THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IN RUSSIA (1789 - 1910), P. M. Friesen, 1911

he shall bring him to the place of judgment and there cut out his tongue; thereupon he shall be thrown onto a cart and his flesh tom twice with a pair of red hot tongs; then he shall bring him to the gates of the city and there torture him again in like manner.’ This horrible judgment was carried out and the mutilated body later burned to ashes. Settler’s wife and various other women who had been captured with him were drowned. A number of the brethren, who were together with him in prison, were beheaded. Rottenburg became famous for such incidents. b) “Hans Breal was captured in the Tyrol in 1557. After he had been repeatedly tortured in the futile hope that he could be forced to betray his brethren, he was finally thrown into a deep, dark and damp tower where he could see neither sun nor moon, nor even the slightest daylight, so that he never knew whether it was day or night. On occasion he could tell that it was night because it was cooler than before. The jail was dirty, damp and gloomy so that his clothes rotted on his very body and he was forced, for a time, to sit there naked. He had nothing but a coarse blanket which had been given to him; this he threw around his body and sat there in misery in the darkness. His shirt had moulded to such an extent that, with the exception of the collar which he hung on the wall, it could not even be used for a rag. As the sons of Pilate led him out in order to see if he wished to recant, the light of day caused him such agony that he was happy when they once again allowed him to go down to his dark tower. . . . Thus he lay in this gloomy tower for a long time, surrounded by mould and vermin; he protected his head with an old hat which had been thrown down to him out of pity. For many years no one had been imprisoned in this tower so that the vermin had multiplied in great numbers; only with time was he able to conquer his disgust and abhorrence of it. The worms often gnawed at his feet. ... All summer long he lay in this gloomy tower, until shortly before Michaelmas in the late autumn. When it became apparent that the cold had begun to 19 20 ORIGINS penetrate the tower, he was brought out and put into another prison which could impossibly be worse. There he had to remain, with one hand and one foot placed in the stock for 37 weeks, so that it was impossible for him either to sit or lie down, forcing him to stand all the while. He also had to suffer a great deal of mockery and scorn at the hands of the godless. . . . Finally, the Council at Innsbruck issued a decree which the officials brought him to read. The content read as follows: ‘Since he is so stubborn and will accept no admonition, he shall be sent to serve on the galley ships 32 the morning after this is presented to him; there he will discover how the obstinate are whipped and beaten.’ But Hans replied that he intended to trust the Lord his God who could be found on sea as well as on land;