Pierre Widmer (1912–1999) was a French Mennonite pastor, editor of the journal Christ Seul. Early life Born in Brognard, France, in the department of Doubs near Montbéliard, Pierre Widmer was raised in a Mennonite family. Widmer attended the Mennonite church at Montbéliard as a young man and was baptised there. He attended the École Normale in Besançon, where he developed a love for poetry. In 1936, Widmer married Hélène Sommer, the daughter of Pierre Sommer, a man of great enthusiasm for the Mennonite church. He was the best known itinerant French Mennonite preacher, responsible for the first French Mennonite conferences, founder and editor of the journal Christ Seul (Christ Alone). In Widmer's youth, the Mennonites were a small community in France (about 4,000 people) living in isolated rural communities in Alsace, Lorraine and the Pays de Montbéliard. They were the descendants of the Swiss Anabaptist communities which fled to France during the 16th century Reformation. War service Unlike North American Mennonites, who emigrated in the 18th century, French Mennonites had largely abandoned the principle of non-resistance or pacifism. It was not unusual then that Widmer enrolled in the Ecole des Sous-Officiers, a military academy at Saint Maixent. Afterwards, he became a primary school teacher near Montbéliard but remained in the Army reserves. When France declared war on Germany in September 1939, Widmer was recalled up to the Army. He was serving on the front along the Rhine when Germany invaded France in June 1940. His unit was beaten back to the Vosges mountains. Widmer was taken prisoner by the Germans at Masevaux in the Haut Rhin. POW Widmer spent five years in three different German prison camps for French officers. During that time, he was apparently treated well since French officers enjoyed better conditions than captured enlisted men. However, the experience of the war and captivity deeply marked Widmer. He devoted himself to caring for the spiritual needs of his comrades, serving as a de facto camp chaplain. In this role, he came to meet and appreciate the convictions of Lutheran, Reformed, Darbyist, Evangelical and even Catholic prisoners. Widmer also became convinced of the futility of war, even a patriotic or "just war". This change in his position about violence is clear in the poems that Widmer wrote during captivity, published in 1987 as Ombres et Lumières or "Shadows and Light". Upon his release from the prison camp at the