Swiss Pioneer Preservation Associates will host a book release and signing at the Martindale Mennonite Fellowship Center, 352 Martindale Road, Ephrata, on Thursday, April 13, at 7 p.m.

The event will launch the book "Documents of Brotherly Love: Dutch Mennonite Aid to Swiss Anabaptists, Volume III, 1712-1784," which contains 239 documents and over 200 illustrations. This concluding volume continues the story of Dutch Mennonite aid to the Swiss Brethren in Bern as well as in the Palatinate, where the government attempted to increase the group's taxes and limit its growth. It also describes the motives and experiences of the Swiss and Palatine Mennonites who immigrated to North America, many of whom settled in Lancaster and Berks counties.

John L. Ruth will speak on the history of the project that resulted in the three volumes of "Documents of Brotherly Love." Harold R. Kurtz will describe the persecution of the Swiss Brethren from the time of Hans Landis to the 1710-11 deportation from Bern. Ed Kline will present the efforts to gain the release of the six Anabaptists who were sent by the Bern government to Sicilian galleys from 1714 to 1716. Edsel Burdge will speak on the situation in the Palatinate in the 18th century that prompted many Mennonites to migrate to America.

Copies of all three volumes of "Documents of Brotherly Love," along with copies of the "Hans Landis" book, will be available for purchase.

Admission is free. A freewill offering will be received to benefit the Swiss Pioneer Preservation Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the local history.

For more information, contact Raymond Zimmerman at 717-354-7139.