Buller, Henry P. (1915-1993)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1993 May 27 p. 7

Birth date: 1915 Dec 20

text of obituary:

Former MCCer Interned by Germans in World War II Dies

by Rich Preheim, Associate Editor

BEAUMONT, Texas — For Henry P. Buller, spending a year in a luxurious German hotel was hardly a vacation. Instead, it was a virtual prison.

Buller was one of several Mennonite Central Committee workers interned by Germany during World War II. He died May 15 at the age of 77.

Buller was doing relief work for MCC at Lyon, France, in 1943, when Germany occupied the area. He and his wife, Beatrice, plus about 175 American journalists, diplomats and their staff, were interned in a hotel in Baden-Baden, complete with Gestapo guards.

"Once a day we were allowed to go on a walk." Beatrice Buller recalled.

To pass the time, and because most internees were well-educated, they held classes among themselves, including Shakespeare, medicine, music and languages.

"Henry taught German literature and I taught German and French," Beatrice said.

Henry and Beatrice Rosenthal met at the MCC office in Lyon. The Rosenthals were Jewis refugees from Germany who went to the MCC office to try to immigrate to the United States. Henry and Beatrice were married Nov. 11, 1942.

The Bullers were released in early 1944 in an exchange for Germans interned by the United States.

Buller was born Dec. 20, 1915, in Lushton, Neb., the youngest of 12 children born to Peter P. and Margaretha Epp Buller. He received a bachelor's degree from Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., in 1941.

After completing his alternative service, the Bullers moved to Newton, Kan., in 1947, where Henry taught in area public schools. He later received his graduate degree in psychology and counseling from the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

In 1961 he joined the faculty of the Lamar University psychology department, where he remained until his retirement in 1982.

Buller was a member of Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, He was preceded in death by his son, Rene Aldo, in 1969.