In all modesty, we have to represent to the government the prophetic spirit of the New Testament. We have to say to the government: we respect your task, your mandate; you are the government we must acknowledge. There is a higher law, however, which places the service of perfect love, the service of community and unity right into the midst of chaos. Accept this service for yourselves, let yourselves be reminded of the ultimate and final goal. This ultimate goal is the kingdom of peace and unity represented and lived already here and now by the church of Jesus Christ.
In this sense we appeal to you: allow us to live in this country—ruled by you—as a church with a quite different mandate. Over against governmental authority and the judgment you exercise, we represent God’s ultimate and final purpose. And all nations, including the German nation, will find fulfillment when the kingdom of peace and joy descends on earth. Then there will indeed be a classless society, in which God alone rules and no human dictator.
You men of the government must receive that message, lest this ultimate goal vanish from your hearts. Therefore tolerate communities that live in this way, rejecting private property and armed violence. Allow them to live in this land; Germany will be the better for it.14
v
The county seat governing the Rhön Bruderhof was in the city of Fulda; at the regional level the Bruderhof was answerable to the office in Kassel. Both Eberhard and Emmy had acquaintances in government positions. He wanted to speak directly to those in the highest positions to explain the Bruderhof’s position and try to establish a friendship. This, he believed, would be the best protection for the group as well as for its foreign and Jewish members.
The Bruderhof’s private school was supported by the government. The building had been completed in 1928; the Regierungspräsident (regional governor) in Kassel, Dr. Friedensburg, had attended the opening ceremony. He had joined the community members on plain wooden benches and was moved when everyone stood up and sang a familiar hymn. When the cold winter weather set in, he phoned to ask how the children were doing and sent a truckload of coal for heating.15 In mid March 1933, however, Dr. Friedensburg was relieved of his post as governor. On March 28, Eberhard took a trip to Kassel to meet his replacement.
The brotherhood gathered in the morning before he set off. “I would like a direction from the brotherhood for the charges that I will take with me from God and from the church,” Eberhard said.
We must be aware that this trip brings a decision as to whether we want to stay here or leave the country. We must consider the following: if part of the brotherhood is deported (the Swiss or Baltic members), we must see that as a good reason for us all to emigrate together. It will require a vital decision. We are not bound to any place. God will prepare the place for us, we do not know where. Perhaps that place is here—if we can carry on the work we are required to do and continue in our task of mission. Under no circumstance can we deviate from our one goal of the kingdom of God.16
They sat together in an intimate circle. Easter was approaching, and they remembered Jesus, who had died at the hand of the Roman government. They all knelt down and prayed for guidance and protection.
The new regional governor was Baron von Monbart. He showed little interest in what Eberhard had to say, and the trip was a disap-pointment.
On his way home Eberhard stopped in Fulda to see the District Administrator Baron von Gagern. Von Gagern had admired the Bruder-hof ever since Eberhard had stopped in at his office years earlier to ask about purchasing the neglected Rhön farmstead—although he had not had the money to pay for it. The district administrator was a devout Catholic and had listened in amazement when Eberhard told him that he believed in miracles as his economic basis, and he had never been disappointed. Over the years von Gagern had watched the Bruderhof grow and flourish.17 Now he too was feeling the noose tightening. “Herr Arnold,” he said, “I have to tell you that I have received complaints against you. These will have to be investigated.”
When Eberhard got home, he walked through the kitchen and asked the girls to bake a cake. “I think we will soon have a visit from the police,” he explained. Two days later he asked if the cake was ready.
“Oh, Eberhard, I didn’t think you were serious!” Sophie answered.
“Of course I’m serious,” Eberhard said. “We need to be ready for our guests.”18
They arrived on April 12: six rural police led by the district chief of police, five SS men, and a representative of the Nazi Party. They stayed for five hours, looking through the bedrooms, the library, and the office for anything that would “endanger the state.” Then they went into the dining room where Sophie served them cake and coffee. Eberhard explained to them: “We respect the government in everything that does not conflict with our conscience as Christians. We must live for peace, for justice, for the joy of God’s kingdom in full community, and we will not lift a finger for the armed services.”
Although the men were quite friendly, the brothers and sisters were left with a sense of foreboding.
v
Communists, Social Democrats, and trade unionists were beaten and their offices trashed by storm troopers. On March 20, Himmler announced the opening of a concentration camp for political prisoners in Dachau, just outside Munich. Two days later, two hundred prisoners were transferred there from other jails. The Nazi’s hatred was directed most intensely against the Jews. Storm troopers broke into synagogues, smashed the windows of Jewish shops, and beat and humiliated Jews on the streets. On April 1, a national boycott of Jewish shops was declared. Signs appeared: Deutsche! Wehrt Euch! Kauft nicht bei Juden! (Germans! Beware! Do not buy from Jews!) Laws excluded them from universities, from legal professions, and from any position of public service.
During this period, the Bruderhof print shop printed the chapter “Light and Fire” of Eberhard’s book Innerland. This was a conscious testimony in the face of National Socialism, and later that year Eberhard sent a copy to Adolf Hitler personally. Here he explored in greater depth the confrontation between Christians and the state:
Times of darkness call for faith in light from above. Before this light, all darkness will retreat, just as morning triumphs over every night. The ugliness and horror of darkness and its cold, murderous spirits must penetrate our consciousness. In utter helplessness, we must be on watch for the hour of redemption.19
Christ stands in opposition to every worldly ruler. His kingdom is not of this world. Therefore he said: “The princes and powers of this world lord it over the people, but you should not.” A Christian, therefore, is not a ruler, and a ruler is not a Christian. A ruler must exercise judgment with the sword. In the church of Christ there is an end of war and violence, lawsuits and legal action. Christ does not repay evil with evil. His followers show his nature in all their doings. They act as he did: they do not resist evil, and they give their back to the smiters and their cheek to those that pluck off the hair. Their task is to reveal the kingdom of love. Legal authorities are appointed to shed blood in judgment; the church of Christ, however, has the task of preserving life and soul. The law courts of the state must bring evil to account; the church of Jesus Christ must repay evil with good. The authorities that sit in judgment must hate and persecute the enemies of their order; the church of Christ must love them.
With the instrument of governmental authority, God’s wrath punishes the wicked. Through the authorities, he compels nations that are estranged from him to protect themselves from the worst harm so that the whole land does not become guilty of bloodshed, the whole earth does not have to be destroyed. Christ gives his church a completely different task. She must confront the forcible execution of justice in the world state with the peace of