CPS Worker 011348 - Willems, Abe L.

CPS Worker 011348 - Willems, Abe L.

Birth year: 1919

Denomination: Mennonite Old

Original occupation: Farmer

Drafted from: Greensburg , Kansas, United States

Entered CPS: 5 15, 1942

Left CPS: 2 27, 1946

Notes:

More than fifty years later, Willems reported on his time at camp #117 with his wife:

 

"This was a school for the mentally handicapped and served all ages.  Ruth was the only nurse at this institution.  Their duties involved work on the wards and on the facility’s farm.  This project also included some patients who were able to participate in this kind of activity.  During wartime the school was attempting to grow as many of its own vegetables as they were able.  The unit also maintained a dairy farm and raised pigs and poultry."

 

--Taken from Peace Committee and Seniors for Peace Coordinating Committee of the College Mennonite Church of Goshen, Indiana, “Detour . . . Main Highway”: Our CPS Stories. Nappanee, IN: Evangel Press, 1995, 2000. p66.