada, yet acceptable to i t s readers: 

We're trying our best to be as neutral as possible in the reports on 
foreign events, which is not easy, considering the fact that many 
readers are not so neutral. We want however to do the best we can to 
follow the laws of the land.62 



129 

As the war came to an end, and the extent of the inhumanity of the Nazi 

regime began to be discovered, any illusions which Mennonites s t i l l had about 

Nazi Germany were shattered.63 Even Walter Quiring, the ardent Nazi-

supporter who served in the Nazi Propaganda Corps during the war, admitted to 

being misled. In a letter to his former adversary, B.B. Janz, whom he now 

addressed as "Uncle Janz", Quiring wrote: 

What I want to underline is the following: to be German and to be 
National Socialist is not the same thing. Anybody can be German, but 
doesn't thereby need to be Nazi. The German Volk let i t s e l f be 
deceived by Hitler. Myself included. The German Volk today sees i t s 
mistake. I do too. Hitler was the misfortune of the German 
people.64 

Thus shorn of i t s p o l i t i c a l and nationalistic ramifications, Germanism 

would continue to play a part in Brethren socio-religious identity during the 

postwar period, although i t was never again as strong as i t was in the 

1930's. As Mennonite Brethren became more urbanized, educated, p l u r a l i s t i c , 

and acculturated and assimilated to Anglo-Canadian society, the important 

socio-religious function of the German language would be more e x p l i c i t l y 

recognized and emphasized by some, and more decisively rejected by others. 

A t t r i t i o n and indifference towards maintaining the Russian Mennonite way of 

l i f e undoubtedly contributed to the steady movement away from Germanism. 

The decade and a half following the end of the Second World War was a 

period of mobility and change for many i f not most Canadians. The two major 

trends were economic expansion and, especially on the prairies, rapid 

urbanization. Between 1941 and 1961 the percentage of prairie residents 

l i v i n g in urban areas almost doubled, to 58%, while urbanization in Ontario 

and British Columbia occurred at a rate of 10 to 15%.65 The western 

provinces experienced a decline in Anglo-Canadian nativism, for various 



130 

reasons,66 and prairie communities seemed "more open and harmonious," as they 

(and the rest of Canada) "moved increasingly toward a homogeneous 

international culture."67 If the western provinces were s t i l l "far closer to 

a British-Canadian cultural model than any other" in the postwar period, 

"each province saw greater tolerance generated by new social, economic, and 

intellectual conditions."68 

While traditional sociological stress on the postwar assimilation of 

ethnic minorities is largely valid, there is also evidence of the survival of 

certain basic features of ethnic identity in the prairie West. In 

particular, ethnic languages, and ethnic institutions which paralleled 

"Canadian" ones, retained a position of importance for many people.69 In 

general, i f Canadian Mennonite trends of urbanization and assimilation 

followed the larger pattern, there was also renewed resistance to the total 

loss of the Russian Mennonite ethno-religious identity. 

Canadian Mennonites urbanized rapidly in the postwar period, going from a 

predominantly rural existence to a situation where one-third of Mennonites 

lived in urban areas by 1961. At the same time, the other two-thirds 

remained in rural areas, with close to half (46%) of Canadian Mennonites 

l i v i n g on farms, which was s t i l l five times the national average. Mennonites 

in B.C. were the most urban, with 50% l i v i n g in c i t i e s in 1961, while those 

in Alberta were the most rural, with 60% of Mennonites s t i l l engaged in 

farming.70 The Mennonite Brethren were the most urbanized of Canadian 

Mennonite groups.71 Concomitant with these trends was a significant movement 

into professions and business, by a l l Mennonites.72 An important addition to 

the Canadian Mennonite community was the a r r i v a l of 8,000 Russian Mennonite 

refugees in the postwar period; they settled primarily in the Lower Fraser 



131 

Valley in B.C., in the Winnipeg area in Manitoba, and'on the Niagara 

Peninsula in Ontario.73 Although this influx is often cited as having slowed 

the process of acculturation in Mennonite congregations,74 i t should not 

obscure the fact that the 1920's Russlaender were the key players in most of 

the major postwar attempts at preserving the traditional social, cultural and 

religious identity of the Brethren. 

The Mennonite Brethren continued to expand numerically as a religious 

body in the postwar period, growing from 7200 members in 1945 to a total of 

14,000 in 1960. One-third of these lived in B.C., one-quarter in Manitoba, 

and the rest were spread f a i r l y evenly among the other three western 

provinces.75 Although the majority of new members came from within the 

Brethren and other Mennonite groups, the fact that this growth occurred 

during the period of transition from German to English indicates quite 

clearly that the v i a b i l i t y of the Mennonite Brethren as a religious body was 

not dependent upon Germanism. But this growth was a part of the enormous 

changes which were taking place at the time, and contributed to fears for the 

traditional socio-religious integrity of the group. The addition of a whole 

new generation of English-speaking members which f e l t at home in Canadian 

society exacerbated the fears of the elders for their distinctive faith and 

way of l i f e . 

There is evidence that a significant "diaspora" of individuals from the 

typically large Mennonite families was also taking place at this time. In 

analyzing surveys of Alberta Mennonites conducted in 1960, Aron Sawatzky 

found that anywhere from 50% to 75% of individuals surveyed had in one way or 

another broken ties with the Mennonite church.76 The unwillingness of 

Mennonite churches to change from German to English usage in worship services 



132 

contributed to this trend, being a factor in as many as 50% of the departures 

from Mennonite churches.77 By 1960 most families conversed at least 

p a r t i a l l y in English,78 and the circulation of English-language periodicals 

had eclipsed that of German ones in such traditional Brethren strongholds as 

Coaldale, Alberta.79 

When taken together, these various trends present a f a i r l y complex 

picture of the postwar period. In general, i t can be said that the Brethren 

were simultaneously experiencing numerical growth, assimilation, 

professionalization, urbanization, and l i n g u i s t i c , cultural and 

religious/ethical change. The Germanist reaction of those concerned to 

preserve the traditional socio-religious integrity of the group resulted in 

the further alienation from the tradition of some. 

It bears repeating that much of the growing alienation from Russian 

Mennonite Germanism can be traced to the experience of the Second World War. 

The war with Germany forced a decision not only between adherence to 

Mennonite religious principles and the Canadian state, but also between 

English and German cultural identities. If over half of younger Canadian 

Mennonites chose to honor the religious principle of pacifism, the same 

cannot be said of the Germanic identity. The widespread support by 

Mennonites of the Nazi regime in the 1930's and early 1940's, the wartime 

anti-Germanism of the larger Canadian public, and the reprehensible actions 

of the Nazi regime which came to light towards the end of the war contributed 

significantly to the alienation of Canadian Mennonites from the German 

language and culture, and in particular the Mennonite version of i t , in the 

postwar period.80 

Anglicization was also induced by the war in that young Mennonites, 



133 

whether they joined the military or worked in alternative service 

occupations, were drawn in unprecedented numbers into an English-speaking 

environment. Many attended English-language worship services for the f i r s t 

time, where they discovered that English could also be a religious 

language.81 A l l i e d to the general movement out of the Germanic/Mennonite 

world into the Anglo-Canadian environment in the postwar years was what Frank 

Epp has termed a "struggle for recognition" from Canadian society at large, 

by Mennonites, to be accepted as equals with something to offer to it.82 

Quite understandably, Brethren youth became the main focus of concern in 

the struggle to maintain the traditional socio-religious integrity of the 

Mennonite Brethren. The alarm was sounded by leading individuals in various 

contexts in the postwar period,83 and is exemplified in a statement by H.F. 

Klassen, editor of the Mennonitische Rundschau and Konferenz Jugendblatt. 

made in 1944: 

We, the f i r s t generation (Russlaender)...were too carried away with 
becoming economically established, and now we are faced with an 
acute, l i f e or death c r i s i s among our faith community. Living 
scattered about in non-Mennonite surroundings, with the influences of 
i r r e l i g i o n in the schools, radios and popular press, and l i t e r a t u r e — 
a l l these show the consequences a l l too clearly. Elders, preachers 
and Sunday school teachers are looking on in apprehension as time-
honored authorities are ignored, and as many are ashamed to belong to 
the Mennonites; other manners, attitudes and languages are admired 
and copied, and our own values and traditions, our simplicity and 
even our faith is despised.84 

The experience of the war, especially, had jolted Brethren leaders, as 

many of the young men who had appeared before mobilization boards "were 

ignorant of scriptural teaching as well as of historical distinctives to 

which their church was committed."85 In the aftermath of the war, as 

Klassen's statement indicates, changing behaviour patterns reinforced the 

general notion that a serious decline in the Brethren way of l i f e was in 



134 

progress. Many of the f i r s t generation Russlaender perceived a correlation 

between these changes and the loss of the German identity, s p e c i f i c a l l y the 

German language. One individual lamented: 

The letting-go of the German language is an outer sign that the 
individual has also let go of the true Mennonite principles. People 
want to accomodate themselves to the world...wearing (worldly) 
clothing and giving up the German language thus go together.86 

Evidence of the breakdown of traditional Brethren l i f e seemed to be 

everywhere; young people were dressing, speaking and acting differently. 

Brethren leader H.H. Janzen f e l t that Mennonites were losing their reputation 

for honesty.87 The growing use of television in the 1950's was one more 

example to the older generation of a decline in standards and the acceptance 

of "worldly" influences, and the issue of television thus became a "burning 

issue" at Canadian Conference meetings in the later 1950's.88 Reports from 

Bible schools to the Conference indicated that the German language was being 

progressively eroded,89 as i t was also in the newly-grounded high schools and 

the Bible College (see Chapter Five). An increasing number of Mennonite 

youth were attending non-Mennonite Bible schools; between 1950 and 1959, 543 

Mennonite youth attended Briercrest Bible Institute, while 317 went to 

Prairie Bible Institute. A survey of an extended Brethren family in 1960 

revealed that 8 members had attended Mennonite Bible schools, and 21 had gone 

elsewhere, mostly to PBI and Briercrest.90 To B.B. Janz, anglicization 

seemed to have no positive effect on congregational l i f e , and led to the 

rejection of Brethren institutions. 

If we look into the Canadian Mennonite Brethren congregations which 
have changed over to English, there we do not find a stronger 
congregational l i f e in terms of home visitation, evangelism, church 
discipline, and in love of the church and the Conference...Last year 
at PBI there were 110 Mennonites in attendance (1949)—it is clear 
that...(most come from English-speaking Brethren churches, like the 
one in Abbotsford). This happens, even though Brother J. Redekop 



135 

runs a perfectly acceptable Mennonite school right on their 
doorstep.91 

The continued growth of western Canadian evangelicalism was also 

increasingly seen as a threat, and warnings about the "unbiblical" nature of 

movements like Youth For Christ were made on the Canadian Conference floor,92 

and by the leading figure in Brethren youth work, H.F. Klassen, in the pages 

of the Konferenz Jugendblatt.93 Klassen f e l t that this was sensationalized 

Christianity without any of the proper sense of repentance and rebirth. 

Radio programs like Charles Fuller's "Old-Fashioned Revival Hour" were widely 

received by the Mennonite Brethren, and represent another source of influence 

in the direction of mainline North American evangelicalism.94 

There was obviously support present among the Brethren for inter-

denominational ism, and i t derived largely from the traditional Brethren 

stress on outreach and evangelism, and openness to outside Christian 

influences. These t r a i t s added to the other trends of assimilation and 

acculturation to bring about a rapid change in linguistic and socio-religious 

identity in the postwar period. Brethren evangelistic impulses had 

originally come mainly from Baptist sources, and Mennonite Brethren continued 

to attend Baptist schools in the postwar period, along with the missions-

oriented schools already mentioned.95 

According to a student of Mennonite Brethren missions, this aspect of 

Brethren congregational l i f e was lay-oriented, spontaneous, and always 

threatening to go beyond the control of the larger Conference structures. 

Mennonite Brethren became involved in radio ministries, Daily Vacation Bible 

Schools, tract missions and evangelistic meetings, beginning in the late 

1930's and early 1940's. An elemental tension emerged between evangelism, 

which was generally conducted in English and forged links with the English-



136 

Canadian community, and the distinctive ethno-religious culture of the 

Brethren. "Arm's length evangelism", whereby missionary efforts were 

conducted in outlying areas, and converts were directed to other 

denominations, was a temporary and unsatisfying solution to the problem. In 

general, young people were attracted to missions work while the older 

generation became preoccupied with defending the "inner stronghold" of the 

faith.96 

An emphasis on the German language was a part of the general Brethren 

response to the growing threat that a l l the various changes taking place were 

perceived to pose to Brethren socio-religious integrity. The institution of 

a number of high schools and the Bible College after the war was a clear 

response to the new challenges, and instruction in the German language was 

part and parcel of this response (see Chapter Five). So too was the 

formation in 1950 of a Conference committee for the retention of the German 

language, which merged with the all-Mennonite Society for the Promotion of 

the German Language (also covered in Chapter Five). Another response was the 

formalizing of "Youth Work" at the Conference level, beginning in 1945, and 

the organization of various youth-oriented events and conferences.97 

A significant attempt to deal with changing circumstances among Brethren 

youth was the inauguration of the Konferenz Juqendblatt, which began in 1944 

as a project of the Manitoba Brethren, and was taken over by the Canadian 

Conference Youth Committee in 1945 as an all-Canadian project. H.F. Klassen 

edited i t in Winnipeg until 1954, when H.H. Voth took over. At that time i t 

became almost exclusively English. In the beginning the paper was published 

mostly in German, and became increasingly bilingual after that. During i t s 

f i r s t ten years the paper reflected attempts by the Brethren to moderate the 



137 

transition to English and encourage adherence to the traditional Brethren 

f a i t h distinctiveness and sense of peoplehood. 

In the f i r s t issue, H.F. Klassen stated that the goal of the periodical 

was to "help a generation of youth grow up firm in the principles of the 

Mennonite Brethren Church and unashamed of their heritage, as they carry 

their message out into the world."98 Thus the paper attempted to combine a 

forward-looking, evangelical perspective with a strong sense of Mennonite 

peoplehood and tradition. It featured reports from the whole spectrum of 

youth a c t i v i t i e s , including missions. In the early years, profiles of 

prominent Brethren leaders appeared as well.99 B.B. Janz wrote a letter to 

the editor in 1945 stating: "On the whole I am very glad when this kind of 

beginning is made during a time when most good things can only be expected to 

be lost."100 

Articles encouraging the use and retention of the German language 

appeared in the paper,101 and the editor followed a policy of the "golden 

mean" in the ratio of German to English articles.102 This soon became a 

subject of some controversy. One reader insisted that 

Our young people would prefer to have (the Jugendblatt) a l l in 
English...I think that we cannot hold our young people with the 
German language, but with the Gospel we can. Some do emphasize the 
language above the Gospel.103 

This brought forth sharp, negative responses; one individual f e l t that 

switching completely over to English would exclude the older generation from 

youth a c t i v i t i e s , bringing disunity to the Mennonites, which was 

unchristian.104 Another person seemed baffled at the i n a b i l i t y of the 

younger generation to become bilingual,105 and the editor implied that this 

was due to laziness.106 

Citing in 1947 the "controversy" surrounding the increasing use of 



138 

English among Mennonite Brethren, and i t s position as the "universal language 

among our youth," a youth worker from the Winnipeg North End congregation 

allowed that the German was "equally important" to Mennonites, but that 

parents needed to learn to be more tolerant towards the adoption of English. 

Language was only a means, not an end; the writer acknowledged that some 

feared that the disappearance of the German language "will result in the 

decay of our Mennonite faith and principles," but he obviously did not feel 

that this would happen.107 Others were not so sanguine. In 1950, Mennonite 

educator Gerhard Lohrenz argued in the Jugendblatt that Mennonites were a 

unique Volk with their own language, national character, and "uniquely 

Christian" way of l i f e . The "foreign" cultural atmosphere of Canada was 

threatening the Mennonite Volk identity, which shouldn't be "thrown 

overboard".108 

In 1952 H.F. Klassen asked the rhetorical question, "Do we want to remain 

Mennonite?" This question seemed to be on the minds of many people from the 

various walks of Brethren l i f e , according to Klassen; some were ready to l e t 

the Mennonite name f a l l , and with i t the old confessional principles and 

teachings. Indicating the extent to which the German language had become 

identified with Mennonitism, Klassen then stated: "It is not a matter of 

German or English, rather of a fundamental abandonment of the position of the 

fathers and founders of our church." Klassen listed a number of reasons for 

this, including the fear of coming into conflict with the larger society, the 

(negative) effect of non-Mennonite, interdenominational Bible schools, high 

schools and colleges, and a special push against the tradition from missions 

supporters.109 

A.A. Toews, a Brethren from Alberta who had served on a number of 



139 

Conference committees, was even more pointed. In answering the question, "Is 

our separation justified?", Toews gave a hearty "yes", noting that the German 

language had always been involved in the struggle to be true to Mennonite 

religious principles in the face of the demands of nation-states. Toews 

advanced two basic imperatives: 1) Hold on to the old teachings, including 

nonresistance, non-swearing of the oath, etc.; 2) "But then also hold tight 

onto the mother-tongue." On the other hand, Toews was careful to point out 

that separation didn't mean isolation, for Mennonites had a, message to share 

with the world. He, along with others, couldn't understand why Mennonites 

were not able to continue being a bilingual people.110 

The other side of the debate was presented in the same issue of the 

Jugendblatt. A contributor stated that "Canadians ought to be converted and 

brought into the church," and that the Mennonite Brethren should end their 

"spiritual and social isolationism," which he f e l t was the reason why so many 

younger Brethren were leaving the church. Once the church succeeded in 

bringing "lost Canadians" into the fold, and gave up i t s isolationism, "we 

won't need to worry...about young people leaving the church nor w i l l we need 

to worry about the church dying o u t . " I l l 

It was very d i f f i c u l t for the older generation not to feel that the 

traditional faith was dying, as change accelerated in the postwar period. 

The wholehearted acceptance of "outsiders" and their "worldly" language would 

only quicken the transformation of Mennonitism already underway, into 

something which appeared to have l i t t l e to do with the old, "tried and true" 

faith and way of l i f e . The Russlaender Brethren had only been in Canada for 

25 years by this time; i t is understandable, i f in the long run mistaken, 

that a change in language, especially in the context of the local 



140 

congregation, would be taken as a sign of the breakdown of social and 

religious integrity. The contours of the distinctive Mennonite Brethren way 

of l i f e , as i t had emerged in Russia, were becoming hazy in the eyes of the 

elder generation, and seemed to be fast disappearing. 

Most Brethren congregations began changing over to the use of English in 

their worship services during the 1950's. It is not my intention to 

extensively analyse this often painful process here; a precise depiction of 

the changeover is beyond the scope of this study, which has aimed more at 

identifying the primary issues and general trends involved in Brethren German 

identity during their f i r s t t h i r t y years in Canada.112 However, a brief look 

at the experiences of a few Brethren congregations during the twilight years 

of the German congregational identity is in order. 

The experience of the Coaldale, Alberta Brethren congregation is 

i l l u s t r a t i v e of some of the general concerns and patterns of linguistic 

transition in the postwar years. By May of 1945 the Saturday school appears 

to have been operating again.113 In the spring of 1946 $3.00 was allocated 

for every student attending the Saturday school, and an appeal was made that 

" a l l those in that age-bracket be asked to attend."114 Some concern was 

voiced at this time about the "great danger" that Coaldale Mennonite Brethren 

children were in: 

How can we protect our children? It is pointed to the various 
meetings in the Dance Hall, the worldly Christmas programs, and the 
various youth organizations—Sea and Air Cadets, etc. What they 
couldn't achieve with our adult CO.'s, they want to do with our 
children. Parents are warned very earnestly, and urged to bring 
their children to church, where there is true l i f e . Our children are 
also in great danger in the public schools.115 

Besides the above-mentioned perils, other evangelical groups such as 

Pentecostals were posing a challenge to Brethren integrity; they were branded 



141 

a "false cult" by the church council in the spring of 1948, as an ordained 

member of the Coaldale congregation joined their ranks.116 

The Saturday school reported an attendance of 156 students in 1953, but 

experienced increasing problems throughout the 1950's. Lack of discipline as 

well as opposition to learning the German language was reported among 

students.117 By the f a l l of 1955 attendance was dropping, and the project 

was "getting harder to administer every year."118 In 1956 i t was d i f f i c u l t 

to find teachers, discipline was lacking, and interest in German was 

waning.119 A shortage of staff was again reported in 1958.120 Clearly the 

battle was lost, even i f the school continued to be operated as late as 1970, 

since in 1958 the church began the process of changing over to English in i t s 

worship services. 

Already in 1954 some "younger members" of the congregation were accusing 

the congregational leader of refusing to order English Hymnals. The church 

chose to "take a stand" on the matter, and appointed the Youth Committee to 

order 100 English hymnals, cautioning members at the same time to "proceed 

very wisely in the language problem."121 In November of 1958 an English 

sermon was instituted every second Sunday, 122 and the ratio of English to 

German in the Sunday morning service continued to be adjusted on into the 

late I960's.123 

The move towards a changeover to English in the Kitchener, Ontario 

congregation began in late 1954, when an occasional English service for the 

"younger members" was proposed for discussion.124 The issue next emerged in 

the context of an "evangelism week" which the congregation had decided to 

organize. Since the effort seemed to be aimed primarily at "our youth", the 

question arose as to whether the program should be in English. After a long 



142 

discussion and a secret ballot, the votes for English totalled 137, and 12 

for German. One can surmise that among those 12 were individuals who 

contributed heavily to the discussion. The issue was closed thus: "It is 

once more asserted that this is not about a language change, rather only 

about the week of evangelization."125 

In April 1955 the congregation voted for an English service once a 

month.126 Things appeared to have stayed this way until 1957, when another 

discussion about an evangelism program occurred. The decision this time was 

for i t to be held half in German, half in English.127 In 1957 the issue 

began to be characterized as a "problem". In September of that year a 

proposal was made for English and German sermons to be preached on 

alternating Sundays, with a short English one on the German days as well. 

This proposal produced a " l i v e l y exchange of opinions". The issue was 

deliberated upon but not resolved in any satisfying manner until May 1961, 

when i t was decided to have a normal length German sermon every Sunday, with 

a shorter English one. Sunday-evening services would alternate between 

German and English.128 In 1963 the issue was discussed again, but the only 

decision reached was to leave matters l i e . Thus for at least six years the 

issue was a subject of debate. Sometimes the only result of a meeting was 

agreement to discuss the issue again before voting on i t , and sometimes a 

vote could be quite close.129 

In the early 1950's the leader of the Winnipeg North End Brethren 

congregation, D.K. Duerksen, was also leader of the German school. B.B. Fast 

and "other brothers" f e l t that this school " i s an organic part of our church 

work, as is the Sunday School, youth work etc., and therefore i t is quite 

appropriate that the church leader be leader of this work."130 A major 



143 

discussion on separation from the "world" took place among the congregation 

soon after the above statement was made, with injunctions being made against 

the use of makeup, and v i s i t i n g theatres and sporting events, etc.131 It is 

also significant that during this time D.K. Duerksen began to lead 

discussions at every "youth evening" on the topic of nonresistance.132 The 

person of D.K. Duerksen illustrates once again that maintenance of the German 

language was an elemental part of a general attempt to keep the s p e c i f i c a l l y 

Brethren configuration of beliefs and principles intact. 

But the language transition had already occurred among the younger 

Brethren. The Sunday School committee reported in 1951 that foremost among 

the problems facing them was that of language: 

The confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel has become quite 
severe...Our children now think in English instead of German. They 
would rather sing in English than German, hear stories in 
English,...(and) there doesn't seem to be much we can do about i t . 
There are only a few children in the Sunday School who don't 
understand German, yet the instruction is already no longer 100% in 
German.133 

Even i f most children understood German, their f a c i l i t y with the language was 

not very good. The only "radical solution" to the problem would be to change 

completely into English. It was suggested that mothers leave their 2 to 3-

1/2 year-olds in the nursery, where they would learn German from the woman in 

charge, who was fluent in German.134 

Attendance of the German Saturday school in 1951 was at an all-time high, 

with 56 students attending; the numbers climbed during the-1950's, as they 

also did in other congregations. The need and interest in the school 

paralleled the period of German-language decline.135 In 1952 the Sunday 

School continued to be instructed primarily in German, but thoughts were 

being uttered as to the exclusivity that this represented; these doubts were 



144 

assuaged by the fact that the church operated a "mission school", in English 

and l i k e l y some distance away from the home church.136 

In March of 1954 the youth began holding an English gathering on every 

second Sunday of the month, and in August of that year an English Sunday 

evening worship service was approved.137 Thus began the changeover, 

culminating in the institution of bilingual services by the winter of 

1958.138 The congregation was by now involved with some of the local English-

speaking churches in organizations such as the Lord's Day Alliance, 

Evangelical Pastor's Fellowship, and Greater Winnipeg Ministerial 

Association.139 The transition to English was f e l t to be a loss by elder 

members of this congregation, as a statement made in 1959 attests: 

For those of us who to a greater or lesser extent know the German 
language, i t is a natural good (Gut) that we love and cherish, and 
want to retain. Should we give up this good, i t would be a certain 
loss for our churches and for every one of us personally.140 

Stories abound concerning the misunderstandings and conflicts which 

occurred in Mennonite congregations during the transition period. One 

individual recalls being the f i r s t person to give a personal testimony to his 

congregation in English. When he was finished, an older member stood up and 

stated in German: "I haven't understood a thing! Is he even a 

Christian?"141 Calvin Redekop travelled with a Mennonite Central Committee 

(a major North American Mennonite service institution) "peace team" in 

western Canada during the late 1940's, v i s i t i n g Mennonite churches and giving 

presentations on Mennonite peace principles. The other team members gave 

their presentations in German, and Redekop spoke in English, because his 

German wasn't too good and his message was directed primarily toward the 

youth. As he relates i t , 

In one situation I got up and started making my presentation; there 



145 

was some discussion in the back of the church, and one gentleman 
stood up and said: "Can't you speak German?" I responded that I 
could, but not very well, and he said, "There's no point in carrying 
this discussion any further!"142 

At this point a debate erupted between church members, and the pastor f i n a l l y 

cancelled the remainder of the meeting. "In every congregation, we f e l t this 

tension, 'If you don't speak German, you really are giving us something which 

doesn't apply to us, is alien to us.'"143 

B.B. Janz, who was s t i l l active during the 1950's, was not pleased with 

the rapid changes that were taking place at this time, including the loss of 

the German language. In 1950 he s t i l l f e l t that "For the good of the 

Mennonite Brethren church in Canada, the retention of the German language for 

a number of years yet is absolutely necessary. "144 At the 1954 Canadian 

Conference meeting, Janz delivered a wide-ranging and c r i t i c a l address. In 

addition to decrying rampant "hypocrisy, superficiality, immodesty and 

rebelliousness" among the Mennonite Brethren, he attacked the "horrible 

materialism, pleasure-seeking and...overweaning ambition (that) are 

undermining the Mennonite Brethren Church." Concerning the "language 

problem", Janz stated: 

The language problem in our congregations is a very serious matter 
which can cause the older members much pain, and bring an a i r of 
f r i v o l i t y to the churches. It wouldn't be a problem i f a l l else was 
s p i r i t u a l l y well among young and old. Both sides need to display 
sound s p i r i t u a l i t y and wisdom, proceeding impartially but never 
pushing things to the breaking point. How sad, when mother and child 
can no longer understand each other, on account of the Babylonian 
confusion!145 

The allusion to the tower of Babel story, in which a prelapsarian l i n g u i s t i c 

(and social) unity is destroyed, due to s i n f u l collaboration on a monument to 

human pride, drives home the message contained in Janz's carefully chosen 

words. The rapid linguistic transition taking place was to him a reflection 



146 

of a general breakdown of the socio-religious integrity of his people. 

In other contexts Janz was more direct. When the Konferenz Jugendblatt 

became wholly English, Janz wrote the new editor a letter, with the caption 

"Funeral", protesting the move.146 In a study-paper entitled "Confusion", 

from about the same time, Janz expressed the feelings of a whole generation. 

While he admitted that a language transition must inevitably take place, he 

f e l t that i t was happening much too quickly: 

It is a direct, sharp break in about half a generation. A l l the 
roots of l i v i n g and working (according to God's word), morality, 
custom, family l i f e , conduct with modesty and humility, obedience and 
respect for parents and vice versa, and in part also our faith are 
ripped untested out of the earlier way of l i f e (which is 
disrespected) and stuffed into the new way of l i f e here. In this 
process much that is dear and precious is lost. The rapid break 
reminds one of a preciously laden ship f i l l e d with priceless goods 
that are rapidly being thrown overboard and new cargo from here taken 
on board. The new goods are said to be so much better. In the past, 
persecuted in their home country, plagued, b i t t e r l y poor, but not yet 
degenerated in heart and conscience, the people brought with them a 
great inner wealth...By a decent, gradual change we would strive 
carefully to retain a l l that is ideal and worthy of retention in our 
tested faith and l i f e and add the new and good to i t . With such a 
break in i t s way of l i f e in so short a time and often with violence 
to the 5th commandment, i t is definite that this generation w i l l in 
the next 10-20 years also degenerate in i t s way of l i f e . It is going 
downhill! Many young people find our simple Mennonite religious 
services, and a l l our various arrangements much too pale. But there, 
in that English church, there at least is l i f e ! Yes, a l l kinds of 
bustle and antics, a l l those witticisms and gestures to awaken the 
people to echoing laughter; then at last also a short Word of 
God."147 

Janz's biographer attributes such statements to the effects of old age 

and of belonging to a generation which was no longer needed.148 Given the 

broad sweep of Russlaender Brethren history, i t also seems f i t t i n g to say 

that they were the death-cries of a way of l i f e . As the next chapter shows, 

concern over the demise of the particular configuration of language, Volk, 

and religious s e n s i b i l i t y which was the foundation of the Russian Brethren 

way of l i f e led to substantial i f doomed efforts to preserve i t in the 



147 

postwar period. 

Despite the fears and efforts of Janz's generation, however, a l l was not 

lost, and the Brethren continued to function as a viable religious body, i f 

in a somewhat changed form. To conclude this chapter I w i l l present the 

story of one individual who was anglicized and attended an "English" Bible 

school, yet remained in the Brethren community and eventually became a leader 

of considerable stature. The experience of Herbert Brandt exemplifies both 

the perspective and dilemmas of the younger generation during the transition 

period, as well as the fact that the elder generation's fears were 

exaggerated. 

Brandt, who has worked as a Brethren pastor and leader for much of his 

l i f e , was born in Saskatchewan of Russlaender parents, and grew up speaking 

Low German and English. His father was a schoolteacher who had a good 

command of the English language. Brandt never attended Saturday school, and 

never learned High German well enough to be comfortable with i t , even though 

i t was the language of church services, of some of his relatives, and was 

mandatory at the Mennonite Collegiate Institute, a private high school which 

he attended (begun by Kanadier and supported primarily by General Conference 

Mennonites). Although the language gave Brandt problems, he respected and 

trusted important "traditionalists" whom he learned to know through the 

school, including G.H. Peters, D.P. Esau, and A.H. Unruh. 

However, a problem emerged for him when he made a Christian commitment 

around this time: English was essentially his mother tongue, but the 

theological language he had learned was in German: "The problem for me was 

that everything I.experienced or learned in religious faith was in German, 

but I couldn't express everyday things in that language." It was a 



148 

dichotomous situation: On the soccer f i e l d he spoke English, and in church 

German- "I had learned a religious language abstracted or compartmentalized 

from my everyday l i f e . I learned German as the language through which I 

communicate my faith, and thus my whole thinking process had to s h i f t gears." 

It didn't feel right to compartmentalize things that way. 

Brandt got his military c a l l in August, 1943; by September he was working 

in a mental hospital in Brandon, Manitoba, as a Conscientious Objector (CO). 

He was there u n t i l 1946. He and other Mennonite C.O.'s sometimes communicated 

among themselves in Low-German, but they were "basically into English". They 

were f u l l y in the English world, German was "non-existent". Although he did 

not ever think of himself as being fundamentally "different" than the English 

community, as a CO. Brandt experienced some ridicule for being of German-

speaking background, and for being a p a c i f i s t . "You begin to think, xwhy 

continue to identify with the German element?'" 

When his term was up, and as he was deciding where to pursue further 

studies, he f e l t he had to make a decision whether to return to the German-

Mennonite community or continue to make his way in the English-Canadian 

world. He didn't feel i t was necessary or important to study German in order 

to study the Bible, and there would not have been as many options for him i f 

he followed this path. And he states that "In some ways I was rebelling, I 

guess." He was c r i t i c a l of the traditional community, "but not in the sense 

of wanting to cut myself off from i t . " 

Because of his interest in missionary work, Brandt decided to enroll at 

PBI, and there he "began to realize pretty quickly the difference in 

Christian l i f e " between that of PBI and of his own experience. The 

atmosphere at PBI had m i l i t a r i s t i c overtones at this time, as returning 



149 

soldiers were swelling i t s ranks. "Now we CO. 's were s i t t i n g beside Majors 

in the army, some of them highly convinced they were great liberators." He 

perceived that there were different types of Christian community, but he 

didn't feel he had to be German-speaking to experience the kind of community 

with which he had grown up and become comfortable. 

Among the Brethren who attended PBI during Brandt's time were David 

Ewert, P.R. Toews, George Geddart, and H.R. Baerg. (Ewert has been a 

prominent MB leader and Geddart was a longtime librarian and teacher at 

Bethany Bible School.) "There was a very strong move in the 1940's to get 

Bible-training in an English environment." Some "pushed hard" for a 

changeover in Brethren churches to English. Brandt's roommate at PBI f e l t 

strongly that the Mennonite "German emphasis" was out of order. Brandt co-

wrote a document with a number of PBI men c a l l i n g for change in this matter. 

Evangelism and outreach were important elements in their desire to change to 

the language of the land. 

During his tenure at PBI Brandt didn't have much contact with Mennonite 

groups. Mennonites at the school would get letters from leaders concerned 

about them losing their Mennonite identity through becoming "Verenglischt" 

(anglicized). "In retrospect, I can understand their concern." Herb's 

choice of PBI over the Mennonite Brethren Bible College or other schools like 

the Winkler Bible School was not solely a question of the Mennonite German 

identity, although i t was an important factor, nor was he intent on rejecting 

the Brethren tradition as a whole. PBI simply had a number of things to 

offer, while the unattractiveness of the Mennonite schools was only 

compounded by their emphasis on the German language.149 

After leaving PBI Brandt worked as an elementary school teacher, before 



150 

assuming pastoral duties in a number of English-speaking Brethren churches, 

and serving as a Brethren Conference leader. Although he has never f e l t that 

Germanism was crucial to Brethren identity, and he has been involved with the 

church during a time of growth and v i t a l i t y , Brandt currently has 

reservations about the ongoing Brethren rejection of certain aspects of their 

own heritage and faith, and the near complete transition from an egalitarian 

to hierarchical form of church polity. 

In conclusion, Russlaender Brethren identity and socio-religious 

integrity were closely linked to Germanism, and the German language in 

particular, during the f i r s t three decades after their a r r i v a l in Canada from 

Soviet Russia. For many people the rapid transition from German to English 

was symptomatic of a number of mostly negative changes which took place, 

especially in the postwar period. As a potent symbol of the "inner wealth" 

which Mennonites had brought with them from Russia, the German language was 

very d i f f i c u l t to let go, especially in the context of the local 

congregation, where Mennonite Brethren social and religious l i f e were merged 

into one. This resulted in some alienation from the group, yet the Brethren 

continued to grow numerically, and were able to remain a viable and v i t a l 

religious body, i f in fact some c r i t i c a l changes were indeed taking place. 



151 

NOTES, CHAPTER FOUR 

1. Calvin Redekop, Mennonite Society (Johns Hopkins University Press, 
1989), p. 62ff. 

2. Delbert Wiens, "The Old Wine; Will i t Sour?" The Canadian Mennonite, 
18 April 1967, pp. 6-7; J.A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren  
Church, (Fresno, CA: Board of Christian Literature, 1975), pp. 323-24; 
Interview with Herb Brandt, Mennonite Brethren Pastor, June 3 and December 
19, 1989, Kelowna, B.C. This idea w i l l be discussed further in Chapter Six. 

3. An analysis of the Vineland, Ontario Brethren congregation done by 
Gerry Ediger is also used, and I thank him for making i t available to me. 

4. Minutes of the North End Mennonite Brethren Church business meetings, 
September 18, 1927, microfilm r o l l no. 91, p. 2116, Centre for Mennonite 
Brethren Studies (CMBS), Fresno; Minutes of the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren 
Church business meetings, November 16, 1930, Folder BA 501, p. 20, CMBS 
Fresno; Gerry Ediger, "Language Transition in the Vineland Mennonite 
Brethren Church," unpublished paper, May 1987, in my possession; Minutes of 
the Yarrow Mennonite Brethren Church business meetings, December 19, 1938, 
microfilm r o l l no. 65, p. 273, CMBS Fresno; Minutes of the Hepburn Mennonite 
Brethren Church business meetings, March 1, 1937, microfilm r o l l no. 10, p. 
405, CMBS Fresno. 

5. D.P. Esau, "Was erwarten unsere Gemeinden von den Elementar und 
Hochschulen in Religion und Deutsch," Der Bote. 15 June 1938, pp. 1-2. 

6. 1926 Mennonite Brethren Northern District Conference Yearbook 
(Hillsboro, KS: MB Publishing House), p. 32. 

7. 1933 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 76; 1935 Northern  
District Conference Yearbook, pp. 47-48. 

8. "Bericht des Schulkomitees auf der Konferenz zu Langham am 7 J u l i , 
1931," Mennonitische Rundschau, 9 September 1931, p. 3; Ibid., Mennonitische  
Rundschau, 23 September 1931, p. 3. 

9. "Die jaehrliche Schulvorsteherkonvention," Mennonitische Rundschau, 
25 May 1932, p. 6. 

10. e.g. 23 December 1931, p. 5; H.H. Ewert, 17 February 1932, p. 2; 1 
March 1933, p. 3; A.A. Toews, 14 November 1934, p. 5; "Leiden des deutschen 
Schulmeisters," 12 June 1935, pp. 2-3; F.C. Thiessen, "Offener Brief an die 
deutschen Eltern und Schulfreunde der Stadt Winnipeg," 12 September 1934, p. 
5. 

11. "Religion und deutsche Sprache in unseren Schulen," Mennonitische  
Rundschau, 29 June 1932, pp. 4-5. 



152 

12. Alexander Dirks, "Freuden und Leiden des Schulmeisters," 
Mennonitische Rundschau. 17 July 1935, p. 4. 

13. "Deutsche Reliqionsschule," Mennonitische Rundschau. 30 October 
1935, p. 1. 

14. There seems to be l i t t l e hard data on the degree to which the 
provisions for instruction in language and religion in public schools were 
made use of in predominantly Mennonite areas. E.K. Francis found that "many" 
Mennonite d i s t r i c t s did not avail themselves of the opportunities available 
to them in this regard, but does not present any data. E.K. Francis, In 
Search of Utopia: The Mennonites of Manitoba (Altona, MB: D.W. Friesen & 
Sons, 1955), pp. 265-66. 

15. 1928 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 50. 

16. "Schulfragen und unsere Schule," Der Bote. 20 March 1935, p. 3. 

17. 1935 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 47. 

18. "Brueder, wo stuerst du hin?", Mennonitische Rundschau. 12 February 
1936, pp. 6-7; Mennonitische Rundschau, 4 March 1936, pp. 2-3. 

19. "Ein dunkles Blatt in der Geschichte von Heute," Mennonitische  
Rundschau, 29 April 1936, p. 5. 

20. "Gouldtown, Saskatchewan", Mennonitische Rundschau, 25 March 1936, 
p. 13. 

21. Mennonite Brethren church historian J.A. Toews was obviously aware 
of this, having taught in a number of Bible schools himself, but the issue 
receives peripheral treatment in his chapter on schools. See J.A. Toews, A 
History of the Mennonite Brethren Church (Fresno, Ca: Board of Christian 
Literature, 1975), p. 254ff. In other studies of Brethren schools very 
l i t t l e understanding of the relationship between cultural and religious 
values is present, e.g. John George Doerksen, "Mennonite Brethren Bible 
College and College of the Arts" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of North 
Dakota, 1968); Peter G. Klassen, "A History of Mennonite Education in 
Canada, 1786-1960" (D. Ed. Thesis, University of Toronto, 1970); John George 
Doerksen, "History of Education of the Mennonite Brethren of Canada" (M. Ed. 
Thesis, University of Manitoba, 1963). 

22. This figure was arrived at by cross-referencing l i s t s found in Peter 
Penner, No Longer At Arm's Length: Mennonite Brethren Church Planting in  
Canada 1883-1983 (Winnipeg: Kindred Press, 1987), p. 25; and A.J. Classen, 
ed., The Bible School Story 1913-1963 (Mennonite Brethren Board of Education, 
1963). 

23. Minutes of the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church business meetings, 
January 19, 1930, Folder BA 501, pp. 15-16, CMBS Fresno. 

24. Mennonitische Rundschau, 7 October 1931, p. 5. 



153 

25. F.C. Thiessen, Mennonitische Rundschau. 30 August 1933, p. 4. 

26. From the 1937-38 School Calendar; BF, Saskatchewan Conference of 
Mennonite Brethren Churches, Box 1, Folder 11, CMBS Fresno. 

27. J.B. Toews, "Mennonite Brethren Identity and Theological Diversity," 
in Paul Toews, ed., Pilgrims and Strangers: Essays in Mennonite Brethren  
History (Fresno, CA: Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies, 1977), p. 144. 

28. 1933 Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 87; 1935 Northern  
D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 48; 1936 Northern District Conference 
Yearbook, p. 45; 1937 Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 20; 1938  
Northern District Conference Yearbook, pp. 22-23; 1939 Northern D i s t r i c t  
Conference Yearbook, p. 25. 

29. 1937 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 20; F.C. Thiessen, 
"Offener Brief," Mennonitische Rundschau. 12 September 1934, p. 5; 
"Protokoll der Provinzial Vertreterversammlung," Mennonitische Rundschau. 2 
August 1939, pp. 9-10. 

30. J.B. Toews, "Mennonite Brethren Identity," p. 147. 

31. John George Doerksen, "History of Education of the Mennonite 
Brethren of Canada," (M.A. Thesis, University of Manitoba, 1963), p. 56. 

32. W.E. Mann, Sect, Cult, and Church in Alberta (Toronto: University of 
Toronto Press, 1955); Ben Harder, "The Bible Institute-College Movement in 
Canada," Journal of Canadian Church Historical Society (April 1980):29-45; 
David R. E l l i o t t , "Studies of Eight Canadian Fundamentalists," (Ph.D. 
dissertation, University of British Columbia, 1989). 

33. Harder, "The Bible Institute-College Movement," p. 32; Mann, Sect,  
Cult, and Church, p. 82ff; Penner, No Longer At Arm's Length, p. 25; 
Interview with Herb Brandt, Mennonite Brethren Pastor, June 3 and December 
19, 1989, Kelowna, B.C.; Letter from B.B. Janz to J. Quiring, July 10, 1950, 
B.B. Janz Collection, Box 4, Folder 49, CMBS Winnipeg; Aron Sawatzky, "The 
Mennonites of Alberta and Their Assimilation" (M.A. Thesis, University of 
Alberta, 1964), pp. 224-25. Mann l i s t s many more reasons for the 
attractiveness of schools like PBI, including i t s radio programs and the 
chance to gain experience in radio broadcasting, the staging of missions 
conferences, low academic entrance requirements and fees, etc. Herb Brandt 
recalls the impressive travelling singing groups, and being attracted to PBI 
because of i t s reputation in the area of foreign missions. 

34. 1935 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 48. 

35. Minutes of the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church business meetings, 
June 27, 1936, Folder BA 501, p. 83, CMBS Fresno. 

36. Toews, "Mennonite Brethren Identity," pp. 148-50. 

37. Penner, No Longer At Arm's Length, p. 14ff. 



154 

38. Ibid., pp. 22-26; Gerry Ed iger,."Language Transition in the 
Vineland Mennonite Brethren Church," p. 13. This becomes more evident in the 
postwar period. 

39. Mennonitische Rundschau, 31 July 1935, p. 2; G.H. Peters, "Wie 
begegnen wir der Gefahr der Entfremdung der deutsch-mennonitischen Jugend?", 
Mennonitische Rundschau, 28 August 1935, p. 5; Mennonitische Rundschau, 22 
July 1936, p. 3; G.H. Peters, Mennonitische Rundschau, 18 November 1936, p. 
7; G.H. Peters, "Und wieder: 'unsere deutsche Sprache'," Der Bote. 7 April 
1937, pp. 3-4; Mennonitische Rundschau, 9 August 1939, p. 3. 

40. Minutes of the Bethany Bible School Committee Meeting, 17 February 
1940, BF Saskatchewan Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, Box 1, 
Folder 11, CMBS Fresno. 

41. Ediger, "Language Transition in the Vineland Mennonite Brethren 
Church," pp. 7-8. 

42. Minutes of the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church business meetings, 
November 14, 1939, Folder BA 501, p. 114; Ibid., December 27, 1940, p. 129. 

43. Minutes of the Bethany Bible School Committee Meeting, September 25, 
1940, f i l e 11; Ibid., January 24, 1942, p. 128, f i l e 12. 

44. Minutes of the Hepburn Mennonite Brethren Church business meetings, 
June 16, 1941, microfilm r o l l 10, p. 896, CMBS Fresno. 

45. Minutes of the Yarrow Mennonite Brethren Church business meetings, 
October 25, 1939, microfilm r o l l 65, p. 296; August 12, 1940, p. 317; .October 
24, 1942, p. 377, CMBS Fresno. Minutes of the North End Mennonite Brethren 
Church business meetings, October 2, 1940, microfilm r o l l 92, p. 17; January 
3, 1943, p. 79; January 14, 1945, pp. 131-32, CMBS Fresno. 

46. George G. Thielman, "The Canadian Mennonites" (Ph.D. Dissertation, 
Western Reserve University, 1955), p. 256. 

47. Minutes of the Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church business 
meetings, October 1, 1939, microfilm r o l l 33, p. 1741, CMBS Fresno. 

48. Minutes of the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church business meetings, 
December 27, 1940, Folder BA 501, p. 129, CMBS Fresno. 



155 

49. Hildegard M. Martens, "Accomodation and Withdrawal: The Response of 
Mennonites in Canada to World War II," Social History VII (November 
1974):306-27; T.D. Regehr, "The Influence of World War II on Mennonites in 
Canada," Journal of Mennonite Studies 5 (1987):73-89; Howard Palmer, "Ethnic 
Relations in Wartime: Nationalism and European Minorities in Alberta during 
the Second World War," Canadian Ethnic Studies XIV (1982):l-23; Thielman, 
"The Canadian Mennonites," pp.254-56. Enlistment figures have traditionally 
been estimated at one-half, or 7500, of e l i g i b l e Mennonite men. T.D. Regehr 
reports however that a l i s t compiled from Canadian military personnel f i l e s 
contained 4,453 Mennonite names; the actual figure thus is somewhere between 
these two figures, being probably closer to the lower one. Regehr, "The 
Influence of World War II," p. 76. 

50. Robert H. Keyserlingk, "Breaking the Nazi Plot: Canadian Government 
Attitudes Towards German Canadians, 1939-1945," in Hillman, Kordan, Luciuk, 
eds., On Guard For Thee: War. Ethnicity, and the Canadian State. 1939-1945 
(Ottawa: Canadian Committee for the History of the Second World War, 1988), 
pp. 54-61. 

51. Norman Hillmer, "The Second World War as an (Un) National 
Experience," in On Guard For Thee, p. x v i i . 

52. Palmer, "Ethnic Relations in Wartime," pp. 8-11. 

53. 1941 Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 17; 1942 Northern 
D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, pp. 26-29. 

54. Frank Epp estimates that the rates of Russlaender enlistment to be 
around 50%. Frank Epp, Mennonite Exodus (Altona: D.W. Friesen & Sons Ltd, 
1966), p. 331. The actual rate may be somewhat lower—see note 49. 

55. 1943 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 17; See also 1942 
Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 9; 1944 Northern D i s t r i c t  
Conference Yearbook, p. 16, 53. 

56. 1944 Northern District Conference, p. 27. 

57. Minutes of the Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church business meeting, 
November 19, 1944, microfilm r o l l 33, p. 1807, CMBS Fresno. 

58. Frank H. Epp, Mennonites in Canada 1920-1940 (Toronto: Macmillan of 
Canada, 1982), pp. 575-578; 1939 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, pp. 
6-8; Mennonitische Rundschau, May-October 1939; Thielman, "The Canadian 
Mennonites," pp. 259-60. 

59. Seventh Census of Canada. 1931, vol. I l l (Ottawa: King's Printers, 
1935), pp. 772-73. 

60. Eighth Census of Canada. 1941 vol. IV (Ottawa: King's Printers, 
1944), p. 56. 



156 

61. Interview with Peter Neudorf, Mennonite Businessman, December 10, 
1989, Vancouver, B.C; Interview with Anne Funk, Mennonite social worker, May 
6, 1990, Vancouver, B.C; Francis, In Search of Utopia, pp. 233-34. 

62. P.A. Berg, 1941 Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 9. 

63. For example, a member of a strongly pro-Hitler Russlaender family 
remembers the d i s i l l u s i o n with the regime which the family experienced at the 
end of the war. Interview with Anne Funk. 

64. Letter of February 19, 1953, B.B. Janz Collection, Box 7, Folder 97, 
Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies (CMBS), Winnipeg. 

65. Leo Driedger, "A Perspective on Canadian Mennonite Urbanization," 
Mennonite Life (October 1968):147. 

66. Howard Palmer, Patterns of Prejudice: A History of Nativism in  
Alberta (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1982), p. 176ff. 

67. Gerald Friesen, The Canadian Prairies: A History (Toronto: 
University of Toronto Press, 1987), p. 422, 453. 

68. Friesen, The Canadian Prairies, p. 464; Palmer, Patterns of  
Prejudice, pp. 179-80. 

69. Friesen, The Canadian Prairies, pp. 456-57; Francis, In Search of  
Utopia, pp. 242-46, 275-77; Leo Driedger, "Urbanization of Mennonites in 
Canada," in Poettcker and Regehr, eds., Call to Faithfulness: Essays in  
Canadian Mennonite Studies (Winnipeg: Canadian Mennonite Bible College, 
1972), pp. 150-51; John Friesen, "Manitoba Mennonites in the Rural-Urban 
Shift," Mennonite Life XXIII (October 1968):158. 

70. Driedger, "Urbanization of Mennonites in Canada," pp. 144-45. 

71. .In B.C., the province in which Mennonites were most highly 
urbanized, the Brethren counted three times as many members as other 
Mennonite groups. Robert K. Burkinshaw, "Strangers and Pilgrims in Lotus 
Land: Conservative Protestantism in British Columbia, 1917-1981" (Ph.D. 
Dissertation, University of British Columbia, 1988), pp. 209-11. In Manitoba 
they also had the highest percentage of urbanized members, doubling their 
urban population in the decade and a half after the Second World War. 
Friesen, "Manitoba Mennonites," p. 154, and Driedger, "Urbanization of 
Mennonites in Canada," p. 147. In Ontario during the early 1960's the 
Brethren were found to be much more heavily concentrated in the professions 
than other Mennonite groups. Ibid., p. 149. 

72. Driedger, "Urbanization of Mennonites in Canada," pp. 147-50; 
Regehr, "The Influence of World War II on Mennonites," pp. 79-83. 

73. George K. Epp, "Mennonite Immigration to Canada After World War II," 
Journal of Mennonite Studies 5 (1987):108-19. 



157 

74. Penner, No Longer At Arm's Length, p. 40; J.A. Toews, A History of  
the Mennonite Brethren Church, p. 207, 327; Francis, In Search of Utopia, p. 
242; Interview with J.B. Toews, Mennonite Brethren leader, June 10, 1989, 
Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

75. 1945 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 92; 1959 Northern  
D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 256. 

76. Sawatzky, "The Mennonites of Alberta," pp. 215-16. 

77. Ibid., p. 229; J.A. Toews also notes this effect, without giving 
figures. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, p. 329. J.B. 
Toews estimates that up to 40% of the membership of some Brethren churches 
was lost because of the tensive atmosphere surrounding the language 
transition. Interview with J.B. Toews, Brethren educator and leader, June 
10, 1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

78. Sawatzky, "The Mennonites of Alberta," p. 230; Adolf Ens, "Changes 
in Language and Cultural Symbols During the 1950's," unpublished paper, Box 
17, Folder F, no. 2, CMBS Winnipeg. 

79. Sawatzky, "The Mennonites of Alberta," p. 248. 

80. Interview with J.B. Toews, Mennonite Brethren leader, June 10, 1989, 
Winnipeg, Manitoba; Interview with Gerhard Ens, editor of Der Bote. June 20, 
1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba; H.A. Peters, "Das mennonitische Volkstum: Eine 
Skizze seiner Entstehung und des Verfalles," Der Bote, 8 December 1964, p. 
10. Interview with Herb Brandt, Mennonite Brethren pastor, June 3 and 
December 19, 1989, Kelowna, B.C.; Frank Epp, "The Struggle for Recognition," 
in Poettcker and Regehr, eds., Call to Faithfulness, p. 169; Jacob Loewen, 
"The German Language, Culture and Faith," unpublished paper, Box 15, Folder 
E, no. 3, CMBS Winnipeg, p. 20. 

81. Adolf Ens, "Changes in Language and Cultural Symbols," pp. 2-3; 
Interview with Herb Brandt; Regehr, "The Influence of World War II on 
Mennonites," p. 76. 

82. Frank Epp, "The Struggle for Recognition," in Poettcker and Regehr, 
eds., Call To Faithfulness: Essays in Canadian Mennonite Studies (Winnipeg: 
Canadian Mennonite Bible College, 1972), pp. 167-73. 

83. Penner, No Longer At Arm's Length, pp. 40-41. 

84. H.F. Klassen, "Editorial", Konferenz Jugendblatt. 31 May 1944, pp. 
2-3. 

85. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, p. 232, 328; 
H.H. Janzen, "Strengthening the Peace Witness," The Mennonite VII (January 
1952), pp. 3-4; Penner, No Longer At Arm's Length, p. 28. 

86. J.J.J., Konferenz Jugendblatt. May 1952, p. 2ff. 



158 

87. H.H. Janzen, "Strengthening the Peace Witness," p. 3. 

88. Penner, No Longer At Arm's Length, p. 41; Toews, A History of the  
Mennonite Brethren Church, p. 339; 1954 Northern District Conference  
Yearbook, p. 85; 1958 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, pp. 154-55. 

89. 1946 Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 115; 1950 Northern  
D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 57; 1952 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference  
Yearbook, p. 94. 

90. Sawatzky, "The Mennonites of Alberta," pp. 224-25. 

91. Letter to J. Quiring, July 10, 1950, B.B. Janz Collection, Box 4, 
Folder 49, CMBS Winnipeg. 

92. 1946 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 162. 

93. H.F. Klassen, "Editorial", Konferenz Jugendblatt, March 1946, p. 3. 

94. Penner, No Longer At Arm's Length, p. 46; Mann, Sect. Cult, and  
Church in Alberta, p. 103; Interview with Jack and Eleanor Dueck, July 6, 
1989, Kitchener, Ontario. 

95. J.B. Toews, "Mennonite Brethren Identity," pp. 142-43. 

96. Penner, No Longer At Arm's Length. 

97. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, p. 233ff; 
1946 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 138ff; 1947 Northern District  
Conference Yearbook, p. 12ff; 1950 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 
6ff. 

98. H.F. Klassen, e d i t o r i a l , Konferenz Jugendblatt, 31 May 1944, p. 3. 

99. e.g."Haltet solche Maenner in Ehren!", Konferenz Jugendblatt. March 
1945, pp. 4-5; Ibid., March 1946, p. 4. 

100. B.B. Janz, Konferenz Jugendblatt. March 1945, p. 13. 

101. Anna Wiebe, "Wie e r z i e l t man Liebe und Verstaendnis fuer die 
Muttersprache?", Konferenz Jugendblatt. June 1947, pp. 6-7; "Sprache", 
Ibid., p. 19; "Die Muttersprache," Ibid., April 1948; "The German Song, our 
Heritage," Ibid., June-August 1948, p. 15; H.F. Klassen, "Why Two 
Languages?", Ibid., November 1952, p. 2. 

102. H.F. Klassen, Konferenz Jugendblatt, October 1946, p. 2. 

103. "Brief an Editor u. Hilfseditoren," Konferenz Jugendblatt, February 
1947, p. 2. 

104. Konferenz Jugendblatt, April 1947, p. 2, 9. 



159 

105. Ibid., p. 2. 

106. H.F. Klassen, "Why Two Languages?", Konferenz Jugendblatt. November 
1952, p. 2. 

107. Walfried Dirks, "Language Tolerance," Konferenz Jugendblatt, June 
1947, p. 18. 

108. Gerhard Lohrenz, "Volk oder Gemeinde?", Konferenz Jugendblatt,. 
April 1950, p. 50. 

109. H.F. Klassen, "Wollen wir Mennoniten bleiben?", Konferenz  
Jugendblatt, January 1952, p. 2. 

110. A.A. Toews, "1st unsere Absonderung berechtigt?", Konferenz  
Jugendblatt, September 1952, pp. 3-5. 

111. R.C.L. Minnton, "Shall Canadians be Mennonites?", Konferenz  
Jugendblatt, September 1952, pp. 23-24. 

112. Gerry Ediger, professor at Mennonite Brethren Bible College, is 
currently working on a doctoral dissertation which promises to treat of this 
topic in greater d e t a i l . 

113. Minutes of the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church business 
meetings, May 10, 1945, Folder BA 501, p. 164, CMBS Fresno. Hereafter 
referred to as "Coaldale minutes", with date and page number given. 

114. Coaldale minutes, April 14, 1946, p. 168. 

115. Coaldale minutes, January 15, 1946, pp. 165-66. 

116. Coaldale minutes, April 19, 1948, p.180; May 30, 1948, p. 182. 

117. Coaldale minutes, May 18, 1953, p. 216; February 22, 1954, p. 222. 

118. Coaldale minutes, September 20, 1955, p. 234; October 31, 1955, p. 

119. Coaldale minutes, November 14, 1956, p. 240. 

120. Coaldale minutes, July 26, 1958, p. 253. 

121. Coaldale minutes, March 2, 1954, p. 222; March 8, 1954, p. . 223. 

122. Coaldale minutes, November 10, 1958, p. 261. 

123. Coaldale minutes, January 29, 1962, p. 291; April 2, 1962, p. 293; 
April 28, 1963, p. 304; October 28, 1968, p. 345. 



160 

124. Minutes of the Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church business 
meetings, December 21, 1954, microfilm r o l l no. 33, p. 2104, CMBS Fresno. 
Hereafter references w i l l be made to "Kitchener minutes", date and page 
number. 

125. Kitchener minutes, March 14, 1955, pp. 2104-05. 

126. Kitchener minutes, April 9, 1955, p. 2108. 

127. Kitchener minutes, April 10, 1957, p. 2222. 

128. Kitchener minutes, May 16, 1961, p. 2356. 

129. For the ongoing saga see Kitchener minutes, September 14, 1957/ 
p. 2237; September 21, 1957, p. 2242; November 9, 1957, p. 2255; December 
14, 1957, p. 2257; October 26, 1958, p. 2286; October 25, 1959, p. 2328; 
September 10, 1960, p. 2350; October 16, 1960; May 16, 1961, p. 2356; June 
8, 1963, p. 2383. 

130. Minutes of the North End Mennonite Brethren Church business 
meetings, September 24, 1951, microfilm r o l l no. 92, p. 319, CMBS Fresno. 
Hereafter references w i l l be made to "North End minutes", date, microfilm 
r o l l and page number. 

131. North End minutes, October 23, 1951, r o l l 92, p. 320. 

132. North End minutes, 1951 year-end report, r o l l 92, p. 330. 

133. North End minutes, 1951 year-end report, r o l l 92, p. 334. 

134. Ibid. 

135. Attendance was up to 70 in 1952, and 87 in 1959. See North End 
minutes, year-end reports for 1952 and 1959, r o l l 92, p. 387, 643. In the 
Yarrow, B.C. congregation attendance at the Saturday school climbed during 
the early 1950's, reaching 195 in 1952, before dropping thereafter. Minutes 
of the Yarrow Mennonite Brethren Church business meetings, December 3, 1952, 
microfilm r o l l no. 65, p. 894, CMBS Fresno; Ibid., December 16, 1957, p. 
1047. The growth of the Coaldale Saturday school during the early 1950's 
has already been mentioned. 

136. North End minutes, year-end report for 1952, r o l l 92, p. 379. 

137. North End minutes, March 4, 1954, r o l l 92, p. 450; August 23, 
1954, r o l l 92, p. 467. 

138. North End minutes, November 20, 1956, r o l l 92, p. 502; February 6, 
1957, r o l l 92; September 25, 1957, r o l l 92, pp. 540-41; December 8, 1958, 
r o l l 92, p. 581. 

139. North End minutes, 1959 year-end report, r o l l 92, p. 619. 



161 

140. North End minutes, 1959 year-end report, r o l l 92, p. 643. 

141. Interview with Gilbert Brandt, Mennonite Brethren publisher, June 
17, 1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

142. Interview with Calvin Redekop, Mennonite sociologist, June 27, 
1990, Harrisonburg, Virginia. 

143. Ibid. 

144. Letter of July 10, 1950, to J. Quiring; B.B. Janz collection, Box 
4, Folder 49, CMBS Winnipeg. 

145. 1954 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 14. 

146. Interview with J.B. Toews. 

147. F i l e BA 251, F 51, Alberta Mennonite High School, CMBS Fresno. 

148. John B. Toews, With Courage to Spare: The Life of B.B. Janz (1877- 
1964) (Hillsboro, KS: The Board of Christian Literature, 1978), pp. 103-105. 

149. Interview with Herb Brandt, Mennonite Brethren pastor and Conference 
Moderator, June 3 and December 19, 1989, Kelowna, B.C. 



162 

CHAPTER FIVE 

Postwar Developments in Higher Education 
and German Language Preservation 

Between the mid-1940's and the early 1950's there was a significant 

institutional response to the rapid changes taking place among the Brethren 

in the postwar period. Increased material prosperity helped to f a c i l i t a t e 

the establishment of five Brethren high schools and one Bible college during 

this time. These institutions emerged in order to educate Brethren youth in 

an atmosphere congenial to the Brethren faith and way of l i f e . Maintenance 

of the German language was an integral part of these endeavours, in their 

early years, and in this chapter I w i l l b r i e f l y highlight this aspect of the 

new "higher" institutions, treating f i r s t the high schools and then the 

Mennonite Brethren Bible College. A brief look at the Conference Committee 

for the German Language and the inter-Mennonite Society for the Promotion of 

the German language w i l l conclude this chapter. 

Between 1944 and 1947, five high schools were started by the Canadian 

Mennonite Brethren. The schools generally grew out of, and were supported 

by, local Brethren congregations. They included the Mennonite Educational 

Institute of Clearbrook, B.C. (1944); Sharon Mennonite Collegiate Institute 

of Yarrow, B.C. (1945); Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute of Winnipeg, 

Manitoba (1945); Alberta Mennonite High School of Coaldale, Alberta (1946); 

and Eden Christian College of V i r g i l , Ontario (1947). Each of these schools 

offered, in addition to government-required curricula, courses in Bible, the 

German language, and Mennonite History. During the early years instruction 

was done on a bilingual basis, with some variation, but as time passed the 



163 

German language was relegated to courses on the Bible and the language 

i t s e l f . 1 

A precedent had been set in Russia for Mennonite involvement in secondary 

education: at i t s height, the Russian Mennonite secondary school system 

comprised 23 schools, most with a three-year program that included 

instruction in German and Russian.2 The founding of private high schools and 

a Bible college in Canada was therefore a natural response to the challenges 

posed by the Canadian environment to Brethren identity. Studies of these 

educational endeavours have tended to ignore the important role assigned in 

the schools to the German language in maintaining a sense of unity and 

continuity with the Brethren faith, way of l i f e and community.3 As in so 

many other areas of Brethren l i f e , the German language was intended to 

function in these institutions as an instrument of socio-religious 

integration; to ignore this dynamic is to miss a fundamental aspect of their 

operation. 

Statements made at Brethren Canadian Conference meetings in the later 

1940's and early 1950's support this contention. In 1948 H.B. Thiessen 

presented a paper on Brethren high schools which illustrated the dynamics 

present in such schools. He began by stating: "When we consider the 400-

year history of our Volk, we find that our schools have played an essential 

role in the preservation and advancement of our teachings, special position 

and principles."4 As the Russlaender began to prosper in Canada, according 

to Thiessen, Mennonite youth started to attend public high schools; the lack 

of religious instruction, and the irreligious attitudes of some teachers, had 

necessitated something more "positive". Thus "The goal and motive for 

grounding these schools was to make a Christian education available to our 



164 

youth." Yet as his i n i t i a l statement made clear, there was much more to i t 

than that. The perpetuation of a common heritage and religious culture was 

an essential aspect of these schools: 

The greatest value of our high schools however l i e s in the 
opportunity to devote one-fourth of the classtime to religion and the 
German language. What there can't be achieved through that! There 
are also excellent opportunities for our youth to become familiar 
with the history of our Volk.5 

Religion (of the Mennonite variety), the German language, and Mennonite 

history were key components of a "Christian education". Following the 

report, the Conference adopted a resolution which recognized 

the high significance of the Christian high schools which the Lord 
has given our religious community, where students may receive 
alongside the state education a more or less thorough training in 
religion and the German language.6 

Five years later William Neufeld presented a similar point of view to the 

Conference. He noted that Mennonite youth were seeking higher education in 

growing numbers; the irreligious influence of the public schools caused many 

of them "to become alienated from our religious community, and to find i t 

hard to return."7 The intention of the Mennonite forefathers had been to 

pass down the faith to their children, and Mennonite schools had emerged 

under this particular necessity: "So the f i r s t schools were actually such 

that only instructed religion and German; only later as needs grew were 

school programmes widened." Although Neufeld was referring to the emergence 

of schools in Russia, he clearly f e l t that the essential core of Mennonite 

education was religion and German. As he went on to state, "The existence of 

our high schools today are also born out of such (expanded) needs."8 

The percentage of Brethren youth attending Brethren high schools is 

unclear, but presumably was lower than those attending public schools.9 By 

the later 1940's and early 1950's the German language seems to have been used 



165 

around 20-25% of the time, primarily during instruction of religion and 

German, and in morning chapel services.10 At the Mennonite Brethren 

Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg, for example, 17-1/2 to 25% of instructional 

time was conducted in German in 1951, although faculty reported that there 

were many d i f f i c u l t i e s involved in using the language to this extent.11 By 

1960 religious courses were being taught in English at the school, since the 

available books were in English and many students couldn't understand German 

anyway.12 The School Board resisted this changeover to English,13 with the 

ironic result that "Teachers of religion teach the German religious 

terminology even though classes in religion are taught in English."14 This 

phenomenon of German becoming a genuine l i t u r g i c a l language, for a short 

while at least, illustrates the degree to which i t had come to be identified 

with the Mennonite faith. 

The story of the founding and early years of the Conference-supported 

Bible college provides perhaps the most vivid example of the role played by 

Germanism in Brethren higher education in the postwar period. The f i r s t 

indications that a "higher Bible school" would be started as a Conference 

project were given in 1939 at the Canadian Conference meeting held in 

Coaldale, Alberta. There J.A. Toews read a report on "school endeavours" in 

the Conference, in which he cited a growing awareness of the need for higher 

theological training from the Mennonite Brethren perspective. Maintenance of 

the German mother-tongue was clearly linked to the successful perpetuation of 

Brethren distinctives. Bible-school teachers were needed who would be able 

to articulate the faith in German as well as English.15 

A Bible School Committee was formed at the 1939 conference, electing A.H. 

Unruh as chairman. At i t s f i r s t meeting, the committee expressed the 



166 

perceived relationship between the German language and Brethren faith 

distinctives in a statement of objectives: 

1. Spiritual nurture of the youth. 2. Education of believing teachers 
for our day schools. These objectives give us the following goal: 
Support of a l l endeavours to start schools which give our children a 
general education, and also religion and German, as well as to 
stimulate participation in such schools as already exist in our 
c i r c l e s ; because experience shows that teachers who have received 
their education in such schools gladly instruct their students in 
religion and German, and guide their upbringing according to our 
s e n s i b i l i t i e s (ihre Erziehung in unserm Sinne leiten).16 

Due to the circumstances brought about by the war, no great steps forward 

were taken on the issue until 1943. To have attempted to expand German-

language education would obviously have been foolhardy in the early war 

years.17 The most pressing issue at that time was securing alternative 

service for Mennonite men conscripted by the Canadian army. By 1943, 

however, the committee was able to meet and further plan for the opening of a 

"higher Bible school". 

The "language problem" was among the concerns of the committee. It was 

acknowledged that a l l of the "lower" Bible schools had their own versions of 

this problem, and that in order for the generations not to be separated by 

language during the current "changeover period", this problem would have to 

be solved. Language was not, however, the sole issue of this meeting: the 

concern was that young, educated, bilingual people were needed at a l l levels 

of Brethren l i f e , as Bible school teachers, youth workers, missionaries and 

preachers. The maintenance of the German language would ensure that the 

Brethren faith perspective would be transmitted to these new leaders, but i t 

was a means to an end; there is no indication that anyone involved in this 

committee hoped for anything more than a bilingual church which would 

gradually change to English.18 



167 

The Conference moved forward on the issue, and by October 1944 a building 

had been bought in Winnipeg and i t s doors opened for business. A.H. Unruh, 

who was not fluent in English, was elected i t s f i r s t president. J.B. Toews, 

the most educated person from within the Brethren constituency, took over the 

role in the summer of 1945, with the intent of building a solid academic 

program for the college. By the 1946-47 school year the curriculum included 

courses in theology, church history, missions, philosophy, Greek, modern 

languages (including German), and music, among others. Enrollment had 

reached 129 students, one-third of them female.19 The college at this time 

offered a graduating Diploma in Theology as well as a Master's of Theology. 

In the primary instructional areas of theology and Christian education, 72 

semester hours were taught in English, and 58 in German.20 The amount of 

German instruction theareafter diminished to on average of about one-half the 

amount of English instruction.21 

The conflicts and problems surrounding the early years of the school 

illustrate the dilemmas confronting the Mennonite Brethren in the immediate 

postwar years. On the one hand, the school had been called into being to 

provide higher theological training in a bilingual context. The feeling was 

that i f the Brethren faith was not to be l e f t behind by the upcoming 

generation, an effort would have to be made to stem the tide of English 

language and culture, and the evangelical theology which went with i t . Could 

the distinctive faith understandings survive such a rapid change in the form 

of their expression? Thus pressure continued to be brought to bear on the 

college to provide a strong German component and fluently bilingual 

graduates. On the other hand, the effort appears to have been doomed from 

the beginning, given the chronic unavailability of current academic materials 



168 

in German22 and the lack of proficiency and interest in German displayed by 

incoming students. 

The intractability of the problem soon became evident. A meeting of the 

College Board early in 1946 indicated both how Brethren theology was 

associated with the German language, and that students were not up to the 

task presented them. Students showed a deficiency in B i b l i c a l knowledge, and 

further, a weakness in German language proficiency: "The students have 

religious ideas, but they often are unable to clothe the thoughts in words." 

"Words", in this case, meant German words.23 As well, an "inner aversion" to 

the learning of German was f e l t to be exhibited by some students, hindering 

the whole process.24 Indifference or aversion toward the German language was 

an ongoing problem, reported in various contexts.25 By 1947 the graduation 

ceremonies were conducted completely in English, although other assemblies 

were s t i l l being held in German.26 Enrollment in the German course was weak 

from the beginning,27 and in 1949 only three students registered for German 

instruction.28 During 1946, of 1017 books checked out of the library, only 

19 were German—not an encouraging figure, considering that there were almost 

900 German books in the library.29 The majority of periodicals received by 

the college were written in English.30 

A l l of this did not go unnoticed by the Mennonite Brethren constituency. 

Already in 1945 the Canadian Conference Bible School Committee had been 

concerned to "especially emphasize" to the MBBC Board of Directors that the 

general wish of the Brethren constituency was for strong teaching of the 

German language, and that this was an area which needed to be improved upon 

by the College.31 At the 1946 Conference meeting the report from the college 

acknowledged this expectation,32 and the ratio of German to English being 



169 

taught was reported for the f i r s t time. Questions were raised by delegates 

as to whether knowledge of German was obligatory, and the B.C. delegation 

proposed that i t be made mandatory, "so that future preachers would have f u l l 

command of the language."33 President J.B. Toews answered that every student 

who wished to graduate had to know both languages. During further discussion 

i t was pointed out that the language needed to f i r s t be learned at home, in 

the church, and in religion and bible schools, i f students were to be rightly 

prepared for the college.34 

At the same Conference meeting i t was noted that English was being taught 

at about a f i f t y percent level in the congregational Bible schools.35 After 

hearing the MBBC report, the Conference recommended that "In family and 

church everything be set to the task of teaching our children the German 

language," in order to prepare future MBBC students.36 Here a dynamic was 

begun in which pressure on the school to turn out bilingual graduates was 

reflected back onto the constituency, instigating a broader effort to 

perpetuate the language at a l l levels of Brethren l i f e , culminating in the 

formation of the Committee for the German Language in 1950, where the 

language issue was destined to die a slow i f not quiet death. 

The same sorts of issues were present at the 1947 conference, with the 

college reiterating i t s objective of expanded German instruction, in order to 

help the congregations to solve their language problems.37 In 1948 A.A. 

Kroeker reported that he had visited almost a l l of the Brethren congregations 

in the Western provinces during 1947, as a representative of the college. . 

The Mennonite Brethren, according to Kroeker, had many fine youth, many of 

whom were unfortunately ending up in non-Mennonite schools—the college was 

therefore of great importance in the retention and furtherance of the legacy 



170 

which God had entrusted to the Mennonites. The people in the churches were 

generally in favour of the work of the school, but what was sad was that 

"Such a large percentage of Mennonite Brethren youth who want to go into some 

sort of ministry are doing i t in non-Mennonite schools."38 At the end of a l l 

reports having to do with school endeavours, the Conference went on record as 

"stressing i t s stated wish...that our college continues to work in the s p i r i t 

of the Conference, in which the needs of the congregations are taken into 

account and workers are brought forward who are equally proficient in both 

languages and thus can properly serve the congregations."39 

The faculty and administration of the College did what they could to 

respond to the pressure to turn out f u l l y bilingual graduates,40 but this 

period did not pass without i t s casualties. Far-sighted college president 

J.B. Toews resigned in 1948, after three years with the college, largely 

because he f e l t that the problem of German retention was of more importance 

to the Board of Directors than building a solid academic program at the 

college: Board meetings were often taken up with concern about how many 

chapels and courses were being conducted in English, how many in German, etc. 

The Board f e l t that too much of the curriculum was being taught in English, 

and were "always putting the brakes on" to any new i n i t i a t i v e s . Toews' 

desire to set up a really "respectable" program was not given top priority, 

thus limiting his ambition. He saw the next ten years being f i l l e d with 

battles which he didn't want to fight. The anticipation of the school was to 

prepare future church leaders, and thus the concern with the German language. 

That the best academic materials were written in English was of secondary 

importance. Upon Toews' unfortunate departure H.H. Janzen took over, a 

German-speaking MBBC teacher who, according to Toews, "Provided an image that 



171 

was f i t t i n g at the time."41 A.H. Unruh summed up the dilemma faced by Toews 

thus: 

He took pains to lead the institution in a way which corresponded to 
the Conference's needs. Certain circumstances in the Conference he 
could not change; but he did what he could to please both the 
students and the Conference.42 

The new President H.H. Janzen, more conservative than Toews, worked to 

improve relations between the congregations and the college, trying to walk 

the thin line between the changing times and the wishes of the older 

generation. In a statement made in 1949 to the Conference Bible School 

Committee, Janzen claimed that there seemed to be a trend toward anti-

denominational ism which was being picked up by the congregations and the 

younger people. This " s p i r i t " was threatening the Mennonite congregational 

l i f e , as well as the youth, who through language and their contact with the 

outside world were most threatened.43 In early 1947 the College Board had 

indicated that i t f e l t the Conference as a whole did not have a clear idea of 

what i t wanted in a Bible college.44 These statements indicate that while a 

strong pressure for the maintenance of the German language was coming from 

many sides, there were countervailing trends from within the Brethren 

constituency which worked against the efforts made by the college to f u l f i l l 

i t s mandate. By his statement Janzen seems to have been trying to encourage 

the congregations to take more responsibility for the preservation of the 

heritage. Thus Janzen focussed on the college-congregation relationship, and 

reiterated the fear that the loss of German was part of a general process of 

degeneration which the denomination was experiencing.45 

As stated above, i t had been clear to the Conference by 1946 that 

incoming students were neither properly prepared nor inclined towards 

becoming f u l l y bilingual, and as a result the instruction of German at a l l 



172 

levels of Brethren l i f e had been encouraged. At the 1947 Conference meeting 

i t was again emphasized that more support needed to be given at the level of 

the home and local congregations i f the youth were to be won over to the 

German language.46 The 1950 meeting of the Canadian Conference adopted a 

lengthy resolution on the German language, including a request that German be 

taught at a l l levels of Brethren l i f e , and that a committee for the 

preservation of the German language be formed. The stage had been set for 

these developments at the 1949 Conference meeting, when F.C. Thiessen read an 

impassioned report from a committee which had been set up to try to unify and 

regularize the curriculum of the Conference Bible schools and high schools. 

A course of instruction had been formulated which was to help prepare 

students for the Bible college, but this was not enough. What was needed was 

a powerful "Bildungskomitee" (Educational/Developmental Committee) which 

would oversee a l l aspects of the Bible schools and high schools, and would 

have the power to alter the curriculum as i t saw f i t . 

An elemental aspect of this committee would be to provide the 

coordination needed to perpetuate the German language among Mennonites. 

Thiessen, who had been a strong proponent of Germanism in the 1930's, and who 

was a "prime mover" behind the founding of the Brethren high school in 
i 

Clearbrook,47 complained b i t t e r l y that the German language had been allowed 

to f a l l into neglect at every level of Brethren l i f e , lamenting: 

That we in our Volk have been born into the world as German-speaking 
children was no accident, rather God's w i l l . That the Lord wants to 
now take our mother tongue from u s — I can not understand and find i t 
b i b l i c a l l y unsound.48 

For Thiessen, the issues of language, education and the Brethren faith 

identity were a l l tied together. And he saw quite clearly the need for a 

broadly based foundation for the language i f the college was to be successful 



173 

in i t s mandate of providing young, bilingual teachers: 

These teachers we now expect out of the College. Can they give us 
the strength, which w i l l enable us as a Conference to preserve our 
unique character and outlook (Eigenart und Einstellung), as we have 
done u n t i l today? To that also belongs, that our teachers in the 
Bible and high schools have the command of both languages, as long as 
we yet have German worship services. The College finds this 
expectation to produce such teachers as unfair, since the students 
come to the College with neither the appropriate preparation in the 
German language nor the love for the mother tongue. It is certainly 
clear that the College cannot meet our expectations under such 
conditions and in four years turn out teachers who have a f u l l 
command of both languages.49 

Thus the pressure on the Bible college was again reflected back upon the 

other levels of Conference l i f e . The formation of the language committee in 

1950 was a logical outcome of the mounting pressures on the school, as the 

proponents of Germanism made a last, comprehensive bid to save the mother 

tongue. The language committee was dealt a severe blow even before i t 

started, however, with the death of Thiessen in the interim between the 1949 

and 1950 meetings. With or without Thiessen's death, the committee and the 

issue i t represented was to fade into an obscure corner of Mennonite Brethren 

l i f e , since the language transition among the bulk of the constituency was 

well underway by this time. 

The German language preservation organizations should not however be 

l i g h t l y dismissed; they represented the culmination of 25 years of struggle 

to maintain the socio-religious integrity of the Russlaender Brethren in 

Canada, and the important i f misguided role Germanism had played in that 

struggle. Individual emotional attachment to the mother-tongue was also 

obviously a factor in language retention efforts, but i t s t i l l had the larger 

Mennonite group as i t s reference point, and thus cannot be bracketed off from 

the general rubric of socio-religious solidarity and integrity. 

Two language preservation organizations are of interest here. One is the 



174 

Mennonite Brethren Conference "Committee for the German Language", already 

alluded to, and the other is the inter-Mennonite "Society for the Promotion 

of the German Language". The Conference Committee eventually merged, for a l l 

practical purposes, with the Society, although i t continued to report to the 

Conference under i t s own name. I w i l l f i r s t examine the Committee, then the 

Society. 

At the 1950 Brethren Canadian Conference meeting $ 1000.00 was allocated 

to the new Committee, and five members were elected. They were D.K. 

Duerksen, H. Regehr, Johann Goertz, A.H. Unruh, and H.H. Kornelsen. The 

stated purposes of the Committee were: 

To stimulate the learning of the German language through lectures or 
a r t i c l e s in the German (Mennonite) periodicals. It is also to help 
with the coordination of appropriate (German) materials for the 
Saturday-, Bible- and high-schools.50 

At the 1951 Conference meeting the Committee gave a long report containing a 

l i s t of reasons for maintaining the German language. In addition to 

mentioning things such as the general benefits of being bilingual, and the 

need to be able to relate to recent Mennonite immigrants from Russia and 

Germany, the following reasons were given: 

Because with the loss of a language individual persons and whole 
groups close the door to intellectual, cultural and s p i r i t u a l goods. 
Because the German language binds together our l i t t l e Volk, which is 
scattered across the entire globe...Because the German language in 
many c i r c l e s helps to hold together young and old in worship services 
and in the home. 

The Committee expressed the feeling that the German language could be 

maintained in "many c i r c l e s " i f parents would speak High German to their 

children, and i f the Brethren schools were supported. Its main a c t i v i t y at 

this time was trying to organize German textbook distribution to the various 

Mennonite schools.51 



175 

During the next year the Committee sent questionnaires regarding German 

language usage to a l l of the Brethren congregations and schools, and tried to 

give practical advice on how to nurture the German language. Only 23% of the 

congregations responded to the p o l l , while the response from the schools was 

better. The Committee recommended that schools build up their German 

libraries and that congregations expand their Saturday schools. Parents were 

again implored to speak High German, not English, with their children.52 By 

1953 the Committee reported that i t was working closely with the Society for 

the Promotion of the German Language.53 

An organizational meeting for the Society took place in H.F. Klassen's 

house in May of 1952.54 Over the next few years Mennonite Brethren who 

served on the Society's executive committee included H.F. Klassen, A.H. 

Unruh, D.K. Duerksen, N. Neufeld and H. Regehr. G.H. Peters was the founding 

Chairman of the Society, and Walter Quiring the Secretary. A l l of these 

individuals, with the exception of Quiring, were Russlaender immigrants from 

the 1920's. Quiring had settled in Germany and been an ardent Nazi supporter 

in the 1930's (see Chapter Three). Winnipeg was the locus of the Society, 

which by i t s sixth meeting in the f a l l of 1952 had elected provincial 

representatives.55 The name of the organization was i n i t i a l l y the "Society 

for the Promotion of the German Mother-Tongue," but the reference to "mother-

tongue" was eventually dropped. The Society wanted to attract those of the 

younger generation for whom the German language was not the mother-tongue.56 

The Society met relatively often, in i t s early years, sometimes at two-

week intervals. Lectures were given in Mennonite communities on the need to 

retain and nurture the German language, and the Society did much to make sure 

that German text- and songbooks were made available to interested schools and 



176 

individuals. The chairman, G.H. Peters, organized a correspondence course. 

Numerous articles supporting the language, and notices of gatherings to be 

held, were published in the Mennonite newspapers, and summer courses and 

youth programmes were staged. The Society also endowed prizes for excellence 

in the study of the language by students in Mennonite schools, and operated a 

German lending-library. A l l of these a c t i v i t i e s served the primary goal of 

the Society to raise consciousness among Mennonites as to the importance of 

the language for the Mennonite community.57 

Between 1952 and 1960, the Society recorded a total membership of 

approximately 1400 individuals. The number of active members who paid the 

$1.00 yearly fee was generally much lower, the highpoint having been reached 

in 1954, with 700 active members.58 Of the total number of individuals who 

had at one time or another belonged to the Society, at least 186 or about 15% 

were of Brethren a f f i l i a t i o n . It is highly probable that the actual figure 

was higher.59 The membership r o l l s indicate that the Society was more than a 

Winnipeg phenomenon, attracting Mennonites from every province, primarily the 

western provinces of B.C., Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. The majority 

of Brethren members were from Manitoba, but one-fifth were from Alberta, and 

one-tenth from B.C.60 

It is beyond the scope of this study to present a detailed history of the 

Society, which was active into the 1970's and beyond. In the remainder of 

this chapter I w i l l present a few glimpses into the ideas and feelings 

expressed by the Society and i t s members in regard to the German language and 

i t s significance for Mennonites. Although the Society was not able to stem 

the tide of anglicization to any significant degree, i t did provide a forum 

for an older generation of Canadian Mennonites to express their feelings 



177 

towards the language, religious l i f e , and sense of peoplehood which had been 

shared in Russia. 

A wide range of motives for retaining the language was expressed by 

Society members, including an emotional and s p i r i t u a l attachment. In 1955 

Isaac Redekopp presented a short sermon to a meeting of the Society which was 

summarized by the Secretary thus: 

Brother Redekopp drew a parallel between the language of human beings 
and of Jesus, as God's word become flesh. The Lord Jesus was 
magnificent, f u l l of grace and truth. So also should the language be 
magnificent and carry with i t the imprint of truth. It should allow 
us to express our deepest feelings and our most elevated 
thoughts...Even Jesus expressed his deepest feelings in his mother-
tongue. His c a l l on the cross "My God, my God, why have you forsaken 
me?" was uttered in the Aramaic language, which was his mother-
tongue . 61 

Although i t was clear that Redekopp f e l t the German language to be 

"magnificent", he also indicated that language shouldn't be elevated to an 

all-important position. The Society was careful to emphasize that i t didn't 

feel that any one language was better than another, rather i t wanted to 

nurture and maintain the particular "good" which had been inherited from the 

Mennonite forefathers.62 

The equality of languages may have been affirmed in principle by the 

Society, but in practice there were strong feelings that for Mennonites, at 

least, the German language (and culture) was special, and that the 

surrounding "English" culture was inferior and to be avoided. G.H. Peters, 

who had been a high school teacher in Mennonite schools for most of his l i f e , 

was especially concerned with losing Mennonite youth to the "American 

melting-pot"; 

Now only goal-directed countermeasures can save us from complete 
"Verenglischung" (anglicization). We must win back our youth, i f we 
as a Volk do not want to lose ourselves in the American melting-pot 
of nations. Those in our Volk who have recognized the danger dare 



178 

not stand by and say "what's the use". We must continue to try to 
sharpen the sense of personal responsibility of our youth.63 

In speeches to youth groups Peters emphasized the "German" background of the 

Mennonites, and the need to be proud of that aspect of their heritage. The 

German language carried with i t high cultural values, and bound Mennonites 

together.64 Peters had clearly been influenced by "Volkish" thought, and saw 

the Mennonites as a cultural, ethnic and religious unity which would be 

destroyed i f one element was removed. At the i n i t i a l membership meeting of 

the Society in September 1952, Peters summed up his feelings about Germanism: 

Why German?...Because i t is our mother-tongue—"Acquire what you have 
inherited from your fathers, in order to possess i t . " I think that 
every human being belongs to a Volk, and we belong to no other Volk 
than the German. The German language is the root which connects us 
to the cultural ground of the German Volk. Closely bound with our 
language are our customs and morals, our traditions, and our most 
noble character t r a i t s . Indeed, the language is also the carrier of 
our religion...The language is not just a form which can be changed 
without altering the content. 0 no, the language forms, together 
with the content of our personality, an indivisible unity. With the 
loss of the mother-tongue must our personality, our culture, our 
traditions and our religion be altered, and certainly not in a 
positive way.65 

Many of these themes were present in an early Society statement of the 

reasons for retaining the German language, but the Volkish rhetoric was toned 

down and some more general grounds were added. Summarized, the statement 

read: 

1. Keeping the language w i l l prevent a r i f t between generations. 
2. With the loss of the language the religion w i l l also be 
influenced, because the mother-tongue is indivisibly tied to our 
religion. 3. The German language is the root of our culture, 
traditions and intellectual/spiritual development. With the loss of 
this language we lose our intellectual s t a b i l i t y and are then more 
open to corruptive and demoralising influences. 4. The German 
language is the connecting-link of Mennonites throughout the world. 
5. Studying the German language gives a better understanding of the 
English. 6. Canada is a rich nation because i t contains so many 
different nationalities. We w i l l be good citizens i f we retain ours. 
7. The German language is our mother-tongue and the language of our 
ancestors, literature and religion. 8. The German language is one of 



179 

the most important languages in the world. 

The foregoing statements represent the most self-conscious and wide-ranging 

reflections made, in the period under study, on the meaning of the German 

identity for the Russlaender Mennonites in Canada. That they were made 

during the dying days of this particular constellation of language, 

peoplehood and religious faith is not surprising since the a b i l i t y to analyze 

is enhanced by greater distance from the object of analysis. Also, with 

anglicization and many other social, cultural and religious changes well 

underway, i t had become necessary to rationalize what had previously been 

more generally taken for granted. But i f Society members were engaging in 

some rather subtle and sophisticated thinking on the relationship between 

culture, religion and communal identity, they were also nostalgic and out of 

touch with the major trends of the religious mainstream of Mennonite l i f e . 

A.H. Unruh (not to be confused with his pro-Nazi brother B.H. Unruh—see 

Chapter Two) was a highly-respected Brethren educator who was involved with 

the society in i t s early days, and his statements on language preservation 

illustrate the particular Brethren perspective, which with i t s missionary 

emphasis tended towards a more moderate formulation of the problem. In early 

1953 Unruh gave a short lecture entitled "Why is i t necessary to retain the 

German mother-tongue?" to the f i r s t f u l l membership meeting of the Society, 

and the address was later published in the Mennonitische Rundschau. 

In the lecture, Unruh argued for the maintenance of the German language 

from various "grounds", including educational, historical, business/occu-

pational, missions, and "Volks-grounds" (Volksgruenden). In discussing 

educational reasons to keep the German language, Unruh implied that the 

German language goes "deeper" than the English, c i t i n g a highly-educated 



180 

English-speaking man who praised a German Bible commentary for revealing 

depths which remained covered in English. The German-speaking world is a 

source of learning which is well worth studying. Translations are 

worthwhile, but some things get lost.66 

It is also necessary to retain the language for historical reasons— 

knowledge of i t w i l l bind the old world to the new, and provide better 

understanding between generations: "I've said i t once already, he who throws 

away the German language, throws out also his own history." As an "old 

world" language, German should be studied for an understanding of this past 

world, i t s prayers, and i t s Bible. Unruh also argued that for business and 

professional reasons i t is good to retain the language—it's useful to be 

able to communicate with people in their own language. And then there were 

grounds to retain the language from a missions perspective. "Our" people are 

in South America, and they don't speak English. People may want to 

missionize there or in Germany.67 

The most interesting part of this lecture is his discussion of "Volks-

grounds". He had already alluded to bridging the gap between the old and new 

worlds, and keeping the generations together, and now he e x p l i c i t l y speaks of 

keeping the Volk together. He argues against Low German being the "Volks-

language" because i t is impure (containing Russian and Polish elements) and 

open to variation (English is easily added); the implication is that compared 

to High German, Low German does not have the same unifying power. The Low 

German language is dear to him, but just doesn't quite pass muster as a 

Volks-language. If i t were to be cleaned up and a l l the foreign words 

expunged, there wouldn't be much left.68 

In this context Unruh cited the example of Martin Luther, who, finding 



181 

the state of German to be "confused", determined a single German language for 

a l l German people; 

And...we're s t i l l today enjoying the blessings from that. We have 
the High German language right in the Bible. When you publicly pray, 
when the preacher says a prayer, then he says i t in the High German, 
not the Low German language. The High German language unites 
us...And therefore is this language Society agreed, that i t is 
precisely the language which i t wants to raise up (heben); i t is 
doing a major work — The children are to be influenced as well as the 
elders. And in this manner can we perhaps come to a unified German 
mother-tongue. Thus on volkish grounds, for the sake of the unity of 
our Volk, i t would be good i f we came together and supported this 
matter.69 

This lecture indicates that Unruh was deeply convinced of the importance of 

the German language for Mennonites, and gives some of the reasons why Low 

German was neglected at the expense of High German. But this was not an 

enduring theme for Unruh, as i t was for G.H. Peters, Walter Quiring, D.K. 

Duerksen and other members of the Society. Unruh seems to have been silent 

on the Germanism issue during the 1930's and 1940's, and youth-oriented 

speeches given by Unruh during the early 1950's made l i t t l e or no mention of 

the language issue, concentrating instead on s p i r i t u a l and moral themes.70 

In a speech entitled "The Service of Language", given at meeting of the 

German language Society in the f a l l of 1953, the ambivalence of Unruh's 

perspective comes into sharper focus. 

After repeating some of the themes present in the earlier address, 

including the purity and unifying power of the German "Bible language", Unruh 

compared the contemporary Mennonite situation with that of the Jews, whose 

Hebrew "Bible language" influenced the later Aramaic. Mennonites have an 

evangelical mission, thus they require a " B i b l i c a l mindset"; for that reason 

they should treasure, honor and teach the German "Bible language." The Tower 

of Babel confused everybody, and therefore the more pure and unified a 



182 

language i s , the easier i t is to find understanding. However, he points out 

that the building of the Tower was aimed at making a name for the builders, 

and was thus based on pride. "The language is a servant for the good of 

mankind, not for self-aggrandizement." Just like on Pentecost every listener 

heard the Gospel in their own language, so God gave Mennonites the Bible in 

their own language. 

But the language as such is neutral in relation to the Gospel. It is 
proclaimed in every language. For that reason we value the study of 
a l l foreign languages and treasure that much more the study of our 
own mother-tongue as a legacy from Father and Mother.71 

A basic ambivalence was present. On the one hand a strong impression is 

given that German is a superior, "pure" language; on the other hand, Unruh 

essentially says that Mennonites have a right to their language as much as 

anyone else does to theirs, but i t should not be regarded as qualitatively 

better or idolized. The ambiguity was overcome in Unruh's discourse, 

ultimately, by the evangelistic imperative. The greatest goal of language is 

in preaching the Gospel to a l l peoples. The contemporary Mennonite 

situation, according to Unruh, was similar to that of the early church, which 

existed in a world where Greek and Hebrew were both in use. 

The English and German language run side by side. Our task is to 
hold onto these languages as a g i f t from God, as an inheritance. We 
must however purify them through the Bible, in order that we f u l f i l l 
our f i n a l mission: the spreading of the Gospel. We should be 
thankful for every man we have, who can in two or more languages 
proclaim the Gospel. We want to bring this assemly before God's 
throne. We're not only "Kulturmenschen" (cultural beings), also 
God's c a r r i e r — t o spread the Gospel. And we don't want ourselves to 
have a falling-out for the sake of a language.72 

Unruh's message at this point is clear. Language is not a good in i t s e l f , 

and should not, as an aspect of culture, divide Mennonites. The overriding 

goal is to preach the Gospel, in whatever language. Clearly, though, German 

is the Mennonite language for Unruh. Taken in the context of a gathering of 



183 

the Society when i t was peaking in popularity, this is a strong message 

against overemphasizing the language as a good in i t s e l f . The Brethren 

concern with preaching the Gospel was for Unruh the f i n a l standard of 

judgement, and thus moderated his Germanism. Unruh's position is another 

example of the ambivalence f e l t by the Brethren toward their cultural 

heritage. If on the one hand i t was f e l t to be an important instrument of 

socio-religious integration for them, i t was also balanced by the 

evangelistic aspect of Brethren religious identity. 

In reports to the Canadian Brethren Conference during the later 1950's, 

the German language Committee/Society began emphasizing the connection 

between German language preservation and missions, and the inherent value of 

knowing a second language, while the issues of Mennonite Volk unity and the 

importance of German as the Mennonite religious language began to fade.73 

Clearly, the tolerance for that kind of talk had begun to wear thin. As D.K. 

Duerksen reported in 1958, "It is d i f f i c u l t to talk about the promotion of 

the German language in our c i r c l e s , because misunderstandings and opposition 

so easily appear."74 Although the Committee for the German Language reported 

to the Conference for a number of years after this, and the Society for the 

Promotion of the German Language continued to operate into the 1970's and 

beyond, they became increasingly peripheral to the l i f e of the Canadian 

Mennonite Brethren.75 

Thus significant efforts were made, in the decade following the end of 

the Second World War, to provide an institutional base for German language 

preservation. This was a function both of the important role the language 

was perceived to play in the maintenance of Mennonite unity and identity, and 

the rapid transition to English which was taking place, especially among the 



184 

younger generation. This chapter has only begun to sketch an outline of the 

efforts in higher education and by the language preservation groups to 

preserve German as a special "Mennonite language". The history of the 

Society for the Promotion of the German language, in particular, remains to 

be written. Nevertheless, the broad outlines of the Germanism prevalent in 

this period have been mapped, and i t has been demonstrated that renewed 

efforts were made, in the postwar period, to preserve the German language as 

an instrument of socio-religious integration for the Brethren, and that these 

efforts were in fact closely linked to the new educational endeavours. 



185 

NOTES, CHAPTER FIVE 

1. Peter G. Klassen, "A History of Mennonite Education in Canada, 1786-
1960" (D.Ed, thesis, University of Toronto, 1970d), p. 285ff; John George 
Doerksen, "History of Education of the Mennonite Brethren of Canada" (M.Ed, 
thesis, University of Manitoba, 1963), p. 106, 136ff. 

2. Klassen, "A History of Mennonite Education in Canada," p. 283. 

3. See Klassen, "A History of Mennonite Education in Canada"; Doerksen, 
"History of Education of the Mennonite Brethren of Canada"; John George 
Doerksen, "Mennonite Brethren Bible College and College of the Arts" (Ph.D. 
dissertation, University of North Dakota, 1968). J.A. Toews alludes to the 
issue in his history of the Mennonite Brethren, but doesn't give any d e t a i l . 
See J.A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church (Fresno, CA: Board 
of Christian Literature, 1975), p. 254 and p. 458, note 1. 

4. 1948 Mennonite Brethren Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook 
(Hillsboro, KS: MB Publishing House), p. 73. 

5. Ibid., pp. 74-75. 

6. Ibid., p. 77. 

7. 1953 Northren D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 94. 

8. Ibid. 

9. See the 1951 Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 57, and the 
1952 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 96. Surveys of congregations 
were far from complete, but the figures cited indicate that more than half of 
Brethren youth attended public schools. 

10. 1949 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 55; 1951 Northern  
District Conference Yearbook, p. 57; 1954 Northern District Conference  
Yearbook, p. 95; 1955 Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 12. 

11. MBCI School Committee Minutes, October 27, 1951, Box L234, folder 
22, Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies (CMBS), Fresno. 

12. Ibid., July 21, 1960. 

13. Ibid. 

14. Ibid., September 19, 1963, Box L234, folder 23. 

15. 1939 Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 25. 



186 

16. From the pamphlet "Die Enstehung der Hoeheren Bibelschule und die 
Stellung der Manitoba Konferenz dazu", from the Northern D i s t r i c t Conference 
Bible School Committee F i l e s , Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies (CMBS), 
Winnipeg, hereafter BSCF (Bible School Committee F i l e s ) . 

17. There was no Conference meeting at a l l in 1940 due to the strong 
anti-German feelings present among the Canadian public during the early part 
of the war. At the 1941 Northern District Conference meeting the Bible 
School Committee reported that "It w i l l doubtless be understood by you that 
in the face of the present situation we are not able to report on 
groundbreaking work along the lines of school endeavours." 1941 Northern  
District Conference Yearbook, p. 15. 

18. Minutes of the 1943 Bible School Committee meeting, BSCF. Also see 
minutes of a meeting of the Conference Bible School Committee with the MBBC 
Board of Directors, December 12-15, 1945, microfilm r o l l no. 40, p. 40, CMBS 
Fresno, hereafter BM (Board Minutes). At this meeting five goals of the 
school were l i s t e d : to produce Bible school teachers, missionaries, church 
workers, music directors, and bilingual graduates, because in 10 or 12 years 
they would be needed in the churches—they were even then beginning to be 
needed, according to the report. 

19. BM, p. 81. 

20. 1947 Northern District Conference Yearbook, pp. 2-3. 

21. MBBC Faculty Meeting Minutes, September 19, 1947, and September 7, 
1948. MBBC Faculty Minutes F i l e , CMBS Winnipeg, hereafter FM (Faculty 
Minutes). 

22. Interview with J.B. Toews, Mennonite Brethren educator and leader, 
June 10, 1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Meeting of the MBBC Board of Directors 
with the Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Bible School Committee, December 12-15, 
1945, BM pp. 40-50; Report to the 1947 Northern District Conference meeting 
given by H.P. Toews, 1947 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, pp. 78-79; 
Report to the Northern District Conference Bible School Committee, given by 
J.A. Toews, February 23-24, 1949, BSCF. Report from the College given by 
H.H. Redekop at the 1950 Northern District Conference meeting, 1950 Northern  
D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 89. 

23. BM, p. 56. 

24. Ibid., p. 57. 

25. Report from the College, January, 1947, BM, p.125; Report to the 
Northern District Conference Bible School Committee, given by J.A. Toews, 
February 23-24, 1949, BSCF; "A Short Overview of the Work in the M.B. Bible 
College" by A.H. Unruh, 1953, BSCF. 

26. Minutes of the MBBC Faculty meeting September 19, 1947, FM. 

27. Ibid., December 11, 1946. 



187 

28. Ibid., January 10, 1949. 

29. Report from the College, January 1947, BM, pp. 85-86. 

30. Report to the Conference Bible School Committee for 1947, February 
19-21, 1948, BSCF. 

31. Meeting of the MBBC Board of Directors with the Northern D i s t r i c t 
Conference Bible School Committee, December 12-15, 1945, BM, p. 49. 

32. 1946 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 98. 

33. Ibid., p. 109. 

34. Ibid. 

35. Ibid., p. 115. 

36. Ibid., p. 114. 

37. 1947 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 83. 

38. 1948 Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 62. 

39. Ibid., p. 72. 

40. The college took steps to encourage the learning of German through 
awards for proficiency in German study, and by making f a c i l i t y with German a 
pre-requisite for admission. (Faculty minutes of May 31, 1948, September 7, 
1948, and January 31, 1949, FM.) It is not clear how strongly this 
requirement was enforced—in 1953 A.H. Unruh reported that i t was impossible 
for the college to turn out "proper" bilingual preachers (A Short Overview of 
the Work in the M.B. Bible College, in Winnipeg, Manitoba," BSCF.) 

41. Interview with J.B. Toews. 

42. 1948 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 64. 

43. Report to the Northern District Conference Bible School Committee, 
February 23-24, 1949, p. 8, BSCF. 

44. Report from the College to the Bible School Committee, January 1947, 
BM, p. 99. 



188 

45. Further evidence of the highwire act which the college was compelled 
to perform is contained in Janzen's report on "The Inner Life of the Bible 
College", presented to the Conference Bible School Committee meeting of 
February 19-21, 1948, and subsequently presented to the 1948 Canadian 
Conference meeting. Here he claimed that the atmosphere of the college had 
improved from the earlier years; the negativity experienced at that time was 
due to the influence of non-Mennonite schools on incoming students. As 
things got r o l l i n g and students helped to create positive contact with 
congregations, the atmosphere was changing. Many congregations were now 
supporting the school, although not a l l . Helpful would be "an honest set-to 
in our hearts and in the congregations with various c r i t i c a l questions, not 
last the language question." The basic critique here seems again to be that 
the expectations of the constituency were too high considering the emotional 
and intellectual state of the students which i t sent to the college. BSCF. 

46. 1947 Northern District Conference Yearbook, pp. 78-79. 

47. Doerksen, "History of Education of the Mennonite Brethren of 
Canada," p. 103. 

48. 1949 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 56. 

49. Ibid. 

50. 

51. 1951 Northern District Conference Yearbook 

52. 1952 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook 

53. 1953 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook 

54. Minutes of the Society for the Promotion of the German Language, May 
15, 1952, Mennonite Heritage Centre (MHC), Winnipeg. Hereafter SM (Society 
Minutes). 

55. SM, July 29, 1952; October 19, 1952. 

56. SM, October 29, 1955, p. 4. 

57. SM, April 11 1953, and passim. 

58. SM, passim; General Files of the Society, MHC, passim. Hereafter 
"GF" (General F i l e s ) ; 1954 Northern D i s t r i c t Conference Yearbook, p. 97. 

59. GF, Society membership catalogue. The Card-catalog system used by 
the Society did not record the church a f f i l i a t i o n of every member, only those 
who had specified i t upon becoming members. 

60. Figures were arrived at by an analysis of the membership catalogue. 

61. SM, October 29, 1955. 



189 

62. See for example the 1954 and 1955 reports given by the Brethren 
Conference Committee for the German Language to the Conference: 1954 Northern  
District Conference Yearbook, p. 97; 1955 Northern District Conference  
Yearbook, p. 13. 

63. Letter to A.A. Martens, January 23, 1954, Society Correspondence 
F i l e , 1952-54, MHC. Hereafter "SCF" (Society Correspondence F i l e ) . 

64. "Ansprache auf den Jugendvereinsprogramme der Schoenwieser Gemeinde, 
den 20 Juni, 1954", SCF, 1952-54. 

65. "Vortrag gehalten von G.H. Peters auf der Gruenderversammlung des 
'Mennonitischen Vereins zur Pflege der deutschen Muttersprache1 am 27 
September, 1952, in der Schoenwieser Kirche in Winnipeg," G.F. 

66. A.H. Unruh, "Warum i s t es notwendig, unsere deutsche Muttersprache 
zu erhalten?" Mennonitische Rundschau, 3 June 1953, p. 2. 

67. Ibid. 

68. Ibid., p. 3. See discussion of the Low German/High German question 
in Chapter Six. 

69. Ibid. 

70. e.g. "Die Gleichstellung mit der Welt", read at a youth gathering 
and printed in the Konferenz Jugendblatt, May-August 1951, pp. 3-5; "Die 
positive Beeinflussung der Jugend in den MBG Kanadas", manuscript of a speech 
read at a Conference gathering, AH Unruh Collection, Box 3, CMBS Winnipeg. 

71. "Der Dienst der sprache", A lecture given at a membership meeting of 
the Society for the Promotion of the German Language, October 24, 1953, and 
published in the Rundschau November 25, 1953. From AH Unruh collection, Box 
3, CMBS Winnipeg. 

72. Ibid. 

73. e.g. 1957 Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 115; 1958  
Northern District Conference Yearbook, pp. 152-53; 1959 Northern District  
Conference Yearbook, pp. 129-30. 

74. 1958 Northern District Conference Yearbook, p. 152. 

75. Interview with Herb Brandt, Mennonite Brethren pastor and Conference 
leader, June 3 and December 19, 1989, Kelowna, B.C; J.A. Toews, A History of  
the Mennonite Brethren Church, p. 328. 



190 

CHAPTER SIX 

Conclusion: Some Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives 

In the parlance of sociologists the Canadian Mennonites can be described 

as an "ethnic church". The term "ethno-racial-religious group," coined by 

Isajiw and employed most recently by Herberg (1989), can also be used to 

describe Mennonites. I would add that the emphasis should be placed on 

"church", when using the former term, and "religious", when using the latter. 

Breton has used the term "ethnic enclosure" to describe the existence of 

social boundaries between an ethnic group and others, and the mechanisms used 

by a group to maintain such intergroup boundaries. "Compartmentalization" is 

the degree to which "institutional completeness" has been achieved, whereby 

ethnic institutions function to shield individuals from assimilative forces.1 

The Mennonite Brethren clearly exercised a certain degree of "ethnic 

enclosure", and the German identity was an important mechanism in maintaining 

social "boundaries", even i f that was not i t s sole function. Enclosure was 

resisted by many Brethren, however, often because i t came into conflict with 

their evangelical theology. The "compartmentalization" which took place via 

the erection of various institutions, including a variety of schools, was in 

response to the perceived degenerative and assimilative effects of Anglo-

Canadian institutions and culture, and again Germanism played a part, 

although i t s role gradually declined. 

Herberg advances the notion that "integration", or the temporary 

participation by members of an ethnic group in the larger societal structures 

and institutions, does not necessarily imply acculturation or disloyalty 

towards the originating group.2 It would be d i f f i c u l t to argue that in the 



191 

case of the Russlaender Brethren the "integration" which took place did not 

have a significant effect upon loyalty to the group and i t s traditional 

religious culture. Herberg presses the point further by arguing that "An 

ethnoculture can be maintained even though English or French is the language 

of communication."3 The f i r s t generation of Brethren immigrants to Canada 

f e l t that the German language was crucial to the maintenance of Brethren 

identity, while those born in Canada generally did not. The ethno-religious 

culture which had emerged in Imperial Russia was, in the eyes of the f i r s t 

generation immigrants, rapidly in decline in Canada during the period under 

study. Meanwhile the second and third generations were undergoing the 

process of "ethnic differentiation" whereby Brethren identity was adapted to 

the Canadian context. 

The pattern of Brethren acculturation is in keeping with broader trends: 

as Herberg remarks, "There were almost universally high rates of mother-

tongue retention in the 1921-1941 era and then sharp declines by most groups 

through 1961 or 1971."4 It appears that the advent of o f f i c i a l multi-

culturalism in the 1970's was too late to have a significant impact on the 

Brethren German identity. By then they had joined other Dutch and German 

groups at the bottom of l i s t s of ethnic group mother-tongue retention in 

Canada.5 

There is agreement among sociologists as to the importance of a common 

language as an indicator of both collective identity definition and 

ethnocultural cohesion.6 Hertzler (1965) emphasized the double implication 

of Sapir's theory of language as a source of social solidarity, which has 

been used as a basis for this study; a common language indicates both who is 

included and who is excluded from the ethnic group.7 Lieberson (1970) has 



192 

espoused a similar idea, stating that "Language similarities can support both 

in-group unity and out-group distance since language serves both as a symbol 

of other differences as well as a restriction on the communication possible 

between ethnic groups."8 H. Richard Niebuhr found that the language and 

traditions of European immigrants to America "were both the uniting bonds of 

the group and the symbols of i t s social solidarity," and that the immigrant 

religion and religious leaders were the most common foci in the") struggle to 

maintain group identity.9 A l l of these statements clearly apply to the 

Canadian Mennonite Brethren, but the inherent connection between the German 

language and the Mennonite faith and way of l i f e also contributed to the 

Brethren emphasis on language, and w i l l be discussed further below. 

Support for Sapir's theory has recently come from Jeffrey Reitz, who 

studied Canada's four largest urban ethnic minorities, i.e. people of 

Italian, German, Ukrainian and Polish descent. He concluded that 

Language is important to ethnic communities not merely as an 
expression of traditional ethnic culture; the data suggest that 
ethnic language retention is a cornerstone of the ethnic communities 
themselves. Failure to learn the ethnic language leads to failure to 
participate in the ethnic community, and this to a large extent 
explains reduced participation in the second and third generations. 
Language loss is a well-founded concern of ethnic community leaders, 
however d i f f i c u l t might be i t s prevention.10 

This accords well with the evidence presented in this study, pointing to the 

fact that in order to understand the dynamics of Mennonite Brethren Germanism 

in Canada, one must take seriously the elder generation's feeling that the 

socio-religious integrity of the group, at least as they had come to know i t , 

was breaking down. 

However, the question of why the German language and identity was so 

quickly and easily challenged, i f i t was so important, needs to be answered. 

As Lieberson suggests, a " c r i t i c a l step" towards unilingualism involves "the 



193 

transfer to the next generation of a mother tongue that is the second 

language of their parents."11 Part of the answer may l i e in the fact that 

the Brethren brought two competing ethnic languages with them; this w i l l be 

discussed further below. Perhaps, following a theory of Dorothy Herberg, 

Mennonites encountered few "surprises" in terms of climate, language and 

social and family structure in Canada, and thus adapted rather quickly.12 It 

is commonly remarked by Mennonite scholars that whereas in Russia the 

surrounding Slavic culture was deemed inferior, and thus easily avoided, in 

Canada the newly-impoverished Mennonites suddenly found themselves to be the 

poor, "backward" ones. The fact that the indigenous language is a potential 

social and economic assetl3 would have meant that English became doubly-

important to Russian Mennonites eager to regain their former status. 

These factors are d i f f i c u l t to verify, but were undoubtedly operative to 

some degree among the Brethren. Throughout this study I have attempted to 

identify the most obvious and concrete reasons for the quick changeover, and 

these w i l l be b r i e f l y summarized below. But i t has been less my intention to 

give a final explanation of why the changeover occurred so quickly than to 

understand the contours of Brethren Germanism in i t s historical context. 

In their study of language loyalty among American ethnic and religious 

groups, Fishman and Nahirny (1966) found that 

Most major religious bodies in America are powerful de-ethnicizing 
forces, although there is considerable evidence that in former days 
religion served as a strong force on behalf of ethnic and linguistic 
continuity among American immigrants and their children.14 

A variety of factors were at work in this trend, including indifference to 

the mother tongue among parents, the increasing diversity of ethnic 

membership, and the choice of religious over ethnic factors when the two came 

into conflict. 



194 

Religion played a similarly ambivalent role in language maintenance among 

the Mennonite Brethren, although somewhat more synchronically. The High 

German language was intimately associated with the Brethren faith and way of 

l i f e , but i t s retention was threatened, in addition to a host of other 

factors, by the Brethren emphasis on evangelism. Fishman and Nahirny also 

offer insights into how language maintenance efforts become marginalized over 

time, with the goal of group maintenance ultimately becoming separated from 

that of language maintenance, and prevailing over i t : 

In the primordial ethnic community (the) two goals (of language and 
group maintenance) were indistinguishable. Under the de-ethnicizing 
impact of urban mass culture, however, the two have become 
increasingly unravelled.15 

There are clear parallels in the experience of the Russlaender Brethren in 

Canada, especially in the post-Second World War decades, and further comment 

on this w i l l be made below. 

There seems to be some variation in opinion as to the degree in which 

religion reinforces language maintenance among ethnic groups. On the one 

hand, Hofman (1966) and Fishman and Nahirny (1966) conclude that ethnicity is 

dominant over religion/ideology in promoting language retention.16 On the 

other hand, Heinz Kloss (1966) maintains that the strongest factor 

contributing to language maintenance among ethnic Germans in the U.S. is 

religio-societal insulation, whereby groups "maintain their language in order 

more f u l l y to exclude worldly influence and perhaps, because change in i t s e l f 

is considered sinful."17 

Again there are parallels in the experience of the Brethren; and i t is 

indeed l i k e l y that change was resisted to a certain degree simply because 

people could not imagine any other viable versions of Mennonitism. While I 

hesitate to assign relative weights to ethnicity and religion in promoting 



195 

the German identity of the Brethren, i t seems safe to state that both were 

important factors, with socio-religious reasons being most often and clearly 

articulated. In using the term "socio-religious integrity" in reference to 

the Brethren, in this study, I have tried to indicate that both social and 

religious factors were involved; and by using the term "socio-religious" more 

often than "ethno-religious", i t has been my intention to emphasize the 

strength of ideology and sense of voluntaristic community among the Brethren. 

Glazer (1966) summarized the factors relevant to language maintenance 

among minority groups thus: 

We have spoken of the time of immigration, the spatial pattern of 
settlement, the social structure of the immigrant group (and in 
particular the role of the professional, intellectual, and middle-
class elements within it) and the role of religion. To these four 
factors we w i l l add one more: the degree of ideological mobilization 
in the group. We may ask, is the emigration to be explained solely 
by economic factors, or are religious and p o l i t i c a l factors 
important? It seems reasonable that i f people emigrate because of 
oppression, because they are not allowed national freedom, cultural 
freedom, religious freedom, they w i l l cling more strongly to the 
national language than i f they emigrate only to improve their 
economic situation.18 

In historical terms, the time of the Russian Mennonite Brethren immigration 

to Canada was not propitious, coming between two world wars in which Germany, 

and hence a l l things German, were the enemy. The Mennonite Brethren did not 

settle in closed communities, which would have mitigated assimilation and 

acculturation. In terms of social structure, there was a relatively educated 

strata of preachers and teachers which made in some cases strenuous efforts 

to retain the German language and culture. The role of religion has already 

been mentioned, and w i l l be discussed further below. Glazer's last factor, 

the ideological conditions of emigration, seems especially relevant to the 

Brethren. In addition to suffering economic ruin, their cultural and 

religious identity was severely threatened in Soviet Russia, providing a 



196 

f i n a l impetus to their departure. It is understandable that an emotional 

attachment to the particular configuration of language, faith and way of l i f e 

which had emerged in Russia, and which had been saved only at great 

sacrifice, would have played a part in the resistance to linguistic, cultural 

and religio-ethical change in Canada. 

There is some evidence that Mennonites have been more attached to the 

German language than other contemporary German groups. The comparison made 

in Chapter Three to Russian-Germans in Saskatchewan provides one example. 

Writing in the late 1930's, Elizabeth Gerwin singled out Mennonites among 

Alberta German-speakers as displaying the strongest interest in German-

language retention, because of i t s role as a kind of "church Latin".19 In a 

study of ethnic-German University students conducted in the early 1970's, Leo 

Driedger and Jacob Peters found that "In a l l six identity factors, the 

Mennonites have retained greater identity than other Germans."20 These 

included religion and language, along with other factors such as endogamy and 

voluntary organizations. Religion and endogamy were found to be more 

important than language as indicators of identity.21 

This indicates the degree to which the German language had declined by 

this time; what had once been a bridge between ideology and ethnicity had 

crumbled, leaving the two poles standing alone.22 On the other hand, 

endogamy had always been an important sign of loyalty to both the community 

and the religious faith, since to marry an "outsider" implied rejection of 

the community and a lowering of religious and ethical standards. It is my 

feeling that during the 1930-1960 period religion was the most important 

indicator of Brethren identity, followed by language and endogamy in close 

succession. Such rankings threaten to cloud the picture, however, since a l l 



197 

these factors were organically related to each other. 

However, the breakdown of the traditional organic community has been an 

underlying theme of this study, which parallels the general trend of 

Mennonite sociological analysis.23 Individual identity factors such as 

language and cultural adherence were becoming abstracted from communal l i f e ; 

in the process they were employed by some as instruments of socio-religious 

integration, while they were increasingly ignored or rejected by others as 

being peripheral to Mennonite Brethren identity and a hindrance to a viable 

perpetuation of the faith. 

This has much in common with the insights of Mennonite sociologist Donald 

Kraybill, who has recently argued that the differentiating and individuating 

impact of modern society has resulted in ethnic t r a i t s , such as language, 

becoming abstracted from communal l i f e , and functioning as "portable" 

indicators of identity which can be employed or hidden at w i l l . Traditional 

Mennonite ethnicity was concretized and expressed in tangible practices in a 

communal context; with the encroachment of modernity i t has become 

situational and compartmentalized, allowing identity components to be 

acknowledged or discarded according to their immediate utility.24 

Calvin Redekop has pointed out that Kraybill's reliance on the rubric of 

ethnicity in analyzing Mennonites, on the other hand, obscures the 

ideological animus of the group and hence the roots of Mennonite behaviour. 

While Mennonites have exhibited "ethnicizing tendencies", the primary factor 

which has informed their identity is the consciousness of l i v i n g out a 

"faithful original Christianity"; instead of an ethnic group, Mennonites have 

been and continue to be a Utopian religious movement in conflict with its 

social environment, according to Redekop. The revolutionary nature of the 



198 

movement was not t o t a l l y lost, "but...was turned inward and expressed in the 

inner l i f e of the society, in an institutionalized form."25 Further, 

Maintaining a religiously informed "way of l i f e " when the external 
opposition and oppression is being weakened or transformed puts an 
enormous load on "mundane", i.e. normal l i v i n g , to continue to 
provide the ideology of protest and survival.26 

Redekop's perspective is a crucial corrective to the insights of Kraybill, 

and helps to explain the importance of the German identity to Mennonites in 

comparison with other "ethnic groups". There was more to their Germanism 

than a concern to maintain their "ethnicity", however defined: as an 

important aspect of "mundane" l i f e , the communal language and culture took on 

added significance as a concrete symbol of being "Mennonite" and hence 

faithful Christians. 

The experience of Polish Catholics in Canada provides a good point of 

comparison to the Russlaender Mennonite Brethren, because in their case there 

was also an influx of better-educated, "progressive" individuals into Canada 

during the 1920's, complementing the more rustic, pre-1914 immigrant 

community. The earlier immigrants had been relatively unconcerned about 

controlling education and maintaining the Polish language, in 

contradistinction to their Mennonite counterparts. The home seems to have 

been the primary locus of language instruction and maintenance. The group 

which arrived in the 1920's, however, was able to give leadership in language 

and culture maintenance efforts, and thus "Polish organizations in Canada 

began to take greater interest in the education of children, and the period 

1930-1940 witnessed greatly increased a c t i v i t y in this field."27 Although 

the Kanadier Mennonites had been more concerned about language and r e l i g i o -

culture maintenance than their Polish counterparts, with a portion of them 

migrating south for just that reason, the influx of the Russlaender in the 



199 

1920's also spelled a new era in conscious efforts by Mennonites to preserve 

the German language and culture. 

Despite greater efforts at retaining the language, a considerable 

proportion of the second generation immigrants did not speak any Polish, and 

the amount of Polish ethnic identification and knowledge of the Polish 

language has decreased steadily since 1931.28 Radecki cites the high rate of 

i l l i t e r a c y among Polish peasants, and the fact that Canada attracted the 

poorest Poles as immigrants, as being responsible for the "few incentives for 

the retention of the Polish language."29 Unlike the Mennonites, who had a 

long history of language/culture maintenance, for the Poles i t was primarily 

after immigration to Canada that i t became a prominent issue, and then they 

were simply too i l l i t e r a t e and ignorant of educational practices to do much 

about it.30 In general, "Neither the Polish family nor the organizational 

structure was able to counteract the attractiveness or pressures emanating 

from Canadian society." Both the Polish press and the Polish Catholic Church 

were important agents in the institutional attempts to maintain the Polish 

language and culture, but the church clearly did not play as significant a 

role in this regard as i t did for the Mennonite Brethren.31 

A post-Second World War influx of Poles to Canada again stimulated 

interest in language and culture maintenance, but the general trend among 

Poles, like Mennonites, has been steady acculturation and assimilation (as 

well as "differentiation") to Canadian society. Children born in Canada 

simply do not have the necessary motivation or institutional support to learn 

the d i f f i c u l t grammar of the Polish language. The Catholic Church, as 

indicated, did not make language into as big an issue as Mennonite 

congregations did, and parents and leaders did not see the retention of the 



200 

Polish language as being a l l that important.32 

The higher levels of Brethren r e l i g i o s i t y , education and communal 

consciousness seems to have led to a somewhat more intense struggle with the 

language/culture issue, i f the end result was the same. Using Redekop's 

terminology, the Utopian ideology of the Brethren contributed to a greater 

stress on perpetuating "mundane" aspects of l i f e like the traditional 

communal language. It should be added that although there was some negative 

association in Canada with being Polish prior to the Second World War, Poles 

would not have had the same incentive to dissociate themselves from their 

heritage as German-speakers had. This, added to a significant number of 

educated immigrants arriving after 1945, helps to explain the continuing 

operation of Polish part-time schools.33 

The Mennonite identification of language with religion has a long 

history, and this may be related, along with the factors already cited, to 

the traditional Anabaptist/Mennonite suspicion of theology, and the 

consequent lack of a vibrant tradition of theological discourse. Dutch was 

retained in church services for 200 years among the Mennonites who had 

migrated from Holland to the Vistula Delta region of Prussia. The transition 

to German was barely completed before the migration to Russia, and some 

congregations, located in other parts of Germany, continued to use Dutch late 

into the 19th century. 34 In Russia the Mennonites maintained High German as 

the congregational language until, their migration to Canada. Hence 

Mennonites of Dutch origin had for almost their entire history been 

conservative on language matters, and had maintained a religious language 

different from that of the local, "secular" society. 

At the same time, Russian Mennonites had refrained from theologizing, 



201 

being content with the Martyr's Mirror, the writings of Menno Simons, and 

sundry German p i e t i s t devotional works; their theology was expressed 

primarily in their ethics and way of l i f e . It seems probable that in this 

context, language, normally a very important component of individual and 

collective identity, assumed even greater stress as a carrier of those ideas, 

attitudes and forms of expression which defined one as being "Mennonite". 

Instead of possessing an abstract theological discourse which expressed their 

identity, and was l i n g u i s t i c a l l y translatable, Mennonites developed an 

organic configuration of language, religious beliefs, and way of l i f e , parts 

of which could only be changed gradually i f the whole were to survive intact. 

Various individuals have reflected on the relationship between a 

distinctive language and the social-psychological attributes of minority 

groups. Lieberson remarks that "If language influences cognition, then 

ethnic groups with distinctive tongues may respond differently in the same 

social situations."35 Canadian Mennonite theologian David Schroeder has also 

reflected on this topic. "There is a whole world tied up in the language we 

learn," according to Schroeder. "One can't just go direct from German to 

English and say the same thing." Low German, especially, and also High 

German, condition the speaker to say things more "frontally"—"The language 

requires that a spade is called a spade." This was especially important to 

Mennonites, Schroeder asserts, because of their traditional stress on honesty 

and humility, and the sensitivity among some groups such as the Sommerfelder 

(Kanadier Mennonites) to hypocrisy.36 

Gerhard Ens, longtime teacher at the Mennonite Collegiate Institute at 

Gretna, Manitoba, agrees that the form of expression also affects content. 

An example for him is the German word "Bekehrung": associated with this word 



202 

is a deep attitude of change and repentance, according to Ens, quite unlike 

the English phrase into which i t was translated, "to be saved", which he 

feels is a much more passive, shallow term. Another example is the German 

"Gemeinschaft", with i t s connotations of union and "solemn communion", versus 

the English "fellowship", which in Ens' mind implies "a wienie roast".37 

Mennonite scholar Adolf Ens, in an analysis of changes in language and 

cultural symbols among Canadian Mennonites during the 1950's, claims that 

Mennonite English-language periodicals which were begun in the 1950's 

featured a style and content that were entirely different than that of Der  

Bote and the Mennonitische Rundschau. The use of English in church services 

brought about a more "Protestant" form of worship and liturgy, according to 

Ens, and the term "evangelical" became an important cultural symbol among the 

Mennonites. "Most of the changes in cultural patterns which occurred during 

the 1950's were adoptions, sometimes with only minor adaptation, of aspects 

of the dominant culture."38 

Abe J. Dueck has argued that changes in Mennonite Brethren p o l i t i c a l 

attitudes paralleled the transition to English and the general process of 

familiarization with Canadian institutions and culture. Up until the later 

1950's, Canadian Mennonites entertained their traditional view of p o l i t i c s as 

being an e v i l but necessary entity, which, except for voting, should be 

avoided at a l l costs. After this period, "a serious breakdown" of the 

traditional position took place, with Mennonite Brethren moving in a number 

of directions, most notably towards greater participation and acceptance of 

responsibility in the p o l i t i c a l process.39 While there were clearly many 

more factors than language transition at work in this change in attitudes, i t 

is noteworthy that changes in perspective and language took place nearly 



203 

simultaneously. 

In his analysis of European immigrant churches in the United States, H. 

Richard Niebuhr noted that 

With the adoption of English as the church language other changes 
inevitably set in. The poetry of worship in liturgies and hymns is 
essentially untranslatable. Though the immigrant church may make 
valiant efforts to retain i t s old forms within the medium of the new 
language, though i t may succeed in holding fast to such classics as 
"Holy Night" and "A Mighty Fortress is our God", yet the charm has 
departed from prayers, songs and litanies which some uninspired 
poetaster has turned into a conglomerate of English words...The 
change of language is only one aspect of adjustment to the total 
culture with i t s democratic s p i r i t , i t s industrialism, i t s 
patriotism.40 

Mennonite philosopher Delbert Wiens has echoed Niebuhr in describing the 

religious meaning of the German language for Mennonites. In a 1967 a r t i c l e , 

Wiens pointed out that the Mennonite Low German dialect was the language of 

daily l i f e , while High German 

was the language of the mind and of the soul. It was their Latin, a 
holy language. They did not have nor need recited creeds and organ 
pipes or Gothic architecture. But they had the Psalms, and they were 
close...in s p i r i t to high church Anglicans...Our elders were right to 
cling to the land and to our German dialects, though they gave bad 
reasons for their stubbornness. For they sensed that to lose them 
was to lose something basic. The loss of our languages and of our 
pre-scientific dependence oh the s o i l meant the loss of our liturgy 
and our worship. Because we did not know how to talk directly about 
these things, how to analyze them, we could not transfer their 
meaning to some other forms. To translate the service to English, 
the language now for a l l our needs, does not mean the same at all.41 

Wiens's statement expresses well some of the notions already advanced in this 

chapter. It also raises the question of the role of the Low German dialect 

in Mennonite Brethren German identity. As I stated at the outset, this study 

is concerned mainly with the High German language and culture, and neglects 

analysis of the dialect in the identity question. Much research remains to 

be done on this topic. A few words on the relationship between the different 

German dialects spoken by Mennonites, however, are in order here. 



204 

There were two predominant variations of the Low German dialect spoken by 

Russian Mennonites, and they had essentially been absorbed during the 

Mennonite sojourn in Prussia.42 The dialect was unwritten (except for the 

pioneering efforts of a few writers), but was extensively spoken in everyday 

l i f e . By the 1930's, however, a process had begun among the Russlaender in 

Canada whereby the Low German was replaced by High German as an everyday 

language. That this occurred at the same time that the Mennonite Brethren 

German identity began to be seriously challenged was no accident. In 

encouraging the use of the High German in family l i f e , G.H. Peters, respected 

teacher at the Mennonite Collegiate Institute, stated: 

We can't allow ourselves the luxury of two languages here.in Canada, 
like we did in Russia. At the very least no special energies should 
be spent on maintaining the Low German...Experience shows that High 
German can be spoken in the family and children w i l l later s t i l l be 
able to pick up the Low German.43 

Peters s t i l l f e l t at this time (1937) that i t was possible for Mennonite 

families to avoid the use of English altogether. In the same year, another 

prominent educator, the Brethren F.C. Thiessen, also strongly encouraged the 

use of High German in families.44 As mentioned in Chapter Five, Brethren 

Bible expositor A.H. Unruh explained, in the early 1950's, that Low German 

could not serve as the common Mennonite "Volk-language" because i t was 

"impure" (containing Russian and Polish words), and was open to variation. 

He implied that when compared to High German, i t did not have the same 

unifying power. While the dialect was dear to him, i t did not quite pass 

muster as a source of Mennonite identity and unity.45 

Other Mennonite intellectuals who lived through this period agree that 

the two German dialects were put into competition with each other, and that 

High German was consciously selected by educators and church leaders as the 



205 

language to be nurtured in Canada.46 But Low German had a way of surviving, 

as G.H. Peters predicted. It was s t i l l prevalent in the decades after the 

Second World War, remaining a "popular conversational language".47 David 

Schroeder t e l l s the story of a Mennonite pastor who decided that his family 

would speak only High German. The man's father was staying with the family 

at the time, and said to Schroeder, when the pastor l e f t the room, "I would 

just like you to know that the Low German w i l l outlast the High German."48 

It is d i f f i c u l t to assess the degree to which this did or did not happen. 

What is certain is that eventually both dialects faded out of the mainstream 

of Mennonite l i f e . Gerhard Ens feels that "We probably would have been 

better off, had we concentrated on keeping the dialect. As i t i s , we no 

longer have either (the Low or High German)."49 

Thus i t is l i k e l y that an important reason for the rapid demise of the 

German language among the Mennonite Brethren was that the two dialects were 

put into competition with each other, neither receiving adequate stress to 

ensure i t s survival among the second generation. The bilingualism which had 

enriched Mennonite l i f e in Russia bore bitter f r u i t in the Canadian context. 

In conclusion, the story of the Canadian Mennonite Brethren German 

identity is rich, complex, and in need of further analysis. It is my hope 

that the foregoing study represents a f i r s t step in delineating the contours 

and patterns of the subject within i t s historical context. It should be 

clear that there were many more aspects to the German identity than a simple 

and conscious desire for "boundary maintenance".50 As I have argued 

throughout this study, the socio-religious integrity of the Brethren was at 

stake in this issue, at least according to f i r s t generation immigrants to 

Canada. In the interwar period, elements of p o l i t i c a l , ethnic and 



206 

nationalist Germanism vied for position in defining Brethren identity and 

preserving Brethren socio-religious integrity. These elements were purged in 

the crucible of the Second World War, leaving the basic cultural and 

religious meanings of Germanism to slowly fade away in the postwar period, 

despite strenuous attempts to preserve them. By then the steady forces of 

assimilation, acculturation, and urbanization, along with a societal bias 

against Germanism, and an emphasis by the Brethren on outreach and an 

openness to English "evangelical" groups, had taken their t o l l . 

Many other factors were at work in the demise of Germanism among the 

Brethren, some of which have been discussed in this chapter, others have 

surfaced elsewhere. My primary intention, however, has been to understand 

Canadian Mennonite Brethren Germanism in a l l i t s complexity and fullness. To 

do otherwise is to deny the Germanists their role as historical actors who 

were responding to very real challenges to their own identity and that of the 

Mennonite Brethren community as a whole. 

On the other hand, many of their fears were unfounded, and some of their 

efforts to preserve the Germanic aspects of Mennonite identity were misguided 

and f u t i l e . The German culture and language were not crucial to the 

Mennonite Brethren faith and way of l i f e , they were rather components of a 

particular configuration of i t . Despite containing an often prescient 

understanding of the role of language and culture in maintaining religious 

identity and social solidarity, the Germanist perspective was essentially 

conservative and unrealistic in the Canadian context. 

That the Mennonite Brethren faith community has persisted and prospered 

in Canada in a non-Germanic form can be interpreted as a triumph of 

"religious" over "ethnic" elements in Brethren identity. What makes this 



207 

neat observation problematic is the fact that Germanism served religious as 

well as ethnic goals, and hence i t s demise does not signal the clearcut 

victory of one sort of Mennonitism over another. In fact, i t is possible 

that some traditional religious tenets (such as nonresistance) have more or 

less accompanied Germanism into obscurity. 

This suggests a third possibility; namely, that a previous synthesis of 

faith, culture and community has been transformed into a new pattern which is 

different than the old one, but just as real. Instead of comparing a 

"religious" present with an "ethnic" past, perhaps contemporary Mennonite 

Brethren should ask themselves i f the current synthesis of faith, culture and 

community does not have something to gain from an honest and respectful 

appraisal of the previous one. 



208 

NOTES, CHAPTER SIX 

1. Edward Herberg, Ethnic Groups in Canada: Adaptations and Transitions 
(Scarborough: Nelson Canada, 1989), pp. 84-85; Raymond Breton, 
"Institutional Completeness of Ethnic Communities and the Personal Relations 
of Immigrants," The American Journal of Sociology 70 (1964):193-205. 

2. Ibid., p. 9. 

3. Ibid., p. 101. 

4. Ibid., p. 122. 

5. Ibid., p. 106; Alan B. Anderson, "Assimilation in the Bloc 
Settlements of North-Central Saskatchewan: A Comparative Study of Identity 
Change Among Seven Ethno-Religious Groups in a Canadian Prairie Region," 
(Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Saskatchewan, 1972), p. 200. 

6. Herberg, Ethnic Groups in Canada, pp. 94-101. 

7. Jeffrey G. Reitz, "Language and Ethnic Community Survival," in Rita 
M. Bienvenue and Jay E. Goldstein, eds., Ethnicity and Ethnic Relations in  
Canada (Toronto: Butterworth & Co., 2nd ed., 1985), p. 106. 

8. Stanley Lieberson, Language and Ethnic Relations in Canada (Toronto: 
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1970), p. 7. 

9. H. Richard Niebuhr, The Social Sources of Denominationalism (Hamden, 
CT: The Shoestring Press, 1954), pp. 222-23. 

10. Reitz, "Language and Ethnic Community Survival," pp. 120-21. 

11. Lieberson, Language and Ethnic Relations in Canada, p. 15. 

12. Herberg, Ethnic Groups in Canada, p. 268. 

13. Lieberson, Language and Ethnic Relations in Canada, p. 10. 

14. Fishman and Nahirny, "The Ethnic Group School and Mother-Tongue 
Maintenance," in Joshua Fishman, ed., Language Loyalty in the United States:  
The Maintenance and Perpetuation of Non-English Mother Tongues by American  
Ethnic and Religious Groups (The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1966), p. 97. 

15. Ibid., p. 109. 

16. See Fishman, ed., Language Loyalty in the United States, pp. 134 and 
403 respectively. 

17. Heinz Kloss, "German-American Language Maintenance Efforts," in 
Fishman, ed., Language Loyalty, p. 238. 



209 

18. Nathan Glazer, "The Process and Problems of Language Maintenance: An 
Integrative Review," in Fishman, ed., Language Loyalty, p. 365. 

19. Elizabeth Gerwin, "A Survey of the German-Speaking Population of 
Alberta" (M.A. Thesis, University of Alberta, 1938), p. 145ff. 

20. Leo Driedger and Jacob Peters, "Ethnic Identity: A Comparison of 
Mennonite and other German Students," Mennonite Quarterly Review (July 
1973): 240. 

21. Ibid., p. 243. 

22. Frank Epp has pointed out that to the extent that religion and 
ethnicity, the "two main meanings of Mennonite", are narrowly and 
superficially defined, they "become mutually exclusive with a consequent 
rending apart within the Mennonite body." See Frank H. Epp, "Problems of 
Mennonite Identity: A Historical Study," in Leo Driedger, ed., The Canadian  
Ethnic Mosaic: A Quest for Identity (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1978), 
p. 291. 

23. Leo Driedger and Calvin Redekop, "Sociology of Mennonites: State of 
the Art and Science," Journal of Mennonite Studies 1 (1983):53-54. 

24. Donald B. Kraybill, "Modernity and Identity: The Transformation of 
Mennonite Ethnicity," in Redekop and Steiner, eds., Mennonite Identity:  
Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Lanham, New York, London: 
University Press of America, 1988), pp. 153-72. 

25. Calvin Redekop, "The Sociology of Mennonite Identity: A Second 
Opinion" in Ibid., p. 187. 

26. Ibid., p. 191. 

27. Henry Radecki with Benedict Heydenkorn, A Member of a Distinguished  
Family: The Polish Group in Canada (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1976), 
pp. 88-93. 

28. Ibid., pp. 94-95. 

29. Ibid., P. 97. 

30. Ibid. 

31. Ibid., P. 99. 

32. Ibid., pp. 100-104. 

33. Ibid., pp. 98, 104-105. 

34. Jack Thiessen, "A New Look at an Old Problem: Origins of the 
Variations of Mennonite Plautdietsch," The Mennonite Quarterly Review (July 
1989):290-92. 



210 

35. Lieberson, Language and Ethnic Relations in Canada, p. 7. 

36. Interview with David Schroeder, Mennonite theologian, June 20, 1989, 
Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

37. Interview with Gerhard Ens, Mennonite educator and current editor of 
Der Bote, June 20, 1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

38. Adolf Ens, "Changes in Language and Cultural Symbols During the 
1950's," unpublished paper (1988), Box 17, Folder F, no. 2, Centre for 
Mennonite Brethren Studies (CMBS), Winnipeg, pp. 5-11. 

39. Abe J. Dueck, "Church and State: Developments Among Mennonite 
Brethren in Canada since World War II," unpublished paper (1980), Box 8, 
Folder E, no. 1, CMBS Winnipeg, pp. 3-6. 

40. Niebuhr, The Social Sources of Denominationalism, pp. 212-13. 

41. Delbert Wiens, "The Old Wine; Will i t Sour?" The Canadian Mennonite. 
18 April 1967, p. 7. 

42. Jack Thiessen, "A New Look at an Old Problem: Origins of the 
Variations in Mennonite Plautdietsch," Mennonite Quarterly Review (July 
1989):285-96. 

43. G.H. Peters, "Und wieder: *Unsre deutsche Sprache,'" Der Bote, 7 
April 1937, p. 3. 

44. F.C. Thiessen, "Wie erhalten wir bei unsern Kindern die Begeisterung 
fuer die ererbten Gueter: Religion und deutsche Sprache?", Der Bote, 14 July 
1937, p. 5. 

45. A.H. Unruh, "Warum i s t es notwendig, unsere deutsche Muttersprache 
zu erhalten?", Mennonitische Rundschau, 3 June 1953, p. 3. 

46. Interview with David Schroeder; Interview with Gerhard Ens. 

47. John Jacob Krahn, "A History of the Mennonites in British Columbia," 
(M.A. Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1955), pp. 117-18; E.K. 
Francis, In Search of Utopia: The Mennonites of Manitoba (Altona: D.W. 
Friesen & Sons, 1955), p. 243. 

48. Interview with David Schroeder. 

49. Interview with Gerhard Ens. 



211 

50. I have already noted Frank Epp's emphasis on "separation", and i t s 
inappropriateness when studying the Russlaender, in Chapter One. In the 
Mennonite academic literature, "boundary maintenance" has almost become a 
cliche. For an example of this kind of approach taken to i t s absurd 
conclusion see Elmer S. Miller, "Marking Mennonite Identity: A Structuralist 
Approach to Separation," The Conrad Grebe1 Review (Fall 1985):251-63. For my 
response see The Conrad Grebel Review (Winter 1986):60-63. 



212 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A. PRIMARY SOURCES 

1. General 

Canadian Census, 1921-1961, passim. Ottawa: King's Printers. 

Files of the Alberta Mennonite High School, BA 251, F 51, Centre for 
Mennonite Brethren Studies (CMBS), Fresno, California. 

Files of the Northern District Conference Bible School Committee, 1943-1953 
and passim. Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies (CMBS), Winnipeg, 
Manitoba. 

Minutes of the Bethany Bible School Committee Meetings, passim. BF, 
Saskatchewan Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, Box 1, Folder 
11. CMBS, Fresno, Ca. 

Minutes of the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church Business Meetings, 1926-
1960. Folder BA 501. CMBS, Fresno, Ca. 

Minutes of the Hepburn Mennonite Brethren Church Business Meetings, 1937-
1960. Microfilm Roll 10. CMBS, Fresno, Ca. 

Minutes of the Herbert Bible School Committee Meetings, passim. BF 229, CMBS, 
Fresno, Ca. 

Minutes of the Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church Business Meetings, 1939-
1960. Microfilm Roll 33. CMBS, Fresno, Ca. 

Minutes of the Mennonite Brethren Bible College Board of Directors Meetings, 
1944-1953 and passim. Microfilm Roll 40, CMBS, Fresno, Ca. 

Minutes of the Mennonite Brethren Bible College Faculty Meetings, 1945-1953 
and passim. Faculty Minutes F i l e , CMBS, Winnipeg, Man. 

Minutes of the Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute School Committee 
Meetings, 1945-1963, Box L234, Folders 21-23, CMBS, Fresno, Ca. 

Minutes of the North End Mennonite Brethren Church Business Meetings, 1927-
1960. Microfilm Rolls 91-92. CMBS, Fresno, Ca. 

Minutes of the Yarrow Mennonite Brethren Church Business Meetings, 1929-1960. 
Microfilm Roll 65. CMBS, Fresno, Ca. 

Northern District Conference Yearbooks, 1911-1970. Hillsboro, KS: Mennonite 
Brethren Publishing House. 



213 

Papers of the Society for the Promotion of the German Language. Mennonite 
Heritage Centre (MHC), Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

Personal papers of B.B. Janz. CMBS, Winnipeg, Man. and CMBS, Fresno, Ca. 

Personal papers of A.H. Unruh. CMBS, Winnipeg, Man. 

2. Interviews 

Anne Brandt, Mennonite Brethren church worker, Kelowna, B.C., June 3, 1989. 

Gilbert and Susan Brandt, Mennonite Brethren publishers, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 
June 17, 1989. 

Herb Brandt, Mennonite Brethren pastor and Conference leader, June 3 and 
December 19, 1989, Kelowna, B.C. 

Erwin Cornelsen, retired German Mennonite pastor, Vancouver, B.C., November 
14, 1989. 

Jack and Eleanor Dueck, former Mennonite Brethren, Kitchener, Ontario, July 
6, 1989. 

Gerhard Ens, Mennonite educator and current editor of Der Bote, Winnipeg, 
Manitoba, June 20, 1989. 

Anne Funk, retired Mennonite Brethren teacher, Vancouver, B.C., May 6, 1990. 

Lawrence Klippenstein, Mennonite archivist, Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 15, 
1989. 

Peter Neudorf, Mennonite businessman, Vancouver, B.C., December 10, 1989. 

Katie Peters, Mennonite Brethren from Russia, Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 9, 
1989. 

Calvin Redekop, Mennonite Sociologist, Harrisonburg, Virginia, June 27, 1990. 

Kathy Rempel, former Mennonite Brethren, Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 14, 1989. 

David Schroeder, Mennonite theologian, Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 20, 1989. 

J.B. Toews, Mennonite Brethren leader and educator, Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 
20, 1989; Fresno, California, March 10, 1990. 

John B. Toews, Mennonite historian, Vancouver, B.C., January 31, 1990. 



214 

3. Periodicals 

Der Bote, 1930-39 and passim. 

Konferenz Juqenblatt. 

Mennonite Life, passim. 

Mennonitische Rundschau. 1930-39 and passim. 

Saskatoon Star Phoenix, passim. 

Winnipeg Free Press, passim. 

4. Books and Articles 

Dyck, Arnold. Lost in the Steppe. Steinbach, MB: Derksen Printers, 1974. 

Gingerich, Melvin. "The Menace of Propaganda and How to Meet It." Mennonite  
Quarterly Review 13 (April 1939):123-34. 

Kliewer, F r i t z . Die deutsche Volksgruppe in Paraguay: Eine 
siedlungsgeschichtliche. volkskundliche und volkspolitische  
Untersuchung. Hamburg: Hans Christiana Verlag, 1941. 

Kliewer, F r i t z . "The Mennonites of Paraguay." Mennonite Quarterly Review 11 
(January 1937):92-97. 

Luce, P.W. "Unwelcome Mennonites Making Model Farms by the Fraser." Saturday  
Night. 12 February 1944, p. 32. 

Quiring, Walter. "The Canadian Mennonite Immigration into the Paraguayan 
Chaco 1926-1927." Mennonite Quarterly Review VII (January 1934):32-42. 

Unruh, B.H. Die niederlaendisch-niederdeutschen Hintergruende der 
mennonitischen Cstwanderungen. Karlsruhe: Im Selbstverlag, 1955. 

Wiens, B.B. "Pioneering in British Columbia." Mennonite Life I (July, 
1946):9-13. 



215 

B. SECONDARY SOURCES 

1. Books. 

Artibise, Alan F.J. Western Canada Since 1870: A Select Bibliography and  
Guide. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1978. 

Avery, Donald. Dangerous Foreigners: European Immigrant Workers and Labour  
Radicalism in Canada, 1896-1932. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 
1979. 

Berg, Abram, ed. Dietrich Heinrich Epp: Aus seinem Leben, Wirken und  
selbstaufqezeichneten Erinnerungen. Saskatoon: Heese House of 
Printing, 1973. 

Betcherman, Lita Rose. The Swastika and the Maple Leaf: Fascist Movements in  
Canada in the Thirties. Toronto: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1975. 

Bienvenue and Goldstein, eds. Ethnicity and Ethnic Relations in Canada. 
Toronto: Butterworth & Co., 1985. 

Buchsweiler, Meir. Volksdeutsche in der Ukraine am Vorabend und Beginn des  
Zweiten Weltkrieqs: Ein F a l l Doppelter Lovalitaet?. Gerlingen: 
Bleicher Verlag, 1984. 

Classen, A.J. The Bible School Story 1913-1963. Mennonite Brethren Board of 
Education, 1963. 

Conway, John. The Nazi Persecution of the Churches 1933-45. Toronto: The 
Ryerson Press, 1968. 

Dawson, CA. Group Settlement: Ethnic Communities in Western Canada. Toronto: 
Macmillan, 1936, reprinted by Kraus Reprint Co., 1974. 

Epp, Frank H. Mennonite Exodus: The Rescue and Resettlement of the Russian  
Mennonites Since the Communist Revolution. Altona: D.W. Friesen and 
Sons, 1962. 

Epp, Frank H. Mennonites in Canada, 1786-1920. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 
1974. 

Epp, Frank H. Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 
1982. 

Fishman, Joshua A., ed. Language Loyalty in the U.S.: The Maintenance and  
Perpetuation of Non-English Mother Tongues by American Ethnic and  
Religious Groups. The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1966. 

Francis, E.K. In Search of Utopia: The Mennonites of Manitoba. Altona: D.W. 
Friesen & Sons, 1955. 



216 

Fretz, J. Winfield. Pilgrims in Paraguay. Scottdale, Pa: Herald Press, 1953. 

Friesen, Gerald. The Canadian Prairies: A History. Toronto: University of 
Toronto Press, 1987. 

Friesen, P.M. The Mennonite Brotherhood in Russia. 1789-1910. Fresno: BCLGC 
Mennonite Brethren Church, 1978. 

Goertz, Hans-Juergen. Die Taeufer: Geschichte und Deutung. Munich: CH. Beck, 
1980. 

Hamm, Peter M. Continuity & Change Among Canadian Mennonite Brethren. 
Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 1987. 

Hartzler, J.E. Education Among the Mennonites of America. Danvers. I l l : 
Central Mennonite Publishing Board, 1925. 

Helmreich, Ernst Christian. The German Churches Under Hitler: background. 
struggle, and epilogue. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1979. 

Herberg, Edward N. Ethnic Groups in Canada: Adaptations and Transitions. 
Scarborough: Nelson Canada, 1989. 

Kirconnell, Walter. Canada, Europe and Hitler. Toronto: Oxford University 
Press, 1939. 

Klippenstein, Lawrence. That There be Peace: Mennonites in Canada and World  
War II. Winnipeg: The Manitoba CO. Reunion Committee, 1979. 

Leckie, Robert. American and Catholic. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & 
Company, 1970. 

Lichdi, Dieter Goetz. Die Mennoniten im Dritten Reich: Dokumentation und  
Deutung. Weierhof: Mennonitischer Geschictsverein, 1977. 

Lieberson, Stanley. Language and Ethnic Relations in Canada. Toronto: John 
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1970. 

Mann, W.E. Sect. Cult and Church in Alberta. Toronto: University of Toronto 
Press, 1955. 

Mosse, George L. The C r i s i s of German Ideology. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 
1964. 

Nawyn, William E. American Protestantism's Response to Germany's Jews and  
Refugees. 1933-41. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1981. 

Niebuhr, H. Richard. The Social Sources of Denominationalism. Hamden, CT: The 
Shoestring Press, 1954. 

Norris, John. Strangers Entertained: A History of the Ethnic Groups of  
British Columbia. Vancouver: Centennial '71 Committee, 1971. 



217 

Palmer, Howard. Patterns of Prejudice: A History of Nativism in Alberta. 
Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1985. 

Penner, Peter. No Longer At Arms Length: Mennonite Brethren Church Planting  
in Canada. Winnipeg: Kindred Press, 1987. 

Radecki, Henry and Heydenkorn, Benedykt. A Member of a Distinguished Family:  
The Polish Group in Canada. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1976. 

Redekop, Calvin. Mennonite Society. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University 
Press, 1989. 

Redekop, Calvin and Steiner, Sam, eds. Mennonite Identity: Historical and 
Contemporary Perspectives. Lanham, New York, London: University Press 
of America, 1988. 

Shirer, William L. The Rise and F a l l of the Third Reich. New York: Simon and 
Schuster, 1959. 

Smucker, Donovan, ed. The Sociology of Canadian Mennonites, Hutterites and  
Amish: A Bibliography with Annotations. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier 
University Press, 1977. 

Thompson, John H. and Seager, Allen. Canada 1922-39: Decades of Discord. 
Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1985. 

Toews, John A. A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church. Fresno: Board of 
Christian Literature, 1975. 

Toews, John B. Czars. Soviets and Mennonites. Newton: Faith and Life Press, 
1982. 

Toews, John B. Lost Fatherland: The Story of the Mennonite Emigration From  
Soviet Russia. 1921-1927. Kitchener: Herald Press, 1967. 

Toews, John B. With Courage to Spare: The Life of B.B. Janz (1877-1964). 
Winnipeg: Board of Christian Literature, 1978. 

Wagner, Jonathan F. Brothers Beyond the Sea: National Socialism in Canada. 
Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 1981. 

Ward, W.P. White Canada Forever: Popular Attitudes and Public Policy Toward  
Orientals in British Columbia. Montreal: Queen's University Press, 
1978. 

2. Articles. 

Bargen, Peter F. "Mennonite Land Settlement Policies." Mennonite Life XV 
(October, 1960):187-90. 



218 

Bender, Harold S. "Language Problem." in Bender and Smith, eds. Mennonite  
Encyclopedia vol. III. Scottdale, Pa.: Mennonite Publishing House, 
1957. 

Breton, Raymond. "Institutional Completeness of Ethnic Communities and the 
Personal Relations of Immigrants." The American Journal of Sociology 
70 (1964)-.193-205. 

Braun, Peter. "The Educational System of the Mennonite Colonies in South 
Russia." Mennonite Quarterly Review 3 (July 1929) -.169-82. 

Broszat, Martin. "Die voelkische Ideologie und der National-Sozialismus." 
Deutsche Rundschau 89 (January 1958):53-68. 

Conzen, Kathleen N. "Historical Approaches to the study of Rural Ethnic 
Communities." in Luebke, F. ed. Ethnicity on the Great Plains. 
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980, pp. 1-18. 

Driedger, Leo. "A Perspective on Canadian Mennonite Urbanization." Mennonite  
Life XXIII (October 1968):147-52. 

Driedger, Leo. "Urbanization of Mennonites in Canada." in Poettcker and 
Regehr, eds. Call to Faithfulness: Essays in Canadian Mennonite 
Studies. Winnipeg: Canadian Mennonite Bible College, 1972. 

Driedger, Leo and Peters, Jacob. "Ethnic Identity: A Comparison of Mennonite 
and Other German Students." Mennonite Quarterly Review XLVTI (July, 
1973):225-44. 

Driedger, Leo and Redekop, Calvin. "Sociology of Mennonites: State of the Art 
and Science." Journal of Mennonite Studies 1 (1983):33-63. 

Doerksen, Victor. "Language and Communication Among Urban Mennonites." 
Mennonite Life XXIII (October 1968):182-85. 

Epp, Frank H. "Problems of Mennonite Identity: A Historical Study." in 
Driedger, Leo ed. The Canadian Ethnic Mosaic: A Quest for Identity. 
Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1978. 

Epp, Frank H. "The Struggle for Recognition." in Poettcker and Regehr, eds. 
Call to Faithfulness: Essays in Canadian Mennonite Studies. Winnipeg: 
Canadian Mennonite Bible College, 1972. 

Epp, George K. "Mennonite Immigration to Canada After World War II." Journal  
of Mennonite Studies 5 (1987):108-19. 

Epp, Reuben. "Plautdietsch: Origins, Development and State of the Mennonite 
Low German Language." Journal of Mennonite Studies 5 (1987)-.61-72. 

Francis, E.K. "The Russian Mennonites: From Religious to Ethnic Group." The  
American Journal of Sociology LIV, 2 (Sept. 1948):101-107. 



219 

Friesen, John. "Manitoba Mennonites in the Rural-Urban Shift." Mennonite Life 
XXIII (October 1968):152-58. 

Friesen, John. "The Relationship of Prussian Mennonites to German 
Nationalism." in Loewen, Harry, ed. Mennonite Images: Historical.  
Cultural, and Literary Essays Dealing with Mennonite Issues. Winnipeg: 
Hyperion Press, 1980:61-72. 

Gerlach, Horst. "Mennonites, the Molotschna, and the *Volksdeutsche 
Mittelstelle' in the Second World War." Mennonite Life 41 (September 
1986):4-9. 

Hansen, Marcus Lee. "The Third Generation in America." Commentary 14 
(1952):492-500. 

Harder, Ben. "The Bible Institute-College Movement in Canada." Journal of  
Canadian Church Historical Society 22 (April 1980):29-45. 

Hillmer, Norman. "The Second World War as an (Un) National Experience." in 
Hillman, Kordan, Luciuk, eds. On Guard For Thee: War, Ethnicity, and  
the Canadian State, 1939-1945. Ottawa: Canadian Committee for the 
History of the Second World War, 1988, preface. 

Hubbard, Bede. "St. Peter's: A German-American marriage of monastary and 
colony." in Smillie, Benjamin ed. Visions of The New Jerusalem:  
Religious Settlement on the Prairies. Edmonton: NeWest Press, 1983. 

Keyserlingk, Robert H. "Breaking the Nazi Plot: Canadian Government Attitudes 
Towards German Canadians, 1939-1945." in Hillman, Kordan, Luciuk, eds. 
On Guard For Thee, (see above), pp. 54-61. 

Kossok, Manfred. "Die Mennoniten-Siedlungen Paraguays in den Jahren 1935^-39." 
Zeitschrift fuer Geschichtswissenschaft 8 (1960):367-76. 

Kraybill, Donald B. "Modernity and Identity: The Transformation of Mennonite 
Ethnicity." in Redekop and Steiner, eds. Mennonite Identity:  
Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Lanham, New York, London: 
University Press of America, 1988, pp. 153-72. 

Loewen, Harry. "Canadian Mennonite Literature: Longing for a Lost Homeland." 
in Riedel, Walter, ed. The Old World and the New: Literary  
Perspectives of German-Speaking Canadians. Toronto: University of 
Toronto Press, 1984, pp. 73-93. 

Loewen, Harry. "Echoes of Drumbeats: The Movement of Exuberance Among the 
Mennonite Brethren." Journal of Mennonite Studies 3 (1985):118-27. 

Martens, Hildegard M. "Accomodation and Withdrawal: The Response of 
Mennonites in Canada to World War II." Social History VII 
(November, 1974):306-27. 



220 

Paetkau, Henry. "Jacob H. Janzen: *A Minister of Rare Magnitude'." 
Mennongespraech 6 (March 1988):1-4. 

Paetkau, Henry. "Russian Mennonite Immigrants of the 1920's: A Reappraisal." 
Journal of Mennonite Studies 2 (1984):72-85. 

Palmer, Howard. "Ethnic Relations in Wartime: Nationalism and European 
Minorities in Alberta during the Second World War." Canadian Ethnic  
Studies XIV (1982):1-23. 

Peters, H.A. "Das Mennonitische Volkstum: eine Skizze seiner Entstehung und 
des Verfalles." Per Bote. 8 December 1964, pp. 10-11. 

Redekop, Calvin. "The Sociology of Mennonite Identity: A Second Opinion." in 
Redekop and Steiner, eds. Mennonite Identity: Historical and  
Contemporary Perspectives. Lanham, New York, London: University Press 
of America, 1988, pp. 173-92. 

Regehr, T.D. "The Influence of World War II on Mennonites in Canada." Journal  
of Mennonite Studies 5 (1987):73-89. 

Reitz, Jeffrey G. "Language and Ethnic Community Survival." in Bienvenue and 
Goldstein, eds. Ethnicity and Ethnic Relations in Canada. Toronto: 
Butterworth & Co., 2nd ed., 1985:105-23. 

Sapir, Edward. "Language." Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences vol. IX. New 
York: MacMillan, 1933, pp. 155-68. 

Thiessen, Jack. "A New Look at an Old Problem: Origins of the Variations of 
Mennonite Plautdietsch." The Mennonite Quarterly Review (July 
1989):285-96. 

Toews, J.B. "Mennonite Brethren Identity and Theological Diversity." in.Paul 
Toews, ed. Pilgrims & Strangers: Essays in Mennonite Brethren History. 
Fresno: Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies, 1977. 

Urry, James. "Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth and the Mennonite 
Experience in Imperial Russia." Journal of Mennonite Studies 3 
(1985):7-35. 

Wagner, Jonathan F. "Transferred C r i s i s : German Volkish Thought Among Russian 
Mennonite Immigrants to Western Canada." Canadian Review of Studies in 
Nationalism 1 (1974):202-220. 

Weissenborn, Georg K. "Three hundred years of German presence in Canada." 
Language and Society 9 (Spring 1983):16-19. 

Wiebe, Anne. "The Mennonite Brethren in Ontario: a short history." 
Mennongespraech 4 (March 1986):4-8. 

Wiens, Delbert. "The Old Wine; Will i t Sour?" The Canadian Mennonite. 18 
April 1967, pp. 6-7. 



221 

3. Dissertations and Theses 

Anderson, Alan B. "Assimilation in the Bloc Settlements of North Central 
Saskatchewan: A Comparative Study of Identity Change Among Seven 
Ethno-Religious Groups in a Canadian Prairie Region." Ph.D. 
dissertation, University of Saskatchewan, 1972. 

Buhr, Joanna R. "Pursuit of a Vision: Persistence and Accomodation Among 
Coaldale Mennonites from the Mid-Nineteen Twenties to World War II." 
M.A. thesis, University of Calgary, 1986. 

Burkinshaw, Robert K. "Strangers and Pilgrims in Lotus Land: Conservative 
Protestantism in British Columbia, 1917-1981." Ph.D. dissertation, 
University of British Columbia, 1988. 

Doerksen, John George. "History of Education of the Mennonite Brethren in 
Canada." M.Ed, thesis, University of Manitoba, 1963. 

Doerksen, John George. "Mennonite Brethren Bible College and College of the 
Arts." Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Dakota, 1968. 

E l l i o t t , David R. "Studies of Eight Canadian Fundamentalists." Ph.D. 
dissertation, University of British Columbia, 1989. 

Epp, Frank H. "An Analysis of Germanism and National Socialism in the 
Immigrant Newspaper of a Canadian Minority Group, the Mennonites, in 
the 1930's." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1965. 

Gerwin, Elizabeth. "A Survey of the German-Speaking Population in the 
Province of Alberta." M.A. thesis, University of Alberta, 1938. 

Grenke, Arthur. "The Formation and Early Development of an Urban Ethnic 
Community: A Case Study of the Germans in Winnipeg, 1872-1919." Ph.D. 
dissertation, University of Manitoba, 1975. 

Heier, Edmund. "A Study of the German Lutheran and Catholic Immigrants in 
Canada Formerly Residing in Czarist and Soviet Russia." M.A. thesis, 
University of British Columbia, 1955. 

Klassen, Peter G. "A History of Mennonite Education in Canada, 1786-1960." 
D.Ed, thesis, University of Toronto, 1970. 

Krahn, John Jacob. "A History of Mennonites in British Columbia." M.A. 
thesis, University of British Columbia, 1955. 

L i c h t i , James I. "Religious Identity vs. 'Aryan' Identity: German Mennonites 
and Hutterites Under the Third Reich." M.A. thesis, San Francisco 
State University, 1989. 

Mott, M. "The Foreign P e r i l : Nativism in Winnipeg, 1916-1923." M.A. 
thesis, University of Manitoba, 1970. 



222 

Paetkau, Henry. "A Struggle for Survival. The Russian Mennonite Immigrants in 
Ontario, 1924-39." M.A. thesis, University of Waterloo, 1977. 

Peters, Jacob. "The Association of Religious A f f i l i a t i o n , Socio-Economic 
Status, Generation, and Segregation with German Ethnocentrism." M.A. 
thesis, University of Manitoba, 1971. 

Ratzlaff, Gerhard. "An Historical-Political Study of the Mennonites in 
Paraguay." M.A. thesis, California State University, Fresno, 1974. 

Sawatzsky, Aron. "The Mennonites of Alberta and Their Assimilation." M.A. 
thesis, University of Alberta, 1964. 

Thielman, George Gerhard. "The Canadian Mennonites: A Study of an Ethnic 
Group in Relation to the State and Community with Emphasis on Factors 
Contributing to Success or Failure of Its Adjustment to Canadian Ways 
of Living." Ph.D. dissertation, Western Reserve University, 1955. 

Warkentin, John H. "The Mennonite Settlements of Southern Manitoba." Ph.D. 
dissertation, University of Toronto, 1960. 

4. Unpublished Papers 

Brandt, Herbert. "Church Growth and the Process of Change in the Mennonite 
Brethren Church." (1983) Box 12, no. 6P, F. CMBS Winnipeg. 

de Fehr, Albert William. "A Critique of Epp's *An Analysis of Germanism and 
National Socialism in the Immigrant Newspaper of a Canadian Minority 
Group'." (1970) Associated Mennonite B i b l i c a l Seminaries, Elkhart, 
Indiana. 

Driedger, Leo. "Mennonites in Winnipeg." Box 17, no. 1, D. CMBS Winnipeg. 

Doerksen, Victor. "Post-War Developments in Canadian Mennonite Literature." 
Box 17, no. 1, F. CMBS Winnipeg. 

Dueck, Abe J. "Church and State: Developments Among Mennonite Brethren in 
Canada Since World War II." (1980) Box 8, no. 1, E. CMBS Winnipeg. 

Ediger, Gerry. "Language Transition in the Vineland Mennonite Brethren 
Church." University of Toronto (1987). In my personal possession. 

Ens, Adolf. "Changes in Language and Cultural Symbols During the 1950's." 
(1988) Box 17, Folder F., no. 2. CMBS Winnipeg. 

Ens, Adolf. "The Mennonites As Reflected by the Manitoba Free Press 1910-
1929." (1973) Box 10, Folder H, no. 16. CMBS Winnipeg. 



223 

Fromm, Lothar. "Nazistische Einfluesse in mennonitischen Zeitschriften." 
(1961) Associated Mennonite B i b l i c a l Seminaries, Elkhart, Indiana. 

Klassen, Lois. "The Language Transition in Mennonite Brethren Churches." Box 
1, no. 10, J. CMBS Winnipeg. 

Loewen, Harry. "The German-Russian Tensions Among the Mennonites in Russia 
(1789-1917)." Box 7, no. 5, H. CMBS Winnipeg. 

Loewen, Jacob. "The German Language, Culture and Faith." Box 15, no. 3, E. 
CMBS Winnipeg. 

Thiesen, John D. "A Case Study of National Socialism Among Foreign Germans: 
Paraguay, 1927-1944." Wichita State University (1985). In my 
personal possession. 

Thiesen, John D. "The American Mennonite Encounter With National Socialism." 
Wichita State University (1987). In my personal possession. 

Toews, John B. "The Russian Mennonite Intellect of the Nineteenth Century." 
(1978) Box 7, no.4, H. CMBS Winnipeg. 

Urry, James. "A religious or a social elite? The Mennonite Brethren in 
Imperial Russia." (1986) Box 15, no. 1, E. CMBS Winnipeg.