Menno and the Nazi Hunters

 

At the end of WW II the Allied army scoured the German countryside for German soldiers in hiding. A company of American Troops knocked on the door of Christian Landes, a Mennonite family in Lautenbach. In answer to the commander's question about Nazi soldiers in hiding, Christian Landes said there were none in his house. Not trusting the word given, the commander ordered a search of the house.

When the commander stepped into the next room of the Landes house, he noticed a portrait on the wall. Immediately he called off the search. Responding to the confused soldiers, the commander said: "That's a picture of Menno Simons. These people are Mennonites. If they say there are no Nazis here, I believe them."
After further inquiry by the astounded Landes family, the commander explained that he was from Pennsylvania
Where he had lived among Mennonites and knew them to be trustworthy.

This story was told recently by Martha Rempel Fransen of Sherkston, Ontario, a former refugee from the Ukraine, who found refuge in the Landes home after WW II --jes)