History of the Russian Mennonites

My mother’s brother Peter Bräul was seventeen years-old on the 1,100-kilometre refugee trek out of Ukraine, 1943-44. After two months in German-annexed Poland (Warthegau) and as a newly naturalized German citizen, Peter now eighteen eighteen-years-old, volunteered as a Black Sea ethnic German for the Waffen-SS. Peter Dueck of Margenau, Molotschna was the same age as Peter Bräul and recalled this “remarkable incident” at boot camp in Warthegau. “A German officer questioned the young recruits: ‘And who of you would not serve the Third Reich voluntarily?’ I think it was a shock for all of us. Out of 500 only 3 men lifted their hand. They were asked to come to the front. Officer: ‘And what reason do you have not to serve the Third Reich voluntarily? Their answer was: ‘We as Mennonites, we believe in nonresistance.’ Officer: ‘We have no use for such people. We all defend our Reich.’ They were led out to the back door and to this day I would still like to know what was their verdict.” (...