Mennonite Weekly Review

WINNIPEG, Man. — A Web site that tells the stories of conscientious objectors in World War II helped inspire a high school student to examine her beliefs and connect with her family’s Mennonite heritage.

Landon

Abby Landon, who attends an Evangelical Missionary Church in Red Deer, Alta., discovered the Alternative Service Web site — a project of Mennonite Church Canada’s Heritage Centre — in her quest for information for a social studies term paper.

“I decided to write about conscientious objectors at the suggestion of my grandma, who is a Mennonite,” said Landon, a 12th-grade student.

Landon’s maternal grandmother, Dolores Naumenko, was a child living in Waldheim, Sask., during World War II. Naumenko recalls that her father remained at home on the farm during the war and that her uncle, a dairy farmer, gave the government a portion of his weekly income, indicators that the two men may have received exemption from military service.

She also remembers that just before Christmas one year, a family in Waldheim lost a son and brother who had done alternative service as a medic overseas. Conscientious objection to war and its implications left an impression on Naumenko.

Landon was so inspired by the references, articles, letters and photographs she found on the Web site that she sent an e-mail of thanks to Conrad Stoesz, Mennonite Heritage Centre archivist.

“I found it very encouraging to hear how the Mennonites, my relatives, pursued a Christlike life even when it was extremely difficult,” she wrote. “It has made me consider the dedication of my actions for Jesus and my ‘separation’ from the influential aspects of this world.”

Before starting the project, Landon had never heard of conscientious objectors.

“I think the biggest thing [that impressed me] is the Mennonites’ willingness to just completely separate … from worldly values,” she said.

Before they were assigned to alternative service, those claiming CO status had to appear before a judge who would determine the legitimacy of their declaration. Landon was intrigued by the Web site’s wide range of CO testimonies about that experience.