Comments:

Mary Burnet, 31 July
The photo of Bad Pyrmont evoked many memories. At the end of war a colleague and I were asked to set up the first intentional school for the newly formed Central Commission in Bad Oeynhausen – their headquarters.

After many doubts and help from elders I decided to go – after the briefing (and many injections) at Pletdoh we were ready to go. Then the MoD vetoed my appointment because I was a conscientious objector. I took this to our Quaker MP and I was allowed to go – this incidentally also cleared the way for Salvation Army and Plymouth Brethren helpers to go. Living in the depressed, defeated town where the Allies enjoyed luxury and a surplus of food unknown here for years was really hard.

Feeling very helpless and adrift I managed to get a lift to Bad Pyrmont one weekend. The four Friends there made me so welcome and our Meeting for Worship was for me an unforgettable, renewing and confirming experience. In the silence true peace and healing became a certain vision for the future and I really found a new depth from faith.

I didn't apply for membership in the war because then, being a CO was too easy if you were a Quaker, but did so as soon as I came back to England. Sixty-five years later I give thanks for all that I have found with Friends.

(Note: this comment appears in the 1 August 2008 letters page).

Grigor McClelland, 31 July
Ute Caspers pays generous tribute (11 July) to British Friends for their help to German Friends over the seventy-five years since the Bad Pyrmont Meeting house was established. It should be remembered, however, that this spiritual support has been a two-way traffic. Friends engaged in relief work in Germany in the months after VE Day found in Bad Pyrmont a place where, under the quiet but kind ministrations of Leonhard and Mary Friedrich, they could feel at home. Friends Relief Service chose it, for example, for one important conference in February 1946 on the role of education in re-building German society, and some of us (in my case from the Friends Ambulance Unit) were privileged to attend part of a one-week conference in June 1946 for young Germans connected with the German Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Well positioned in its spa town, the Meeting house in Pyrmont stands comparison with what Jordans means to many British Friends. The plaques on the external retaining wall in the foreground of your picture bear the names and dates of deceased German Friends, and call to mind their contributions in turbulent and quieter times. Since the early post-war years, and with the urging and support of German Friends, the nearby Jewish cemetery has been largely recovered from the wilful depredations of the Nazis, and stands as a reminder of what was once a flourishing and peaceful neighbouring community. Long may Germany YM flourish, and also the contributions which the Bad Pyrmont premises make to it and to visiting Friends from other nations.

(Note: this comment appears in the 1 August 2008 letters page).