Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Against the Wind
For the November 12 plebiscite on Hitler’s government policy the brotherhood
worked out a short statement, more or less extraced from Eberhard’s letter to
Hitler. They printed it on gummed paper, and each brotherhood member stuck it
on his or her ballot:
By conviction and will, I am pledged to the gosel and the discipleship of Jesus Christ,
the coming kingdom of God, and the love and unity of his church. This is the one and
only vocation God has given me as my calling. Out of this faith I intercede before
God and all people for my fatherland and above all for the Reich government as men
with another and different vocation, which is not mine, but a vocation given by God
to my beloved rulers Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler.
The reacion was not long in coming. On November 16 about one hundred fifty
heavily armed policemen, Storm Troopers, and Gesapo officers surrounded the
Bruderhof. Under the direction of a Gesapo official they ransacked every room,
even tearing up floorboards. They took away all books with red covers from the
library, and in addition took secial interest in meeting transcripts and mail from
abroad. Eberhard lay in bed with his broken leg, unable to be moved. He tried in
vain to dialogue with the officials.
The Bruderhof people suddenly became aware of the value of their foreign
members: Walter Hüssy and the families Meier, Boller, and Mathis from
Switzerland; and Nils and Dora Wingard, Swedish members who had been
married by Eberhard in October of 1932. With the exception of Walter Hüssy
all had found their way to the community during the two years before Hitler
seized power. As long as they were on the Bruderhof, Hitler’s foot soldiers had
to maintain at least a semblance of decorum. In the following period, when
members of the brotherhood needed to visit officials, Eberhard never sent a
German member alone; it was the rule for at least one foreign member to go along
too. Only he himself risked going alone to the authorities, and then he always
carried letters and documents from the Hutterian brothers in North America.
Here too his line of thought was clear and proved itself: the world should and
would know what transpired. This message was understood. In October 1934
Eberhard found open doors and ears even within the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs in Berlin. 14 International contacts and the bond with the Hutterian
communities in North America became a life insurance policy for the whole
Bruderhof.
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