# The Hofer brothers and Jacob Wipf 1918–1919 · Overview In 1918, four young men from Rockport Colony in South Dakota were drafted and sent to a military camp in Washington. Joseph Hofer, Michael Hofer, David Hofer, and Jacob Wipf belonged to a Hutterite community whose obedience to Christ included refusal to take part in war. Their convictions brought them into direct conflict with military demands. The men were court-martialed and sentenced to twenty years at Alcatraz. The photographed account describes severe mistreatment during their imprisonment, including being shackled with their hands above their heads. After four months they were transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Joseph and Michael died soon after their arrival in weakened condition. David was released later, while Jacob Wipf remained imprisoned until April 1919. Hutterite remembrance places the Hofer brothers among those who suffered for faithfulness to their confession. Their story belongs beside the older accounts of costly discipleship without being confused with an account actually contained in the seventeenth-century Martyrs’ Mirror. It also helps explain the fears of the colonies around them and the movement of many Hutterite communities from the United States to Canada in 1918. - [Supplied timeline photograph IMG_9366, caption E](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/blob/main/sources/church-history/photos/IMG_9366.jpg) - [Hutterian Brethren: imprisonment of the Hofer brothers and Jacob Wipf](https://hutterites.org/history/sentenced-alkatraz/) --- Page: https://history.truechristian.church/en/people/hofer-brothers-and-jacob-wipf/ [Contribute a correction or addition](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/issues/new?title=Correction%3A+The+Hofer+brothers+and+Jacob+Wipf&body=%23%23+Page+or+topic%0AThe+Hofer+brothers+and+Jacob+Wipf%0A%0APage%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fhistory.truechristian.church%2Fen%2Fpeople%2Fhofer-brothers-and-jacob-wipf%2F%0A%0ARecord%3A+hofer-brothers-and-jacob-wipf%0A%0ADate+currently+shown%3A+1918%E2%80%931919%0A%0A%23%23+Correction+or+addition%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Sources+and+evidence%0APlease+include+book%2Fpage+references%2C+archive+links%2C+or+first-hand+documentation.%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Image+credit+%28if+applicable%29%0ACreator%2C+source%2C+and+permission+or+public-domain+basis.%0A%0A%0A%0ASubmitted+for+review%3B+this+issue+does+not+publish+changes+automatically.)