Michael Hofer

Date of birth:13. 07. 1893
Date of death:02. 12. 1918
Age:25† Deceased
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1910s
State:South Dakota
Time Imprisoned:
6 Months 7 Days
Support
Anti-War Conscientious Objection
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Biography

Michael Hofer, a Hutterite from the Rockport Colony in South Dakota and brother of Joseph Hofer, was one of the four Hutterite absolutists court-martialed in 1918 for refusing military service. Sentenced to twenty years hard labor, tortured at Alcatraz and transferred to Fort Leavenworth on November 19, 1918, he died there on December 2, 1918 — three days after his brother Joseph. Their bodies were returned to South Dakota dressed in the uniforms they had refused to wear.

Case

United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth
Charges: Refusing all military service as a Hutterite conscientious objector during World War I.
Incarcerated: May 25, 1918
Released: Dec 2, 1918
Sentence: Twenty years hard labor; he died in custody at Fort Leavenworth on December 2, 1918. Verdict as recorded: Yes — court-martialed and sentenced to twenty years hard labor.
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: Kansas

Related Cases

Joseph M. Walter Peter M. Waldner Andrew Anna Hofer David Hofer Jacob Wipf Joseph Hofer Michael J. Mandel Paul Kleinsasser