Lois Gunden

World War II

Gunden joined the Mennonite Central Committee and on October 4, 1941, boarded the S.S. Excambion in New York for Portugal, which was a neutral country at the time. She traveled overland with another Mennonite woman through Spain and into Vichy France, ultimately arriving at Canet-en-Roussillon. (Bartrop said that she was headed for Lyon, France.) The children, some of whom were "severely malnourished", had come from the Camp de Rivesaltes, an internment camp. The children at the mission ranged from four years of age to sixteen. Gunden resumed her position at Goshen College in the fall of 1944. In 1945, Gunden published a memoir of her World War II experiences. In 1958, having furthered her studies of the French language, she received a Ph.D. from Indiana University. At Goshen College, Gunden taught French and sat on its board of overseers. She edited a national publication about women's missionary services and wrote a book entitled Women Liberated. She also taught at Temple University. They lived together in Lansdale, Pennsylvania after the wedding. which was awarded by Yad Vashem on February 27, 2013.