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In the documentary “Children of Peace”, Jürgen Gerber travels back to his Baptist home in the Jura. The film tells the history of the Baptist movement and asks what has remained of the ideal of non -violence.
Jürgen Gerber is confronted with his own and the past of his community. (Image: black butterfly)
They aligned their lives on the Bible alone, rejected the baptism of children and confessed to non -violence – beliefs that today appear unspectacular were considered a rebellion in the 16th century. The Baptist movement, which emerged from the Reformation, has been followed for centuries: their followers were locked up, tortured and driven out. They found refuge in Germany, the Netherlands, North America – or on the Jura heights.
Jürgen Gerber grew up in the Mont-Tramelan stray settlement, over a thousand meters above sea level-in one of the largest racer communities in Switzerland. Gerber is the main character of the documentary “Children of Peace”. In the approximately one -hour film, he is accompanied by director Manuel Andreas Dürr to the sites of his childhood.
Painful confrontation
Gerber’s journey to his own roots is characterized by strong memories – to the early morning milking of the cows, the sunrises over the mountains and the close community in which solidarity was lived. But it is also a confrontation with the painful history of baptism and the insight that the ideal of non -violence could not always be implemented.
For Gerber, the Jura flict was a formative experience, in which his community was also involved. In the 1960s, Jurassic separatists fought for the independence of the French-speaking part of the Canton of Bern. The Baptists also came into focus – not least because they held on to the language of the “occupiers” and were mostly loyal to Bern. Höfe and schools soon burned.
Even within the Baptist Community, the ideal of non -violence gave way to the need for self -protection in some places. Some of the community joined the “Sangliers” loyalty to Bern – a youth organization that came into violent clashes with separatists. “The belief in peace through defenselessness was forgotten during this time,” sums up the former Mennonite pastor Nelly Gerber-Geiser in the film.
What remains of peace ethics
“Children of Peace” links personal narrative with historical insights. Experts like the historian Astrid von Schlachta classify the experiences: Although lack of violence, most rabbits remained a central principle, but there were exceptions. In the 16th century, for example, a violent regime built in Münster. And even during the First and Second and Second World War, many Mennonites agreed to the patriotic enthusiasm for war.
Today, the ideal of non -violence is again up for debate – in view of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and global upgrade, which leaves little space for pacifism. Violence always provokes new violence, says Lukas Amstutz, Co-President of the Mennonites conference in Switzerland: “There should also be other ways”. At the same time, he admits that a comprehensive waiver of violence cannot be demanded from an entire society. It is a strength of the film that it does not provide any simple answers – and thus creates space for your own thinking.
The film “Children of Peace” will be broadcast on Swiss television SRF on May 29 at 10 a.m.
