‘Are you prepared to work in a mental hospital?’: Canadian Conscientious Objectors’ Service during the Second World War

working in mental institutions during the Second World War was significant for both the institutions and the conscientious objectors. Of the approximately 10,851 conscientious objectors, some 80 young Men-nonite men served in mental hospitals as a form of alternative service. Through their experience the COs came to understand their Christian responsibilities as extending past their own communities to include the wider society. Their service in the mental hospitals provided an important service to the country, but the men also gained from the experience; they obtained important new skills and appreciation for people with mental difficulties and their caretakers. With the outbreak of war in Europe, Mennonite leaders struggled with what their response should be. They were all in agreement that upholding the long-standing principle of non-resistance was important but disagreed as to how this belief should be put into practice. Some 62 Journal of Mennonite Studies