What is the Church to Say? Letter 4 (of 4) to American Mennonite Friends

Irony is used in this post to provoke and invite critical thought; the historical research on the Mennonite experience is accurate and carefully considered. ~ANF

Preparing for your next AGM: Mennonite Congregations and Deportations

Many U.S. Mennonite pastors voted for Donald Trump, whose signature promise was an immediate start to “the largest deportation operation in American history.” Confirmed this week, President Trump will declare a national emergency and deploy military assets to carry this out.

The timing is ideal; in January many Mennonite congregations have their Annual General Meeting (AGM) with opportunity to review and update the bylaws of their constitution. Need help? We have related examples from our tradition, which I offer as a template, together with a few red flags.

First, your congregational by-laws. 

It is unlikely you have undocumented immigrants in your congregation, but you should flag this. Model: Gustav Reimer, a deacon and notary public from the Heubuden Mennonite Church, West Prussia, together with Mennonite Prof. Benjamin Unruh drafted articles of incorporation for the new “Conference of Mennonite Congregations of German Nationality in the Province of Wartheland,” March 1944 (note 1). It limited church membership to "citizens only" in German-annexed Poland (e.g., no Poles). At the time Germany too was in the midst of the "largest deportation operation in [its] history.” However, only about 1 million non-citizens were deported by Feb. 1944; Pres. Trump has spoken of 12 to 20 million, which sounds very ambitious; but even if it is only a few million he would benefit from cooperation from the churches. Your by-law changes should also clearly indicate that the congregation will not offer sanctuary.

Second, an alert

There will be congregations in the conference led by or welcoming of (e.g., offering sanctuary) undocumented immigrants. They will want to dominate denominational gatherings in the next year, determine invited speakers, publications and educational materials—and maybe even the Mennonite World Conference in the summer. This kind of backroom planning happened for the Mennonite World Conference in 1936 in Amsterdam/Elspeet (also the 400th anniversary of Menno’s identification as an Anabaptist). Planners of the conference were extremely sensitive to the developing political situation in Europe. Dutch organizer Fritz Kuiper in a letter to Christian Neff (June 8, 1935) noted his fear that any advance notice of those themes with current relevance could “torpedo” the conference from the start. Organizers colluded to keep Benjamin Unruh off the speakers’ list, but later gave him a “safe” theme to talk on (note 2). Unruh was a supporter of new laws limiting citizenship in Germany. Interestingly these same Dutch organizers a decade later created bogus identifications/passports (Menno-Pass; see below) to allow illegals from the Soviet Union to enter The Netherlands in 1946 (note 3). Prepare for such tricks.

Third, yes, you are still an Anabaptist! 

You will be criticized by left-leaning, woke Mennonites saying that your support of President Trump is at odds with your faith. However, in the 1930s and 1940s Mennonite scholars like Prof. Unruh and Dr. Horst Quiring pointed to the work 16th century Anabaptist Dr. Balthasar Hubmaier for whom bearing arms and holding high government offices was permissible (note 4). Unruh published his own astute “Anabaptist Vision” the next year after the conference (note 5). So you're ok.

Fourth, an appropriate attitude is important

When 35,000 Mennonites from the Soviet Union were evacuated and resettled in German-annexed Poland (with other ethnic Germans from the east), an equivalent number of Poles had to be deported—some to the “General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region,” and some sent to German occupied France as farm labourers. Only those ineligible for citizenship were designated for deportation, of course. The deportation machinery operated very efficiently; the attitude of most Mennonites (and other Germans from the east) while deportations took place was completely passive, as one Pole recalled some years later (note 6). That was helpful for the effort—a strategy you may wish to consider as the deportations begin.

Fifth, identify a Mennonite leader who is well-connected to the Trump organization 

He or she could be of special assistance for the Trump-Mennonites in agricultural areas (not unlike Prof. Unruh). Undocumented people do 25% of the agricultural work in the USA today; you can recommend that your local deportations happen in a staged manner which will not disrupt agricultural production. Again, our tradition has witnessed a roll out and can help with a tried example in Wartheland. All illegal immigrants must first be registered; you could help with that effort to ensure no one is overlooked. Next, prioritize (as in Germany, 1944) which non-citizens are most needed for farming to ensure no agricultural disruption. This would only be an interim measure, of course. Logistics: all "to-be-deported" families should be required to live in one nearby area together (doubling up families worked best in 1944). A central local office could keep an ordered list. When Pres. Trump’s representatives ask for, e.g., 5 families this month from your district to fill quota, then military assets should be employed for quick, efficient removal (within one half day ideally).

Sixth, an example 

See attached Deportation Completion Forms from Storchnest, Warthegau. One Mennonite boy whose family received a house in Storchnest—taken from a family identified for deportation—recalled years later in Canada that those were “not happy people” probably because they were “subservient”—and of course they were; they no longer had a right to be there long term! He also noticed that “through corruption and sly methods these people managed to retain enough goods and food so that they could survive” (note 7). That is a reminder that you will need to be on guard; perhaps a local militia can help, and Mennonites from your congregation should be free to volunteer if they feel called by conscience. Your congregational by-laws should be amended to state this clearly (contact me for good examples from Prof. Unruh).

There are many of precedents in our rich Mennonite story! However the Wartheland example was only for a million or so people. President Trump will need even greater support for the numbers he has promised American voters. It will be messy work and not easy; those involved in the 1944 deportations required at least two generations to process their feelings of guilt. Thank God though that America can have full confidence in President Trump; God has called (and saved!) him for a moment like this.

PS Reminder: Don’t forget about that congregational AGM in January! Set up your agenda early and prepare well for these changes coming to America.

                                                ---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

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Attached Deportation Completion Forms, Storchnest, Wartheland District of Lissa. From Polish State Archives at Poznan, 53/1009/0/2/9. https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/de/jednostka/-/jednostka/1261501.

Note 1: “Satzung der Mennonitischen Gemeindekirche im Wartheland” (March 1944 Submission), from Mennonitische Forschungsstelle Weierhof, Vereinigung Collection, folder 1944.

Note 2: Frits Kuiper to Christian Neff, letter, April 29, 1935, from Mennonite Library and Archives (Bethel College), V 6, box 15, folder 8, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/V_6/box%2015/folder%208/316.jpg; re: “torpedo,” Frits Kuiper to Christian Neff, June 1935, idem, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/V_6/box%2015/folder%208/293.jpg; Harold Bender to Frits Kuiper, Dec. 22, 1935, with recommendations of who to keep off list of speakers at World Conference; https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/V_6/box%2015/folder%208/292.jpg. Unruh was given a safe topic, from the organizer’s perspective: “Die Mennoniten in Rußland in Geschichte und Gegenwart,” in Der Allgemeine Kongreß der Mennoniten gehalten in Amsterdam, Elspeet, Witmarsum (Holland) 29. Juni bis 3. Juli 1936, ed. by Christian Neff (Karslruhe: Schneider, 1936), 60-64, https://mla.bethelks.edu/gmsources/books/1936,%20MWC,%20Der%20Allgemeine%20Konferenz%20der%20Mennoniten/Better%20Copy/DSCF1220.JPG.

Note 3: See Gerlof D. Homan, “‘We Have Come to Love Them’: Russian Mennonite Refugees in the Netherlands, 1945–1947,” Journal of Mennonite Studies 25 (2007), 39–59; 42; 40f., https://jms.uwinnipeg.ca/index.php/jms/article/view/1223/1215; also P. Dyck and E. Dyck, Up from the Rubble, 102f

Note 4: See Horst Quiring, “The Anthropology of Pilgram Marbeck,” Mennonite Quarterly Review 9, no. 4 (October 1935), 155–164 (German online: https://mla.bethelks.edu/gmsources/newspapers/Mennonitische%20Geschichtsblaetter/1936-1940/DSCF4453.JPG).

Note 5: Benjamin Unruh, “Das Wesen des evangelischen Täufertums und Mennonitentums,” Mennonitische Jugendwarte 17, no. 1 (February 1937), 6–15, https://mla.bethelks.edu/gmsources/newspapers/Mennonitische%20Jugendwarte/DSCF9305.JPG.

Note 6: Czesław Łuczak, “Chronicle: Records on the Situation of Poles in the Warte Land,” Instytut Zachodni (Poznań), Western Affairs 8, no. 1 (1967), 170. Łuczak’s reference is to all “ethnic Germans” who arrived in Wartheland and simply stood by and were quiet.

Note 7: “Michaelsburg,” private family correspondence to author, August 1, 2024.

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To cite this page: Arnold Neufeldt-Fast, "What is the Church to Say? Letter 4 (of 4) to American Mennonite Friends," History of the Russian Mennonites (blog), November 24, 2024. https://russianmennonites.blogspot.com/2024/11/what-is-church-to-say-letter-4-of-4-to.html