Under the Gun

West German and Austrian Saints in World War II

As World War II raged across Europe, thousands of German Latter-day Saints found themselves embroiled in the conflict. Hundreds served in the German military as their loved ones at home struggled to keep their families and the Church alive. Many were evicted from their homes and never allowed to return. The collective stories of how they lived - and died - under those conditions have never been told. This volume brings together the accounts of hundreds of Church members who survived the war, preserved in hundreds of personal interviews, journals, letters, and photographs. Their stories of joy and suffering are presented in this book against the background of the rise and the collapse of the Third Reich. Readers will be amazed at the faith and dedication demonstrated by these Saints, young and old, military and civilian. Here are just a few of the many accounts included in this volume:

Church members became very, very close. Everybody helped each other. It was a great time of togetherness. Also, after losing it all, those who had formerly been deemed wealthy were just like all the rest. Now we were all equal. No one had any more than anyone else. War is a great equalizer.
—Lydia Ruf Wright, Stuttgart Branch

With a broken heart, I knelt before the wreckage of my home and prayed to my Father in Heaven to help me recover the body of my wife from the ruins intact. I wanted to find and identify her among the sixteen persons killed in that building. A great effort was made and my purpose achieved. Along with many others, she was buried in a mass grave at the Freiburg cemetery. From that time on, I have endeavored to preach the gospel with greater energy.
—Karl Becker, Freiburg Branch

My father has been outside watching things. Then he came into the basement and said, "We all have to get out right now! The house is on fire!" We had felt something hit the house, but in all of the commotion, we didn't know what it was. So we ran out into the street and saw that our house was on fire. There was no fire department to help. Then my father and some neighbor men went back in to save some stuff. They brought our piano out too. The house burned to the ground, but we had our piano out in the street. I played the piano, and then my sister played the song "Freut Euch des Lebens" (Let's All Be Happy).
—Liesellotte Pruess Schmidt, St. Georg Branch

Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
• Gedenkbuch (Memorial Book)
• Major Events of World War II
• West German Mission
• Bielefeld District
  Bielefeld Branch
  Herford Branch
  Minden Branch
  Munchehagen Branch
  Stadthagen Branch
• Bremen District
  Bremen Branch
  Wesermunde-Lehe Branch
  Wilhelmshaven Branch
• Frankfurt District
  Bad Homburg Branch
  Darmstadt Branch
  Frankfurt Branch
  Mainz Branch
  Michelstadt Branch
  Offenbach Branch
• Hamburg District
  Altona Branch
  Barmbek Branch
  Gluckstadt Branch
  Lubeck Branch
  St. Georg ranch
  Stade Branch
• Hanover District
  Braunschweig Branch
  Celle Branch
  Gottingen Branch
  Goslar Group
  Hanover Branch
  Kassel Branch
  Uelzen Branch
• Karlsruhe District
  Durlach Branch
  Karlsruhe Branch
  Mannheim Branch
  Pforzheim Branch
  Saarbrucken Branch
  Worms Branch
• Munich District
  Augsburg Branch
  Frankenburg Branch
  Haag am Hausruck Branch
  Munich Branch
  Salzburg Branch
• Nuremberg District
  Coburg Branch
  Furth Branch
  Nuremberg Branch
• Ruhr District
  Benrath Branch
  Bochum Branch
  Buer Branch
  Cologne Branch
  Dortmund Branch
  Dusseldorf Branch
  Essen Branch
  Herne Brance
  Oberhausen Branch
  Wuppertal Branch
• Schleswig-Holstein District
  Flensburg Branch
  Friedrichstadt Branch
  Kiel Branch
  Rendsburg Branch
• Strasbourg District
  Buhl Branch
  Freiburg Branch
  Strasbourg Branch
• Stuttgart District
  Esslingen Branch
  Feuerbach Branch
  Goppingen Branch
  Heilbronn Branch
  Reutlingen Branch
  Stuttgart Branch
• Vienna District
  Linz Branch
  Vienna Branch
• Weimar District
  Erfurt Branch
  Gera Branch
  Gotha Branch
  Nordhausen Branch
  Weimar Branch
Conclusion
Glossary
Index of Personal Names