CPS Worker 008938 - Schertz, Russell H.

CPS Worker 008938 - Schertz, Russell H.

Birth year: 1911

Denomination: Mennonite Old

Original occupation: Farmer

Drafted from: Metamora , Illinois, United States

Entered CPS: 6 25, 1942

Left CPS: 2 12, 1946

Notes:

Schertz recalled the following about his experience in camp #86:

 

"As I encountered the deplorable conditions on the mental hospital wards—unsanitary filth, patients tied to chairs, in straight jackets, locked in dingy rooms, and sometimes beaten by previous attendants—I became aware that this was an issue of justice." 

 

"Change was accomplished by trying to make patients clean and comfortable and by showing love and compassion.  Such an approach resulted in a changein behavior and personality of the patients. After a time this change was noticed by both families of the patients and the hospital administrators who became more supportive of what we were doing."

 

--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. p54-5.