Source: Wikipedia Commons

Backnang, a small town (2005 pop., 35,761) in central Württemberg, Germany, 15 miles (25 km) northeast of Stuttgart (coordinates: 48° 56′ 47″ N, 9° 25′ 50″ E), location of a Mennonite refugee camp 1946-1951, and a Mennonite resettlement project 1951-1953, where a PAX service unit of young voluntary service men from the United States shared in the building of homes. The refugee camp, not exclusively Mennonite, contained at its peak 600 Mennonite refugees from Russia and Poland. The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) aided with much food and clothing and had personnel serving there for shorter periods of time, chiefly for processing prospective immigrants to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The resettlement project, largely for former Danzig-area Mennonites, was operated by the settlers under German government direction and financing but with a loan from the Mennonite Central Committee to each settler family for the necessary down payment. A unit of 10-15 American Mennonite voluntary service workers under MCC direction (Pax Services), supported totally by American Mennonite funds, contributed labor toward the construction of 10 apartment houses, housing 64 families, 1951-54.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 204-205. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

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