Peace Exhibit Fundraising Banquet

Friday, February 8, 2019 6 pm Mennonite Heritage Village Tickets: $25 Mennonite Heritage Village fundraising banquet for a new Peace Exhibit February 8, 6 p.m. will feature the story of four Hutterite men who were tortured for refusing military service in World War One. Presenting the story will be Dora Maendel, teacher at Fairholme Hutterite Colony. She first heard these stories as a child from her parents and grandparents. As a teenager she passed these on to her siblings and later to her students. Ms. Maendel has participated in various festivals including the Associated Manitoba Arts Festival and Winnipeg International Storytelling Festival. She sees the stories of the Hutterites as a unique treasure for all to learn from. All four were young family men, farmers from Rockport Colony in South Dakota. David, Michael and Joseph Hofer, were brothers; Jacob Wipf was the fourth. All four were sentenced to 20 years hard labor on July, 1918 at Alcatraz where the men slept on concrete floors and received no food for four days. In November, 1918, after the end of the war, they were taken to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. David Hofer and Jacob Wipf were placed in solitary confinement, standing in chains nine hours a day. Michael and Joseph Hofer died there from mistreatment. These events contributed to the emigration of Hutterites to Canada after World War One. In addition to the story of these men at the February 8 fundraiser, there will be a Hutterite choir from Crystal Springs Colony. The sculptor of the new Dirk Willems statue, Peter Sawatzky, will introduce a short video “Born to Bronze.” The Mennonite Heritage Village Peace Exhibit presently consists of a memorial to conscientious objectors and a statue of Anabaptist martyr Dirk Willems. The third component of the Peace Exhibit will be the Interpretive Centre where the Anabaptist (including Mennonite and Hutterite) story of living by the non-violent example of Jesus Christ will be presented in various forms. Tickets ($25) for the event are available by contacting the Mennonite Heritage Village (204-326-9661.)