As was
commemorated earlier this month, World War I, which began 100 years ago this
past summer, officially ended on November 11, 1918. But it didn’t come to an
end then for four Hutterite men from South Dakota.
David, Michael, and Joseph Hofer, three brothers, and Jacob Wipf, Joseph’s brother-in-law, were
inducted into the U.S. Army in May 1918 and sent to Washington State.
Upon reaching
Camp Lewis there, the four Hutterites, who in allegiance to the Anabaptist tradition
were staunch pacifists, refused to don military uniforms or follow other orders.
Consequently,
they were court-martialed, tried and convicted, and then in June sent to
solitary confinement in the dungeon of Alcatraz.
Three days
after the war ended in November, the four men were sent by train to Fort
Leavenworth in Kansas. There on Nov. 29 Joseph Hofer died at the age of 24, and
on Dec. 2 his 25-year-old brother Michael also died.
The cause of
death for the two brothers was listed as pneumonia. It may have actually been
the “Spanish flu,” which was so deadly in 1918-19.
But
malnutrition and their weakened physical condition due to the torturous
treatment they received at Alcatraz were, doubtlessly, the main reason for their
untimely deaths.
David Hofer,
the oldest brother, was released from prison the next day, but Jacob Wipf was
held until April 13, 1919. From his
hospital bed in Dec. 1918, Jacob shared the story of the shameful treatment the
four Hutterites received; that disconcerting story can be read here.
The complete, sad
narrative of the Hutterite martyrs is engagingly told by Duane C. S. Stoltzfus
in his book “Pacifists in Chains: The Persecution of Hutterites during the
Great War” (2013). (Stoltzfus, b. 1959, is a professor of communication at
Goshen College, a Mennonite institution in Indiana.)
Part of the indignity of the situation
is depicted by Stoltzfus on pages 173-4 of his book. After Joseph Hofer died,
the guards said that family members could not see him. But Maria, Joseph’s wife
persisted, and was finally granted permission to see her husband’s body.
Stoltzfus writes,
With tears in her eyes, she approached the coffin, which was set on two chairs. When the lid was opened, she found Joseph in death dressed in a military uniform that he had steadfastly refused to wear in life.
As I wrote in
my 5/30/12 blog
article,
in May 2012 June and I visited some Hutterites in South Dakota. Norman Hofer, a
relative of the Hofer brothers mentioned above (but not a Hutterite), was our most
gracious host/guide.
(On page xvii
of his book, author Stoltzfus thanks Norman Hofer for sending him materials and
for taking him on a tour of several Hutterite colonies.)
Norman told us
the touching story of the Hutterite men of South Dakota whose pacifism cost
them their lives. He also took us to the cemetery where we saw the grave
markers pictured here.
In his opening chapter, Stoltzfus points out that for
the Hutterites “there could be no just war.” They took Jesus’s words in Matthew
5 literally, so they “were obligated by their faith to refuse” military service
(p. 8).
I am most grateful for the faithful witness of people
such as the four Hutterites in 1918, two of whom became martyrs because of the
seriousness and fortitude with which they followed the words of Jesus.
Would that all of us Christian believers were as
dedicated to the one we call Lord!
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