Paraguay Passage

So far, we have traced Mama and Papa to the Cotswold Community. At last, they are in a safe, and compared to the German Community, a comfortable environment. However, and it always seems that after “comfortable” or “but” a “however” is inevitable. HITLER! His rise in power and iron fisted control over Germany, and the spread of Nazism over Europe, threatened the existence of freedoms of any country or people that stood in it’s way.

In 1939, the dire situation became even more pronounced , especially in England! Those in the Cotswold Community were being forced to make an extremely difficult decision. Either emigration to another country, or be placed in internment camps. Although the Bruderhof considered themselves as conscientious objectors , and only wanted to live in peace, the fact that there were so many Germans inter-married with other nationalities, made tensions between them and their neighbors untenable. Emigration tremendously difficult, but the thought of having to be interned, not knowing for how long, or even if families could be together, made it a relatively simple decision. Emigration!

Making the decision was the easy part, finding a country to accept them proved to be much harder. And the fact that the world was rapidly being drawn into WWII made any travel over the Atlantic a treacherous venture to say the least. There were approximately 350 people to be transported from England, 155 of which were children. But the decision to leave England, though very soul wrenching, was vigorously pursued.

Anyone that had any influence was encouraged to use it to enable the massive logistical endeavor to move ahead, and successfully complete the emigration process. To that end, Mama asked her father to write any of his friends, or acquaintances, to ask for help. My grandfather wrote, on their behalf, to Eleanor Roosevelt and to Louis Grieg. I have not yet received exact information on what the letters accomplished, but I do know that Louis Grieg was grandfather’s very close friend, and he, Louis Grieg, in turn, was a very close friend of King George VI. Louis Grieg was also the Fleet Admiral of the British Navy. Information that has been passed down from my mother suggests that the help received was instrumental in, not only finding a country that would allow them to emigrate, but also in cutting the legal red tape that inevitably would have slowed their departure.

Consequently, a Country, only one, was found that would allow the community to emigrate. Paraguay! There were already some Mennonite settlements in Paraguay and the dictator of Paraguay (Stressner) was aware of the many contributions the Mennonites had made to Paraguay. They were especially gifted at agriculture.

It was during this period of anxiety and desperation that my parents were married. On Nov. 22, 1940 in Swindon, England, they became husband and wife. (George and I were married in Cirencester, England about 20 miles away). Less than three months later on Feb. 8, 1941, The Avila Star sailed from England with Mama, Papa and 156 others on their way to South America.

Actually, there were several trips on different ships to get everyone to Paraguay. Mama and Papa were on the ship that had the most Community people, 158 men, women and children.

It was really miraculous that all the ships made the voyages safely and without incident. The reason the safe journeys are deemed miraculous is because of all the German U-boats that were prowling in the Atlantic waters. Many ships had been sunk, and in fact, the ship that transported Mama and Papa, “The Avila Star”, had been sunk traveling from South America back to Europe.