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A small set of photocopied records from the U.S. National Archives (State Department) and the Mennonite Central Committee Archives pertaining to suspected Nazi sympathies and / or political support within Germans Mennonite colonies in Paraguay.  Includes the 1940 Edwin Schoenrich report "The Mennonite Colonies in the Paraguayan Chaco."

Alma Slagel Eigsti "adopted" a Russian Mennonite refugee named Margareta Unruh through her Sunday school class at Waldo Mennonite Church in Illinois. Unruh and her family were forced to flee Russia in 1943, first staying in Holland and later immigrating to Paraguay. Eigsti and Unruh corresponded with each other from 1946-1981. In this collection are the letters that Eigsti received from Unruh. The letters describe Unruh's domestic life and her personal needs. There is also a small amount of correspondence from Tina Boschmann.

The collection contains some personal and family materials related to Suderman’s education, and many family letters are part of the extensive correspondence primarily related to his teaching and research. However, there is nothing in the collection before he became a student at Bethel. Some genealogical materials are included such as files for Suderman family reunions. Education materials include both notes and syllabi, not only from courses taken by Suderman, but also for courses taught by Suderman. However, other than humanities courses and a few music courses taught in the1960s, most of the teaching materials are from Sunderman’s last decade at Bethel with almost nothing from his first ten to fifteen years. There are administrative files from departmental and other committees, including his work as North Central rep and on curriculum development. Very extensive files relate to his sabbaticals and summer workshops and also to the numerous South American activities. Some files also relate to each of his many choral activities, directing church choirs, Mennonite Men’s Choir, Golden Singer’s Choir, etc. Several boxes are filled with a vast array of English and Spanish choral music, which are completely unorganized.

Most of the papers document his conscientious objector status at Camp Funston during World War I.

Also included is an 1874 Russian passport of his grandfather Daniel Krehbiel, and his own passport from a 1968 service trip to Paraguay.

2 reel-to-reel tapes, CD copies, cassette copy. It's likely that none of these is the original interview.
Kliewer interviewed by J. Winfield Fretz in Paraguay in 1951.
Interview transcript by Mary Rempel (done in 2013).
Digitized material at https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/ms_480/

This fonds consists of the following series:
1) Lists - Paraguayan Mennonite Emigrants. This is a bound, handwritten book containing the family names, number of people traveling, colony of origin, and their destination in Canada (name & address). Also includes a short list of families who returned to Paraguay. - 1956 & 1957 (1 File) Box 373

This fonds contains letters, photos, envelopes, postage stamps, and a school exam booklet from 1906 – 1907.
These letters are a valuable set of primary source documents for several reasons. They document a crucial chapter in the family history of Johann and Maria Neufeld over the time period from 1926 to 1979. In addition to that, these letters are a showcase for the stories that many other Mennonite families experienced through the 1920s migrations to Paraguay and Mexico. Most importantly, these letters give an outstandingly valuable insight into the daily life of the 1920s settlers in the Paraguayan Chaco and the moral and financial support these settlers got from their relatives that stayed in Canada.

A "newsletter" created by John R. Schmidt and his family describing their life and work as medical missionaries with the Paraguayan Leprocy Project at the Kilometer 81 Hospital.

The papers consist mostly of correspondence and articles relating to the various mission fields. Most important would be the materials on the General Conference Mennonite mission in China. Especially interesting is the material on the Japanese internment, including a large group of sketches of camp life, and items relating to the changes in China after the war.

The family history materials in the collection are also significant. They shed light on the early Bethel College (Halstead Seminary) and on Emmaus Mennonite Church near Whitewater, Kansas.

See box list for contents of unprocessed boxes.

Photos of Indigenous Ayoreo people in the Paraguayan Chaco and of Mennonites interacting with them. The folder also includes a photo of Catholics with Ayoreo children. Notes: Our historic documents refer to these subjects as "Moro Indians," a loaded and outdated term. The history between Mennonites and Indigenous peoples includes serious injustices. For more information, see https://mcc.org/what-we-do/initiatives/indigenous-neighbours