Mennonites in Canada, 1939-1970: A People Transformed

Maria Hrycaiko Zaputovich lectures in Chinese, Russian, and Japanese
history at the universities of Guelph and Toronto.

This third volume of Mennonites in Canada was undertaken by T.D. Regehr
in 1988, when illness sidelined Frank H. Epp, the exemplary author of
the first two volumes. Meticulously researched, objective, and well
written, the volume covers the five major migrations of Mennonites and
their antecedent history. In discussing Mennonites in North America,
Regehr touches on the attraction of evangelism and on the dilemma that
the Vietnam War posed for Mennonites in both the United States and
Canada.

During World War II, discussions between Mennonite leaders and the
Canadian government on how to reconcile the Mennonites’ faith with
their desire to serve their country brought young Mennonites into
increasing contact with the wider community. After the war,
technological change forced these same young people off the farms and
into the cities. Regehr’s discussion of these urban Mennonites—some
of whom assimilated, while others were able to incorporate their core
identity into an accommodation with Canadian society—makes for
interesting reading.