An Embassy Besieged - Emmy Barth

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we must go out. Through the publicly spoken word and through the publishing ­house and print shop, through letters to our friends, through messages to the governments of all states we must send out the good news. We must call everyone to the way of communal brotherliness and allow them to be released from strife and once more be united with the spirit of the future, which is the spirit of righteous­ness. This is only very little of all that should happen in the year 1933 if we have faith.

      Therefore we come together to call upon God. In him we find an answer for what is to happen, for that which moves the whole world, and what has to be done in the face of this hour.

      If this is our certainty, then—to work! All hands on deck! Let us dare it, whatever it costs!3

      Eberhard walked up to an unlit Christmas tree in the center of the circle and lit one of the candles. One by one, others expressed their hopes for the New Year and lit their candles. They spoke with courage and determination—even a solemn joy—of the witness they wished to give.

      Midnight struck: 1933 began—a year that would bring greater changes and challenges than Eberhard could have imagined.

      But the mood in the meeting room was hopeful and courageous. After the older people and parents of little children went to bed, the young people went outside. The light from the full moon reflecting on the snow was bright enough to read a newspaper by. Much too beautiful to go to bed! Someone started a folksong, and they joined hands and danced for a long time.4

      v

      “President Hindenburg has appointed Adolf Hitler as Reichskanzler.” At the dinner table in Fulda all conversation ceased as everyone listened to the rest of the radio announcement. Knowing that the community had no radio, Heiner went to the telephone and called his father. At the other end of the line Eberhard was silent for a moment. He was not completely surprised; for the past three days the papers had been filled with speculation as to who would replace Schleicher, who had been forced to resign. “The president has no idea what demons he is conjuring up,” Eberhard said to his son.

      Most Germans trusted that their parliamentary system and the conservative members of the cabinet would contain Hitler’s ambitions. Under the Weimar constitution, signed into law August 11, 1919, power was divided between the president, the cabinet, and the Reichstag (or parliament). The president was elected for a seven-year term; Paul von Hindenburg, elected in 1925 and reelected in 1932, served in this capacity until his death in 1934. The Reichskanzler was appointed by the president and accountable to parliament. Few could have imagined how quickly Hitler would seize complete power. That evening at the Rhön Bruderhof, Eberhard shared the news with the community. He encouraged everyone to trust that God still held his hand over the country. Later that night Emmy wrote to her three sons who were away at school: Hardy in Tübingen, Heiner in Fulda, and Hans-Hermann in Buchanau.

      That night all over Germany the Nazi Party took to the streets to celebrate their victory. Curious and naive, Heiner left the house and followed the crowds. Fulda was a small, conservative Catholic town. But young Nazis had come in from neighboring villages, and he saw them on every street.

      The Nazis in uniform marched through Fulda proclaiming, “Without bloodshed, we will not leave the village.” . . . I was very young; I did not know how serious it was. I thought, that is Berlin; it will take a long time before that comes to the Rhön. But Hitler acted pretty fast. It was all organized. Everywhere there was someone already appointed—immediately, completely disciplined and organized for an attack. It simply was amazing. I walked through the streets and parks, and everywhere there were these uniformed Nazis, who were not allowed on the streets a few hours before.

      Near the center of the town there stood a uniformed Nazi with a terrific gift of speech. He spoke to the masses, and more and more people came. He said, “We are now in power. Tonight Hitler will still be merciful; if you join the party tonight, he will still be merciful.” In Berlin the SA and the SS marched past the house where Hitler was, and he stood there with his arm raised for several hours while thousands of troops marched by. I do not know how he managed it.

      I was not afraid. A meeting was announced in the city hall, the biggest hall of the town. There was a podium with a microphone, and in front of it there were two or three rows of SS in black uniforms with a skull and crossbones. I went into that meeting without permission from my father. I did not know how dangerous it was. There were many in that room who were not Nazis yet, but they were nationalistic. There was a speaker who spoke like the man outside, that Hitler is still compassionate. Then they sang “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,” that is, “Germany, Germany forever.” That was not a Nazi song; it was sung under the Kaiser. Everyone had to stand up to sing that song, but I remained sitting. It was a big hall and very emotional. I thought they would beat me up, or worse, but I got away with it. When I told my father, he said, “What business did you have to go to that Nazi meeting?” That was the last time I went. 6

      v

      Adolf Hitler was Reichskanzler and Germany had changed. To Eberhard, this presented a new missionary challenge. Earlier, he had appealed to that which was of God in the pacifist, socialist, communist, vegetarian, and back-to-nature movements. Now he sought to find something of God even in National Socialism:

      We feel as if we had been set down in another country; we live now in a different nation than we did a year ago. And we have a missionary task here in this new country. We can take on this task only if we recognize all that is positive in National Socialism. We must learn to understand the people, try to grasp the positive elements of what is moving among them. We must not face this phenomenal change cold-heartedly. In National Socialism there are the elements of family life, of the community of the nation, of the Old Covenant—shielding what is good and right from evil.

      If one encounters such a national movement by simply rejecting it, finding nothing ideal, nothing good and positive in it, one soon finds oneself completely outside it. This we must not do. In the same way as we recognized the good elements in the German youth movement, in the movements that expected and longed for a future of justice and fellowship, we must find the vision to recognize the positive values in the present-day national movement.7

      The conflict between the National Socialist and Communist Parties was well known, and it would intensify over the next months. Eberhard had been openly sympathetic to the communists for years, because of their support for the oppressed poor. On February 10, an article about the Bruderhof appeared in the Frankfurter Zeitung, a large, liberal news-paper. Already in its headline it referred to the community as “Christian communists.”

      The Bruderhof lies at the edge of a wood on the windy heights. No road leads to it, no cars or trains pass it. Completely isolated from the rest of the world, it consists of several houses. The work is hard. The swampy meadow is evidently to become a potato field . . .

      A girl of about fourteen with big blue eyes and blond hair that sticks out from her kerchief greets me with a simple, “Good morning.” “Are guests welcome here?” I ask. Yes, but I should wait a moment as the men are at devotions. She leads me to a room with blue walls and simple heavy furniture. This is the communal meeting room. On the table is a blue cloth, on the wall a simple black cross. After a few minutes the men enter. All have beards. We greet

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