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What
about the women?
Every
person has a story to tell. Many Mennonite men became conscientious
objectors rather than fight in the war. If that is so, what a Mennonite
woman from Canada was doing in Europe during the war? Her name was
Mabel Cressman, but you probably haven't heard of her. Few people
know the story of the Canadian conscientious objectors during the
war, but the story of women COs is even less well known.
What
do you think Canadian women did during the war? Women were not expected
to serve in the military (although they were expected to register,
just like the men) so they could not claim conscientious objector
status like men could. Those women who believed war was wrong had
to find other ways to support peace.
Some
Mennonite women in Ontario organized sewing circles to address relief
needs. They knitted and sewed warm clothes for the men and women
in Europe affected by the war. They also had canning bees. Fruit,
vegetables, and meat were prepared and stored in glass jars that
would then be sent to victims of the war. In these ways, Mennonite
women tried to lessen the suffering caused by war.
A
few women even served overseas. Even though women could not be soldiers,
they could volunteer as nurses to help treat injuries. Mabel Cressman,
for example, was a Canadian Mennonite women who went to Europe as
a nurse. After the war, she went to Holland to distribute food and
clothing to those in need. Other women volunteered to work in European
homes for orphans, or in any other way that they could demonstrate
their love of mercy and peace.
These
women, like non-resistant men, showed the strength of their beliefs
by taking action. Historian Marlene Epp puts it this way: “Mennonite
women acted out their nonresistant love in a variety of ways. Most
obvious was their work in material relief – canning, knitting, sewing
and performing all manner of organizational tasks to aid suffering
people in war-torn Europe.”
What
else do you think pacifist women could do? We have seen examples
of their relief work, but they also served in another very important
area. They cared for male COs. It is easier doing something when
you have the help and support of your friends and family. Mennonite
women supported their COs because much of Canada didn't.
Mennonite
women sent letters, care packages, and copies of sermons from their
home churches. One shocked CO even received a fully-cooked pork
roast in a care package! Other, more practical gifts, included socks
and pictures. Women recognized that even though they were not in
the CO camps, they were representing the same cause as the men.
As one woman said, “United we stand, divided we fall.” Even though
women had to do extra work at home and around the farm because their
men were gone, they did so knowing that it was for a good cause.
Although
some women moved near the CO camps to be closer to their husbands,
most had to endure as best they could until the end of the war.
This raised the morale of the COs, but it also provide a much appreciated
economic boost for CO families. COs in camps made only fifty cents
a day. One woman, who had followed her husband to BC, found a job
as a housekeeper that paid fifty cents an hour!
Marlene
Epp summarized the experience of Mennonite CO women in this way:
“Mennonite women were COs, in a less recognized way than their menfolk.
They worked to clothe and feed war sufferers. They lent moral support
to Mennonite men in camps through letters, packages or their presence
near the camps. They became breadwinners for their families. Mennonite
women also had to cope with the implications of being part of a
peace church. As conscientious objectors, they put their nonresistant
love into action and alleviated suffering in the world.”
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