After several side trips to explore the Mennonite Central Committee’s relief work in France (here) and particularly the Lavercantière Children’s Home (here), it is time to return to the pages of The Mennonite to discover what they reveal about members of our family. The previous post in this series (here) ended with the promise of good news for Henry in early 1946, which is the focus of this post.
Before we turn to Henry’s good news, it will be helpful to recap the key events of our story thus far. In November or December 1940, Henry was accepted for service in the MCC. He was originally slated to serve in England, but by the time he set sail in February 1941, his assignment had been shifted to France. The German army had invaded France in May 1940 and forced the French into surrender by June of that year. German troops occupied northern France and authorized the French Vichy government to maintain civil order in southern France. A mere eight months after these momentous events, Henry arrived in the heart of this Vichy-controlled area.
In March 1941, Henry and Lois Garber took over management of the Villa Saint Christophe children’s home; they apparently continued in this capacity until October 1941, when MCC workers Lois Gunden and Helen Penner assumed responsibility for the home. Late in 1941, Henry moved to Lyon, the location of the MCC’s central French office. About the same time (in November or December 1941), a family of German-born Jews who had escaped the Nazi threat also arrived in Lyon. This family, the Rosenthals, hoped to emigrate to the U.S., but that door closed after the attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941), when the U.S. declared war on Japan and, by default, Japan’s ally Germany.
Sometime in December 1941, Beatrice, one of the children in the Rosenthal family, joined the MCC staff as an office worker. Bea soon became a vital member of the Lyon team; she also developed a special relationship with Henry, and the two were married on 11 November 1942, a day after German troops had displaced the Vichy government by occupying southern France. A little more than three months later, on 16 February 1943, Henry, Bea, and Lois Gunden were interned in Baden-Baden, Germany; they were held for a year and three days, until they were released as part of a U.S.-German prisoner exchange. Roughly a month later, on 15 March 1944, the three former internees set foot on U.S. soil.
While in the U.S., Henry and Bea promoted the MCC’s relief efforts to various church groups. Even so, they longed to return to the front lines of the work in Europe. Henry’s wish was granted just six months later, in September 1944 (i.e., three months after D-Day), when he was authorized to travel to the MCC’s London center. After serving there for six months, in March 1945 Henry returned to France, where he eventually became director of the MCC’s French operation. Sadly, Bea was unable to secure permission to leave the U.S.; in spite of her marriage to Henry, she was still considered a German and thus an enemy alien. This is where we pick up the story, with Henry on one continent and Bea on another.
While Henry managed the MCC French headquarters in Chalon-sur-Saône, Bea continued their earlier work telling church groups about the MCC’s relief work in Europe. On 11 December 1944 she spoke to the Missionary Society of the First Mennonite Church of Bluffton, Ohio (here). In March 1945 she was the featured speaker for the Ladies Aid Love Feast at the First Mennonite Church of Philadelphia (here). Several months later, on 20 May 1945, she spoke on the MCC’s relief work to the congregation at the Calvary Mennonite Church in Quarryville, Pennsylvania (here). Finally, Bea was the guest speaker at the Springfield Mennonite Church in Pleasant Valley, Pennsylvania, on 8 July 1945 (here).
When she was not speaking to church groups, Bea worked in the Publications Section (here) of the MCC headquarters in Akron, Pennsylvania. Still, her focus remained on returning to service in Europe. We see this in a report found in the 26 June 1945 issue (page 21 here, lower right column):
New Relief Appointments
At the recent meeting of the M. C. C. Executive Committee, June 9, 1945, Elsie Bechtel, Canton, Ohio, was appointed for relief service in France. Mrs. Henry Buller, now serving at the Akron office, was also appointed for relief service in connection with the center to be opened in Switzerland.
Interestingly, Bea was appointed for relief work, not in France, but at an unnamed and as yet unopened center in Switzerland. One wonders about the full story behind this statement, since Bea joined Henry in France, where the two of them worked through the end of 1946. Perhaps someday we will stumble upon an explanation of this incongruity.
Of course, being appointed by the MCC is not the same as receiving official U.S. permission to leave the country. So Bea continued to wait. Finally—and here is the good news—after over a year apart, Bea and Henry received word that they would be reunited. We learn about this from a letter from the family of Sam and Pauline Goering.
As mentioned before, Sam Goering accompanied Henry when the MCC resumed French ministry in March 1945 (here); one month later, Sam returned to his appointed post in London. In August or September of that year, Sam’s wife Pauline, their teenage son Robert, and their niece Jessie Brown joined Sam, then traveled with him to France and on to Basel, Switzerland, which is where Pauline and Sam wrote a letter published in the 1 January 1946 issue of The Mennonite. The entire letter can be read here; the extract below sets the context and then delivers the good news. (For more on Sam Goering, see here.)
Travelling through the war torn countries and seeing the many places where once stood homes, churches, hospitals, schools, business houses, etc., now in ruin and desolation; observing the hatred, distrust, and envy that exists between nations, races, and groups; listening to people tell of the cruel experiences they have gone through; knowing of the pain, heartache, and suffering those experiences have brought to millions of people, the message of that first Christmas song takes on a greater significance. The question comes to one’s mind why is the proclamation of that song not being realized in the world today? And the Christmas story reminds one that the fault lies not on God’s side, that from His side the condition to bring peace and good will to men was fulfilled, but men failed to accept God’s wonderful Christmas gift and to meet the conditions that are required of man to secure that peace, and as a result we have the present world situation.
We are writing these lines from Switzerland, the beautiful and peaceful little country which as far as material destruction is concerned, has suffered little loss through the war, but her economic conditions were greatly affected because she has to depend on other countries for many of her commodities. There is a shortage especially of bread, flour, sugar, etc. Food is still strictly rationed except for fresh vegetables and fruits.
You may know that soon after we got to France, Mr. Goering, upon doctor’s orders, entered the 241st General Hospital in Paris for two weeks for rest, treatments, and observation. Here, he received the best of medical care, good food, and had a warm place to stay. We will always feel greatly indebted to the American Army for the kindness shown us at this time. At the end of those two weeks he felt greatly improved, but the doctors impressed upon us the importance of continuance of his rest and treatments. On Monday, November 19, the day he got out of the hospital we left for Chalon where our main French Relief Centre is. Here we spent over two days with our workers, visited two of the children’s homes, and Wednesday met with ten of the workers to discuss plans and pray for the work, its problems, and needs. Including our family, we were a group of fourteen. It was interesting to us that half of the group was from Kansas: Mary Miller from Hesston, Ellen Harder and Charlotte Regier from Whitewater, and our family of four from North Newton. Henry Buller who is director of the group had just received the happy news from his wife at Akron that she had finally secured all the necessary papers for her trip to Europe and hopes to join her husband soon. Mr Buller carries a heavy load and will be greatly relieved when his wife gets here.
The good news for which Bea and Henry (and we) have waited is finally delivered: with all her papers in order, Bea is ready to rejoin Henry. One week later, in the 8 January 1946 issue (page 5 here, upper left column), we learn further details about her journey:
Relief Workers Leave
…
Farewell services for Mrs. Henry Buller were held at Akron on December 8. Sister Buller as a German-born Jewess became acquainted with the Mennonite relief work in France in 1940, and later married Henry Buller, a relief worker there at the time. Her membership is with the First Mennonite Church, Upland, California. She expects to meet Bro. Buller in France and serve in the Mennonite Center office at Chalon. Until she was able to secure authorization to leave the United States and return to Europe she served in a stenographical capacity at the Akron office.
On December 13 farewell services were held at Akron for Emma Loewen of Steinbach, Manitoba and Clifford Lavers of Detroit, Michigan. Sister Loewen will serve in a secretarial capacity in the office at Basel, Switzerland, and Brother Lavers as a machinist and auto mechanic in France. They and Mrs. Buller sailed from New York for France on December 15 aboard the S.S. Argentina.
Whether or not Henry and Bea greeted the new year together, we can be confident that early in 1946 they were working side by side at the MCC center located in Chalon-sur-Saône. References to Henry and Bea decrease in subsequent issues of The Mennonite, but we are able to trace their broad movements over the next few years. In addition, several other members of our family are mentioned, so we will take note of them along with Bea and Henry.
No comments:
Post a Comment