Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Against the Windservice in Germany on March 16, 1935. It was announced on a Saturday. Eberhard,at the remote Rhön Bruderhof, learned of the new circumstances through atelephone call from two brothers on a sales trip in Switzerland. At once he senttwo community members to Fulda by bicycle to find out what was happening.When the news about conscription was confirmed, the brotherhood met and,after a brief consultation, decided that their only recourse lay in sending the youngbrothers of military age out of Germany to the Alm Bruderhof in Liechtenstein.There they could continue to witness, and they could help with the building upof the community. The alternative would have been for the young Bruderhof mento remain at the Rhön and to refuse military service – a choice tantamount togoing without resistance into a concentration camp. The brothers left the RhönBruderhof that same night, traveling by separate, and in some cases dangerous,routes to Liechtenstein. 9Only a few days earlier in Zurich, Eberhard Arnold and Leonhard Ragaz had metfor what would be their last personal encounter. Members of the Werkhof werealso present. Ragaz aired reservations that he had held for years (attitude towardHitler, friction over Friedmann, etc.), along with a slew of objections dragged upfrom the past (over the understanding of Gemeinde) and fresh complaints (aboutthe visits of brothers traveling in Switzerland, and alleged agitation against thereligious-socialist movement). Others in the meeting added one thing or anotherto the list. It was a proper tribunal. Eberhard asked for some understanding ofthe economic and political pressures in Germany, explained and made corrections,and tried to bring some order into the confusion of questions and complaints. Buthis answers went almost unheard. Many issues had to remain unresolved becauseof lack of time. Leonard Ragaz had already formed his opinion and held to it, andso Eberhard and Hans Meier, who had accompanied him, left without reallyachieving anything.195SEarCh for rEfugETwo weeks after this meeting in Switzerland, and only one week after the youngmen had left Germany, Eberhard once more embarked on a long journey. Thistime he headed for the Netherlands and the British Isles, with a twofold purpose.Initially the word leader of both Bruderhofs had undertaken the journey in aneffort to raise twenty-five thousand marks to help build up the Alm Bruderhofand to alleviate the worst of the economic need. But as the days went by, a secondmotive for the journey came more and more to the fore: to search for a permanent