By Bonnie Withers

As World War II was beginning to take root in Europe, news of persecution caused great concern among American Unitarians. A network of relief workers and sympathetic politicians sent word to the US that 20,000 people were in need of emigration assistance. A temporary committee, the Unitarian Service Committee, was formed to send aid.

A young Unitarian minister, Waitstill Sharp, and his wife, Martha, were recruited to work in Czechoslovakia, where Norbert Capek (remember him?) had formed a solid Unitarian community. Although the couple was reluctant to leave their two children, aged seven and two, the call was too urgent to ignore.  In Prague, the Sharps worked closely with the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) to advance refugee visa applications, and other relief. Martha escorted 35 endangered refugees to Great Britain, risking arrest. 

After being forced to leave Prague, the Sharps worked in France and then in Portugal. 

Thus began the Unitarian Service Committee, which after merger with the Universalists became the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. 

A documentary about the Sharps, produced by Ken Burns, appeared in 2016 and is entitled, “Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War”. You can watch it for free on PBS.