I Was Interned

Back in February (see here) we stumbled upon a reference in the 17 July 1945 issue of The Mennonite to a pamphlet that Henry had written about his experience being interned by the Germans. At the time I wished out loud that perhaps I might someday see it. Thanks to John D. Thiesen, Archivist and Co-director of Libraries at Bethel College, that wish has now come true.

As you can see in the cover photo to the right, the pamphlet title was simply The Nazis Interned Me. The other text on the cover (apart from Henry’s name) is actually the name of a series of pamphlets produced at the same time. The full name of the series is: I Was Interned: A Series of Wartime Internment Experiences.

A series implies, of course, more than one pamphlet of this type, and, in fact, the 1945 reference to Henry’s pamphlet mentions another that fits the mold: Wilhelmina Kuyf’s Internment Echoes. A search of the WorldCat library catalog turns up two additional works in the series: Lois Gunden’s At Brenner Park Hotel; and Marvin Dirks’s “God’s Sufficient Grace.”

There is no indication of the publisher or date of publication on Henry’s pamphlet, but all four were almost certainly published by the Mennonite Central Committee, and 1945 is the likely year of publication (although Henry’s pamphlet was written in 1944). Each of the four pamphlets includes eight pages of text.

As we know, Lois Gunden was interned in Baden-Baden with Henry and Bea. Wilhelmina Kuyf was interned by the Japanese in Daming (Taming), Hebei (Hopei) Province, China; she entered captivity in late 1941 and was released in June 1942 (see here and here). Marvin Dirks and Frieda Dirks and family had been in China but relocated to the Philippines, where they were subsequently interned (see here). These four were not the only Mennonite missionaries and relief workers interned during World War II. I imagine that there are many more stories waiting to be rediscovered and told.

For the moment, however, we will satisfy ourselves with reproducing Henry’s story as told in his pamphlet.

Internment Begins 

On the 13th of January 1943 we received word that the State Department had arranged for our admission with the diplomatic group for repatriation to the States. However, before we could join the group at Lourdes, the Germans had taken the entire group and interned them at Baden-Baden. Then, on the 25th of January, the French Prefecture, through their police, notified us to go to Mont Dore. Here at Mont Dore, a ski-ing resort in the Central Massive mountains, not far from Vichy, various South and Central American diplomatic missions were gathering to await their turn to be taken into Germany for internment. The group of North Americans, with the South and Central Americans consisted of eight persons, all relief workers: five Quaker delegates or workers, and three Mennonites, namely Sister Gunden, my wife and myself.

We traveled with the special train of South American diplomats to Bad Godesberg, not far from Cologne. Here we remained over the week-end, until our luggage could be taken out of the baggage car. We had our meals in the hotel where Chamberlain, Daladier, and Hitler had one of their famous conferences in the hectic pre-war period. In this hotel the Latin-American diplomats were interned. We, finally, arrived at Brenner’s Park Hotel in Baden-Baden on the 16th of February 1943. Then began a period of a few days over a year of internment for us—until February 19, 1944.

“Badheim University, School, and Library”

The first thing that struck our attention as we came into the lobby of the hotel which was to be our “shelter” for a year, was a large schedule headed by the words, “Badheim University.” Underneath was a complete schedule of various classes that were being carried on by the members of the interned group. There were classes in a number of languages (Russian, Italian, Spanish, French, English, and German), history, philosophy, economics, art, music, and so on. In addition there were notices of general interest lectures in the evenings. The motto of the “University,” as we found out later, was, “That the education of the ignorant, by the ignorant, for the ignorant shall not perish from the earth!” A light-hearted motto but the work of the students and the professors (all of whom received room and board free) was serious. The “University” did much to occupy our minds usefully and to keep us from thinking too much about our being kept, as it was, in a “golden cage.” There were some 1,386 registrations for classes and 638 credits were given. Some 74 persons received certificates of “graduation.” This meant that these persons had earned at least four credits. One credit was given for regular attendance for one class during one term of classes. Each term was from ten to twelve weeks long. We had in all three terms of school: the Winter term which ended with April, the Summer term which ended with July, and the Autumn term which ended just before Christmas. Another Winter term was started but it did not have very much interest as we already knew that we would be exchanged soon. The interest was highest at the beginning of each term and many dropped out as the term progressed. But in general there was continuous interest on the part of many.

There were eight children of school-age among the group. For these children classes were specially organized—in all of the possible fields that they would find in a regular school. With the consent of the parents and the children themselves, these classes were made compulsory. Some 20 members of the group taught these children in the subjects such as arithmetic, algebra, history, American and English literature, and so forth. Since they were of various ages different classes had to be held for the different levels.

For leisure reading and study, the library that was started by a former librarian from the American Library at Paris proved most helpful. At first the books in the library consisted of whatever books various members of the group contributed or loaned for group use. Later, some books were purchased in Baden-Baden and the International Y.M.C.A. of Geneva, Switzerland sent us numerous books for reading and study. Most helpful were some of the latest textbooks in various fields of study and dictionaries for the language classes. 

“The Golden Cage” 

The reference to “golden cage” is not a misnomer. The hotel in which we were kept was certainly one of the best in Baden-Baden. The rooms were pleasantly furnished—not so much luxuriously as home-like and agreeable. They were heated and kept clean by German hotel servants (some of which were French, Italian, or other workers from occupied countries).

The food was adequate in quantity and for the most part sufficiently varied to give us all the proper vitamins. However, it was not varied enough to avoid a good deal of monotony. Potatoes, cabbage, other course vegetables, and dark bread were the main items from day to day. The Red Cross parcels, which we received every fourteen days were certainly welcome for they provided some of the things we felt we needed most: concentrated orange juice, dried raisins or prunes, meats, canned oleomargarine, powdered milk, cheese, chocolate, and powdered coffee. The diet given us was low in meat, fats, milk, and fruits—besides some of the finer foods were quite rare, such as eggs and so forth. The ration of eggs was two a month and it was indeed seldom that we were served eggs in any recognizable form. They were mostly used in making puddings and pastries for desserts.

Walks and Sports

For physical exercise we were able to take walks in the surrounding Black Forest region. The walks were organized in such a manner that one could choose the speed one wished to walk. On Mondays, there were all-day walks when we took along light lunches which we ate in the woods and then returned to the hotel in the late afternoons. On the other days of the week there were either strolls, slow walks, or fast walks. All of the walks were enjoyed by many of the group throughout all the seasons of the year. In addition, we were given the privilege of playing on a near-by sports-field. Here we soon organized soft-ball games which provided a lot of lively interest and competition among the teams of the “Badheim” league. There were also opportunities for tennis and swimming.

Buying of Daily Needs

There were limited possibilities for members of the group to go to town to do shopping. Of course, all the ordinary necessities such as shoes and clothing (and even shoe laces) were strictly rationed and one had to have a certificate from the local rationing board before being able to get anything. Simple things such as drugs, books, flowers, and small trinkets for gifts (such as were available, were purchased by one man and one woman who went out twice a week to do the shopping for the other members. The rest of us were, in principle, only allowed to go to town when we had a special ticket for some item of clothing or shoes.

Our Constant Shadows

All of the activities which took us beyond the grounds of the hotel were always with an inspector or agent of the “Gestapo” (Geheime Staats Polizei—Secret State Police) along. On our walks when the groups were a bit large there would often be two along. They came to dentists’ and doctors’ waiting room—waited with us until we were ready and returned to the hotel with us. Their job was three-fold: on the one hand to see that we would not make any contacts with the German people, and to protect us should we have been molested or attacked by the German people. This latter service always seemed a bit unnecessary to us but of course they were responsible for our safety.

Religious Life of the Group

On Sundays we were allowed to go to either the local Catholic Church or the Protestant Church. Many of the members of the diplomatic group were Catholic and the group going to that church was usually quite numerous. To me most helpful and inspirational were the Quaker meetings that were held in the hotel, every Sunday, either just before noon or toward evenings. Moments of quietness—when a small group of us gathered to meditate upon things eternal and when we allowed our thoughts to lead us to the Eternal. There were also hymn-singing gatherings on Sundays and toward the end of the internment interdenominational meetings were held every other Sunday.

In general the morale of the group was good and there was lively interest in the activities that required group action and support, such as dramatic productions and special programs. Still, it was a trial for us to be basically idle. We thought of the work that we had left in France and wished many a time that we might have stayed on with the people we had tried to help during trying times and whom we had learned to love. We also thought of the work that we might be doing at home—and found it hard to be patient, waiting for the day that we might once more take up the tasks in which we were interrupted when we left France. It was also hard for us to live so leisurely and peacefully when there were so many in the world that were hungering and suffering from lack of adequate shelter. Within the group there were the difficulties of getting along with those of different habits and out-look on life. But to me the internment at Baden-Baden proved a great “university” of practicing patience and tolerance.

We were most happy when in the early days of February of this year we received word that the exchange would actually take place. On the 19th of February we left by special train to Biarritz, France, and after a momentary wait there of four days continued on to Lisbon, Portugal. From here we embarked on the Swedish motorship “Gripsholm” on March 5th and arrived, without any mishaps of any kind, at Jersey City on March 15th. “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.…” Romans 8:28. We thank God for His constant care for us and guidance and for bringing us safely home again. 

There are perhaps a few new bits of information that we learn from Henry’s pamphlet, but that can wait for a future post. For now I leave you with a PDF of the entire pamphlet, cover and all (here).